With all the possible variety of mythical, legendary and mysterious creatures on our planet, there are some animals whose existence is much more likely than others.
For example, it would not be surprising if, one day, evidence emerged that the Chinese bigfoot equivalent, the yoren (or hedgehog), is nothing more than an extinct (presumably) great ape known as Gigantopithecus blacki.
It can almost certainly be argued that some of the "lake monsters" are actually huge eels. There is a very high probability that the once existed and forever extinct Tasmanian thylacine is still alive. And, most likely, it will not be long before we learn about the real existence of the "little man" from Sumatra.
There are, however, very strange and almost legendary beasts that are so mysterious in nature and appearance that they simply cannot exist.
All of this brings us to the topic of today's article: a strange creature known as hon paa.
Back in the 1830s, WSW Ruschenberger wrote a book called Travel Around the World Including Muscat and Siam. It contains a strange and highly unlikely saga about the aforementioned hon paa. About this beast, Ruschenberger shared with his readers the following thoughts:
Well, that's pretty fabulous, to say the least! I'd love to know (and see) how a two-legged animal that has no knees can run faster than a horse.
As far as visible viscera is concerned, this is impossible. There is no doubt about that.
Of course, we shouldn't, literally, claim that hon paa's skin was so transparent that its insides could be seen, or even that it "lacked" joints. Such descriptions are ridiculous.
However, after analyzing all of the above, we might think about the next version.
Namely, the script of the legends of hon paa is based on the observation of a real unknown animal, which still remains elusive.
Of course, there is no evidence to support our version, and this may lead many to conclude that this is all a mixture of folklore, myth, legend and nothing else. Quite possible.
Whether the animal was just a fairy-tale character or whether the fact of observing a real, unknown animal was present, we will never know. But whatever the answer, perhaps hon paa is the most unlikely unknown animal ever described by man!
