The Leucrocotta The Eale Cattle Feeding Backwards


"There are oxen, too, like that of India, some with one horn, and others

with three; the leucrocotta, a wild beast of extraordinary swiftness,

the size of the wild ass, with the legs of a Stag, the neck, tail, and

breast of a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven hoof, the mouth slit

up as far as the ears, and one continuous bone instead of teeth; it is

said, too, that this animal can imitate the human voice.



/> "Among the same people there is found an animal called the eale; it is

the size of the river-horse, has the tail of the elephant, and is of a

black or tawny colour. It has, also, the jaws of the wild boar and horns

that are moveable, and more than a cubit in length, so that, in

fighting, it can employ them alternately, and vary their position by

presenting them directly, or obliquely, according as necessity may

dictate."



The Eale, with its movable horns, is run hard by the Cattle of the

Lotophagi, which are thus described by Herodotus:--"From the Augilae at

the end of another ten days' journey is another hill of salt and water,

and many fruit-bearing palm trees, as also in other places; and men

inhabit it, who are called Gavamantes, a very powerful nation; they lay

earth upon the salt, and then sow their ground. From these to the

Lotophagi, the shortest route is a journey of thirty days: amongst them

the kine that feed backwards are met with; they feed backwards for this

reason. They have horns that are bent forward, therefore they draw back

as they feed; for they are unable to go forward, because their horns

would stick in the ground. They differ from other kine in no other

respect than this, except that their hide is thicker and harder."



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