Page:Ancient India as described by Megasthenês and Arrian.djvu/178

 159 treasui^ the royal tribute, so that the queen might always have the assistance of those men whose turn it was to pay the tribute in coercing those who for the time being were defaulters in their payments. Fragm. LIX. Of the Beasts of India, iElian, Hist. Anim. XVI. 2-22 * (2) In India I learn that there are to be found the birds called parrots ; and though I have, no doubt, already mentioned them, yet what I omit- ted to state previously regarding them may now with great propriety be here set down. There are, I am informed, three species of them, and all these, if taught to speak, as children are taught, become as talkative as children, and speak with a human voice; but in the woods they utter a bird-like scream, and neither send out any distinct and musical notes, nor being wild and untaught are able to talk. There are also peacocks in India, the largest anywhere met with, to have been borrowed from Megasthen^s. This con- jecture, though it cannot by any means be placed beyond donbt by conclusive proofs, seems nevertheless, for various reasons, to attain a certain degree of probability. For in the first place the author knows with imusual ac- curacv the interior parts of India. Then again he makes very frequent mention of the Frasii and the Brfihmans. And lastly one can hardljr doubt that some chapters occur- ring in the middle of tms part have been extracted from Megasthen^s. I have, therefore, in this imcertainty taken care that the whole of this part should be printed at the end of the fragments of MegasthenSs."— Sohwanbeck. Digitized by Google
 * " In this extract not a few passages occur which appear