ABSTRACT
THere is fo great an innumerability of Lytian Oxen, of fo great fwiftneffe and celerity, that the Hunters are many times deceived in hunting them, and fo do certainly chance or fall upon other wilde beafts for the fame they raifed, and he in the mean while doth hide himfelf in a place of brambles and briars, keeping himfelf there fafe, while other wilde beafts doth appear like unto them, apd fo do deceive the eyes of the Hunters: therefore if any man do begin to follow after either of them, it will be but labour loft, for he is not able to comprehend or attain them with a Horfe, except he may take them being wearied by longitude of time. But if any Hunters fhall finde a young Calf, fpare the life thereof, and fhall not prefently kill it, he fhall reap a double profi t by i t . and firft it doth bring profit to it felf, and doth induce or lead his Dam into captivity. For after that the Hunter hath bound the Calf with a rope, fhe being inflamed by the love or aff e d i o n which fhe beareth to her Calf, returneth back again unto it, coveting with an ardent defire t o l o o f e n a n d takeaway her Calf out of the bond or halter, therefore fhe thrufteth in her horn that fhe may loofen the cord, and pluck her young one away, whereby fhe is kept faft bound with her Calf , her horns being intangledin the rope. Then cometh the Hunter and kil lethher, and JElianuf. taketh for th her liver, and alfo cutteth off her dugs or udder, and doth likewife pluck off her skin, and leaveth her flefh for the Birds and wilde Beafts to feed upon. There is another kinde of Ox in Lybia, whofe horns do bend downward, and for that caufe they are fain to feed going backwards. Of the fayings of Herodotus and JElianus,! have fpoken before. Philes doth write, that they are called Oxen going backward, becaufe the broadneffe of their horns doth cover their eye-fight, f o t h a t it ftandeth them in no ufe to go forward, but is very commodious t o go backward. There is an Oxe which liveth in the Woods of Afric\, which doth refemble a domefticall Oxe, yet leffe in ftat u r e , o f a brown or ruflet colour, and alfo moft fwift of foot. This beaft is found in the d e f e r t s , L e o African. or in the Marches or limits of the deferts. Their flefh is alfo of a perfed or ablolute favour and tafte, good for the nourifhment of men.
