Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

A CHRISTIAN ROMANCE. 45 I
And, again, Alexander the king heard of the The nations
existence of the Viper' and Serpent nations, whoMagof Te'^
were generations of fiends, and devils, and sala- ^''"''^''
manders. And they had the faces of dogs, and
the hands of men, and the tails of lions,^ and
wings like eagles; and among them were some
who were like unto bears, and they had dung(?) and
teeth like swine, and their offspring(?) were small and
resembled not each other. And they never remain
a moment [over their] food, and they eat the flesh Manners
of every [animal] which they find without cooking ^",j,^"t^°J^e
it in any way whatsoever; and whatever they find "^''°°'-
they devour, whether it be that which hath in it
fat, or trees, and bark, and roots, and they reject
nothing. Everything ^ which they find they con-
sume. Now there are among them twelve tribes
of people, who have faces like unto animals, and
who feed upon grass and hay. And some of them
have faces like bulls, and some of them resemble
wild beasts and eat clean and unclean flesh. And
some have heads which are like unto the heads
of serpents and vipers, and they lick the dust,
[p. 270] And some have faces which resemble
those of caterpillars a:nd crocodiles, and they drink
water and blood, and consume whatsoever is in the
' Read M^'i^ •
' Our author is, apparently, attempting to describe the dog-
headed ape, but it is not quite clear what he means by
"wings like eagles."
3 Read fl),P-TlA*.'
LLLi