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The Dragon: China

I feel bound to refer, although of course without attaching any very great weight of evidence to them, to the numerous stories popular in the East, in which flying serpents play a conspicuous part, the serpents always having something magical or supernatural in their nature. Such tales are found in the entrancing pages of the Arabian Nights, or in the very entertaining folk-lore of China, as given to us by Dr. N. P. Dennys of Singapore.* The latest notice of the flying serpent that we find is in a work by P. Belon du Mans, published in 1557, entitled, Portraits de quelques animaux, poissons, serpents, herbes et arbres, hommes et femmes d'Arabie, Egypte, et Asie, observés par P. Belon du Mans. It contains a drawing of a biped winged dragon, with the notice "Portrait du serpent ailé" and the quatrain- Dangereuse est du serpent la nature Qu'on voit voler près le mont Sinai Qui ne serait, de la voir, esbahy, Si on a peur, voyant sa pourtraiture?