that no man can pass the length of seven feet, of which measure it is said that Hercules was. Yet in the time of Augustus Cæsar, saith he, there lived two men, Pusion and Secundila, of which, either of them had ten feet or more in length, and their bones are in the ossary of the Salustians; and afterwards, in the time of the Emperor Claudius, they brought out of Arabia a man called Gauara, nine feet and nine inches long; but in a thousand years before Augustus, had not been seen the like shape of men, neither since the time of Claudius; for in this our time, who is it that is not born less than his father.

“Antonio. If you mark it well, in the same chapter in which Solinus handleth this matter, he saith, that the bones of Orestes were found in Tegea, which being measured, were seven cubits long, which are more than four yards according to the common opinion; and yet this is no great disformity in respect of that which followeth; besides, saith he, it is written by antiquity, and confirmed by true witnesses, that in the wars of Crete, upon an irruption of waters, breaking up the earth with the violent impetuosity, at the retreat thereof, amongst many openings of the earth, they found in one monument a man's body, thirty-three cubits long. Among the rest that went to see this spectacle so strange, was Lucius Flaccus, the legate, and Metellus, who beholding that with their eyes, which otherwise they would not have believed, remained as men amazed. Pliny also saith, that a hill of Creta breaking, there was found the body of a man forty-five cubits long, the which some said was of Orion, and others of Ocius. And though the greatness of these two bodies be such that it seem incredible, yet far greater is that of Antheus, the which Antonio Sabellicus, in his Æneads, saith was found in the city of Tegana, at such time as Sartorius remained there captain-general of the Roman army, whose sepulchre being opened, and his bones measured, the length of his carcase was found to be seventy cubits; and to confirm the possibility of this, he addeth presently, that a certain host of his, a man of good credit, told him, that being in Crete, and meaning to cut down a certain tree to make therewith the mast of a ship, that self tree, by chance, was turned up by the root, under the which was found a man's head, so incredibly great, it amazed the beholders, but being rotten it fell in pieces, the teeth still remaining whole, of the which they carried one to Venice, showing it to those that desired the sight thereof, as a thing wonderful. Friar Jacobo Philippo de Bergamo writeth, in his Supplementum Chronicorum, that there was found a sepulchre, and in the same a body of admirable greatness, outreaching, as it were, in length, the high walls or buildings; it seemed that he lay sleeping; he had wound's upon him well four feet wide! at his bolster stood a candle burning, which would not go out till they bored a hole underneath, and then the light extinguished. The body, so soon as they touched it, turned into powder and ashes; round about him were written in Greek letters, these words,--Pallas, son of Evander, slain by Turnus.

"Ludovico. You would wonder more at that which Sinforianus Campegius writeth, in his book called Ortus Gallicus, alleging the authority of Johannes Bocacius, who affirmed to have seen it himself;

that in Sicilia, near to the city of Trapana, certain labourers digging for chalk under the foot of a hill, discovered a cave of great wideness, entering into the which with light, they found, sitting in the midst thereof, a man of so monstrous hugeness, that, astonished therewith, they fled to the village reporting what they had seen, and at last gathering together in great number, with weapons and torches, they returned back to the cave, where they found this giant, whose like was never heard of before; in his left hand he held a mighty staff, so great and thick as a great mast of a ship: seeing that he stirred not, they took a good heart and drew near him, but they had no sooner laid their hands upon him but he fell into ashes, the bones only remaining, -so monstrous, that the very skull of his head held in it a bushel of wheat; and his whole carcase being measured, was found to be one hundred and forty cubits long."

The next stratum of narrative comprises different stories of nations and individuals, who have attained great ages,-one, two, three, four, five hundred years! but, as we have already treated our readers with some tales on that head, from our friend " Hermippus Redivivus," we shall pass those which illuminate the present volume, without any further mention.— We now come to Centaurs and Seamen, whereof divers tales are unfolded; and more particularly, a tradition of a certain people of Spain, called Marini, which wears a very classical complexion. From the Marini, we pass to different transformations, beginning with one effected by Tiresias, that " prophet old," and ending with a story of a husbandman's wife in Spain, who, leaving her husband, assumed man's apparel, and finally, by dint of imagination, wrought upon herself an absolute change of sex! Manuel, or Marie Pacheco, also, "of a woman became a man," and passed into the Indies, where she "won in the wars great reputation," and afterwards married a gentlewoman, of a very noble house; but "whether she had any children or no, he writeth not."

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The "second discourse" relates to the virtues of certain springs, rivers, and lakes, with some opinions touching terrestrial paradise;" but for these, we must refer the reader to the book itself.

The "third" is a discourse "entreating of fancies, visions, spirits, enchanters, charmers, witches, and hags: containing besides, divers strange matters which have happened, delightful and not less necessary to be known." In the first place, it is laid down, that illusions and apparitions of spirits chiefly proceed from" the devil;" although, it is admitted, that Aristotle and the Peripatetics, and also Democritus, disbelieved in them altogether. However, our author has not the fear of the ancients before his eyes, in this instance; but draws upon his belief largely for the entertainment of the reader. The

introductory part of this discourse, touching the Lemures, Démonia, the degrees of spirits, &c. reminds us a good deal of our old friend Burton, who had probably read this book. This part, though it is interesting to ourselves, we must omit, and resort to the stories which will probably be more generally acceptable.

The reader may take the following, by which he will discover, that making love to nuns may be a serious matter. This is perhaps the only instance on record of a man being present at his own funeral.

“Antonio. Many things have happened, and happen daily in the world, to search the depth and bottom of whose secrets were great presumption, at which, though sometimes by signs and tokens we may give a guess, yet we must always think, that there is something hidden from us, and of this sort is that which happened to a gentleman in this our Spain, whose name, for the foulness of his endeavour, and many respects beside, I will conceal, and the name also of the town where it happened. This gentleman being very rich and noble, dealt in matters of dishonest love with a nun, the which to the end she might enjoy his abominable embracements, willed him to make a key like unto that of the church door, and she would find time and means (through her turn which she had about the service of the sachristie, and other such occasions), to meet him there. The gentleman exceedingly rejoicing at this match, caused two keys to be made, the one for the door of the church portal, and another of the church door itself, which being done, because it was somewhat far from his house, he took one night his horse, and for the more secrecy of the matter rode thither alone: being come thither about midnight, leaping off his horse, and tying him by the reins of the bridle to a convenient place, he went towards the monastery, of which opening the first door of the portal, he found that of the church open of itself, and in the church a great light, and brightness of torches and wax candles, and withall he heard voices, as it were of men singing, and doing the funeral service of some one that was deceased: at which, being amazed, he drew nearer, better to behold the manner thereof, where he might see the church to be full of friars and priests, singing these obsequies, having in the midst of them a coffin covered with black, about which were many lights and tapers burning; each of the friars, priests, and many other men besides, that seemed to assist at these funerals, having also a wax candle burning in their hands; but his greatest astonishment of all was, that he knew not one of them after he had remained awhile beholding them, he approached near one of the friars, and asked him from whom those honourable solemnities were done, who answered him, that such a gentleman, naming his own proper name, was dead, and that they were now performing the honors of his burial. The gentleman, laughing, replied, saying he whom you speak of liveth, and you are deceived; nay, quoth the friar, you are deceived, for he is assuredly

dead, and his body here present to be buried, and therewith fell to his singing again. The gentleman being herewith in a great confusion, asked another, of whom he received the self same answer, so that being stricken with a great amazement, without more attending, he went out of the church, and getting upon his horse began to ride as fast as he could homeward: but he had no sooner turned his horse's head, when he was aware of two great black mastiffs that accompanied him, of each side of his horse one; who, do what he could, with rating and striking at them with his sword, would never leave him till he came to the gate of his house, where lighting off his horse and entering in, his pages and servants coming to receive him, wondered to see the colour of his face so pale and deadly, assuring themselves that some great mischance had happened unto him; beseeching him with such instance to tell them what ailed him, that, at last, he recited unto them all the particularities of the before-rehearsed history, having made an end of which, and entering into his chamber, the two black mastiffs of a sudden rushed in upon him, and worried him, so that his servants not being able to succour him, he died presently, verifying that of his funerals, which he had seen done while he lived."

We next hear of a ghost (" colder than ice") who would come to a man who was in bed-then of a "certain monk, called Thomas," who, quarrelling with his brother friars, betook him to the mountains, where he met "a great tall man of a tawny sun-burned complexion," who proposed carrying him on his shoulders through a river. Thomas, however, discovered when he was on the other's back, that "the ferryman's feet" were not altogether well-shaped, and accordingly began to pray lustily; upon which the devil (for it" was the devil indeed") threw our friend down, and vanished with a horrible noise and tempest (p. 72). We cannot afford much space even to these supernatural facts. The smart answer of Saint Andrew, however, deserves mention. The devil, in the shape of a beautiful woman, being sitting at a bishop's table, Saint Andrew came there " as a pilgrim," to demand alms: upon which she (the devil) asked the saint how far distant heaven was from earth. "Thou shouldst better know than I," answered Saint Andrew," because thou hast fallen from thence." The Scotch may be proud of this answer of their saint.

Following this is a story of

"A woman wailing for her dæmon lover;"—

-

then, another of a maiden deceived by a dæmon, who visited her in the shape of a gentleman of Spain, of whom she was enamoured. Then comes a discussion on " Necromancie," and on the use of "natural magique," with "a pretty tale of sprights that were seen in Beneventa❞—then succeed tales of hobgoblins and Robin-Goodfellows-then stories of enchanters, and

what they did on "students," and on " learned men" of Spain -then" a strange story of a sorceress" (p. 85)—and another history of a sorceress, told by Paulus Grillandus-then, an account of the "men called Ophrogens"-and, in short, "tales," "histories," and " particulars," enough to satisfy the most ambitious student of ghost stories, and to tempt the patience of the most indefatigable critic.

The fourth" discourse treats of "Chaunce, Fortune, and Destinie," and of the influences of the heavenly bodies, and other "learned and curious points."

The "fifth" is a discourse "entreating of the Septentrional countries," with many things "pleasant and worthy to be knowne." In this the geographical knowledge of the Ancients is discussed, their speculations, their fables, &c. There is something curious in the account given by " Sylenus," who, after displaying a little of the traveller's vein to King "Midas," added thereunto

"Many other marvellous things, as that there were in other provinces thereof certain people, called Meropes, who inhabited many and great cities, within the bounds of whose country there was a place, called Anostum, which word signifieth a place whence there is no return: this country, saith he, is not clear and light, neither yet altogether dark, but between both; through the same run two rivers, the one of delight, the other of grief; upon the shore both of the one and the other are planted trees, about the bigness of poplar-trees; those that are on the banks of the river of grief, bring forth a fruit of the same nature and quality, causing him that eateth thereof to spend the whole time of his life in sad and melancholy dumps, bitter tears, and perpetual weeping. The fruit of those that grow on the banks of the other river have a contrary effect and virtue, yielding to the eater thereof a blessed course of life, abounding in all joy, recreation, and pleasure, without any one moment of sadness: when they are in years, by little and little they wax young again, recovering their former vigour and force, and thence they turn still backward even to their first infancy, becoming little babes again, and then they die.”

The "sixth discourse" is a continuation, in fact, of the fifth; for it speaks only" of sundry things that are in the Septentrional lands worthy of admiration." This discourse opens pleasantly. We feel as though we were present with the speakers.

"Bernardo. It were good that we sat down under the shadow of these sweet eglantines and jassemines, whereby we shall not only receive the pleasant savour which they yield, but shall have our ears also filled with delight in hearing the nightingale record their sweet and delectable notes, to which, in my judgement, the curious forced melody of many musicians is nothing to be compared.

Ludovico. No doubt but of all birds their singing is most de