Human Industry, Chapter 11
CAP. XI.
foreign: OR, The Art of Cicuration and Taming wilde Beasts,
WHile I look back upon the title of the Book, which is Historia Naturae subactae, The History of Nature subdued and brought under the power of man; I conceive this ensuing Chapter will be no digression or seem impertinent, but will prove pertinent enough to the scope and design of the work. In this Theater of mans wit, it will not (a little) illustrate the power of it, if we bring wilde Beasts upon the stage, to shew that the most savage creatures have been managed by mans wit and made docile and tractable for all services and emploiments.
The Spirit of God hath spoke it; That every kinde of Beasts and of Birds, and of Serpents, and things in the sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankinde, Jam. 3. 7. I shall verifie and confirm this position of the Apostle by Examples of several kindes.
1. For BEASTS;l. 2. de Ira Aspice Elephan torum colla jugo submissa, saith Seneca; behold the Elephant, Wch is the strongest and biggest beast in the Forrest, yet this hath been tamed and managed and made serviceable for all the offices both of Peace and Warr. It hath been taught to draw and carry; some ride him for the Warrs; some yoke him for the plough; & some make him to draw their Coach, as the Emperour Gordian had some to draw his, as Julius Capitolinus reports of him. Many stories (that seem incredible) of the Officiousness and Docileness of this creature, you may reade amassed together (out of several Authors) by Lipsius in one of his Epistles ad Germanos.
The Lion himself, whom some term the King of Beasts, hath been (by the dexterity of mans wit) made tractable and officious for many Menial Offices. Mark Anthony had Lions to draw his Triumphal Chariot, as Pliny reports. Primus Romae Leones ad Currum junxit M. Antonius, non sine quodam ostento temporum, generosos spiritus jugum subire illo prodigio significante, Pl. l. 8. c. 16. Hanno the Carthaginian had a Lion so tame and familiar, that he could either ride him or lead him with any carriage for to bring it to Market, as Plin lib. 8. Nat. Hist. cap. 16. and Maximus Tyrius serm. 32. do relate. But this cost him a Banishment; for the jealous Carthaginians began to fear that he m…ght soon put the reins in their mouths and ride them too, that had done so by a Lion. It is no Poetical fable (perhaps) that Tygers drew the Coach of Bacchus, which Silius Italicus makes mention of.
—odoratis descendens Liber ab Indis
Egit Pampineos fraenata Tygride Currus.
For that Monster Heliogabalus had Lions and Tygers (at once) to draw his Coach, as Lampridius relates in his life.
Martial, lib. 8. Epist. 26. mentions the same in Domitians time.
Vicit Erythraeos tua (Caesar) arena triumphos,
Et victoris opes, divitiásque Dei.
Nam cùm Captivos ageret sub Curribus Indos,
Contentus geminâ Tygride Bacchus erat.
And that the fierce Bysons were taught to draw the Chariot; and also Stags at their publick shews, is affirmed by the same Poet. As I have seen in England by Walton upon Thames 4 Stags drawing a small Coach; and it is no poetical fiction that Stags drew the Coach of Diana, as Claudian the Poet sings of her.
—Frondosâ fertur ab Alpe
Trans pelagus; Cervi currum subiere jugales.
Fabricius Veiento, when he was Praetor of Rome, brought into the Cirque a Chariot drawn by Dogs, as Lipsius tells me in his notes upon Tacitus: nay, Estridges have been taught to draw in a Coach by the Emperour Firmus, as Textor reports in his Officina.
The Count of Stolberg in Germany had a Deer which he bestowed on the Emperour Maximilian the Second, that would receive a rider on his back, and a bridle in his mouth, and would run a race with the fleetest horses that came in the field, and out-strip them too, as Michael Neander relates, Physic. part. 1. Martial, l. 13. Epigr. 96. makes mention of a Deer used to the bridle.
Hic erat ille tuo domitus, Cyparisse, capistro,
An magis ille tuus, Sylvia, Cervus erat.
Sir Hierom Bowes at his return from Muscovia (where he had been Embassador) brought over certain Does of admirable swiftness, of the nature of the Rangifer, which being yoked and coupled together in a Coach, would carry one man with great speed, as Cambden in the Annals of Q. Elizabeth relates, part. 3.
The King of Cambaia hath tame Panthers, Lions & Leopards, which he useth as hunting dogs or Grey-hounds to hunt Deer and Wilde boars withall, as Aelian reports, l. 17. variar. hist. and Scaliger, Excer. 189. At Prague, in the King of Bohemia's Pa…ace, Mr Morison saw two tame Leopards that would (either of them) at a call leap behinde the Huntsman, when he went abroad a hunting, and sit like a Dog on the hinder part of the horse, and would soon dispatch a Hart.
These Examples shew forth the excellency of mans spirit, which (by a discreet managery) can reduce those creatures (that have revolted from their Homage to their natural liege Lord and Soveraign, Man) to their primitive obedience, which they did once voluntarily and freely pay unto him before the fall of Adam, and before the first man revolted (by sin) from his maker; and we may see hereby that saying of Xenophon verified, foreign, it is farr easier taming & managing any creature than man; and that of Seneca, Est nullum animal homine morosius, aut majore arte tractandum; there is no creature so wayward and fierce and untractable as man.
2. For Serpents, that have been tamed by man (as the Apostle mentions) wee may vouch Strabo for a tame Crocodile in Aegypt in the Lake of Myris: and Seneca for a tame Dragon that took meat from the hand of Tiberius; he mentions elsewhere, repentes inter pocula sinus que innoxi…olapsu Dracones, l. 2. de Ira. Dragons that crept upon mens tables among their cups, and harmlesly along their bosomes: and the four-legged Serpents in Cairo were tame and harmless, that wee spake of before in the Chapter of Musick.
3. For Birds and wilde Fowle, we may instance in the Estridges, that were put to draw a Coach; in Eagles, that are trained in Turky like Hawks to fly at any fowl;Exer. 232. in the Crow, that Scaliger saw in the French Kings Court, that was taught to flye at Partridges, or any other fowl, from the Falconers fist; and lastly, in Wilde-Ducks, that are tamed and made Decoyes, to intice and betray their fellows, which is commonly known.
4. Then fourthly, for things in the Sea that have been tamed, we may instance in a fish called the Manati, or Sea-Cow, well known about Hispaniola and other places of the West-Indies; it hath the form of a Cow, and hath four feet, and comes often to land to eat grass: Peter Martyr in his Decads speaks of an Indian Cacique or Lord of the Countrey that had one of these tame Cows, that would eat meat out of his hands, and was as sportfull as an Ape, & would carry his sons and servants (sometimes ten of them at a time) on his back, and waft them over a great Lake from one shore to another. We may instance also in the Sea-Horse that hath been tamed, and made tractable to carry men on his back, as Leo Afer reports of one he had seen, in his History of Africa; and in the Fish called Reversus, by whose help and admirable industry, the Indians used to catch Fish in the Sea, as Bodin relates in the third book of his Theatrum Naturae: He is let loose at the prey, as the Greyhound from the slip, as Purchas saith; and Peter Martyr hath the like story of it in his Decads: Pliny speaks the same of Dolphins, which he had seen (in some places) to be used for to catch Fish, and to bring them to shore, and upon receiving some part of the prey, to go their ways; and if they failed in some point of service, they suffered themselves patiently to be corrected, as Setting-Dogs, and Qua-Ducks, or Decoy Ducks (as we commonly call them) use to be. This same is affirmed of the Dolphins by Oppianus a learned Writer, in his Halieuticks. Otters have been tamed, and taught to drive Fish into the Net, as Dogs use to drive cattle into the Fold, as Cardan relates.
But this is not all, wilde beasts and birds have been tamed not only for the service, but also for the pleasure and pastime of man: As man hath learn'd some Arts from them, so they have learn'd some from man: Camels have been taught to dance, as the African Leo hath seen in his Country. Elephants have also been taught the same; and not only on the earth, but also in the air, ambulare per funem, to dance upon the Ropes: Seneca is my Author for it, Epist. 85. The manner of teaching them to dance is thus,Sands Travels. They bring some young Elephant or Camel upon a floor of earth, that hath been heated underneath, and they play on a Cittern or Tabor, while the poor beast lifts up his stumps from the hot floor very often, more by reason of the heat then any lust to dance; and this they practise so often, until the beast hath got such a habit of it, that when ever he hears any Musique he falls a dancing. Bubsequius saw a dancing Elephant in Constantinople, and the same Elephant playing at ball, tossing it to another man with his Trunk, and receiving it back again.
Michael Neander saw in Germany a bear brought from Poland, that would play upon the Tabor, and dance some measures, yea dance within the compass of a round Cap, which he would afterwards hold up in his paw to the Spectators, to receive money (or some other boon) for his pains. There was a dance of Horses presented at the marriage of the Duke of Florence, which Sir Kenelm Digby mentions.Treatise … Bodies. An Asse hath not so dull a soul as some suppose; for Leo Afer saw one in Africa that could vie feats with Bankes his Horse, that rare Master of the Caballistick Art, whose memory is not forgotten in England.
The Sybarites (a people of Italy being given to delicacies) had taught some Horses to dance; The Crotonians hearing thereof, and preparing War against them for some former quarrel, brought with them some Flutes and Flutinists to the War, who had direction to pipe it as loud as they could, when the Sybarites were ready to charge with their Horse; whereupon the Sybarites Horses, instead of rushing upon the Enemy, fell a dancing, and so gave the victory to the Enemies thereby, as three grave Authors have recorded, Diod. Sic. l. 12. Ael. l. 16. c. 23. Plin. l. 8. C. 42.
A Baboon was seen to play upon the Guitta…;Baltasar Castilione de Aulico. and a Monky in the King of Spain's Court was very skilful at Chessplay. Some birds have been taught to speak mans language, and to utter whole sentences of Greek and Latine articulately; There were seen in Rome Stares, Pyes, and Crows, that could do this to the admiration of all men. Cardinal Ascanio had a Parrot, that could repeat the Apostles Creed verbatim in Latine; and in the Court of Spain there was one that could sing the Gam… ut perfectly; and if he was out, he would say, No va bueno, That is not well; but when he was right he would say, Bueno va, Now it is well; as John Barnes an English Frier relates in a most learned Book of his, De Aequivocatione. What witty feats and tricks Dogs have been taught to do, are so well known, that I may spare instances of this kind. Many of these examples that I have produced to make good the Title of this Chapter, and the Apostles saying above-mentioned, are briefly sum'd up by Martial in his Book of Shows, the 105th Epigr. which I have here annexed, with the Translation of M. Hen. Vaughan Silurist, whose excellent Poems are publique.
Picto quod juga delicata collo
Pardus sustinet, improbae que Tygres
Indulgent patientiam flagello,
Mordent aurea quod lupata Cervi;
Quod Fr…nis Lybici domantur Ursi,
Et quantum Caledon tulisse fertur
Paret purpureis Aper Capistris.
TurpesaBrittis… Chariots▪ essed a quod trahunt BisontesbWild Oxen in the Herc…nian Forest called Buffles.,
Et molles dare jussa quod choreas:
NigrocThe N…gro or Black-Moor, the…rides hi… BelluadThe Elephant. nil negat Magistro,
Quis spectacula non putet Deorum?
Haec transit tamen ut minora, quisquis
Venatus humiles videt Leonum, &c.
That the fierce Pard doth at a beck
Yield to the Yoke his spotted neck,
And the untoward Tyger bear
The whip with a submissive fear;
That Stags do foam with golden bits
And the rough Lybic bear submits
Unto the Ring; that a wild Boar
Like that which Caledon of Yore
Brought forth, doth mildly put his head
In purple Muzzles to be lead:
That the vast strong-limb'd Buffles draw
The Brittish Chariots with taught awe.
And the Elephant with Courtship falls
To any dance the Negro calls:
VVould not you think such sports as those,
VVere shews which the Gods did expose;
But these are nothing, when we see
That Hares by Lions hunted be, &c.
Elephants (which are the most docile creatures of all others, and come nearest in sense to man) are taught to understand the language of the Countrey, and to perform all duties by the sole command of their riders. Horses and Mules understand Carters language, who with their tearms of Art, as Gee and Ree, and the like, will make them go or stop, turn on the right hand or on the left, as they please. Clandian observed this pretty discipline in French Mules, which he thought worthy of a cast of his pen.
Aspice morigeras Rhodani Torrentis alumnas
Imperio nexas, imperioque vagas.
Dissona quam varios flectant ad murmura cursus,
Et Certas adeant voce regente vias.
Absentis longinqua valent praecepta magistri
Fraenorumque vices lingua virilis agit.
Mark how the docile Mules of Rhone now close
And forward draw, now wheelingly and loose;
What various courses at the Carters voyce
They shape, and still tread new commanded ways;
Their distant drivers notes each one observes,
And his loud tongue for bit and bridle serves.
In France and Italy where they plow with Horses, one man serves to hold the plough, and drive the horses too: Dogs have been trained up for the Wars by the ancient Brittons and Gauls, as Strabo and Cambden relate; so have Bull…, and Boars, and Lyons, as appears by Lucret. lib. 5.
Tentarûnt etiam Tauros in moenere belli,
Experti… …ues saevos sunt miltere in hostes.
Et validos Parthi prae se misere Leones
Cum Ductoribus armatis, saevis… Magistris
Qui moderarier hos possent, vinclisque tenere.
Which instances have verified that Embleme and Motto of one of the German Emperours, which was, a Lion in a chain with this word, Ars vincit Naturam: and that of the Greek Poet,
foreign.
Naturâ ubi super amur, arte vincimus.
And this of another cited by Grotius … his Annotations on his excellent Trac… de veritate Religionis.
foreign
foreign
foreign
foreign.
Vis exiguaest, quamcun… homini
Natura dedit: sed consili…
Varils artes quae nata marl,
Et quae terrâ, aereque domant.
Una ratio omnes omnium animantium vires potestate in se continet. Plut. de Fort. Romanorum.
A summo opifice cunct a animalia serva facta sunt animanti ratione utenti. Orig. contra Celsum, l. 4.