Wonderous beasts. 71.

nettis & slewe many of tham. And on this wyse Alexander & his
Oste was gretly disesed. Than comanded Alexander that thay
schuld make many fyres wit-owtten the Oste aboute the stanke.

4 After this thare come apon tham a wondere grete beste, grettere
& strangere than an Olyphaunt, and he hadde in his frunte
three lange hornes. And he was schapen lyke a horse & he
was all blakke. And this beste was called in the langage of Inde

8 "Anddontrucion'. And or he went to the water at drynke, he
assailled the Oste. Bot Alexander went here & thare amange the
oste & comforthed tham. This ilke beste slewe of his knyghtes
12 xxviij and bare donne lij and at the laste it felle in the nettis and
was slayne. After this thare come oute of the rede a grete multi-
tude of mys als grete als foxes, and ete up the dede bodys. Thare
was na qwike thynge, that they bate that ne also son it dyed.
Bot harme did they nane *to the oste. Than come thare flyande
16 amange tham bakkes, grettere tham wilde dowfes, and thaire
tethe ware lyke men-thethe. And thay bate offe the nese; of sum
the eres. In the mornenynge arely thare come many fewlis als
20 grete as wlturs, reed of colour, and thaire fete and thaire bekes
all blakke. Bot thay didd na disese to the oste, bot went to
the stanke-syde & drewe fisches & ele oute of the water, &
ete tham.

24 Than lefte Alexander thir perilous place, and com wit his
Oste, in-to the cuntree of Bactricen, the whilke was full of
gole & other reches. Ad the men of the cuntree resayfed him
benyngly & wirchipfully and gaffe hym and his Oste grete giftes.

28 And thare he habade XXti dayes. In that cuntree thay sawe
trees that, in-stedde of leues, bare wotte; thay whilke folke of
the cuntree gadeed & made clathe thare-offe. The knyghtes of
Alexander wex wonder balde & strange of hert becasue of
32 the victoryes thay hadd wonnen of the wilde beste before
neuenned.

Fra ththyn, Alexander remowed his Oste and come to the
place whare Porus lay wit the folke that he hadd assembled.

36 And one the morne bathe Alexander and Porus tuke thaire
grounde & arayed thaire betells for to feghte. And than

[begin right margin]
greater
than bulls.
Then
follow huge
swine with
great tusks.
And with
them six-
handed
men and
women.
They make
great fires
around the
pon. Then
comes a
horselike
beast
greater
than an
elephant.
Alexander again
* Leaf 29.
rallies
his men.
It slays
many, but
is at last
slain.
Mice as
big as foxes
eat up the
dead
bodies.
Whatso-
ever they
bit at once
dies.
Then come
bats
greater
than wild
doves.
They
march into
Bactia
where they
are well re-
ceived.
The wool-
bearing trees.
The
knights
take
courage be-
cause of the
strange
beasts they
[end right margin]

[begin bottom of page]
1 Four lines with red ornante capital P
but small t scribbled in the margin beside.
2 Four lines space with red capital S and
small s written in the margin beside.
[end bottom of the page]