At the time of the discovery of America by Columbus, many marvellous tales were rife in Spain. It was said that in one part of the coast of El Nombre de Dios, the natives had such long ears that one ear served for bed and the other for counterpane. This reminds one of Gwevyl mab Gwestad, one of whose lips hung down to his waist, and the other covered his head like a cowl. Another tale was that one of the crew of Columbus had come across a people who lived on sweet scents alone, and were killed by foul smells. This invention was hardly original, inasmuch as both Plutarch and Pliny tell us of an Indian people who lived on sweet odors, and Democrĭtos lived for several days on the mere effluvia of hot bread. Another tale was that the noses of these smell-feeders were so huge that their heads were all nose. We are also told of one-eyed men; of men who carried their heads under one of their arms; of others whose head was in their breast; of others who were conquered, not by arms, but by their priests holding up before them a little ivory crucifix--a sort of Christian version of the taking of Jericho by the blast of the rams’ horns of the Levites in the time of Joshua. =Travels ... in Remote Nations=, by “Lemuel Gulliver.” He is first shipwrecked and cast on the coast of Lilliput, a country of pygmies. Subsequently he is thrown among the people of Brobdingnag, giants of tremendous size. In his third expedition he is driven to Lapūta, an empire of quack pretenders to science and knavish projectors. And in his fourth voyage he visits the Houyhnhnms [_Whin´.n´me_], where horses were the dominant powers.--Dean Swift (1726). =Travers=, a retainer of the earl of Northumberland.--Shakespeare, _Henry IV._ (1598). _Travers_ (_Sir Edmund_), an old bachelor, the guardian and uncle of Lady Davenant. He is a tedious gossip, fond of meddling, prosy, and wise in his own conceit. “It is surprising,” he says, “how unwilling people are to hear my stories. When in parliament I make a speech, there is nothing but coughing, hemming, and shuffling of feet--no desire of information.” By his instigation, the match was broken off between his niece and Captain Dormer, and she was given in marriage to Lord Davenant, but it turned out that his lordship was already married, and his wife living.--Cumberland, _The Mysterious Husband_ (1783). =Travia´ta=, an opera, representing the progress of a courtezan. Music by Verdi, and libretto from _La Dame aux Came´lias_, a novel by Alexandre Dumas _fils_ (1856).