Note 248 — Chapter VIII

The unicorn antelope of Thibet is probably the oryx-capra of the ancients. It is still found in the deserts of Upper Nubia, where it is called Ariel. The unicorn (Hebrew, reem; Greek, monoceros), that is represented in the Bible, and in Pliny’s “Natural History,” cannot be identified with the oryx capra. The unicorn of holy writ would appear rather to be a pachydermous creature, of great strength and formidable ferocity. According to travellers, it still exists in Central Africa, and the Arabs call it Aboukarn.