CHAP. 27.—THE CAMELEOPARD; WHEN IT WAS FIRST SEEN AT ROME.
There are two others[1] animals, which have some resemblance
to the camel. One of these is called, by the Æthiopians, the
nabun.[2] It has a neck like that of the horse, feet and legs
like those of the ox, a head like that of the camel, and is
covered with white spots upon a red ground; from which peculiarities it has been called the cameleopard.[3] It was first
seen at Rome in the Circensian games held by Cæsar, the
Dictator.[4] Since that time too, it has been occasionally seen.
It is more remarkable for the singularity of its appearance
than for its fierceness; for which reason it has obtained the
name of the wild sheep.[5]
1. He speaks here of only one of the animals which resemble the camel;
the giraffe, namely. The other, which he for the present omits, is the
ostrich.
2. The description of the giraffe, here given, is sufficiently correct, but
we have a more minute account of it by Dion Cassius, B. xliii. In the
time of the Emperor Gordian, ten of these animals were exhibited at
Rome at once; a remarkable fact, when we bear in mind that so few have
been imported into Europe for many centuries past. The giraffe is
figured in the mosaic at Præneste, and under it is inscribed its name,
nabi.—B. It has been found that it is unable to bear the winters of
Europe.
3. Its form being like that of the camel, while its spots resemble those
of the leopard. Horace refers to it, when speaking of an object calculated
to excite the vulgar gaze; "Diversum confusa genus panthera camelo"—
"The race of the panther mingled with the camel," Ep. B. ii.; Ep. i.
1. 195.
4. According to Dion Cassius, B. xliii., these games were celebrated
A.U.C. 708.—B.
5. This comparison can only be employed to indicate the mild nature of
the giraffe.—B.