[Footnote A: _Isaac Vossius ibid_.] _Job Ludolphus_[A] in his _Commentary_ on his _Æthiopick History_ remarks, That there was never known a Nation all of Dwarfs. _Nani quippe_ (saith _Ludolphus_) _Naturæ quodam errore ex aliis justæ staturæ hominibus generantur. Qualis verô ea Gens sit, ex qua ista Naturæ Ludibria tantâ copiâ proveniant, Vossium docere oportelat, quia Pumiliones Pumiles alios non gignunt, sed plerunque steriles sunt, experientia teste; ut planè non opus habuerunt Doctores Talmudici Nanorum matrimonia prohibere, ne Digitales ex iis nascerentur. Ludolphus_ it may be is a little too strict with _Vossius_ for calling them _Nani_; he may only mean a sort of Men in that Country of less Stature than ordinary. And _Dapper_ in his History of _Africa_, from whom _Vossius_ takes this Account, describes such in the Kingdom of _Mokoko_, he calls _Mimos_, and tells us that they kill _Elephants_. But I see no reason why _Vossius_ should take these Men for the _Pygmies_ of the Ancients, or think that they gave any occasion or ground for the inventing this Fable, is there was no other reason, this was sufficient, because they were able to kill the _Elephants_. The _Pygmies_ were scarce a Match for the _Cranes_; and for them to have encountered an _Elephant_, were as vain an Attempt, as the _Pygmies_ were guilty of in _Philostratus_[B] 'who to revenge the Death of _Antæus_, having found _Hercules_ napping in _Libya_, mustered up all their Forces against him. One _Phalanx_ (he tells us) assaulted his left hand; but against his right hand, that being the stronger, two _Phalanges_ were appointed. The Archers and Slingers besieged his feet, admiring the hugeness of his Thighs: But against his Head, as the Arsenal, they raised Batteries, the King himself taking his Post there. They set fire to his Hair, put Reaping-hooks in his Eyes; and that he might not breath, clapp'd Doors to his Mouth and Nostrils; but all the Execution that they could do, was only to awake him, which when done, deriding their folly, he gather'd them all up in his Lion's Skin, and carried them (_Philostratus_ thinks) to _Euristhenes_.' This _Antæus_ was as remarkable for his height, as the _Pygmies_ were for their lowness of Stature: For _Plutarch_[C] tells us, that _Q. Sterorius_ not being willing to trust Common Fame, when he came to _Tingis_ (now _Tangier_) he caused _Antæus's_ Sepulchre to be opened, and found his Corps full threescore Cubits long. But _Sterorius_ knew well enough how to impose upon the Credulity of the People, as is evident from the Story of his _white Hind_, which _Plutarch_ likewise relates. [Footnote A: _Job Ludolphus in Comment, in Historiam Æthiopicam_, p.m. 71.] [Footnote B: _Philostratus. Icon_. lib. 2. p.m. 817.] [Footnote C: _Plutarch. in vita Q. Sertorij_.]