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Elephant( Travellers | Cities | Routes | Trade Goods | Themes )
"The elephant comes from the mountains and valleys of Jiaozhi. Its body is a composite of all the other animals. It's flesh is very muscular. Only its nose is its own. It nurses from its mother for three years. Its body is as large as several oxen, but its eyes are no bigger than those of a pig. Its nose is seven feet long, and as thick as a person's arm. It uses its nose to pick up its food . . . . At the end of its nose there something like a claw, which can pick up things as tiny as a needle, like a magnet made of flesh . . . . Whenever it thunders the animal panicks and runs in all directions . . . . It has a jealous nature. It is discriminating and does not mate with other animals."
- Wang Qi 王圻 and Wang Siyi 王思義 (1609), comp., Sancai Tuhui |
Lapis Lazuli Elephant |
