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Houang Cheng-ts'eng : Si Yang tchao kong tien lou (Records on tributes made by foreign countries from the Western Ocean)
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Taken from : W.W. Rockhill Toung Pao 1915
F. Sezgin ; Chinese sources on Islamic countries
A.C. Moule: Some foreign birds and Beasts in Chinese books
Also called : Huang Sheng-Tseng (Huang Sheng-Zeng); His yang chao kung tien lu ; Xiyang Zhaogong Dianlu
The book got actually written in 1520
.. of the six or seven countries more, Arabia is the furthest; and this indeed lies myriads of li from China. Hence it was not till Suan Toh'st reign that intercourse with Arabia begun. This done, their vessels filled with pearls and precious stones, with eagle wood and ambergris, with marvelous beasts and birds, unicorns, and lions, halcyons and peacocks, with rarities like the mei-naos gum and essences distilled from roses, and ornaments, such as coral and divers kind of gems, the envoys returned.
In 1381 the king (of java) sent an address written on leaves of gold, together with tribute, and also 300 black slaves.
In 1405 the ruler of Ormuz sent a high official back to China on the junks of Cheng Ho; he took with him a giraffe and other presents and a petition on gold leaf. ( in the Ming Shi the first visit of Cheng Ho is only in 1412)
Aden:
There are twelve strange things among the articles of merchandise: . . . the 7th is called ch'i-lin (giraffe), the 8th is called shih-tzu (lion), the 9th is called ; hua fu-lu (zebra), the 10th is called chin ch'ien pao (cheetah?), the 11th is called t'o chi (ostrich).... There are animals there. [Of one] the shape is like a mule, white body, white face, and black stripes The name is called hua fu-lu. [Of another] the legs in front are nine feet high, behind six feet high. The hoofs have three divisions ; flat mouth and long neck It stretches up its head to a height of 16 feet. The fore part is raised, the back low ; there are two fleshy horns, a cow's tail and a deer's body. The name is called ch'I-lin. These feet on the five kinds of grain.
T'ien-fang
In the hsuan-te period (1426-1436) the envoy Cheng-Ho on arriving in the Western Ocean sent an interpreter and seven men on native ships to this country with imperial presents of musk, porcelain, pieces of satin. They got back in a year's time and brought with them rare precious stones of various colors, giraffes, lions, ostriches,.. and also a plan of the great mosque (T'ien-fang means Kaaba) The king of T'ien-fang sent also his minister Sha-wan and others with presents for the Court.
Hu-lu-mo-ssu
There is also found the his-ya-kuo-shih and by the natives ya-kuo-shih. It is like a big cat in size, the whole body is like that of a tortoise shell cat. It has black ears. It is gentle and kind, not fierce like the lion and the leopard. When animals see it they prostrate themselves to the ground; it is the king of the animal kingdom.
This he copied from the Chang -Sheng version of Ma Huans book.