]
[Footnote B: _AElian. Hist. Animal_. lib. 15. cap. 29.]
_Pomponius Mela_ will have it, and I think some others, that these cruel
Engagements use to happen, upon the _Cranes_ coming to devour the _Corn_
the _Pygmies_ had sowed; and that at last they became so victorious, as
not only to destroy their Corn, but them also: For he tells us,[A] _Fuere
interius Pygmaei, minutum genus, & quod pro satis frugibus contra Grues
dimicando, defecit._ This may seem a reasonable Cause of a Quarrel; but it
not being certain that the _Pygmies_ used to sow _Corn_, I will not insist
on this neither.
[Footnote A: _Pomp. Mela de situ Orbis_, lib. 3. cap. 8.]
Now what seems most likely to me, is the account that _Pliny_ out of
_Megasthenes_, and _Strabo_ from _Onesicritus_ give us; and, provided I be
not obliged to believe or justifie _all_ that they say, I could rest
satisfied in great part of their Relation: For _Pliny_[B] tells us, _Veris
tempore universo agmine ad mare descendere, & Ova, Pullosque earum Alitum
consumere_: That in the Spring-time the whole drove of the _Pygmies_ go
down to the Sea side, to devour the _Cranes_ Eggs and their young Ones.
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