them and the vnicornes;[1] for there is no beast but hath his enemy, as the cony the polcat, a sheepe the woolfe, the elephant the rinoceros; and so of other beasts the like: insomuch, that whereas the one is, the other can not be missing. And seeing I haue made mention of the beasts of this countrey, it shall not be from my purpose to speake also of the venimous beasts, as crocodiles, whereof there is great abundance, adders of great bignesse, whereof our men killed some of a yard and halfe long.
Faulcons in Florida. Also I heard a miracle of one of these adders, vpon the which a faulcon seizing, the sayd adder did claspe her tail about her; which the French captaine seeing, came to the rescue of the falcon, and tooke her slaying the adder; and this faulcon being wilde, he did reclaim her, and kept her for the space of two moneths, at which time for very want of meat he was faine to cast her off. On these adders the Frenchmen did feed, to no little admiration of vs, and affirmed the same to be a delicate meat. And the captaine of the Frenchmen saw also a serpent with three heads and foure feet, of the bignesse of a great spaniell, which for want of a harquebuz be durst not attempt to slay. Of fish also they haue in the riuer, pike, roch, salmon, trout, and diuers other small fishes, and of great fish, some of the length of a man and longer, being of bignesse accordingly, hauing a snout much like a sword of a yard long.
Flying fishes. There be also of sea fishes, which we saw coming along the coast flying, which are of the bignesse of a smelt, the biggest sort whereof haue foure wings, but the other haue but two: of these wee sawe comming out of Guinea a hundred in a company, which being chased by the gilt heads, otherwise called the bonitos, do to auoid them the better, take their flight out of the water, but yet are they not able to fly farre, because of the drying of their wings, which serue them not to flie but when they are moist, and therefore when they can flie no further, they fall into the water, and hauing wet their wings, take a new flight againe. These bonitos be of bignesse like a carpe, and in colour like a makerell, but it is the swiftest fish in swimming that is, and followeth her prey very fiercely, not only in the water, but also out of the water: for as the flying fish taketh her flight, so doeth this bonito leape after them, and taketh them sometimes aboue
- ↑ This legend accounts for the supporters in our National Arms.
