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Map of Antangil
Cities & Towns of Antangil
[ Page 12 ]
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Of the fish & sea monsters. CHAP. V. In addition to the fish that we have here, with which all the rivers and lakes are very well stocked, the parts of the rivers situated under the Tropic are full of cocodiles of prodigious size, containing in length more than ten fathoms,[1] which are sometimes harmful to the cattle that graze along the banks. There are hyppodromes, or proud and cruel sea horses; large serpents of all colors, which exceed six fathoms in length, which are neither dangerous nor poisonous, but almost of the nature of turtles. There we see nine or ten kinds of lizards and small crocodile which usually rest on the banks of the rivers, some of them gray, spotted with yellow, others green, others bluish, spotted with stars like gold: Others are red like scarlet, almost all of them being two fathoms long: the hunters kill & eat them like a "maits"[2] very delicate & savory, much better |
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1. Crocodiles.
2. Brasse: "f. A fadome (fathom), or arme full; or measure of five foot." [Cotgrave] [Note, a modern day fathom measures six feet.] 3. Hippopotamus. 4. "Maits" might be "mets", or in English, a dish? It may also be "maie", the definition from Cosgrove, "maie: The greatest kind of sea-crab; round, long-legd, & very rough shelled; some call ber, a Frill." |