marie that was a monstrous and prodigious token and foreshewed some heauy fortune that followed after Also in the beginning of the Marsians war there was a bondwoman brought forth a Serpent In sum there be many mis-shapen monsters come that way into the world of diuers and sundry formes Claudius Caesar writeth That in Thessalie there was borne a monster called an Hippocentaure that is halfe a man and halfe a horse but it died the very same day And verily after he came to weare the diadem we our selues saw the like monster sent vnto him out of Egypt embalmed and preserued in honey Among many strange examples appearing vpon record in Chronicles we reade of a childe in Sagunt the same yeare that it was forced and rased by Anabal which so soone as it was come forth of the mothers wombe presently returned into it againe CHAP. IIII. ¶ Of the change of one Sex to another and of Twins borne IT is no lie nor fable that females may turne to be males for we haue found it recorded that in the yearely Chronicles called Annals in the yere when Publius Licinius Crassus and C. Cassius Longinus were Consuls there was in Cassinum a maid childe vnder the very hand and tuition of her parents without suspition of being a changeling became a boy and by an Ordinance of the Soothsayers called Aruspices was confined to a certain desart Island and thither conueyed Licinius Mutianus reporteth that he himselfe saw at Argos one named Arescon who before time had to name Arescusa and a married wife but afterwards in processe of time came to haue a beard and the generall parts testifying a man and thereupon wedded a wife Likewise as he saith he saw at Smyrna a boy changed into a girle I my selfe am an eye witnesse That in Africke one L. Cossicius a citisen of Tisdrita turned from a woman to be a man vpon the very mariage day who liued at the time I wrot this booke Moreouer it is obserued that if women bring twins it is great good hap if they all liue but either the mother dieth in childbed or one of the babes if not both But if it fortune that the twinnes be of both sexes the one male the other female it is ten to one if they both escape Moreouer this is well knowne that as women age sooner than men and seeme old so they grow to their maturitie more timely than men and are apt from procreation before them Last of all when a woman goeth with childe if it bee a man childe it stirreth oftner in the wombe and lieth commonly more to the right side wheras the female moueth more seldom and beareth to the left CHAP. V. ¶ The Generation of Man the time of childe-birth from seuen moneths to eleuen testified by many notable examples out of historie ALiother creatures haue a set time limited by Nature both of going with their yong and also of bringing it forth each one according to their kinde Man only is borne all times of the yeare and there is no certaine time of his abode in the wombe after conception for one commeth into the world at the seuen moneths end another at the eighth and so to the beginning of the ninth and tenth But before the seuenth moneth there is no infant euer borne that liueth And none are borne at seuen moneths end vnlesse they were conceiued either in the very change of the moone or within a day of it vnder or ouer An ordinary thing it is in Egypt for women to go with yong eight moneths and then to be deliuered And euen in Italy also now adaies children so borne liue and do well but this is against the common receiued opinion of all old writers But there is no certainty to ground vpon in all these cases for they alter diuers waies Dame Vestilia the widow of C. Herditius wife afterward to Pomponius and last of all maried to Orfitus all right worshipful citisens and of most noble houses had 4 children by her three husbands to wit Sempronius whom she bare at the seuenth moneth Suillius Rufus at the eleuenth and seuen moneths also she went with Corbulo yet they liued all and these two Iast came both to be Consuls After all these sons she bare a daughter namely Caesonia wife to the Emperor Caius Caligula at the eighth moneths end They that are borne thus in this moueth haue much ado to liue and are in great danger for forty dayes space yea and their mothers are very sickly and subiect to fall into vntimely trauell all the fourth moneth and the eighth and if they fall in labor and come before their time they die Massurius writeth that L. Papyrius the Pretor or Lord chief Iustice when a second heire in remainder made claim and put in plea for his inheritance of the goods made an award and gaue iudgement against him in the behalfe of an Infant the right heire borne after the decease of his father vpon this That the mother came in and testified how she was deliuered of that childe within thirteene moneths after the death of the Testator the reason was because there is no definite time certaine for women to go with childe CHAP. VI. ¶ Of Conceptions and signes distinguishing the sex in great bellied women before they are deliuered IF ten dayes after a woman hath had the company of a man shee feele an extraordinary ache in the head and perceiue giddinesse in the brain as if all things went round finde a dazling and mistinesse in the eies abhorring and loathing meat and withall a turning and wambling in the stomacke it is a signe that she is conceiued and beginneth to breed if she goe with a boy better coloured will she be all the time and deliuered with more ease and by the 40 day she shall feele a kinde of motion and stirring in her wombe But contrarie it falleth out in the breeding of a girle she goeth more heauily with it and findeth the burthen heauier her legs and thighes about the share will swell a little And ninetie dayes it will be before she absolutely perceiueth any mouing of the infant But be it male or female shee breeds they put her to much paine and grieuance when their haire beginneth to bud forth and euer at the full of the Moone and euen the very infants after they are borne are most amisse and farthest out of frame about that time And verily great care must be had of a woman with child all the time she goeth therewith both in her gate and in euery thing else that can be named for if women feed vpon ouer-salt and poudered meat they wil bring forth a child without nailes and if they hold not their wind in their labor longer it will be ere they be deliuered and with more difficultie Much yawning in the time of trauell is a deadly signe like as to sneese presently vpon conception threatneth abortion or a slip CHAP. VII ¶ Of the conception and generation of
Man I Am abashed much and very sory to thinke and consider what a poore and ticklish beginning man hath the proudest creature of all others when the smel only of the snuffe of a candle put out is the cause oft times that a woman fals into vntimely trauel And yet see these great tyrans and such as delight only in carnage and bloudshed haue no better original Thou then that presumest vpon thy bodily strength thou that standest so much vpon Fortunes fauors and hast thy hands full of her bountifull gifts taking thy self not to be a foster-child and nurceling of hers but a naturall son borne of her owne body thou I say that busiest thy head euermore and settest thy minde vpon conquests and victories thou that art vpon euerie good successe and pleasant gale of prosperity puffed vp with pride and takest thy selfe for a god neuer thinkest that thy life when it was hung vpon so single a thred with so small a matter might haue miscarried Nay more than that euen at this day art thou in more danger than so if thou chance to be but stung or bitten with the little tooth of a Serpent or if but the verie kernell of a raisin go downe thy throat wrong as it did with the poet Anacreon which cost him his life Or as Fabius a Senator of Rome and Lord chiefe Iustice besides who in a draught of milk fortuned to swallow a small haire which strangled him Well then thinke better of this point for he verily that will euermore set before his eies and remember the frailty of mans estate shall liue in this world vprightly and in euen ballance without inclining more to one side than vnto another CHAP. VIII ¶ Of those that be called Agrippae TO be borne with the feet forward is vnnaturall and vnkinde and such as come in that order into the world the Latines were wont to name Agrippae as if a man should say born hardly and with much ado And in this maner M. Agrippa as they say came forth of his mothers wombe the only man almost known to haue brought any good fortune with him and prospered in the world of all that euer were in that sort borne And yet as happy as hee was and how well soeuer he chieued in some respects he was much pained with the gout and passed all his youth and many a day after in bloudy wars and in danger of a thousand deaths And hauing escaped all these harmfull perils vnfortunate he was in all his children and especially in his two daughters the Agrippinae both who brought forth those wicked Imps so pernicious to the whole earth namely C. Caligula and Domitius Nero two Emperours but two fiery flames to consume and waste all mankinde Moreouer his infelicitie herein appeared that hee liued so short a time dying as he did a strong and lusty man in the 51 yeare of his age tormented and vexed with the adulteries of his owne wife oppressed with the heauy and intolerable seruitude that he was in vnder his wiues father In which regards it seems he paid full deare for the presage of his vntoward birth and natiuitie Moreouer Agrippina hath left in writing That her son Nero also late Emperor who all the time of his reigne was a very enemy to all mankinde was borne with his feet forward And in truth by the right order and course of Nature a man is brought into the world with his head first but is carried forth with his feet formost CHAP. IX ¶ Births cut out of the wombe BVt more fortunate are they a great deale whose birth costeth their mothers life parting from them by means of incision like as Scipio Africanus the former who came into the world in that manner and the first that euer was sirnamed Caesar was so called for the like cause And hereof comes the fore-name also of the Caesones In like sort also was that Manlius borne who entred Carthage with an army CHAP. X. ¶ Who are Vopisci THe Latines were wont to call him Vopiscus or rather Opiscus who being one of two twins hapned to stay behinde in the wombe the full terme when as the other miscarried by abortiue and vntimely birth And in this case there chance right strange accidents although they fall out very seldome CHAP. XI ¶ Examples of many Infants at one birth FEw creatures there be besides women that seeke after the male and can skill of their companie after they be once conceiued with yong one kind verily or two at the most there is knowne to conceiue double one vpon the other We find in books written by Physitians and in their records who haue studied such matters and gathered obseruations that there haue passed or bin cast away from a woman at one only slip 12 distinct children but when it falleth out that there is some pretty time betwixt two conceptions both of them may carry their full time and be borne with life as appeared in Hercules and his brother Iphiclus as also in that harlot who was deliuered of two infants one like her owne husband the other resembling the Adulterer likewise in a Proconnesian bond-seruant who was in one day gotten with childe by her master and also by his Baily or Procurator and being afterwards deliuered of two children they bewrayed plainly who were their fathers Moreouer there was another who went her full time euen nine moneths for one childe but was deliuered of another at the fiue moneths end Furthermore in another who hauing dropped downe one childe at the end of seuen moneths by the end of the ninth came with two twinnes more Ouer and besides it is commonly seen that children be not alwaies answerable to the parents in euery respect for of perfect fathers and mothers who haue all their limmes there are begotten children vnperfect and wanting some members and contrariwise parents there are maimed and defectiue in some part who neuerthelesse beget children that are sound and entire and with all that they should haue It is seen also that infants are at a default of those parts their parents misse yea and they carry often times certaine markes moles blemishes and skarres of their fathers and mothers as like as may be Among the people called Dakes the children vsually beare the markes imprinted in their armes of them from whom they descend euen to the fourth generation CHAP. XII ¶ Examples of many that haue been very like and resembled one another IN the race and family of the Lepidi it is said there were three of them not successiuely one after another but out of order after some intermission who had euery one of them at their birth a little pannicle or thin skin growing ouer their eye Some haue bin known to resemble their grandsires and of two twins one hath beene like the father the other the mother but he that was borne a yere after hath bin so like his elder brother as if he had bin one of the twins Some women
the gods with an oblation of corne yea and to offer prayers and supplications vnto them by no other means than cakes made of salt and meal yea and as Hemina mine author saith for to induce the people of Rome the better vnto it he allowed them to parch their corne in their sacrifices for that corne thus partched was supposed to be a more wholsome food by which meanes this one thing insued in the end that no corne was counted pure and good nor fit to be vsed in diuine seruice but that which was thus baked or partched He also instituted the feast Fornacalia to wit certaine holy-daies for the parching and baking of corne as also another as religiously obserued called Terminalia namely for the bounds and limits of lands for these and such like gods as then they worshipped most as also the goddesse Seia so called a serendo i. of sowing corne and setting plants and Segesta which name they gaue her a segetibus i. of corn fields whose images we at this day do see in the grand Cirque or Shew-place at Rome A third goddesse there is among them whom to name and inuocate within-house they might not with safe conscience Lastly so religious and ceremonious they were in old time that they would not so much as taste of new corne or wine before the Priests had taken a sey of the first fruits CHAP. III. ¶ Of Iugerum and Actus Of the antient Lawes ordained for Cattell in old time How often and at what time Corne and victuals were exceeding cheape at Rome What noble and famous persons addicted themselues wholly to Husbandrie and Tillage AN Acre or Arpen of ground called in Latine Iugerum was as much as might be eared vp or ploughed in one day with a yoke of Oxen. And Actus in Latine is a Land or so much just as two Oxen are driuen and occupied in whiles they plough in one tract without any rest This contained by the old time 120 foot in length and being doubled in length made the Acre or Iugerum abouesaid In antient time of the old Romans the greatest Present that could be giuen to captains and souldiers who had borne themselues valiantly in the seruice of their countrey was as much ground as they could haue eared or broken vp in one day And it was thought a great reward to receiue at the hands of the people of Rome halfe a pint or a pint at the vtmost of corn Moreouer in so great request was corn and Husbandry that the first and chiefe houses in Rome took their syrnames from thence and namely the Pilumni who deuised first the pestill to bray corne withall in their mils and backhouses also the family of the Pisenes who tooke their name a pisendo i. of stamping or pounding corne in a mortar The Fabij in like manner the Lentuli and the Ciceroes each one according to the seuerall pulse that they skilled best to set or sow Moreouer to the house of the Iunij they gaue the syrname of Bubulcus by occasion of one of their ancestors who knew passing well how to vse and order oxen Ouer besides all this that you may know what regard was had of corn among other sacred and holy ceremonies there was nothing reputed more religious than the bond of Confarration in knitting vp of mariages assurance making of the chiefe priests yea the manner of the new wedded brides was to carry openly before them a wheaten cake In times past the Magistrates called Censors iudged it a trespasse worthy of great rebuke to be an il husband that is to say to be carelesse and negligent in tilling the ground And as Cato reporteth if men called one by the name of a good husbandman they were thought to haue praised commended him in the highest degree hereupon also it came that rich and substantiall men were termed in Latine Locupletes as one would say Loci-pleni i. wel landed And as for the very word Pecunia in Latine which signifieth money it took the name of Pecus i. cattell And euen at this day as appeareth in the Registers of the Censors and the accounts of the city Chamber all their rents reuenues and customes growing vnto the people of Rome are called Pascua for that a long time the whole domaine of Rome stood vpon pasturage and nothing els The penalties and fines also which offendants were put to pay were raised of nothing else but of Kine Oxen and Sheep where by the way I cannot conceale from you the fauorable regard that the antient lawes and ordinances of Rome had whereby it was expressely forbidden That no Iudge who had power to enioine or impose any paine and amercement should name the fine of an Oxe vnlesse he had passed that of a Sheep first The solemne games and plaies also in the honour of Kine and oxen they who frequented them called Bubetij Moreouer king Seruius at the first when hee made brazen coine stamped the peeces with the portraiture of Sheepe Kine and Oxen. By the lawes of the twelue Tables all persons whatsoeuer aboue foureteen yeares of age were forbidden vnder pain of death either by stealth to feed their cattell in the night time vpon any corn-field of another mans ploughed and sown or to cut the same downe by syth or sickle at such a time and in that manner By the same laws also ordained it was That whosoeuer was attaint or conuicted thereupon should be hanged by the head and strangled for satisfaction of the goddesse Ceres and in one word to be more grieuously punished than in case of man-slaughter But if the offender were vnder that age beforesaid the same law prouided that hee should be whipped at the discretion of the Pretor or Lord chiefe Iustice for the time beeing or if this punishment were remitted by the partie who sustained the domage then hee should satisfie vnto him for the trespasse as a slaue and pay double for the losse according as honest and indifferent men valued it Furthermore in antient time the distinction of States and degrees in the city of Rome both for wealth and worship was according to their lands and not otherwise Insomuch as those citizens were reputed for chiefe and principall who were possessed of Land and liuing in the Countrey and these made the State called the Rusticke Tribes in Rome whereas contrariwise the other estate reputed the meaner in degree was named the Vrbane Tribes consisting of Artisans and such like as were not landed persons into which if a man were transferred from any of the rest it was thought a great shame and disgrace as if he were reproched for idlenesse negligence in husbandry And hereupon these foure Tribes alone took name of those foure principall parts or quarters of the city wherein they were seated to wit Suburrana Palatina Collina and Exquilina Ouer and besides vpon faires and market daies the Rustick Tribes vsually visited the city vpon which daies therefore no publick assemblies of the
riuer Calycadnus The cape Sarpedon the townes Olme and Mylae the Cape and towne both of Venus the very next harbor from whence men passe into the Isle Cypres But in the maine land you shall finde these townes Myanda Anemurium Coracesium and the riuer Melas the antient bound that limiteth Cilicia Farther within-forth are to be spoken of the Anazarbenes at this day Caesar Augustani Castabla Epiphania before-time Eniandos Eleusa and Iconium Seleucia vpon the riuer Calicadmus sirnamed also Trachiotis a city remoued backward from the sea where it was called Hormia Furthermore within the country the riuers Liparis Bombos and Paradisus Last of all the mountaine Iubarus All Cosmographers haue ioyned Pamphylia to Cilicia and neuer regarded the Nation of Isaurica being a country by it selfe hauing within it these towns Isaura Clibanus Lalassis And it shoots down to the sea side full vpon the frontiers of the country Anemurium aboue-said In like sort as many as haue set forth maps and descriptions of the world had no knowledge at all of the Nation Homonades confining vpon it notwithstanding they haue a good towne within it called Homona Indeed the other fortresses viz. 44 lie hidden close among the hollow vallies hils of that country There inhabit the mountainers ouer their heads the Pisidians somtime called Sobymi whose chiefe colony is Caesaria the same that Antiochia Their townes be Oroanda and Sagalessos This nation is inclosed as it were within Lycaonia lying within the iurisdiction of the lesse Asia and euen so together with it the Philomelians Timbrians Leucolithi Pelteni and Hyrienses resort thither for law and iustice There is a gouernment or Tetrarchy also out of the quarter of Lycaonia on that side that bordereth vpon Galatia vnto which belong 14 States or cities the chiefe whereof is called Iconium As for the nations of Lyconia those of any note be Tembasa vpon Taurus Sinda in the confines of Galatia and Cappadocia But on the side thereof aboue Pamphilia ye meet with Myliae discended in old time from Thrace who haue for their head city Aricanda As for Pamphilia it was in antient time called Mopsopia The Pamphylian sea ioineth to the Cilician The townes scituate vpon that coast be Side Aspendus on the hill Plantanistus and Perga Also the cape Leucolla the mount Sardemisus the riuer Eurymedon running hard by Aspendum Moreouer Cataractes the riuer neere vnto which stand Lyrnessus and Olbia and the vtmost towne of all that coast Phaselis Fast vpon it lieth the Lycian sea and the nation of the Lycians where the sea makes a huge great gulfe The mountaine Taurus likewise confining vpon the Levant sea doth limit Lycia and Cilicia with the promontorie Chelidonium This Taurus is a mighty mountain and determineth as a judge an infinite number of nations So soone as he is risen from the coast of the East Indian sea hee parteth in twaine and taking the right hand passeth Northward and on the left hand Southward somwhat bending into the West yea and diuiding Asia through the middest and but that he meeteth with the seas ready to stop and dam vp the whole earth besides He retireth back therefore as being curbed toward the North fetching a great circuit and so making his way as if Nature of purpose opposed the seas eftsoones against him to bar him of his passage of one side the Phoenician sea of another the great sea of Pontus the Caspian Hyrcanian seas likewise and full against him the lake Moeotis And notwithstanding all these bars within which he is pent twined and wrested yet maketh he means to haue the mastery and get from them all and so winding byas he passeth on vntill he encounter the Riphaean hils which are of his owne kinde and euer as he goeth is entituled with a number of new names For he is called Imaus where he first beginneth a little forward Emodus Paropamisus Circius Canibades Parphariades Choatras Oreges Oroandes Niphates and then Taurus Neuerthelesse where he is highest and as it were ouer-reacheth himselfe there they name him Caucasus where he stretcheth forth his armes like as if he would now and then be doing with the seas he changeth is name to Sarpedon Coracesius and Cragus and then once again he takes his former name Taurus euen where he opens and makes passage as it were to let in the world And yet for all these waies and ouertures he claimeth his owne stil and these passages are called by the names of gates in one place Armeniae in another Caspiae and sometimes Ciliciae Ouer and besides when he is broken into parcels and escaped far from the sea he taketh many names from diuers and sundry nations on euery side for on the right hand he is termed Hyrcanus and Caspius on the left Pariedrus Moschicus Amazonicus Coraxicus and Scythicus and generally throughout all Greece Ceraunius To returne then to Lycia being past the foresaid cape there Chelidonium ye come to the towne Simena the hill Chimaera which casteth flames of fire euery night the city Hephaestinm where the mountains about it likewise oftentimes are known to burne Somtimes the city Olympus stood there but now nothing to be seene but mountaines and amongst them these townes Gage Corydalla and Rhodiopolis On the sea coast the city Lymira vpon a riuer to which Aricandus runneth also the mountaine Massyrites the cities Andriara and Myra Also these townes Apyre and Antiphellos which somtime was called Habessus and more within-forth in a corner Phellus Then come ye to Pyrrha and so to Xanthus 15 miles from the sea and to a riuer likewise of that name Soon after ye meet with Patara before-time named Sataros and Sydinia seated vpon an hill and so to the promontorie Ciagus Beyond which ye shall enter vpon a gulfe as big as the former vpon which standeth Pinara and Telmessus the vtmost bound in the marches of Lycia In antient time Lycia had in it 60 townes but now not aboue 36. Of which the principall and of greatest note besides the aboue named be Canae Candiba where is the famous wood Oenium Podalia Choma vpon the riuer Adesa Cyane Ascandalis Amelas Noscopium Tlos and Telanorus As for the midland parts of the maine you shall finde Chabalia with three townes thereto belonging Oenonda Balbura and Bubon When you are beyond Telmessus you meet with the Asiaticke sea otherwise called Carpathium and this coast is properly called Asia Agrippa hath diuided it in two parts whereof the one by his description confronteth vpon Phrygia and Lycaonia Eastward but on the West side it is limited with the Aegean sea Southward it bounds vpon Egypt and in the North vpon Paphlagonia the length thereof by his computation is 470 miles the bredth 300. As for the other he saith That Eastward it confineth vpon Armenia the lesse Westward vpon Phrygia Lycaonia and Pamphylia on the North it butteth vpon the prouince or realm of Pontus and on the South side is inclosed with the
with their bils against the bark they know by the sound thereof that there be worms within for them to feed vpon These birds alone of all others feed and nourish their yong ones in crannies and chinks of trees And if it chance that a shepheard or some such do pin or wedge vp their holes it is thought commonly that they will vnstop the same again by meanes of a certaine herbe which no sooner they touch the stopple with but it will out Trebius writeth that let a man driue a spike or great naile or else a wedge or pinne of wood as hard as euer he will into that tree wherein this bird hath a nest incontinently as shee percheth and setleth vpon the tree it will presently fly out with such a force that the tree will giue a crack again therewith Throughout all Latium these birds beare the name for effectual signification of good or bad fortune by reason of that king or prince i. Picus who gaue them that name And one presage of theirs aboue the rest I canot passe ouer It fortuned that one of them light vpon the head of L. Tubero L. chiefe Iustice of the city of Rome as hee was sitting vpon the judgement seat in the open face of the Court ministring justice and there rested so gently that it suffered him to take it with his hand The Sooth sayer being asked his aduice in this case answered by booke That if the bird were let go it would portend the ruine and ouerthrow of the whole state and empire but if it were killed it de nounced the death of the sayd Pretor or L. chiefe Iustice then in place But the Pretor Tubero immediatly vpon this answer plucked the bird in pieces It was not long after but the presage of this bird took effect indeed and was fulfilled in his person Moreouer there be of this kind many that feed on mast acorns nuts apples and such like fruits but they be such as liue in maner vpon flesh onely And yet I must except the Kite for that propertie in him is noted to be in all Augurie an vnlucky signe and presage of some heauy and deadly misfortune CHAP. XIX ¶ Of Birds that haue hooked talons and round long clawes like fingers WHat fowles soeuer haue crooked clawes sort not together in flocks but prey each one apart for it self and lightly all such fly aloft vnlesse it be the night birds aforesaid and the greater sort especially They are all of them great winged little bodied and heauy in their gate vpon the ground Seldom or neuer they sit and perch vpon a rock for why their nails bowing and hooking inward will not giue them leaue It remains now that we speak of the second kind or ranke of birds which also is diuided into two sorts towit Oscines that sing and Alites that fly only for the singing of the one and the bignes of the other makes the difference and distinction between them These therefore that be greater bodied we wil by order treat first of CHAP. XX. ¶ Of Peacocks and who was the first that killed them for the table THe Peacock far surpasses all the rest of this kind as well for beauty as also for the wit and vnderstanding that he hath but principally for the pride and glory he takes in himself For perceiuing at any time that he is praised and wel liked he spreadeth his taile round shewing and setting out his colours to the most which shine againe like precious stones and namely when he turnes them against the Sun as his manner is for so he giueth them a more radiant and glittering lustre And for the same purpose also with his taile representing fish shels he giues a certain shadow to the rest of his feathers which seeme the brighter when they be a little shadowed and withall he sets all those eyes of his feathers together in a ranke and gathereth them round knowing full well that hee is the more looked on for them and therein he taketh no small ioy and pleasure On the other side when he hath lost this taile which vsually he moulteth euery yere when trees shed their leaues vntil such time as trees blossom new and his taile be grown again he hath no delight to come abroad but as if he were ashamed or mourned seeketh corners to hide himselfe in The Peacocke ordinarily liueth 25 yeares At 3 yeres of age he begins to put forth that varietie of colours in his feathers Authors who haue written of him say that he is not only a proud and vainglorious creature but also as malicious and spightfull as the Goose is bashfull and modest for so haue some of them obserued these properties and qualities in these birds But I for my part like not to make such similitudes The first that killed Peacocks to be serued vp as a dish at the table was Hortensius that great Orator in that solemne feast which he made when he was consecrated high priest and M. Aufidius Lurco deuised first to feed them fat by which inuention of his he might dispend by yerely reuenue 60000 Sesterces And this was about the time of the last Pirats war CHAP. XXI ¶ Of Cocks how they be cut and made Capons also of a dunghill Cocke that spake NExt to Peacocks these birds about our houses which are our sentinels by night whom Nature hath created to breake men of their sleepe to awaken and call them vp to their work haue also a sence and vnderstanding of glory they loue I say to be praised and are proud in their kind Moreouer they are Astronomers and know the course of the stars they diuide the day by their crowing from 3 houres to 3 houres when the Sun goeth to rest they go to roost and like sentinels they keepe the reliefe of the fourth watch in the camp they cal men vp to their carefull labour and trauell they will not suffer the Sun to rise and steale vpon vs but they giue vs warning of it by their crowing they tell vs that the day is comming and they foretell their crowing likewise by clapping their sides with their wings They are Commanders and rulers of their own kind be they Hens or other Cocks and in what house soeuer they be they will be masters and kings ouer them This soueraignty is gootten by plain fight one with another as if they knew that naturally they had spurs as weapons giuen them about their heeles to try the quarrell and many times the combat is so sharp and hot that they kill one another ere they giue ouer But if one of them happen to be conqueror presently vpon victorie he croweth and himselfe soundeth the triumph He that is beaten makes no words nor croweth at all but hideth his head in silence and yet neuerthelesse it goeth against his stomack to yeeld the gantlet and giue the bucklers Hardly can he brook to be vnder another and not only these cocks of game but the very common sort