{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_44685/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_44685","id":"gutenberg_44685","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44685","summary":null,"tags":["Animals in the Bible","Category: Nature/Gardening/Animals","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Nature in the Bible"],"text":"Transcriber's note:\n\nText enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\nText enclosed in equal signs is in bold (=350=).\n\nSmall capital text has been replaced with all capitals.\n\n * * * * *\n\n[Illustration: THE ANIMALS ENTER THE ARK.\n\nFRONTISPIECE--\"STORY OF THE BIBLE ANIMALS.\"]\n\n\n\n\n STORY\n OF THE\n BIBLE ANIMALS\n\n A Description of the\n Habits and Uses of every living\n Creature mentioned in the Scriptures,\n\n WITH\n\n EXPLANATION OF PASSAGES IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT IN\n WHICH REFERENCE IS MADE TO THEM.\n\n BY\n J. G. WOOD,\n AUTHOR OF \"HOMES WITHOUT HANDS,\"\n \"THE ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY,\" ETC.\n\n 300 ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE OF\n _CHARLES FOSTER'S PUBLICATIONS_,\n No. 118 South Seventh Street,\n PHILADELPHIA, PA.\n\n[Illustration: WAR-HORSES AND ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CHARIOT.\n\nSee page 307.]\n\n\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1888, BY W. A. FOSTER.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nOwing to the different conditions of time, language, country, and\nrace under which the various books of the Holy Scriptures were\nwritten, it is impossible that they should be rightly understood at\nthe present day without some study of the customs and manners of\nEastern peoples, as well as of the countries in which they lived.\n\nThe Oriental character of the scriptural writings causes them to\nabound with metaphors and symbols taken from the common life of the\ntime.\n\nThey contain allusions to the trees, flowers, and herbage, the\ncreeping things of the earth, the fishes of the sea, the birds of\nthe air, and the beasts which abode with man or dwelt in the deserts\nand forests.\n\nUnless, therefore, we understand these writings as those understood\nthem for whom they were written, it is evident that we shall\nmisinterpret instead of rightly comprehending them.\n\nThe field which is laid open to us is so large that only one\ndepartment of Natural History--namely, Zoology--can be treated in\nthis work, although it is illustrated by many references to other\nbranches of Natural History, to the physical geography of Palestine,\nEgypt, and Syria, the race-character of the inhabitants, and\nhistorical parallels.\n\nThe importance of understanding the nature, habits, and uses of\nthe animals which are constantly mentioned in the Bible, cannot be\noverrated as a means of elucidating the Scriptures, and without this\nknowledge we shall not only miss the point of innumerable passages\nof the Old and New Testaments, but the words of our Lord Himself\nwill often be totally misinterpreted, or at least lose part of their\nsignificance.\n\nThe object of the present work is therefore, to take in its proper\nsuccession, every creature whose name is given in the Scriptures,\nand to supply so much of its history as will enable the reader to\nunderstand all the passages in which it is mentioned.\n\n[Illustration: SHEPHERD LEADING SHEEP AND GOATS TO THEIR FOLD IN THE\nROCK.\n\nSee page 191.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE AUTHOR.\n\n\nThe Rev. J. G. Wood is a native of London, England. He was educated\nat Oxford University, and has long been known, both in England\nand America, as not only a learned and accurate writer on Natural\nHistory, but a popular one as well, having the happy faculty of\nmaking the results of scientific study and painstaking observation,\ninteresting and instructive to all classes of readers.\n\nHe has published a number of works on the most familiar departments\nof the history of animals, designed to awaken popular interest\nin the study. Their titles are \"Sketches and Anecdotes of Animal\nLife;\" \"Common Objects of the Seashore and Country;\" \"My Feathered\nFriends;\" \"Homes Without Hands\"--being a description of the\nhabitations of animals,--and the \"Illustrated Natural History,\" a\nbook which is widely known both in England and America as a standard\nwork of great value. It has given the author celebrity, and has\ncaused him to be considered an eminent authority on the subject\nwhich it treats.\n\nIt is evident, from these facts, that it would be difficult to find\na man better qualified than Mr. Wood, to write a book describing the\nanimals mentioned in the Bible.\n\nProfoundly impressed with the ignorance which prevails towards so\nimportant a feature of the Scriptural Narrative, he has devoted his\nripe powers and special knowledge to the work of dissipating it, and\nin this volume, not only fully describes the nature and habits of\nall the animals mentioned in the Scriptures, but tells the story of\ntheir relations to mankind.\n\nMr. Wood is a clergyman of the Church of England, and was for a\ntime connected with Christ Church, Oxford. He has devoted himself\nmainly, however, to authorship in the field which he has chosen,\nand in which he has become so well known. In his works he usually\nemploys a popular style of writing, and does not make scientific\nterms prominent. This is especially true of the \"Story of the Bible\nAnimals,\" which from its easy and interesting character is adapted\nto the comprehension of young and old.\n\n[Illutration: animals]\n\nMany of the pictures in this book are taken from the living animals,\nor from photographs and sketches by Eastern travellers.\n\nOthers represent imaginary scenes, or ancient historical events, and\nhave been designed by skilful artists after careful study of the\nsubjects.\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n[A complete Index of Subjects will be found at the end of this\nVolume.]\n\n\n NO. PAGE\n\n 1. THE ANIMALS ENTER THE ARK 2\n\n 2. WAR-HORSES AND ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CHARIOT 4\n\n 3. SHEPHERD LEADING SHEEP AND GOATS TO THEIR FOLD IN THE ROCK 6\n\n 4. A DESERT-SCENE 8\n\n 5. THE GARDEN OF EDEN 19\n\n 6. LION DRINKING AT A POOL 21\n\n 7. A LION KILLS THE PROPHET FROM JUDAH 22\n\n 8. LION AND TIGER 23\n\n 9. THE LION REPLIES TO THE THUNDER 25\n\n 10. LIONESS AND YOUNG 27\n\n 11. LION CARRYING HOME SUPPLIES 31\n\n 12. AFRICAN LIONS 32\n\n 13. THE LION ATTACKS THE HERD 34\n\n 14. THE LAIR OF THE LION 35\n\n 15. THE LION LISTENS TO THE APPROACH OF THE HUNTER 39\n\n 16. THE LEOPARD 43\n\n 17. LEOPARD ATTACKING A HERD OF DEER 45\n\n 18. THE LEOPARD LEAPS UPON HIS PREY 47\n\n 19. WAITING 49\n\n 20. LEOPARD 51\n\n 21. CAT AND KITTENS 52\n\n 22. CAT 54\n\n 23. DOGS IN AN EASTERN CITY AT NIGHT 57\n\n 24. SHIMEI EXULTING OVER KING DAVID 59\n\n 25. LAZARUS LYING AT THE RICH MAN'S DOOR 62\n\n 26. THE DEATH OF JEZEBEL 63\n\n 27. SYRIAN DOG 64\n\n 28. EASTERN WATER-SELLER 68\n\n 29. WOLVES ATTACKING A FLOCK OF SHEEP 70\n\n 30. WOLVES CHASING DEER 72\n\n 31. THE WOLF 73\n\n 32. WOLVES ATTACKING WILD GOATS 75\n\n 33. THE JACKAL 76\n\n 34. FOXES OR JACKALS DEVOURING THE CARCASE OF A GOAT 77\n\n 35. A FEAST IN PROSPECT 79\n\n 36. A FEAST SECURED 81\n\n 37. A TRESPASSER 83\n\n 38. LEOPARD ROBBED OF ITS PREY BY HY\u00c6NAS 87\n\n 39. HY\u00c6NAS DEVOURING BONES 89\n\n 40. WEASELS 93\n\n 41. THE BITER BIT 95\n\n 42. BADGERS 99\n\n 43. SUPPOSED FORM AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE TABERNACLE 101\n\n 44. BEARS DESCENDING THE MOUNTAINS 105\n\n 45. ON THE WATCH 107\n\n 46. SEEKING AN OUTLOOK 109\n\n 47. A FAMILY PARTY 111\n\n 48. BEAR 112\n\n 49. PORCUPINE 113\n\n 50. THE MOLE-RAT 115\n\n 51. THE MOUSE 119\n\n 52. DAGON FALLEN DOWN BEFORE THE ARK 120\n\n 53. MOUSE AND NEST 121\n\n 54. JERBOA OR LEAPING-MOUSE 122\n\n 55. THE FIELD-MOUSE 123\n\n 56. THE SYRIAN HARE 127\n\n 57. A TIMID GROUP 129\n\n 58. ALTAR OF BURNT-OFFERING 133\n\n 59. THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS 134\n\n 60. ABRAHAM OFFERS FOOD TO THE THREE STRANGERS 135\n\n 61. OXEN TREADING OUT GRAIN 139\n\n 62. EASTERN OX-CART 140\n\n 63. THE ARK OF THE COVENANT BEING DRAWN BY COWS 141\n\n 64. PLOUGHING WITH OXEN 143\n\n 65. MUMMY OF A SACRED BULL TAKEN FROM AN EGYPTIAN TOMB 146\n\n 66. ANIMALS BEING SOLD FOR SACRIFICE IN THE PORCH OF THE TEMPLE 147\n\n 67. JEROBOAM SETS UP A GOLDEN CALF AT BETHEL 148\n\n 68. THE BUFFALO 149\n\n 69. THE BHAINSA, OR DOMESTIC BUFFALO, AND CAMEL DRAWING\n THE PLOUGH 151\n\n 70. WILD BULL OR ORYX 155\n\n 71. THE ORYX 157\n\n 72. THE UNICORN 158\n\n 73. THE BISON 160\n\n 74. BISON KILLING WOLF 161\n\n 75. THE GAZELLE OR ROE OF SCRIPTURE 163\n\n 76. GAZELLES 164\n\n 77. THE FALCON USED IN OUR HUNT 168\n\n 78. THE ARAB IS DELIGHTED AT THE SUCCESS OF THE HUNT 169\n\n 79. THE GAZELLE 170\n\n 80. THE ADDAX 172\n\n 81. THE BUBALE OR FALLOW DEER OF SCRIPTURE 175\n\n 82. SHEEP 176\n\n 83. ARABS JOURNEYING TO FRESH PASTURES 178\n\n 84. VIEW OF THE PYRAMIDS 179\n\n 85. JACOB MEETS RACHEL AT THE WELL 182\n\n 86. EASTERN SHEPHERD WATCHING HIS FLOCK 183\n\n 87. DAVID GATHERS STONES FROM THE BROOK TO CAST AT\n GOLIATH 185\n\n 88. AN EASTERN SHEPHERD 186\n\n 89. SHEEP FOLLOWING THEIR SHEPHERD 187\n\n 90. ANCIENT SHEEP-PEN 190\n\n 91. THE POOR MAN'S LAMB 193\n\n 92. THE RICH MAN'S FEAST 193\n\n 93. FLOCKS OF SHEEP BEING TAKEN INTO JERUSALEM 195\n\n 94. SOUNDING THE TRUMPETS IN THE YEAR OF JUBILEE 202\n\n 95. RAM'S HORN TRUMPET 203\n\n 96. A LAMB UPON THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING 204\n\n 97. THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE 206\n\n 98. THE CHAMOIS 211\n\n 99. CHAMOIS DEFENDING ITS YOUNG 213\n\n 100. CHASING THE AOUDAD 214\n\n 101. THE MOUFLON 216\n\n 102. JACOB DECEIVES HIS FATHER AND TAKES ESAU'S BLESSING 218\n\n 103. THE ANGEL APPEARS TO GIDEON 219\n\n 104. EASTERN WATER-CARRIERS WITH BOTTLES MADE OF GOAT-SKIN 224\n\n 105. GOATS ON THE MARCH 228\n\n 106. HERD OF GOATS ATTACKED BY A LION 231\n\n 107. ARABIAN IBEX, THE WILD GOAT OF SCRIPTURE 236\n\n 108. THE DEER 238\n\n 109. RED DEER 239\n\n 110. FALLOW DEER OR HIND OF SCRIPTURE 240\n\n 111. A QUIET SPOT 241\n\n 112. RED DEER AND FAWN 243\n\n 113. THE LEADER OF THE HERD 245\n\n 114. THE WATCHFUL DOE 247\n\n 115. A KNEELING CAMEL 248\n\n 116. JACOB LEAVES LABAN AND RETURNS TO CANAAN 249\n\n 117. A CAMP IN THE DESERT 250\n\n 118. A GRATEFUL SHADE 253\n\n 119. CAMELS LADEN WITH BOUGHS 257\n\n 120. MORNING IN THE DESERT: STARTING OF THE CARAVAN 258\n\n 121. THE CAMEL POST 261\n\n 122. A RUNAWAY 263\n\n 123. AN ARAB SHEIK MOUNTED UPON HIS CAMEL 264\n\n 124. AARON'S ROD BEARS ALMONDS 266\n\n 125. CAMEL RIDING 267\n\n 126. THE DELOUL, OR SWIFT CAMEL 268\n\n 127. ANOTHER MODE OF RIDING THE CAMEL 270\n\n 128. PASSING A CAMEL IN A NARROW STREET OF AN EASTERN CITY 277\n\n 129. MOSES AT THE BURNING BUSH 278\n\n 130. AN ARAB ENCAMPMENT 279\n\n 131. ON THE MARCH 281\n\n 132. HAIR OF THE CAMEL 283\n\n 133. CAMEL GOING THROUGH A \"NEEDLE'S EYE\" 285\n\n 134. A REST IN THE DESERT 287\n\n 135. BACTRIAN CAMELS DRAWING CART 289\n\n 136. TRIAL OF ARAB HORSES 292\n\n 137. AN ARAB HORSE OF THE KOCHLANI BREED 293\n\n 138. THE WAR-HORSE 295\n\n 139. ARAB HORSES 297\n\n 140. BUYING AN ARAB HORSE 299\n\n 141. THE ARAB'S FAVORITE STEEDS 301\n\n 142. PHARAOH PURSUES THE ISRAELITES WITH CHARIOTS AND\n HORSES, AND THE SEA COVERS THEM 302\n\n 143. ELIJAH IS CARRIED UP 304\n\n 144. THE ISRAELITES, LED BY JOSHUA, TAKE JERICHO 308\n\n 145. ANCIENT BATTLEFIELD 309\n\n 146. CHARIOT OF STATE 311\n\n 147. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE REPRESENTING A VICTORIOUS\n KING IN HIS CHARIOT SLAYING HIS ENEMIES 313\n\n 148. MUMMY OF AN EGYPTIAN KING OVER THREE THOUSAND\n YEARS OLD 314\n\n 149. ASS AND DRIVER 315\n\n 150. ENTERING JERUSALEM 317\n\n 151. SYRIAN ASSES 319\n\n 152. A STREET IN CAIRO, EGYPT 322\n\n 153. BEGGAR IN THE STREETS OF CAIRO 324\n\n 154. NIGHT-WATCH IN CAIRO 325\n\n 155. HUNTING WILD ASSES 331\n\n 156. MULES OF THE EAST 334\n\n 157. ABSALOM IS CAUGHT IN THE BOUGHS OF AN OAK TREE 335\n\n 158. DANIEL REFUSES TO EAT THE KING'S MEAT 337\n\n 159. THE PRODIGAL SON 340\n\n 160. ELEAZAR REFUSES TO EAT SWINE'S FLESH 341\n\n 161. A MOTHER AND HER SEVEN SONS TORTURED FOR REFUSING\n TO EAT SWINE'S FLESH 342\n\n 162. THE EVIL SPIRITS ENTER A HERD OR SWINE 343\n\n 163. WILD BOARS DEVOURING THE CARCASE OF A DEER 344\n\n 164. WILD BOARS 345\n\n 165. WILD BOARS DESTROYING A VINEYARD 347\n\n 166. INDIAN ELEPHANT 349\n\n 167. KING SOLOMON, SEATED UPON HIS THRONE, RECEIVES THE\n QUEEN OF SHEBA 350\n\n 168. INDIAN ELEPHANTS 351\n\n 169. THE WAR-ELEPHANT 355\n\n 170. AFRICAN ELEPHANTS 359\n\n 171. ELEPHANTS' WATERING-PLACE 361\n\n 172. TIGER 363\n\n 173. TIGER IN THE REEDS 364\n\n 174. HEAD OF TIGER 365\n\n 175. THE HYRAX 367\n\n 176. HIPPOPOTAMUS 372\n\n 177. HIPPOPOTAMUS POOL 375\n\n 178. THE GREAT JAWS OF THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 376\n\n 179. HIPPOPOTAMUS EMERGING FROM THE RIVER 377\n\n 180. HIPPOPOTAMUS EATING GRASS 379\n\n 181. A HIPPOPOTAMUS-HUNT IN EGYPT 381\n\n 182. HIPPOPOTAMUS AND TRAP 384\n\n 183. THE BABOON 387\n\n 184. THE RHESUS MONKEY 389\n\n 185. FEEDING THE MONKEYS IN INDIA 390\n\n 186. TROUBLESOME NEIGHBORS 391\n\n 187. MONKEYS ENTERING A PLANTATION 392\n\n 188. SLOTHFUL MONKEYS 393\n\n 189. A PRIVILEGED RACE 394\n\n 190. THE WANDEROO 396\n\n 191. THE ENEMY DISCOVERED 397\n\n 192. BONNET MONKEYS 399\n\n 193. THE BAT 401\n\n 194. BATS' RESTING-PLACE 403\n\n 195. GREAT FOX-HEADED BAT, OR FLYING FOX 405\n\n 196. CAVE NEAR THE SITE OF ANCIENT JERICHO 406\n\n 197. NIGHT IN THE TROPICS 407\n\n 198. LEOPARDS 408\n\n 199. THE HOME OF THE VULTURE 411\n\n 200. The L\u00c4MMERGEIER 412\n\n 201. A SUCCESSFUL DEFENCE 415\n\n 202. STRUCK FROM A DIZZY HEIGHT 417\n\n 203. THE VULTURE'S NEST 418\n\n 204. THE EGYPTIAN VULTURE, OR GIER EAGLE 420\n\n 205. VULTURES 425\n\n 206. THE EAGLE AND THE HARE 430\n\n 207. EAGLES 432\n\n 208. EAGLE RETURNING TO THE NEST WITH HER PREY 435\n\n 209. THE OSPREY SEARCHING FOR FISH 437\n\n 210. SNATCHED FROM THE DEEP: THE OSPREY RISES WITH HIS\n PREY 439\n\n 211. THE KITE, OR VULTURE OF SCRIPTURE 441\n\n 212. THE PEREGRINE FALCON, OR GLEDE 444\n\n 213. THE LANNER FALCON 446\n\n 214. THE HAWK 447\n\n 215. KESTREL HOVERING OVER A FIELD IN SEARCH OF PREY 449\n\n 216. THE WIND-HOVER, OR KESTREL 450\n\n 217. THE BARN OWL 454\n\n 218. THE LITTLE OWL 456\n\n 219. CAUGHT NAPPING 457\n\n 220. RAVEN.--BARN OWL.--EAGLE OWL 459\n\n 221. A FAMILY COUNCIL 460\n\n 222. THE NIGHT HAWK ON THE WING 462\n\n 223. THE NIGHT HAWK 463\n\n 224. THE SWALLOW 466\n\n 225. LOST FROM THE FLOCK 469\n\n 226. THE SWALLOW AND SWIFT 471\n\n 227. VIEW OF THE SEA OF GALILEE 472\n\n 228. THE SWALLOW'S FAVORITE HAUNT 473\n\n 229. SWALLOWS AT HOME 475\n\n 230. THE HOOPOE 478\n\n 231. EASTERN HOUSETOPS 479\n\n 232. READING THE LAW TO THE PEOPLE AFTER THE RETURN\n FROM CAPTIVITY 482\n\n 233. THE BLUE THRUSH, OR SPARROW OF SCRIPTURE 483\n\n 234. THE TREE SPARROW 485\n\n 235. SPARROWS 486\n\n 236. A FOREST SCENE 487\n\n 237. THE GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO 488\n\n 238. NOAH RECEIVES THE DOVE 489\n\n 239. JESUS DRIVES OUT OF THE TEMPLE THE MONEYCHANGERS\n AND THOSE WHO SOLD DOVES 493\n\n 240. THE ROCK DOVE 494\n\n 241. BLUE ROCK PIGEONS 495\n\n 242. THE TURTLE DOVE 497\n\n 243. THE HEN AND HER BROOD 498\n\n 244. THE DOMESTIC FOWL 499\n\n 245. POULTRY 500\n\n 246. THE PEACOCK 501\n\n 247. PEAFOWL 503\n\n 248. FEATHERS OF THE PEACOCK 504\n\n 249. PARTRIDGES 505\n\n 250. THE GREEK PARTRIDGE 507\n\n 251. PARTRIDGE AND THEIR YOUNG 508\n\n 252. EASTERN QUAIL 509\n\n 253. THE QUAIL 510\n\n 254. FLIGHT OF QUAIL 515\n\n 255. THE RAVEN 517\n\n 256. ELIJAH FED BY RAVENS 518\n\n 257. RAVENS' ROOSTING-PLACE 521\n\n 258. RAVENS' NEST 522\n\n 259. OSTRICH AND NEST 527\n\n 260. ARABS HUNTING THE OSTRICH 533\n\n 261. THE BITTERN 537\n\n 262. BITTERN AND CORMORANT 539\n\n 263. THE HOME OF THE BITTERN 541\n\n 264. THE HERON 543\n\n 265. THE HOME OF THE HERON 545\n\n 266. THE PAPYRUS PLANT 548\n\n 267. THE HOME OF THE CRANE 549\n\n 268. THE CRANE 550\n\n 269. THE STORK 553\n\n 270. STORKS AND THEIR NESTS 555\n\n 271. A NEST OF THE WHITE STORK 559\n\n 272. IBIS AND GALLINULE 561\n\n 273. THE PELICAN 568\n\n 274. LIZARDS 575\n\n 275. TORTOISES 577\n\n 276. THE DHUBB AND THE TORTOISE 578\n\n 277. WATER TORTOISE 579\n\n 278. CROCODILE ATTACKING HORSES 587\n\n 279. A CROCODILE POOL OF ANCIENT EGYPT 590\n\n 280. CROCODILES OF THE UPPER NILE 591\n\n 281. ICHNEUMON DEVOURING THE EGGS OF THE CROCODILE 597\n\n 282. A CROCODILE TRAP 599\n\n 283. A FIGHT FOR LIFE 601\n\n 284. THE CYPRIUS, OR LIZARD 602\n\n 285. THE CHAMELEON 605\n\n 286. GECKO AND CHAMELEON 606\n\n 287. THE GECKO 609\n\n 288. SERPENTS 611\n\n 289. BOA CONSTRICTOR AND TIGER 613\n\n 290. COBRA AND CERASTES 615\n\n 291. THE ISRAELITES ARE BITTEN BY SERPENTS IN THE WILDERNESS,\n AND MOSES LIFTS UP THE SERPENT OF BRASS 616\n\n 292. THE SERPENT-CHARMER 619\n\n 293. THE VIPER 621\n\n 294. TEACHING COBRAS TO DANCE 623\n\n 295. HORNED VIPER 625\n\n 296. THE VIPER, OR EPHEH 627\n\n 297. THE TOXICOA 628\n\n 298. THE FROG 630\n\n 299. FISHES 633\n\n 300. A RIVER SCENE 635\n\n 301. PETER CATCHES THE FISH 636\n\n 302. MUR\u00c6NA, LONG-HEADED BARBEL, AND SHEAT FISH 638\n\n 303. SUCKING FISH, TUNNY, AND CORYPHENE 640\n\n 304. FISHING SCENE ON THE SEA OF GALILEE 642\n\n 305. MODE OF DRAGGING THE SEINE NET 645\n\n 306. NILE PERCH, SURMULLET, AND STAR-GAZER 647\n\n 307. THE PEARL OYSTER 653\n\n 308. INSECTS 655\n\n 309. A SWARM OF LOCUSTS 659\n\n 310. THE LOCUST 663\n\n 311. THE BEE 665\n\n 312. THE HORNET AND ITS NEST 669\n\n 313. ANTS ON THE MARCH 671\n\n 314. ANT OF PALESTINE 675\n\n 315. THE CRIMSON WORM 677\n\n 316. MORDECAI IS LED THROUGH THE CITY UPON THE KING'S\n HORSE 679\n\n 317. BUTTERFLIES OF PALESTINE 682\n\n 318. NOXIOUS FLIES OF PALESTINE 685\n\n 319. THE SCORPION 690\n\n 320. CORAL 694\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: more animals]\n\n\n\n\nSTORY OF THE BIBLE ANIMALS.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LION.\n\n Frequent mention of the Lion in the Scriptures--The Lion\n employed as an emblem in the Bible--Similarity of the African\n and Asiatic species--The chief characteristics of the Lion--its\n strength, activity, and mode of seizing its prey--The Lion hunt.\n\n\nOf all the undomesticated animals of Palestine, none is mentioned so\nfrequently as the LION. This may appear the more remarkable, because\nfor many years the Lion has been extinct in Palestine. The leopard,\nthe wolf, the jackal, and the hy\u00e6na, still retain their place in\nthe land, although their numbers are comparatively few; but the\nLion has vanished completely out of the land. The reason for this\ndisappearance is twofold, first, the thicker population; and second,\nthe introduction of firearms.\n\nNo animal is less tolerant of human society than the Lion. In\nthe first place, it dreads the very face of man, and as a rule,\nwhenever it sees a man will slink away and hide itself. There are,\nof course, exceptional cases to this rule. Sometimes a Lion becomes\nso old and stiff, his teeth are so worn, and his endurance so\nslight, that he is unable to chase his usual prey, and is obliged\nto seek for other means of subsistence. In an unpopulated district,\nhe would simply be starved to death, but when his lot is cast in\nthe neighbourhood of human beings, he is perforce obliged to become\na \"man-eater.\" Even in that case, a Lion will seldom attack a man,\nunless he should be able to do so unseen, but will hang about the\nvillages, pouncing on the women as they come to the wells for water,\nor upon the little children as they stray from their parents, and\ncontinually shifting his quarters lest he should be assailed during\nhis sleep. The Lion requires a very large tract of country for his\nmaintenance, and the consequence is, that in proportion as the land\nis populated does the number of Lions decrease.\n\nFirearms are the special dread of the Lion. In the first place, the\nLion, like all wild beasts, cannot endure fire, and the flash of the\ngun terrifies him greatly. Then, there is the report, surpassing\neven his roar in resonance; and lastly, there is the unseen bullet,\nwhich seldom kills him at once, but mostly drives him to furious\nanger by the pain of his wound, yet which he does not dread nearly\nso much as the harmless flash and report. There is another cause of\nthe Lion's banishment from the Holy Land. It is well known that to\nattract any wild beast or bird to some definite spot, all that is\nrequired is to provide them with a suitable and undisturbed home,\nand a certainty of food. Consequently, the surest method of driving\nthem away is to deprive them of both these essentials. Then the Lion\nused to live in forests, which formerly stretched over large tracts\nof ground, but which have long since been cut down, thus depriving\nthe Lion of its home, while the thick population and the general use\nof firearms have deprived him of his food. In fact, the Lion has\nbeen driven out of Palestine, just as the wolf has been extirpated\nfrom England.\n\nBut, in the olden times, Lions must have been very plentiful.\nThere is scarcely a book in the Bible, whether of the Old or New\nTestaments, whether historical or prophetical, that does not contain\nsome mention of this terrible animal; sometimes describing the\nactions of individual Lions, but mostly using the word as an\nemblem of strength and force, whether used for a good purpose or\nabused for a bad one.\n\n[Illustration: LION DRINKING AT A POOL.]\n\n[Illustration: A LION KILLS THE PROPHET FROM JUDAH.]\n\nThere are several varieties of Lion, which may be reduced to two,\nnamely, the African and the Asiatic Lion. It is almost certain,\nhowever, that these animals really are one and the same species,\nand that the trifling differences which exist between an African\nand an Asiatic Lion, are not sufficient to justify a naturalist in\nconsidering them to be distinct species. The habits of both are\nidentical, modified, as is sure to be the case, by the difference of\nlocality; but then, such variations in habit are continually seen in\nanimals confessedly of the same species, which happen to be placed\nin different conditions of climate and locality.\n\nThat it was once exceedingly plentiful in Palestine is evident, from\na very cursory knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. It is every where\nmentioned as a well-known animal, equally familiar and dreaded. When\nthe disobedient prophet was killed by the Lion near Bethel, the fact\nseemed not to have caused any surprise in the neighbourhood. When\nthe people came out to rescue the body of the prophet, they wondered\nmuch because the Lion was standing by the fallen man, but had not\ntorn him, and had left the ass unhurt. But that a Lion should have\nkilled a man seems to have been an event which was not sufficiently\nrare to be surprising.\n\nWe will now proceed to those characteristics of the Lion which bear\nespecial reference to the Scriptures.\n\nIn the first place, size for size, the Lion is one of the strongest\nof beasts.\n\n[Illustration: LION AND TIGER.]\n\nMoreover, the strength of the Lion is equally distributed over the\nbody and limbs, giving to the animal an easy grace of movement which\nis rare except with such a structure. A full-grown Lion cannot only\nknock down and kill, but can carry away in its mouth, an ordinary\nox; and one of these terrible animals has been known to pick up a\nheifer in its mouth, and to leap over a wide ditch still carrying\nits burden. Another Lion carried a two-year old heifer, and was\nchased for five hours by mounted farmers, so that it must have\ntraversed a very considerable distance. Yet, in the whole of this\nlong journey, the legs of the heifer had only two or three times\ntouched the ground.\n\nIt kills man, and comparatively small animals, such as deer and\nantelopes, with a blow of its terrible paw; and often needs to\ngive no second blow to cause the death of its victim. The sharp\ntalons are not needed to cause death, for the weight of the blow is\nsufficient for that purpose.\n\nWhen the hunter pursues it with dogs, after the usual fashion,\nthere is often a great slaughter among them, especially among those\nthat are inexperienced in the chase of the Lion. Urged by their\ninstinctive antipathy, the dogs rush forward to the spot where the\nLion awaits them, and old hounds bay at him from a safe distance,\nwhile the young and inexperienced among them are apt to convert the\nsham attack into a real one. Their valour meets with a poor reward,\nfor a few blows from the Lion's terrible paws send his assailants\nflying in all directions, their bodies streaming with blood, and in\nmost cases a fatal damage inflicted, while more than one unfortunate\ndog lies fairly crushed by the weight of a paw laid with apparent\ncarelessness upon its body. There is before me a Lion's skin, a\nspoil of one of these animals shot by the celebrated sportsman,\nGordon Cumming. Although the skin lies flat upon the floor, and the\npaws are nothing but the skin and talons, the weight of each paw is\nvery considerable, and always surprises those who hear it fall on\nthe floor.\n\nThere are several Hebrew words which are used for the Lion, but\nthat which signifies the animal in its adult state is derived from\nan Arabic word signifying strength; and therefore the Lion is\ncalled the Strong-one, just as the Bat is called the Night-flier.\nNo epithet could be better deserved, for the Lion seems to be a\nvery incarnation of strength, and, even when dead, gives as vivid\nan idea of concentrated power as when it was living. And, when the\nskin is stripped from the body, the tremendous muscular development\nnever fails to create a sensation of awe. The muscles of the limbs,\nthemselves so hard as to blunt the keen-edged knives employed by a\ndissecter, are enveloped in their glittering sheaths, playing upon\neach other like well-oiled machinery, and terminating in tendons\nseemingly strong as steel, and nearly as impervious to the knife.\nNot until the skin is removed can any one form a conception of the\nenormously powerful muscles of the neck, which enable the Lion to\nlift the weighty prey which it kills, and to convey it to a place\nof security.\n\n[Illustration: THE LION REPLIES TO THE THUNDER.]\n\nAlthough usually unwilling to attack an armed man, it is one of the\nmost courageous animals in existence when it is driven to fight, and\nif its anger is excited, it cares little for the number of its foes,\nor the weapons with which they are armed. Even the dreaded firearms\nlose their terrors to an angry Lion, while a Lioness, who fears\nfor the safety of her young, is simply the most terrible animal\nin existence. We know how even a hen will fight for her chickens,\nand how she has been known to beat off the fox and the hawk by the\nreckless fury of her attack. It may be easily imagined, therefore,\nthat a Lioness actuated by equal courage, and possessed of the\nterrible weapons given to her by her Creator, would be an animal\nalmost too formidable for the conception of those who have not\nactually witnessed the scene of a Lioness defending her little ones.\n\nThe roar of the Lion is another of the characteristics for which it\nis celebrated. There is no beast that can produce a sound that could\nfor a moment be mistaken for the roar of the Lion. The Lion has a\nhabit of stooping his head towards the ground when he roars, so\nthat the terrible sound rolls along like thunder, and reverberates\nin many an echo in the far distance. Owing to this curious habit,\nthe roar can be heard at a very great distance, but its locality\nis rendered uncertain, and it is often difficult to be quite sure\nwhether the Lion is to the right or the left of the hearer.\n\nThere are few sounds which strike more awe than the Lion's roar.\nEven at the Zoological Gardens, where the hearer knows that he is in\nperfect safety, and where the Lion is enclosed in a small cage faced\nwith strong iron bars, the sound of the terrible roar always has\na curious effect upon the nerves. It is not exactly fear, because\nthe hearer knows that he is safe; but it is somewhat akin to the\nfeeling of mixed awe and admiration with which one listens to the\ncrashing thunder after the lightning has sped its course. If such be\nthe case when the Lion is safely housed in a cage, and is moreover\nso tame that even if he did escape, he would be led back by the\nkeeper without doing any harm, the effect of the roar must indeed be\nterrific when the Lion is at liberty, when he is in his own country,\nand when the shades of evening prevent him from being seen even at a\nshort distance.\n\n[Illustration: LIONESS AND YOUNG.]\n\nIn the dark, there is no animal so invisible as a Lion. Almost\nevery hunter has told a similar story--of the Lion's approach at\nnight, of the terror displayed by dogs and cattle as he drew near,\nand of the utter inability to see him, though he was so close that\nthey could hear his breathing. Sometimes, when he has crept near\nan encampment, or close to a cattle inclosure, he does not proceed\nany farther lest he should venture within the radius illumined by\nthe rays of the fire. So he crouches closely to the ground, and,\nin the semi-darkness, looks so like a large stone, or a little\nhillock, that any one might pass close to it without perceiving its\nreal nature. This gives the opportunity for which the Lion has been\nwatching, and in a moment he strikes down the careless straggler,\nand carries off his prey to the den. Sometimes, when very much\nexcited, he accompanies the charge with a roar, but, as a general\nfact, he secures his prey in silence.\n\nThe roar of the Lion is very peculiar. It is not a mere outburst of\nsound, but a curiously graduated performance. No description of the\nLion's roar is so vivid, so true, and so graphic as that of Gordon\nCumming: \"One of the most striking things connected with the Lion\nis his voice, which is extremely grand and peculiarly striking.\nIt consists at times of a low, deep moaning, repeated five or six\ntimes, ending in faintly audible sighs. At other times he startles\nthe forest with loud, deep-toned, solemn roars, repeated five or six\ntimes in quick succession, each increasing in loudness to the third\nor fourth, when his voice dies away in five or six low, muffled\nsounds, very much resembling distant thunder. As a general rule,\nLions roar during the night, their sighing moans commencing as the\nshades of evening envelop the forest, and continuing at intervals\nthroughout the night. In distant and secluded regions, however, I\nhave constantly heard them roaring loudly as late as nine or ten\no'clock on a bright sunny morning. In hazy and rainy weather they\nare to be heard at every hour in the day, but their roar is subdued.\"\n\nLastly, we come to the dwelling-place of the Lion. This animal\nalways fixes its residence in the depths of some forest, through\nwhich it threads its stealthy way with admirable certainty. No fox\nknows every hedgerow, ditch, drain, and covert better than the\nLion knows the whole country around his den. Each Lion seems to\nhave his peculiar district, in which only himself and his family\nwill be found. These animals seem to parcel out the neighbourhood\namong themselves by a tacit law like that which the dogs of eastern\ncountries have imposed upon themselves, and which forbids them to\ngo out of the district in which they were born. During the night he\ntraverses his dominions; and, as a rule, he retires to his den as\nsoon as the sun is fairly above the horizon. Sometimes he will be\nin wait for prey in the broadest daylight, but his ordinary habits\nare nocturnal, and in the daytime he is usually asleep in his secret\ndwelling-place.\n\nWe will now glance at a few of the passages in which the Lion is\nmentioned in the Holy Scriptures, selecting those which treat of its\nvarious characteristics.\n\nThe terrible strength of the Lion is the subject of repeated\nreference. In the magnificent series of prophecies uttered by\nJacob on his deathbed, the power of the princely tribe of Judah\nis predicted under the metaphor of a Lion--the beginning of its\npower as a Lion's whelp, the fulness of its strength as an adult\nLion, and its matured establishment in power as the old Lion that\ncouches himself and none dares to disturb him. Then Solomon, in the\nProverbs, speaks of the Lion as the \"strongest among beasts, and\nthat turneth not away for any.\"\n\nSolomon also alludes to its courage in the same book, Prov.\nxxviii. 1, in the well-known passage, \"The wicked fleeth when no\nman pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.\" And, in 2\nSam. xxiii. 20, the courage of Benaiah, one of the mighty three of\nDavid's army, is specially honoured, because he fought and killed a\nLion single-handed, and because he conquered \"two lion-like men of\nMoab.\" David, their leader, had also distinguished himself, when a\nmere keeper of cattle, by pursuing and killing a Lion that had come\nto plunder his herd. In the same book of Samuel which has just been\nquoted (xvii. 10), the valiant men are metaphorically described as\nhaving the hearts of Lions.\n\nThe ferocity of this terrible beast of prey is repeatedly mentioned,\nand the Psalms are full of such allusions, the fury and anger of\nenemies being compared to the attacks of the Lion.\n\nMany passages refer to the Lion's roar, and it is remarkable that\nthe Hebrew language contains several words by which the different\nkind of roar is described. One word, for example, represents the\nlow, deep, thunder-like roar of the Lion seeking its prey, and which\nhas already been mentioned. This is the word which is used in Amos\niii. 4, \"Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey?\" and\nin this passage the word which is translated as Lion signifies the\nanimal when full grown and in the prime of life. Another word is\nused to signify the sudden exulting cry of the Lion as it leaps\nupon its victim. A third is used for the angry growl with which a\nLion resents any endeavour to deprive it of its prey, a sound with\nwhich we are all familiar, on a miniature scale, when we hear a cat\ngrowling over a mouse which she has just caught. The fourth term\nsignifies the peculiar roar uttered by the young Lion after it has\nceased to be a cub and before it has attained maturity. This last\nterm is employed in Jer. li. 38, \"They shall _roar_ together like\nlions; they shall _yell_ as lions' whelps,\" in which passage two\ndistinct words are used, one signifying the roar of the Lion when\nsearching after prey, and the other the cry of the young Lions.\n\nThe prophet Amos, who in his capacity of herdsman was familiar\nwith the wild beasts, from which he had to guard his cattle, makes\nfrequent mention of the Lion, and does so with a force and vigour\nthat betoken practical experience. How powerful is this imagery,\n\"The lion hath roared; who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken;\nwho can but prophesy?\" Here we have the picture of the man himself,\nthe herdsman and prophet, who had trembled many a night, as the\nLions drew nearer and nearer; and who heard the voice of the Lord,\nand his lips poured out prophecy. Nothing can be more complete than\nthe parallel which he has drawn. It breathes the very spirit of\npiety, and may bear comparison even with the prophecies of Isaiah\nfor its simple grandeur.\n\nIt is remarkable how the sacred writers have entered into the spirit\nof the world around them, and how closely they observed the minutest\ndetails even in the lives of the brute beasts. There is a powerful\npassage in the book of Job, iv. 11, \"The old lion perisheth for lack\nof prey,\" in which the writer betrays his thorough knowledge of the\nhabits of the animal, and is aware that the usual mode of a Lion's\ndeath is through hunger, in consequence of his increasing inability\nto catch prey.\n\nThe nocturnal habits of the Lion and its custom of lying in wait\nfor prey are often mentioned in the Scriptures. The former habit is\nspoken of in that familiar and beautiful passage in the Psalms (civ.\n20), \"Thou makest darkness, and it is night; wherein all the beasts\nof the forest do creep forth. The young Lions roar after their\nprey; and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they gather\nthemselves together, and lay them down in their dens.\"\n\n[Illustration: LION CARRYING HOME SUPPLIES.]\n\nAn animal so destructive among the flocks and herds could not be\nallowed to carry out its depredations unchecked, and as we have\nalready seen, the warfare waged against it has been so successful,\nthat the Lions have long ago been fairly extirpated in Palestine.\nThe usual method of capturing or killing the Lion was by pitfalls or\nnets, to both of which there are many references in the Scriptures.\n\nThe mode of hunting the Lion with nets was identical with that which\nis practised in India at the present time. The precise locality of\nthe Lion's dwelling-place having been discovered, a circular wall\nof net is arranged round it, or if only a few nets can be obtained,\nthey are set in a curved form, the concave side being towards the\nLion. They then send dogs into the thicket, hurl stones and sticks\nat the den, shoot arrows into it, fling burning torches at it, and\nso irritate and alarm the animal that it rushes against the net,\nwhich is so made that it falls down and envelopes the animal in its\nfolds. If the nets be few, the drivers go to the opposite side of\nthe den, and induce the Lion to escape in the direction where he\nsees no foes, but where he is sure to run against the treacherous\nnet. Other large and dangerous animals were also captured by the\nsame means.\n\n[Illustration: AFRICAN LIONS.]\n\nAnother and more common, because an easier and a cheaper method was,\nby digging a deep pit, covering the mouth with a slight covering\nof sticks and earth, and driving the animal upon the treacherous\ncovering. It is an easier method than the net, because after the pit\nis once dug, the only trouble lies in throwing the covering over\nits mouth. But, it is not so well adapted for taking beasts alive,\nas they are likely to be damaged, either by the fall into the pit,\nor by the means used in getting them out again. Animals, therefore,\nthat are caught in pits are generally, though not always, killed\nbefore they are taken out. The net, however, envelops the animal so\nperfectly, and renders it so helpless, that it can be easily bound\nand taken away. The hunting net is very expensive, and requires a\nlarge staff of men to work it, so that none but a rich man could use\nit in hunting.\n\nThe passages in which allusion is made to the use of the pitfall in\nhunting are too numerous to be quoted, and it will be sufficient\nto mention one or two passages, such as those wherein the Psalmist\nlaments that his enemies have hidden for him their net in a pit, and\nthat the proud have digged pits for him.\n\nLions that were taken in nets seem to have been kept alive in dens,\neither as mere curiosities, or as instruments of royal vengeance.\nSuch seems to have been the object of the Lions which were kept by\nDarius, into whose den Daniel was thrown, by royal command, and\nwhich afterwards killed his accusers when thrown into the same den.\nIt is plain that the Lions kept by Darius must have been exceedingly\nnumerous, because they killed at once the accusers of Daniel, who\nwere many in number, together with their wives and children, who,\nin accordance with the cruel custom of that age and country, were\npartakers of the same punishment with the real culprits. The whole\nof the first part of Ezek. xix. alludes to the custom of taking\nLions alive and keeping them in durance afterwards.\n\nSometimes the Lion was hunted as a sport, but this amusement\nseems to have been restricted to the great men, on account of its\nexpensive nature. Such hunting scenes are graphically depicted in\nthe famous Nineveh sculptures, which represent the hunters pursuing\ntheir mighty game in chariots, and destroying them with arrows.\nRude, and even conventional as are these sculptures, they have a\nspirit, a force, and a truthfulness, that prove them to have been\ndesigned by artists to whom the scene was a familiar one.\n\n[Illustration: THE LION ATTACKS THE HERD.]\n\nUpon the African Continent the Lion reigns supreme, monarch of the\nfeline race.\n\nWhatever may be said of the distinction between the Asiatic and\nAfrican Lion, there seems to be scarcely sufficient grounds for\nconsidering the very slight differences a sufficient warrant for\nconstituting separate species. From all accounts, it seems that\nthe habits of all Lions are very similar, and that a Lion acts\nlike a Lion whether found in Africa or Asia.\n\n[Illustration: THE LAIR OF THE LION.]\n\nAn old Boer, as the Dutch settlers of Southern Africa are called,\ngave me a most interesting account of an adventure with a Lion.\n\nThe man was a well-known hunter, and lived principally by the sale\nof ivory and skins. He was accustomed each year to make a trip into\nthe game country, and traded with the Kaffirs, or native blacks,\nunder very favorable auspices. His stock in trade consisted of guns\nand ammunition, several spans of fine oxen, some horses, and about a\ndozen dogs.\n\nA Lion which appeared to have been roaming about the country\nhappened to pass near this hunter's camp, and scenting the horses\nand oxen, evidently thought that the location would suit him for\na short period. A dense wood situated about a mile from the camp\nafforded shelter, and this spot the Lion selected as a favorable\nposition for his headquarters.\n\nThe hunter had not to wait for more than a day, before the\nsuspicions which had been aroused by some broad footmarks, which he\nsaw imprinted in the soil, were confirmed into a certainty that a\nlarge Lion was concealed near his residence.\n\nIt now became a question of policy whether the Boer should attack\nthe Lion, or wait for the Lion to attack him. He thought it possible\nthat the savage beast, having been warned off by the dogs, whose\nbarking had been continued and furious during the night on which the\nLion was supposed to have passed, might think discretion the better\npart of valor, and consequently would move farther on, in search of\na less carefully guarded locality upon which to quarter himself. He\ndetermined, therefore, to wait, but to use every precaution against\na night-surprise.\n\nThe Lion, however, was more than a match for the man; for during the\nsecond night a strong ox from his best span was quietly carried off,\nand, although there was some commotion among the dogs and cattle, it\nwas then thought that the alarm had scared the Lion away.\n\nThe morning light, however, showed that the beast had leaped the\nfence which surrounded the camp, and, having killed the ox, had\nevidently endeavored to scramble over it again with the ox in his\npossession. The weight of the Lion and the ox had caused the stakes\nto give way, and the Lion had easily carried off his prey through\nthe aperture.\n\nThe track of the Lion was immediately followed by the Boer, who took\nwith him a negro and half a dozen of his best dogs. The tracks were\neasily seen, and the hunter had no difficulty in deciding that the\nLion was in the wood previously mentioned. But this in itself was no\ngreat advance, for the place was overgrown with a dense thicket of\nthorn-bushes, creepers, and long grass, forming a jungle so thick\nand impenetrable that for a man to enter seemed almost impossible.\n\nIt was therefore agreed that the Boer should station himself on one\nside, while the negro went to the other side of the jungle, the dogs\nmeanwhile being sent into the thicket.\n\nThis arrangement, it was hoped, would enable either the hunter or\nthe negro to obtain a shot; for they concluded that the dogs, which\nwere very courageous animals, would drive the Lion out of the bushes.\n\nThe excited barking of the dogs soon indicated that they had\ndiscovered the Lion, but they appeared to be unable to drive him\nfrom his stronghold; for, although they would scamper away every now\nand then, as though the enraged monster was chasing them, still they\nreturned to bark at the same spot.\n\nBoth of the hunters fired several shots, with the hope that a stray\nbullet might find its way through the underwood to the heart of the\nsavage beast, but a great quantity of ammunition was expended and no\nresult achieved.\n\nAt length, as the dogs had almost ceased to bark, it was considered\nadvisable to call them off. But all the whistling and shouting\nfailed to recall more than two out of the six, and one of these was\nfearfully wounded. The others, it was afterwards found, had been\nkilled by the Lion: a blow from his paw had sufficed to break the\nback or smash the skull of all which had come within his reach.\n\nThus the first attempt on the Lion was a total failure, and the\nhunter returned home lamenting the loss of his dogs, and during the\nnight watched beside his enclosure; but the Lion did not pay him a\nsecond visit.\n\nEarly on the following evening, accompanied by the negro, he started\nafresh for the wood; and, having marked the spot from which the Lion\nhad on the former occasion quitted the dense thorny jungle, the two\nhunters ascended a tree and watched during the whole night in the\nhope of obtaining a shot at the hated marauder. But while they\nwere paying the residence of the Lion a visit _he_ favored the camp\nwith a call, and this time, by way of variety, carried away a very\nvaluable horse, which he conveyed to the wood, being wise enough\nto walk out and to return by a different path from that he had\npreviously used, consequently avoiding the ambush prepared for him.\n\nWhen the hunter returned to his camp, he was furious at this new\nloss, and determined upon a plan which, though dangerous, still\nappeared the most likely to insure the destruction of the ravenous\nmonster.\n\nThis plan was to enter the wood alone, without attendant or dogs,\nand with noiseless, stealthy movements creep near enough to the Lion\nto obtain a shot.\n\nNow, when we consider the difficulty of moving through thick bushes\nwithout making a noise, and remember the watchful habits of every\nmember of the cat tribe, we may be certain that to surprise the Lion\nwas a matter of extreme difficulty, and that the probability was\nthat the hunter would meet with disaster.\n\nAt about ten o'clock on the morning after the horse-slaughter,\nthe hunter started for the wood armed with a double-barrelled\nsmooth-bore gun, and prepared to put forth his utmost skill in\nstalking his dangerous enemy.\n\nNow, it is the nature of the Lion, when gorged, to sleep during the\nday; and if the animal has carried off any prey, it usually conceals\nitself near the remnants of its feast, to watch them until ready for\nanother meal.\n\nThe hunter was aware of this, and laid his plans very judiciously.\nHe approached the wood slowly and silently, found the track of the\nLion, and began tracing it to find the spot where the remains of the\nhorse could be seen.\n\nHe moved forward very slowly and with great caution, being soon\nsurrounded by the thick bushes, the brightness of the plain also\nbeing succeeded by the deep gloom of the wood. Being an experienced\nhand at bush-craft, he was able to walk or crawl without causing\neither a dried stick to crack or a leaf to rustle, and he was aware\nthat his progress was without noise; for the small birds, usually so\nwatchful and alert, flew away only when he approached close to them,\nthus showing that their eyes, and not their ears, had made them\nconscious of the presence of man.\n\nBirds and monkeys are the great obstacles in the bush to the\nsuccess of a surprise, for the birds fly from tree to tree and\nwhistle or twitter, whilst the monkeys chatter and grimace,\nexpressing by all sorts of actions that a strange creature is\napproaching. When, therefore, the bushranger finds that birds and\nmonkeys are unconscious of his presence until they see him, he may\nbe satisfied that he has traversed the bush with tolerable silence,\nand has vanquished such dangerous betrayers of his presence as dried\nsticks and dead leaves.\n\n[Illustration: THE LION LISTENS TO THE APPROACH OF THE HUNTER.]\n\nThe hunter had not proceeded thus more than fifty yards into the\njungle, before he found indications that he was close upon the lair\nof the Lion: a strong leonine scent was noticeable, and part of\nthe carcase of his horse was visible between the bushes. Instead,\ntherefore, of advancing farther, as an incautious or inexperienced\nbushranger would have done, he crouched down behind a bush and\nremained motionless.\n\nAll animals are aware of the advantages of a surprise, and the\ncat tribe especially practise the ambuscading system. The hunter,\ntherefore, determined, if possible, to turn the tables on the Lion,\nand to surprise, rather than to be surprised.\n\nHe concluded that the Lion, even when gorged with horseflesh, would\nnot be so neglectful of his safety as to sleep with more than one\neye closed, and that, although he had crept with great care through\nthe bush, he had probably, from some slight sound, caused the Lion\nto be on the alert; if, therefore, he should approach the carcase of\nthe horse, he might be pounced upon at once.\n\nAfter remaining silent and watchful for several minutes, the hunter\nat length saw that an indistinctly-outlined object was moving behind\nsome large broad-leafed plants at about twenty paces from him.\n\nThis object was the Lion. It was crouched behind some shrubs,\nattentively watching the bushes where the hunter was concealed. Its\nhead only was clearly visible, the body being hidden by the foliage.\n\nIt was evident that the Lion was suspicious of something, but was\nnot certain that anything had approached.\n\nThe hunter, knowing that this was a critical period for him,\nremained perfectly quiet. He did not like to risk a shot at the\nforehead of the Lion, for it would require a very sure aim to insure\na death-wound, and the number of twigs and branches would be almost\ncertain to deflect the bullet.\n\nThe Lion, after a careful inspection, appeared to be satisfied, and\nlaid down behind the shrubs. The hunter then cocked both barrels\nof his heavy gun and turned the muzzle slowly around, so that he\ncovered the spot on which the Lion lay, and shifted his position so\nas to be well placed for a shot.\n\nThe slight noise he made in moving, attracted the attention of the\nLion, who immediately rose to his feet. A broadside shot, which was\nthe most sure, could not be obtained, so the hunter fired at the\nhead of the animal, aiming for a spot between the eyes. The ball\nstruck high, as is usually the case when the distance is short, and\nthe charge of powder heavy, but the Lion fell over on its back,\nrising, however, almost immediately and uttering a terrific roar.\n\nIn regaining its feet it turned its side to the hunter, giving him\nthe opportunity he had so anxiously waited for. Aiming at a spot\nbehind the shoulder, he fired again, and had the satisfaction of\nseeing the savage beast, maddened by the pain of a mortal wound,\ntearing up the ground in its fury within a very few paces of his\nhiding-place.\n\nBy degrees its fierce roars subsided into angry growls, and the\ngrowls into heavy moans, until the terrible voice was hushed and\nsilence reigned throughout the wood.\n\nThe hunter immediately started off home, and brought his negroes and\ndogs to the spot, where they found stretched dead upon the ground a\nLion of the largest size.\n\nBefore sunset that evening its skin was pegged down at the hunter's\ncamp, and all were filled with delight, knowing that they would be\nno more disturbed by the fierce marauder.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEOPARD.\n\n The Leopard not often mentioned in the Scriptures--its\n attributes exactly described--Probability that several animals\n were classed under the name--How the Leopard takes its\n prey--Craft of the Leopard--its ravages among the flocks--The\n empire of man over the beast--The Leopard at Bay--Localities\n wherein the Leopard lives--The skin of the Leopard--Various\n passages of Scripture explained.\n\n\nOf the LEOPARD but little is said in the Holy Scriptures.\n\nIn the New Testament this animal is only mentioned once, and\nthen in a metaphorical rather than a literal sense. In the Old\nTestament it is casually mentioned seven times, and only in two\nplaces is the word Leopard used in the strictly literal sense.\nYet, in those brief passages of Holy Writ, the various attributes\nof the animal are delineated with such fidelity, that no one could\ndoubt that the Leopard was familiarly known in Palestine. Its\ncolour, its swiftness, its craft, its ferocity, and the nature of\nits dwelling-place, are all touched upon in a few short sentences\nscattered throughout the Old Testament, and even its peculiar habits\nare alluded to in a manner that proves it to have been well known at\nthe time when the words were written.\n\nIt is my purpose in the following pages to give a brief account of\nthe Leopard of the Scriptures, laying most stress on the qualities\nto which allusion is made, and then to explain the passages in which\nthe name of the animal occurs.\n\nIn the first place, it is probable that under the word Leopard are\ncomprehended three animals, two of which, at least, were thought to\nbe one species until the time of Cuvier. These three animals are the\nLEOPARD proper (_Leopardus varius_), the OUNCE (_Leopardus uncia_),\nand the CHETAH, or HUNTING LEOPARD (_Gueparda jubata_). All these\nthree species belong to the same family of animals; all are spotted\nand similar in colour, all are nearly alike in shape, and all are\ninhabitants of Asia, while two of them, the Leopard and the Chetah,\nare also found in Africa.\n\nIt is scarcely necessary to mention that the Leopard is a beast\nof prey belonging to the cat tribe, that its colour is tawny,\nvariegated with rich black spots, and that it is a fierce and\nvoracious animal, almost equally dreaded by man and beast. It\ninhabits many parts of Africa and Asia, and in those portions of\nthe country which are untenanted by mankind, it derives all its\nsustenance from the herb-eating animals of the same tracts.\n\n[Illustration: THE LEOPARD.]\n\nTo deer and antelopes it is a terrible enemy, and in spite of their\nactive limbs, seldom fails in obtaining its prey. Swift as is the\nLeopard, for a short distance, and wonderful as its spring, it has\nnot the enduring speed of the deer or antelope, animals which are\nspecially formed for running, and which, if a limb is shattered,\ncan run nearly as fast and quite as far on three legs as they\ncan when all four limbs are uninjured. Instinctively knowing its\ninferiority in the race, the Leopard supplies by cunning the want of\nenduring speed.\n\nIt conceals itself in some spot whence it can see far around without\nbeing seen, and thence surveys the country. A tree is the usual\nspot selected for this purpose, and the Leopard, after climbing the\ntrunk by means of its curved talons, settles itself in the fork of\nthe branches, so that its body is hidden by the boughs, and only\nits head is shown between them. With such scrupulous care does it\nconceal itself, that none but a practised hunter can discover it,\nwhile any one who is unaccustomed to the woods cannot see the animal\neven when the tree is pointed out to him.\n\nAs soon as the Leopard sees the deer feeding at a distance, he\nslips down the tree and stealthily glides off in their direction.\nHe has many difficulties to overcome, because the deer are among\nthe most watchful of animals, and if the Leopard were to approach\nto the windward, they would scent him while he was yet a mile away\nfrom them. If he were to show himself but for one moment in the\nopen ground he would be seen, and if he were but to shake a branch\nor snap a dry twig he would be heard. So, he is obliged to approach\nthem against the wind, to keep himself under cover, and yet to\nglide so carefully along that the heavy foliage of the underwood\nshall not be shaken, and the dry sticks and leaves which strew the\nground shall not be broken. He has also to escape the observation of\ncertain birds and beasts which inhabit the woods, and which would\ncertainly set up their alarm-cry as soon as they saw him, and so\ngive warning to the wary deer, which can perfectly understand a cry\nof alarm, from whatever animal it may happen to proceed.\n\nStill, he proceeds steadily on his course, gliding from one covert\nto another, and often expending several hours before he can proceed\nfor a mile. By degrees he contrives to come tolerably close to them,\nand generally manages to conceal himself in some spot towards which\nthe deer are gradually feeding their way. As soon as they are near\nenough, he collects himself for a spring, just as a cat does when\nshe leaps on a bird, and dashes towards the deer in a series of\nmighty bounds. For a moment or two they are startled and paralysed\nwith fear at the sudden appearance of their enemy, and thus give\nhim time to get among them. Singling out some particular animal, he\nleaps upon it, strikes it down with one blow of his paw, and then,\ncouching on the fallen animal, he tears open its throat, and laps\nthe flowing blood.\n\n[Illustration: LEOPARD ATTACKING A HERD OF DEER.]\n\nIn this manner does it obtain its prey when it lives in the desert,\nbut when it happens to be in the neighbourhood of human habitations,\nit acts in a different manner. Whenever man settles himself in any\nplace, his presence is a signal for the beasts of the desert and\nforest to fly. The more timid, such as the deer and antelope, are\nafraid of him, and betake themselves as far away as possible. The\nmore savage inhabitants of the land, such as the lion, leopard, and\nother animals, wage an unequal war against him for a time, but are\ncontinually driven farther and farther away, until at last they\nare completely expelled from the country. The predaceous beasts\nare, however, loth to retire, and do so by very slow degrees. They\ncan no longer support themselves on the deer and antelopes, but\nfind a simple substitute for them in the flocks and herds which\nman introduces, and in the seizing of which there is as much craft\nrequired as in the catching of the fleeter and wilder animals. Sheep\nand goats cannot run away like the antelopes, but they are penned so\ncarefully within inclosures, and guarded so watchfully by herdsmen\nand dogs, that the Leopard is obliged to exert no small amount of\ncunning before it can obtain a meal.\n\nSometimes it creeps quietly to the fold, and escapes the notice of\nthe dogs, seizes upon a sheep, and makes off with it before the\nalarm is given. Sometimes it hides by the wayside, and as the flock\npass by it dashes into the midst of them, snatches up a sheep, and\ndisappears among the underwood on the opposite side of the road.\nSometimes it is crafty enough to deprive the fold of its watchful\nguardian. Dogs which are used to Leopard-hunting never attack the\nanimal, though they are rendered furious by the sound of its voice.\nThey dash at it as if they meant to devour it, but take very good\ncare to keep out of reach of its terrible paws. By continually\nkeeping the animal at bay, they give time for their master to come\nup, and generally contrive to drive it into a tree, where it can be\nshot.\n\nBut instances have been known where the Leopard has taken advantage\nof the dogs, and carried them off in a very cunning manner. It\nhides itself tolerably near the fold, and then begins to growl in a\nlow voice. The dogs think that they hear a Leopard at a distance,\nand dash towards the sound with furious barks and yells. In so\ndoing, they are sure to pass by the hiding-place of the Leopard,\nwhich springs upon them unawares, knocks one of them over, and\nbounds away to its den in the woods. It does not content itself\nwith taking sheep or goats from the fold, but is also a terrible\ndespoiler of the hen-roosts, destroying great numbers in a single\nnight when once it contrives to find its way into the house.\n\n[Illustration: THE LEOPARD LEAPS UPON HIS PREY.]\n\nAs an instance of the cunning which seems innate in the Leopard, I\nmay mention that whenever it takes up its abode near a village, it\ndoes not meddle with the flocks and herds of its neighbours, but\nprefers to go to some other village at a distance for food, thus\nremaining unsuspected almost at the very doors of the houses.\n\nIn general, it does not willingly attack mankind, and at all events\nseems rather to fear the presence of a full-grown man. But, when\nwounded or irritated, all sense of fear is lost in an overpowering\nrush of fury, and it then becomes as terrible a foe as the lion\nhimself. It is not so large nor so strong, but it is more agile\nand quicker in its movements; and when it is seized with one of\nthese paroxysms of anger, the eye can scarcely follow it as it\ndarts here and there, striking with lightning rapidity, and dashing\nat any foe within reach. Its whole shape seems to be transformed,\nand absolutely to swell with anger; its eyes flash with fiery\nlustre, its ears are thrown back on the head, and it continually\nutters alternate snarls and yells of rage. It is hardly possible\nto recognise the graceful, lithe glossy creature, whose walk is\nso noiseless, and whose every movement is so easy, in the furious\npassion-swollen animal that flies at every foe with blind fury, and\npours out sounds so fierce and menacing that few men, however well\narmed, will care to face it.\n\nAs is the case with most of the cat tribe, the Leopard is an\nexcellent climber, and can ascend trees and traverse their boughs\nwithout the least difficulty. It is so fond of trees, that it is\nseldom to be seen except in a well-wooded district. Its favourite\nresidence is a forest where there is plenty of underwood, at least\nsix or seven feet in height, among which trees are sparingly\ninterspersed. When crouched in this cover it is practically\ninvisible, even though its body may be within arm's length of\na passenger. The spotted body harmonizes so perfectly with the\nbroken lights and deep shadows of the foliage that even a practised\nhunter will not enter a covert in search of a Leopard unless he\nis accompanied by dogs. The instinct which teaches the Leopard to\nchoose such localities is truly wonderful, and may be compared with\nthat of the tiger, which cares little for underwood, but haunts the\ngrass jungles, where the long, narrow blades harmonize with the\nstripes which decorate its body.\n\n[Illustration: WAITING.]\n\nThe skin of the Leopard has always been highly valued on account\nof its beauty, and in Africa, at the present day, a robe made of\nits spotted skin is as much an adjunct of royalty as is the ermine\nthe emblem of judicial dignity in England. In more ancient times, a\nleopard skin was the official costume of a priest, the skin being\nsometimes shaped into a garment, and sometimes thrown over the\nshoulders and the paws crossed over the breast.\n\nSuch is a general history of the Leopard. We will now proceed to\nthe various passages in which it is mentioned, beginning with its\noutward aspect.\n\nIn the first place, the Hebrew word Namer signifies \"spotted,\" and\nis given to the animal in allusion to its colours. The reader will\nnow see how forcible is the lament of Jeremiah, \"Can the Ethiopian\nchange his skin, or the Leopard his spots?\" Literally, \"Can the\nEthiopian change his skin, or the spotted one his spots?\"\n\nThe agility and swiftness of the Leopard are alluded to in the\nprediction by the prophet Habakkuk of the vengeance that would\ncome upon Israel through the Chaldeans. In chap. i. 5, we read: \"I\nwill work a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it\nbe told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and\nhasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to\npossess the dwelling-places that are not theirs. They are terrible\nand dreadful; their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of\nthemselves. Their horses also are swifter than the Leopards, and are\nmore fierce than the evening wolves.\"\n\nThe craftiness of the Leopard, and the manner in which it lies in\nwait for its prey, are alluded to in more than one passage of Holy\nWrit. Hosea the prophet alludes to the Leopard in a few simple\nwords which display an intimate acquaintance with the habits of this\nformidable animal, and in this part of his prophecies he displays\nthat peculiar local tone which distinguishes his writings. Speaking\nof the Israelites under the metaphor of a flock, or a herd, he\nproceeds to say: \"According to their pasture so were they filled;\nthey were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they\nforgotten me. Therefore I will be unto them as a lion, as a Leopard\nby the way will I observe them.\" The reader will note the peculiar\nforce of this sentence, whereby God signifies that He will destroy\nthem openly, as a lion rushes on its prey, and that he will chastise\nthem unexpectedly, as if it were a Leopard crouching by the wayside,\nand watching for the flock to pass, that it may spring on its prey\nunexpectedly. The same habit of the Leopard is also alluded to by\nJeremiah, who employs precisely the same imagery as is used by\nHabakkuk. See Jer. v. 5, 6, \"These have altogether broken the yoke,\nand burst the bonds. Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay\nthem, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall\nwatch over their cities.\" It is evident from the employment of this\nimage by two prophets, the one being nearly a hundred years before\nthe other, that the crafty, insidious habits of the Leopard were\nwell known in Palestine, and that the metaphor would tell with full\nforce among those to whom it was addressed.\n\n[Illustration: leopard]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: cats]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAT.\n\n The Cat never mentioned by name in the canonical Scriptures,\n and only once in the Apocrypha--The Cat domesticated among the\n Egyptians, and trained in bird-catching--Neglected capabilities\n of the Cat--Anecdote of an English Cat that caught fish for her\n master--Presumed reason why the Scriptures are silent about the\n Cat--The Cat mentioned by Baruch.\n\n\nIt is a very remarkable circumstance that the word CAT is not once\nmentioned in the whole of the canonical Scriptures, and only once in\nthe Apocrypha.\n\nThe Egyptians, as is well known, kept Cats domesticated in their\nhouses, a fact which is mentioned by Herodotus, in his second book,\nand the 66th and 67th chapters. After describing the various animals\nwhich were kept and fed by this nation, he proceeds to narrate the\nhabits of the Cat, and writes as follows: \"When a fire takes place,\na supernatural impulse seizes the cats. For the Egyptians, standing\nat a distance, take care of the cats and neglect to quench the fire;\nbut the cats make their escape, and leaping over the men, cast\nthemselves into the fire, and when this occurs, great lamentations\nare made among the Egyptians. In whatever house a cat dies of\na natural death, all the family shave their eyebrows. All cats\nthat die are carried to certain sacred houses, where, after being\nembalmed, they are buried in the city of Bubastis.\"\n\nNow, as many of those cat-mummies have been discovered in good\npreservation, the species has been identified with the Egyptian\nCat of the present day, which is scientifically termed _Felis\nmaniculatus_. Not only did the Egyptians keep Cats at their houses,\nbut, as is shown by certain sculptures, took the animals with them\nwhen they went bird-catching, and employed them in securing their\nprey. Some persons have doubted this statement, saying, that in the\nfirst place, the Cat is not possessed of sufficient intelligence\nfor the purpose; and that in the second place, as the hunter is\nrepresented as catching wild fowl, the Cat would not be able to\nassist him, because it would not enter the water. Neither objection\nis valid, nor would have been made by a naturalist.\n\nThere are no grounds whatever for assuming that the Cat has not\nsufficient intelligence to aid its master in hunting. On the\ncontrary, there are many familiar instances where the animal has\nbeen trained, even in this country, to catch birds and other game,\nand bring its prey home. By nature the Cat is an accomplished\nhunter, and, like other animals of the same disposition, can be\ntaught to use its powers for mankind. We all know that the chetah,\na member of the same tribe, is in constant use at the present day,\nand we learn from ancient sculptures that the lion was employed for\nthe same purpose. Passing from land to water, mankind has succeeded\nin teaching the seal and the otter to plunge into the water, catch\ntheir finny prey, and deliver it to their owners. Among predaceous\nbirds, we have trained the eagle, the falcon, and various hawks,\nto assist us in hunting the finned and feathered tribes, while we\nhave succeeded in teaching the cormorant to catch fish for its\nmaster, and not for itself. Why, then, should the Cat be excepted\nfrom a rule so general? The fact is, the Cat has been, although\ndomesticated for so many centuries, a comparatively neglected\nanimal; and it is the fashion to heap upon it the contumacious\nepithets of sullen, treacherous, selfish, spiteful, and intractable,\njust as we take as our emblems of stupidity the ass and the goose,\nwhich are really among the most cunning of the lower animals. We\nhave never tried to teach the Cat the art of hunting for her owners,\nbut that is no reason for asserting that the animal could not be\ntaught.\n\nAs to entering the water, every one who is familiar with the habits\nof the Cat knows perfectly well that the Cat will voluntarily enter\nwater in chase of prey. A Cat does not like to wet her feet, and\nwill not enter the water without a very powerful reason, but when\nthat motive is supplied, she has no hesitation about it. A curious\nand valuable confirmation of this fact appeared some time ago in\n\"The Field\" newspaper, in which was recorded the history of an\nold fisherman, whose Cat invariably went to sea with him, and as\ninvariably used to leap overboard, seize fish in her mouth, and\nbring them to the side of the boat, where her kindly owner could\nlift her out, together with the captured fish.\n\nThe Cat, then, having been the favoured companion of the Egyptians,\namong whom the Israelites lived while they multiplied from a family\ninto a nation, it does seem very remarkable that the sacred writers\nshould not even mention it. There is no prohibition of the animal,\neven indirectly, in the Mosaic law; but it may be the case that the\nIsraelites repudiated the Cat simply because it was so favoured by\ntheir former masters.\n\n[Illustration: cat]\n\n\n\n\nTHE DOG.\n\n Antipathy displayed by Orientals towards the Dog, and\n manifested throughout the Scriptures--Contrast between European\n and Oriental Dogs--Habits of the Dogs of Palestine--The\n City Dogs and their singular organization--The herdsman's\n Dog--Various passages of Scripture--Dogs and the crumbs--their\n numbers--Signor Pierotti's experience of the Dogs--Possibility\n of their perfect domestication--The peculiar humiliation of\n Lazarus--Voracity of the Wild Dogs--The fate of Ahab and\n Jezebel--Anecdote of a volunteer Watch-dog--Innate affection of\n the Dog towards mankind--Peculiar local Instinct of the Oriental\n Dog--Albert Smith's account of the Dogs at Constantinople--The\n Dervish and his Dogs--The Greyhound--Uncertainty of the word.\n\n\nScarcely changed by the lapse of centuries, the Oriental of the\npresent day retains most of the peculiarities which distinguished\nhim throughout the long series of years during which the books\nof sacred Scripture were given to the world. In many of these\ncharacteristics he differs essentially from Europeans of the present\nday, and exhibits a tone of mind which seems to be not merely owing\nto education, but to be innate and inherent in the race.\n\nOne of these remarkable characteristics is the strange loathing\nwith which he regards the Dog. In all other parts of the world, the\nDog is one of the most cherished and valued of animals, but among\nthose people whom we popularly class under the name of Orientals,\nthe Dog is detested and despised. As the sacred books were given\nto the world through the mediumship of Orientals, we find that\nthis feeling towards the Dog is manifested whenever the animal is\nmentioned; and whether we turn to the books of the Law, the splendid\npoetry of the Psalms and the book of Job, the prophetical or the\nhistorical portions of the Old Testament, we find the name of the\nDog repeatedly mentioned; and in every case in connexion with some\nrepulsive idea. If we turn from the Old to the New Testament, we\nfind the same idea manifested, whether in the Gospels, the Epistles,\nor the Revelation.\n\nTo the mind of the true Oriental the very name of the Dog carries\nwith it an idea of something utterly repugnant to his nature,\nand he does not particularly like even the thought of the animal\ncoming across his mind. And this is the more extraordinary, because\nat the commencement and termination of their history the Dog was\nesteemed by their masters. The Egyptians, under whose rule they\ngrew to be a nation, knew the value of the Dog, and showed their\nappreciation in the many works of art which have survived to our\ntime. Then the Romans, under whose iron grasp the last vestiges of\nnationality crumbled away, honoured and respected the Dog, made it\ntheir companion, and introduced its portrait into their houses. But,\ntrue to their early traditions, the Jews of the East have ever held\nthe Dog in the same abhorrence as is manifested by their present\nmasters, the followers of Mahommed.\n\nOwing to the prevalence of this feeling, the Dogs of Oriental\ntowns are so unlike their more fortunate European relatives, that\nthey can hardly be recognised as belonging to the same species.\nIn those lands the traveller finds that there is none of the\nwonderful variety which so distinguishes the Dog of Europe. There\nhe will never see the bluff, sturdy, surly, faithful mastiff, the\nslight gazelle-like greyhound, the sharp, intelligent terrier, the\nsilent, courageous bulldog, the deep-voiced, tawny bloodhound, the\nnoble Newfoundland, the clever, vivacious poodle, or the gentle,\nsilken-haired spaniel.\n\nAs he traverses the streets, he finds that all the dogs are alike,\nand that all are gaunt, hungry, half starved, savage, and cowardly,\nmore like wolves than dogs, and quite as ready as wolves to attack\nwhen they fancy they can do so with safety. They prowl about the\nstreets in great numbers, living, as they best can, on any scraps of\nfood that they may happen to find. They have no particular masters,\nand no particular homes. Charitable persons will sometimes feed\nthem, but will never make companions of them, feeling that the very\ncontact of a dog would be a pollution. They are certainly useful\nanimals, because they act as scavengers, and will eat almost any\nanimal substance that comes in their way.\n\nThe strangest part of their character is the organization which\nprevails among them. By some extraordinary means they divide the\ntown into districts, and not one dog ever ventures out of that\nparticular district to which it is attached. The boundaries,\nalthough invisible, are as effectual as the loftiest walls, and not\neven the daintiest morsel will tempt a dog to pass the mysterious\nline which forms the boundary of his district. Generally, these\nbands of dogs are so savage that any one who is obliged to walk in a\ndistrict where the dogs do not know him is forced to carry a stout\nstick for his protection. Like their European relatives, they have\ngreat dislike towards persons who are dressed after a fashion to\nwhich they are unaccustomed, and therefore are sure to harass any\none who comes from Europe and wears the costume of his own country.\nAs is customary among animals which unite themselves in troops, each\nband is under the command of a single leader, whose position is\nrecognised and his authority acknowledged by all the members.\n\n[Illustration: DOGS IN AN EASTERN CITY AT NIGHT.]\n\nThese peculiarities are to be seen almost exclusively in the\ndogs which run wild about the towns, because there is abundant\nevidence in the Scriptures that the animal was used in a partially\ndomesticated state, certainly for the protection of their herds,\nand possibly for the guardianship of their houses. That the Dog was\nemployed for the first of these purposes is shown in Job xxx. i:\n\"But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose\nfathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my\nflock.\" And that the animal was used for the protection of houses is\nthought by some commentators to be shown by the well-known passage\nin Is. lvi. 10: \"His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they\nare all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving\nto slumber.\" Still, it is very probable that in this passage the\nreference is not made to houses, but to the flocks and herds which\nthese watchmen ought to have guarded.\n\nThe rooted dislike and contempt felt by the Israelites towards\nthe Dog is seen in numerous passages. Even in that sentence from\nJob which has just been quoted, wherein the writer passionately\ndeplores the low condition into which he has fallen, and contrasts\nit with his former high estate, he complains that he is despised by\nthose whose fathers he held even in less esteem than the dogs which\nguarded his herds. There are several references to the Dog in the\nbooks of Samuel, in all of which the name of the animal is mentioned\ncontemptuously. For example, when David accepted the challenge of\nGoliath, and went to meet his gigantic enemy without the ordinary\nprotection of mail, and armed only with a sling and his shepherd's\nstaff Goliath said to him, \"Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with\nstaves?\" (1 Sam. xvii. 43.) And in the same book, chapter xxiv. 14,\nDavid remonstrates with Saul for pursuing so insignificant a person\nas himself, and said, \"After whom is the King of Israel come out?\nafter a dead dog, after a flea.\"\n\n[Illustration: SHIMEI EXULTING OVER KING DAVID.]\n\nThe same metaphor is recorded in the second book of the same writer.\nOnce it was employed by Mephibosheth, the lame son of Jonathan, when\nextolling the generosity of David, then King of Israel in the place\nof his grandfather Saul: \"And he bowed himself, and said, 'What\nis thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as\nI am?'\" (2 Sam. ix. 8.) In the same book, chapter xvi. 9, Abishai\napplies this contemptuous epithet to Shimei, who was exulting over\nthe troubled monarch with all the insolence of a cowardly nature,\n\"Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?\" Abner also makes\nuse of a similar expression, \"Am I a dog's head?\" And we may also\nrefer to the familiar passage in 2 Kings viii. 13, Elisha had\nprophesied to Hazael that he would become king on the death of\nBen-hadad, and that he would work terrible mischief in the land.\nHorrified at these predictions, or at all events pretending to be\nso, he replied, \"But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do\nthis great thing?\"\n\nIf we turn from the Old to the New Testament, we find the same\ncontemptuous feeling displayed towards the Dog. It is mentioned as\nan intolerable aggravation of the sufferings endured by Lazarus the\nbeggar as he lay at the rich man's gate, that the dogs came and\nlicked his sores. In several passages, the word Dog is employed as\na metaphor for scoffers, or unclean persons, or sometimes for those\nwho did not belong to the Church, whether Jewish or Christian. In\nthe Sermon on the Mount our Lord himself uses this image, \"Give not\nthat which is holy unto dogs\" (Matt. vii. 6.) In the same book,\nchapter xv. 26, Jesus employs the same metaphor when speaking to\nthe Canaanitish woman who had come to ask him to heal her daughter:\n\"It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs.\"\nAnd that she understood the meaning of the words is evident from\nher answer, in which faith and humility are so admirably blended.\nBoth St. Paul and St. John employ the word Dog in the same sense.\nIn his epistle to the Philippians, chapter iii. 2, St. Paul writes,\n\"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers.\" And in the Revelation,\nchapter xxii. 14, these words occur: \"Blessed are they that do his\ncommandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may\nenter in through the gates to the city; for without are dogs, and\nsorcerers, ... and murderers, and idolaters, and whomsoever loveth\nand maketh a lie.\"\n\nThat the dogs of ancient times formed themselves into bands just as\nthey do at present is evident from many passages of Scripture, among\nwhich may be mentioned those sentences from the Psalms, wherein\nDavid is comparing the assaults of his enemies to the attacks of the\ndogs which infested the city. \"Thou hast brought me into the dust\nof death; for dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked\nhave enclosed me.\" This passage will be better appreciated when\nthe reader has perused the following extract from a recent work\nby Signor Pierotti. After giving a general account of the Dogs of\nPalestine and their customs, he proceeds as follows:--\n\n\"In Jerusalem, and in the other towns, the dogs have an organization\nof their own. They are divided into families and districts,\nespecially in the night time, and no one of them ventures to quit\nhis proper quarter; for if he does, he is immediately attacked by\nall the denizens of that into which he intrudes, and is driven\nback, with several bites as a reminder. Therefore, when an European\nis walking through Jerusalem by night, he is always followed by a\nnumber of canine attendants, and greeted at every step with growls\nand howls. These tokens of dislike, however, are not intended for\nhim, but for his followers, who are availing themselves of his\nescort to pass unmolested from one quarter to another.\n\n\"During a very hard winter, I fed many of the dogs who frequented\nthe road which I traversed almost every evening, and afterwards,\neach time that I passed, I received the homage not only of the\nindividuals, but of the whole band to which they belonged, for they\naccompanied me to the limits of their respective jurisdictions and\nwere ready to follow me to my own house, if I did but give them a\nsign of encouragement, coming at my beck from any distance. They\neven recollected the signal two years afterwards, though it was but\nlittle that I had given them.\"\n\nThe account which this experienced writer gives of the animal\npresents a singular mixture of repulsive and pleasing traits,\nthe latter being attributable to the true nature of the Dog, and\nthe former to the utter neglect with which it is treated. He\nremarks that the dogs which run wild in the cities of Palestine\nare ill-favoured, ill-scented, and ill-conditioned beasts, more\nlike jackals or wolves than dogs, and covered with scars, which\nbetoken their quarrelsome nature. Yet, the same animals lose their\nwild, savage disposition, as soon as any human being endeavours\nto establish that relationship which was evidently intended to\nexist between man and the dog. How readily even these despised and\nneglected animals respond to the slightest advance, has been already\nshown by Sig. Pierotti's experience, and there is no doubt that\nthese tawny, short-haired, wolf-like animals, could be trained as\nperfectly as their more favoured brethren of the western world.\n\nAs in the olden times, so at the present day, the dogs lie about\nin the streets, dependent for their livelihood upon the offal that\nis flung into the roads, or upon the chance morsels that may be\nthrown to them. An allusion to this custom is made in the well-known\npassage in Matt. xv. The reader will remember the circumstance\nthat a woman of Canaan, and therefore not an Israelite, came to\nJesus, and begged him to heal her daughter, who was vexed with a\ndevil. Then, to try her faith, He said, \"It is not meet to take the\nchildren's bread, and to cast it to dogs.\" And she said, \"Truth,\nLord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's\ntable.\" Now, the \"crumbs\" which are here mentioned are the broken\npieces of bread which were used at table, much as bread is sometimes\nused in eating fish. The form of the \"loaves\" being flat, and much\nlike that of the oat-cake of this country, adapted them well to the\npurpose. The same use of broken bread is alluded to in the parable\nof Lazarus, who desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the\nrich man's table, _i. e._ to partake of the same food as the dogs\nwhich swarmed round him and licked his sores.\n\n[Illustration: LAZARUS LYING AT THE RICH MAN'S DOOR.]\n\n[Illustration: THE DEATH OF JEZEBEL.]\n\nThe \"crumbs,\" however liberally distributed, would not nearly\nsuffice for the subsistence of the canine armies, and their chief\nsupport consists of the offal, which is rather too plentifully\nflung into the streets. If the body of any animal, not excluding\ntheir own kind, be found lying in the streets, the dogs will\nassemble round it, and tear it to pieces, and they have no scruples\neven in devouring a human body. Of course, owing to the peculiar\nfeeling entertained by the Orientals towards the Dog, no fate can\nbe imagined more repulsive to the feelings of humanity than to be\neaten by dogs; and therein lies the terror of the fate which was\nprophesied of Ahab and Jezebel. Moreover, the blood, even of the\nlower animals, was held in great sanctity, and it was in those days\nhardly possible to invoke a more dreadful fate upon any one than\nthat his blood should be lapped by dogs.\n\nWe lose much of the real force of the Scriptures, if we do not\npossess some notion of the manners and customs of Palestine and the\nneighbouring countries, as well as of the tone of mind prevalent\namong the inhabitants. In our own country, that any one should be\neaten by dogs would be a fate so contrary to usage, that we can\nhardly conceive its possibility, and such a fate would be out of\nthe ordinary course of events. But, if such a fate should happen to\nbefall any one, we should have no stronger feeling of pity than the\nnatural regret that the dead person was not buried with Christian\nrites.\n\nBut, with the inhabitants of Palestine, such an event was by no\nmeans unlikely. It was, and is still, the custom to bury the corpse\nalmost as soon as life has departed, and such would ordinarily have\nbeen the case with the dead body of Jezebel. But, through fear of\nthe merciless Jehu, by whose command she had been flung from the\nwindow of her own palace, no one dared to remove her mangled body.\nThe dogs, therefore, seized upon their prey; and, even before Jehu\nhad risen from the banquet with which he celebrated his deed,\nnothing was left of the body but the skull, the feet, and the hands.\n\n[Illustration: SYRIAN DOG.]\n\nIn Mr. Tristram's work, the author has recognised the true dog\nnature, though concealed behind an uninviting form: \"Our watch-dog,\nBeir\u00fbt, attached himself instinctively to Wilhelm, though his canine\ninstinct soon taught him to recognise every one of our party of\nfourteen, and to cling to the tents, whether in motion or at rest,\nas his home. Poor Beir\u00fbt! though the veriest pariah in appearance,\nthy plebeian form encased as noble a dog-heart as ever beat at the\nsound of a stealthy step.\"\n\nThe same author records a very remarkable example of the sagacity of\nthe native Dog, and the fidelity with which it will keep guard over\nthe property of its master. \"The guard-house provided us, unasked,\nwith an invaluable and vigilant sentry, who was never relieved, nor\never quitted the post of duty. The poor Turkish conscript, like\nevery other soldier in the world, is fond of pets, and in front of\nthe grim turret that served for a guard-house was a collection of\nold orange-boxes and crates, thickly peopled with a garrison of\ndogs of low degree, whose attachment to the spot was certainly not\npurchased by the loaves and fishes which fell to their lot.\n\n\"One of the family must indeed have had hard times, for she had a\nfamily of no less than five dependent on her exertions, and on the\nsuperfluities of the sentries' mess. With a sagacity almost more\nthan canine, the poor gaunt creature had scarcely seen our tents\npitched before she came over with all her litter and deposited\nthem in front of our tent. At once she scanned the features of\nevery member of the encampment, and introduced herself to our\nnotice. During the week of our stay, she never quitted her post,\nor attempted any depredation on our kitchen-tent, which might have\nled to her banishment. Night and day she proved a faithful and\nvigilant sentry, permitting no stranger, human or canine, European\nor Oriental, to approach the tents without permission, but keeping\non the most familiar terms with ourselves and our servants.\n\n\"On the morning of our departure, no sooner had she seen our camp\nstruck, than she conveyed her puppies back to their old quarters\nin the orange-box, and no entreaties or bribes could induce her to\naccompany us. On three subsequent visits to Jerusalem, the same\ndog acted in a similar way, though no longer embarrassed by family\ncares, and would on no account permit any strange dog, nor even her\ncompanions at the guard-house, to approach within the tent ropes.\"\n\nAfter perusing this account of the Dog of Palestine, two points\nstrike the reader. The first is the manner in which the Dog, in\nspite of all the social disadvantages under which it labours,\ndisplays one of the chief characteristics of canine nature, namely,\nthe yearning after human society. The animal in question had already\nattached herself to the guard-house, where she could meet with some\nsort of human converse, though the inborn prejudices of the Moslem\nwould prevent the soldiers from inviting her to associate with them,\nas would certainly have been done by European soldiers. She nestled\nundisturbed in the orange-box, and, safe under the protection of the\nguard, brought up her young family in their immediate neighbourhood.\nBut, as soon as Europeans arrived, her instinct told her that they\nwould be closer associates than the Turkish soldiers who were\nquartered in the guard-house, and accordingly she removed herself\nand her family to the shelter of their tents.\n\nHerein she carried out the leading principle of a dog's nature. A\ndog _must_ have a master, or at all events a mistress, and just in\nproportion as he is free from human control, does he become less\ndog-like and more wolf-like. In fact, familiar intercourse with\nmankind is an essential part of a dog's true character, and the\nanimal seems to be so well aware of this fact, that he will always\ncontrive to find a master of some sort, and will endure a life of\ncruel treatment at the hands of a brutal owner rather than have no\nmaster at all.\n\nThe second point in this account is the singular local instinct\nwhich characterises the Dogs of Palestine and other eastern\ncountries, and which is as much inbred in them as the faculty of\nmarking game in the pointer, the combative nature in the bulldog,\nthe exquisite scent in the bloodhound, and the love of water in\nthe Newfoundland dog. In this country, we fancy that the love of\nlocality belongs especially to the cat, and that the Dog cares\nlittle for place, and much for man. But, in this case, we find that\nthe local instinct overpowered the yearning for human society. Fond\nas was this dog of her newly-found friends, and faithful as she was\nin her self-imposed service, she would not follow them away from the\nspot where she had been born, and where she had produced her own\nyoung.\n\nThis curious love for locality has evidently been derived from the\ntraditional custom of successive generations, which has passed from\nthe realm of reason into that of instinct. The reader will remember\nthat Sig. Pierotti mentions an instance where the dogs which he had\nbeen accustomed to feed would follow him as far as the limits of\ntheir particular district, but would go no farther. The late Albert\nSmith, in his \"Month at Constantinople,\" gives a similar example of\nthis characteristic. He first describes the general habits of the\ndogs.\n\nOn the first night of his arrival, he could not sleep, and went\nto the window to look out in the night. \"The noise I heard then I\nshall never forget. To say that if all the sheep-dogs, in going to\nSmithfield on a market-day, had been kept on the constant bark,\nand pitted against the yelping curs upon all the carts in London,\nthey could have given any idea of the canine uproar that now first\nastonished me, would be to make the feeblest of images. The whole\ncity rang with one vast riot. Down below me, at Tophan\u00e9--over-about\nStamboul--far away at Scutari--the whole sixty thousand dogs that\nare said to overrun Constantinople appeared engaged in the most\nactive extermination of each other, without a moment's cessation.\nThe yelping, howling, barking, growling, and snarling, were all\nmerged into one uniform and continuous even sound, as the noise of\nfrogs becomes when heard at a distance. For hours there was no lull.\nI went to sleep, and woke again, and still, with my windows open,\nI heard the same tumult going on; nor was it until daybreak that\nanything like tranquillity was restored.\n\n\"Going out in the daytime, it is not difficult to find traces of the\nfights of the night about the limbs of all the street dogs. There\nis not one, among their vast number, in the possession of a perfect\nskin. Some have their ears gnawed away or pulled off; others have\ntheir eyes taken out; from the backs and haunches of others perfect\nsteaks of flesh had been torn away; and all bear the scars of\ndesperate combats.\n\n\"Wild and desperate as is their nature, these poor animals are\nsusceptible of kindness. If a scrap of bread is thrown to one of\nthem now and then, he does not forget it; for they have, at times,\na hard matter to live--not the dogs amongst the shops of Galata or\nStamboul, but those whose 'parish' lies in the large burying-grounds\nand desert places without the city; for each keeps, or rather is\nkept, to his district, and if he chanced to venture into a strange\none, the odds against his return would be very large. One battered\nold animal, to whom I used occasionally to toss a scrap of food,\nalways followed me from the hotel to the cross street in Pera,\nwhere the two soldiers stood on guard, but would never come beyond\nthis point. He knew the fate that awaited him had he done so; and\ntherefore, when I left him, he would lie down in the road, and go to\nsleep until I came back.\n\n\"When a horse or camel dies, and is left about the roads near the\ncity, the bones are soon picked very clean by these dogs, and they\nwill carry the skulls or pelves to great distances. I was told that\nthey will eat their dead fellows--a curious fact, I believe, in\ncanine economy. They are always troublesome, not to say dangerous,\nat night; and are especially irritated by Europeans, whom they will\nsingle out amongst a crowd of Levantines.\"\n\nIn the same work there is a short description of a solitary dervish,\nwho had made his home in the hollow of a large plane-tree, in front\nof which he sat, surrounded by a small fence of stakes only a foot\nor so in height. Around him, but not venturing within the fence,\nwere a number of gaunt, half-starved dogs, who prowled about him\nin hopes of having an occasional morsel of food thrown to them.\nSolitary as he was, and scanty as must have been the nourishment\nwhich he could afford to them, the innate trustfulness of the\ndog-nature induced them to attach themselves to human society of\nsome sort, though their master was one, and they were many--he was\npoor, and they were hungry.\n\n[Illustration: EASTERN WATER-SELLER.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WOLF.\n\n Identity of the animal indisputable--its numbers, past and\n present--The Wolf never mentioned directly--its general\n habits--References in Scripture--its mingled ferocity and\n cowardice--its association into packs--The Wolf's bite--How it\n takes its prey--its ravages among the flocks--Allusions to this\n habit--The shepherd and his nightly enemies--Mr. Tristram and\n the Wolf--A semi-tamed Wolf at Marsaba.\n\n\nThere is no doubt that the Hebrew word _Ze\u00ebb_, which occurs in a\nfew passages of the Old Testament, is rightly translated as WOLF,\nand signifies the same animal as is frequently mentioned in the New\nTestament.\n\nThis fierce and dangerous animal was formerly very plentiful in\nPalestine, but is now much less common, owing to the same causes\nwhich have extirpated the lion from the country. It is a rather\nremarkable fact, that in no passage of Holy Writ is the Wolf\ndirectly mentioned. Its name is used as a symbol of a fierce and\ntreacherous enemy, but neither in the Old nor New Testament does\nany sacred writer mention any act as performed by the Wolf. We have\nalready heard of the lion which attacked Samson and was killed by\nhim, of the lion which slew the disobedient prophet, and of the\nlions which spared Daniel when thrown into their den. We also read\nof the dogs which licked Ahab's blood, and ate the body of Jezebel,\nalso of the bears which tore the mocking children.\n\nBut in no case is the Wolf mentioned, except in a metaphorical\nsense; and this fact is the more remarkable, because the animals\nwere so numerous that they were very likely to have exercised some\ninfluence on a history extending over such a lengthened range of\nyears, and limited to so small a portion of the earth. Yet we never\nhear of the Wolf attacking any of the personages mentioned in\nScripture; and although we are told of the exploit of David, who\npursued a lion and a bear that had taken a lamb out of his fold, we\nare never told of any similar deed in connexion with the Wolf.\n\n[Illustration: WOLVES ATTACKING A FLOCK OF SHEEP.]\n\nThis animal was then what it is now. Seldom seen by day, it lies\nhidden in its covert as long as the light lasts, and steals out in\nsearch of prey in the evening. This custom of the Wolf is mentioned\nin several passages of Holy Scripture, such as that in Jer. v. 5,\n6: \"These have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.\nWherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of\nthe evenings shall spoil them.\" In this passage the reader will\nsee that the rebellious Israelites are compared to restive draught\ncattle which have broken away from their harness and run loose,\nso that they are deprived of the protection of their owners, and\nexposed to the fury of wild beasts. A similar reference is made in\nHab. i. 8: \"Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are\nmore fierce than the evening wolves.\" The same habit of the Wolf is\nalluded to in Zeph. iii. 3: \"Her princes within her are roaring\nlions; her judges are evening wolves.\"\n\nIndividually, the Wolf is rather a timid animal. It will avoid a man\nrather than meet him. It prefers to steal upon its prey and take\nit unawares, rather than to seize it openly and boldly. It is ever\nsuspicious of treachery, and is always imagining that a trap is laid\nfor it. Even the shallow device of a few yards of rope trailing\nfrom any object, or a strip of cloth fluttering in the breeze, is\nquite sufficient to keep the Wolf at bay for a considerable time.\nThis fact is well known to hunters, who are accustomed to secure the\nbody of a slain deer by simply tying a strip of cloth to its horn.\nIf taken in a trap of any kind, or even if it fancies itself in an\nenclosure from which it can find no egress, it loses all courage,\nand will submit to be killed without offering the least resistance.\nIt will occasionally endeavour to effect its escape by feigning\ndeath, and has more than once been known to succeed in this device.\n\nBut, collectively, the Wolf is one of the most dangerous animals\nthat can be found. Herding together in droves when pressed by\nhunger, the wolves will openly hunt prey, performing this task as\nperfectly as a pack of trained hounds. Full of wiles themselves,\nthey are craftily wise in anticipating the wiles of the animals\nwhich they pursue; and even in full chase, while the body of the\npack is following on the footsteps of the flying animal, one or two\nare detached on the flanks, so as to cut it off if it should attempt\nto escape by doubling on its pursuers.\n\nThere is no animal which a herd of wolves will not attack, and very\nfew which they will not ultimately secure. Strength avails nothing\nagainst the numbers of these savage foes, which give no moment of\nrest, but incessantly assail their antagonist, dashing by instinct\nat those parts of the body which can be least protected, and\nlacerating with their peculiar short, snapping bite. Should several\nof their number be killed or disabled, it makes no difference to\nthe wolves, except that a minute or two are wasted in devouring\ntheir slain or wounded brethren, and they only return to the attack\nthe more excited by the taste of blood. Swiftness of foot avails\nnothing against the tireless perseverance of the wolves, who press\non in their peculiar, long, slinging gallop, and in the end are sure\nto tire out the swifter footed but less enduring animal that flees\nbefore them. The stately buffalo is conquered by the ceaseless\nassaults of the wolves; the bear has been forced to succumb to them,\nand the fleet-footed stag finds his swift limbs powerless to escape\nthe pursuing band, and his branching horns unable to resist their\nfurious onset when once they overtake him.\n\n[Illustration: WOLVES CHASING DEER.]\n\nThat the Wolf is a special enemy to the sheep-fold is shown in\nmany parts of the Scriptures, both in the Old and New Testaments,\nespecially in the latter. In John x. 1-16, Jesus compares himself\nto a good shepherd, who watches over the fold, and, if the wolves\nshould come to take the sheep, would rather give up His life than\nthey should succeed. But the false teachers are compared to bad\nshepherds, hired for money, but having no interest in the sheep, and\nwho therefore will not expose themselves to danger in defence of\ntheir charge.\n\nThis metaphor was far more effective in Palestine, and at that time,\nthan it is in this country and at the present day. In this land,\nthe shepherd has no anxiety about the inroads of wild beasts, but\nin Palestine one of his chief cares was to keep watch at night lest\nthe wolves should attack the fold, and to drive them away himself in\ncase they should do so. Therefore the shepherd's life was one which\ninvolved no small danger as well as anxiety, and the metaphor used\nby our Lord gains additional force from the knowledge of this fact.\n\n[Illustration: THE WOLF.]\n\nA similar metaphor is used when Jesus wished to express in\nforcible terms the dangers to which the chosen seventy would oft\nbe subjected, and the impossibility that they should be able to\novercome the many perils with which they would be surrounded. \"Go\nyour ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves\" (Luke x.\n3).\n\nMr. Tristram several times met wolves while he was engaged in his\ntravels, and mostly saw solitary specimens. One such encounter\ntook place in the wilderness of Judah: \"On my way back, I met a\nfine solitary wolf, who watched me very coolly, at the distance of\nsixty yards, while I drew my charge and dropped a bullet down the\nbarrel. Though I sent the ball into a rock between his legs as he\nstood looking at me in the wady, he was not sufficiently alarmed to\ndo more than move on a little more quickly, ever and anon turning\nto look at me, while gradually increasing his distance. Darkness\ncompelled me to desist from the chase, when he quietly turned and\nfollowed me at a respectful distance. He was a magnificent animal,\nlarger than any European wolf, and of a much lighter colour.\"\n\nThose who are acquainted with the character of the animal will\nappreciate the truthfulness of this description. The cautious\nprowl at a distance, the slow trot away when he fancied he might\nbe attacked, the reverted look, and the final turning back and\nfollowing at a respectful distance, are all characteristic traits of\nthe Wolf, no matter to what species it may belong, nor what country\nit may inhabit.\n\nOn another occasion, while riding in the open plain of Gennesaret,\nthe horse leaped over the bank of a little ditch, barely three feet\nin depth. After the horse had passed, and not until then, a Wolf\nstarted out of the ditch, literally from under the horses hoofs,\nand ran off. The animal had been crouching under the little bank,\nevidently watching for some cows and calves which were grazing at\na short distance, under the charge of a Bedouin boy. The same\nauthor mentions that one of the monks belonging to the monastery at\nMarsaba had contrived to render a Wolf almost tame. Every evening at\nsix o'clock the Wolf came regularly across the ravine, ate a piece\nof bread, and then went back again. With the peculiar jealousy of\nall tamed animals, the Wolf would not suffer any of his companions\nto partake of his good fortune. Several of them would sometimes\naccompany him, but as soon as they came under the wall of the\nmonastery he always drove them away.\n\n[Illustration: WOLVES ATTACKING WILD GOATS.]\n\nThe inhabitants of Palestine say that the Wolves of that country\nhunt singly, or at most in little packs of few in number. Still they\ndread the animal exceedingly on account of the damage it inflicts\nupon their flocks of sheep and goats.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE JACKAL.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOX OR JACKAL.\n\n The two animals comprehended under one name--The Jackal--its\n numbers in ancient and modern Palestine--General habits of the\n Jackal--Localities where the Jackal is found--Samson, and the\n three hundred \"foxes\"--Popular objections to the narrative--The\n required number easily obtained--Signor Pierotti's remarks upon\n the Jackal--An unpleasant position--How the fields were set on\n fire--The dread of fire inherent in wild beasts--The truth of\n the narrative proved--The Fox and Jackal destructive among grapes\n\n\nThere are several passages in the Old Testament in which the word\nFox occurs, and it is almost certain that the Hebrew word _Shu\u00e2l_,\nwhich is rendered in our translation as Fox, is used rather loosely,\nand refers in some places to the Jackal, and in others to the Fox.\nWe will first take those passages in which the former rendering of\nthe word is evidently the right one, and will begin by examining\nthose characteristics of the animal which afford grounds for such an\nassertion.\n\n[Illustration: FOXES OR JACKALS DEVOURING THE CARCASE OF A GOAT.]\n\nEven at the present time, the Jackal is extremely plentiful in\nPalestine; and as the numbers of wild beasts have much decreased\nin modern days, the animals must have been even more numerous than\nthey are at present. It is an essentially nocturnal and gregarious\nanimal. During the whole of the day the Jackals lie concealed in\ntheir holes or hiding-places, which are usually cavities in the\nrocks, in tombs, or among ruins. At nightfall they issue from their\ndens, and form themselves into packs, often consisting of several\nhundred individuals, and prowl about in search of food. Carrion of\nvarious kinds forms their chief subsistence, and they perform in\nthe country much the same task as is fulfilled by the dogs in the\ncities.\n\nIf any animal should be killed, or even severely wounded, the\nJackals are sure to find it out and to devour it before the\ndaybreak. They will scent out the track of the hunter, and feed\nupon the offal of the beasts which he has slain. If the body of\na human being were to be left on the ground, the Jackals would\ncertainly leave but little traces of it; and in the olden times of\nwarfare, they must have held high revelry in the battle-field after\nthe armies had retired. It is to this propensity of the Jackal\nthat David refers--himself a man of war, who had fought on many a\nbattle-field, and must have seen the carcases of the slain mangled\nby these nocturnal prowlers: \"Those that seek my soul, to destroy\nit, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall\nby the sword; they shall be a portion for foxes\" (Ps. lxiii. 9,\n10). Being wild beasts, afraid of man, and too cowardly to attack\nhim even when rendered furious by hunger, and powerful by force of\nnumbers, they keep aloof from towns and cities, and live in the\nuninhabited parts of the country. Therefore the prophet Jeremiah, in\nhis Book of Lamentations, makes use of the following forcible image,\nwhen deploring the pitiful state into which Jud\u00e6a had fallen: \"For\nthis our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim: because\nof the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it\"\n(Lam. v. 17). And Ezekiel makes use of a similar image: \"O Israel,\nthy prophets are like foxes in the desert.\"\n\nBut, by far the most important passage in which the Fox is\nmentioned, is that wherein is recorded the grotesque vengeance of\nSamson upon the Philistines: \"And Samson went and caught three\nhundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and\nput a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set\nthe brands on fire, he let them go into the standing com of the\nPhilistines, and burnt up both the shocks and also the standing\ncorn, with the vineyards and olives\" (Judges xv. 4, 5). Now, as this\nis one of the passages of Holy Writ to which great objections have\nbeen taken, it will be as well to examine these objections, and see\nwhether they have any real force. The first of these objections is,\nthat the number of foxes is far too great to have been caught at\none time, and to this objection two answers have been given. The\nfirst answer is, that they need not have been caught at once, but\nby degrees, and kept until wanted. But the general tenor of the\nnarrative is undoubtedly in favour of the supposition that this act\nof Samson was unpremeditated, and that it was carried into operation\nat once, before his anger had cooled. The second answer is, that\nthe requisite number of Foxes might have been miraculously sent to\nSamson for this special purpose. This theory is really so foolish\nand utterly untenable, that I only mention it because it has been\nput forward. It fails on two grounds: the first being that a miracle\nwould hardly have been wrought to enable Samson to revenge himself\nin so cruel and unjustifiable a manner; and the second, that there\nwas not the least necessity for any miracle at all.\n\n[Illustration: A FEAST IN PROSPECT.]\n\nIf we put out of our minds the idea of the English Fox, an animal\ncomparatively scarce in this country, and solitary in its habits,\nand substitute the extremely plentiful and gregarious Jackal,\nwandering in troops by night, and easily decoyed by hunger into a\ntrap, we shall see that double the number might have been taken,\nif needful. Moreover, it is not to be imagined that Samson caught\nthem all with his own hand. He was at the head of his people, and\nhad many subordinates at his command, so that a large number of\nhunters might have been employed simultaneously in the capture. In\ncorroboration of this point, I insert an extremely valuable extract\nfrom Signor Pierotti's work, in which he makes reference to this\nvery portion of the sacred history:--\n\n\"It is still very abundant near Gaza, Askalon, Ashdod, Ekron, and\nRamleh. I have frequently met with it during my wanderings by night,\nand on one occasion had an excellent opportunity of appreciating\ntheir number and their noise.\n\n\"One evening in the month of January, while it was raining a perfect\ndeluge, I was obliged, owing to the dangerous illness of a friend,\nto return from Jerusalem to Jaffa. The depth of snow on the road\nover a great part of the mountain, the clayey mud in the plain, and\nthe darkness of the night, prevented my advancing quickly; so that\nabout half-past three in the morning I arrived on the bank of a\nsmall torrent, about half an hour's journey to the east of Ramleh. I\nwished to cross: my horse at first refused, but, on my spurring it,\nadvanced and at once sank up to the breast, followed of course by\nmy legs, thus teaching me to respect the instinct of an Arab horse\nfor the future.\n\n[Illustration: A FEAST SECURED.]\n\n\"There I stuck, without the possibility of escape, and consoled my\nhorse and myself with some provisions that I had in my saddle-bags,\nshouting and singing at intervals, in the hope of obtaining succour,\nand of preventing accidents, as I knew that the year before a mule\nin the same position had been mistaken for a wild beast, and killed.\nThe darkness was profound, and the wind very high; but, happily,\nit was not cold; for the only things attracted by my calls were\nnumbers of jackals, who remained at a certain distance from me, and\nresponded to my cries, especially when I tried to imitate them, as\nthough they took me for their music-master.\n\n\"About five o'clock, one of the guards of the English consulate at\nJerusalem came from Ramleh and discovered my state. He charitably\nreturned thither, and brought some men, who extricated me and my\nhorse from our unpleasant bath, which, as may be supposed, was not\nbeneficial to our legs.\n\n\"During this most uncomfortable night, I had good opportunity of\nascertaining that, if another Samson had wished to burn again the\ncrops in the country of the Philistines, he would have had no\ndifficulty in finding more than three hundred jackals, and catching\nas many as he wanted in springs, traps, or pitfalls. (See Ps. cxl.\n5.)\"\n\nThe reader will now see that there was not the least difficulty in\nprocuring the requisite number of animals, and that consequently the\nfirst objection to the truth of the story is disposed of.\n\nWe will now proceed to the second objection, which is, that if\nthe animals were tied tail to tail, they would remain on or near\nthe same spot, because they would pull in different directions,\nand that, rather than run about, they would turn round and fight\neach other. Now, in the first place, we are nowhere told that the\ntails of the foxes, or jackals, were placed in contact with each\nother, and it is probable that some little space was left between\nthem. That animals so tied would not run in a straight line is\nevident enough, and this was exactly the effect which Samson\nwished to produce. Had they been at liberty, and the fiery brand\nfastened to their tails, they would have run straight to their\ndens, and produced but little effect. But their captor, with\ncruel ingenuity, had foreseen this contingency, and, by the method\nof securing them which he adopted, forced them to pursue a devious\ncourse, each animal trying to escape from the dreaded firebrand, and\nstruggling in vain endeavours to drag its companion towards its own\nparticular den.\n\n[Illustration: A TRESPASSER.]\n\nAll wild animals have an instinctive dread of fire; and there is\nnone, not even the fierce and courageous lion, that dares enter\nwithin the glare of the bivouac fire. A lion has even been struck\nin the face with a burning brand, and has not ventured to attack\nthe man that wielded so dreadful a weapon. Consequently it may be\nimagined that the unfortunate animals that were used by Samson for\nhis vindictive purpose, must have been filled with terror at the\nburning brands which they dragged after them, and the blaze of\nthe fire which was kindled wherever they went. They would have no\nleisure to fight, and would only think of escaping from the dread\nand unintelligible enemy which pursued them.\n\nWhen a prairie takes fire, all the wild inhabitants flee in terror,\nand never think of attacking each other, so that the bear, the wolf,\nthe cougar, the deer, and the wild swine, may all be seen huddled\ntogether, their natural antagonism quelled in the presence of a\ncommon foe. So it must have been with the miserable animals which\nwere made the unconscious instruments of destruction. That they\nwould stand still when a burning brand was between them, and when\nflames sprang up around them, is absurd. That they would pull in\nexactly opposite directions with precisely balanced force is equally\nimprobable, and it is therefore evident that they would pursue a\ndevious path, the stronger of the two dragging the weaker, but being\njerked out of a straight course and impeded by the resistance which\nit would offer. That they would stand on the same spot and fight has\nbeen shown to be contrary to the custom of animals under similar\ncircumstances.\n\nThus it will be seen that every objection not only falls to the\nground, but carries its own refutation, thus vindicating this\nepisode in sacred history, and showing, that not only were the\ncircumstances possible, but that they were highly probable. Of\ncourse every one of the wretched animals must have been ultimately\nburned to death, after suffering a prolonged torture from the\nfirebrand that was attached to it. Such a consideration would,\nhowever, have had no effect for deterring Samson from employing\nthem. The Orientals are never sparing of pain, even when inflicted\nupon human beings, and in too many cases they seem utterly unable\neven to comprehend the cruelty of which they are guilty. And Samson\nwas by no means a favourable specimen of his countrymen. He was the\nvery incarnation of strength, but was as morally weak as he was\ncorporeally powerful; and to that weakness he owed his fall. Neither\ndoes he seem to possess the least trace of forbearance any more than\nof self-control, but he yields to his own undisciplined nature,\nplaces himself, and through him the whole Israelitish nation, in\njeopardy, and then, with a grim humour, scatters destruction on\nevery side in revenge for the troubles which he has brought upon\nhimself by his own acts.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HY\u00c6NA.\n\n The Hy\u00e6na not mentioned by name, but evidently alluded\n to--Signification of the word Zabua--Translated in the\n Septuagint as Hy\u00e6na--A scene described by the prophet\n Isaiah--The Hy\u00e6na plentiful in Palestine at the present\n day--its well-known cowardice and fear of man--The uses of\n the Hy\u00e6na and the services which it renders--The particular\n species of Hy\u00e6na--The Hy\u00e6na in the burial-grounds--Hunting the\n Hy\u00e6na--Curious superstition respecting the talismanic properties\n of its skin--Precautions adopted in flaying it--Popular legends\n of the Hy\u00e6na and its magical powers--The cavern home of the\n Hy\u00e6na--The valley of Zeboim.\n\n\nAlthough in our version of the Scriptures the Hy\u00e6na is not mentioned\nby that name, there are two passages in the Old Testament which\nevidently refer to that animal, and therefore it is described in\nthese pages. If the reader will refer to the prophet Jeremiah, xii.\n7-9, he will find these words: \"I have forsaken mine house, I have\nleft mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into\nthe hand of her enemies. Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in\nthe forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.\nMine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird; the birds round about\nare against her: come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field,\ncome to devour.\" Now, the word _zabua_ signifies something that\nis streaked, and in the Authorized Version it is rendered as a\nspeckled bird. But in the Septuagint it is rendered as Hy\u00e6na, and\nthis translation is thought by many critical writers to be the true\none. It is certain that the word _zabua_ is one of the four names by\nwhich the Talmudical writers mention the Hy\u00e6na, when treating of its\ncharacter; and it is equally certain that such a rendering makes the\npassage more forcible, and is in perfect accordance with the habits\nof predacious animals.\n\nThe whole scene which the Prophet thus describes was evidently\nfamiliar to him. First, we have the image of a deserted country,\nallowed to be overrun with wild beasts. Then we have the lion,\nwhich has struck down its prey, roaring with exultation, and\ndefying any adversary to take it from him. Then, the lion having\neaten his fill and gone away, we have the Hy\u00e6nas, vultures, and\nother carrion-eating creatures, assembling around the carcase, and\nhastening to devour it. This is a scene which has been witnessed\nby many hunters who have pursued their sport in lands where lions,\nhy\u00e6nas, and vultures are found; and all these creatures were\ninhabitants of Palestine at the time when Jeremiah wrote.\n\nAt the present day, the Hy\u00e6na is still plentiful in Palestine,\nthough in the course of the last few years its numbers have sensibly\ndiminished. The solitary traveller, when passing by night from one\ntown to another, often falls in with the Hy\u00e6na, but need suffer no\nfear, as it will not attack a human being, and prefers to slink out\nof his way. But dead, and dying, or wounded animals are the objects\nfor which it searches; and when it finds them, it devours the whole\nof its prey. The lion will strike down an antelope, an ox, or a\ngoat--will tear off its flesh with its long fangs, and lick the\nbones with its rough tongue until they are quite cleaned. The wolves\nand jackals will follow the lion, and eat every soft portion of the\ndead animal, while the vultures will fight with them for the coveted\nmorsels. But the Hy\u00e6na is a more accomplished scavenger than lion,\nwolf, jackal, or vulture; for it will eat the very bones themselves,\nits tremendously-powerful jaws and firmly-set teeth enabling it to\ncrush even the leg-bone of an ox, and its unparalleled digestive\npowers enabling it to assimilate the sharp and hard fragments which\nwould kill any creature not constituted like itself.\n\nIn a wild, or even a partially-inhabited country, the Hy\u00e6na is,\ntherefore, a most useful animal. It may occasionally kill a crippled\nor weakly ox, and sometimes carry off a sheep; but, even in that\ncase, no very great harm is done, for it does not meddle with any\nanimal that can resist. But these few delinquencies are more than\ncompensated by the great services which it renders as scavenger,\nconsuming those substances which even the lion cannot eat, and thus\nacting as a scavenger in removing objects which would be offensive\nto sight and injurious to health.\n\n[Illustration: LEOPARD ROBBED OF ITS PREY BY HY\u00c6NAS.]\n\nThe species which is mentioned in the Scriptures is the Striped\nHy\u00e6na (_Hy\u00e6na striata_); but the habits of all the species are\nalmost exactly similar. We are told by travellers of certain towns\nin different parts of Africa which would be unendurable but for the\nHy\u00e6nas. With the disregard for human life which prevails throughout\nall savage portions of that country, the rulers of these towns order\nexecutions almost daily, the bodies of the victims being allowed\nto lie where they happened to fall. No one chooses to touch them,\nlest they should also be added to the list of victims, and the\ndecomposing bodies would soon cause a pestilence but for the Hy\u00e6nas,\nwho assemble at night round the bodies, and by the next morning have\nleft scarcely a trace of the murdered men.\n\nEven in Palestine, and in the present day, the Hy\u00e6na will endeavour\nto rifle the grave, and to drag out the interred corpse. The bodies\nof the rich are buried in rocky caves, whose entrances are closed\nwith heavy stones, which the Hy\u00e6na cannot move; but those of the\npoor, which are buried in the ground, must be defended by stones\nheaped over them. Even when this precaution is taken, the Hy\u00e6na will\nsometimes find out a weak spot, drag out the body, and devour it.\n\nIn consequence of this propensity, the inhabitants have an utter\ndetestation of the animal. They catch it whenever they can, in\npitfalls or snares, using precisely the same means as were employed\ntwo thousand years ago; or they hunt it to its den, and then kill\nit, stripping off the hide, and carrying it about still wet,\nreceiving a small sum of money from those to whom they show it.\nAfterwards the skin is dressed, by rubbing it with lime and salt,\nand steeping it in the waters of the Dead Sea. It is then made into\nsandals and leggings, which are thought to be powerful charms, and\nto defend the wearer from the Hy\u00e6na's bite.\n\nThey always observe certain superstitious precautions in flaying the\ndead animal. Believing that the scent of the flesh would corrupt the\nair, they invariably take the carcase to the leeward of the tents\nbefore they strip off the skin. Even in the animal which has been\nkept for years in a cage, and has eaten nothing but fresh meat,\nthe odour is too powerful to be agreeable, as I can testify from\npractical experience when dissecting a Hy\u00e6na that had died in the\nZoological Gardens; and it is evident that the scent of an animal\nthat has lived all its life on carrion must be almost unbearable.\nThe skin being removed, the carcase is burnt, because the hunters\nthink that by this process the other Hy\u00e6nas are prevented from\nfinding the body of their comrade, and either avenging its death or\ntaking warning by its fate.\n\n[Illustration: HY\u00c6NAS DEVOURING BONES.]\n\nSuperstitions seem to be singularly prevalent concerning the Hy\u00e6na.\nIn Palestine, there is a prevalent idea that if a Hy\u00e6na meets a\nsolitary man at night, it can enchant him in such a manner as to\nmake him follow it through thickets and over rocks, until he is\nquite exhausted, and falls an unresisting prey; but that over two\npersons he has no such influence, and therefore a solitary traveller\nis gravely advised to call for help as soon as he sees a Hy\u00e6na,\nbecause the fascination of the beast would be neutralized by the\npresence of a second person. So firmly is this idea rooted in the\nminds of the inhabitants, that they will never travel by night,\nunless they can find at least one companion in their journey.\n\nIn Northern Africa there are many strange superstitions connected\nwith this animal, one of the most curious of which is founded on\nits well-known cowardice. The Arabs fancy that any weapon which\nhas killed a Hy\u00e6na, whether it be gun, sword, spear, or dagger, is\nthenceforth unfit to be used in warfare. \"Throw away that sword,\"\nsaid an Arab to a French officer, who had killed a Hy\u00e6na, \"it has\nslain the Hy\u00e6na, and it will be treacherous to you.\"\n\nAt the present day, its numbers are not nearly so great in Palestine\nas they used to be, and are decreasing annually. The cause of\nthis diminution lies, according to Signor Pierotti, more in the\ndestruction of forests than in the increase of population and the\nuse of fire-arms, though the two latter causes have undoubtedly\nconsiderable influence.\n\nThere is a very interesting account by Mr. Tristram of the haunt of\nthese animals. While exploring the deserted quarries of Es Sumrah,\nbetween Beth-arabah and Bethel, he came upon a wonderful mass of\nhy\u00e6nine relics. The quarries in which were lying the half-hewn\nblocks, scored with the marks of wedges, had evidently formed the\nresort of Hy\u00e6nas for a long series of years. \"Vast heaps of bones\nof camels, oxen, and sheep had been collected by these animals, in\nsome places to the depth of two or three feet, and on one spot I\ncounted the skulls of seven camels. There were no traces whatever of\nany human remains. We had here a beautiful recent illustration of\nthe mode of foundation of the old bone caverns, so valuable to the\ngeologist. These bones must all have been brought in by the Hy\u00e6nas,\nas no camel or sheep could possibly have entered the caverns alive,\nnor could any floods have washed them in. Near the entrance where\nthe water percolates, they were already forming a soft breccia.\"\n\nThe second allusion to the Hy\u00e6na is made in 1 Sam. xiii. 18,\n\"Another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the\nValley of Zeboim towards the wilderness,\" _i.e._ to the Valley of\nHy\u00e6nas.\n\nThe colour of the Striped Hy\u00e6na varies according to its age. When\nyoung, as is the case with many creatures, birds as well as mammals,\nthe stripes from which it derives its name are much more strongly\nmarked than in the adult specimen. The general hue of the fur is\na pale grey-brown, over which are drawn a number of dark stripes,\nextending along the ribs and across the limbs.\n\nIn the young animal these stripes are nearly twice as dark and twice\nas wide as in the adult, and they likewise appear on the face and\non other parts of the body, whence they afterwards vanish. The fur\nis always rough; and along the spine, and especially over the neck\nand shoulders, it is developed into a kind of mane, which gives a\nvery fierce aspect to the animal. The illustration shows a group of\nHy\u00e6nas coming to feed on the relics of a dead animal. The jackals\nand vultures have eaten as much of the flesh as they can manage,\nand the vultures are sitting, gorged, round the stripped bones. The\nHy\u00e6nas are now coming up to play their part as scavengers, and have\nalready begun to break up the bones in their crushing-mills of jaws.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WEASEL.\n\n Difficulty of identifying the Weasel of Scripture--The Weasel of\n Palestine--Suggested identity with the Ichneumon.\n\n\nThe word Weasel occurs once in the Holy Scriptures, and therefore it\nis necessary that the animal should be mentioned. There is a great\ncontroversy respecting the identification of the animal, inasmuch as\nthere is nothing in the context which gives the slightest indication\nof its appearance or habits.\n\nThe passage in question is that which prohibits the Weasel and the\nmouse as unclean animals (see Lev. xi. 29). Now the word which is\nhere translated Weasel is _Choled_, or _Chol'd_; and, I believe,\nnever occurs again in the whole of the Old Testament. Mr. W.\nHoughton conjectures that the Hebrew word Choled is identical with\nthe Arabic _Chuld_ and the Syriac _Chuldo_, both words signifying a\nmole; and therefore infers that the unclean animal in question is\nnot a Weasel, but a kind of mole.\n\nThe Weasel does exist in Palestine, and seems to be as plentiful\nthere as in our own country. Indeed, the whole tribe of Weasels\nis well represented, and the polecat is seen there as well as the\nWeasel.\n\nThere is hardly any animal which, for its size, is so much dreaded\nby the creatures on which it preys as the common Weasel.\n\nAlthough its small proportions render a single Weasel an\ninsignificant opponent to man or dog, yet it can wage a sharp battle\neven with such powerful foes, and refuses to yield except at the\nlast necessity.\n\nThe proportions of the Weasel are extremely small, a full-grown male\nnot exceeding ten inches in length. The color of its fur is bright\nreddish-brown on the upper parts of the body, and the under-portions\nare pure white. The audacity and courage of this little animal are\nreally remarkable. It seems to hold every being except itself in the\nmost sovereign contempt, and, to all appearances, is as ready to\nmatch itself against a man as against a mouse.\n\nIt is a terrible foe to many of the smaller animals, such as rats\nand mice, and performs a really good service to the farmer in\ndestroying many of these farmyard pests. The Weasel is specially\ndreaded by rats and mice, because there is no hole through which\nthey can pass that will not also admit the passage of their enemy;\nand, as the Weasel is most persevering and determined in pursuit, it\nseldom happens that rats or mice escape when their little foe has\nset itself fairly on their track.\n\n[Illustration: WEASELS.]\n\nNot only does the Weasel pursue its prey through the windings of\nthe burrows, but it will even cross water in the chase. When it\nhas at last reached its victim, it leaps upon the devoted creature\nand endeavours to fix its teeth in the back of the neck, where it\nretains its deadly hold in spite of every struggle on the part of\nthe wounded animal. If the attack be rightly made and the animal a\nsmall one, the Weasel can drive its teeth into the brain and cause\ninstantaneous death.\n\nThe Weasel is very fond of eggs, and young birds of all kinds. It\nis said that an egg that has been broken by a Weasel, can always be\nrecognized, by the peculiar mode which the little creature employs\nfor the purpose.\n\nInstead of breaking the egg to pieces or biting a large hole in the\nshell, the Weasel contents itself with making quite a small aperture\nat one end, through which it abstracts the liquid contents.\n\nA curious example of the courage of the Weasel, is related by a\ngentleman who while crossing a field at dusk, saw an owl pounce upon\nsome object on the ground, and carry it in the air.\n\nIn a short time the bird showed signs of distress, trying to free\nitself from some annoying object by means of its talons, and\nflapping about in a very bewildered manner.\n\nSoon afterwards the owl fell dead to the earth; and when the\nspectator of the a\u00ebrial combat approached, a weasel ran away from\nthe dead body of the bird, itself being apparently uninjured. On\nexamination of the owl's body, it was found that the Weasel, which\nhad been marked out for the owl's repast, had in its turn become the\nassailant, and had attacked the unprotected parts which lie beneath\nthe wings. A considerable wound had been made in that spot, and the\nlarge blood-vessels torn through.\n\n[Illustration: THE BITER BIT.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: scene]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BADGER.\n\n Difficulty in identifying the _Tachash_ of Scripture--References\n to \"Badgers' skins\"--The Dugong thought to be the\n Badger--The Bedouin sandals--Nature of the materials for\n the Tabernacle--Habits of the Badger--The species found in\n Palestine--Uses of the Badgers' skins--Looseness of zoological\n terms.\n\n\nUntil very lately, there was much difficulty in ascertaining whether\nthe word _Tachash_ has been rightly translated as Badger. It occurs\nin several parts of the Scriptures, and almost invariably is used\nin relation to a skin or fur of some sort. We will first examine\nthe passages in which the Badger is mentioned, and then proceed to\nidentify the animal.\n\nNearly all the references to the Badger occur in the book of Exodus,\nand form part of the directions for constructing the Tabernacle and\nits contents. The first notice of the word occurs in Exodus xxv. 5,\nwhere the people of Israel are ordered to bring their offerings for\nthe sanctuary, among which offerings are gold, silver, and brass,\nblue, purple, and scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair, rams' skins dyed\nred, badgers' skins, and shittim wood--all these to be used in the\nconstruction of the Tabernacle. Then a little farther on, in chapter\nxxvi. 14, we find one of the special uses to which the badgers'\nskins were to be put, namely, to make the outer covering or roof of\nthe tabernacle. Another use for the badgers' skins was to form an\nouter covering for the ark, table of shewbread, and other furniture\nof the Tabernacle, when the people were on the march.\n\nIn all these cases the badger-skin is used as a covering to defend a\nbuilding or costly furniture, but there is one example where it is\nemployed for a different purpose. This passage occurs in the book\nof Ezekiel, chapter xvi. 10. The prophet is speaking of Jerusalem\nunder the image of a woman, and uses these words, \"I anointed thee\nwith oil; I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee\nwith badger's skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I\ncovered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put\nbracelets upon thy hands, and a chain upon thy neck, and I put a\njewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful\ncrown upon thine head.\"\n\nSo we have here the fact, that the same material which was used for\nthe covering of the Tabernacle, and of the sacred furniture, could\nalso be used for the manufacture of shoes. This passage is the more\nvaluable because of an inference which may be drawn from it. The\nreader will see that the badger-skin, whatever it may have been,\nmust have been something of considerable value, and therefore, in\nall probability, something of much rarity.\n\nIn the present instance, it is classed with the most luxurious\nrobes that were known in those days, and it is worthy of special\nmention among the bracelet, earrings, necklace, and coronal with\nwhich the symbolized city was adorned. If the reader will now refer\nto the passage in which the children of Israel were commanded to\nbring their offerings, he will see that in those cases also the\nbadger-skins were ranked with the costliest articles of apparel\nthat could be found, and had evidently been brought from Egypt, the\npeculiar home of all the arts; together with the vast quantity of\ngold and jewels which were used for the same sacred purpose.\n\nNow we find that the badger-skins in question must possess three\nqualities: they must be costly, they must be capable of forming a\ndefence against the weather, and they must be strong enough to be\nemployed in the manufacture of shoes. If we accept the word Tachash\nas signifying a Badger, we shall find that these conditions have\nbeen fulfilled.\n\nBut many commentators have thought that badger-skins could not\nhave been procured in sufficient numbers for the purpose, and have\ntherefore conjectured that some other animal must be signified by\nthe word Tachash.\n\nA species of dugong (_Halicore hemprichii_) is the animal that has\nbeen selected as the Badger of the Scriptures. It is one of the\nmarine mammalia, and always lives near the shore, where it can find\nthe various alg\u00e6 on which it feeds. It is a gregarious animal,\nand, as it frequently ascends rivers for some distance, it may be\ncaptured in sufficient numbers to make both its flesh and skin\nuseful. Moreover, it is of considerable size, fourteen or fifteen\nfeet in length being its usual dimensions, so that a comparatively\nsmall number of the skins would be required for the covering of the\nTabernacle.\n\nThat shoes can be made of it is evident from the fact that at the\npresent day shoes, or rather sandals, are made from its hide, and\nare commonly used by the Bedouins. But the very qualities and\npeculiarities which render it a fit material for the sandal of a\nhalf-naked Bedouin Arab, who has to walk continually over hard, hot,\nsandy, and rough ground, would surely make it unsuitable for the\ndelicate shoes worn by a woman of rank who spends her time in the\nhouse, and the rest of whose clothing is of fine linen and silk,\nembroidered with gold and jewels. In our own country, the hobnailed\nshoes of the ploughman and the slight shoe of a lady are made of\nvery different materials, and it is reasonable to conjecture that\nsuch was the case when the passage in question was written.\n\nThen Dr. Robinson, who admits that the hide of the dugong could\nhardly have been used as the material for a lady's shoe, thinks that\nit would have answered very well for the roof of the Tabernacle,\nbecause it was large, clumsy, and coarse. It seems strange that he\ndid not also perceive that the two latter qualities would completely\ndisqualify such skins for that service. Everything clumsy and\ncoarse was studiously prohibited, and nothing but the very best\nwas considered fit for the Tabernacle of the Lord. By special\nrevelation, Moses was instructed to procure, not merely the ordinary\ntimber of the country for the framework--not only the fabrics which\nwould keep out rain and wind--not simply the metals in common use,\nfrom which to make the lamps and other furniture--not the ordinary\noils for supplying the lamps; but, on the contrary, the finest\nlinen, the most elaborate embroidery, the rarest woods, the purest\ngold, the costliest gems, were demanded, and nothing common or\ninferior was accepted. The commonest material that was permitted\nwas the long, soft fleece of rams' wool; but, even in that case,\nthe wool had to be dyed of the regal scarlet--a dye so rare and so\ncostly that none but the wealthiest rulers could use it. Even the\nvery oil that burned in the lamps must be the purest olive-oil,\nprepared expressly for that purpose.\n\n[Illustration: BADGERS.]\n\nThe very fact, therefore, that any article was plentiful and could\neasily be obtained, would be a proof that such article was not\nused for so sacred a purpose; while it is impossible that anything\ncoarse and clumsy could have been accepted for the construction\nof that Tabernacle within which the Shekinah ever burned over the\nMercy-seat--over which the cloud rested by day, and the fire shone\nby night, visible external proofs of the Divine glory within.\n\nWe therefore dismiss from our minds the possibility of accepting\nany material for it which was not exceptionably valuable, and which\nwould be employed in the uses of ordinary life. The great object of\nthe minutely-elaborate directions which were given through Moses to\nthe Israelites was evidently to keep continually before their eyes\nthe great truth that they owed all to God, and that their costliest\nofferings were but acknowledgments of their dependence.\n\nWe will now presume that the Tachash of the Pentateuch and Ezekiel\nis really the animal which we know by the name of Badger. It exists\nthroughout the whole of the district traversed by the Israelites,\nthough it is not very plentiful, nor is it easily taken. Had such\nbeen the case, its fur would not have been employed in the service\nof the sanctuary.\n\nIt is nocturnal in its habits, and very seldom is seen during the\nhours of daylight, so that it cannot be captured by chase. It is\nnot gregarious, so that it cannot be taken in great numbers, as is\nthe case with certain wild animals which have been thought to be\nthe Tachash of Scripture. It is not a careless animal, so that it\ncannot be captured or killed without the exercise of considerable\ningenuity, and the expenditure of much time and trouble. It is one\nof the burrowing animals, digging for itself a deep subterranean\nhome, and always ready whenever it is alarmed to escape into\nthe dark recesses of its dwelling, from which it can scarcely be\ndislodged. It is not a large animal, so that a considerable number\nof skins would be required in order to make a covering which should\noverlap a structure forty-five feet in length and fifteen in\nbreadth. Were it a solitary animal, there might be a difficulty in\nprocuring a sufficient number of skins. But it is partly gregarious\nin its habits, living together in small families, seven or eight\nbeing sometimes found to inhabit a single dwelling-place. It\nis, therefore, sufficiently rare to make its skin valuable, and\nsufficiently plentiful to furnish the requisite number of skins.\nAll these facts tend to show that the cost of such a covering\nmust have been very great, even though it was the outermost, and,\nconsequently, the least valuable of the four. It has been suggested\nthat these skins were only used to lay over the lines where the\ndifferent sets of coverings overlapped each other, and that, in\nconsequence, they need not have been very numerous.\n\n[Illustration: SUPPOSED FORM AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE TABERNACLE,\nCAMP, ETC.]\n\nBut we find that these same skins, which were evidently those\nwhich formed the external roof, were used, when the Tabernacle was\ntaken down, for the purpose of forming distinct coverings for the\nark of the testimony, the table of shewbread, the seven-branched\ncandlestick, the golden altar, the various vessels used in the\nministrations, and lastly, the altar of sacrifice itself. Thus, when\nwe recollect the dimensions of the ark, the table, the candlestick,\nand the two altars, we shall see that, in order to make separate\ncovers for them, a quantity of material would be used which would be\namply sufficient to cover the whole roof of the Tabernacle, even if\nit had, as was most probably the case, a ridged, and not a flat roof.\n\nWe now come to our next point, namely, the aptitude of the Badger's\nskin to resist weather. Any one who has handled the skin of the\nBadger will acknowledge that a better material could hardly be\nfound. The fur is long, thick, and, though light, is moderately\nstiff, the hairs falling over each other in such a manner as to\nthrow off rain or snow as off a penthouse. And, as to the third\npoint, namely, its possible use as a material for the manufacture\nof shoes, we may call to mind that the skin of the Badger is\nproverbially tough, and that this very quality has caused the animal\nto be subjected to most cruel treatment by a class of sporting men\nwhich is now almost extinct.\n\nThe Septuagint gives little assistance in determining the precise\nnature of the Tachash, and rather seems to consider the word as\nexpressive of the colour with which the fur was dyed than that of\nthe animal from which it was taken. Still, it must be remembered\nthat not only are zoological terms used very loosely in the\nScriptures, but that in Hebrew, as in all other languages, the same\ncombination of letters often expresses two different ideas, so\nthat the word Tachash may equally signify a colour and an animal.\nMoreover, it has been well pointed out that the repeated use of the\nword in the plural number shows that it cannot refer to colour;\nwhile its almost invariable combination with the Hebrew word that\nsignifies a skin implies that it does not refer to colour, but to an\nanimal.\n\nWhat that animal may be, is, as I have already mentioned,\nconjectural. But, as the authorized translation renders the word as\nBadger, and as this reading fulfils the conditions necessary to its\nidentification, and as no other reading does fulfil them, we cannot\nbe very far wrong if we accept that translation as the correct one,\nand assume the Tachash of the Scriptures to be the animal which we\ncall by the name of Badger.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEAR.\n\n The Syrian Bear--Identity of the Hebrew and Arabic titles--Its\n colour variable according to age--Bears once numerous in\n Palestine, and now only occasionally seen--Reason for their\n diminution--Present localities of the Bear, and its favourite\n haunts--Food of the Bear--Its general habits--Its ravages among\n the flocks--The Bear dangerous to mankind--The Bear robbed of\n her whelps--Illustrative passages--Its mode of fighting--Various\n references to the Bear, from the time of Samuel to that of St.\n John.\n\n\nWhatever doubt may exist as to the precise identity of various\nanimals mentioned in the Scriptures, there is none whatever as to\nthe creature which is frequently alluded to under the name of Bear.\n\nThe Hebrew word is _D\u00f4b_, and it is a remarkable fact that the name\nof this animal in the Arabic language is almost identical with the\nHebrew term, namely, _Dubh_. The peculiar species of Bear which\ninhabits Palestine is the Syrian Bear (_Ursus Isabellinus_), and,\nthough it has been variously described by different eye-witnesses,\nthere is no doubt that the same species was seen by them all. As is\nthe case with many animals, the Syrian Bear changes its colour as\nit grows older. When a cub, it is of a darkish brown, which becomes\na light brown as it approaches maturity. But, when it has attained\nits full growth, it becomes cream-coloured, and each succeeding year\nseems to lighten its coat, so that a very old Bear is nearly as\nwhite as its relative of the Arctic regions. Travellers, therefore,\nwho have met the younger specimens, have described them as brown in\nhue, while those who have seen more aged individuals have stated\nthat the colour of the Syrian Bear is white.\n\nOwing to the destruction of forests, the Bear, which is essentially\na lover of the woods, has decreased considerably in number. Yet,\neven at the present time, specimens may be seen by the watchful\ntraveller, mostly about the range of Lebanon, but sometimes at a\nconsiderable distance from that locality. Mr. Tristram, for example,\nsaw it close to the Lake of Gennesaret. \"We never met with so many\nwild animals as on one of those days. First of all, a wild boar got\nout of some scrub close to us, as we were ascending the valley. Then\na deer was started below, ran up the cliff, and wound along the\nledge, passing close to us. Then a large ichneumon almost crossed my\nfeet and ran into a cleft; and, while endeavouring to trace him, I\nwas amazed to see a brown Syrian Bear clumsily but rapidly clamber\ndown the rocks and cross the ravine. He was, however, far too\ncautious to get within hailing distance of any of the riflemen.\"\n\nThe same author mentions that some of the chief strongholds of this\nBear are certain clefts in the face of a precipitous chasm through\nwhich the river Leontes flows. This river runs into the sea a few\nmiles northward of Tyre, and assists in carrying off the melted\nsnows from the Lebanon range of mountains. His description is so\npicturesque, that it must be given in his own words. \"The channel,\nthough a thousand feet deep, was so narrow that the opposite ridge\nwas within gunshot. Looking down the giddy abyss, we could see the\ncliff on our side partially covered with myrtle, bay, and caper\nhanging from the fissures, while the opposite side was perforated\nwith many shallow caves, the inaccessible eyries of vultures,\neagles, and lanner falcons, which were sailing in multitudes around.\nThe lower part had many ledges clad with shrubs, the strongholds\nof the Syrian Bear, though inaccessible even to goats. Far beneath\ndashed the milk-white river, a silver line in a ruby setting of\noleanders, roaring doubtless fiercely, but too distant to be heard\nat the height on which we stood. This _cleft_ of the Leontes was the\nonly true Alpine scenery we had met with in Palestine, and in any\ncountry, and amidst any mountains, it would attract admiration.\"\n\n[Illustration: BEARS DESCENDING THE MOUNTAINS.]\n\nOn those elevated spots the Bear loves to dwell, and throughout the\nsummer-time generally remains in such localities. For the Bear is\none of the omnivorous animals, and is able to feed on vegetable as\nwell as animal substances, preferring the former when they can be\nfound. There is nothing that a Bear likes better than strawberries\nand similar fruits, among which it will revel throughout the whole\nfruit season, daintily picking the ripest berries, and becoming\nwonderfully fat by the constant banquet. Sometimes, when the fruits\nfail, it makes incursions among the cultivated grounds, and is noted\nfor the ravages which it makes among a sort of vetch which is much\ngrown in the Holy Land.\n\nBut during the colder months of the year the Bear changes its diet,\nand becomes carnivorous. Sometimes it contents itself with the\nvarious wild animals which it can secure, but sometimes it descends\nto the lower plains, and seizes upon the goats and sheep in their\npastures. This habit is referred to by David, in his well-known\nspeech to Saul, when the king was trying to dissuade him from\nmatching himself against the gigantic Philistine. \"And Saul said\nto David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight\nwith him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his\nyouth.... Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a\nlion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: and I went out\nafter him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his hand; and\nwhen he arose against me, I caught him by the beard, and smote him,\nand slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this\nuncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath\ndefied the armies of the living God.\"--1 Sam. xvii. 33-36.\n\n[Illustration: ON THE WATCH.]\n\nThough not generally apt to attack mankind, it will do so if first\nattacked, and then becomes a most dangerous enemy. See, for example,\nthat most graphic passage in the book of the prophet Amos, whose\nbusiness as a herdsman must have made him conversant with the\nhabits, not only of the flocks and herds which he kept, but of the\nwild beasts which might devour them:--\"Woe unto you that desire the\nday of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is\ndarkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a\nbear met him; or went into a house, and leaned his hand on the wall,\nand a serpent bit him.\" (v. 19.)\n\nAnother reference to the dangerous character of the Bear is made in\n2 Kings ii. 23, 24, in which is recorded that two she-bears came out\nof the wood near Bethel, and killed forty-two of the children that\nmocked at Elisha.\n\nAs the Bear is not swift of foot, but rather clumsy in its\nmovements, it cannot hope to take the nimbler animals in open chase.\nIt prefers to lie in wait for them in the bushes, and to strike them\ndown with a sudden blow of its paw, a terrible weapon, which it can\nwield as effectively as the lion uses its claws. An allusion to this\nhabit is made in the Lamentations of Jeremiah (iii. 10), \"He was\nunto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.\"\n\nHarmless to man as it generally is, there are occasions on which\nit becomes a terrible and relentless foe, not seeking to avoid his\npresence, but even searching for him, and attacking him as soon\nas seen. In the proper season of the year, hunters, or those who\nare travelling through those parts of the country infested by the\nBear, will sometimes find the cubs, generally two in number, their\nmother having left them in the den while she has gone to search for\nfood. Although they would not venture to take the initiative in an\nattack upon either of the parents, they are glad of an opportunity\nwhich enables them to destroy one or two Bears without danger to\nthemselves. The young Bears are easily killed or carried off,\nbecause at a very early age they are as confident as they are weak,\nand do not try to escape when they see the hunters approaching.\n\nThe only danger lies in the possibility that their deed may be\ndiscovered by the mother before they can escape from the locality,\nand, if she should happen to return while the robbers are still in\nthe neighbourhood, a severe conflict is sure to follow. At any time\nan angry Bear is a terrible antagonist, especially if it be wounded\nwith sufficient severity to cause pain, and not severely enough to\ncripple its movements. But, when to this easily-roused ferocity is\nadded the fury of maternal feelings, it may be imagined that the\nhunters have good reason to fear its attack.\n\n[Illustration: SEEKING AN OUTLOOK.]\n\nTo all animals that rear their young is given a sublime and almost\nsupernatural courage in defending their offspring, and from the\nlioness, that charges a host of armed men when her cubs are in\ndanger, to the hen, which defies the soaring kite or prowling fox,\nor to the spider, that will give up her life rather than abandon\nher yet unhatched brood, the same self-sacrificing spirit actuates\nthem all. Most terrible therefore is the wrath of a creature which\npossesses, as is the case of the Bear, the strongest maternal\naffections, added to great size, tremendous weapons, and gigantic\nstrength. That the sight of a Bear bereaved of her young was well\nknown to both writers and contemporary readers of the Old Testament,\nis evident from the fact that it is mentioned by several writers,\nand always as a familiar illustration of furious anger. See for\nexample 2 Sam. xvii. 8, when Hushai is dissuading Absalom from\nfollowing the cautious counsel of Ahithophel, \"For thou knowest thy\nfather and his men, that they be mighty men of war, and they be\nchafed in their minds as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field.\"\nSolomon also, in the Proverbs (xvii. 12), uses the same image, \"Let\na bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his\nfolly.\"\n\nWhen the Bear fights, it delivers rapid strokes with its armed paw,\ntearing and rending away everything that it strikes. A blow from a\nbear's paw has been several times known to strip the entire skin,\ntogether with the hair, from a man's head, and, when fighting with\ndogs, to tear its enemies open as if each claw were a chisel.\n\nBears are capable of erecting themselves on their hinder limbs, and\nof supporting themselves in an upright position with the greatest\nease. When attacked in close combat, they have a habit of rearing\nthemselves upon their hinder feet--a position which enables them to\ndeliver with the greatest effect the terrific blows with their fore\npaws, upon which they chiefly rely in defending themselves.\n\nWith fearful ingenuity, the Bear, when engaged with a human foe,\ndirects its attack upon the head of its antagonist, and, as\npreviously stated, has been known to strike off the entire scalp\nwith a single blow.\n\n[Illustration: A FAMILY-PARTY.]\n\nA hunter who had the misfortune to be struck down by a Bear--and\nthe singular good fortune to afterwards escape from it--says, that\nwhen he was lying on the ground at the mercy of the angry beast,\nthe animal, after biting him upon the arms and legs, deliberately\nsettled itself upon his head and began to scarify it in the fiercest\nmanner, leaving wounds eight and nine inches in length.\n\nBears are the more terrible antagonists from their extreme tenacity\nof life, and the fearful energy which they compress into the last\nmoment of existence, when they are suffering from a mortal wound.\nUnless struck in the heart or brain, the mortally-wounded Bear is\nmore to be feared than if it had received no injury whatever, and\ncontrives to wreak more harm in the few minutes that immediately\nprecede its death, than it had achieved while still uninjured.\n\nMany a hunter has received mortal hurts by incautiously approaching\na Bear, which lay apparently dead, but was in reality only stunned.\n\n[Illustration: bear]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: porcupine]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PORCUPINE.\n\n Presumed identity of the Kipp\u00f4d with the Porcupine--Habits\n of the Porcupine--the common Porcupine found plentifully in\n Palestine.\n\n\nAlthough, like the hedgehog, the Porcupine is not mentioned by name\nin the Scriptures, many commentators think that the word Kipp\u00f4d\nsignifies both the hedgehog and Porcupine.\n\nThat the two animals should be thought to be merely two varieties\nof one species is not astonishing, when we remember the character\nof the people among whom the Porcupine lives. Not having the least\nidea of scientific geology, they look only to the most conspicuous\ncharacteristics, and because the Porcupine and hedgehog are both\ncovered with an armature of quills, and the quills are far more\nconspicuous than the teeth, the inhabitants of Palestine naturally\nclass the two animals together. In reality, they belong to two very\ndifferent orders, the hedgehog being classed with the shrew-mice and\nmoles, while the Porcupine is a rodent animal, and is classed with\nthe rats, rabbits, beavers, marmots, and other rodents.\n\nIt is quite as common in Palestine as the hedgehog, a fact which\nincreases the probability that the two animals may have been\nmentioned under a common title. Being a nocturnal animal, it retires\nduring the day-time to some crevice in a rock or burrow in the\nground, and there lies sleeping until the sunset awakens it and\ncalls it to action. And as the hedgehog is also a nocturnal animal,\nthe similarity of habit serves to strengthen the mutual resemblance.\n\nThe Porcupine is peculiarly fitted for living in dry and unwatered\nspots, as, like many other animals, of which our common rabbit is a\nfamiliar example, it can exist without water, obtaining the needful\nmoisture from the succulent roots on which it feeds.\n\nThe sharply pointed quills with which its body is covered are solid,\nand strengthened in a most beautiful manner by internal ribs, that\nrun longitudinally through them, exactly like those of the hollow\niron masts, which are now coming so much into use. As they are,\nin fact, greatly developed hairs, they are continually shed and\nreplaced, and when they are about to fall are so loosely attached\nthat they fall off if pulled slightly, or even if the animal shakes\nitself. Consequently the shed quills that lie about the localities\ninhabited by the Porcupine indicate its whereabouts, and so\nplentiful are these quills in some places, that quite a bundle can\nbe collected in a short time.\n\nThere are many species of Porcupines which inhabit different parts\nof the world, but that which has been mentioned is the common\nPorcupine of Europe, Asia, and Africa.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MOLE.\n\n The two Hebrew words which are translated as Mole--Obscurity of\n the former name--A parallel case in our own language--The second\n name--The Moles and the Bats, why associated together--The\n real Mole of Scripture, its different names, and its place\n in zoology--Description of the Mole-rat and its general\n habits--Curious superstition--Discovery of the species by Mr.\n Tristram--Scripture and science--How the Mole-rat finds its\n food--Distinction between the Mole and the present animal.\n\n\nThere are two words which are translated as Mole in our authorized\nversion of the Bible. One of them is so obscure that there seems no\npossibility of deciding the creature that is represented by it. We\ncannot even tell to what class of the animal kingdom it refers,\nbecause in more than one place it is mentioned as one of the unclean\nbirds that might not be eaten (translated as _swan_ in our version),\nwhereas, in another place, it is enumerated among the unclean\ncreeping things.\n\n[Illustration: THE MOLE-RAT.]\n\nWe may conjecture that the same word might be used to designate two\ndistinct animals, though we have no clue to their identification. It\nis rather a strange coincidence, in corroboration of this theory,\nthat our word Mole signifies three distinct objects--firstly, an\nanimal; secondly, a cutaneous growth; and thirdly, a bank of earth.\nNow, supposing English to be a dead language, like the Hebrew, it\nmay well be imagined that a translator of an English book would feel\nextremely perplexed when he saw the word Mole used in such widely\ndifferent senses.\n\nThe best Hebraists can do no more than offer a conjecture founded\non the structure of the word _Tinshemeth_, which is thought by some\nto be the chameleon. Some think that it is the Mole, some the ibis,\nsome the salamander, while others consider it to be the centipede;\nand in neither case have any decisive arguments been adduced.\n\nWe will therefore leave the former of these two names, and proceed\nto the second, _Chephor-peroth_.\n\nThis word occurs in that passage of Isaiah which has already been\nquoted when treating of the bat. \"In that day a man shall cast his\nidols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made each one to\nhimself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the\nclefts of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear\nof the Lord and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to\nshake terribly the earth.\"\n\nIt is highly probable that the animal in question is the Mole of\nPalestine, which is not the same as our European species, but is\nmuch larger in size, and belongs to a different order of mammalia.\nThe true Mole is one of the insectivorous and carnivorous animals,\nand is allied to the shrews and the hedgehogs; whereas the Mole of\nPalestine (_Spalax typhlus_) is one of the rodents, and allied to\nthe rabbits, mice, marmots, and jerboas. A better term for it is the\nMole-rat, by which name it is familiar to zoologists. It is also\nknown by the names of Slepez and Nenni.\n\nIn length it is about eight inches, and its colour is a pale slate.\nAs is the case with the true Moles, the eyes are of very minute\ndimensions, and are not visible through the thick soft fur with\nwhich the whole head and body are covered. Neither are there any\nvisible external ears, although the ear is really very large, and\nextremely sensitive to sound. This apparent privation of both\nears and eyes gives to the animal a most singular and featureless\nappearance, its head being hardly recognisable as such but for\nthe mouth, and the enormous projecting teeth, which not only look\nformidable, but really are so. There is a curious superstition in\nthe Ukraine, that if a man will dare to grasp a Mole-rat in his bare\nhand, allow it to bite him, and then squeeze it to death, the hand\nthat did the deed will ever afterwards possess the virtue of healing\ngoitre or scrofula.\n\nThis animal is spread over a very large tract of country, and is\nvery common in Palestine. Mr. Tristram gives an interesting account\nof its discovery. \"We had long tried in vain to capture the Mole\nof Palestine. Its mines and its mounds we had seen everywhere, and\nreproached ourselves with having omitted the mole-trap among the\nitems of our outfit. From the size of the mounds and the shallowness\nof the subterranean passages, we felt satisfied it could not be the\nEuropean species, and our hopes of solving the question were raised\nwhen we found that one of them had taken up its quarters close to\nour camp. After several vain attempts to trap it, an Arab one night\nbrought a live Mole in a jar to the tent. It was no Mole properly so\ncalled, but the Mole-rat, which takes its place throughout Western\nAsia. The man, having observed our anxiety to possess a specimen,\nrefused to part with it for less than a hundred piastres, and\nscornfully rejected the twenty piastres I offered. Ultimately, Dr.\nChaplin purchased it for five piastres after our departure, and I\nkept it alive for some time in a box, feeding it on sliced onions.\"\n\nThe same gentleman afterwards caught many of the Mole-rats, and\nkept them in earthen vessels, as they soon gnawed their way through\nwood. They fed chiefly on bulbs, but also ate sopped bread. Like\nmany other animals, they reposed during the day, and were active\nthroughout the night.\n\nThe author then proceeds to remark on the peculiarly appropriate\ncharacter of the prophecy that the idols should be cast to the\nMoles and the bats. Had the European Mole been the animal to\nwhich reference was made, there would have been comparatively\nlittle significance in the connexion of the two names, because,\nalthough both animals are lovers of darkness, they do not inhabit\nsimilar localities. But the Mole-rat is fond of frequenting\ndeserted ruins and burial-places, so that the Moles and the bats\nare really companions, and as such are associated together in the\nsacred narrative. Here, as in many other instances, we find that\ncloser study of the Scriptures united to more extended knowledge\nare by no means the enemies of religion, as some well-meaning,\nbut narrow-minded persons think. On the contrary, the Scriptures\nwere never so well understood, and their truth and force so well\nrecognised, as at the present day; and science has proved to be,\nnot the destroyer of the Bible, but its interpreter. We shall soon\ncease to hear of \"Science _versus_ the Bible,\" and shall substitute\n\"Science and the Bible _versus_ Ignorance and Prejudice.\"\n\nThe Mole-rat needs not to dig such deep tunnels as the true Moles,\nbecause its food does not lie so deep. The Moles live chiefly upon\nearthworms, and are obliged to procure them in the varying depths\nto which they burrow. But the Mole-rat lives mostly upon roots,\npreferring those of a bulbous nature. Now bulbous roots are, as\na rule, situated near the surface of the ground, and, therefore,\nany animal which feeds upon them must be careful not to burrow too\ndeeply, lest it should pass beneath them. The shallowness of the\nburrows is thus accounted for. Gardens are often damaged by this\nanimal, the root-crops, such as carrots and onions, affording plenty\nof food without needing much exertion.\n\nThe Mole-rat does not keep itself quite so jealously secluded as\ndoes our common Mole, but occasionally will come out of the burrow\nand lie on the ground, enjoying the warm sunshine. Still it is not\neasily to be approached; for though its eyes are almost useless, the\nears are so sharp, and the animal is so wary, that at the sound of a\nfootstep it instantly seeks the protection of its burrow, where it\nmay bid defiance to its foes.\n\nHow it obtains its food is a mystery. There seems to be absolutely\nno method of guiding itself to the precise spot where a bulb may\nbe growing. It is not difficult to conjecture the method by which\nthe Mole discovers its prey. Its sensitive ears may direct it to\nthe spot where a worm is driving its way through the earth, and\nshould it come upon its prey, the very touch of the worm, writhing\nin terror at the approach of its enemy, would be sufficient to act\nas a guide. I have kept several Moles, and always noticed that,\nthough they would pass close to a worm without seeming to detect\nits presence, either by sight or scent, at the slightest touch they\nwould spring round, dart on the worm, and in a moment seize it\nbetween their jaws. But with the Mole-rat the case is different. The\nroot can utter no sound, and can make no movement, nor is it likely\nthat the odour of the bulb should penetrate through the earth to a\nvery great distance.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: mice]\n\n\n\n\nTHE MOUSE.\n\n The Mice which marred the land--The Field-mouse--Its destructive\n habits and prolific nature--The Hamster, and its habits--The\n Jerboa, its activity and destructiveness--Various species of\n Dormice and Sand-rats.\n\n\nThat the Mouse mentioned in the Old Testament was some species\nof rodent animal is tolerably clear, though it is impossible to\nstate any particular species as being signified by the Hebrew word\n_Akbar_. The probable derivation of this name is from two words\nwhich signify \"destruction of corn,\" and it is therefore evident\nthat allusion is made to some animal which devours the produce of\nthe fields, and which exists in sufficient numbers to make its\nvoracity formidable.\n\nSome commentators on the Old Testament translate the word Akbar\nas jerboa. Now, although the jerboa is common in Syria, it is not\nnearly so plentiful as other rodent animals, and would scarcely\nbe selected as the means by which a terrible disaster is made to\nbefall a whole country. The student of Scripture is well aware\nthat, in those exceptional occurrences which are called miracles, a\nneedless development of the wonder-working power is never employed.\nWe are not to suppose, for example, that the clouds of locusts that\ndevoured the harvests of the Egyptians were created for this express\npurpose, but that their already existing hosts were concentrated\nupon a limited area, instead of being spread over a large surface.\nNor need we fancy that the frogs which rendered their habitations\nunclean, and contaminated their food, were brought into existence\nsimply to inflict a severe punishment on the fastidious and\nsuperstitious Egyptians.\n\nOf course, had such an exercise of creative power been needed, it\nwould have been used, but we can all see that a needless miracle\nis never worked. He who would not suffer even a crumb of the\nmiraculously multiplied bread to be wasted, is not likely to waste\nthat power by which the miracle was wrought.\n\n[Illustration: DAGON FALLEN DOWN BEFORE THE ARK.]\n\nIf we refer to the early history of the Israelitish nation, as\ntold in 1 Sam. iv.-vi., we shall find that the Israelites made an\nunwarrantable use of the ark, by taking it into battle, and that it\nwas captured and carried off into the country of the Philistines.\nThen various signs were sent to warn the captors to send the ark\nback to its rightful possessors. Dagon, their great god, was\nprostrated before it, painful diseases attacked them, so that many\ndied, and scarcely any seem to have escaped, while their harvests\nwere ravaged by numbers of \"mice that marred the land.\"\n\n[Illustration: MOUSE AND NEST.]\n\nThe question is now simple enough. If the ordinary translation is\naccepted, and the word Akbar rendered as Mouse, would the necessary\nconditions be fulfilled, _i.e._ would the creature be destructive,\nand would it exist in very great numbers? Now we shall find that\nboth these conditions are fulfilled by the common Field-mouse.\n\nThis little creature is, in proportion to its size, one of the most\ndestructive animals in the world. Let its numbers be increased from\nany cause whatever, and it will most effectually \"mar the land.\" It\nwill devour every cereal that is sown, and kill almost any sapling\nthat is planted. It does not even wait for the corn to spring up,\nbut will burrow beneath the surface, and dig out the seed before it\nhas had time to sprout. In the early part of the year, it will eat\nthe green blade as soon as it springs out of the ground, and is an\nadept at climbing the stalks of corn, and plundering the ripe ears\nin the autumn.\n\n[Illustration: JERBOA, OR LEAPING MOUSE.]\n\nWhen stacked or laid up in barns, the harvest is by no means safe,\nfor the Mice will penetrate into any ordinary barn, and find their\nway into any carelessly-built stack, from which they can scarcely be\nejected. The rat itself is not so dire a foe to the farmer, as the\nless obtrusive, but equally mischievous Field-mouse. The ferret will\ndrive the rats out of their holes, and if they have taken possession\nof a wheat-stack they can be ejected by depriving them of access to\nwater. But the burrows of the Field-mouse are so small that a ferret\ncannot make its way through them, and the nightly dew that falls on\nthe stack affords an ample supply of water.\n\n[Illustration: THE FIELD-MOUSE.]\n\nWhen the Field-mouse is deprived of the food which it loves best,\nit finds a subsistence among the trees. Whenever mice can discover\na newly-planted sapling, they hold great revel upon it, eating away\nthe tender young bark as high as they can reach, and consequently\ndestroying the tree as effectually as if it were cut down. Even\nwhen the young trees fail them, and no tender bark is to be had,\nthe Field-mice can still exert their destructive powers. They will\nthen betake themselves to the earth, burrow beneath its surface,\nand devour the young rootlets of the forest trees. All botanists\nknow that a healthy tree is continually pushing forward fresh roots\nbelow the ground, in order to gain sufficient nourishment to supply\nthe increasing growth above. If, therefore, these young roots are\ndestroyed, the least harm that can happen to the tree is that its\nfurther growth is arrested; while, in many cases, the tree, which\ncannot repair the injuries it has received, droops gradually, and\nfinally dies. Even in this country, the Field-mouse has proved\nitself a terrible enemy to the agriculturist, and has devastated\nconsiderable tracts of land.\n\nSo much for the destructive powers of the Field-mouse, and the next\npoint to be considered is its abundance.\n\nNearly all the rats and mice are singularly prolific animals,\nproducing a considerable number at a brood, and having several\nbroods in a season. The Field-mouse is by no means an exception to\nthe general rule, but produces as many young in a season as any of\nthe Mice.\n\nNot only is it formidable from its numbers, but from the insidious\nnature of its attacks. Any one can see a rabbit, a hare, or even\na rat; but to see a Field-mouse is not easy, even when the little\ncreatures are present in thousands. A Field-mouse never shows itself\nexcept from necessity, its instinct teaching it to escape the\nobservation of its many furred and feathered enemies. Short-legged\nand soft-furred, it threads its noiseless way among the herbage\nwith such gentle suppleness that scarcely a grass-blade is stirred,\nwhile, if it should be forced to pass over a spot of bare ground,\nthe red-brown hue of its fur prevents it from being detected by an\ninexperienced eye. Generally the Field-mouse is safe from human\nfoes, and has only to dread the piercing eye and swift wings of the\nhawk, or the silent flight and sharp talons of the owl.\n\nAlthough there can be no doubt that the Field-mouse is one of the\nanimals to which the name of Akbar is given, it is probable that\nmany species were grouped under this one name. Small rodents of\nvarious kinds are very plentiful in Palestine, and there are several\nspecies closely allied to the Field-mouse itself.\n\nAmong them is the Hamster (_Cricetus frumentarius_), so widely\nknown for the ravages which it makes among the crops. This terribly\ndestructive animal not only steals the crops for immediate\nsubsistence, but lays up a large stock of provisions for the winter,\nseeming to be actuated by a sort of miserly passion for collecting\nand storing away. There seems to be no bounds to the quantity of\nfood which a Hamster will carry into its subterranean store-house,\nfrom seventy to one hundred pounds' weight being sometimes taken\nout of the burrow of a single animal. The fact of the existence\nof these large stores shows that the animal must need them, and\naccordingly we find that the Hamster is only a partial hibernator,\nas it is awake during a considerable portion of the winter months,\nand is consequently obliged to live on the stores which it has\ncollected.\n\nIt is an exceedingly prolific animal, each pair producing on an\naverage twenty-five young in the course of a year. The families\nare unsociable, and, as soon as they are strong enough to feed\nthemselves, the young Hamsters leave their home, and make separate\nburrows for themselves. Thus we see that the Hamster, as well as the\nField-mouse, fulfils the conditions which are needed in order to\nclass it under the general title of Akbar.\n\nI have already stated that some translators of the Bible use the\nword Jerboa as a rendering of the Hebrew Akbar. As the Jerboa\ncertainly is found in Palestine, there is some foundation for this\nidea, and we may safely conjecture that it also is one of the\nsmaller rodents which are grouped together under the appellation of\nMouse.\n\nThe Common Jerboa (_Dipus \u00c6gyptiacus_) is plentiful in Palestine,\nand several other species inhabit the same country, known at once\nby their long and slender legs, which give them so curious a\nresemblance to the kangaroos of Australia. The Jerboas pass over the\nground with astonishing rapidity. Instead of creeping stealthily\namong the grass-blades, like the short-limbed field-mouse, the\nJerboa flies along with a succession of wonderful leaps, darting\nhere and there with such rapidity that the eye can scarcely follow\nits wayward movements. When quiet and undisturbed, it hops along\ngently enough, but as soon as it takes alarm, it darts off in its\npeculiar manner, which is to the ordinary walk of quadrupeds what\nthe devious course of a frightened snipe is to the steady flight of\nbirds in general.\n\nIt prefers hot and dry situations, its feet being defended by a\nthick coating of stiff hairs, which serve the double purpose of\nprotecting it from the heat, and giving it a firm hold on the\nground. It is rather a destructive animal, its sharp and powerful\nteeth enabling it to bite its way through obstacles which would\neffectually stop an ordinary Mouse. That the Jerboa may be one of\nthe Akbarim is rendered likely by the prohibition in Lev. xi. 29,\nforbidding the Mouse to be eaten. It would be scarcely probable\nthat such a command need have been issued against eating the common\nMouse, whereas the Jerboa, a much larger and palatable animal, is\nalways eaten by the Arabs. The Hamster is at the present day eaten\nin Northern Syria.\n\nBeside these creatures there are the Dormice, several species of\nwhich animal inhabit Palestine at the present day. There are also\nthe Sand-rats, one species of which is larger than our ordinary\nrats. The Sand-rats live more in the deserts than the cultivated\nlands, making their burrows at the foot of hills, and among the\nroots of bushes.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HARE.\n\n The prohibitions of the Mosaic law--The chewing of the\n cud, and division of the hoof--Identity of the Hare of\n Scripture--Rumination described--The Hare a rodent and not\n a ruminant--Cowper and his Hares--Structure of the rodent\n tooth--The Mosaic law accommodated to its recipients--The Hares\n of Palestine and their habits.\n\n\nAmong the many provisions of the Mosaic law are several which refer\nto the diet of the Israelites, and which prohibit certain kinds of\nfood. Special stress is laid upon the flesh of animals, and the list\nof those which may be lawfully eaten is a singularly restricted one,\nall being excluded except those which \"divide the hoof and chew\nthe cud.\" And, lest there should be any mistake about the matter,\nexamples are given both of those animals which may and those which\nmay not be eaten.\n\nThe ox, sheep, goat, and antelopes generally are permitted as\nlawful food, because they fulfil both conditions; whereas there is\na special prohibition of the swine, because it divides the hoof but\ndoes not chew the cud, and of the camel, coney, and hare because\nthey chew the cud, but do not divide the hoof. Our business at\npresent is with the last of these animals.\n\nConsiderable discussion has been raised concerning this animal,\nbecause, as is well known to naturalists, the Hare is not one of\nthe ruminant animals, but belongs to the same order as the rat,\nrabbit, beaver, and other rodents. Neither its teeth nor its stomach\nare constructed for the purpose of enabling it to ruminate, _i.e._\nto return into the mouth the partially-digested food, and then to\nmasticate it afresh; and therefore it has been thought that either\nthere is some mistake in the sacred narrative or that the Hebrew\nword has been mistranslated.\n\n[Illustration: THE SYRIAN HARE.]\n\nTaking the latter point first, as being the simplest of the two, we\nfind that the Hebrew word which is rendered as Hare is Arnebeth, and\nthat it is rendered in the Septuagint as Dasypus, or the Hare,--a\nrendering which the Jewish Bible adopts. That the Arnebeth is really\nthe Hare may also be conjectured from the fact that the Arabic name\nfor that animal is Arneb. In consequence of the rather wide sense\nto which the Greek word Dasypus (_i.e._ hairy-foot) is used, some\ncommentators have suggested that the rabbit may have been included\nin the same title. This, however, is not at all likely, inasmuch as\nthe Hare is very plentiful in Palestine, and the rabbit is believed\nnot to be indigenous to that part of the world. And, even if the two\nanimals had been classed under the same title, the physiological\ndifficulty would not be removed.\n\nBefore proceeding further, it will be as well to give a brief\ndescription of the curious act called rumination, or \"chewing the\ncud.\"\n\nThere are certain animals, such as the oxen, antelopes, deer,\nsheep, goats, camels, &c. which have teeth unfitted for the rapid\nmastication of food, and which therefore are supplied with a\nremarkable apparatus by which the food can be returned into the\nmouth when the animal has leisure, and be re-masticated before it\npasses into the true digestive organs.\n\nFor this purpose they are furnished with four stomachs, which are\narranged in the following order. First comes the paunch or \"rumen\"\n(whence the word \"ruminating\"), into which passes the food in a\nvery rough state, just as it is torn, rather than bitten, from the\nherbage, and which is analogous to the crop in birds. It thence\npasses into the second stomach, or \"honeycomb,\" the walls of which\nare covered with small angular cells. Into those cells the food is\nreceived from the first stomach, and compressed into little balls,\nwhich can be voluntarily returned into the mouth for mastication.\n\nAfter the second mastication has been completed, the food passes at\nonce into the third stomach, and thence into the fourth, which is\nthe true digesting cavity. By a peculiar structure of these organs,\nthe animal is able to convey its food either into the first or third\nstomach, at will, _i.e._ into the first when the grass is eaten, and\ninto the third after rumination. Thus it will be seen that an animal\nwhich chews the cud must have teeth of a certain character, and be\npossessed of the fourfold stomach which has just been described.\n\nTwo points are conceded which seem to be utterly irreconcilable with\neach other. The first is that the Mosaic law distinctly states that\nthe Hare chews the cud; the second is that in point of fact the\nHare is not, and cannot be, a ruminating animal, possessing neither\nthe teeth nor the digestive organs which are indispensable for that\nprocess. Yet, totally opposed as these statements appear to be, they\nare in fact, not so irreconcilable as they seem.\n\n[Illustration: A TIMID GROUP.]\n\nWhy the flesh of certain animals was prohibited, we do not at the\npresent time know. That the flesh of swine should be forbidden food\nis likely enough, considering the effects which the habitual eating\nof swine's flesh is said to produce in hot countries. But it does\nseem very strange that the Israelites should have been forbidden\nto eat the flesh of the camel, the coney (or hyrax), and the Hare,\nand that these animals should have been specified is a proof that\nthe eating or refraining from their flesh was not a mere sanitary\nregulation, but was a matter of importance. The flesh of all these\nthree animals is quite as good and nutritious as that of the oxen,\nor goats, which are eaten in Palestine, and that of the Hare is far\nsuperior to them. Therefore, the people of Israel, who were always\napt to take liberties with the restrictive laws, and were crafty\nenough to evade them on so many occasions, would have been likely\nto pronounce that the flesh of the Hare was lawful meat, because\nthe animal chewed the cud, or appeared to do so, and they would\ndiscreetly have omitted the passage which alluded to the division of\nthe hoof.\n\nTo a non-scientific observer the Hare really does appear to chew\nthe cud. When it is reposing at its ease, it continually moves its\njaws about as if eating something, an action which may readily\nbe mistaken for true rumination. Even Cowper, the poet, who kept\nsome hares for several years, and had them always before his eyes,\nwas deceived by this mumbling movement of the jaws. Speaking of\nhis favourite hare, \"Puss,\" he proceeds as follows: \"Finding him\nexceedingly tractable, I made it my custom to carry him always after\nbreakfast into the garden, where he hid himself generally under the\nleaves of a cucumber vine, sleeping, _or chewing the cud_, till\nevening.\"\n\nThe real object of this continual grinding or mumbling movement is\nsimple enough. The chisel-like incisor teeth of the rodent animals\nneed to be rubbed against each other, in order to preserve their\nedge and shape, and if perchance such friction should be wanting to\na tooth, as, for example, by the breaking of the opposite tooth,\nit becomes greatly elongated, and sometimes grows to such a length\nas to prevent the animal from eating. Instinctively, therefore,\nthe Hare, as well as the rabbit and other rodents, always likes to\nbe nibbling at something, as any one knows who has kept rabbits in\nwooden hutches, the object of this nibbling not being to eat the\nwood, but to keep the teeth in order.\n\nBut we may naturally ask ourselves, why the Mosaic law, an emanation\nfrom heaven, should mention an animal as being a ruminant, when its\nvery structure shows that such an act was utterly impossible? The\nanswer is clear enough. The law was suited to the capacity of those\nfor whom it was intended, and was never meant to be a handbook of\nscience, as well as a code of religious duties and maxims. The Jews,\nlike other Orientals, were indifferent to that branch of knowledge\nwhich we designate by the name of physical science, and it was\nnecessary that the language in which the law was conveyed to them\nshould be accommodated to their capabilities of receiving it.\n\nIt would have been worse than useless to have interrupted the solemn\nrevelation of Divine will with a lesson in comparative anatomy; the\nobject of the passage in question being, not to teach the Jews the\ndistinctive characteristics of a rodent and a ruminant, but to guard\nagainst their mistaking the Hare for one of the ruminants which\nwere permitted as food. That they would in all probability have\nfallen into that mistake is evident from the fact that the Arabs are\nexceedingly fond of the flesh of the Hare, and accept it, as well as\nthe camel, as lawful food, because it chews the cud, the division of\nthe hoof not being considered by them as an essential.\n\nHares are very plentiful in Palestine, and at least two species are\nfound in that country. One of them, which inhabits the more northern\nand hilly portion of Palestine, closely resembles our own species,\nbut has not ears quite so long in proportion, while the head is\nbroader. The second species, which lives in the south, and in the\nvalley of the Jordan, is very small, is of a light dun colour, and\nhas very long ears. In their general habits, these Hares resemble\nthe Hare of England.\n\n\n\n\nCATTLE.\n\n The cattle of Palestine, and their decadence at the present\n day--Ox-flesh not used for food in modern times--Oxen of\n the stall, and oxen of the pasture--The use of the ox in\n agriculture--The yoke and its structure--The plough and the\n goad--The latter capable of being used as a weapon--Treading\n out the corn--The cart and its wheels--The ox used as a\n beast of burden--Cattle turned loose to graze--The bulls of\n Bashan--Curiosity of the ox-tribe--A season of drought--Branding\n the cattle--An Egyptian field scene--Cattle-keeping an\n honourable post--The ox as used for sacrifice--Ox-worship--The\n bull Apis, and his history--Persistency of the\n bull-worship--Jeroboam's sin--Various names of cattle--The\n Indian buffalo.\n\n\nUnder this head we shall treat of the domesticated oxen of\nScripture, whether mentioned as Bull, Cow, Ox, Calf, Heifer, &c.\n\nTwo distinct species of cattle are found in Palestine, namely, the\nordinary domesticated ox, and the Indian buffalo, which lives in the\nlow-lying and marshy valley of the Jordan. Of this species we shall\ntreat presently.\n\nThe domesticated cattle are very much like our own, but there is not\namong them that diversity of breed for which this country is famous;\nnor is there even any distinction of long and short horned cattle.\nThere are some places where the animals are larger than in others,\nbut this difference is occasioned simply by the better quality and\ngreater quantity of the food.\n\nAs is the case in most parts of the world where civilization\nhas made any progress, Domesticated Cattle were, and still are,\nplentiful in Palestine. Even at the present time the cattle are in\ncommon use, though it is evident, from many passages of Holy Writ,\nthat in the days of Jud\u00e6a's prosperity cattle were far more numerous\nthan they are now, and were treated in a better fashion.\n\nTo take their most sacred use first, a constant supply of cattle\nwas needed for the sacrifices, and, as it was necessary that every\nanimal which was brought to the altar should be absolutely perfect,\nit is evident that great care was required in order that the breed\nshould not deteriorate, a skill which has long been rendered useless\nby the abandonment of the sacrifices.\n\n[Illustration: ALTAR OF BURNT-OFFERING.]\n\nAnother reason for their better nurture in the times of old is that\nin those days the ox was largely fed and fatted for the table, just\nas is done with ourselves. At the present day, the flesh of the\ncattle is practically unused as food, that of the sheep or goat\nbeing always employed, even when a man gives a feast to his friends.\nBut, in the old times, stalled oxen, _i.e._ oxen kept asunder from\nthose which were used for agricultural purposes, and expressly\nfatted for the table, were in constant use. See for example the\nwell-known passage in the Prov. xv. 17, \"Better is a dinner of herbs\nwhere love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.\" Again,\nthe Prophet Jeremiah makes use of a curious simile, \"Egypt is\nlike a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of\nthe north. Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted\nbullocks [or, bullocks of the stall], for they also are turned\nback, and are fled away together.\" (Jer. xlvi. 20.) And in 1 Kings\niv. 22, 23, when describing the glories of Solomon's household,\nthe sacred writer draws a distinction between the oxen which were\nespecially fattened for the table of the king and the superior\nofficers, and those which were consumed by the lower orders of his\nhousehold: \"And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures\nof fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and\ntwenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts,\nand roebucks, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS, AND THE FATTED CALF IS\nKILLED.]\n\nCalves--mostly, if not always, bull-calves--were largely used\nfor food in Palestine, and in the households of the wealthy were\nfatted for the table. See, for example, the familiar parable of\nthe prodigal son, in which the rejoicing father is mentioned as\npreparing a great feast in honour of his son's return, and ordering\nthe fatted calf to be killed--the calf in question being evidently\none of the animals that were kept in good condition against any\nfestive occasion. And, even in the earliest history of the Bible,\nthe custom of keeping a fatted calf evidently prevailed, as is shown\nby the conduct of Abraham, who, when he was visited by the three\nheavenly guests, \"ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf, tender\nand good,\" and had it killed and dressed at once, after the still\nexisting fashion of the East.\n\n[Illustration: ABRAHAM OFFERS FOOD TO THE THREE STRANGERS.]\n\nBut, even in the times of Israel's greatest prosperity, the chief\nuse of the ox was as an agricultural labourer, thus reversing the\ncustom of this country, where the horse has taken the place of the\nox as a beast of draught, and where cattle are principally fed for\nfood. Ploughing was, and is, always performed by oxen, and allusions\nto this office are scattered plentifully through the Old and New\nTestaments.\n\nWhen understood in this sense, oxen are almost always spoken of in\nconnexion with the word \"yoke,\" and as each yoke comprised two oxen,\nit is evident that the word is used as we employ the term \"brace,\"\nor pair. The yoke, which is the chief part of the harness, is a very\nsimple affair. A tolerably stout beam of wood is cut of a sufficient\nlength to rest upon the necks of the oxen standing side by side,\nand a couple of hollows are scooped out to receive the crest of the\nneck. In order to hold it in its place, two flexible sticks are bent\nunder their necks, and the ends fixed into the beam of the yoke. In\nthe middle of this yoke is fastened the pole of the plough or cart,\nand this is all the harness that is used, not even traces being\nrequired.\n\nIt will be seen that so rude an implement as this would be very\nlikely to gall the necks of the animals, unless the hollows were\ncarefully smoothed, and the heavy beam adapted to the necks of\nthe animals. This galling nature of the yoke, so familiar to the\nIsraelites, is used repeatedly as a metaphor in many passages of\nthe Old and New Testaments. These passages are too numerous to be\nquoted, but I will give one or two of the most conspicuous among\nthem. The earliest mention of the yoke in the Scriptures is a\nmetaphor.\n\nAfter Jacob had deceived his father, in procuring for himself the\nblessing which was intended for his elder brother, Isaac comforts\nEsau by the prophecy that, although he must serve his brother, yet\n\"it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou\nshalt break his yoke from off thy neck.\" Again, in the next passage\nwhere the yoke is mentioned, namely, Lev. xxvi. 13, the word is\nemployed in the metaphorical sense: \"I am the Lord your God, which\nbrought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be\ntheir bondmen, and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made\nyou go upright.\"\n\nThe plough was equally simple, and consisted essentially of a bent\nbranch, one end of which was armed with an iron point by way of a\nshare, while the other formed the pole or beam, and was fastened\nto the middle of the yoke. It was guided by a handle, which was\nusually a smaller branch that grew from the principal one. A nearly\nsimilar instrument is used in Asia Minor to the present day, and\nis a curious relic of the most ancient times of history, for we\nfind on the Egyptian monuments figures of the various agricultural\nprocesses, in which the plough is made after this simple manner.\n\nOf course such an instrument is a very ineffective one, and can but\nscratch, rather than plough the ground, the warmth of the climate\nand fertility of the land rendering needless the deep ploughing of\nour own country, where the object is to turn up the earth to the\ngreatest possible depth. One yoke of oxen was generally sufficient\nto draw a plough, but occasionally a much greater number were\nrequired. We read, for example, of Elisha, who, when he received his\ncall from Elijah, was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen, _i. e._\ntwenty-four. It has been suggested, that the twelve yoke of oxen\nwere not all attached to the same plough, but that there were twelve\nploughs, each with its single yoke of oxen. This was most probably\nthe case.\n\nThe instrument with which the cattle were driven was not a whip, but\na goad. This goad was a long and stout stick, armed with a spike\nat one end, and having a kind of spud at the other, with which the\nearth could be scraped off the share when it became clogged. Such\nan instrument might readily be used as a weapon, and, in the hands\nof a powerful man, might be made even more formidable than a spear.\nAs a weapon, it often was used, as we see from many passages of the\nScriptures. For example, it is said in Judges iii. 31, \"that Shamgar\nthe son of Anath killed six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad.\"\n\nAfterwards, in the beginning of Saul's reign, when the Israelites\nfairly measured themselves against the Philistines, it was found\nthat only Saul and Jonathan were even tolerably armed. Fearful\nof the numbers and spirit of the Israelites, the Philistines had\ndisarmed them, and were so cautious that they did not even allow\nthem to possess forges wherewith to make or sharpen the various\nagricultural instruments which they possessed, lest they should\nsurreptitiously provide themselves with weapons. The only smith's\ntool which they were allowed to retain was a file with which each\nman might trim the edges of the ploughshares, mattocks, axes, and\nsharpen the points of the goad. The only weapons which they could\nmuster were made of their agricultural implements, and among the\nmost formidable of them was the goad.\n\nHow the goad came into use in Palestine may easily be seen. The\nEgyptians, from among whom the people of Israel passed into the\nPromised Land, did not use the goad in ploughing, but the whip,\nwhich, from the representations on the Egyptian monuments, was\nidentical with the koorbash, or \"cow-hide\" whip, which is now in\nuse in the same country. But this terrible whip, which is capable,\nwhen wielded by a skilful hand, of cutting deep grooves through the\ntough hide of the ox, could not be obtained by the Jews, because the\nhippopotamus, of whose hide it was made, did not live in or near\nPalestine. They therefore were forced to use some other instrument\nwherewith to urge on the oxen, and the goad was clearly the simplest\nand most effective implement for this purpose.\n\nAfter the land was ploughed and sown, and the harvest was ripened,\nthe labours of the oxen were again called into requisition, first\nfor threshing out the corn, and next for carrying or drawing the\ngrain to the storehouses.\n\nIn the earlier days, the process of threshing was very simple. A\ncircular piece of ground was levelled, and beaten very hard and\nflat, its diameter being from fifty to a hundred feet. On this\nground the corn was thrown, and a number of oxen were driven here\nand there on it, so that the constant trampling of their feet shook\nthe ripe grain out of the ears. The corn was gathered together in\nthe middle of the floor, and as fast as it was scattered by the feet\nof the oxen, it was thrown back towards the centre.\n\nAfterwards, an improvement was introduced in the form of a rough\nsledge, called \"moreg,\" to which the oxen were harnessed by a\nyoke, and on which the driver stood as he guided his team round\nthe threshing-floor. This instrument is mentioned in Isa. xli. 15:\n\"Behold, I will make thee a new and sharp threshing instrument\nhaving teeth [or mouths]: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat\nthem small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.\" Mention is also\nmade of the same implement in 2 Sam. xxiv. 22, where it is related\nthat Araunah the Jebusite offered to give David the oxen for a\nburnt-sacrifice, and the moregs and other implements as wood with\nwhich they could be burned.\n\nThe work of treading out the corn was a hard and trying one for the\noxen, and it was probably on this account that the kindly edict was\nmade, that the oxen who trod out the corn should not be muzzled.\nAs a rule, the cattle were not fed nearly as carefully as is done\nwith us, and so the labours of the threshing-floor would find a\ncompensation in the temporary abundance of which the animals might\ntake their fill.\n\n[Illustration: OXEN TREADING OUT GRAIN.]\n\nAfter the corn was threshed, or rather trodden out, the oxen had\nto draw it home in carts. These were but slight improvements on\nthe threshing-sledge, and were simply trays or shallow boxes on a\npair of wheels. As the wheels were merely slices cut from the trunk\nof a tree, and were not furnished with iron tires, they were not\nremarkable for roundness, and indeed, after a little time, were worn\ninto rather irregular ovals, so that the task of dragging a cart\nover the rough roads was by no means an easy one. And, as the axle\nwas simply a stout pole fastened to the bottom of the cart, and\nhaving its rounded ends thrust through holes in the middle of the\nwheels, the friction was enormous. As, moreover, oil and grease were\nfar too precious luxuries to be wasted in lubricating the axles, the\ncreaking and groaning of the wheels was a singularly disagreeable\nand ear-piercing sound.\n\n[Illustration: EASTERN OX-CART.]\n\nThe common hackery of India is a good example of the carts\nmentioned in the Scriptures. As with the plough, the cart was\ndrawn by a couple of oxen, connected by the yoke. The two kinds of\ncart, namely, the tray and the box, are clearly indicated in the\nScriptures. The new cart on which the Ark was placed when it was\nsent back by the Philistines (see 1 Sam. vi. 7) was evidently one\nof the former kind, and so was that which was made twenty years\nafterwards, for the purpose of conveying the Ark to Jerusalem.\n\nAlthough the cattle were evidently better tended in the olden times\nthan at present, those animals which were used for agriculture\nseem to have passed rather a rough life, especially in the winter\ntime. It is rather curious that the Jews should have had no idea of\npreserving the grass by making it into hay, as is done in Europe.\nConsequently the chief food of the cattle was the straw and chaff\nwhich remained on the threshing-floor after the grain had been\nseparated.\n\n[Illustration: THE ARK OF THE COVENANT BEING DRAWN BY COWS.]\n\nThis, indeed, was the only use to which the straw could be put,\nfor it was so crushed and broken by the feet of the oxen and the\nthreshing-sledge that it was rendered useless.\n\nThe want of winter forage is the chief reason why cattle are so\nirregularly disposed over Palestine, many parts of that country\nbeing entirely without them, and only those districts containing\nthem in which fresh forage may be found throughout the year.\n\nExcept a few yoke of oxen, which are kept in order to draw carts,\nand act as beasts of burden, the cattle are turned loose for a\nconsiderable portion of the year, and run about in herds from one\npasturage to another. Thus they regain many of the characteristics\nof wild animals, and it is to this habit of theirs that many of the\nScriptural allusions can be traced.\n\nFor example, see Ps. xxii. 12, \"Many bulls have compassed me,\nstrong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped on me with\ntheir mouths [or, their mouths opened against me] as a ravening and\na roaring lion.\" This passage alludes to the curiosity inherent\nin cattle, which have a habit of following objects which they do\nnot understand or dislike, and surrounding it with looks of grave\nwonderment. Even in their domesticated state this habit prevails.\nWhen I was a boy, I sometimes amused myself with going into a field\nwhere a number of cows and oxen were grazing, and lying down in the\nmiddle of it. The cattle would soon become uneasy, toss their heads\nabout, and gradually draw near on every side, until at last they\nwould be pressed together closely in a circle, with their heads just\nabove the object of their astonishment. Their curious, earnest looks\nhave always been present to my mind when reading the above quoted\npassage.\n\nThe Psalmist does not necessarily mean that the bulls in question\nwere dangerous animals. On the contrary, the bulls of Palestine are\ngentle in comparison with our own animals, which are too often made\nsavage by confinement and the harsh treatment to which they are\nsubjected by rough and ignorant labourers. In Palestine a pair of\nbulls may constantly be seen attached to the same yoke, a thing that\nnever would be seen in this country.\n\nThe custom of turning the herds of cattle loose to find pasture for\nthemselves is alluded to in Joel i. 18, \"How do the beasts groan!\nthe herds of cattle are perplexed because they have no pasture.\"\nWe can easily imagine to ourselves the terrible time to which the\nprophet refers, \"when the rivers of waters are dried up, and the\nfire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness,\" as it is wont to\ndo when a spark falls upon grass dried up and withered, by reason\nof the sun's heat and the lack of water. Over such a country, first\nwithered by drought, and then desolated by fire, would the cattle\nwander, vainly searching on the dusty and blackened surface for the\ntender young blades which always spring up on a burnt pasture as\nsoon as the first rains fall. Moaning and bellowing with thirst\nand disappointment, they would vainly seek for food or water in\nplaces where the seed lies still under the clods where it was sown\n(v. 17), where the vines are dried up, and the fig, the pomegranate\nand the palm (v. 12) are all withered for want of moisture.\n\n[Illustration: PLOUGHING WITH OXEN.]\n\nSuch scenes are still to be witnessed in several parts of the\nworld. Southern Africa is sometimes sadly conspicuous for them, an\nexceptional season of drought keeping back the fresh grass after\nthe old pastures have been burned (the ordinary mode of cultivating\npasture land). Then the vast herds of cattle, whose milk forms the\nstaff of life to the inhabitants, wander to and fro, gathering in\nmasses round any spot where a spring still yields a little water,\nand bellowing and moaning with thirst as they press their way\ntowards the spot where their owners are doling out to each a small\nmeasure of the priceless fluid.\n\nThe cattle are branded with the mark of their owners, so that in\nthese large herds there might be no difficulty in distinguishing\nthem when they were re-captured for the plough and the cart. On one\nof the Egyptian monuments there is a very interesting group, which\nhas furnished the idea for the plate which illustrates this article.\nIt occurs in the tombs of the kings at Thebes, and represents a\nploughing scene. The simple two-handled plough is being dragged by\na pair of cows, who have the yoke fastened across the horns instead\nof lying on the neck, and a sower is following behind, scattering\nthe grain out of a basket into the newly-made furrows. In front of\nthe cows is a young calf, which has run to meet its mother, and is\nleaping for joy before her as she steadily plods along her course.\n\nThe action of both animals is admirably represented; the steady and\nfirm gait of the mother contrasting with the light, gambolling step\nand arched tail of her offspring.\n\nIn the olden times of the Israelitish race, herd-keeping was\nconsidered as an honourable occupation, in which men of the highest\nrank might engage without any derogation to their dignity. We find,\nfor instance, that Saul himself, even after he had been appointed\nking, was acting as herdsman when the people saw the mistake they\nhad made in rejecting him as their monarch, and came to fetch their\ndivinely-appointed leader from his retirement. (See 1 Sam. xi.\n5.) Doeg, too, the faithful companion of Saul, was made the chief\nherdsman of his master's cattle, so that for Saul to confer such an\noffice, and Doeg to accept it, shows that the post was one of much\nhonour. And afterwards, when David was in the zenith of his power,\nhe completed the organization of his kingdom, portioning out not\nonly his army into battalions, and assigning a commanding officer\nto each battalion, but also appointing a ruler to each tribe, and\nsetting officers over his treasury, over the vineyards, over the\nolive-trees, over the storehouses, and over the cattle. And these\noffices were so important that the names of their holders are\ngiven at length in 1 Chron. xxvii. those of the various herdsmen\nbeing thought as worthy of mention as those of the treasurers, the\nmilitary commanders, or the headmen of the tribes.\n\nBefore concluding this necessarily short account of the domesticated\noxen of Palestine, it will be needful to give a few lines to the\nanimal viewed in a religious aspect. Here we have, in bold contrast\nto each other, the divine appointment of certain cattle to be\nslain as sacrifices, and the reprobation of worship paid to those\nvery cattle as living emblems of divinity. This false worship was\nlearned by the Israelites during their long residence in Egypt, and\nso deeply had the customs of the Egyptian religion sunk into their\nhearts, that they were not eradicated after the lapse of centuries.\nIt may easily be imagined that such a superstition, surrounded as\nit was with every external circumstance which could make it more\nimposing, would take a powerful hold of the Jewish mind.\n\nChief among the multitude of idols or symbols was the god Apis,\nrepresented by a bull. Many other animals, specially the cat and the\nibis, were deeply honoured among the ancient Egyptians, as we learn\nfrom their own monuments and from the works of the old historians.\nAll these creatures were symbols as well as idols, symbols to the\neducated and idols to the ignorant.\n\nNone of them was held in such universal honour as the bull Apis. The\nparticular animal which represented the deity, and which was lodged\nwith great state and honour in his temple at Memphis, was thought\nto be divinely selected for the purpose, and to be impressed with\ncertain marks. His colour must be black, except a square spot on the\nforehead, a crescent-shaped white spot on the right side, and the\nfigure of an eagle on his back. Under the tongue must be a knob\nshaped like the sacred scarab\u00e6us, and the hairs of his tail must be\ndouble.\n\n[Illustration: MUMMY OF A SACRED BULL TAKEN FROM AN EGYPTIAN TOMB.]\n\nThis representative animal was only allowed to live for a certain\ntime, and when he had reached this allotted period, he was taken in\nsolemn procession to the Nile, and drowned in its sacred waters. His\nbody was then embalmed, and placed with great state in the tombs at\nMemphis.\n\nAfter his death, whether natural or not, the whole nation went into\nmourning, and exhibited all the conventional signs of sorrow, until\nthe priests found another bull which possessed the distinctive\nmarks. The people then threw off their mourning robes, and appeared\nin their best attire, and the sacred bull was exhibited in state for\nforty days before he was taken to his temple at Memphis. The reader\nwill here remember the analogous case of the Indian cattle, some of\nwhich are held to be little less than incarnations of divinity.\n\nEven at the very beginning of the exodus, when their minds must have\nbeen filled with the many miracles that had been wrought in their\nbehalf, and with the cloud and fire of Sinai actually before their\neyes, Aaron himself made an image of a calf in gold, and set it up\nas a symbol of the Lord. That the idol in question was intended\nas a symbol by Aaron is evident from the words which he used when\nsummoning the people to worship, \"To-morrow is a feast of the Lord\"\n(Gen. xxxii. 5). The people, however, clearly lacked the power of\ndiscriminating between the symbol and that which it represented,\nand worshipped the image just as any other idol might be worshipped.\nAnd, in spite of the terrible and swift punishment that followed,\nand which showed the profanity of the act, the idea of ox-worship\nstill remained among the people.\n\n[Illustration: ANIMALS BEING SOLD FOR SACRIFICE IN THE PORCH OF THE\nTEMPLE.]\n\n[Illustration: JEROBOAM SETS UP A GOLDEN CALF AT BETHEL.]\n\nFive hundred years afterwards we find a familiar example of it in\nthe conduct of Jeroboam, \"who made Israel to sin,\" the peculiar\ncrime being the open resuscitation of ox-worship. \"The king made\ntwo calves of gold and said unto them, It is too much for you to\ngo up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee\nup out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the\nother put he in Dan.... And he made an house of high places, and\nmade priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the\ntribe of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast ... like unto the\nfeast in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel,\nsacrificing unto the calves that he had made.\"\n\nHere we have a singular instance of a king of Israel repeating,\nafter a lapse of five hundred years, the very acts which had drawn\ndown on the people so severe a punishment, and which were so\ncontrary to the law that they had incited Moses to fling down and\nbreak the sacred tables on which the commandments had been divinely\ninscribed.\n\n[Illustration: THE BUFFALO.]\n\nAnother species of the ox-tribe now inhabits Palestine though\ncommentators rather doubt whether it is not a comparatively late\nimportation. This is the true BUFFALO (_Bubalus buffelus_, Gray),\nwhich is spread over a very large portion of the earth, and is very\nplentiful in India. In that country there are two distinct breeds\nof the Buffalo, namely, the Arnee, a wild variety, and the Bhainsa,\na tamed variety. The former animal is much larger than the latter,\nbeing sometimes more than ten feet in length from the nose to the\nroot of the tail, and measuring between six and seven feet in height\nat the shoulder. Its horns are of enormous length, the tail is very\nshort, and tufts of hair grow on the forehead and horns. The tamed\nvariety is at least one-third smaller, and, unlike the Arnee, never\nseems to get into high condition. It is an ugly, ungainly kind of\nbeast, and is rendered very unprepossessing to the eye by the bald\npatches which are mostly found upon its hide.\n\nBeing a water-loving animal, the Buffalo always inhabits the\nlow-lying districts, and is fond of wallowing in the oozy marshes\nin which it remains for hours, submerged all but its head, and\ntranquilly chewing the cud while enjoying its mud-bath. While thus\nengaged the animal depresses its horns so that they are scarcely\nvisible, barely allowing more than its eyes, ears, and nostrils\nto remain above the surface, so that the motionless heads are\nscarcely distinguishable from the grass and reed tufts which stud\nthe marshes. Nothing is more startling to an inexperienced traveller\nthan to pass by a silent and tranquil pool where the muddy surface\nis unbroken except by a number of black lumps and rushy tufts, and\nthen to see these tufts suddenly transformed into twenty or thirty\nhuge beasts rising out of the still water as if by magic. Generally,\nthe disturber of their peace had better make the best of his way out\nof their reach, as the Buffalo, whether wild or tame, is of a tetchy\nand irritable nature, and resents being startled out of its state of\ndreamy repose.\n\nIn the Jordan valley the Buffalo is found, and is used for\nagriculture, being of the Bhainsa, or domesticated variety. Being\nmuch larger and stronger than the ordinary cattle, it is useful in\ndrawing the plough, but its temper is too uncertain to render it a\npleasant animal to manage. As is the case with all half-wild cattle,\nits milk is very scanty, but compensates by the richness of the\nquality for the lack of quantity.\n\nIn the picture which appears on a following page, one of these\ndomesticated Buffaloes is represented, harnessed with a camel, to a\nrude form of plough used in the East.\n\n[Illustration: THE BHAINSA, OR DOMESTIC BUFFALO, AND CAMEL, DRAWING\nTHE PLOUGH.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WILD BULL.\n\n The T\u00f4, Wild Bull of the Old Testament--Passages in which it is\n mentioned--The Wild Bull in the net--Hunting with nets in the\n East--The Oryx supposed to be the T\u00f4 of Scripture--Description\n of the Oryx, its locality, appearance, and habits--The points in\n which the Oryx agrees with the T\u00f4--The \"snare\" in which the foot\n is taken, as distinguished from the net.\n\n\nIn two passages of the Old Testament an animal is mentioned,\nrespecting which the translators and commentators have been somewhat\nperplexed, in one passage being translated as the \"Wild Ox,\" and in\nthe other as the \"Wild Bull.\" In the Jewish Bible the same rendering\nis preserved, but the sign of doubt is added to the word in both\ncases, showing that the translation is an uncertain one.\n\nThe first of these passages occurs in Deut. xiv. 5, where it is\nclassed together with the ox, sheep, goats, and other ruminants,\nas one of the beasts which were lawful for food. Now, although we\ncannot identify it by this passage, we can at all events ascertain\ntwo important points--the first, that it was a true ruminant, and\nthe second, that it was not the ox, the sheep, or the goat. It was,\ntherefore, some wild ruminant, and we now have to ask how we are to\nfind out the species.\n\nIf we turn to Isa. li. 20, we shall find a passage which will help\nus considerably. Addressing Jerusalem, the prophet uses these words,\n\"By whom shall I comfort thee? Thy sons have fainted, they lie at\nthe head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net; they are full\nof the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God.\" We now see that\nthe T\u00f4 or Te\u00f4 must be an animal which is captured by means of nets,\nand therefore must inhabit spots wherein the toils can be used.\nMoreover, it is evidently a powerful animal, or the force of the\nsimile would be lost. The prophet evidently refers to some large\nand strong beast which has been entangled in the hunter's nets, and\nwhich lies helplessly struggling in them. We are, therefore, almost\nperforce driven to recognise it as some large antelope.\n\nThe expression used by the prophet is so characteristic that it\nneeds a short explanation. In this country, and at the present\nday, the use of the net is almost entirely restricted to fishing\nand bird-catching; but in the East nets are still employed in the\ncapture of very large game.\n\nA brief allusion to the hunting-net is made at page 31, but, as the\npassage in Isaiah li. requires a more detailed account of this mode\nof catching large animals, it will be as well to describe the sport\nas at present practised in the East.\n\nWhen a king or some wealthy man determines to hunt game without\ntaking much trouble himself, he gives orders to his men to prepare\ntheir nets, which vary in size or strength according to the\nparticular animal for which they are intended. If, for example, only\nthe wild boar and similar animals are to be hunted, the nets need\nnot be of very great width; but for agile creatures, such as the\nantelope, they must be exceedingly wide, or the intended prey will\nleap over them. As the net is much used in India for the purpose of\ncatching game, Captain Williamson's description of it will explain\nmany of the passages of Scripture wherein it is mentioned.\n\nThe material of the net is hemp, twisted loosely into a kind of\nrope, and the mode in which it is formed is rather peculiar. The\nmeshes are not knotted together, but only twisted round each other,\nmuch after the fashion of the South American hammocks, so as to\nobtain considerable elasticity, and to prevent a powerful animal\nfrom snapping the cord in its struggles. Some of these nets are\nthirteen feet or more in width, and even such a net as this has been\noverleaped by a herd of antelopes. Their length is variable, but, as\nthey can be joined in any number when set end to end, the length is\nnot so important as the width.\n\nThe mode of setting the nets is singularly ingenious. When a\nsuitable spot has been selected, the first care of the hunters is\nto stretch a rope as tightly as possible along the ground. For this\npurpose stout wooden stakes or truncheons are sunk crosswise in\nthe earth, and between these the rope is carefully strained. The\nfavourite locality of the net is a ravine, through which the animals\ncan be driven so as to run against the net in their efforts to\nescape, and across the ravine a whole row of these stakes is sunk.\nThe net is now brought to the spot, and its lower edge fastened\nstrongly to the ground rope.\n\nThe strength of this mode of fastening is astonishing, and, although\nthe stakes are buried scarcely a foot below the surface, they cannot\nbe torn up by any force which can be applied to them; and, however\nstrong the rope may be, it would be broken before the stakes could\nbe dragged out of the ground.\n\nA smaller rope is now attached to the upper edge of the net, which\nis raised upon a series of slight poles. It is not stretched quite\ntightly, but droops between each pair of poles, so that a net which\nis some thirteen feet in width will only give nine or ten feet of\nclear height when the upper edge is supported on the poles. These\nlatter are not fixed in the ground, but merely held in their places\nby the weight of the net resting upon them.\n\nWhen the nets have been properly set, the beaters make a wide\ncircuit through the country, gradually advancing towards the fatal\nspot, and driving before them all the wild animals that inhabit\nthe neighbourhood. As soon as any large beast, such, for example,\nas an antelope, strikes against the net, the supporting pole\nfalls, and the net collapses upon the unfortunate animal, whose\nstruggles--especially if he be one of the horned animals--only\nentangle him more and more in the toils.\n\nAs soon as the hunters see a portion of the net fall, they run to\nthe spot, kill the helpless creature that lies enveloped in the\nelastic meshes, drag away the body, and set up the net again in\nreadiness for the next comer. Sometimes the line of nets will extend\nfor half a mile or more, and give employment to a large staff of\nhunters, in killing the entangled animals, and raising afresh those\nportions of the net which had fallen.\n\nAccepting the theory that the T\u00f4 is one of the large antelopes that\ninhabit, or used to inhabit, the Holy Land and its neighbourhood, we\nmay safely conjecture that it may signify the beautiful animal known\nas the ORYX (_Oryx leucoryx_), an animal which has a tolerably wide\nrange, and is even now found on the borders of the Holy Land. It is\na large and powerful antelope, and is remarkable for its beautiful\nhorns, which sometimes exceed a yard in length, and sweep in a most\ngraceful curve over the back.\n\nSharp as they are, and evidently formidable weapons, the manner\nin which they are set on the head renders them apparently\nunserviceable for combat. When, however, the Oryx is brought to bay,\nor wishes to fight, it stoops its head until the nose is close to\nthe ground, the points of the horns being thus brought to the front.\nAs the head is swung from side to side, the curved horns sweep\nthrough a considerable space, and are so formidable that even the\nlion is chary of attacking their owner. Indeed, instances are known\nwhere the lion has been transfixed and killed by the horns of the\nOryx. Sometimes the animal is not content with merely standing to\nrepel the attacks of its adversaries, but suddenly charges forward\nwith astonishing rapidity, and strikes upwards with its horns as it\nmakes the leap.\n\n[Illustration: WILD BULL, OR ORYX.]\n\nBut these horns, which can be used with such terrible effect in\nbattle, are worse than useless when the animal is hampered in the\nnet. In vain does the Oryx attempt its usual defence: the curved\nhorns get more and more entangled in the elastic meshes, and become\na source of weakness rather than strength. We see now how singularly\nappropriate is the passage, \"Thy sons lie at the heads of all the\nstreets, as a wild bull (or Oryx) in a net,\" and how completely the\nforce of the metaphor is lost without a knowledge of the precise\nmode of fixing the nets, of driving the animals into them, and of\nthe manner in which they render even the large and powerful animals\nhelpless.\n\nThe height of the Oryx at the shoulder is between three and four\nfeet, and its colour is greyish white, mottled profusely with black\nand brown in bold patches. It is plentiful in Northern Africa, and,\nlike many other antelopes, lives in herds, so that it is peculiarly\nsuited to that mode of hunting which consists in surrounding a\nnumber of animals, and driving them into a trap of some kind,\nwhether a fenced enclosure, a pitfall, or a net.\n\nThere is, by the way, the term \"snare,\" which is specially used\nwith especial reference to catching the foot as distinguished from\nthe net which enveloped the whole body. For example, in Job xviii.\n8, \"He is cast into a net, he walketh on a snare,\" where a bold\ndistinction is drawn between the two and their mode of action. And\nin ver. 10, \"The snare is laid for him in the ground.\" Though I\nwould not state definitely that such is the case, I believe that the\nsnare which is here mentioned is one which is still used in several\nparts of the world.\n\nIt is simply a hoop, to the inner edge of which are fastened a\nnumber of elastic spikes, the points being directed towards the\ncentre. This is merely laid in the path which the animal will\ntake, and is tied by a short cord to a log of wood. As the deer\nor antelope treads on the snare, the foot passes easily through\nthe elastic spikes, but, when the foot is raised, the spikes run\ninto the joint and hold the hoop upon the limb. Terrified by the\ncheck and the sudden pang, the animal tries to run away, but, by\nthe united influence of sharp spikes and the heavy log, it is soon\nforced to halt, and so becomes an easy prey to its pursuers.\n\n[Illustration: THE ORYX.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: unicorn]\n\n\n\n\nTHE UNICORN.\n\n The Unicorn apparently known to the Jews--Its evident connection\n with the Ox tribe--Its presumed identity with the now extinct\n Urus--Enormous size and dangerous character of the Urus.\n\n\nThere are many animals mentioned in the Scriptures which are\nidentified with difficulty, partly because their names occur only\nonce or twice in the sacred writings, and partly because, when they\nare mentioned, the context affords no clue to their identity by\ngiving any hint as to their appearance or habits. In such cases,\nalthough the translators would have done better if they had simply\ngiven the Hebrew word without endeavouring to identify it with any\nknown animal, they may be excused for committing errors in their\nnomenclature. There is one animal, however, for which no such excuse\ncan be found, and this is the Re\u00eam of Scripture, translated as\nUnicorn in the authorized version.\n\nEven in late years the Unicorn has been erroneously supposed to be\nidentical with the Rhinoceros of India. It is, however, now certain\nthat the Unicorn was not the Rhinoceros, and that it can be almost\ncertainly identified with an animal which, at the time when the\npassages in question were written, was plentiful in Palestine,\nalthough, like the Lion, it is now extinct.\n\nOn turning to the Jewish Bible we find that the word Re\u00eam is\ntranslated as buffalo, and there is no doubt that this rendering is\nnearly the correct one. At the present day naturalists are nearly\nall agreed that the Unicorn of the Old Testament must have been of\nthe Ox tribe. Probably the Urus, a species now extinct, was the\nanimal alluded to. A smaller animal, the Bonassus or Bison, also\nexisted in Palestine, and even to the present day continues to\nmaintain itself in one or two spots, though it will probably be as\nsoon completely erased from the surface of the earth as its gigantic\ncongener.\n\nThat the Unicorn was one of the two animals is certain, and that it\nwas the larger is nearly as certain. The reason for deciding upon\nthe Urus is, that its horns were of great size and strength, and\ntherefore agree with the description of the Unicorn; whereas those\nof the Bonassus, although powerful, are short, and not conspicuous\nenough to deserve the notice which is taken of them by the sacred\nwriters.\n\nOf the extinct variety we know but little. We do know, however, that\nit was a huge and most formidable beast, as is evident from the\nskulls and other bones which have been discovered. Their character\nalso indicates that the creature was nothing more than a very large\nOx, probably measuring twelve feet in length, and six feet in\nheight. Such a wild animal, armed, as it was, with enormous horns,\nwould prove a most formidable antagonist.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: bison]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BISON.\n\n The Bison tribe and its distinguishing marks--Its former\n existence in Palestine--Its general habits--Origin of its\n name--Its musky odour--Size and speed of the Bison--Its\n dangerous character when brought to bay--Its defence against the\n wolf--Its untameable disposition.\n\n\nA few words are now needful respecting the second animal which has\nbeen mentioned in connexion with the Re\u00eam; namely, the Bison, or\nBonassus. The Bisons are distinguishable from ordinary cattle by the\nthick and heavy mane which covers the neck and shoulders, and which\nis more conspicuous in the male than in the female. The general\ncoating of the body is also rather different, being thick and woolly\ninstead of lying closely to the skin like that of the other oxen.\nThe Bison certainly inhabited Palestine, as its bones have been\nfound in that country. It has, however, been extinct in the Holy\nLand for many years, and, not being an animal that is capable of\nwithstanding the encroachments of man, it has gradually died out\nfrom the greater part of Europe and Asia, and is now to be found\nonly in a very limited locality, chiefly in a Lithuanian forest,\nwhere it is strictly preserved, and in some parts of the Caucasus.\nThere it still preserves the habits which made its ancient and\ngigantic relative so dangerous an animal. Unlike the buffalo, which\nloves the low-lying and marshy lands, the Bison prefers the high\nwooded localities, where it lives in small troops.\n\n[Illustration: BISON KILLING WOLF.]\n\nIts name of Bison is a modification of the word Bisam, or musk,\nwhich was given to it on account of the strong musky odour of its\nflesh, which is especially powerful about the head and neck. This\nodour is not so unpleasant as might be supposed, and those who\nhave had personal experience of the animal say that it bears some\nresemblance to the perfume of violets. It is developed most strongly\nin the adult bulls, the cows and young male calves only possessing\nit in a slight degree.\n\nIt is a tolerably large animal, being about six feet high at the\nshoulder--a stature nearly equivalent to that of the ordinary\nAsiatic elephant; and, in spite of its great bulk, is a fleet and\nactive animal, as indeed is generally the case with those oxen\nwhich inhabit elevated localities. Still, though it can run with\nconsiderable speed, it is not able to keep up the pace for any great\ndistance, and at the end of a mile or two can be brought to bay.\n\nLike most animals, however large and powerful they may be, it fears\nthe presence of man, and, if it sees or scents a human being, will\ntry to slip quietly away; but when it is baffled in this attempt,\nand forced to fight, it becomes a fierce and dangerous antagonist,\ncharging with wonderful quickness, and using its short and powerful\nhorns with great effect. A wounded Bison, when fairly brought to\nbay, is perhaps as awkward an opponent as can be found, and to kill\nit without the aid of firearms is no easy matter.\n\nAlthough the countries in which it lives are infested with wolves,\nit seems to have no fear of them when in health; and, even when\npressed by their winter's hunger, the wolves do not venture to\nattack even a single Bison, much less a herd of them. Like other\nwild cattle, it likes to dabble in muddy pools, and is fond of\nharbouring in thickets near such localities; and those who have to\ntravel through the forest keep clear of such spots, unless they\ndesire to drive out the animal for the purpose of killing it.\n\nLike the extinct Aurochs, the Bison has never been domesticated,\nand, although the calves have been captured while very young, and\nattempts have been made to train them to harness, their innate\nwildness of disposition has always baffled such efforts.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: gazelle]\n\n\n\n\nTHE GAZELLE, OR ROE OF SCRIPTURE.\n\n Its swiftness, its beauty, and the quality of its\n flesh--Different varieties of the Gazelle--How the Gazelle\n defends itself against wild beasts--Chase of the Gazelle.\n\n\nWe now leave the Ox tribe, and come to the Antelopes, several\nspecies of which are mentioned in the Scriptures. Four kinds of\nantelope are found in or near the Holy Land, and there is little\ndoubt that all of them are mentioned in the sacred volume.\n\nThe first that will be described is the GAZELLE, which is\nacknowledged to be the animal that is represented by the word\n_Tsebi_, or _Tsebiyah_. The Jewish Bible accepts the same\nrendering. This word occurs many times, sometimes as a metaphor,\nand sometimes representing some animal which was lawful food, and\nwhich therefore belonged to the true ruminants. Moreover, its flesh\nwas not only legally capable of being eaten, but was held in such\nestimation that it was provided for the table of Solomon himself,\ntogether with other animals which will be described in their turn.\n\n[Illustration: THE GAZELLE.]\n\nIt is even now considered a great dainty, although it is not at\nall agreeable to European taste, being hard, dry, and without\nflavour. Still, as has been well remarked, tastes differ as well\nas localities, and an article of food which is a costly luxury in\none land is utterly disdained in another, and will hardly be eaten\nexcept by one who is absolutely dying of starvation.\n\nThe Gazelle is very common in Palestine in the present day, and, in\nthe ancient times, must have been even more plentiful. There are\nseveral varieties of it, which were once thought to be distinct\nspecies, but are now acknowledged to be mere varieties, all of\nwhich are referable to the single species _Gazella Dorcas_. There\nis, for example, the Corinna, or Corine Antelope, which is a rather\nboldly-spotted female; the Kevella Antelope, in which the horns are\nslightly flattened; the small variety called the Ariel, or Cora; the\ngrey Kevel, which is a rather large variety; and the Long-horned\nGazelle, which owes its name to a rather large development of the\nhorns.\n\nWhatever variety may inhabit any given spot, they all have the\nsame habits. They are gregarious animals, associating together in\nherds often of considerable size, and deriving from their numbers\nan element of strength which would otherwise be wanting. Against\nmankind, numbers are of no avail; but when the agile though feeble\nGazelle has to defend itself against the predatory animals of\nits own land, it can only defend itself by the concerted action\nof the whole herd. Should, for example, the wolves prowl round\na herd of Gazelles, after their treacherous wont, the Gazelles\ninstantly assume a posture of self-defence. They form themselves\ninto a compact phalanx, all the males coming to the front, and the\nstrongest and boldest taking on themselves the honourable duty of\nfacing the foe. The does and the young are kept within their ranks,\nand so formidable is the array of sharp, menacing horns, that beasts\nas voracious as the wolf, and far more powerful, have been known to\nretire without attempting to charge.\n\nAs a rule, however, the Gazelle does not desire to resist, and\nprefers its legs to its horns as a mode of insuring safety. So fleet\nis the animal, that it seems to fly over the ground as if propelled\nby volition alone, and its light, agile frame is so enduring, that a\nfair chase has hardly any prospect of success. Hunters, therefore,\nprefer a trap of some kind, if they chase the animal merely for\nfood or for the sake of its skin, and contrive to kill considerable\nnumbers at once. Sometimes they dig pitfalls, and drive the Gazelles\ninto them by beating a large tract of country, and gradually\nnarrowing the circle. Sometimes they use nets, such as have already\nbeen described, and sometimes they line the sides of a ravine with\narchers and spearmen, and drive the herd of Gazelles through the\ntreacherous defile.\n\nThese modes of slaughter are, however, condemned by the true hunter,\nwho looks upon those who use them much in the same light as an\nEnglish sportsman looks on a man who shoots foxes. The greyhound\nand the falcon are both employed in the legitimate capture of the\nGazelle, and in some cases both are trained to work together.\nHunting the Gazelle with the greyhound very much resembles coursing\nin our own country, and chasing it with the hawk is exactly like the\nsystem of falconry that was once so popular an English sport, and\nwhich even now shows signs of revival.\n\nIt is, however, when the dog and the bird are trained to work\ntogether that the spectacle becomes really novel and interesting to\nan English spectator.\n\nAs soon as the Gazelles are fairly in view, the hunter unhoods his\nhawk, and holds it up so that it may see the animals. The bird fixes\nits eye on one Gazelle, and by that glance the animal's doom is\nsettled. The falcon darts after the Gazelles, followed by the dog,\nwho keeps his eye on the hawk, and holds himself in readiness to\nattack the animal that his feathered ally may select. Suddenly the\nfalcon, which has been for some few seconds hovering over the herd\nof Gazelles, makes a stoop upon the selected victim, fastening its\ntalons in its forehead, and, as it tries to shake off its strange\nfoe, flaps its wings into the Gazelle's eyes so as to blind it.\nConsequently, the rapid course of the antelope is arrested, so\nthat the dog is able to come up and secure the animal while it is\nstruggling to escape from its feathered enemy. Sometimes, though\nrarely, a young and inexperienced hawk swoops down with such\nreckless force that it misses the forehead of the Gazelle, and\nimpales itself upon the sharp horns, just as in England the falcon\nis apt to be spitted on the bill of the heron.\n\nThe most sportsmanlike mode of hunting the Gazelle is to use the\nfalcon alone; but for this sport a bird must possess exceptional\nstrength, swiftness, and intelligence. A very spirited account of\nsuch a chase is given by Mr. G. W. Chasseaud, in his \"Druses of the\nLebanon:\"--\n\n\"Whilst reposing here, our old friend with the falcon informs us\nthat at a short distance from this spot is a khan called Nebbi\nYouni, from a supposition that the prophet Jonah was here landed by\nthe whale; but the old man is very indignant when we identify the\nplace with a fable, and declare to him that similar sights are to\nbe seen at Gaza and Scanderoon. But his good humour is speedily\nrecovered by reverting to the subject of the exploits and cleverness\nof his falcon. This reminds him that we have not much time to waste\nin idle talk, as the greater heats will drive the gazelles from the\nplains to the mountain retreats, and lose us the opportunity of\nenjoying the most sportsmanlike amusement in Syria. Accordingly,\nbestriding our animals again, we ford the river at that point where\na bridge once stood.\n\n\"We have barely proceeded twenty minutes before the keen eye of the\nfalconer has descried a herd of gazelles quietly grazing in the\ndistance. Immediately he reins in his horse, and enjoining silence,\ninstead of riding at them, as we might have felt inclined to do, he\nskirts along the banks of the river, so as to cut off, if possible,\nthe retreat of these fleet animals where the banks are narrowest,\nthough very deep, but which would be cleared at a single leap by\nthe gazelles. Having successfully accomplished this man\u0153uvre,\nhe again removes the hood from the hawk, and indicates to us that\nprecaution is no longer necessary. Accordingly, first adding a few\nslugs to the charges in our barrels, we balance our guns in an easy\nposture, and, giving the horses their reins, set off at full gallop,\nand with a loud hurrah, right towards the already startled gazelles.\n\n\"The timid animals, at first paralysed by our appearance, stand and\ngaze for a second terror-stricken at our approach; but their pause\nis only momentary; they perceive in an instant that the retreat to\ntheir favourite haunts has been secured, and so they dash wildly\nforward with all the fleetness of despair, coursing over the plain\nwith no fixed refuge in view, and nothing but their fleetness to aid\nin their delivery. A stern chase is a long chase, and so, doubtless,\non the present occasion it would prove with ourselves, for there is\nmany and many a mile of level country before us, and our horses,\nthough swift of foot, stand no chance in this respect with the\ngazelles.\n\n\"Now, however, the old man has watched for a good opportunity to\ndisplay the prowess and skill of his falcon: he has followed us\nonly at a hand-gallop; but the hawk, long inured to such pastime,\nstretches forth its neck eagerly in the direction of the flying\nprey, and being loosened from its pinions, sweeps up into the air\nlike a shot, and passes overhead with incredible velocity. Five\nminutes more, and the bird has outstripped even the speed of the\nlight-footed gazelle; we see him through the dust and haze that\nour own speed throws around us, hovering but an instant over the\nterrified herd; he has singled out his prey, and, diving with\nunerring aim, fixes his iron talons into the head of the terrified\nanimal.\n\n[Illustration: THE FALCON USED IN OUR HUNT.]\n\n\"This is the signal for the others to break up their orderly\nretreat, and to speed over the plain in every direction. Some,\ndespite the danger that hovers on their track, make straight for\ntheir old and familiar haunts, and passing within twenty yards of\nwhere we ride, afford us an opportunity of displaying our skill as\namateur huntsmen on horseback; nor does it require but little nerve\nand dexterity to fix our aim whilst our horses are tearing over\nthe ground. However, the moment presents itself, the loud report\nof barrel after barrel startles the unaccustomed inmates of that\nunfrequented waste; one gazelle leaps twice its own height into the\nair, and then rolls over, shot through the heart; another bounds on\nyet a dozen paces, but, wounded mortally, staggering, halts, and\nthen falls to the ground.\n\n\"This is no time for us to pull in and see what is the amount of\ndamage done, for the falcon, heedless of all surrounding incidents,\nclings firmly to the head of its terrified victim, flapping its\nstrong wings awhile before the poor brute's terrified eyes, half\nblinding it and rendering its head dizzy; till, after tearing round\nand round with incredible speed, the poor creature stops, panting\nfor breath, and, overcome with excessive terror, drops down fainting\nupon the earth. Now the air resounds with the acclamations and\nhootings of the ruthless victors.\n\n[Illustration: THE ARAB IS DELIGHTED AT THE SUCCESS OF THE HUNT.]\n\n\"The Arab is wild in his transports of delight. More certain of\nthe prowess of his bird than ourselves, he had stopped awhile to\ngather together the fruits of our booty, and now galloped furiously\nup, waving his long gun, and shouting lustily the while the praises\nof his infallible hawk; then getting down, and hoodwinking the bird\nagain, he first of all takes the precaution of fastening together\nthe legs of the fallen gazelle, and then he humanely blows up into\nits nostrils. Gradually the natural brilliancy returns to the dimmed\neyes of the gazelle, then it struggles valiantly, but vainly, to\ndisentangle itself from its fetters.\n\n\"Pitying its efforts, the falconer throws a handkerchief over its\nhead, and, securing this prize, claims it as his own, declaring that\nhe will bear it home to his house in the mountains, where, after a\nfew weeks' kind treatment and care, it will become as domesticated\nand affectionate as a spaniel. Meanwhile, Abou Shein gathers\ntogether the fallen booty, and, tying them securely with cords,\nfastens them behind his own saddle, declaring, with a triumphant\nlaugh, that we shall return that evening to the city of Beyrout with\nsuch game as few sportsmen can boast of having carried thither in\none day.\"\n\nThe gentle nature of the Gazelle is as proverbial as its grace\nand swiftness, and is well expressed in the large, soft, liquid\neye, which has formed from time immemorial the stock comparison of\nOriental poets when describing the eyes of beauty.\n\n[Illustration: THE GAZELLE.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PYGARG, OR ADDAX.\n\n The Dishon or Dyshon--Signification of the word\n Pygarg--Certainty that the Dishon is an antelope, and that it\n must be one of a few species--Former and present range of the\n Addax--Description of the Addax.\n\n\nThere is a species of animal mentioned once in the Scriptures under\nthe name of Dishon which the Jewish Bible leaves untranslated, and\nmerely gives as Dyshon, and which is rendered in the Septuagint by\nPugargos, or PYGARG, as one version gives it. Now, the meaning of\nthe word Pygarg is white-crouped, and for that reason the Pygarg\nof the Scriptures is usually held to be one of the white-crouped\nantelopes, of which several species are known. Perhaps it may be one\nof them--it may possibly be neither, and it may probably refer to\nall of them.\n\nBut that an antelope of some kind is meant by the word Dishon is\nevident enough, and it is also evident that the Dishon must have\nbeen one of the antelopes which could be obtained by the Jews. Now\nas the species of antelope which could have furnished food for that\nnation are very few in number, it is clear that, even if we do not\nhit upon the exact species, we may be sure of selecting an animal\nthat was closely allied to it. Moreover, as the nomenclature is\nexceedingly loose, it is probable that more than one species might\nhave been included in the word Dishon.\n\nModern commentators have agreed that there is every probability that\nthe Dishon of the Pentateuch was the antelope known by the name of\nAddax.\n\nThis handsome antelope is a native of Northern Africa. It has a\nvery wide range, and, even at the present day, is found in the\nvicinity of Palestine, so that it evidently was one of the antelopes\nwhich could be killed by Jewish hunters. From its large size, and\nlong twisted horns, it bears a strong resemblance to the Koodoo of\nSouthern Africa. The horns, however, are not so long, nor so boldly\ntwisted, the curve being comparatively slight, and not possessing\nthe bold spiral shape which distinguishes those of the koodoo.\n\n[Illustration: THE ADDAX.]\n\nThe ordinary height of the Addax is three feet seven or eight\ninches, and the horns are almost exactly alike in the two sexes.\nTheir length, from the head to the tips, is rather more than two\nfeet. Its colour is mostly white, but a thick mane of dark black\nhair falls from the throat, a patch of similar hair grows on the\nforehead, and the back and shoulders are greyish brown. There is no\nmane on the back of the neck, as is the case with the koodoo.\n\nThe Addax is a sand-loving animal, as is shown by the wide and\nspreading hoofs, which afford it a firm footing on the yielding\nsoil. In all probability, this is one of the animals which would be\ntaken, like the wild bull, in a net, being surrounded and driven\ninto the toils by a number of hunters. It is not, however, one of\nthe gregarious species, and is not found in those vast herds in\nwhich some of the antelopes love to assemble.\n\n[Illustration: decoration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE FALLOW-DEER, OR BUBALE.\n\n The word Jachmur evidently represents a species of\n antelope--Resemblance of the animal to the ox tribe--Its\n ox-like horns and mode of attack--Its capability of\n domestication--Former and present range of the Bubale--Its\n representation on the monuments of ancient Egypt--Delicacy of\n its flesh--Size and general appearance of the animal.\n\n\nIt has already been mentioned that in the Old Testament there occur\nthe names of three or four animals, which clearly belong to one\nor other of three or four antelopes. Only one of these names now\nremains to be identified. This is the Jachmur, or Yachmur, a word\nwhich has been rendered in the Septuagint as Boubalos, and has been\ntranslated in our Authorized Version as FALLOW DEER.\n\nWe shall presently see that the Fallow Deer is to be identified\nwith another animal, and that the word Jachmur must find another\ninterpretation. If we follow the Septuagint, and call it the BUBALE,\nwe shall identify it with a well-known antelope called by the\nArabs the \"Bekk'r-el-Wash,\" and known to zoologists as the BUBALE\n(_Acronotus bubalis_).\n\nThis fine antelope would scarcely be recognised as such by an\nunskilled observer, as in its general appearance it much more\nresembles the ox tribe than the antelope. Indeed, the Arabic\ntitle, \"Bekk'r-el-Wash,\" or Wild Cow, shows how close must be the\nresemblance to the oxen. The Arabs, and indeed all the Orientals in\nwhose countries it lives, believe it not to be an antelope, but one\nof the oxen, and class it accordingly.\n\nHow much the appearance of the Bubale justifies them in this opinion\nmay be judged by reference to the figure on page 143. The horns are\nthick, short, and heavy, and are first inclined forwards, and then\nrather suddenly bent backwards. This formation of the horns causes\nthe Bubale to use his weapons after the manner of the bull, thereby\nincreasing the resemblance between them. When it attacks, the Bubale\nlowers its head to the ground, and as soon as its antagonist is\nwithin reach, tosses its head violently upwards, or swings it with\na sidelong upward blow. In either case, the sharp curved horns,\nimpelled by the powerful neck of the animal, and assisted by the\nweight of the large head, become most formidable weapons.\n\nIt is said that in some places, where the Bubales have learned to\nendure the presence of man, they will mix with his herds for the\nsake of feeding with them, and by degrees become so accustomed to\nthe companionship of their domesticated friends, that they live with\nthe herd as if they had belonged to it all their lives. This fact\nshows that the animal possesses a gentle disposition, and it is said\nto be as easily tamed as the gazelle itself.\n\nEven at the present day the Bubale has a very wide range, and\nformerly had in all probability a much wider. It is indigenous\nto Barbary, and has continued to spread itself over the greater\npart of Northern Africa, including the borders of the Sahara, the\nedges of the cultivated districts, and up the Nile for no small\ndistance. In former days it was evidently a tolerably common animal\nof chase in Upper Egypt as there are representations of it on the\nmonuments, drawn with the quaint truthfulness which distinguishes\nthe monumental sculpture of that period.\n\n[Illustration: THE BUBALE, OR FALLOW-DEER OF SCRIPTURE.]\n\nIt is probable that in and about Palestine it was equally common, so\nthat there is good reason why it should be specially named as one of\nthe animals that were lawful food. Not only was its flesh permitted\nto be eaten, but it was evidently considered as a great dainty,\ninasmuch as the Jachmur is mentioned in 1 Kings iv. 23 as one of the\nanimals which were brought to the royal table. \"Harts and Roebucks\nand Fallow-Deer\" are the wild animals mentioned in the passage\nalluded to.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: sheep and birds]\n\n\n\n\nTHE SHEEP.\n\n Importance of Sheep in the Bible--The Sheep the chief wealth\n of the pastoral tribes--Arab shepherds of the present\n day--Wanderings of the flocks in search of food--Value of the\n wells--How the Sheep are watered--The shepherd usually a part\n owner of the flocks--Structure of the sheepfolds--The rock\n caverns of Palestine--David's adventure with Saul--Use of the\n dogs--The broad-tailed Sheep, and its peculiarities.\n\n\nWe now come to a subject which will necessarily occupy us for some\nlittle time.\n\nThere is, perhaps, no animal which occupies a larger space in the\nScriptures than the SHEEP. Whether in religious, civil, or domestic\nlife, we find that the Sheep is bound up with the Jewish nation in\na way that would seem almost incomprehensible, did we not recall\nthe light which the New Testament throws upon the Old, and the many\nallusions to the coming Messiah under the figure of the Lamb that\ntaketh away the sins of the world.\n\nIn treating of the Sheep, it will be perhaps advisable to begin the\naccount by taking the animal simply as one of those creatures which\nhave been domesticated from time immemorial, dwelling slightly on\nthose points on which the sheep-owners of the old days differed from\nthose of our own time.\n\nThe only claim to the land seems, in the old times of the\nScriptures, to have lain in cultivation, or perhaps in the land\nimmediately surrounding a well. But any one appears to have taken a\npiece of ground and cultivated it, or to have dug a well wherever he\nchose, and thereby to have acquired a sort of right to the soil. The\nsame custom prevails at the present day among the cattle-breeding\nraces of Southern Africa. The banks of rivers, on account of their\nsuperior fertility, were considered as the property of the chiefs\nwho lived along their course, but the inland soil was free to all.\n\nHad it not been for this freedom of the land, it would have been\nimpossible for the great men to have nourished the enormous flocks\nand herds of which their wealth consisted; but, on account of\nthe lack of ownership of the soil, a flock could be moved to one\ndistrict after another as fast as it exhausted the herbage, the\nshepherds thus unconsciously imitating the habits of the gregarious\nanimals, which are always on the move from one spot to another.\n\nPasturage being thus free to all, Sheep had a higher comparative\nvalue than is the case with ourselves, who have to pay in some way\nfor their keep. There is a proverb in the Talmud which may be curtly\ntranslated, \"Land sell, sheep buy.\"\n\nThe value of a good pasture-ground for the flocks is so great, that\nits possession is well worth a battle, the shepherds being saved\nfrom a most weary and harassing life, and being moreover fewer in\nnumber than is needed when the pasturage is scanty Sir S. Baker, in\nhis work on Abyssinia, makes some very interesting remarks upon the\nArab herdsmen, who are placed in conditions very similar to those of\nthe Israelitish shepherds.\n\n[Illustration: ARABS JOURNEYING TO FRESH PASTURES.]\n\n\"The Arabs are creatures of necessity; their nomadic life is\ncompulsory, as the existence of their flocks and herds depends\nupon the pasturage. Thus, with the change of seasons they must\nchange their localities according to the presence of fodder for\ntheir cattle.... The Arab cannot halt in one spot longer than the\npasturage will support his flocks. The object of his life being\nfodder, he must wander in search of the ever-changing supply. His\nwants must be few, as the constant change of encampment necessitates\nthe transport of all his household goods; thus he reduces to a\nminimum his domestic furniture and utensils....\n\n\"This striking similarity to the descriptions of the Old Testament\nis exceedingly interesting to a traveller when residing among\nthese curious and original people. With the Bible in one's hand,\nand these unchanged tribes before the eyes, there is a thrilling\nillustration of the sacred record; the past becomes the present, the\nveil of three thousand years is raised, and the living picture is a\nwitness to the exactness of the historical description. At the same\ntime there is a light thrown upon many obscure passages in the Old\nTestament by the experience of the present customs and figures of\nspeech of the Arabs, which are precisely those that were practised\nat the periods described....\n\n[Illustration: VIEW OF THE PYRAMIDS.]\n\n\"Should the present history of the country be written by an Arab\nscribe, the style of the description would be precisely that of\nthe Old Testament. There is a fascination in the unchangeable\nfeatures of the Nile regions. There are the vast pyramids that have\ndefied time, the river upon which Moses was cradled in infancy,\nthe same sandy desert through which he led his people, and the\nwatering-places where their flocks were led to drink. The wild and\nwandering Arabs, who thousands of years ago dug out the wells in the\nwilderness, are represented by their descendants, unchanged, who now\ndraw water from the deep wells of their forefathers, with the skins\nthat have never altered their fashion.\n\n\"The Arabs, gathering with their goats and sheep around the wells\nto-day, recall the recollection of that distant time when 'Jacob\nwent on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the\neast. And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and lo! there\nwere three flocks of sheep lying by it,' &c. The picture of that\nscene would be an illustration of Arab daily life in the Nubian\ndeserts, where the present is a mirror of the past.\"\n\nOwing to the great number of Sheep which they have to tend, and the\npeculiar state of the country, the life of the shepherd in Palestine\nis even now very different from that of an English shepherd, and\nin the days of the early Scriptures the distinction was even more\ndistinctly marked.\n\nSheep had to be tended much more carefully than we generally think.\nIn the first place, a thoughtful shepherd had always one idea before\nhis mind,--namely, the possibility of obtaining sufficient water\nfor his flocks. Even pasturage is less important than water, and,\nhowever tempting a district might be, no shepherd would venture to\ntake his charge there if he were not sure of obtaining water. In a\nclimate such as ours, this ever-pressing anxiety respecting water\ncan scarcely be appreciated, for in hot climates not only is water\nscarce, but it is needed far more than in a temperate and moist\nclimate. Thirst does its work with terrible quickness, and there are\ninstances recorded where men have sat down and died of thirst in\nsight of the river which they had not strength to reach.\n\nIn places therefore through which no stream runs, the wells are the\ngreat centres of pasturage, around which are to be seen vast flocks\nextending far in every direction. These wells are kept carefully\nclosed by their owners, and are only opened for the use of those who\nare entitled to water their flocks at them.\n\nNoontide is the general time for watering the Sheep, and towards\nthat hour all the flocks may be seen converging towards their\nrespective wells, the shepherd at the head of each flock, and the\nSheep following him. See how forcible becomes the imagery of David,\nthe shepherd poet, \"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He\nmaketh me to lie down in green pastures (or, in pastures of tender\ngrass): He leadeth me beside the still waters\" (Ps. xxiii. 1, 2).\nHere we have two of the principal duties of the good shepherd\nbrought prominently before us,--namely, the guiding of the Sheep to\ngreen pastures and leading them to fresh water. Very many references\nare made in the Scriptures to the pasturage of sheep, both in a\ntechnical and a metaphorical sense; but as our space is limited, and\nthese passages are very numerous, only one or two of each will be\ntaken.\n\nIn the story of Joseph, we find that when his father and brothers\nwere suffering from the famine, they seem to have cared as much\nfor their Sheep and cattle as for themselves, inasmuch as among a\npastoral people the flocks and herds constitute the only wealth.\nSo, when Joseph at last discovered himself, and his family were\nadmitted to the favour of Pharaoh, the first request which they made\nwas for their flocks. \"Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your\noccupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds,\nboth we, and also our fathers.\n\n\"They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we\ncome; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the\nfamine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee,\nlet thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.\"\n\nThis one incident, so slightly remarked in the sacred history, gives\na wonderfully clear notion of the sort of life led by Jacob and his\nsons. Forming, according to custom, a small tribe of their own, of\nwhich the father was the chief, they led a pastoral life, taking\ntheir continually increasing herds and flocks from place to place as\nthey could find food for them. For example, at the memorable time\nwhen the story of Joseph begins, he was sent by his father to his\nbrothers, who were feeding the flocks, and he wandered about for\nsome time, not knowing where to find them. It may seem strange that\nhe should be unable to discover such very conspicuous objects as\nlarge flocks of sheep and goats, but the fact is that they had been\ndriven from one pasture-land to another, and had travelled in search\nof food all the way from Shechem to Dothan.\n\nIn 1 Chron. iv. 39, 40, we read of the still pastoral Israelites\nthat \"they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east side\nof the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. And they found fat\npasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable.\"\n\nHow it came to be quiet and peaceable is told in the context. It\nwas peaceable simply because the Israelites were attracted by the\ngood pasturage, attacked the original inhabitants, and exterminated\nthem so effectually that none were left to offer resistance to the\nusurpers. And we find from this passage that the value of good\npasture-land where the Sheep could feed continually without being\nforced to wander from one spot to another was so considerable, that\nthe owners of the flocks engaged in war, and exposed their own\nlives, in order to obtain so valuable a possession.\n\n[Illustration: JACOB MEETS RACHEL AT THE WELL.]\n\nWe will now look at one or two of the passages that mention watering\nthe Sheep--a duty so imperative on an Oriental shepherd, and so\nneedless to our own.\n\nIn the first place we find that most graphic narrative which occurs\nin Gen. xxix. to which a passing reference has already been made.\nWhen Jacob was on his way from his parents to the home of Laban\nin Padan-aram, he came upon the very well which belonged to his\nuncle, and there saw three flocks of Sheep lying around the well,\nwaiting until the proper hour arrived. According to custom, a large\nstone was laid over the well, so as to perform the double office of\nkeeping out the sand and dust, and of guarding the precious water\nagainst those who had no right to it. And when he saw his cousin\nRachel arrive with the flock of which she had the management, he,\naccording to the courtesy of the country and the time, rolled away\nthe ponderous barrier, and poured out water into the troughs for the\nSheep which Rachel tended.\n\n[Illustration: EASTERN SHEPHERD WATCHING HIS FLOCK.]\n\nAbout two hundred years afterwards, we find Moses performing a\nsimilar act. When he was obliged to escape into Midian on account\nof his fatal quarrel with a tyrannical Egyptian, he sat down by a\nwell, waiting for the time when the stone might be rolled away, and\nthe water be distributed. Now it happened that this well belonged\nto Jethro, the chief priest of the country, whose wealth consisted\nprincipally of Sheep. He entrusted his flock to the care of his\nseven daughters, who led their Sheep to the well and drew water as\nusual into the troughs. Presuming on their weakness, other shepherds\ncame and tried to drive them away, but were opposed by Moses, who\ndrove them away, and with his own hands watered the flock.\n\nNow in both these examples we find that the men who performed the\ncourteous office of drawing the water and pouring it into the\nsheep-troughs married afterwards the girl to whose charge the flocks\nhad been committed. This brings us to the Oriental custom which has\nbeen preserved to the present day.\n\nThe wells at which the cattle are watered at noon-day are the\nmeeting-places of the tribe, and it is chiefly at the well that\nthe young men and women meet each other. As each successive flock\narrives at the well, the number of the people increases, and while\nthe sheep and goats lie patiently round the water, waiting for the\ntime when the last flock shall arrive, and the stone be rolled off\nthe mouth of the well, the gossip of the tribe is discussed, and the\nyoung people have ample opportunity for the pleasing business of\ncourtship.\n\nAs to the passages in which the wells, rivers, brooks,\nwater-springs, are spoken of in a metaphorical sense, they are too\nnumerous to be quoted.\n\nAnd here I may observe, that in reality the whole of Scripture has\nits symbolical as well as its outward signification; and that,\nuntil we have learned to read the Bible strictly according to the\nspirit, we cannot understand one-thousandth part of the mysteries\nwhich it conceals behind its veil of language; nor can we appreciate\none-thousandth part of the treasures of wisdom which lie hidden in\nits pages.\n\nAnother duty of the shepherd of ancient Palestine was to guard his\nflock from depredators, whether man or beast. Therefore the shepherd\nwas forced to carry arms; to act as a sentry during the night; and,\nin fact, to be a sort of irregular soldier. A fully-armed shepherd\nhad with him his bow, his spear, and his sword, and not even a\nshepherd lad was without his sling and the great quarter-staff which\nis even now universally carried by the tribes along the Nile--a\nstaff as thick as a man's wrist, and six or seven feet in length. He\nwas skilled in the use of all these weapons, especially in that of\nthe sling.\n\n[Illustration: DAVID GATHERS STONES FROM THE BROOK TO CAST AT\nGOLIATH.]\n\nIn these days, the sling is only considered as a mere toy, whereas,\nbefore the introduction of fire-arms, it was one of the most\nformidable weapons that could be wielded by light troops. Round\nand smooth stones weighing three or four ounces were the usual\nprojectiles, and, by dint of constant practice from childhood, the\nslingers could aim with a marvellous precision. Of this fact we have\na notable instance in David, who knew that the sling and the five\nstones in the hand of an active youth unencumbered by armour, and\nwearing merely the shepherd's simple tunic, were more than a match\nfor all the ponderous weapons of the gigantic Philistine.\n\nIt has sometimes been the fashion to attribute the successful aim of\nDavid to a special miracle, whereas those who are acquainted with\nancient weapons know well that no miracle was wrought, because none\nwas needed; a good slinger at that time being as sure of his aim as\na good rifleman of our days.\n\nThe sling was in constant requisition, being used both in directing\nthe Sheep and in repelling enemies: a stone skilfully thrown in\nfront of a straying Sheep being a well-understood signal that the\nanimal had better retrace its steps if it did not want to feel the\nnext stone on its back.\n\n[Illustration: AN EASTERN SHEPHERD.]\n\nPassing his whole life with his flock, the shepherd was identified\nwith his Sheep far more than is the case in this country. He knew\nall his Sheep by sight, he called them all by their names, and they\nall knew him and recognised his voice. He did not drive them, but he\nled them, walking in their front, and they following him. Sometimes\nhe would play with them, pretending to run away while they pursued\nhim, exactly as an infant-school teacher plays with the children.\n\nConsequently, they looked upon him as their protector as well as\ntheir feeder, and were sure to follow wherever he led them.\n\n[Illustration: SHEEP FOLLOWING THEIR SHEPHERD.]\n\nWe must all remember how David, who had passed all his early years\nas a shepherd, speaks of God as the Shepherd of Israel, and the\npeople as Sheep; never mentioning the Sheep as being driven, but\nalways as being led. \"Thou leddest Thy people like a flock, by\nthe hands of Moses and Aaron\" (Ps. lxxvii. 20); \"The Lord is my\nShepherd.... He leadeth me beside the still waters\" (Ps. xxiii. 1,\n2); \"Lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies\" (Ps. xxvii.\n11); together with many other passages too numerous to be quoted.\n\nOur Lord Himself makes a familiar use of the same image: \"He calleth\nhis own sheep by name, and leadeth them out And when he putteth\nforth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him:\nfor they know his voice.\"\n\nAlthough the shepherds of our own country know their Sheep by sight,\nand say that there is as much difference in the faces of Sheep as of\nmen, they have not, as a rule, attained the art of teaching their\nSheep to recognise their names. This custom, however, is still\nretained, as may be seen from a well-known passage in Hartley's\n\"Researches in Greece and the Levant:\"--\n\n\"Having had my attention directed last night to the words in John\nx. 3, I asked my man if it were usual in Greece to give names to\nthe sheep. He informed me that it was, and that the sheep obeyed\nthe shepherd when he called them by their names. This morning I\nhad an opportunity of verifying the truth of this remark. Passing\nby a flock of sheep, I asked the shepherd the same question which\nI had put to the servant, and he gave me the same answer. I then\nbade him call one of his sheep. He did so, and it instantly left\nits pasturage and its companions, and ran up to the hands of the\nshepherd, with signs of pleasure, and with a prompt obedience which\nI had never before observed in any other animal.\n\n\"It is also true that in this country, 'a stranger will they not\nfollow, but will flee from him.' The shepherd told me that many of\nhis sheep were still wild, that they had not learned their names,\nbut that by teaching them they would all learn them.\"\n\nGenerally, the shepherd was either the proprietor of the flock, or\nhad at all events a share in it, of which latter arrangement we find\na well-known example in the bargain which Jacob made with Laban, all\nthe white Sheep belonging to his father-in-law, and all the dark\nand spotted Sheep being his wages as shepherd. Such a man was far\nmore likely to take care of the Sheep than if he were merely a paid\nlabourer; especially in a country where the life of a shepherd was a\nlife of actual danger, and he might at any time be obliged to fight\nagainst armed robbers, or to oppose the wolf, the lion, or the bear.\nThe combat of the shepherd David with the last-mentioned animals has\nalready been noticed.\n\nIn allusion to the continual risks run by the Oriental shepherd, our\nLord makes use of the following well-known words:--\"The thief cometh\nnot but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that\nthey might have life, and have it more abundantly. I am the Good\nShepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he\nthat is an hireling, ... whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf\ncoming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth\nthem, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an\nhireling, and careth not for the sheep.\"\n\nOwing to the continual moving of the Sheep, the shepherd had very\nhard work during the lambing time, and was obliged to carry in\nhis arms the young lambs which were too feeble to accompany their\nparents, and to keep close to him those Sheep who were expected\nsoon to become mothers. At that time of year the shepherd might\nconstantly be seen at the head of his flock, carrying one or two\nlambs in his arms, accompanied by their mothers.\n\nIn allusion to this fact Isaiah writes: \"His reward is with Him, and\nHis work before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He\nshall gather the lambs with His arms and carry them in His bosom,\nand shall gently lead them that are with young\" (or, \"that give\nsuck,\" according to the marginal reading). Here we have presented\nat once before us the good shepherd who is no hireling, but owns\nthe Sheep; and who therefore has \"his reward with him, and his work\nbefore him;\" who bears the tender lambs in his arms, or lays them in\nthe folds of his mantle, and so carries them in his bosom, and leads\nby his side their yet feeble mothers.\n\nFrequent mention is made of the folds in which the Sheep are penned;\nand as these folds differed--and still differ--materially from those\nof our own land, we shall miss the force of several passages of\nScripture if we do not understand their form, and the materials of\nwhich they were built. Our folds consist merely of hurdles, moveable\nat pleasure, and so low that a man can easily jump over them, and so\nfragile that he can easily pull them down. Moreover, the Sheep are\nfrequently enclosed within the fold while they are at pasture.\n\nIf any one should entertain such an idea of the Oriental fold, he\nwould not see the force of the well-known passage in which our\nLord compares the Church to a sheepfold, and Himself to the door.\n\"He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth\nup some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that\nentereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the\nporter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice.... All that ever came\nbefore me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.\nI am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and\nshall go in and out, and find pasture.\"\n\n[Illustration: ANCIENT SHEEP PEN.]\n\nHad the fold here mentioned been a simple enclosure of hurdles, such\nan image could not have been used. It is evident that the fold to\nwhich allusion was made, and which was probably in sight at the time\nwhen Jesus was disputing with the Pharisees, was a structure of some\npretensions; that it had walls which a thief could only enter by\nclimbing over them--not by \"breaking through\" them, as in the case\nof a mud-walled private house; and that it had a gate, which was\nguarded by a watchman.\n\nIn fact, the fold was a solid and enduring building, made of stone.\nThus in Numbers xxxii. it is related that the tribes of Reuben and\nGad, who had great quantities of Sheep and other cattle, asked for\nthe eastward side of Jordan as a pasture-ground, promising to go\nand fight for the people, but previously to build fortified cities\nfor their families, and folds for their cattle, the folds being\nevidently, like the cities, buildings of an enduring nature.\n\nIn some places the folds are simply rock caverns, partly natural\nand partly artificial, often enlarged by a stone wall built outside\nit. It was the absence of these rock caverns on the east side of\nJordan that compelled the Reubenites and Gadites to build folds\nfor themselves, whereas on the opposite side places of refuge were\ncomparatively abundant.\n\nSee, for example, the well-known history related in 1 Sam.\nxxiii.-xxiv. David and his miscellaneous band of warriors, some six\nhundred in number, were driven out of the cities by the fear of\nSaul, and were obliged to pass their time in the wilderness, living\nin the \"strong holds\" (xxiii. 14, 19), which we find immediately\nafterwards to be rock caves (ver. 25). These caves were of large\nextent, being able to shelter these six hundred warriors, and,\non one memorable occasion, to conceal them so completely as they\nstood along the sides, that Saul, who had just come out of the open\nair, was not able to discern them in the dim light, and David even\nmanaged to approach him unseen, and cut off a portion of his outer\nrobe.\n\nThat this particular cave was a sheepfold we learn from xxiv. 2-4:\n\"Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and\nwent to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.\nAnd he came to the sheepcotes by the way.\" Into these strongholds\nthe Sheep are driven towards nightfall, and, as the flocks converge\ntowards their resting-place, the bleatings of the sheep are almost\ndeafening.\n\nThe shepherds as well as their flocks found shelter in these caves,\nmaking them their resting-places while they were living the strange,\nwild, pastoral life among the hills; and at the present day many\nof the smaller caves and \"holes of the rock\" exhibit the vestiges\nof human habitation in the shape of straw, hay, and other dried\nherbage, which has been used for beds, just as we now find the rude\ncouches of the coast-guard men in the cliff caves of our shores.\n\nThe dogs which are attached to the sheepfolds were, as they are\nnow, the faithful servants of man, although, as has already been\nrelated, they are not made the companions of man as is the case with\nourselves. Lean, gaunt, hungry, and treated with but scant kindness,\nthey are yet faithful guardians against the attack of enemies. They\ndo not, as do our sheepdogs, assist in driving the flocks, because\nthe Sheep are not driven, but led, but they are invaluable as\nnocturnal sentries. Crouching together outside the fold, in little\nknots of six or seven together, they detect the approach of wild\nanimals, and at the first sign of the wolf or the jackal they bark\nout a defiance, and scare away the invaders. It is strange that the\nold superstitious idea of their uncleanness should have held its\nground through so many tens of centuries; but, down to the present\nday, the shepherd of Palestine, though making use of the dog as a\nguardian of his flock, treats the animal with utter contempt, not to\nsay cruelty, beating and kicking the faithful creature on the least\nprovocation, and scarcely giving it sufficient food to keep it alive.\n\nSometimes the Sheep are brought up by hand at home. \"House-lamb,\" as\nwe call it, is even now common, and the practice of house-feeding\npeculiar in the old Scriptural times.\n\nWe have an allusion to this custom in the well-known parable of the\nprophet Nathan: \"The poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb,\nwhich he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with\nhim, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of\nhis own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter\"\n(2 Sam. xii. 3). A further, though less distinct, allusion is made\nto this practice in Isaiah vii. 21: \"It shall come to pass in that\nday, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep.\"\n\nHow the Sheep thus brought up by hand were fattened may be\nconjectured from the following passage in Mr. D. Urquhart's valuable\nwork on the Lebanon:--\n\n\"In the month of June, they buy from the shepherds, when pasturage\nhas become scarce and sheep are cheap, two or three sheep; these\nthey feed by hand. After they have eaten up the old grass and the\nprovender about the doors, they get vine leaves, and, after the\nsilkworms have begun to spin, mulberry leaves. They purchase them on\ntrial, and the test is appetite. If a sheep does not feed well, they\nreturn it after three days. To increase their appetite they wash\nthem twice a day, morning and evening, a care they never bestow on\ntheir own bodies.\n\n[Illustration: THE POOR MAN'S LAMB.]\n\n[Illustration: THE RICH MAN'S FEAST.]\n\n\"If the sheep's appetite does not come up to their standard, they\nuse a little gentle violence, folding for them forced leaf-balls and\nintroducing them into their mouths. The mulberry has the property of\nmaking them fat and tender. At the end of four months the sheep they\nhad bought at eighty piastres will sell for one hundred and forty,\nor will realize one hundred and fifty.\n\n\"The sheep is killed, skinned, and hung up. The fat is then removed;\nthe flesh is cut from the bones, and hung up in the sun. Meanwhile,\nthe fat has been put in a cauldron on the fire, and as soon as it\nhas come to boil, the meat is laid on. The proportion of the fat\nto the lean is as four to ten, eight 'okes' fat and twenty lean. A\nlittle salt is added, it is simmered for an hour, and then placed in\njars for the use of the family during the year.\n\n\"The large joints are separated and used first, as not fit for\nkeeping long. The fat, with a portion of the lean, chopped fine, is\nwhat serves for cooking the 'bourgoul,' and is called _Dehen_. The\nsheep are of the fat-tailed variety, and the tails are the great\ndelicacy.\"\n\nThis last sentence reminds us that there are two breeds of Sheep\nin Palestine. One much resembles the ordinary English Sheep, while\nthe other is a very different animal. It is much taller on its\nlegs, larger-boned, and long-nosed. Only the rams have horns, and\nthey are not twisted spirally like those of our own Sheep, but\ncome backwards, and then curl round so that the point comes under\nthe ear. The great peculiarity of this Sheep is the tail, which\nis simply prodigious in point of size, and is an enormous mass\nof fat. Indeed, the long-legged and otherwise lean animal seems\nto concentrate all its fat in the tail, which, as has been well\nobserved, appears to abstract both flesh and fat from the rest of\nthe body. So great is this strange development, that the tail alone\nwill sometimes weigh one-fifth as much as the entire animal. A\nsimilar breed of Sheep is found in Southern Africa and other parts\nof the world. In some places, the tail grows to such an enormous\nsize that, in order to keep so valuable a part of the animal from\ninjury, it is fastened to a small board, supported by a couple of\nwheels, so that the Sheep literally wheels its own tail in a cart.\n\nFrequent reference to the fat of the tail is made in the Authorized\nVersion of the Scriptures, though in terms which would not be\nunderstood did we not know that the Sheep which is mentioned in\nthose passages is the long-tailed Sheep of Syria. See, for example,\nthe history narrated in Exod. xxix. 22, where special details\nare given as to the ceremony by which Aaron and his sons were\nconsecrated to the priesthood. \"Thou shalt take of the ram the fat\nand the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul\nabove the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them.\"\n\n[Illustration: FLOCKS OF SHEEP BEING TAKEN INTO JERUSALEM.]\n\nThough this particular breed is not very distinctly mentioned in\nthe Bible, the Talmudical writers have many allusions to it. In\nthe Mischna these broad-tailed Sheep are not allowed to leave\ntheir folds on the Sabbath-day, because by wheeling their little\ntail-waggons behind them they would break the Sabbath. The writers\ndescribe the tail very graphically, comparing its shape to that of\na saddle, and saying that it is fat, without bones, heavy and long,\nand looks as if the whole body were continued beyond the hind-legs,\nand thence hung down in place of a tail.\n\nThe Rabbinical writers treat rather fully of the Sheep, and give\nsome very amusing advice respecting their management. If the ewes\ncannot be fattened in the ordinary manner, that end may be achieved\nby tying up the udder so that the milk cannot flow, and the elements\nwhich would have furnished milk are forced to produce fat. If the\nweather should be chilly at the shearing time, and there is danger\nof taking cold after the wool is removed, the shepherd should dip a\nsponge in oil and tie it on the forehead of the newly-shorn animal.\nOr, if he should not have a sponge by him, a woollen rag will do as\nwell. The same potent remedy is also efficacious if the Sheep should\nbe ill in lambing time.\n\nThat the Sheep is liable to the attack of the gadfly, which deposits\nits eggs in the nostrils of the unfortunate animal, was as well\nknown in the ancient as in modern times. It is scarcely necessary\nto mention that the insect in question is the _\u00c6strus ovis_.\nInstinctively aware of the presence of this insidious and dreaded\nenemy, which, though so apparently insignificant, is as formidable\na foe as any of the beasts of prey, the Sheep display the greatest\nterror at the sharp, menacing sound produced by the gadfly's wings\nas the insect sweeps through the air towards its destination. They\ncongregate together, placing their heads almost in contact with each\nother, snort and paw the ground in their terror, and use all means\nin their power to prevent the fly from accomplishing its purpose.\n\nWhen a gadfly succeeds in attaining its aim, it rapidly deposits an\negg or two in the nostril, and then leaves them. The tiny eggs are\nsoon hatched by the natural heat of the animal, and the young larv\u00e6\ncrawl up the nostril towards the frontal sinus. There they remain\nuntil they are full-grown, when they crawl through the nostrils,\nfall on the ground, burrow therein, and in the earth undergo their\nchanges into the pupal and perfect stages.\n\nIt need hardly be said that an intelligent shepherd would devote\nhimself to the task of killing every gadfly which he could find,\nand, as these insects are fond of basking on sunny rocks or\ntree-trunks, this is no very difficult matter.\n\nThe Rabbinical writers, however, being totally ignorant of practical\nentomology, do not seem to have recognised the insect until it had\nreached its full larval growth. They say that the rams manage to\nshake the grubs out of their nostrils by butting at one another\nin mimic warfare, and that the ewes, which are hornless, and are\ntherefore incapable of relieving themselves by such means, ought\nto be supplied with plants which will make them sneeze, so that\nthey may shake out the grubs by the convulsive jerkings of the head\ncaused by inhaling the irritating substance.\n\nThe same writers also recommend that the rams should be furnished\nwith strong leathern collars.\n\nWhen the flock is on the march, the rams always go in the van,\nand, being instinctively afraid of their ancient enemy the wolf,\nthey continually raise their heads and look about them. This line\nof conduct irritates the wolves, who attack the foremost rams and\nseize them by the throat. If, therefore, a piece of stout leather be\nfastened round the ram's neck, the wolf is baffled, and runs off in\nsullen despair.\n\nGenerally, the oldest ram is distinguished by a bell, and, when\nthe flock moves over the hilly slopes, the Sheep walk in file\nafter the leader, making narrow paths, which are very distinct\nfrom a distance, but are scarcely perceptible when the foot of the\ntraveller is actually upon them. From this habit has arisen an\nancient proverb, \"As the sheep after the sheep, so the daughter\nafter the mother,\" a saying which is another form of our own\nfamiliar proverb, \"What is bred in the bone will not come out of the\nflesh.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe now come to the Sheep considered with reference to its uses.\nFirst and foremost the Sheep was, and still is, one of the chief\nmeans of subsistence, being to the pastoral inhabitants of Palestine\nwhat the oxen are to the pastoral inhabitants of Southern Africa.\n\nTo ordinary persons the flesh of the Sheep was a seldom-tasted\nluxury; great men might eat it habitually, \"faring sumptuously every\nday,\" and we find that, among the glories of Solomon's reign, the\nsacred chronicler has thought it worth while to mention that part of\nthe daily provision for his household included one hundred Sheep. No\nparticular pains seem to have been taken about the cooking of the\nanimal, which seems generally to have been boiled. As, however, in\nsuch a climate the flesh could not be kept for the purpose of making\nit tender, as is the case in this part of the world, it was cooked\nas soon as the animal was killed, the fibres not having time to\nsettle into the rigidity of death.\n\nGenerally, when ordinary people had the opportunity of tasting the\nflesh of the Sheep, it was on the occasion of some rejoicing,--such,\nfor example, as a marriage feast, or the advent of a guest, for\nwhom a lamb or a kid was slain and cooked on the spot, a young male\nlamb being almost invariably chosen as less injurious than the ewe\nto the future prospects of the flock. Roasting over a fire was\nsometimes adopted, as was baking in an oven sunk in the ground, a\nremarkable instance of which we shall see when we come to the Jewish\nsacrifices. Boiling, however, was the principal mode; so much so,\nindeed, that the Hebrew word which signifies boiling is used to\nsignify any kind of cooking, even when the meat was roasted.\n\nThe process of cooking and eating the Sheep was as follows.\n\nThe animal having been killed according to the legal form, the skin\nwas stripped off, and the body separated joint from joint, the right\nshoulder being first removed. This, it will be remembered, was the\npriest's portion; see Lev. vii. 32: \"The right shoulder shall ye\ngive unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your\npeace offerings.\" The whole of the flesh was then separated from the\nbones, and chopped small, and even the bones themselves broken up,\nso that the marrow might not be lost.\n\nA reference to this custom is found in Micah iii. 2, 3, \"Who pluck\noff their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;\nwho also eat the flesh of my people ... and they break their bones,\nand chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the\ncaldron.\" The reader will now understand more fully the force of\nthe prophecy, \"He keepeth all His bones: not one of them is broken\"\n(Psa. xxxiv. 20).\n\nThe mixed mass of bones and flesh was then put into the caldron,\nwhich was generally filled with water, but sometimes with milk, as\nis the custom with the Bedouins of the present day, whose manners\nare in many respects identical with those of the early Jews. It has\nbeen thought by some commentators that the injunction not to \"seethe\na kid in his mothers milk\" (Deut. xiv. 21) referred to this custom.\nI believe, however, that the expression \"in his mother's milk\" does\nnot signify that the flesh of the kid might not be boiled in its\nmother's milk, but that a kid might not be taken which was still in\nits mother's milk, _i.e._ unweaned.\n\nSalt and spices were generally added to it; see Ezek. xxiv. 10:\n\"Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it\nwell.\" The surface was carefully skimmed, and, when the meat was\nthoroughly cooked, it and the broth were served up separately. The\nlatter was used as a sort of sauce, into which unleavened bread was\ndipped. So in Judges vi. 19 we read that when Gideon was visited by\nthe angel, according to the hospitable custom of the land, he \"made\nready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he\nput in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out\nunto him under the oak, and presented it to him.\"\n\nValuable, however, as was the Sheep for this purpose, there has\nalways existed a great reluctance to kill the animal, the very sight\nof the flocks being an intense gratification to a pastoral Oriental.\nThe principal part of the food supplied by the Sheep was, and is\nstill, the milk; which afforded abundant food without thinning the\nnumber of the flock. As all know who have tasted it, the milk of the\nSheep is peculiarly rich, and in the East is valued much more highly\nthan that of cattle. The milk was seldom drunk in a fresh state, as\nis usually the case with ourselves, but was suffered to become sour,\ncurdled, and semi-solid.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe now come to a portion of the Sheep scarcely less important than\nthe flesh and the milk, _i.e._ the fleece, or wool.\n\nIn the ancient times nearly the whole of the clothing was made of\nwool, especially the most valuable part of it, namely the large\nmantle, or \"haick,\" in which the whole person could be folded, and\nwhich was the usual covering during sleep. The wool, therefore,\nwould be an article of great national value; and so we find that\nwhen the king of Moab paid his tribute in kind to the king of\nIsrael, it was carefully specified that the Sheep should not be\nshorn. \"And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master, and rendered\nunto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred\nthousand rams, with the wool.\"\n\nThe wool of the Sheep of Palestine differed extremely in value; some\nkinds being coarse and rough, while others were fine.\n\nThe wool was dressed in those times much as it is at present, being\ncarded and then spun with the spindle, the distaff being apparently\nunused, and the wool simply drawn out by the hand. The shape of the\nspindle was much like that of the well-known flat spinning-tops that\ncome from Japan--namely, a disc through which passes an axle. A\nsmart twirl given by the fingers to the axle makes the disc revolve\nvery rapidly, and its weight causes the rotation to continue for a\nconsiderable time. Spinning the wool was exclusively the task of the\nwomen, a custom which prevailed in this country up to a very recent\ntime, and which still traditionally survives in the term \"spinster,\"\nand in the metaphorical use of the word \"distaff\" as synonymous with\na woman's proper work.\n\nWhen spun into threads, the wool was woven in the simple loom\nwhich has existed up to our own day, and which is identical in its\ngeneral principles throughout a very large portion of the world. It\nconsisted of a framework of wood, at one end of which was placed the\n\"beam\" to which the warp was attached; and at the other end was the\n\"pin\" on which the cloth was rolled as it was finished.\n\nThe reader may remember that when Delilah was cajoling Samson to\ntell her the secret of his strength, he said, \"If thou weavest the\nseven locks of my head with the web.\" So, as he slept, she interwove\nhis long hair with the fabric which was on her loom, and, to make\nsure, \"fastened it with the pin,\" _i.e._ wove it completely into the\ncloth which was rolled round the pin. So firmly had she done so,\nthat when he awoke he could not disentangle his hair, but left the\nhouse with the whole of the loom, the beam and the pin, and the web\nhanging to his head.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWool was often dyed of various colours; blue, purple, and scarlet\nbeing those which were generally employed. The rams' skins which\nformed part of the covering of the Tabernacle were ordered to be\ndyed scarlet, partly on account of the significance of the colour,\nand partly because none but the best and purest fleeces would be\nchosen for so rare and costly a dye. How the colour was produced we\nshall learn towards the end of the volume.\n\nSheep-shearing was always a time of great rejoicing and revelry,\nwhich seem often to have been carried beyond the bounds of\nsobriety. Thus when Nabal had gathered together his three thousand\nSheep in Carmel, and held a shearing festival, David sent to ask for\nsome provisions for his band, and was refused in accordance with\nthe disposition of the man, who had inflamed his naturally churlish\nnature with wine. \"He held a feast in his house, like the feast of\na king: and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very\ndrunken\" (1 Sam. xxv. 36).\n\nThe same was probably the case when Laban was shearing his Sheep\n(Gen. xxxi. 19). Otherwise it would scarcely have been possible for\nJacob to have gone away unknown to Laban, taking with him his wives\nand children, his servants, his camels, and his flocks, the rapid\nincrease of which had excited the jealousy of his uncle, and which\nwere so numerous that, in fear of his brother Esau, he divided them\ninto two bands, and yet was able to select from them a present to\nhis brother, consisting in all of nearly six hundred sheep, camels,\noxen, goats, and asses.\n\nSometimes the shepherds and others who lived in pastoral districts\nmade themselves coats of the skins of the Sheep, with the wool still\nadhering to it. The custom extends to the present day, and even\nin many parts of Europe the sheep-skin dress of the shepherds is\na familiar sight to the traveller. The skin was sometimes tanned\nand used as leather, but was considered as inferior to that of the\ngoat. Mr. Tristram conjectures that the leathern \"girdle\" worn by\nSt. John the Baptist was probably the untanned sheep-skin coat which\nhas been just mentioned. So it is said of the early Christians, that\n\"they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute,\nafflicted, tormented,\" the sheep-skins in question being evidently\nthe rude shepherd's coats.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe horn of the ram had a national value, as from it were made the\nsacred trumpets which played so important a part in the history of\nthe Jewish nation. There is no doubt that the primitive trumpets\nwere originally formed either from the horn of an animal, such as\nthe ox, the large-horned antelopes, the sheep, and the goat, and\nthat in process of time they were made of metal, generally copper or\nsilver.\n\nReferences are frequently made in the Bible to these trumpets, for\nwhich there were different names, probably on account of their\ndifferent forms. These names are, however, very loosely rendered in\nour version, the same word being sometimes translated the \"cornet,\"\nand sometimes the \"trumpet.\"\n\n[Illustration: SOUNDING THE TRUMPETS IN THE YEAR OF JUBILEE.]\n\nThe jubilee year was always ushered in by the blasts of the sacred\ntrumpets. \"Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound\non the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall\nye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land\" (Lev. xxv. 9).\nThen there was the festival known as the Feast of Trumpets. \"In the\nseventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy\nconvocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the\ntrumpets unto you\" (Numb. xxix. 1).\n\nOne of these trumpets is now before me, and is shown in the\naccompanying illustration.\n\nIn length it measures eighteen inches, _i.e._ a cubit, and it is\nformed entirely in one piece. As far as I can judge, it is made from\nthe left horn of the broad-tailed Sheep, which, as has already been\nremarked, is not spiral, but flattish, curved backwards, and forming\nnearly a circle, the point passing under the ear. This structure,\nadded to the large size of the horn, adapts it well for its purpose.\nIn order to bring it to the proper shape, the horn is softened by\nheat, and is then modelled into the very form which was used by the\nJewish priests who blew the trumpet before the ark.\n\n[Illustration: RAM'S HORN TRUMPET.]\n\nAt the present day one such trumpet, at least, is found in every\nJewish community, and is kept by the man who has the privilege of\nblowing it.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe now come to the important subject, the use of the Sheep in\nsacrifice.\n\nNo animal was used so frequently for this purpose as the Sheep, and\nin many passages of the Mosaic law are specified the precise age as\nwell as the sex of the Sheep which was to be sacrificed in certain\ncircumstances. Sometimes the Sheep was sacrificed as an offering\nof thanksgiving, sometimes as an expiation for sin, and sometimes\nas a redemption for some more valuable animal. The young male lamb\nwas the usual sacrifice; and almost the only sacrifice for which a\nSheep might not be offered was that of the two goats on the great\nDay of Atonement.\n\n[Illustration: A LAMB UPON THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING.]\n\nTo mention all the passages in which the Sheep is ordered for\nsacrifice would occupy too much of our space, and we will therefore\nrestrict ourselves to the one central rite of the Jewish nation, the\nsacrifice of the Paschal lamb, the precursor of the Lamb of God, who\ntaketh away the sins of the world.\n\nWithout examining in full the various ceremonies of the Paschal\nsacrifice, we will glance over the salient points which distinguish\nit from any other sacrifice.\n\nThe lamb must be a male, which is selected and examined with the\nminutest care, that it may be free from all blemish, and must be of\nthe first year. It must be killed on the fourteenth of the month\nAbib as the sun is setting, and the blood must be sprinkled with\nhyssop. In the first or Egyptian Passover the blood was sprinkled\non the lintels and doorposts of the houses, but afterwards on the\naltar. It must be roasted with fire, and not boiled, after the usual\ncustom in the East; not a bone must be broken. It must be eaten by\nthe household in haste, as if they were just starting on a journey,\nand if any of it should be left, it must be consumed in the fire,\nand not eaten on the following day.\n\nSuch are the chief points in connexion with the Paschal rite, at\nonce a sacrifice and a feast. The original directions not being\nsufficiently minute to meet all the practical difficulties which\nmight hinder the correct performance of the rite, a vast number\nof directions are given by the Rabbinical writers. In order, for\nexample, to guard against the destruction of any part of the animal\nby careless cooking over a fire, or the possible fracture of a bone\nby a sudden jet of flame, the Paschal lamb was rather baked than\nroasted, being placed in an earthen oven from which the ashes had\nbeen removed. In order to prevent it from being burned or blackened\nagainst the sides of the oven, (in which case it would be cooked\nwith earthenware and not with fire), it was transfixed with a wooden\nstake, made from the pomegranate-tree, and a transverse spit was\nthrust through the shoulders. These spits were made of wood, because\na metal spit would become heated in the oven, and would cause all\nthe flesh which it touched to be roasted with metal, and not with\nfire; and the wood of the pomegranate was chosen, because that wood\nwas supposed not to emit any sap when heated. If a drop of water had\nfallen on the flesh, the law would have been broken, as that part of\nthe flesh would be considered as boiled, and not roasted.\n\nAs to the eating of unleavened bread and bitter herbs with the lamb,\nthe custom does not bear on the present subject. In shape the oven\nseems to have resembled a straw beehive, having an opening at the\nside by which the fuel could be removed and the lamb inserted.\n\nThe ceremony of the Passover has been described by several persons,\nsuch as the late Consul Rogers and the Dean of Westminster, the\nlatter of whom has given, a most striking and vivid account of the\nrite in his \"Lectures on the Jewish Church.\"\n\nThe place which is now employed in the celebration of this rite\nis a level spot about two hundred yards from the summit of the\nmountain, a place which is apparently selected on account of its\ncomparative quiet and seclusion. Dean Stanley thinks that in former\ntimes, when the Samaritans were the masters of the country, they\ncelebrated the sacrifice on the sacred plateau on the very summit of\nthe mountain, so that the rite could be seen for a vast distance on\nevery side. Now, however, the less conspicuous place is preferred.\nBy the kindness of the Palestine Exploration Society, I am enabled\nto present the reader with a view of this sacred spot, taken from\na photograph made an hour or two before the time of sacrifice.\nThe rough, rugged character of the mountain is shown by this\nillustration, though not so well as in several other photographs of\nGerizim, in which the entire surface seems to be loosely covered\nwith stones like those of which the low wall is built. Near the\ncentre of the illustration may be seen a pile of sticks and the tops\nof two caldrons, on each of which a stone is laid to keep the cover\nfrom being blown off by the wind. These sticks nearly fill a trench\nin which the caldrons are sunk, and their use will be presently seen\non reading Dean Stanley's narrative. In the far distance are the\nplains of Samaria, and the long-drawn shadows of the priest and his\nnephew, and probable successor, show that the time of sacrifice is\nrapidly approaching.\n\n[Illustration: THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE.]\n\nOn the previous day the whole of the community had pitched their\ntents on the mountain, and as the time of sunset approached the\nwomen retired to the tents, and all the males, except those who were\nunclean according to the provisions of the Mosaic law, assembled\nnear a long deep trench that had been dug in the ground. The men\nare clothed in long white garments, and the six young men who are\nselected as the actual sacrifices are dressed in white drawers and\nshirts. These youths are trained to the duty, but whether they hold\nany sacred office could not be ascertained.\n\nThen, according to the narrative of Dean Stanley, \"the priest,\nascending a large rough stone in front of the congregation, recited\nin a loud chant or scream, in which the others joined, prayers or\npraises chiefly turning on the glories of Abraham and Isaac. Their\nattitude was that of all Orientals in prayer; standing, occasionally\ndiversified by the stretching out of the hands, and more rarely by\nkneeling or crouching, with their knees wrapped in their clothes and\nbent to the ground, towards the Holy Place on the summit of Gerizim.\nThe priest recited his prayers by heart; the others had mostly books\nin Hebrew and Arabic.\n\n\"Presently, suddenly there appeared amongst the worshippers six\nsheep, driven up by the side of the youths before mentioned. The\nunconscious innocence with which they wandered to and fro amongst\nthe bystanders, and the simplicity in aspect and manner of the young\nmen who tended them, more recalled a pastoral scene in Arcadia, or\none of those inimitable patriarchal _tableaux_ represented in the\nAmmergau Mystery, than a religious ceremonial.\n\n\"The sun, meanwhile, which had hitherto burnished up the\nMediterranean in the distance, now sank very nearly to the farthest\nwestern ridge overhanging the plain of Sharon. The recitation became\nmore vehement. The priest turned about, facing his brethren, and\nthe whole history of the Exodus from the beginning of the plagues\nof Egypt was rapidly, almost furiously, chanted. The sheep, still\ninnocently playful, were driven more closely together.\n\n\"The setting sun now touched the ridge. The youths burst into a\nwild murmur of their own, drew forth their long bright knives, and\nbrandished them aloft. In a moment the sheep were thrown on their\nbacks, and the flashing knives rapidly drawn across their throats.\nThen a few convulsive but silent struggles--'as a sheep ... dumb ...\nthat openeth not his mouth,'--and the six forms lay lifeless on the\nground, the blood streaming from them; the one only Jewish sacrifice\nlingering in the world. In the blood the young men dipped their\nfingers, and a small spot was marked on the foreheads and noses of\nthe children. A few years ago the red stain was placed on all. But\nthis had now dwindled away into the present practice, preserved,\nwe were told, as a relic or emblem of the whole. Then, as if in\ncongratulation at the completion of the ceremony, they all kissed\neach other, in the Oriental fashion, on each side of the head.\n\n\"The next process was that of the fleecing and roasting of the\nslaughtered animals, for which the ancient temple furnished such\nample provisions. Two holes on the mountain side had been dug;\none at some distance, of considerable depth, the other, close to\nthe scene of the sacrifice, comparatively shallow. In this latter\ncavity, after a short prayer, a fire was kindled, out of the mass of\ndry heath, juniper, and briers, such as furnished the materials for\nthe conflagration in Jotham's parable, delivered not far from this\nspot.\n\n\"Over the fire were placed two caldrons full of water. Whilst the\nwater boiled, the congregation again stood around, and (as if for\neconomy of time) continued the recitation of the Book of Exodus,\nand bitter herbs were handed round wrapped in a strip of unleavened\nbread--'with unleavened bread and bitter herbs shall they eat\nit.' Then was chanted another short prayer; after which the six\nyouths again appeared, poured the boiling water over the sheep, and\nplucked off their fleeces. The right forelegs of the sheep, with the\nentrails, were thrown aside and burnt. The liver was carefully put\nback. Long poles were brought, on which the animals were spitted;\nnear the bottom of each pole was a transverse peg or stick, to\nprevent the body from slipping off.\"\n\nThis cross-piece does not, however, penetrate the body, which in\nmost cases scarcely touches it, so that there is little or no\nresemblance to a crucifixion. The writer lays especial stress on\nthis point, because the early Christians saw in the transverse spit\nan emblem of the cross. In the Jewish Passover this emblem would\nhave been more appropriate, as in that ceremony the cross-piece was\npassed through the shoulders, and the forefeet tied to it.\n\nThe Sheep being now prepared, they were carried to the oven, which\non this occasion was a deep, circular pit, in which a fire had been\npreviously kindled. Into this the victims were carefully lowered,\nthe stakes on which they were impaled guarding their bodies from\ntouching the sides of the oven, and the cross-piece at the end\npreventing them from slipping off the stake to the bottom of the pit\namong the ashes. A hurdle was then laid on the mouth of the pit,\nand wet earth was heaped upon it so as to close it completely. The\ngreater part of the community then retired to rest. In about five\nhours, the Paschal moon being high in the heavens, announcement\nwas made that the feast was about to begin. Then, to resume Dean\nStanley's narrative,\n\n\"Suddenly the covering of the hole was torn off, and up rose into\nthe still moonlit sky a vast column of smoke and steam; recalling,\nwith a shock of surprise, that, even by an accidental coincidence,\nReginald Heber should have so well caught this striking feature of\nso remote and unknown a ritual:\n\n 'Smokes on Gerizim's mount Samaria's sacrifice.'\n\n\"Out of the pit were dragged successively the six sheep, on their\nlong spits, black from the oven. The outlines of their heads, their\nears, their legs, were still visible--'his head, with his legs, and\nwith the inward parts thereof.' They were hoisted aloft, and then\nthrown on large square brown mats, previously prepared for their\nreception, on which we were carefully prevented from treading, as\nalso from touching even the extremities of the spit.\n\n\"The bodies thus wrapped in the mats were hurried down to the trench\nwhere the sacrifice had taken place, and laid out upon them in a\nline between two files of the Samaritans. Those who had before been\ndressed in white robes still retained them, with the addition now\nof shoes on their feet and staves in their hands, and ropes round\ntheir waists--'thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your\nshoes on your feet, your staff in your hand.' The recitation of\nprayers or of the Pentateuch recommenced, and continued till it\nsuddenly terminated in their all sitting down on their haunches,\nafter the Arab fashion at meals, and beginning to eat. This, too,\nis a deviation from the practice of only a few years since, when\nthey retained the Mosaic ritual of standing whilst they ate. The\nactual feast was conducted in rapid silence, as of men in hunger, as\nno doubt most of them were, and so as soon to consume every portion\nof the blackened masses, which they tore away piecemeal with their\nfingers--'ye shall eat in haste.' There was a general merriment, as\nof a hearty and welcome meal.\n\n\"In ten minutes all was gone but a few remnants. To the priest and\nto the women, who, all but two (probably his two wives), remained\nin the tents, separate morsels were carried round. The remnants\nwere gathered into the mats, and put on a wooden grate, or hurdle,\nover the hole where the water had been originally boiled; the fire\nwas again lit, and a huge bonfire was kindled. By its blaze, and by\ncandles lighted for the purpose, the ground was searched in every\ndirection, as for the consecrated particles of sacramental elements;\nand these fragments of flesh and bone were thrown upon the burning\nmass--'ye shall let nothing remain until the morning; and that which\nremaineth until the morning ye shall burn with fire;' 'there shall\nnot anything of the flesh which thou sacrificest the first day at\neven remain all night until the morning;' 'thou shalt not carry\nforth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house.' The flames blazed\nup once more, and then gradually sank away.\n\n[Illustration: sheep]\n\n\"Perhaps in another century the fire on Mount Gerizim will be the\nonly relic left of this most interesting and ancient rite.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: chamois]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHAMOIS.\n\n The Zemer or Chamois only once mentioned in the\n Bible--Signification of the word Zemer--Probability that the\n Zemer is the Aoudad--Its strength and activity--The Mouflon\n probably classed with the Aoudad under the name of Zemer.\n\n\nAmong the animals which may be used for food is mentioned one which\nin our version is rendered Chamois. See Deut. xiv. 5, a passage\nwhich has several times been quoted.\n\nIt is evident to any one acquainted with zoology that, whatever\nmay be the Hebrew word, \"Chamois\" cannot be the correct rendering,\ninasmuch as this animal does not inhabit Palestine, nor are there\nany proofs that it ever did so. The Chamois frequents the lofty\ninaccessible crags of the highest mountains, finding its food in the\nscanty herbage which grows in such regions, appearing on the brink\nof awful precipices, and leaping from ledge to ledge with ease and\nsafety. We must, therefore, look for some other animal.\n\nThe Chamois is one of the most wary of Antelopes, and possesses the\npower of scenting mankind at what would seem to be an impossible\ndistance.\n\nIts ears are as acute as its nostrils, so that there are few animals\nwhich are so difficult to approach.\n\nOnly those who have been trained to climb the giddy heights of the\nAlpine Mountains, to traverse the most fearful precipices with a\nquiet pulse and steady head, to exist for days amid the terrible\nsolitudes of ice, rock, and snow,--only these, can hope to come\nwithin sight of the Chamois, when the animal is at large upon its\nnative cliffs.\n\nThe Hebrew word, which has been rendered Chamois, is Zamar, or\nZemer, _i. e._ the leaper, and therefore an animal which is\nconspicuous for its agility. Zoologists have now agreed in the\nopinion that the Zamer of Deuteronomy is the handsome wild sheep\nwhich we know under the name of Aoudad (_Ammotragus Tragelaphus_).\nThis splendid sheep is known by various names. It is the Jaela of\nsome authors, and the Bearded Sheep of others. It is also called the\nFichtall, or Lerwea; and the French zoologists describe it under the\nname of _Mouflon \u00e0 manchettes_, in allusion to the fringe of long\nhair that ornaments the fore limbs.\n\nThe Aoudad is a large and powerful animal, exceedingly active,\nand has the habits of the goat rather than of the sheep, on which\naccount it is reckoned among the goats by the Arabs of the present\nday, and doubtless was similarly classed by the ancient inhabitants\nof Palestine. The height of the adult Aoudad is about three feet,\nand its general colour is pale dun, relieved by the dark masses of\nlong hair that fall from the neck and the tufts of similar hair\nwhich decorate the knees of the male. The female is also bearded and\ntufted, but the hair, which in the male looks like the mane of the\nlion, in the female is but slightly developed.\n\nIt is so powerful and active an animal, that an adult male which\nlived for some time in the Zoological Gardens was much dreaded\nby the keepers, not even the man who fed it liking to enter the\nenclosure if he could help himself. The animal was given to making\nunexpected charges, and would do so with astonishing quickness,\nspringing round and leaping at the object of his hate with\ntremendous force, and with such rapidity that even the experienced\nkeeper, who knew all the ways of the animals under his charge, had\noften some difficulty in slipping behind the door, against which the\nhorns of the Aoudad would clatter as if they would break the door to\npieces. So fond was he of attacking something that he would often\nbutt repeatedly at the wooden side of the shed, hurling himself\nagainst it with eager fury.\n\n[Illustration: CHAMOIS DEFENDING ITS YOUNG.]\n\n[Illustration: CHASING THE AOUDAD.]\n\nThe horns of the Aoudad are about two feet in length, and are of\nconsiderable diameter. They curve boldly and gracefully backwards,\ntheir points diverging considerably from each other, so that when\nthe animal throws its head up, the points of the horns come on\neither side of the back. This divergence of the horns has another\nobject. They cover a considerable space, so that when the animal\nmakes its charge the object of its anger has much more difficulty in\nescaping the blow than if the horns were closer together.\n\nWhether these horns were used as musical instruments is doubtful,\nsimply because we are not absolutely sure that the Zamar and the\nAoudad are identical, however great may be the probability. But\ninasmuch as the horn-trumpets were evidently of various sizes, it\nis certain that the Jewish musicians would never have neglected to\ntake advantage of such magnificent materials as they would obtain\nfrom the horns of this animal. Perhaps the Chaldaic \"keren\" may have\nbeen the horn of the Aoudad, or of the animal which will next be\nmentioned.\n\nThe Aoudad is wonderfully active, and even the young ones bound to\nan astonishing height. I have seen the marks of their hoofs eight\nfeet from the ground.\n\nIn its wild state the Aoudad lives in little flocks or herds,\nand prefers the high and rocky ground, over which it leaps with\na sure-footed agility equal to that of the Chamois itself. These\nflocks are chased by hunters, who try to get it upon the lowest and\nleast broken ground, where it is at a disadvantage, and then run it\ndown with their horses, as seen in the illustration on page 214.\n\nThe Aoudad was formerly plentiful in Egypt, and even now is\nfound along the Atlas mountain-range. It is seen on the Egyptian\nmonuments, and, owing to its evident profusion, we have every reason\nto conjecture that it was one of those animals which were specially\nindicated as chewing the cud and cleaving the hoof.\n\n * * * * *\n\nPerhaps the MOUFLON (_Caprovis Musimon_) may be the animal which is\nmeant by the Hebrew word Zamar, and it is not unlikely that both\nanimals may have been included in one name.\n\nThis animal, which is nearly allied to the Aoudad, is also very\ngoatlike in general aspect. It is indeed to this resemblance that\nthe name Caprovis, or goat-sheep, has been given to it. The name\nAmmotragus, which, as mentioned above, belongs to the Aoudad, has a\nsimilar signification.\n\nThe horns of the Mouflon belong only to the male animal, and are\nof enormous size, so that if trumpets of deep tone and great power\nwere needed, they could be obtained from the horns of this animal.\nThose of the Aoudad are very large, and would be well adapted for\nthe same purpose, but they would not furnish such instruments as\nthe horns of the Mouflon, which are so large that they seem almost\nunwieldy for an animal of twice the Mouflon's size, and give visible\nproofs of the strength and agility of an animal which can carry them\nso lightly and leap about under their weight so easily as does the\nMouflon.\n\n[Illustration: THE MOUFLON.]\n\nAt the present time the Mouflon is only to be found in Crete,\nSardinia, and Corsica, but formerly it was known to inhabit many\nother parts of the earth, and was almost certainly one of the many\nanimals which then haunted the Lebanon, but which have in later days\nbeen extirpated.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOAT.\n\n Value of the Goat--Its use in furnishing food--The male kid the\n usual animal of slaughter--Excellence of the flesh and deception\n of Isaac--Milk of the Goat--An Oriental milking scene--The hair\n of the goat, and the uses to which it is put--The Goat's skin\n used for leather--The \"bottle\" of Scripture--Mode of making\n and repairing the bottles--Ruse of the Gibeonites--The \"bottle\n in the smoke\"--The sacks and the kneading troughs--The Goat as\n used for sacrifice--General habits of the Goat--Separation of\n the Goats from the sheep--Performing Goats--Different breeds of\n Goats in Palestine.\n\n\nWhether considered in reference to food, to clothing, or to\nsacrifice, the GOAT was scarcely a less important animal than the\nsheep. It was especially valuable in such a country as Palestine,\nin which the soil and the climate vary so much according to the\nlocality. Upon the large fertile plains the sheep are bred in vast\nflocks, the rich and succulent grass being exactly to their taste;\nwhile in the hilly and craggy districts the Goats abound, and\ndelight in browsing upon the scanty herbage that grows upon the\nmountain-side.\n\nFor food the Goat was even more extensively used than the sheep.\nThe adult male was, of course, not eaten, being very tough, and\nhaving an odour which would repel any but an actually starving man.\nNeither were the females generally eaten, as they were needed for\nthe future increase of the flocks. The young male kid formed the\nprincipal material of a feast, and as soon as a stranger claimed the\nhospitality of a man in good circumstances, the first thing that was\ndone was to take a young male kid and dress it for him.\n\nFor example, when the angel visited Gideon in the guise of a\nstranger, Gideon \"went in and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes\nof an ephah of flour,\" and brought them to his guest (Judges vi.\n19). And when Isaac was on his death-bed and asked Esau to take\nhis bow and arrows and hunt for \"venison,\" which was probably the\nflesh of one of the antelopes which have already been mentioned, a\nready substitute was found in the two kids, from whose flesh Rebekah\nmade the dish for which he longed. The imposition might easily\npass without detection, because the flesh of the kid is peculiarly\ntender, and can scarcely be distinguished from lamb, even when\nsimply roasted. Isaac, therefore, with his senses dulled by his\ngreat age, was the less likely to discover the imposture, when the\nflesh of the kids was stewed into \"savoury meat such as he loved.\"\n\n[Illustration: JACOB DECEIVES HIS FATHER AND TAKES ESAU'S BLESSING.]\n\nA curious illustration of the prevalence of kid's flesh as food is\ngiven in the parable of the prodigal son, for whom his father had\nkilled the fatted calf. \"And he answering said to his father, Lo,\nthese many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any\ntime thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I\nmight make merry with my friends\" (Luke xv. 29). The force of the\nreproval cannot be properly understood unless we are acquainted with\nthe customs of the East. The kid was the least valuable animal that\ncould have been given, less valuable than a lamb, and infinitely\ninferior to the fatted calf, which was kept in wealthy households\nfor some feast of more than ordinary magnificence.\n\nThe kid was cooked exactly in the same manner as the sheep, namely,\nby cutting to pieces and stewing in a caldron, the meat and broth\nbeing served separately. See, for example, the case of Gideon, to\nwhom a reference has already been made. When he brought the banquet\nto his guest, \"the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth\nin a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented\nit. And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the\nunleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the\nbroth.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE ANGEL APPEARS TO GIDEON.]\n\nGideon did so, and the angel reached forth the staff that was in his\nhand, and touched the flesh, and there rose up fire out of the rock\nand burnt up the offering.\n\nThe same custom exists at the present day. When an Arab chief\nreceives a guest, a kid is immediately killed and given to the\nwomen to be cooked, and the guest is pressed to stay until it is\nready, in the very words used by Gideon three thousand years ago.\n\"Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring\nforth my present, and set it before thee.\" The refusal of proffered\nhospitality would be, and still is considered to be, either a\nstudied insult, or a proof of bad manners, and no one with any\nclaims to breeding would commit such an action without urgent cause\nand much apology.\n\nLike the sheep, the Goat is extremely valuable as a milk-producer,\nand at the present day the milk of the Goat is used as largely as\nthat of the sheep. \"At Rasheiya, under Mount Hermon,\" writes Mr.\nTristram, \"we saw some hundreds of goats gathering for the night\nin the wide open market-place beneath the castle. It was no easy\nmatter to thread our way among them, as they had no idea of moving\nfor such belated intruders on their rest. All the she-goats of the\nneighbouring hills are driven in every evening, and remain for\ntheir morning's milking, after which they set forth on their day's\nexcursion.\n\n\"Each house possesses several, and all know their owners. The\nevening milking is a picturesque scene. Every street and open space\nis filled with the goats; and women, boys, and girls are everywhere\nmilking with their small pewter pots, while the goats are anxiously\nawaiting their turn, or lying down to chew the cud as soon as it\nis over. As no kids or he-goats are admitted, the scene is very\norderly, and there is none of the deafening bleating which usually\ncharacterises large flocks.\n\n\"These mountain goats are a solemn set, and by the gravity of their\ndemeanour excite a suspicion that they have had no youth, and never\nwere kids. They need no herdsman to bring them home in the evening,\nfor, fully sensible of the danger of remaining unprotected, they\nhurry homewards of their own accord as soon as the sun begins to\ndecline.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nLike the wool of the sheep, the hair of the Goat is used for the\nmanufacture of clothing; and, as is the case with wool, its quality\ndiffers according to the particular breed of the animal, which\nassumes almost as many varieties as the sheep or the dog. The hair\nof some varieties is thick and rough, and can only be made into\ncoarse cloths, while others, of which the mohair Goat and Cashmere\nGoat are familiar examples, furnish a staple of surpassing delicacy\nand fineness. It is most likely that the covering and curtains of\nthe Tabernacle mentioned in Exod. xxvi. 7 were of the latter kind,\nas otherwise they would have been out of character with the fine\nlinen, and blue and scarlet, their golden clasps, and the profuse\nmagnificence which distinguished every part of the sacred building.\nMoreover, the hair of the Goat is classed among the costly offerings\nwhich were made when the Tabernacle was built. \"And they came\nforth, men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought\nbracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of\ngold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto\nthe Lord. And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and\nscarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and\nbadgers' skins, brought them\" to be used in the structure of that\nwonderful building, in which nothing might be used except the finest\nand costliest that could be procured.\n\nOne of the principal uses to which the goat-skin was applied was\nthe manufacture of leather, for which purpose it is still used,\nand is considered far better than that of the sheep. Perhaps the\nmost common form in which this leather is used is the well-known\nwater-vessel, or \"bottle\" of the Bible.\n\nThese so-called bottles are made from the entire skin of the animal,\nwhich is prepared in slightly different methods according to the\nlocality in which the manufacture is carried on. In Palestine they\nare soaked for some little time in the tanning mixture, and are\nthen filled with water, after the seams have been pitched. In this\nstate they are kept for some time, and are kept exposed to the sun,\ncovered entirely with the tanning fluid, and filled up with water to\nsupply the loss caused by evaporation and leakage.\n\nThe hair is allowed to remain on the skins, because it acts as a\npreservative against the rough usage to which they are subject at\nthe hard hands of the water-carriers. By degrees the hairy covering\nwears off, first in patches, and then over the entire surface, so\nthat a new bottle can be recognised at a glance, and any one who\nwished to sell an old bottle at the price of a new one would be at\nonce detected.\n\nVessels made in this rude manner are absolutely necessary in the\ncountries wherein they are used. Wooden or metal vessels would be\ntoo heavy, and, besides, the slight though constant evaporation\nthat always takes place through the pores of the leather keeps\ndown the temperature of the water, even under a burning sun, the\nslight loss which is caused by the porousness of the skin being\nmore than counterbalanced by the coolness of the water. It is true\nthat the goat-skin communicates to the liquid a flavour far from\npleasant, but in those countries the quality of the water is of\nlittle consequence, provided that it is plentiful in quantity, and\ntolerably cool.\n\nIn all parts of the world where the skin is used for this purpose\nthe mode of manufacture is practically identical. An account of the\nart of preparing the goat-skin as practised in Abyssinia is given by\nMr. C. Johnston, in his \"Travels in Southern Abyssinia:\"--\n\n\"To be of any value it must be taken off uncut, except around the\nneck, and in those situations necessary to enable the butchers to\ndraw the legs out of the skin; also, of course, where the first\nincision is made to commence the process, and which is a circular\ncut carried around both haunches, not many inches from and having\nthe tail for a centre. The hide is then stripped over the thighs,\nand two smaller incisions being made round the middle joint of the\nhind-legs enable them to be drawn out.\n\n\"A stick is now placed to extend these extremities, and by this, for\nthe convenience of the operators, the whole carcase is suspended\nfrom the branch of a tree, and, by some easy pulls around the body,\nthe skin is gradually withdrawn over the fore-legs, which are\nincised around the knees, to admit of their being taken out; after\nwhich, the head being removed, the whole business concludes by the\nskin being pulled inside out over the decollated neck. One of the\nparties now takes a rough stone and well rubs the inside surface,\nto divest it of a few fibres of the subcutaneous muscle which are\ninserted into the skin, and after this operation it is laid aside\nuntil the next day; the more interesting business of attending to\nthe meat calling for immediate attention.\n\n\"These entire skins are afterwards made into sacks by the apertures\naround the neck and legs being secured by a double fold of the\nskin being sewed upon each other, by means of a slender but very\ntough thong. These small seams are rendered quite air-tight, and\nthe larger orifice around the haunches being gathered together by\nthe hands, the yet raw skin is distended with air; and the orifice\nbeing then tied up, the swollen bag is left in that state for a few\ndays, until slight putrefaction has commenced, when the application\nof the rough stone soon divests its surface of the hair. After\nthis has been effected, a deal of labour, during at least one\nday, is required to soften the distended skin by beating it with\nheavy sticks, or trampling upon it for hours together, the labourer\nsupporting himself by clinging to the bough of a tree overhead, or\nholding on by the wall of the house.\n\n\"In this manner, whilst the skin is drying, it is prevented from\ngetting stiff, and, still further to secure it from this evil\ncondition, it is frequently rubbed with small quantities of butter.\nWhen it is supposed that there is no chance of the skin becoming\nhard and easily broken, the orifice is opened, the air escapes, and\na very soft, flaccid leather bag is produced, but which, for several\ndays after, affords an amusement to the owner, when otherwise\nunemployed, by well rubbing it all over with his hands.\"\n\nThe reader will see that the two processes are practically\nidentical, the chief difference being that in one country the skins\nare distended with water and in the other with air.\n\nAs these bottles are rather apt to be damaged by the thorns,\nbranches, rocks, and similar objects with which they come in\ncontact, and are much too valuable to be thrown away as useless,\ntheir owners have discovered methods of patching and repairing\nthem, which enable them to be used for some time longer. Patches of\nconsiderable size are sometimes inserted, if the rent should be of\nimportance, while the wound caused by a thorn is mended by a simple\nand efficacious expedient. The skin is first emptied, and a round\nflat piece of wood, or even a stone of suitable shape, is put into\nit. The skin is then held with the wounded part downwards, and the\nstone shaken about until it comes exactly upon the hole. It is then\ngrasped, the still wet hide gathered tightly under it, so as to\npucker up the skin, and a ligature is tied firmly round it. Perhaps\nsome of my readers may have practised the same method of mending a\npunctured football.\n\nAllusion to this mode of mending the skin bottles is made in Josh.\nix. 4, 13. The Gibeonites \"did work wilily, and went and made as if\nthey had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and\nwine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up ... and said ... these\nbottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be\nrent.\"\n\nIf these skin bottles be allowed to become dry, as is sometimes the\ncase when they are hung up in the smoky tents, they shrivel up,\nand become rotten and weak, and are no longer enabled to bear the\npressure caused by the fermentation of new wine. So, in Ps. cxix.\n81-83: \"My soul fainteth for Thy salvation: but I hope in Thy word.\n\n[Illustration: EASTERN WATER-CARRIERS WITH BOTTLES MADE OF\nGOAT-SKIN.]\n\n\"Mine eyes fail for Thy word, saying, When wilt Thou comfort me?\n\n\"For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget Thy\nstatutes.\"\n\nHow forcible does not this image become, when we realize the early\nlife of the shepherd poet, his dwelling in tents wherein are no\nwindows nor chimneys, and in which the smoke rolls to and fro until\nit settles in the form of soot upon the leathern bottles and other\nrude articles of furniture that are hung from the poles!\n\nIn the New Testament there is a well-known allusion to the weakness\nof old bottles: \"Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, or\nthe bottles break and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish;\nbut they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.\" It\nwould be impossible to understand the meaning of this passage unless\nwe knew that the \"bottles\" in question were not vessels of glass or\nearthenware, but merely the partly-tanned skins of goats.\n\nAnother allusion to the use of the goat-skin is made in that part of\nthe Book of Joshua which has already been mentioned. If the reader\nwill refer to Josh. ix. 4, he will see that the Gibeonites took with\nthem not only old bottles, but old sacks. Now, these sacks bore no\nresemblance to the hempen bags with which we are so familiar, but\nwere nothing more than the same goat-skins that were employed in\nthe manufacture of bottles, but with the opening at the neck left\nopen. They were, in fact, skin-bottles for holding solids instead of\nliquids. The sacks which Joseph's brethren took with them, and in\nthe mouths of which they found their money, were simply goat-skin\nbags, made as described.\n\nYet another use for the goat-skin. It is almost certain that the\n\"kneading-troughs\" of the ancient Israelites were simply circular\npieces of goat-skin, which could be laid on the ground when wanted,\nand rolled up and carried away when out of use. Thus, the fact\nthat \"the people took their dough before it was leavened, their\nkneading-troughs being bound up in their clothing upon their\nshoulders,\" need cause no surprise.\n\nNothing could be more in accordance with probability. The women were\nall hard at work, preparing the bread for the expected journey, when\nthe terrified Pharaoh \"called for Moses and Aaron by night, and\nsaid, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and\nthe children of Israel, and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said....\nAnd the Egyptians were urgent upon the people that they might send\nthem out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.\"\n\nSo the women, being disturbed at their work, and being driven\nout of the country before they had leavened, much less baked,\ntheir bread, had no alternative but to roll up the dough in the\nleathern \"kneading-troughs,\" tie them up in a bundle with their\nspare clothing, and carry them on their shoulders; whereas, if we\nconnect the kneading-troughs with the large heavy wooden implements\nused in this country, we shall form an entirely erroneous idea of\nthe proceeding. As soon as they came to their first halting-place\nat Succoth, they took the leathern kneading-troughs out of their\nclothes, unrolled them, took the dough which had not even been\nleavened, so unexpectedly had the order for marching arrived, made\nit into flat cakes, and baked them as they best could. The same kind\nof \"kneading-trough\" is still in use in many parts of the world.\n\nStone as well as earthenware jars were also used by the inhabitants\nof ancient Palestine; but they were only employed for the storage of\nwine in houses, whereas the bottles that were used in carrying wine\nfrom one place to another were invariably made of leather. Water\nalso was stored in stone or earthenware jars. See, for example,\nJohn ii. 6: \"And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after\nthe manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three\nfirkins apiece.\" Whereas, when it was carried about, it was poured\ninto bottles made of skin. Such was probably the \"bottle of water\"\nthat Abraham put on Hagar's shoulder, when she was driven away by\nthe jealousy of Sarah, and such was the \"bottle of wine\" that Hannah\nbrought as her offering when she dedicated Samuel to the service of\nGod.\n\nIn sacrifices the Goat was in nearly as much requisition as the\nlamb, and in one--namely, that which was celebrated on the Great Day\nof Atonement--the Goat was specially mentioned as the only animal\nwhich could be sacrificed. The reader will, perhaps, remember that\nfor this peculiar sacrifice two Goats were required, on which two\nlots were cast, one for the Lord, _i.e._ with the word \"Jehovah\"\nupon it, and the other for the scapegoat, _i.e._ inscribed with the\nword \"Azazel.\" The latter term is derived from two Hebrew words,\nthe former being \"Az,\" which is the general name for the Goat, and\nthe second \"azel,\" signifying \"he departed.\" The former, which\nbelonged to Jehovah, was sacrificed, and its blood sprinkled upon\nthe mercy-seat and the altar of incense; and the Goat Azazel was\nled away into the wilderness, bearing upon its head the sins of the\npeople, and there let loose.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThese being the uses of the Goat, it may naturally be imagined that\nthe animal is one of extreme importance, and that it is watched as\ncarefully by its owners as the sheep. Indeed, both sheep and Goats\nbelong to the same master, and are tended by the same shepherd, who\nexercises the same sway over them that he does over the sheep.\n\nThey are, however, erratic animals, and, although they will follow\nthe shepherd wherever he may lead them, they will not mix with the\nsheep. The latter will walk in a compact flock along the valley, the\nshepherd leading the way, and the sheep following him, led in their\nturn by the sound of the bell tied round the neck of the master-ram\nof the flock. The Goats, however, will not submit to walk in so\nquiet a manner, but prefer to climb along the sides of the rocks\nthat skirt the valleys, skipping and jumping as they go, and seeming\nto take delight in getting themselves into dangerous places, where a\nman could not venture to set his foot.\n\nIn the evening, when the shepherds call their flocks to repose,\nthey often make use of the caverns which exist at some height in\nthe precipitous side of the hills, as being safe strongholds, where\nthe jackal and the hy\u00e6na will not venture to attack them. When such\nis the case, the shepherds take their station by the mouth of the\ncave, and assist the sheep as they come sedately up the narrow path\nthat leads to the cavern. The Goats, however, need no assistance,\nbut come scrambling along by paths where no foot but a Goat's could\ntread, mostly descending from a considerable height above the cave,\nand, as if in exultation at their superior agility, jumping over the\nbacks of the sheep as they slowly file into the accustomed fold.\n\nFriendly as they are, the Goats and sheep never mingle together.\nThere may be large flocks of them feeding in the same pasturage,\nbut the Goats always take the highest spots on which verdure grows,\nwhile the sheep graze quietly below. Goats are specially fond of the\ntender shoots of trees, which they find in plenty upon the mountain\nside; and, according to Mr. Tristram, by their continual browsing,\nthey have extirpated many species of trees which were once common on\nthe hills of Palestine, and which now can only be found in Lebanon\non the east of the Jordan.\n\n[Illustration: GOATS ON THE MARCH.]\n\nEven when folded together in the same enclosure, the Goats never\nmix with the sheep, but gather together by themselves, and they\ninstinctively take the same order when assembled round the wells at\nmid-day.\n\nThis instinctive separation of the sheep and the goats naturally\nrecalls to our minds the well-known saying of our Lord that \"before\nHim shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate them one\nfrom another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and\nHe shall set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left.\"\n\nThe image thus used was one that was familiar to all the hearers,\nwho were accustomed daily to see the herds of sheep and Goats under\none shepherd, yet totally distinct from each other. At feeding-time\nthe Goats will be browsing in long lines on the mountain sides,\nwhile the sheep are grazing in the plain or valley; at mid-day, when\nthe flocks are gathered round the wells to await the rolling away\nof the stone that guards the water, the Goats assemble on one side\nand the sheep on the other. And at night, when they are all gathered\ninto one fold by one shepherd, they are still separated from each\nother. The same image is employed by the prophet Ezekiel: \"As for\nyou, O my flock, thus said the Lord God, Behold I judge between\ncattle and cattle, between rams and the he-goats.\"\n\nGenerally, the leading Goat was distinguished by a bell as well as\nthe leading sheep, and in reference to this custom there was an old\nproverb, \"If the shepherd takes the lead, he blinds the bell-goat,\"\nwhile another proverb is based upon the inferior docility of the\nanimal--\"If the shepherd be lame, the Goats will run away.\"\n\nYet the Goat can be tamed very effectively, and can even be\ntaught to perform many tricks. \"We saw just below us, on the\nrudely-constructed 'parade,' a crowd of men and children,\nsurrounding a fantastically-dressed man exhibiting a Goat, which had\nbeen tutored to perform some cunning trick. It stood with its four\nfeet close together on the top of a very long pole, and allowed the\nman to lift it up and carry it round and round within the circle;\nthen the Goat was perched on four sticks, and again carried about. A\nlittle band of music--pipes, drums, and tambourines--called together\nthe people from all parts of the town to witness this performance.\n\n\"The Goat danced and balanced himself obediently and perfectly, in\nvery unnatural-looking positions, as if thoroughly understanding the\nwords and commands of his master. The men who watched the actions of\nthe Goat looked as grave and serious as if they were attending a\nphilosophical or scientific lecture.\" (\"Domestic Life in Palestine,\"\nby Miss Rogers.)\n\nAnother feat is a favourite with the proprietors of trained Goats.\nThe man takes a stool and plants it carefully on the ground, so as\nto be perfectly level, and then orders the Goat to stand upon it.\nA piece of wood about six inches in length, and shaped something\nlike a dice-box, is then placed on the stool, and the Goat manages\nto stand on it, all his sharp, hard hoofs being pressed closely\ntogether on the tiny surface. The man then takes another piece of\nwood and holds it to the Goat's feet. The animal gently removes\nfirst one foot and then another, and, by careful shifting of the\nfeet, enables its master to place the second piece of wood on the\nfirst. Successive additions are made, until at the last the Goat is\nperched on the topmost of some nine or ten pieces of wood balanced\non each other, the whole looking like a stout reed marked off with\njoints.\n\nThe stately steps and bold bearing of the old he-goat is mentioned\nin the Proverbs: \"There be three things which go well, yea, four are\ncomely in going:\n\n\"A lion, which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for\nany;\n\n\"A greyhound; an he-goat also; and a king, against whom there is no\nrising up.\" (Prov. xxx. 29-31.) The word which is here rendered as\nhe-goat signifies literally the \"Butter,\" and is given to the animal\non account of the mode in which it uses its formidable horns. The\nword is not common in the Bible, but it is used even at the present\nday among the Arabs.\n\nSeveral herds of goats exist in Palestine, the most valuable of\nwhich is the Mohair Goat, and the most common the Syrian Goat.\nThese, however dissimilar they may be in appearance, are only\nvarieties of the ordinary domestic animal, the former being produced\nartificially by carefully selecting those specimens for breeding\nwhich have the longest and finest hair. It was from the hair of this\nbreed that the costly fabrics used in the Tabernacle were woven, and\nit is probably to this breed that reference is made in Solomon's\nSong, iv. 1, 2: \"Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art\nfair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock\nof goats, that appear from Mount Gilead.\n\n\"Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which\ncame up from the washing.\" In this passage the careful reader\nwill also note another reference to the habits of the Goats and\nsheep, the hair being compared to the dark-haired Goats that wander\non the tops of the hills, while the teeth are compared to sheep\nthat are ranged in regular order below. The Mohair Goat is known\nscientifically as _Capra Angorensis_. The same image is used again\nin chap. vi. 5.\n\n[Illustration: HERD OF GOATS ATTACKED BY A LION.]\n\nThe second breed is that which is commonest throughout the country.\nIt is known by the name of the Syrian Goat, and is remarkable for\nthe enormous length of its ears, which sometimes exceed a foot from\nroot to tip. This variety has been described as a separate species\nunder the name of _Capra Mambrica_, or _C. Syriaca_, but, like the\nMohair Goat, and twenty-three other so-called species, is simply a\nvariety of the common Goat, _Hircus \u00e6gragus_.\n\nReference is made to the long ears of the Syrian Goat in Amos iii.\n12: \"Thus saith the Lord: As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth\nof the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children\nof Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria.\" Such a scene, which\nwas familiar to Amos, the shepherd as well as the prophet, is\nrepresented in the illustration. In the foreground is the goat on\nwhich the lion has sprung, and from which one of the long ears has\nbeen torn away. Its companions are gathering round it in sympathy,\nwhile its kid is trying to discover the cause of its mother's\nuneasiness. In the background is a group of armed shepherds,\nstanding round the lion which they have just killed, while one of\nthem is holding up the torn ear which he has taken out of the lion's\nmouth.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WILD GOAT.\n\n The Azelim or Wild Goats of Scripture identical with the Beden\n or Arabian Ibex--Different names of the Beden--Its appearance\n and general habits--En-gedi, or Goats' Fountain--The Beden\n formerly very plentiful in Palestine, and now tolerably\n common--Its agility--Difficulty of catching or killing it--How\n the young are captured--Flesh of the Beden--Use of the horns at\n the present day--The Ako of Deuteronomy.\n\n\nIn three passages of the Old Testament occurs a word, \"Azelim,\"\nwhich is variously translated in our Authorized Version.\n\nIt is first seen in 1 Sam. xxiv. 2, in which it is rendered as\n\"Wild Goats.\" \"It was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is in the\nwilderness of En-gedi [_i.e._ the Fountain of the Goat]. Then Saul\ntook three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek\nDavid and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats (_azelim_).\" The\nsame word occurs in Job xxxix. 1: \"Knowest thou the time when the\nwild goats of the rock bring forth?\" It is also found in Ps. civ.\n18: \"The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats.\" In all these\npassages it is rendered as \"wild goats.\" But, in Prov. v. 19, it is\ntranslated as roe: \"Rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be\nas the loving hind and pleasant roe (_azelah_).\" The Jewish Bible\nfollows the same diverse renderings.\n\nWe now have to discover the animal which was signified by the word\nAzel. According to its etymology, it is the Climber, just as the\nadult he-goat is called the Butter.\n\nThat it was a climbing animal is evident from its name, and that\nit loved to clamber among precipices is equally evident from the\nrepeated connexion of the word rock with the name of the animal. We\nalso see, from the passage in Job, that it is a wild animal whose\nhabits were not known. There is scarcely any doubt that the Azel of\nthe Old Testament is the ARABIAN IBEX or BEDEN (_Capra Nubiana_).\nThis animal is very closely allied to the well-known Ibex of the\nAlps, or Steinbock, but may be distinguished from it by one or two\nslight differences, such as the black beard and the slighter make\nof the horns, which moreover have three angles instead of four, as\nis the case with the Alpine Ibex.\n\nThe Beden is known by several names. It is sometimes called the\nJaela, sometimes the Nubian Wild Goat, and is also known as the Wild\nGoat of Sinai. The general colour of the Beden is grey, becoming\nbrownish in winter, and being whitish grey beneath. The feet are\nspotted with black and white, and the beard of the male is black,\ndiffering from that of the Alpine Ibex, which is brown. The female\nis beardless. The lines along the back and the sides of the tail are\nblack, and there are three streaks on each ear.\n\nThe Beden generally lives in little herds of eight or ten, and\nis even now to be found in Palestine. At the strange, wild,\nweird-looking En-gedi (Ain Jiddy), or Fountain of the Goats, the\nBeden is still to be seen. Mr. Tristram suggests that David and\nhis followers took up their residence at En-gedi for the sake of\nthe Wild Goats that were plentiful upon the spot, and which would\nfurnish food for himself and his hardy band of outlaws. \"In the\nneighbourhood of En-gedi,\" remarks this traveller, \"while encamped\nby the Dead Sea shore, we obtained several fine specimens, and\nvery interesting it was to find the graceful creature by the very\nfountain to which it gave name.\n\n\"When clambering over the heights above En-gedi, I often, by the\nhelp of my glass, saw the Ibex from a distance, and once, when near\nMar-saba, only a few miles from Jerusalem, started one at a distance\nof four hundred yards. At the south end of the Dead Sea they were\ncommon, and I have picked up a horn both near Jericho on the hills\nand also on the hills of Moab on the eastern side. At Jericho,\ntoo, I obtained a young one which I hoped to rear, but which died\nafter I had had it for ten days, owing, I believe, to the milk with\nwhich it was fed being sour. Further north and west we did not\nfind it, though I have reason to believe that a few linger on the\nmountains between Samaria and the Jordan, and perhaps also on some\nof the spurs of Lebanon. We found its teeth in the breccia of bone\noccurring in the Lebanon, proving its former abundance there.\"\n\nAs the Beden was found so plentifully even in these days when\nfire-arms have rendered many wild animals scarce and wary, so that\nthey will not show themselves within range of a bullet, it is\nevident that in the time when David lived at En-gedi and drank of\nthe Goats' Fountain they were far more numerous, and could afford\nnourishment to him and his soldiers. Travellers, moreover, who do\nnot happen to be experienced hunters, will often fail in seeing\nthe Beden, even in places where it is tolerably plentiful. The\ncolour of its coat resembles so nearly that of the rocks, that an\ninexperienced eye would see nothing but bare stones and sticks where\na practised hunter would see numbers of Beden, conspicuous by their\nbeautifully curved horns.\n\nThe agility of the Beden is extraordinary. Loving the highest and\nmost craggy parts of the mountain ridge, it flings itself from\nspot to spot with a recklessness that startles one who has not\nbeen accustomed to the animal, and the wonderful certainty of its\nfoot. It will, for example, dash at the face of a perpendicular\nprecipice that looks as smooth as a brick wall, for the purpose of\nreaching a tiny ledge which is hardly perceptible, and which is\nsome fifteen feet or so above the spot whence the animal sprang.\nIts eye, however, has marked certain little cracks and projections\non the face of the rock, and as the animal makes its leap, it takes\nthese little points of vantage in rapid succession, just touching\nthem as it passes upwards, and by the slight stroke of its foot\nkeeping up the original impulse of its leap. Similarly, the Ibex\ncomes sliding and leaping down precipitous sides of the mountains,\nsometimes halting with all the four feet drawn together, on a little\nprojection scarcely larger than a penny, and sometimes springing\nboldly over a wide crevasse, and alighting with exact precision\nupon a projecting piece of rock that seems scarcely large enough to\nsustain a rat comfortably.\n\nThe young of the Ibex are sometimes captured and tamed. They are,\nhowever, difficult to rear, and give much more trouble than the\nyoung gazelles when taken in a similar manner. The natives can\ngenerally procure the kids at the proper time of year, and sell them\nat a very cheap rate. They seldom, however, can be reared, and even\nthose who live in the country experience the greatest difficulty in\nkeeping the young Beden alive until it attains maturity.\n\nWere it not for the curious habits of the Beden, the young could\nscarcely ever be obtained alive, as they are so agile that they\ncould easily leap away from their slow two-legged pursuers. But\nthe mother Ibex has a habit of leading a very independent life,\nwandering to considerable distances, and leaving her kid snugly\nhidden in some rock-cleft. The hunters watch the mother as she\nstarts off in the morning, clamber up to the spot where the kid is\nconcealed, and secure it without difficulty. The Arabs say that\nthere are always two kids at a birth, but there is considerable\ndiscrepancy of evidence on this point, which, after all, is of very\nlittle importance.\n\n[Illustration: ARABIAN IBEX, OR BEDEN; THE WILD GOAT OF SCRIPTURE.]\n\nThe flesh of the Beden is really excellent. It is far superior to\nthat of the gazelle, which is comparatively dry and hard, and it has\nbeen happily suggested that the Beden was the animal in search of\nwhich Esau was sent to hunt with his quiver and his bow, and which\nfurnished the \"savoury meat\" which Isaac loved. None but a true\nhunter can hope to secure the Beden, and even all the knowledge,\npatience, and energy of the best hunters are tried before they can\nkill their prey. It was therefore no matter of wonder that Isaac\nshould be surprised when he thought that he heard Esau return so\nsoon from the hunting-grounds. \"How is it that thou hast found it so\nquickly, my son?\"\n\nThere are few animals more wary than the Beden, and even the chamois\nof the Alps does not exercise the finest qualities of a hunter more\nthan does the Beden of Palestine. It is gifted with very keen eyes,\nwhich can discern the approach of an enemy long before its grey coat\nand curved horns can be distinguished from the stones and gnarled\nboughs of the mountain side. And, even if the enemy be not within\nrange of the animal's sight, its nostrils are so keen that it can\ndetect a man by scent alone at a considerable distance. Like all\ngregarious animals, the Beden insures the safety of the flock by\nstationing sentries, which are posted on places that command the\nwhole surrounding country, and to deceive the watchful senses of\nthese wary guardians tests all the qualities of the hunter.\n\nThe dawn of day is the time that is generally chosen for approaching\na herd, because the animals are then feeding, and if the hunter can\nmanage to approach them against the wind, he may chance to come\nwithin range. Should however the wind change its direction, he may\nquietly walk home again, for at the first breath of the tainted gale\nthe sentinels utter their shrill whistle of alarm, and the whole\nparty dash off with a speed that renders pursuit useless.\n\nThe horns of the Beden are of very great size, and from their bold\ncurves, with the large rings and ridges which cover their front,\nare remarkably handsome objects. In their own country they are in\ngreat request as handles to knives, and even in England they may be\noccasionally seen serving as handles to carving-knives and forks.\n\nAs to the word Ako, which occurs in Deut. xiv. 5, together with\nother animals, and is rendered as \"Wild Goat,\" there is so much\ndoubt about the correct translation that I can do no more than\nmention that the Jewish Bible follows our authorized edition in\ntranslating Ako as Wild Goat, but adds the doubtful mark to the\nword.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: deer]\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEER.\n\n The Hart and Hind of Scripture--Species of Deer existing in\n Palestine--Earliest mention of the Hind--The Hart classed among\n the clean animals--Passages alluding to its speed--Care of the\n mother for her young, and her custom of secreting it--Tameable\n character of the Deer.\n\n\nWe now come to the DEER which are mentioned in Scripture. There are\nnot many passages in which they are mentioned, and one of them is\nrather doubtful, as we shall see when we come to it.\n\nThere is no doubt that the two words HART and HIND (in the Hebrew\n_Ayzal_ and _Ayzalah_) represent Deer of some kind, and the question\nis to find out what kind of Deer is signified by these words. I\nthink that we may safely determine that no particular species is\nmeant, but that under the word Ayzal are comprehended any kinds of\nDeer that inhabit Palestine, and were likely to be known to those\nto whom the earlier Scriptures were addressed. That some kind of\nDeer was plentiful is evident from the references which are made\nto it, and specially by the familiar word Ajala or Ayala, as it is\npronounced, which signifies the Deer-ground or pasture. But the\nattempt to discriminate between one species and another is simply\nimpossible, and the more careful the search the more impracticable\nthe task appears.\n\n[Illustration: RED DEER.]\n\nAs far as can be ascertained, at least two kinds of Deer inhabited\nPalestine in the earlier days of the Jewish history, one belonging\nto the division which is known by its branched horns, and the other\nto that in which the horns are flat or palmated over the tips.\nExamples of both kinds are familiar to us under the titles of the\nRED DEER and the FALLOW DEER, and it is tolerably certain that both\nthese animals were formerly found in Palestine, or that at all\nevents the Deer which did exist there were so closely allied to them\nas to be mere varieties occasioned by the different conditions in\nwhich they were placed.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe will now proceed to the various passages in which the Hart and\nHind are mentioned in the Bible.\n\n[Illustration: FALLOW-DEER, OR HIND OF SCRIPTURE.]\n\nAs might be expected, we come upon it among the number of the beasts\nwhich divided the hoof and chewed the cud, and were specially\nindicated as fit for food; see Deut. xii. 15: \"Notwithstanding thou\nmayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, ... the unclean and the\nclean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.\"\n\nThere is, however, an earlier mention of the word in Gen. xlix.\n21. It occurs in that splendid series of imagery in which Jacob\nblesses his sons, and prophesies their future, each image serving\never afterwards as the emblem of the tribe: \"Naphtali is a hind let\nloose: he giveth goodly words;\"--or, according to the Jewish Bible,\n\"Naphtali is a hind sent forth: he giveth sayings of pleasantness.\"\nNow, such an image as this would never have been used, had not the\nspectacle of the \"hind let loose\" been perfectly familiar to the\neyes both of the dying patriarch and his hearers, and equally so\nwith the lion, the ass, the vine, the serpent, and other objects\nused emblematically in the same prophetic poem.\n\n[Illustration: A QUIET SPOT.]\n\nThe excellence of the Hart's flesh is shown by its occurrence among\nthe animals used for King Solomon's table: see 1 Kings iv. 23, a\npassage which has been quoted several times, and therefore need only\nbe mentioned.\n\nAllusion is made to the speed and agility of the Deer in several\npassages. See, for example, Isa. xxxv. 6: \"Then shall the lame man\nleap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.\" Again, in 2 Sam.\nxxii. 33, 34: \"God is my strength and power: and He maketh my way\nperfect.\n\n\"He maketh my feet like hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my high\nplaces.\"\n\nNearly four hundred years afterwards we find Habakkuk using\nprecisely the same image, evidently quoting David's Psalm of\nThanksgiving:--\"Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the\nGod of my salvation.\n\n\"The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds'\nfeet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places.\" (iii. 18,\n19.)\n\nA passage of a similar character may be found in Solomon's Song, ii.\n8, 9: \"The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the\nmountains, skipping upon the hills.\n\n\"My beloved is like a roe or a young hart.\"\n\nThere is one passage in the Psalms which is familiar to us in many\nways, and not the least in that it has been chosen as the text\nfor so many well-known anthems. \"As the hart panteth after the\nwater-brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.\n\n\"My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come\nand appear before God?\" (Ps. xlii. 1, 2.)\n\nBeautiful as this passage is, it cannot be fully understood without\nthe context.\n\n[Illustration: RED DEER AND FAWN.]\n\nDavid wrote this psalm before he had risen to royal power, and while\nhe was fleeing from his enemies from place to place, and seeking\nan uncertain shelter in the rock-caves. In verse 6 he enumerates\nsome of the spots in which he has been forced to reside, far away\nfrom the altar, the priests, and the sacrifice. He has been hunted\nabout from place to place by his enemies as a stag is hunted by\nthe hounds, and his very soul thirsted for the distant Tabernacle,\nin which the Shekinah, the visible presence of God, rested on the\nmercy-seat between the golden cherubim.\n\nWild and unsettled as was the early life of David, this was ever\nthe reigning thought in his mind, and there is scarcely a psalm\nthat he wrote in which we do not find some allusion to the visible\npresence of God among men. No matter what might be the troubles\nthrough which he had to pass, even though he trod the valley of the\nshadow of death, the thought of his God was soothing as water to the\nhunted stag, and in that thought he ever found repose. Through all\nhis many trials and adversities, through his deep remorse for his\nsins, through his wounded paternal affections, through his success\nand prosperity, that one thought is the ruling power. He begins his\ncareer with it when he opposed Goliath: \"Thou comest to me with a\nsword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in\nthe name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.\" He\ncloses his career with the same thought, and, in the \"last words\"\nthat are recorded, he charged his son to keep the commandments of\nthe Lord, that he might do wisely all that he did.\n\nWe now come to another point in the Deer's character; namely, the\nwatchful care of the mother over her young. She always retires to\nsome secret place when she instinctively knows that the birth is at\nhand, and she hides it from all eyes until it is able to take care\nof itself. By some strange instinct, the little one, almost as soon\nas it is born, is able to comprehend the signals of its mother, and\nthere is an instance, well known to naturalists, where a newly-born\nDeer, hardly an hour old, crouched low to the earth in obedience to\na light tap on its shoulder from its mother's hoof. She, with the\nintense watchfulness of her kind, had seen a possible danger, and so\nwarned her young one to hide itself.\n\n[Illustration: THE LEADER OF THE HERD.]\n\nThere is scarcely any animal so watchful as the female Deer, as\nall hunters know by practical experience. It is comparatively easy\nto deceive the stag who leads the herd, but to evade the eyes and\nears of the hinds is a very different business, and taxes all the\nresources of a practised hunter. If they take such care of the herd\nin general, it may be imagined that their watchfulness would be\nmultiplied tenfold when the object of their anxiety is their own\nyoung.\n\nIt is in allusion to this well-known characteristic that a passage\nin the Book of Job refers: \"Knowest thou the time when the wild\ngoats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds\ndo calve?\" (xxxix. 1.) A similar image is used in Psa. xxix. 9.\nAfter enumerating the wonders that are done by the voice of the\nLord, the thunders and rain torrents, the devastating tempests, the\nforked lightning, and the earthquake \"that shaketh the wilderness\nof Kadesh,\" the Psalmist proceeds: \"The voice of the Lord maketh\nthe hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests,\"--this being as\nmysterious to the writer as the more conspicuous wonders which he\nhad previously mentioned.\n\nSo familiar to the Hebrews was the watchful care which the female\nDeer exercised over her young, that it forms the subject of a\npowerful image in one of Jeremiah's mournful prophecies: \"Yea, the\nhind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no\ngrass.\" (xiv. 5.) To those who understand the habits of the animal,\nthis is a most telling and picturesque image. In the first place,\nthe Hind, a wild animal that could find food where less active\ncreatures would starve, was reduced to such straits that she was\nobliged to remain in the fields at the time when her young was born,\ninstead of retiring to some sheltered spot, according to her custom.\nAnd when it was born, instead of nurturing it carefully, according\nto the natural maternal instinct, she was forced from sheer hunger\nto abandon it in order to find a sufficiency of food for herself.\n\nThat the Deer could be tamed, and its naturally affectionate\ndisposition cultivated, is evident from a passage in the Proverbs\n(v. 18, 19): \"Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife\nof thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe.\"\n\nWe might naturally expect that the Rabbinical writers would have\nmuch to say on the subject of the Hart and Hind. Among much that\nis irrelevant to the object of the present work there are a few\npassages that deserve mention. Alluding to the annual shedding of\nthe Deer's horns, there is a proverb respecting one who ventures\nhis money too freely in trade, that \"he has hung it on the stag's\nhorns,\" meaning thereby that he will never see it again. It is\nremarkable that in Western Africa there is a proverb of a similar\ncharacter, the imprudent merchant being told to look for his money\nin the place where Deer shed their horns.\n\n[Illustration: THE WATCHFUL DOE.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: A KNEELING CAMEL.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAMEL.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n The two species of Camel, and the mode of distinguishing\n them--Value of the Camel in the East--Thirst-enduring\n capability--The hump, and its use to the animal--The Camel as\n a beast of draught and burden--How the Camel is laden--Camels\n for riding--Difficulty of sitting a Camel--A rough-paced\n steed--Method of guiding the Camel--The swift dromedary--Young\n Camels and their appearance--The deserted Camel.\n\n\nBefore treating of the Scriptural references to the Camel, it will\nbe as well to clear the ground by noticing that two distinct species\nof Camel are known to zoologists; namely, the common Camel (_Camelus\ndromedarius_), which has one hump, and the Bactrian Camel (_Camelus\nBactrianus_), which has two of these curious projections. There is a\npopular but erroneous idea that the dromedary and the Camel are two\ndistinct animals, the latter being distinguished by its huge hump,\nwhereas the fact is, that the dromedary is simply a lighter and more\nvaluable breed of the one-humped Camel of Arabia, the two-humped\nBactrian Camel being altogether a different animal, inhabiting\nCentral Asia, Thibet, and China.\n\nThe Camel is still one of the most valued animals that inhabit\nPalestine, and in former times it played a part in Jewish history\nscarcely inferior to that of the ox or sheep. We shall, therefore,\ndevote some space to it.\n\nIn some parts of the land it even exceeded in value the sheep, and\nwas infinitely more useful than the goat. At the very beginning of\nJewish history we read of this animal, and it is mentioned in the\nNew Testament nearly two thousand years after we meet with it in\nthe Book of Genesis. The earliest mention of the Camel occurs in\nGen. xii. 16, where is related the journey of Abram: \"He had sheep,\nand oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and\nshe-asses, and camels.\"\n\n[Illustration: JACOB LEAVES LABAN AND RETURNS TO CANAAN WITH HIS\nCAMELS, SHEEP, AND CATTLE.]\n\nBelonging, as he did, to the nomad race which lives almost wholly on\nthe produce of their herds, Abram needed Camels, not only for their\nmilk, and, for all we know, for their flesh, but for their extreme\nuse as beasts of burden, without which he could never have travelled\nover that wild and pathless land. The whole of Abram's outer life\nwas exactly that of a Bedouin sheikh of the present day, in whom\nwe find reproduced the habits, the tone of thought, and the very\nverbiage of the ancient Scriptures.\n\nMany years afterwards, when the son of his old age was desirous of\nmarrying a wife of his own kindred, we find that he sent his trusted\nservants with ten of his Camels to Mesopotamia, and it was by the\noffering of water to these Camels, that Rebekah was selected as\nIsaac's wife (see Gen. xxiv. 10, 19). In after days, when Jacob was\nabout to leave Laban, these animals are mentioned as an important\npart of his wealth: \"And the man increased exceedingly, and had much\ncattle, and maid-servants, and men-servants, and camels, and asses\"\n(Gen. xxx. 43).\n\nIt is thought worthy of mention in the sacred narrative that Job\nhad three thousand, and afterwards six thousand Camels (Job i. 3,\nand xlii. 12); that the Midianites and Amalekites possessed camels\nwithout number, as the sand by the seaside.\n\n[Illustration: A CAMP IN THE DESERT.]\n\nThey were valuable enough to be sent as presents from one potentate\nto another. For example, when Jacob went to meet Esau, he gave as\nhis present two hundred and twenty sheep, the same number of goats,\nfifty oxen, thirty asses, and sixty camels, i.e. thirty mothers,\neach with her calf. They were important enough to be guarded by\nmen of position. In 1 Chron. xxvii. 30, we find that the charge\nof David's Camels was confided to one of his officers, Obil the\nIshmaelite, who, from his origin, might be supposed to be skilful in\nthe management of these animals. Bochart, however, conjectures that\nthe word Obil ought to be read as Abal, _i.e._ the camel-keeper, and\nthat the passage would therefore read as follows: \"Over the camels\nwas an Ishmaelitish camel-keeper.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe will now proceed to the uses of the Camel, and first take it in\nthe light of food.\n\nBy the Mosaic law, the Camel was a forbidden animal, because it did\nnot divide the hoof, although it chewed the cud. Yet, although the\nJews might not eat its flesh, they probably used the milk for food,\nas they do at the present day. No distinct Scriptural reference is\nmade to the milk of the Camel; but, as the Jews of the present day\nare quite as fastidious as their ancestors in keeping the Mosaic\nlaw, we are justified in concluding that, although they would not\neat the flesh of the animal, they drank its milk. At the present\ntime, the milk is used, like that of the sheep, goat, and cow, both\nin a fresh and curdled state, the latter being generally preferred\nto the former. A kind of cheese is made from it, but is not much to\nthe taste of the European traveller, on account of the quantity of\nsalt which is put in it. Butter is churned in a very simple manner,\nthe fresh milk being poured into a skin bag, and the bag beaten with\na stick until the butter makes its appearance.\n\nThat it was really used in the patriarchal times is evident by the\npassage which has already been mentioned, where Jacob is related to\nhave brought as a present to his brother Esau thirty milch Camels,\ntogether with their young. So decided a stress would certainly not\nhave been laid upon the fact that the animals were milch Camels\nunless the milk were intended for use.\n\nPerhaps the use of the Camel's milk might be justified by saying\nthat the prohibition extended only to eating and not to drinking,\nand that therefore the milk might be used though the flesh was\nprohibited.\n\nThere was another mode in which the Camel might be used by\ntravellers to sustain life.\n\nThe reader is probably aware that, even in the burning climate in\nwhich it dwells, the Camel is able to go for a long time without\ndrinking,--not that it requires less liquid nourishment than other\nanimals, but that it is able, by means of its internal construction,\nto imbibe at one draught a quantity of water which will last for\na considerable time. It is furnished with a series of cells, into\nwhich the water runs as fast as it is drunk, and in which it can be\nkept for some time without losing its life-preserving qualities. As\nmuch as twenty gallons have been imbibed by a Camel at one draught,\nand this amount will serve it for several days, as it has the power\nof consuming by degrees the water which it has drunk in a few\nminutes.\n\nThis curious power of the Camel has often proved to be the salvation\nof its owner. It has often happened that, when travellers have been\npassing over the desert, their supply of water has been exhausted,\npartly by the travellers and partly by the burning heat which causes\nit to evaporate through the pores of the goat-skin bottle in which\nit was carried. Then the next well, where they had intended to\nrefill their skins and refresh themselves, has proved dry, and the\nwhole party seemed doomed to die of thirst.\n\nUnder these circumstances, only one chance of escape is left them.\nThey kill a Camel, and from its stomach they procure water enough\nto sustain life for a little longer, and perhaps to enable them to\nreach a well or fountain in which water still remains. The water\nwhich is thus obtained is unaltered, except by a greenish hue, the\nresult of mixing with the remains of herbage in the cells. It is,\nof course, very disagreeable, but those who are dying from thirst\ncannot afford to be fastidious, and to them the water is a most\ndelicious draught.\n\nIt is rather curious that, if any of the water which is taken out of\na dead Camel can be kept for a few days, both the green hue and the\nunpleasant flavour disappear, and the water becomes fresh, clear,\nand limpid. So wonderfully well do the internal cells preserve the\nwater, that after a Camel has been dead for ten days--and in that\nhot climate ten days after death are equal to a month here--the\nwater within it has been quite pure and drinkable.\n\nMany persons believe in the popular though erroneous idea that the\nCamel does not require as much water as ordinary animals. He will\nsee, however, from the foregoing account that it needs quite as much\nwater as the horse or the ox, but that it possesses the capability\nof taking in at one time as much as either of these animals would\ndrink in several days. So far from being independent of water, there\nis no animal that requires it more, or displays a stronger desire\nfor it. A thirsty Camel possesses the power of scenting water at a\nvery great distance, and, when it does so, its instincts conquer\nits education, and it goes off at full speed towards the spot,\nwholly ignoring its rider or driver. Many a desert spring has been\ndiscovered, and many a life saved, by this wonderful instinct, the\nanimal having scented the distant water when its rider had lost all\nhope, and was resigning himself to that terrible end, the death by\nthirst. The sacred Zemzem fountain at Mecca was discovered by two\nthirsty Camels.\n\n[Illustration: A GRATEFUL SHADE.]\n\nExcept by the Jews, the flesh of the Camel is eaten throughout\nPalestine and the neighbouring countries, and is looked upon as a\ngreat luxury. The Arab, for example, can scarcely have a greater\ntreat than a Camel-feast, and looks forward to it in a state of\nwonderful excitement. He is so impatient, that scarcely is the\nanimal dead before it is skinned, cut up, and the various parts\nprepared for cooking.\n\nTo European palates the flesh of the Camel is rather unpleasant,\nbeing tough, stringy, and without much flavour. The fatty hump is\nuniversally considered as the best part of the animal, and is always\noffered to the chief among the guests, just as the North American\nIndian offers the hump of the bison to the most important man in the\nassembly. The heart and the tongue, however, are always eatable,\nand, however old a Camel may be, these parts can be cooked and eaten\nwithout fear.\n\nThe hump, or \"bunch\" as it is called in the Bible, has no connexion\nwith the spine, and is a supplementary growth, which varies in size,\nnot only in the species, but in the individual. It is analogous to\nthe hump upon the shoulders of the American bison and the Indian\nzebra, and in the best-bred Camels it is the smallest though the\nfinest and most elastic.\n\nThis hump, by the way, affords one of the points by which the value\nof the Camel is decided. When it is well fed and properly cared for,\nthe hump projects boldly, and is firm and elastic to the touch.\nBut if the Camel be ill, or if it be badly fed or overworked, the\nhump becomes soft and flaccid, and in bad cases hangs down on one\nside like a thick flap of skin. Consequently, the dealers in Camels\nalways try to produce their animals in the market with their humps\nwell developed; and, if they find that this important part does not\nlook satisfactory, they use various means to give it the required\nfulness, inflating it with air being the most common. In fact, there\nis as much deception among Camel-dealers in Palestine as with dog or\npigeon fanciers in England.\n\nHere perhaps I may remark that the hump has given rise to some\nstrange but prevalent views respecting the Camel. Many persons\nthink that the dromedary has one hump and the Camel two--in fact,\nthat they are two totally distinct animals. Now the fact is that\nthe Camel of Palestine is of one species only, the dromedary being\na lighter and swifter breed, and differing from the ordinary Camel\njust as a hunter or racer differs from a cart-horse. The two-humped\nCamel is a different species altogether, which will be briefly\ndescribed at the end of the present article.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Camel is also used as a beast of draught, and, as we find, not\nonly from the Scriptures, but from ancient monuments, was employed\nto draw chariots and drag the plough. Thus in Isa. xxi. 7: \"And\nhe saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses,\nand a chariot of camels.\" It is evident that in this passage some\nchariots were drawn by Camels and some by asses. It is, however,\nremarkable that in Kennard's \"Eastern Experiences\", these two\nvery useful animals are mentioned as being yoked together: \"We\npassed through a fertile country, watching the fellaheen at their\nagricultural labours, and not a little amused at sometimes remarking\na very tall camel and a very small donkey yoked together in double\nharness, dragging a plough through the rich brown soil.\" Camels\ndrawing chariots are still to be seen in the Assyrian sculptures. In\nPalestine--at all events at the present time--the Camel is seldom\nif ever used as a beast of draught, being exclusively employed for\nbearing burdens and carrying riders.\n\nTaking it first as a beast of burden, we find several references in\ndifferent parts of the Scriptures. For example, see 2 Kings viii.\n9: \"So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even\nof every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden.\" Again, in\n1 Chron. xii. 40: \"Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto\nIssachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on\ncamels, and on mules, and on oxen.\" Another allusion to the same\ncustom is made in Isaiah: \"They will carry their riches upon the\nshoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches (or\nhumps) of camels.\"\n\nThe Camel can carry a considerable load, though not so much\nas is generally fancied. A sort of a pack-saddle of a very\nsimple description is used, in order to keep the burden upon so\nstrangely-shaped an animal. A narrow bag about eight feet long is\nmade, and rather loosely stuffed with straw or similar material. It\nis then doubled, and the ends firmly sewn together, so as to form\na great ring, which is placed over the hump, and forms a tolerably\nflat surface. A wooden framework is tied on the pack-saddle, and\nis kept in its place by a girth and a crupper. The packages which\nthe Camel is to carry are fastened together by cords, and slung\nover the saddle. They are only connected by those semi-knots called\n\"hitches,\" so that, when the Camel is to be unloaded, all that is\nneeded is to pull the lower end of the rope, and the packages fall\non either side of the animal. So quickly is the operation of loading\nperformed, that a couple of experienced men can load a Camel in very\nlittle more than a minute.\n\nAs is the case with the horse in England, the Camels that are\nused as beasts of burden are of a heavier, slower, and altogether\ninferior breed to those which are employed to carry riders, and\nall their accoutrements are of a ruder and meaner order, devoid\nof the fantastic ornaments with which Oriental riders are fond of\ndecorating their favourite animals.\n\nIn the large illustration are represented four of the ordinary\nCamels of burden, as they appear when laden with boughs for the\nFeast of Tabernacles. The branches are those of the Hebrew pine,\nand, as may be seen, the animals are so heavily laden with them that\ntheir forms are quite hidden under their leafy burdens. The weight\nwhich a Camel will carry varies much, according to the strength\nof the individual, which has given rise to the Oriental proverb,\n\"As the camel, so the load.\" But an animal of ordinary strength is\nsupposed to be able to carry from five to six hundred pounds for a\nshort journey, and half as much for a long one,--a quantity which,\nas the reader will see, is not so very great when the bulk of the\nanimal is taken into consideration. It is remarkable that the Camel\nknows its own powers, and instinctively refuses to move if its\ncorrect load be exceeded. But, when it is properly loaded, it will\ncarry its burden for hours together at exactly the same pace, and\nwithout seeming more fatigued than it was when it started.\n\n[Illustration: CAMELS LADEN WITH BOUGHS.]\n\n[Illustration: MORNING IN THE DESERT: STARTING OF THE CARAVAN.]\n\nThe riding Camels are always of a better breed than those which are\nused for burden, and maybe divided into two classes; namely, those\nwhich are meant for ordinary purposes, and those which are specially\nbred for speed and endurance. There is as much difference between\nthe ordinary riding Camel and the swift Camel as there is between\nthe road hack and the race-horse. We will first begin with the\ndescription of the common riding Camel and its accoutrements.\n\nThe saddle which is intended for a rider is very different from the\npack-saddle on which burdens are carried, and has a long upright\nprojection in front, to which the rider can hold if he wishes it.\n\nThe art of riding the Camel is far more difficult of accomplishment\nthan that of riding the horse, and the preliminary operation of\nmounting is not the least difficult portion of it. Of course,\nto mount a Camel while the animal is standing is impossible, and\naccordingly it is taught to kneel until the rider is seated.\nKneeling is a natural position with the Camel, which is furnished\nwith large callosities or warts on the legs and breast, which act as\ncushions on which it may rest its great weight without abrading the\nskin. These callosities are not formed, as some have imagined, by\nthe constant kneeling to which the Camel is subjected, but are born\nwith it, though of course less developed than they are after they\nhave been hardened by frequent pressure against the hot sand.\n\nWhen the Camel kneels, it first drops on its knees, and then on\nthe joints of the hind legs. Next it drops on its breast, and then\nagain on the bent hind legs. In rising it reverses the process, so\nthat a novice is first pitched forward, then backward, then forward,\nand then backward again, to the very great disarrangement of his\ngarments, and the probable loss of his seat altogether. Then when\nthe animal kneels he is in danger of being thrown over its head by\nthe first movement, and jerked over its tail by the second; but\nafter a time he learns to keep his seat mechanically.\n\nAs to the movement of the animal, it is at first almost as\nunpleasant as can be conceived, and has been described by several\ntravellers, some of whose accounts will be here given. One\nwell-known traveller declares that any person desiring to practise\nCamel-riding can readily do so by taking a music-stool, screwing\nit up as high as possible, putting it into a cart without springs,\nsitting on the top of it cross-legged, and having the cart driven at\nfull speed transversely over a newly-ploughed field.\n\nThere is, however, as great a difference in the gait of Camels as\nof horses, some animals having a quiet, regular, easy movement,\nwhile others are rough and high-stepping, harassing their riders\ngrievously in the saddle. Even the smooth-going Camel is, however,\nvery trying at first, on account of its long swinging strides, which\nare taken with the legs of each side alternately, causing the body\nof the rider to swing backwards and forwards as if he were rowing in\na boat.\n\nThose who suffer from sea-sickness are generally attacked with the\nsame malady when they make their first attempts at Camel-riding,\nwhile even those who are proof against this particular form of\ndiscomfort soon begin to find that their backs are aching, and that\nthe pain becomes steadily worse. Change of attitude is but little\nuse, and the wretched traveller derives but scant comfort from\nthe advice of his guide, who tells him to allow his body to swing\nfreely, and that in a short time he will become used to it. Some\ndays, however, are generally consumed before he succeeds in training\nhis spine to the continual unaccustomed movement, and he finds that,\nwhen he wakes on the morning that succeeds his first essay, his back\nis so stiff that he can scarcely move without screaming with pain,\nand that the prospect of mounting the Camel afresh is anything but a\npleasant one.\n\n\"I tried to sit erect without moving,\" writes Mr. Kennard, when\ndescribing his experience of Camel-riding. \"This proved a relief for\na few minutes, but, finding the effort too great to continue long in\nthis position, I attempted to recline with my head resting upon my\nhand. This last man\u0153uvre I found would not do, for the motion of\nthe camel's hind legs was so utterly at variance with the motion of\nhis fore-legs that I was jerked upwards, and forwards, and sideways,\nand finally ended in nearly rolling off altogether.\n\n\"Without going into the details of all that I suffered for the\nnext two or three days--how that on several occasions I slid from\nthe camel's back to the ground, in despair of ever accustoming my\nhalf-dislocated joints to the ceaseless jerking and swaying to and\nfro, and how that I often determined to trudge on foot over the\nhot desert sand all the way to Jerusalem rather than endure it\nlonger--I shall merely say that the day did at last arrive when I\ndescended from my camel, after many hours' riding, in as happy and\ncomfortable a state of mind as if I had been lolling in the easiest\nof arm-chairs.\"\n\nA very similar description of the transition from acute and constant\nsuffering to perfect ease is given by Albert Smith, who states that\nmore than once he has dozed on the back of his Camel, in spite of\nthe swaying backwards and forwards to which his body was subjected.\n\n[Illustration: THE CAMEL POST.]\n\nIf such be the discomfort of riding a smooth-going and good-tempered\nCamel, it may be imagined that to ride a hard-going and\ncross-grained animal must be a very severe trial to an inexperienced\nrider. A very amusing account of a ride on such a Camel, and of\na fall from its back, is given by Mr. Hamilton in his \"Sinai, the\nHedjaz, and Soudan:\"--\n\n\"A dromedary I had obtained at Suk Abu Sin for my own riding did not\nanswer my expectations, or rather the saddle was badly put on--not\nan easy thing to do well, by the way--and one of my servants,\nwho saw how out of patience I was at the many times I had had to\ndismount to have it arranged, persuaded me to try the one he was\nriding, the Sheik's present. I had my large saddle transferred to\nhis beast, and, nothing doubting, mounted it.\n\n\"He had not only no nose-string, but was besides a vicious brute,\nrising with a violent jerk before I was well in the saddle, and\nanxious to gain the caravan, which was a little way ahead, he set\noff at his roughest gallop. Carpets, kufieh, tarbush, all went off\nin the jolting; at every step I was thrown a foot into the air, glad\nto come down again, bump, bump, on the saddle, by dint of holding\non to the front pommel with the left hand, while the right was\nengaged with the bridle, which in the violence of the exercise it\nwas impossible to change to its proper hand. I had almost reached\nthe caravan, and had no doubt my hump-backed Pegasus would relax his\nexertions, when a camel-driver, one of the sons of iniquity, seeing\nme come up at full speed, and evidently quite run away with, took it\ninto his head to come to my assistance.\n\n\"I saw what he was at, and called out to him to get out of the way,\nbut instead of this he stuck himself straight before me, stretching\nhimself out like a St. Andrew's cross, with one hand armed with a\nhuge club, and making most diabolical grimaces. Of course the camel\nwas frightened, it was enough to frighten a much more reasonable\nbeing; so, wheeling quickly round, it upset my unstable equilibrium.\nDown I came head foremost to the ground, and when I looked up, my\nforehead streaming with blood, the first thing I saw was my Arab\nwith the camel, which he seemed mightily pleased with himself for\nhaving so cleverly captured, while the servant who had suggested the\nunlucky experiment came ambling along on my easy-paced dromedary,\nand consoled me by saying that he knew it was a runaway beast, which\nthere was no riding without a nose-string.\n\n\"I now began to study the way of keeping one's seat in such an\nemergency. An Arab, when he gallops his dromedary with one of these\nsaddles, holds hard on with the right hand to the back part of\nthe seat, not to the pommel, and grasps the bridle tightly in the\nother. The movement of the camel in galloping throws one violently\nforward, and without holding on, excepting on the naked back, when\nthe rider sits behind the hump, it is impossible to retain one's\nseat. I afterwards thought myself lucky in not having studied this\npoint sooner, as, from the greater resistance I should have offered,\nmy tumble, since it was _fated_ I should have one, would probably\nhave been much more severe. It is true I might also have escaped it,\nbut in the chapter of probabilities I always think a mishap the most\nprobable.\"\n\n[Illustration: A RUNAWAY.]\n\n[Illustration: AN ARAB SHEIK MOUNTED UPON HIS CAMEL.]\n\nIt may be imagined that a fall from a Camel's back is not a trifle,\nand, even if the unskilful rider be fortunate enough to fall on soft\nsand instead of hard rock, he receives a tolerably severe shock,\nand runs no little risk of breaking a limb. For the average height\nof a Camel's back is rather more than six feet, while some animals\nmeasure seven feet from the ground to the top of the hump.\n\nThis height, however, is of material advantage to the traveller. In\nthe first place it lifts him above the waves of heated air that are\ncontinually rolling over the sand on which the burning rays of the\nsun are poured throughout the day; and in the second place it brings\nhim within reach of the slightest breeze that passes above the\nstratum of hot air, and which comes to the traveller like the breath\nof life. Moreover, his elevated position enables him to see for a\nvery great distance, which is an invaluable advantage in a land\nwhere every stranger may be a robber, and is probably a murderer\nbesides.\n\nThe best mode of avoiding a fall is to follow the Arab mode of\nriding,--namely, to pass one leg over the upright pommel, which, as\nhas been mentioned, is a mere wooden peg or stake, and hitching the\nother leg over the dangling foot. Perhaps the safest, though not the\nmost comfortable, mode of sitting is by crossing the legs in front,\nand merely grasping the pommel with the hands.\n\nYet, fatiguing as is the seat on the Camel's back to the beginner,\nit is less so than that on the horse's saddle, inasmuch as in the\nlatter case one position is preserved, while in the former an\ninfinite variety of seat is attainable when the rider has fairly\nmastered the art of riding.\n\nThe Camel is not held by the bit and bridle like the horse, but by\na rope tied like a halter round the muzzle, and having a knot on\nthe left or \"near\" side. This is held in the left hand, and is used\nchiefly for the purpose of stopping the animal. The Camel is guided\npartly by the voice of its rider, and partly by a driving-stick,\nwith which the neck is lightly touched on the opposite side to that\nwhich its rider wishes it to take. A pressure of the heel on the\nshoulder-bone tells it to quicken its pace, and a little tap on the\nhead followed by a touch on the short ears are the signals for full\nspeed.\n\nThere are three different kinds of stick with which the Camel\nis driven; one of them, a mere almond branch with the bark, and\nan oblique head, is the sceptre or emblem of sovereignty of the\nPrince of Mecca. Mr. Hamilton suggests that this stick, called the\n\"_mesh'ab_,\" is the original of the jackal-headed stick with which\nso many of the Egyptian deities are represented; and that Aaron's\nrod that \"brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded\nalmonds,\" was the _mesh'ab_, the almond-branch sceptre, the emblem\nof his almost regal rank and authority.\n\n[Illustration: AARON'S ROD BEARS ALMONDS.]\n\nThe women mostly ride in a different manner from the men. Sometimes\nthey are hardy enough to sit the animal in the same way as their\nhusbands, but as a rule they are carried by the animal rather than\nride it, sitting in great basket-like appendages which are slung on\neither side of the Camel. These constitute the \"furniture\" which\nis mentioned in Gen. xxxi. 34. When Jacob left the house of Laban,\nto lead an independent life, Rachel stole her father's images, or\n\"teraphim,\" and carried them away with her, true to her affectionate\nthough deceptive nature, which impelled her to incur the guilt of\nrobbery for the sake of enriching her husband with the cherished\nteraphim of her father. From the most careful researches we learn\nthat these teraphim were used for divining the future, and that they\nwere made in the human form. That they were of considerable size\nis evident from the fact that, when Saul was hunting after David,\nhis wife Michal contrived to convey him out of the house, and for\na time to conceal her fraud by putting an image (or teraph) into\nthe bed as a representative of her husband. Had not, therefore, the\ncamel-furniture been of considerable dimensions, images of such a\nsize could not be hidden, but they could well be stowed away in the\ngreat panniers, as long as their mistress sat upon them, after the\ncustom of Oriental travellers and declined to rise on the ready plea\nof indisposition.\n\n[Illustration: CAMEL-RIDING.]\n\nThis sort of carriage is still used for the women and children. \"The\nwife and child came by in the string of camels, the former reclining\nin an immense circular box, stuffed and padded, covered with red\ncotton, and dressed with yellow worsted ornaments. This family\nnest was mounted on a large camel. It seemed a most commodious and\nwell-arranged travelling carriage, and very superior as a mode of\ncamel-riding to that which our Sitteen rejoiced in (_i.e._ riding\nupon a saddle). The Arab wife could change her position at pleasure,\nand the child had room to walk about and could not fall out, the\nsides of the box just reaching to its shoulders. Various jugs and\nskins and articles of domestic use hung suspended about it, and\ntrappings of fringe and finery ornamented it.\"\n\nThis last sentence brings us to another point which is several\ntimes mentioned in the Bible; namely, the ornaments with which the\nproprietors of Camels are fond of bedizening their favourite animals.\n\nTheir leathern collars are covered with cowrie shells sewn on them\nin various fantastic patterns. Crescent-shaped ornaments are made of\nshells sewn on red cloth, and hung so abundantly upon the harness of\nthe animal that they jingle at every step which it takes. Sheiks and\nother men of rank often have these ornaments made of silver, so that\nthe cost of the entire trappings is very great.\n\n[Illustration: THE DELOUL, OR SWIFT CAMEL.]\n\nWe now come to the Swift Camel, or Deloul.\n\nThe limbs of the Deloul are long and wiry, having not an ounce of\nsuperfluous fat upon them, the shoulders are very broad, and the\nhump, though firm and hard, is very small.\n\nA thoroughbred Deloul, in good travelling condition, is not at\nall a pleasing animal to an ordinary eye, being a lank, gaunt, and\nungainly-looking creature, the very conformation which insures its\nswiftness and endurance being that which detracts from its beauty.\nAn Arab of the desert, however, thinks a good Deloul one of the\nfinest sights in the world. As the talk of the pastoral tribes is of\nsheep and oxen, so is the talk of the nomads about Camels. It is a\nsubject which is for ever on their lips, and a true Bedouin may be\nseen to contemplate the beauties of one of these favourite animals\nfor hours at a time,--if his own, with the rapture of a possessor,\nor, if another's, with the determination of stealing it when he can\nfind an opportunity.\n\nInstead of plodding along at the rate of three miles an hour, which\nis the average speed of the common Camel, the Deloul can cover,\nif lightly loaded, nine or ten miles an hour, and go on at the\nsame pace for a wonderful time, its long legs swinging, and its\nbody swaying, as if it were but an animated machine. Delouls have\nbeen reported to have journeyed for nearly fifty hours without\na single stop for rest, during which time the animals must have\ntraversed nearly five hundred miles. Such examples must, however,\nbe exceptional, implying, as they do, an amount of endurance on the\npart of the rider equal to that of the animal; and even a journey of\nhalf that distance is scarcely possible to ordinary men on Delouls.\n\nFor the movements of the Deloul are very rough, and the rider is\nobliged to prepare himself for a long journey by belting himself\ntightly with two leathern bands, one just under the arms, and the\nother round the pit of the stomach. Without these precautions, the\nrider would be likely to suffer serious injuries, and, even with\nthem, the exercise is so severe, that an Arab makes it a matter of\nspecial boast that he can ride a Deloul for a whole day.\n\nA courier belonging to the Sherif of Mecca told Mr. Hamilton that he\noften went on the same dromedary from Mecca to Medina in forty-eight\nhours, the distance being two hundred and forty miles. And a\nthoroughbred Deloul will travel for seven or eight weeks with only\nfour or five days of rest.\n\nEven at the present time, these Camels are used for the conveyance\nof special messages, and in the remarkable Bornu kingdom a regular\nservice of these animals is established, two couriers always\ntravelling in company, so that if one rider or Camel should fail\nor be captured by the Arabs, who are always on the alert for so\nvaluable a prey, the other may post on and carry the message to its\ndestination.\n\n[Illustration: ANOTHER MODE OF RIDING THE CAMEL.]\n\nThe swift dromedary, or Deloul, is mentioned several times in the\nOld Testament. One of them occurs in Isa. lx. 6: \"The multitude of\ncamels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah.\" In\nthis passage a distinction is drawn between the ordinary Camel and\nthe swift dromedary, the former being the word \"gamel,\" and the\nlatter the word \"beker,\" which is again used in Jer. ii. 23: \"See\nthy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift\ndromedary.\"\n\nThere is a passage in the Book of Esther which looks as if it\nreferred to the ordinary Camel and the swift dromedary, but there\nis considerable uncertainty about the proper rendering It runs as\nfollows: \"And he wrote in king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with\nthe king's ring, and sent letters and posts on horseback, and riders\non mules, camels, and young dromedaries.\"\n\nThe Jewish Bible, however, translates this passage as follows: \"And\nsent letters by the runners on the horses, and riders on the racers,\nmules, and young mares.\" Now, the word _rekesh_, which is translated\nas \"racer,\" is rendered by Buxtorf as \"a swift horse or mule,\" and\nthe word _beni-rammachim_, which is translated as \"young mares,\"\nliterally signifies \"those born of mares.\"\n\nThe Camel-drivers behave towards their animals with the curious\ninconsistency which forms so large a part of the Oriental character.\n\nPrizing them above nearly all earthly things, proud of them, and\nloving them after their own fashion, the drivers will talk to\nthem, cheer them, and sing interminable songs for their benefit.\nTowards the afternoon the singing generally begins, and it goes on\nwithout cessation in a sort of monotonous hum, as Dr. Bonar calls\nit. The same traveller calls attention to a passage in Caussinus'\n\"Polyhistor Symbolicus,\" in which the learned and didactic author\nsymbolizes the maxim that more can be done by kindness than by\nblows. \"The Camel is greatly taken with music and melody. So much\nso, indeed, that if it halts through weariness, the driver does not\nurge it with stripes and blows, but soothes it by his songs.\"\n\nSeveral travellers have mentioned these songs. See, for example,\nMiss Rogers' account of some Bedouins: \"Their songs were already\nsubdued to harmonize with their monotonous swinging pace, and chimed\nsoftly and plaintively with the tinkling of camel-bells, thus--\n\n \"'Dear unto me as the sight of mine eyes,\n Art thou, O my Camel!\n Precious to me as the health of my life,\n Art thou, O my Camel!\n Sweet to my ears is the sound\n Of thy tinkling bells, O my Camel!\n And sweet to thy listening ears\n Is the sound of my evening song.'\n\nAnd so on, _ad libitum_.\"\n\nSometimes a female Camel gives birth to a colt on the journey. In\nsuch a case, a brief pause is made, and then the train proceeds\non its journey, the owner of the Camel carrying the young one in\nhis arms until the evening halt. He then gives it to its mother,\nand on the following day it is able to follow her without further\nassistance. The young Camels are almost pretty, their hair being\npaler than that of the adult animal, and their limbs more slender.\n\nAlthough the young Camel is better-looking than its parents, it is\nnot one whit more playful. Unlike almost all other animals, the\nCamel seems to have no idea of play, and even the young Camel of a\nmonth or two old follows its mother with the same steady, regular\npace which she herself maintains.\n\nIn spite of all the kindness with which a driver treats his\nCamels, he can at times be exceedingly cruel to them, persisting\nin over-loading and over-driving them, and then, if a Camel fall\nexhausted, removing its load, and distributing it among the other\nCamels. As soon as this is done, he gives the signal to proceed, and\ngoes on his way, abandoning the wretched animal to its fate--_i.e._\nto thirst and the vultures. He will not even have the humanity to\nkill it, but simply leaves it on the ground, muttering that it is\n\"his fate!\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAMEL.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n The Camel and its master--Occasional fury of the animal--A\n boy killed by a Camel--Another instance of an infuriated\n Camel--Theory respecting the Arab and his Camel--Apparent\n stupidity of the Camel--Its hatred of a load, and mode of\n expressing its disapprobation--Riding a Camel through the\n streets--A narrow escape--Ceremony of weaning a young Camel--The\n Camel's favourite food--Structure of the foot and adaptation\n to locality--Difficulty in provisioning--Camel's hair and\n skin--Sal-ammoniac and Desert fuel--The Camel and the needle's\n eye--Straining at a gnat and swallowing a Camel.\n\nWe now come to the general characteristics of the Camel.\n\nThe Camels know their master well, some of them being much more\naffectionate than others. But they are liable to fits of strange\nfury, in which case even their own masters are not safe from them.\nThey are also of a revengeful nature, and have an unpleasant\nfaculty of treasuring up an injury until they can find a time of\nrepaying it. Signor Pierotti gives a curious example of this trait\nof character. As he was going to the Jordan, he found a dead Camel\nlying on the roadside, the head nearly separated from the body. On\ninquiry he found that the animal had a master who ill-treated it,\nand had several times tried to bite him. One evening, after the\nCamels had been unloaded, the drivers lay down to sleep as usual.\n\nThe Camel made its way to its master, and stamped on him as he\nslept. The man uttered one startled cry, but had no time for\nanother. The infuriated Camel followed up its attack by grasping his\nthroat in its powerful jaws, and shaking him to death. The whole\nscene passed so rapidly, that before the other drivers could come to\nthe man's assistance he was hanging dead from the jaws of the Camel,\nwho was shaking him as a dog shakes a rat, and would not release\nits victim until its head had been nearly severed from its body by\nsword-cuts.\n\nA similar anecdote is told by Mr. Palgrave, in his \"Central and\nEastern Arabia:\"--\n\n\"One passion alone he possesses, namely, revenge, of which he gives\nmany a hideous example; while, in carrying it out, he shows an\nunexpected degree of forethoughted malice, united meanwhile with\nall the cold stupidity of his usual character. One instance of this\nI well remember--it occurred hard by a small town in the plain of\nBaalbec, where I was at the time residing.\n\n\"A lad of about fourteen had conducted a large camel, laden\nwith wood, from that very village to another at half an hour's\ndistance or so. As the animal loitered or turned out of the way,\nits conductor struck it repeatedly, and harder than it seems to\nhave thought he had a right to do. But, not finding the occasion\nfavourable for taking immediate quits, it 'bided its time,' nor was\nthat time long in coming.\n\n\"A few days later, the same lad had to re-conduct the beast, but\nunladen, to his own village. When they were about half way on the\nroad, and at some distance from any habitation, the camel suddenly\nstopped, looked deliberately round in every direction to assure\nitself that no one was in sight, and, finding the road clear of\npassers-by, made a step forward, seized the unlucky boy's head in\nits monstrous mouth, and, lifting him up in the air, flung him down\nagain on the earth, with the upper part of his head completely torn\noff, and his brains scattered on the ground. Having thus satisfied\nits revenge, the brute quietly resumed its pace towards the village,\nas though nothing were the matter, till some men, who had observed\nthe whole, though unfortunately at too great a distance to be able\nto afford timely help, came up and killed it.\n\n\"Indeed, so marked is this unamiable propensity, that some\nphilosophers have ascribed the revengeful character of the Arabs\nto the great share which the flesh and milk of the camel have in\ntheir sustenance, and which are supposed to communicate, to those\nwho partake of them over-largely, the moral or immoral qualities of\nthe animal to which they belonged. I do not feel myself capable of\npronouncing an opinion on so intricate a question, but thus much I\ncan say, that the camel and its Bedouin master do afford so many and\nsuch divers points of resemblance, that I do not think our Arab of\nShomer far in the wrong, when I once on a time heard him say, 'God\ncreated the Bedouin for the camel, and the camel for the Bedouin.'\"\n\nThe reader will observe that Mr. Palgrave in this anecdote makes\nreference to the stupidity of the Camel. There is no doubt that the\nCamel is by no means an intellectual animal; but it is very possible\nthat its stupidity may in a great measure be owing to the fact that\nno one has tried to cultivate its intellectual powers. The preceding\nanecdotes show clearly that the Camel must possess a strong memory,\nand be capable of exercising considerable ingenuity.\n\nStill it is not a clever animal. If its master should fall off its\nback, it never dreams of stopping, as a well-trained horse would\ndo, but proceeds at the same plodding pace, leaving his master to\ncatch it if he can. Should it turn out of the way to crop some green\nthorn-bush, it will go on in the same direction, never thinking\nof turning back into the right road unless directed by its rider.\nShould the Camel stray, \"it is a thousand to one that he will never\nfind his way back to his accustomed home or pasture, and the first\nman who picks him up will have no particular shyness to get over;\n... and the losing of his old master and of his former cameline\ncompanions gives him no regret, and occasions no endeavour to find\nthem again.\"\n\nHe has the strongest objection to being laden at all, no matter\nhow light may be the burden, and expresses his disapprobation by\ngrowling and groaning, and attempting to bite. So habitual is this\nconduct that if a kneeling Camel be only approached, and a stone as\nlarge as a walnut laid on its back, it begins to remonstrate in its\nusual manner, groaning as if it were crushed to the earth with its\nload.\n\nThe Camel never makes way for any one, its instinct leading it to\nplod onward in its direct course. What may have been its habits in\na state of nature no one can tell, for such a phenomenon as a wild\nCamel has never been known in the memory of man. There are wild\noxen, wild goats, wild sheep, wild horses, and wild asses, but there\nis no spot on the face of the earth where the Camel is found except\nas the servant of man. Through innate stupidity, according to Mr.\nPalgrave, it goes straight forwards in the direction to which its\nhead happens to be pointed, and is too foolish even to think of\nstopping unless it hears the signal for halt.\n\nAs it passes through the narrow streets of an Oriental city, laden\nwith goods that project on either side, and nearly fill up the\nthoroughfare, it causes singular inconvenience, forcing every one\nwho is in front of it to press himself closely to the wall, and\nto make way for the enormous beast as it plods along. The driver\nor rider generally gives notice by continually calling to the\npedestrians to get out of the way, but a laden Camel rarely passes\nthrough a long street without having knocked down a man or two, or\ndriven before it a few riders on asses who cannot pass between the\nCamel and the wall.\n\nOne source of danger to its rider is to be found in the low archways\nwhich span so many of the streets. They are just high enough to\npermit a laden Camel to pass under them, but are so low that they\nleave no room for a rider. The natives, who are accustomed to this\nstyle of architecture, are always ready for an archway, and, when\nthe rider sees an archway which will not allow him to retain his\nseat, he slips to the ground, and remounts on the other side of the\nobstacle.\n\nMr. Kennard had a very narrow escape with one of these arch ways.\n\"I had passed beneath one or two in perfect safety, without being\nobliged to do more than just bend my head forward, and was in\nthe act of conversing with one of my companions behind, and was\ntherefore in a happy state of ignorance as to what was immediately\nbefore me, when the shouting and running together of the people in\nthe street on either side made me turn my head quickly, but only\njust in time to feel my breath thrown back on my face against the\nkeystone of a gateway, beneath which my camel, with too much way on\nhim to be stopped immediately, had already commenced to pass.\n\n\"With a sort of feeling that it was all over with me, I threw\nmyself back as far as I could, and was carried through in an almost\nbreathless state, my shirt-studs actually scraping along against the\nstonework. On emerging again into the open street, I could hardly\nrealize my escape, for if there had been a single projecting stone\nto stop my progress, the camel would have struggled to get free, and\nmy chest must have been crushed in.\"\n\nIt will be seen from these instances that the charge of stupidity\nis not an undeserved one. Still the animal has enough intellect to\nreceive all the education which it needs for the service of man, and\nwhich it receives at a very early age. The ordinary Camel of burden\nis merely taught to follow its conductor, to obey the various words\nand gestures of command, and to endure a load. The Deloul, however,\nis more carefully trained. It is allowed to follow its mother for\na whole year in perfect liberty. Towards the expiration of that\ntime the young animal is gradually stinted in its supply of milk,\nand forced to browse for its nourishment. On the anniversary of its\nbirth, the young Deloul is turned with its head towards Canopus,\nand its ears solemnly boxed, its master saying at the same time,\n\"Henceforth drinkest thou no drop of milk.\" For this reason the\nnewly-weaned Camel is called Lathim, or the \"ear-boxed.\" It is then\nprevented from sucking by a simple though cruel experiment. A wooden\npeg is sharpened at both ends, and one end thrust into the young\nanimal's nose. When it tries to suck, it pricks its mother with\nthe projecting end, and at the same time forces the other end more\ndeeply into the wound, so that the mother drives away her offspring,\nand the young soon ceases to make the attempt.\n\nThe food of the Camel is very simple, being, in fact, anything that\nit can get. As it proceeds on its journey, it manages to browse as\nit goes along, bending its long neck to the ground, and cropping\nthe scanty herbage without a pause. Camels have been known to\ntravel for twenty successive days, passing over some eight hundred\nmiles of ground, without receiving any food except that which they\ngathered for themselves by the way. The favourite food of the Camel\nis a shrub called the ghada, growing to six feet or so in height,\nand forming a feathery tuft of innumerable little green twigs, very\nslender and flexible. It is so fond of this shrub that a Camel can\nscarcely ever pass a bush without turning aside to crop it; and even\nthough it be beaten severely for its misconduct, it will repeat the\nprocess at the next shrub that comes in sight.\n\n[Illustration: PASSING A CAMEL IN A NARROW STREET OF AN EASTERN\nCITY.]\n\nIt also feeds abundantly on the thorn-bushes which grow so\nplentifully in that part of the world; and though the thorns are an\ninch or two in length, very strong, and as sharp as needles, the\nhard, horny palate of the animal enables it to devour them with\nperfect ease.\n\n[Illustration: MOSES AT THE BURNING BUSH.]\n\nThere are several species of these thorn-shrubs, which are scattered\nprofusely over the ground, and are, in fact, the commonest growth\nof the place. After they die, being under the fierce sun of that\nclimate, they dry up so completely, that if a light be set to them\nthey blaze up in a moment, with a sharp cracking sound and a roar\nof flame, and in a moment or two are nothing but a heap of light\nashes. No wonder was it that when Moses saw the thorn-bush burning\nwithout being consumed he was struck with awe at the miracle. These\nwithered bushes are the common fuel of the desert, giving out a\nfierce but brief heat, and then suddenly sinking into ashes. \"For as\nthe crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool\"\n(Eccl. vii. 6).\n\nThe dried and withered twigs of these bushes are also eaten by the\nCamel, which seems to have a power of extracting nutriment from\nevery sort of vegetable substance. It has been fed on charcoal, and,\nas has been happily remarked, could thrive on the shavings of a\ncarpenter's workshop.\n\n[Illustration: AN ARAB ENCAMPMENT.]\n\nStill, when food is plentiful, it is fed as regularly as can be\nmanaged, and generally after a rather peculiar manner. \"Our guide,\"\nwrites Mr. Hamilton, in the work which has already been mentioned,\n\"is an elderly man, the least uncouth of our camel-drivers. He\nhas three camels in the caravan, and it was amusing to see his\npreparations for their evening's entertainment. The table-cloth, a\ncircular piece of leather, was duly spread on the ground; on this he\npoured the quantity of dourrah destined for their meal, and calling\nhis camels, they came and took each its place at the feast. It is\nquaint to see how each in his turn eats, so gravely and so quietly,\nstretching his long neck into the middle of the heap, then raising\nhis head to masticate each mouthful; all so slowly and with such\ngusto, that we could swear it was a party of epicures sitting in\njudgment on one of Vachette's _chefs d'\u0153uvre_.\"\n\nThe foregoing passages will show the reader how wonderfully adapted\nis the constitution of the Camel for the country in which it lives,\nand how indispensable it is to the inhabitants. It has been called\n\"the ship of the desert,\" for without the Camel the desert would be\nas impassable as the sea without ships. No water being found for\nseveral days' journey together, the animal is able to carry within\nitself a supply of water which will last it for several days, and,\nas no green thing grows far from the presence of water, the Camel is\nable to feed upon the brief-lived thorn-shrubs which have sprung up\nand died, and which, from their hard and sharp prickles, are safe\nfrom every animal except the hard-mouthed Camel.\n\nBut these advantages would be useless without another--_i. e._ the\nfoot. The mixed stones and sand of the desert would ruin the feet\nof almost any animal, and it is necessary that the Camel should be\nfurnished with a foot that cannot be split by heat like the hoof of\na horse, that is broad enough to prevent the creature from sinking\ninto the sand, and is tough enough to withstand the action of the\nrough and burning soil.\n\nSuch a foot does the Camel possess. It consists of two long toes\nresting upon a hard elastic cushion with a tough and horny sole.\nThis cushion is so soft that the tread of the huge animal is as\nnoiseless as that of a cat, and, owing to the division of the toes,\nit spreads as the weight comes upon it, and thus gives a firm\nfooting on loose ground. The foot of the moose-deer has a similar\nproperty, in order to enable the animal to walk upon the snow.\n\nIn consequence of this structure, the Camel sinks less deeply into\nthe ground than any other animal; but yet it does sink in it, and\ndislikes a deep and loose sand, groaning at every step, and being\nwearied by the exertion of dragging its hard foot out of the\nholes into which they sink. It is popularly thought that hills are\nimpracticable to the Camel; but it is able to climb even rocky\nground from which a horse would recoil. Mr. Marsh, an American\ntraveller, was much surprised by seeing a caravan of fifty camels\npass over a long ascent in Arabia Petr\u00e6a. The rock was as smooth as\npolished marble, and the angle was on an average fifteen degrees;\nbut the whole caravan passed over it without an accident.\n\n[Illustration: ON THE MARCH.]\n\nThe soil that a Camel most hates is a wet and muddy ground, on\nwhich it is nearly sure to slip. If the reader will look at a Camel\nfrom behind, he will see that the hinder legs are close together\nuntil the ankle-joint, when they separate so widely that the feet\nare set on the ground at a considerable distance from each other.\nOn dry ground this structure increases the stability of the animal\nby increasing its base; but on wet ground the effect is singularly\nunpleasant. The soft, padded feet have no hold, and slip sideways\nat every step, often with such violence as to dislocate a joint and\ncause the death of the animal. When such ground has to be traversed,\nthe driver generally passes a bandage round the hind legs just below\nthe ankle-joint, so as to prevent them from diverging too far.\n\nIt must be remarked, however, that the country in which the animal\nlives is essentially a dry one, and that moist and muddy ground\nis so exceptional that the generality of Camels never see it in\ntheir lives. Camels do not object to mud an inch or two deep,\nprovided that there is firm ground below; and they have been seen\nto walk with confident safety over pavements covered with mud and\nhalf-frozen snow.\n\nThe animals can ford rivers well enough, provided that the bed be\nstony or gravelly; but they are bad swimmers, their round bodies and\nlong necks being scarcely balanced by their legs, so that they are\napt to roll over on their sides, and in such a case they are sure\nto be drowned. When swimming is a necessity, the head is generally\ntied to the stern of a boat, or guided by the driver swimming in\nfront, while another often clings to the tail, so as to depress the\nrump and elevate the head. It is rather curious that the Camels of\nthe Sahara cannot be safely entrusted to the water. They will swim\nthe river readily enough; but they are apt to be seized with illness\nafterwards, and to die in a few hours.\n\nWe now come to some other uses of the Camel.\n\nIts hair is of the greatest importance, as it is used for many\npurposes. In this country, all that we know practically of the\nCamel's hair is that it is employed in making brushes for painters;\nbut in its own land the hair plays a really important part. At the\nproper season it is removed from the animal, usually by being pulled\naway in tufts, but sometimes by being shorn, and it is then spun by\nthe women into strong thread.\n\nFrom this thread are made sundry fabrics where strength is required\nand coarseness is not an objection. The \"black tents\" of the Bedouin\nArabs, similar to those in which Abraham lived, are made of Camel's\nhair, and so are the rugs, carpets, and cordage used by the nomad\ntribes. Even mantles for rainy or cold weather are made of Camel's\nhair, and it was in a dress of this coarse and rough material that\nSt. John the Baptist was clad. The best part of the Camels hair is\nthat which grows in tufts on the back and about the hump, the fibre\nbeing much longer than that which covers the body. There is also a\nlittle very fine under-wool which is carefully gathered, and, when a\nsufficient quantity is procured, it is spun and woven into garments.\nShawls of this material are even now as valuable as those which are\nmade from the Cachmire goat.\n\n[Illustration: HAIR OF THE CAMEL.]\n\nThe skin of the Camel is made into a sort of leather. It is simply\ntanned by being pegged out in the sun and rubbed with salt.\n\nSandals and leggings are made of this leather, and in some places\nwater-bottles are manufactured from it, the leather being thicker\nand less porous than that of the goat, and therefore wasting less of\nthe water by evaporation. The bones are utilized, being made into\nvarious articles of commerce.\n\nSo universally valuable is the Camel that even its dung is important\nto its owners. Owing to the substances on which the animal feeds,\nit consists of little but macerated fragments of aromatic shrubs.\nIt is much used as poultices in case of bruises or rheumatic pains,\nand is even applied with some success to simple fractures. It is\nlargely employed for fuel, and the desert couriers use nothing else,\ntheir Camels being furnished with a net, so that none of this useful\nsubstance shall be lost. For this purpose it is carefully collected,\nmixed with bits of straw, and made into little rolls, which are\ndried in the sun, and can then be laid by for any time until they\nare needed.\n\nMixed with clay and straw, it is most valuable as a kind of mortar\nor cement with which the walls of huts are rendered weather-proof,\nand the same material is used in the better-class houses to make a\nsort of terrace on the flat roof. This must be waterproof in order\nto withstand the wet of the rainy season, and no material answers\nthe purpose so well as that which has been mentioned. So strangely\nhard and firm is this composition, that stoves are made of it. These\nstoves are made like jars, and have the faculty of resisting the\npower of the inclosed fire. Even after it is burned it has its uses,\nthe ashes being employed in the manufacture of sal-ammoniac.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere are two passages in the New Testament which mention the Camel\nin an allegorical sense. The first of these is the proverbial saying\nof our Lord, \"A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of\nheaven. Again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through\nthe eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom\nof God\" (Matt. xix. 23, 24).\n\nNow, this well-known but scarcely understood passage requires some\nlittle dissection. If the reader will refer to the context, he will\nsee that this saying was spoken in allusion to the young and wealthy\nman who desired to be one of the disciples, but clung too tightly\nto his wealth to accept the only conditions on which he could be\nreceived. His possessions were a snare to him, as was proved by his\nrefusal to part with them at Christ's command. On his retiring,\nthe expression was used, \"that a rich man shall hardly (or, with\ndifficulty) enter the kingdom of heaven;\" followed by the simile of\nthe Camel and the needle's eye.\n\nNow, if we are to take this passage literally, we can but draw one\nconclusion from it, that a rich man can no more enter heaven than a\ncamel pass through the eye of a needle, i.e. that it is impossible\nfor him to do so. Whereas, in the previous sentence, Christ says not\nthat it is impossible, but difficult (\u03b4\u03c5\u03c3\u03ba\u03cc\u03bb\u03c9\u03c2) for him to do so. It\nis difficult for a man to use his money for the service of God,\nthe only purpose for which it was given him, and the difficulty\nincreases in proportion to its amount. But wealth in itself is no\nmore a bar to heaven than intellect, health, strength, or any other\ngift, and, if it be rightly used, is one of the most powerful tools\nthat can be used in the service of God. Our Lord did not condemn\nall wealthy men alike. He knew many; but there was only one whom He\nadvised to sell his possessions and give them to the poor as the\ncondition of being admitted among the disciples.\n\n[Illustration: CAMEL GOING THROUGH A \"NEEDLE'S EYE.\"]\n\nWe will now turn to the metaphor of the Camel and the needle's eye.\nOf course it can be taken merely as a very bold metaphor, but it\nmay also be understood in a simpler sense, the sense in which it\nwas probably understood by those who heard it. In Oriental cities,\nthere are in the large gates small and very low apertures called\nmetaphorically \"needle's-eyes,\" just as we talk of certain windows\nas \"bull's-eyes.\" These entrances are too narrow for a Camel to\npass through them in the ordinary manner, especially if loaded.\nWhen a laden Camel has to pass through one of these entrances, it\nkneels down, its load is removed, and then it shuffles through on\nits knees. \"Yesterday,\" writes Lady Duff-Gordon from Cairo, \"I saw a\ncamel go through the eye of a needle, _i.e._ the low-arched door of\nan enclosure. He must kneel, and bow his head to creep through; and\nthus the rich man must humble himself.\"\n\nThere is another passage in which the Camel is used by our Lord in\na metaphorical sense. This is the well-known sentence: \"Ye blind\nguides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel\" (Matt. xxiii.\n24). It is remarkable that an accidental misprint has robbed this\npassage of its true force. The real translation is: \"which strain\n_out_ the gnat, and swallow the camel.\" The Greek word is \u03b4\u03b9\u03c5\u03bb\u03af\u03b6\u03c9,\nwhich signifies to filter thoroughly; and the allusion is made to\nthe pharisaical custom of filtering liquids before drinking them,\nlest by chance a gnat or some such insect which was forbidden as\nfood might be accidentally swallowed.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BACTRIAN CAMEL.\n\n General description of the animal--Its use in mountain\n roads--Peculiar formation of the foot--Uses of a mixed\n breed--Its power of enduring cold--Used chiefly as a beast\n of draught--Unfitness for the plough--The cart and mode of\n harnessing--The load which it can draw--Camel-skin ropes--A\n Rabbinical legend.\n\n\nThe second kind of Camel--namely, the Bactrian species--was probably\nunknown to the Jews until a comparatively late portion of their\nhistory. This species was employed by the Assyrians, as we find by\nthe sculptures upon the ruins, and if in no other way the Jews would\nbecome acquainted with them through the nation by whom they were\nconquered, and in whose land they abode for so long.\n\nThe Bactrian Camel is at once to be distinguished from that which\nhas already been described by the two humps and the clumsier and\nsturdier form. Still the skeletons of the Bactrian and Arabian\nspecies are so similar that none but a very skilful anatomist\ncan distinguish between them, and several learned zoologists\nhave expressed an opinion, in which I entirely coincide, that the\nBactrian and Arabian Camels are but simple varieties of one and the\nsame species, not nearly so dissimilar as the greyhound and the\nbulldog.\n\n[Illustration: A REST IN THE DESERT.]\n\nUnlike the one-humped Camel, the Bactrian species is quite at home\nin a cold climate, and walks over ice as easily as its congener does\nover smooth stone. It is an admirable rock-climber, and is said even\nto surpass the mule in the sureness of its tread. This quality is\nprobably occasioned by the peculiar structure of the foot, which has\nan elongated toe projecting beyond the soft pad, and forming a sort\nof claw. In the winter time the riders much prefer them to horses,\nbecause their long legs enable them to walk easily through snow,\nin which a horse could only plunge helplessly, and would in all\nprobability sink and perish.\n\nA mixed breed of the one-humped and the Bactrian animals is thought\nto be the best for hill work in winter time, and General Harlan\nactually took two thousand of these animals in winter time for a\ndistance of three hundred and sixty miles over the snowy tops of the\nIndian Caucasus; and though the campaign lasted for seven months, he\nonly lost one Camel, and that was accidentally killed. Owing to its\nuse among the hills, the Bactrian species is sometimes called the\nMountain Camel.\n\nIt very much dislikes the commencement of spring, because the warm\nmid-day sun slightly melts the surface of the snow, and the frost\nof night converts it into a thin plate of ice. When the Camel walks\nupon this semi-frozen snow, its feet plunge into the soft substratum\nthrough the icy crust, against which its legs are severely cut. The\nbeginning of the winter is liable to the same objection.\n\nThe mixed breed which has just been mentioned must be procured from\na male Bactrian and a female Arabian Camel. If the parentage be\nreversed, the offspring is useless, being weak, ill-tempered, and\ndisobedient.\n\nThe Bactrian Camel is, as has been mentioned, tolerant of cold, and\nis indeed so hardy an animal that it bears the severest winters\nwithout seeming to suffer distress, and has been seen quietly\nfeeding when the thermometer has reached a temperature several\ndegrees below zero. Sometimes, when the cold is more than usually\nsharp, the owners sew a thick cloth round its body, but even in such\nextreme cases the animal is left to find its own food as it best\ncan. And, however severe the weather may be, the Bactrian Camel\nnever sleeps under a roof.\n\nThis Camel is sometimes employed as a beast of burden, but its\ngeneral use is for draught. It is not often used alone for the\nplough, because it has an uncertain and jerking mode of pulling, and\ndoes not possess the steady dragging movement which is obtained by\nthe use of the horse or ox.\n\n[Illustration: BACTRIAN CAMELS DRAWING CART.]\n\nIt is almost invariably harnessed to carts, and always in pairs. The\nmode of yoking the animals is as simple as can well be conceived.\nA pole runs between them from the front of the vehicle, and the\nCamels are attached to it by means of a pole which passes over their\nnecks. Oxen were harnessed in a similar manner. It was probably\none of these cars or chariots that was mentioned by Isaiah in his\nprophecy respecting Assyria:--\"And he saw a chariot with a couple of\nhorsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels\" (Isa. xxi.\n7). The cars themselves are as simple as the mode of harnessing\nthem, being almost exactly like the ox carts which have already been\ndescribed.\n\nThe weight which can be drawn by a pair of these Camels is really\nconsiderable. On a tolerably made road a good pair of Camels are\nexpected to draw from twenty-six to twenty-eight hundred weight,\nand to continue their labours for twenty or thirty successive\ndays, traversing each day an average of thirty miles. It is much\nslower than the Arabian Camel, seldom going at more than two and a\nhalf miles per hour. If, however, the vehicle to which a pair of\nBactrians are harnessed were well made, the wheels truly circular,\nand the axles kept greased so as to diminish the friction, there is\nno doubt that the animals could draw a still greater load to longer\ndistances, and with less trouble to themselves. As it is, the wheels\nare wretchedly fitted, and their ungreased axles keep up a continual\ncreaking that is most painful to an unaccustomed ear, and totally\nunheeded by the drivers.\n\nThe hair of the Bactrian Camel is long, coarse, and strong; and,\nlike that of the Arabian animal, is made into rough cloth. It is\nplucked off by hand in the summer time, when it naturally becomes\nloose in readiness for its annual renewal, and the weight of the\nentire crop of hair ought to be about ten pounds. The skin is not\nmuch valued, and is seldom used for any purpose except for making\nropes, straps, and thongs, and is not thought worth the trouble of\ntanning. The milk, like that of the Arabian animal, is much used for\nfood, but the quantity is very trifling, barely two quarts per diem\nbeing procured from each Camel.\n\nThere is but little that is generally interesting in the Rabbinical\nwriters on the Camel. They have one proverbial saying upon the\nshortness of its ears. When any one makes a request that is likely\nto be refused, they quote the instance of the Camel, who, it seems,\nwas dissatisfied with its appearance, and asked for horns to match\nits long ears. The result of the request was, that it was deprived\nof its ears, and got no horns.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HORSE.\n\n The Hebrew words which signify the Horse--The Horse introduced\n into Palestine from Egypt--Similarity of the war-horse of\n Scripture and the Arab horse of the present day--Characteristics\n of the Horse--Courage and endurance of the Horse--Hardness of\n its unshod hoofs--Love of the Arab for his Horse--Difficulty\n of purchasing the animal--The Horse prohibited to the\n Israelites--Solomon's disregard of the edict--The war-chariot,\n its form and use--Probable construction of the iron chariot--The\n cavalry Horse--Lack of personal interest in the animal.\n\n\nSeveral Hebrew words are used by the various Scriptural writers to\nsignify the Horse, and, like our own terms of horse, mare, pony,\ncharger, &c., are used to express the different qualities of the\nanimal. The chief distinction of the Horse seemed to lie in its\nuse for riding or driving, the larger and heavier animals being\nnaturally required for drawing the weighty springless chariots. The\nchariot horse was represented by the word _Sus_, and the cavalry\nhorse by the word _Parash_, and in several passages both these words\noccur in bold contrast to each other. See, for example, 1 Kings iv.\n26, &c.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAmong the many passages of Scripture in which the Horse is\nmentioned, there are few which do not treat of it as an adjunct of\nwar, and therefore it is chiefly in that light that we must regard\nit.\n\nThe Horse of the Scriptures was evidently a similar animal to the\nArab Horse of the present day, as we find not only from internal\nevidence, but from the sculptures and paintings which still remain\nto tell us of the vanished glories of Egypt and Assyria. It is\nremarkable, by the way, that the first mention of the Horse in the\nScriptures alludes to it as an Egyptian animal. During the terrible\nfamine which Joseph had foretold, the Egyptians and the inhabitants\nof neighbouring countries were unable to find food for themselves\nor fodder for their cattle, and, accordingly, they sold all their\nbeasts for bread. \"And they brought their cattle unto Joseph, and\nJoseph gave them bread in exchange for horses and the flocks, and\nfor the cattle of herds, and for the asses, and he fed them with\nbread for all their cattle for that year.\"\n\nThis particular breed of Horses is peculiarly fitted for the\npurposes of war, and is much less apt for peaceful duties than the\nheavier and more powerful breeds, which are found in different parts\nof the world. It is remarkable for the flexible agility of its\nmovements, which enable it to adapt itself to every movement of the\nrider, whose intentions it seems to divine by a sort of instinct,\nand who guides it not so much by the bridle as by the pressure of\nthe knees and the voice. Examples of a similar mode of guidance\nmay be seen on the well-known frieze of the Parthenon, where, in\nthe Procession of Horsemen, the riders may be seen directing their\nsteeds by touching the side of the neck with one finger, thus\nshowing their own skill and the well-trained quality of the animals\nwhich they ride.\n\n[Illustration: TRIAL OF ARAB HORSES.]\n\nIts endurance is really wonderful, and a horse of the Kochlani breed\nwill go through an amount of work which is almost incredible. Even\nthe trial by which a Horse is tested is so severe, that any other\nanimal would be either killed on the spot or ruined for life. When a\nyoung mare is tried for the first time, her owner rides her for some\nfifty or sixty miles at full speed, always finishing by swimming\nher through a river. After this trial she is expected to feed\nfreely; and should she refuse her food, she is rejected as an animal\nunworthy of the name of Kochlani.\n\n[Illustration: AN ARAB HORSE OF THE KOCHLANI BREED.]\n\nPartly from native qualities, and partly from constant association\nwith mankind, the Arab Horse is a singularly intelligent animal.\nIn Europe we scarcely give the Horse credit for the sensitive\nintelligence with which it is endowed, and look upon it rather as\na machine for draught and carriage than a companion to man. The\nArab, however, lives with his horse, and finds in it the docility\nand intelligence which we are accustomed to associate with the\ndog rather than the Horse. It will follow him about and come at\nhis call. It will stand for any length of time and await its\nrider without moving. Should he fall from its back, it will stop\nand stand patiently by him until he can remount; and there is a\nwell-authenticated instance of an Arab Horse whose master had been\nwounded in battle, taking him up by his clothes and carrying him\naway to a place of safety.\n\nEven in the very heat and turmoil of the combat, the true Arab Horse\nseems to be in his true element, and fully deserves the splendid\neulogium in the Book of Job (xxxix. 19-25): \"Hast thou given the\nhorse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?\n\n\"Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his\nnostrils is terror.\n\n\"He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on\nto meet the armed men.\n\n\"He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back\nfrom the sword.\n\n\"The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the\nshield.\n\n\"He walketh the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth\nhe that it is the sound of the trumpet.\n\n\"He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle\nafar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.\"\n\nIn another passage an allusion is made to the courage of the Horse,\nand its love for the battle. \"I hearkened and heard, but they spake\nnot aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have\nI done? Every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into\nthe battle.\" (Jer. viii. 6.) Even in the mimic battle of the djereed\nthe Horse seems to exult in the conflict as much as his rider, and\nwheels or halts almost without the slightest intimation.\n\n[Illustration: THE WAR HORSE.]\n\nThe hoofs of the Arab Horses are never shod, their owners thinking\nthat that act is not likely to improve nature, and even among the\nburning sands and hard rocks the Horse treads with unbroken hoof. In\nsuch a climate, indeed, an iron shoe would be worse than useless,\nas it would only scorch the hoof by day, and in consequence of the\nrapid change of temperature by day or night, the continual expansion\nand contraction of the metal would soon work the nails loose, and\ncause the shoe to fall off.\n\nA tender-footed Horse would be of little value, and so we often\nfind in the Scriptures that the hardness of the hoof is reckoned\namong one of the best qualities of a Horse. See, for example, Isa.\nv. 28: \"Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their\nhorses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a\nwhirlwind.\" Again, in Micah iv. 13: \"Arise and thresh, O daughter\nof Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs\nbrass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people.\" Allusion is here\nmade to one mode of threshing, in which a number of Horses were\nturned into the threshing-floor, and driven about at random among\nthe wheat, instead of walking steadily like the oxen.\n\nIn Judges v. 22 there is a curious allusion to the hoofs of the\nHorse. It occurs in the Psalm of Thanksgiving sung by Deborah and\nBarak after the death of Sisera: \"Then were the horse-hoofs broken\nby the means of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones.\"\n\nHorses possessed of the qualities of courage, endurance, and\nsureness of foot are naturally invaluable; and even at the present\nday the Arab warrior esteems above all things a Horse of the purest\nbreed, and, whether he buys or sells one, takes care to have its\ngenealogy made out and hung on the animal's neck.\n\nAs to the mare, scarcely any inducement is strong enough to make\nan Arab part with it, even to a countryman, and the sale of the\nanimal is hindered by a number of impediments which in point of\nfact are almost prohibitory. Signor Pierotti, whose long residence\nin Palestine has given him a deep insight into the character of the\npeople, speaks in the most glowing terms of the pure Arab Horse,\nand of its inestimable value to its owner. Of the difficulties with\nwhich the sale of the animal is surrounded, he gives a very amusing\naccount:--\n\n\"After this enumeration of the merits of the horse, I will describe\nthe manner in which a sale is conducted, choosing the case of the\nmare, as that is the more valuable animal. The price varies with the\npurity of blood of the steed, and the fortunes of its owner. When he\nis requested to fix a value, his first reply is, 'It is yours, and\nbelongs to you, I am your servant;' because, perhaps, he does not\nthink that the question is asked with any real design of purchasing;\nwhen the demand is repeated, he either makes no answer or puts the\nquestion by; at the third demand he generally responds rudely with\na sardonic smile, which is not a pleasant thing to see, as it is a\nsign of anger; and then says that he would sooner sell his family\nthan his mare. This remark is not meant as a mere jest; for it is no\nuncommon thing for a Bedawy to give his parents as hostages rather\nthan separate himself from his friend.\n\n[Illustration: ARAB HORSES.]\n\n\"If, however, owing to some misfortune, he determines on selling his\nmare, it is very doubtful whether he or his parents will allow her\nto leave their country without taking the precaution to render her\nunfit for breeding.\n\n\"There are many methods of arranging the sale, all of which I should\nlike to describe particularly; however, I will confine myself to a\ngeneral statement. Before the purchaser enters upon the question of\nthe price to be paid, he must ascertain that the parents, friends,\nand allies of the owners give their consent to the sale, without\nwhich some difficulty or other may arise, or perhaps the mare may be\nstolen from her new master. He must also obtain an unquestionable\nwarranty that she is fit for breeding purposes, and that no other\nhas a prior claim to any part of her body. This last precaution may\nseem rather strange, but it arises from the following custom. It\nsometimes happens that, when a Bedawy is greatly in want of money,\nhe raises it most easily by selling a member of his horse; so that\nvery frequently a horse belongs to a number of owners, one of whom\nhas purchased the right fore-leg, another the left, another the\nhind-leg, or the tail, or an ear, or the like; and the proprietors\nhave each a proportionate interest in the profits of its labour or\nsale.\n\n\"So also the offspring are sold in a similar manner; sometimes only\nthe first-born, sometimes the first three; and then it occasionally\nhappens that two or three members of the foal are, as it were,\nmortgaged. Consequently, any one who is ignorant of this custom may\nfind that, after he has paid the price of the mare to her supposed\nowner, a third person arises who demands to be paid the value of his\npart; and, if the purchaser refuse to comply, he may find himself in\na very unpleasant situation, without any possibility of obtaining\nhelp from the local government. Whoever sells his mare entirely,\nwithout reserving to himself one or two parts, must be on good terms\nwith the confederate chiefs in the neighbourhood, and must have\nobtained their formal sanction, otherwise they would universally\ndespise him, and perhaps lie in wait to kill him, so that his only\nhope of escape would be a disgraceful flight, just as if he had\ncommitted some great crime. It is an easier matter to purchase\na stallion; but even in this case the above formalities must be\nobserved.\n\n[Illustration: BUYING AN ARAB HORSE.]\n\n\"These remarks only apply to buying horses of the purest blood;\nthose of inferior race are obtained without difficulty, and at fair\nprices.\"\n\nFor some reason, perhaps the total severance of the Israelites from\nthe people among whom they had lived so long in captivity, the use\nof the Horse, or, at all events, the breeding of it, was forbidden\nto the Israelites; see Deut. xvi. 16. After prophesying that the\nIsraelites, when they had settled themselves in the Promised Land,\nwould want a king, the inspired writer next ordains that the new\nking must be chosen by Divine command, and must belong to one of\nthe twelve tribes. He then proceeds as follows:--\"But he shall not\nmultiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt,\nto the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord\nhath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.\"\n\nThe foresight of this prophetical writer was afterwards shown by the\nfact that many kings of Israel did send to Egypt for Horses, Egypt\nbeing the chief source from which these animals were obtained. And,\njudging from the monuments to which reference has been made, the\nHorse of Egypt was precisely the same animal as the Arab Horse of\nthe present day, and was probably obtained from nomad breeders.\n\nIn spite of the prohibitory edict, both David and Solomon used\nHorses in battle, and the latter supplied himself largely from\nEgypt, disregarding as utterly the interdict against plurality of\nHorses as that against plurality of wives, which immediately follows.\n\nDavid seems to have been the first king who established a force\nof chariots, and this he evidently did for the purpose of action\non the flat grounds of Palestine, where infantry were at a great\ndisadvantage when attacked by the dreaded chariots; yet he did not\ncontrovert the law by multiplying to himself Horses, or even by\nimporting them from Egypt; and when he had an opportunity of adding\nto his army an enormous force of chariots, he only employed as many\nas he thought were sufficient for his purpose. After he defeated\nHadadezer, and had taken from him a thousand chariots with their\nHorses together with seven hundred cavalry, he houghed all the\nHorses except those which were needed for one hundred chariots.\n\n[Illustration: THE ARAB'S FAVOURITE STEEDS.]\n\nSolomon, however, was more lax, and systematically broke the ancient\nlaw by multiplying Horses exceedingly, and sending to Egypt for\nthem. We learn from 1 Kings iv. 26 of the enormous establishment\nwhich he kept up both for chariots and cavalry. Besides those which\nwere given to him as tribute, he purchased both chariots and their\nHorses from Egypt and Syria.\n\nChariots were far more valued in battle than horsemen, probably\nbecause their weight made their onset irresistible against infantry,\nwho had no better weapons than bows and spears. The slingers\nthemselves could make little impression on the chariots; and even\nif the driver, or the warrior who fought in the chariot, or his\nattendant, happened to be killed, the weighty machine, with its two\nHorses, still went on its destructive way.\n\n[Illustration: PHARAOH PURSUES THE ISRAELITES WITH CHARIOTS AND\nHORSES, AND THE SEA COVERS THEM.]\n\nOf their use in battle we find very early mention. For example, in\nExod. xiv. 6 it is mentioned that Pharaoh made ready his chariot to\npursue the Israelites; and in a subsequent part of the same chapter\nwe find that six hundred of the Egyptian chariot force accompanied\ntheir master in the pursuit, and that the whole army was delayed\nbecause the loss of the chariot wheels made them drive heavily.\n\nThen in the familiar story of Sisera and Jael the vanquished general\nis mentioned as alighting from his chariot, in which he would be\nconspicuous, and taking flight on foot; and, after his death, his\nmother is represented as awaiting his arrival, and saying to the\nwomen of the household, \"Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why\ntarry the wheels of his chariot?\"\n\nDuring the war of conquest which Joshua led, the chariot plays a\nsomewhat important part. As long as the war was carried on in the\nrugged mountainous parts of the land, no mention of the chariot is\nmade; but when the battles had to be fought on level ground, the\nenemy brought the dreaded chariots to bear upon the Israelites. In\nspite of these adjuncts, Joshua won the battles, and, unlike David,\ndestroyed the whole of the Horses and burned the chariots.\n\nMany years afterwards, a still more dreadful weapon, the iron\nchariot, was used against the Israelites by Jabin. This new\ninstrument of war seems to have cowed the people completely; for\nwe find that by means of his nine hundred chariots of iron Jabin\n\"mightily oppressed the children of Israel\" for twenty years. It has\nbeen well suggested that the possession of the war chariot gave rise\nto the saying of Benhadad's councillors, that the gods of Israel\nwere gods of the hills, and so their army had been defeated; but\nthat if the battle were fought in the plain, where the chariots and\nHorses could act, they would be victorious.\n\nSo dreaded were these weapons, even by those who were familiar\nwith them and were accustomed to use them, that when the Syrians\nhad besieged Samaria, and had nearly reduced it by starvation, the\nfancied sound of a host of chariots and Horses that they heard in\nthe night caused them all to flee and evacuate the camp, leaving\ntheir booty and all their property in the hands of the Israelites.\n\nWhether the Jews ever employed the terrible scythe chariots is not\nquite certain, though it is probable that they may have done so;\nand this conjecture is strengthened by the fact that they were\nemployed against the Jews by Antiochus, who had \"footmen an hundred\nand ten thousand, and horsemen five thousand and three hundred,\nand elephants two and twenty, and three hundred chariots armed with\nhooks\" (2 Macc. xiii. 2). Some commentators think that by the iron\nchariots mentioned above were signified ordinary chariots armed with\niron scythes projecting from the sides.\n\n[Illustration: ELIJAH IS CARRIED UP.]\n\nBy degrees the chariot came to be one of the recognised forces\nin war, and we find it mentioned throughout the books of the\nScriptures, not only in its literal sense, but as a metaphor which\nevery one could understand. In the Psalms, for example, are several\nallusions to the war-chariot.\" He maketh wars to cease unto the end\nof the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder;\nHe burneth the chariot in the fire\" (Ps. xlvi. 9). Again: \"At Thy\nrebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into\na dead sleep\" (Ps. lxxvi. 6). And: \"Some trust in chariots, and\nsome in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God\"\n(Ps. xx. 7). Now, the force of these passages cannot be properly\nappreciated unless we realize to ourselves the dread in which the\nwar-chariot was held by the foot-soldiers. Even cavalry were much\nfeared; but the chariots were objects of almost superstitious fear,\nand the rushing sound of their wheels, the noise of the Horses'\nhoofs, and the shaking of the ground as the \"prancing horses and\njumping chariots\" (Nah. iii. 2) thundered along, are repeatedly\nmentioned.\n\nSee, for example, Ezek. xxvi. 10: \"By reason of the abundance of\nhis horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at\nthe noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots.\"\nAlso, Jer. xlvii. 3: \"At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs\nof his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the\nrumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their\nchildren for feebleness of hands.\" See also Joel ii. 4, 5: \"The\nappearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen,\nso shall they run.\n\n\"Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they\nleap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble,\nas a strong people set in battle array.\"\n\nIn several passages the chariot and Horse are used in bold imagery\nas expressions of Divine power: \"The chariots of God are twenty\nthousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as\nin Sinai, in the holy place\" (Ps. lxviii. 17). A similar image\nis employed in Ps. civ. 3: \"Who maketh the clouds His chariot:\nwho walketh upon the wings of the wind.\" In connexion with these\npassages, we cannot but call to mind that wonderful day when the\nunseen power of the Almighty was made manifest to the servant\nof Elisha, whose eyes were suddenly opened, and he saw that the\nmountain was full of Horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.\n\nThe chariot and horses of fire by which Elijah was taken from earth\nare also familiar to us, and in connexion with the passage which\ndescribes that wonderful event, we may mention one which occurs in\nthe splendid prayer of Habakkuk (iii. 8): \"Was the Lord displeased\nagainst the rivers? was Thine anger against the rivers? was Thy\nwrath against the sea, that Thou didst ride upon Thine horses and\nThy chariots of salvation?\"\n\nBy degrees the chariot came to be used for peaceful purposes, and\nwas employed as our carriages of the present day, in carrying\npersons of wealth. That this was the case in Egypt from very early\ntimes is evident from Gen. xli. 43, in which we are told that after\nPharaoh had taken Joseph out of prison and raised him to be next in\nrank to himself, the king caused him to ride in the second chariot\nwhich he had, and so to be proclaimed ruler over Egypt. Many years\nafterwards we find him travelling in his chariot to the land of\nGoshen, whither he went to meet Jacob and to conduct him to the\npresence of Pharaoh.\n\nAt first the chariot seems to have been too valuable to the\nIsraelites to have been used for any purpose except war, and it is\nnot until a comparatively late time that we find it employed as a\ncarriage, and even then it is only used by the noble and wealthy.\nAbsalom had such chariots, but it is evident that he used them for\npurposes of state, and as appendages of his regal rank. Chariots or\ncarriages were, however, afterwards employed by the Israelites as\nfreely as by the Egyptians, from whom they were originally procured;\nand accordingly we find Rehoboam mounting his chariot and fleeing\nto Jerusalem, Ahab riding in his chariot from Samaria to Jezreel,\nwith Elijah running before him; and in the New Testament we read of\nthe chariot in which sat the chief eunuch of Ethiopia whom Philip\nbaptized (Acts viii. 28).\n\nAs to the precise form and character of these chariots, they are\nmade familiar to us by the sculptures and paintings of Egypt\nand Assyria, from both of which countries the Jews procured the\nvehicles. Differing very slightly in shape, the principle of the\nchariot was the same; and it strikes us with some surprise that\nthe Assyrians, the Egyptians, and the Jews, the three wealthiest\nand most powerful nations of the world, should not have invented a\nbetter carriage. They lavished the costliest materials and the most\nartistic skill in decorating the chariots, but had no idea of making\nthem comfortable for the occupants.\n\nThey were nothing but semicircular boxes on wheels, and of very\nsmall size. They were hung very low, so that the occupants could\nstep in and out without trouble, though they do not seem to have\nhad the sloping floor of the Greek or Roman chariot. They had no\nsprings, but, in order to render the jolting of the carriage less\ndisagreeable, the floor was made of a sort of network of leathern\nropes, very tightly stretched so as to be elastic. The wheels were\nalways two in number, and generally had six spokes.\n\nTo the side of the chariot was attached the case which contained\nthe bow and quiver of arrows, and in the case of a rich man these\nbow-cases were covered with gold and silver, and adorned with\nfigures of lions and other animals. Should the chariot be intended\nfor two persons, two bow-cases were fastened to it, the one crossing\nthe other. The spear had also its tubular case, in which it was kept\nupright, like the whip of a modern carriage.\n\nTwo Horses were generally used with each chariot, though three were\nsometimes employed. They were harnessed very simply, having no\ntraces, and being attached to the central pole by a breast-band, a\nvery slight saddle, and a loose girth. On their heads were generally\nfixed ornaments, such as tufts of feathers, and similar decorations,\nand tassels hung to the harness served to drive away the flies.\nRound the neck of each Horse passed a strap, to the end of which was\nattached a bell. This ornament is mentioned in Zech. xiv. 20: \"In\nthat day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto\nthe Lord\"--i.e. the greeting of peace shall be on the bells of the\nanimals once used in war.\n\nSometimes the owner drove his own chariot, even when going into\nbattle, but the usual plan was to have a driver, who managed the\nHorses while the owner or occupant could fight with both his hands\nat liberty. In case he drove his own Horse, the reins passed round\nhis waist, and the whip was fastened to the wrist by a thong, so\nthat when the charioteer used the bow, his principal weapon, he\ncould do so without danger of losing his whip.\n\nThus much for the use of the chariot in war; we have now the Horse\nas the animal ridden by the cavalry.\n\nAs was the case with the chariot, the war-horse was not employed by\nthe Jews until a comparatively late period of their history. They\nhad been familiarized with cavalry during their long sojourn in\nEgypt, and in the course of their war of conquest had often suffered\ndefeat from the horsemen of the enemy. But we do not find any\nmention of a mounted force as forming part of the Jewish army until\nthe days of David, although after that time the successive kings\npossessed large forces of cavalry.\n\nMany references to mounted soldiers are made by the prophets,\nsometimes allegorically, sometimes metaphorically. See, for example,\nJer. vi. 23: \"They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel,\nand have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride\nupon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter\nof Zion.\" The same prophet has a similar passage in chap. l. 42,\ncouched in almost precisely the same words. And in chap. xlvi. 4,\nthere is a further reference to the cavalry, which is specially\nvaluable as mentioning the weapons used by them. The first call of\nthe prophet is to the infantry: \"Order ye the buckler and shield,\nand draw near to battle\" (verse 3); and then follows the command\nto the cavalry, \"Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and\nstand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the\nbrigandines.\" The chief arms of the Jewish soldier were therefore\nthe cuirass, the helmet, and the lance, the weapons which in all\nages, and in all countries, have been found to be peculiarly\nsuitable to the horse-soldier.\n\n[Illustration: THE ISRAELITES, LED BY JOSHUA, TAKE JERICHO.]\n\n * * * * *\n\nBeing desirous of affording the reader a pictorial representation\nof the war and state chariots, I have selected Egypt as the typical\ncountry of the former, and Assyria of the latter. Both have been\nexecuted with the greatest care in details, every one of which, even\nto the harness of the Horses, the mode of holding the reins, the\nform of the whip, and the offensive and defensive armour, has been\ncopied from the ancient records of Egypt and Nineveh.\n\nWe will first take the war-chariot of Egypt.\n\n[Illustration: ANCIENT BATTLE-FIELD.]\n\nThis form has been selected as the type of the war-chariot because\nthe earliest account of such a force mentions the war-chariots of\nEgypt, and because, after the Israelites had adopted chariots as\nan acknowledged part of their army, the vehicles, as well as the\ntrained Horses, and probably their occupants, were procured from\nEgypt.\n\nThe scene represents a battle between the imperial forces and a\nrevolted province, so that the reader may have the opportunity of\nseeing the various kinds of weapons and armour which were in use in\nEgypt at the time of Joseph. In the foreground is the chariot of\nthe general, driven at headlong speed, the Horses at full gallop,\nand the springless chariot leaping off the ground as the Horses\nbound along. The royal rank of the general in question is shown by\nthe feather fan which denotes his high birth, and which is fixed in\na socket at the back of his chariot, much as a coachman fixes his\nwhip. The rank of the rider is further shown by the feather plumes\non the heads of his Horses.\n\nBy the side of the chariot are seen the quiver and bow-case, the\nformer being covered with decorations, and having the figure of a\nrecumbent lion along its sides. The simple but effective harness\nof the Horses is especially worthy of notice, as showing how the\nancients knew, better than the moderns, that to cover a Horse with a\ncomplicated apparatus of straps and metal only deteriorates from the\npowers of the animal, and that a Horse is more likely to behave well\nif he can see freely on all sides, than if all lateral vision be cut\noff by the use of blinkers.\n\nJust behind the general is the chariot of another officer, one\nof whose Horses has been struck, and is lying struggling on the\nground. The general is hastily giving his orders as he dashes past\nthe fallen animal. On the ground are lying the bodies of some slain\nenemies, and the Horses are snorting and shaking their heads,\nsignificative of their unwillingness to trample on a human being.\nBy the side of the dead man are his shield, bow, and quiver, and\nit is worthy of notice that the form of these weapons, as depicted\nupon the ancient Egyptian monuments, is identical with that which is\nstill found among several half-savage tribes of Africa.\n\nIn the background is seen the fight raging round the standards. One\nchief has been killed, and while the infantry are pressing round\nthe body of the rebel leader and his banner on one side, on the\nother the imperial chariots are thundering along to support the\nattack, and are driving their enemies before them. In the distance\nare seen the clouds of dust whirled into the air by the hoofs and\nwheels, and circling in clouds by the eddies caused by the fierce\nrush of the vehicles, thus illustrating the passage in Jer. iv. 13:\n\"Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a\nwhirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we\nare spoiled.\" The reader will see, by reference to the illustration,\nhow wonderfully true and forcible is this statement, the writer\nevidently having been an eye-witness of the scene which he so\npowerfully depicts.\n\n[Illustration: CHARIOT OF STATE.]\n\nThe second scene is intentionally chosen as affording a strong\ncontrast to the former. Here, instead of the furious rush, the\ngalloping Horses, the chariots leaping off the ground, the archers\nbending their bows, and all imbued with the fierce ardour of\nbattle, we have a scene of quiet grandeur, the Assyrian king making\na solemn progress in his chariot after a victory, accompanied by\nhis attendants, and surrounded by his troops, in all the placid\nsplendour of Eastern state.\n\nChief object in the illustration stands the great king in his\nchariot, wearing the regal crown, or mitre, and sheltered from\nthe sun by the umbrella, which in ancient Nineveh, as in more\nmodern times, was the emblem of royalty. By his side is his\ncharioteer, evidently a man of high rank, holding the reins in a\nbusiness-like manner; and in front marches the shield-bearer. In\none of the sculptures from which this illustration was composed,\nthe shield-bearer was clearly a man of rank, fat, fussy, full of\nimportance, and evidently a portrait of some well-known individual.\n\nThe Horses are harnessed with remarkable lightness, but they bear\nthe gorgeous trappings which befit the rank of the rider, their\nheads being decorated with the curious successive plumes with which\nthe Assyrian princes distinguished their chariot Horses, and the\nbreast-straps being adorned with tassels, repeated in successive\nrows like the plumes of the head.\n\nThe reader will probably notice the peculiar high action of the\nHorses. This accomplishment seems to have been even more valued\namong the ancients than by ourselves, and some of the sculptures\nshow the Horses with their knees almost touching their noses. Of\ncourse the artist exaggerrated the effect that he wanted to produce;\nbut the very fact of the exaggeration shows the value that was\nset on a high and showy action in a Horse that was attached to a\nchariot of state. The old Assyrian sculptors knew the Horse well,\nand delineated it in a most spirited and graphic style, though they\ntreated it rather conventionally. The variety of attitude is really\nwonderful, considering that all the figures are profile views, as\nindeed seemed to have been a law of the historical sculptures.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBefore closing this account of the Horse, it may be as well to\nremark the singular absence of detail in the Scriptural accounts. Of\nthe other domesticated animals many such details are given, but of\nthe Horse we hear but little, except in connexion with war. There\nare few exceptions to this rule, and even the oft-quoted passage\nin Job, which goes deeper into the character of the Horse than any\nother portion of the Scriptures, only considers the Horse as an\nauxiliary in battle. We miss the personal interest in the animal\nwhich distinguishes the many references to the ox, the sheep, and\nthe goat; and it is remarkable that even in the Book of Proverbs,\nwhich is so rich in references to various animals, very little is\nsaid of the Horse.\n\n[Illustration: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE REPRESENTING A VICTORIOUS\nKING IN HIS CHARIOT SLAYING HIS ENEMIES.]\n\n[Illustration: MUMMY OF AN EGYPTIAN KING (OVER THREE THOUSAND YEARS\nOLD).]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: ass]\n\n\n\n\nTHE ASS.\n\n Importance of the Ass in the East--Its general use for the\n saddle--Riding the Ass not a mark of humility--The triumphal\n entry--White Asses--Character of the Scriptural Ass--Saddling\n the Ass--Samson and Balaam.\n\n\nIn the Scriptures we read of two breeds of Ass, namely, the\nDomesticated and the Wild Ass. As the former is the more important\nof the two, we will give it precedence.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIn the East, the Ass has always played a much more important part\nthan among us Westerns, and on that account we find it so frequently\nmentioned in the Bible. In the first place, it is the universal\nsaddle-animal of the East. Among us the Ass has ceased to be\nregularly used for the purposes of the saddle, and is only casually\nemployed by holiday-makers and the like. Some persons certainly\nride it habitually, but they almost invariably belong to the\nlower orders, and are content to ride without a saddle, balancing\nthemselves in some extraordinary manner just over the animal's tail.\nIn the East, however, it is ridden by persons of the highest rank,\nand is decorated with saddle and harness as rich as those of the\nhorse.\n\nSo far from the use of the Ass as a saddle-animal being a mark of\nhumility, it ought to be viewed in precisely the opposite light.\nIn consequence of the very natural habit of reading, according\nto Western ideas, the Scriptures, which are books essentially\nOriental in all their allusions and tone of thought, many persons\nhave entirely perverted the sense of one very familiar passage,\nthe prophecy of Zechariah concerning the future Messiah. \"Rejoice\ngreatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold,\nthy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly,\nand riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass\" (Zech.\nix. 9).\n\nNow this passage, as well as the one which describes its fulfilment\nso many years afterwards, has often been seized upon as a proof of\nthe meekness and lowliness of our Saviour, in riding upon so humble\nan animal when He made His entry into Jerusalem. The fact is, that\nthere was no humility in the case, neither was the act so understood\nby the people. He rode upon an Ass as any prince or ruler would have\ndone who was engaged on a peaceful journey, the horse being reserved\nfor war purposes. He rode on the Ass, and not on the horse, because\nHe was the Prince of Peace and not of war, as indeed is shown very\nclearly in the context. For, after writing the words which have just\nbeen quoted, Zechariah proceeds as follows (ver. 10): \"And I will\ncut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and\nthe battle bow shall be cut off: and He shall speak peace unto the\nheathen: and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from\nthe river even to the ends of the earth.\"\n\nMeek and lowly was He, as became the new character, hitherto unknown\nto the warlike and restless Jews, a Prince, not of war, as had been\nall other celebrated kings, but of peace. Had He come as the Jews\nexpected--despite so many prophecies--their Messiah to come, as a\ngreat king and conqueror, He might have ridden the war-horse, and\nbeen surrounded with countless legions of armed men. But He came as\nthe herald of peace, and not of war; and, though meek and lowly, yet\na Prince, riding as became a prince, on an Ass colt which had borne\nno inferior burden.\n\nThat the act was not considered as one of lowliness is evident from\nthe manner in which it was received by the people, accepting Him as\nthe Son of David, coming in the name of the Highest, and greeting\nHim with the cry of \"Hosanna!\" (\"Save us now,\") quoted from verses\n25, 26 of Ps. cxviii.: \"Save now, I beseech Thee, O Lord: O Lord, I\nbeseech Thee, send now prosperity.\"\n\n\"Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord.\"\n\n[Illustration: ENTERING JERUSALEM.]\n\nThe palm-branches which they strewed upon the road were not chosen\nby the attendant crowd merely as a means of doing honour to Him\nwhom they acknowledged as the Son of David. They were necessarily\nconnected with the cry of \"Hosanna!\" At the Feast of Tabernacles,\nit was customary for the people to assemble with branches of palms\nand willows in their hands, and for one of the priests to recite the\nGreat Hallel, _i.e._ Ps. cxiii. and cxviii. At certain intervals,\nthe people responded with the cry of \"Hosanna!\" waving at the same\ntime their palm-branches. For the whole of the seven days through\nwhich the feast lasted they repeated their Hosannas, always\naccompanying the shout with the waving of palm-branches, and setting\nthem towards the altar as they went in procession round it.\n\nEvery child who could hold a palm-branch was expected to take part\nin the solemnity, just as did the children on the occasion of the\ntriumphal entry. By degrees, the name of Hosanna was transferred to\nthe palm-branches themselves, as well as to the feast, the last day\nbeing called the Great Hosanna.\n\nThe reader will now see the importance of this carrying of\npalm-branches, accompanied with Hosannas, and that those who used\nthem in honour of Him whom they followed into Jerusalem had no idea\nthat He was acting any lowly part.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAgain, the woman of Shunem, who rode on an Ass to meet Elisha, a\nmission in which the life of her only child was involved, was a\nwoman of great wealth (2 Kings iv. 8), who was able not only to\nreceive the prophet, but to build a chamber, and furnish it for him.\n\nNot to multiply examples, we see from these passages that the Ass of\nthe East was held in comparatively high estimation, being used for\nthe purposes of the saddle, just as would a high-bred horse among\nourselves.\n\nConsequently, the Ass is really a different animal. In this country\nhe is repressed, and seldom has an opportunity for displaying the\nintellectual powers which he possesses, and which are of a much\nhigher order than is generally imagined. It is rather remarkable,\nthat when we wish to speak slightingly of intellect we liken the\nindividual to an Ass or a goose, not knowing that we have selected\njust the quadruped and the bird which are least worthy of such a\ndistinction.\n\nPutting aside the bird, as being at present out of place, we shall\nfind that the Ass is one of the cleverest of our domesticated\nanimals. We are apt to speak of the horse with a sort of reverence,\nand of the Ass with contemptuous pity, not knowing that, of the two\nanimals, the Ass is by far the superior in point of intellect. It\nhas been well remarked by a keen observer of nature, that if four or\nfive horses are in a field, together with one Ass, and there be an\nassailable point in the fence, the Ass is sure to be the animal that\ndiscovers it, and leads the way through it.\n\nTake even one of our own toil-worn animals, turned out in a common\nto graze, and see the ingenuity which it displays when persecuted\nby the idle boys who generally frequent such places, and who try to\nride every beast that is within their reach. It seems to divine at\nonce the object of the boy as he steals up to it, and he takes a\npleasure in baffling him just as he fancies that he has succeeded in\nhis attempt.\n\n[Illustration: SYRIAN ASSES.]\n\nShould the Ass be kindly treated, there is not an animal that proves\nmore docile, or even affectionate. Stripes and kicks it resents,\nand sets itself distinctly against them; and, being nothing but a\nslave, it follows the slavish principle of doing no work that it can\npossibly avoid.\n\nNow, in the East the Ass takes so much higher rank than our own\nanimal, that its whole demeanour and gait are different from those\ndisplayed by the generality of its brethren. \"Why, the very slave of\nslaves,\" writes Mr. Lowth, in his \"Wanderer in Arabia,\" \"the crushed\nand grief-stricken, is so no more in Egypt: the battered drudge has\nbecome the willing servant. Is that active little fellow, who, with\nrace-horse coat and full flanks, moves under his rider with the\nlight step and the action of a pony--is he the same animal as that\nstarved and head-bowed object of the North, subject for all pity and\ncruelty, and clothed with rags and insult?\n\n\"Look at him now. On he goes, rapid and free, with his small head\nwell up, and as gay as a crimson saddle and a bridle of light chains\nand red leather can make him. It was a gladdening sight to see the\nunfortunate as a new animal in Egypt.\"\n\nHardy animal as is the Ass, it is not well adapted for tolerance\nof cold, and seems to degenerate in size, strength, speed, and\nspirit in proportion as the climate becomes colder. Whether it\nmight equal the horse in its endurance of cold provided that it\nwere as carefully treated, is perhaps a doubtful point; but it is\na well-known fact that the horse does not necessarily degenerate\nby moving towards a colder climate, though the Ass has always been\nfound to do so.\n\nThere is, of course, a variety in the treatment which the Ass\nreceives even in the East. Signor Pierotti, whose work on the\ncustoms and traditions of Palestine has already been mentioned,\nwrites in very glowing terms of the animal. He states that he formed\na very high opinion of the Ass while he was in Egypt, not only from\nits spirited aspect and its speed, but because it was employed even\nby the Viceroy and the great Court officers, who may be said to use\nAsses of more or less intelligence for every occasion. He even goes\nso far as to say that, if all the Asses were taken away from Egypt,\ntravel would be impossible.\n\nThe same traveller gives an admirable summary of the character of\nthe Ass, as it exists in Egypt and Palestine. \"What, then, are the\ncharacteristics of the ass? Much the same as those which adorn it\nin other parts of the East--namely, it is useful for riding and for\ncarrying burdens; it is sensible of kindness, and shows gratitude;\nit is very steady, and is larger, stronger, and more tractable than\nits European congener; its pace is easy and pleasant; and it will\nshrink from no labour, if only its poor daily feed of straw and\nbarley is fairly given.\n\n\"If well and liberally supplied, it is capable of any enterprise,\nand wears an altered and dignified mien, apparently forgetful of its\nextraction, except when undeservedly beaten by its masters, who,\nhowever, are not so much to be blamed, because, having learned to\nlive among sticks, thongs, and rods, they follow the same system of\neducation with their miserable dependants.\n\n\"The wealthy feed him well, deck him with fine harness and silver\ntrappings, and cover him, when his work is done, with rich Persian\ncarpets. The poor do the best they can for him, steal for his\nbenefit, give him a corner at their fireside, and in cold weather\nsleep with him for more warmth. In Palestine, all the rich men,\nwhether monarchs or chiefs of villages, possess a number of asses,\nkeeping them with their flocks, like the patriarchs of old. No one\ncan travel in that country, and observe how the ass is employed for\nall purposes, without being struck with the exactness with which the\nArabs retain the Hebrew customs.\"\n\nThe result of this treatment is, that the Eastern Ass is an enduring\nand tolerably swift animal, vying with the camel itself in its\npowers of long-continued travel, its usual pace being a sort of easy\ncanter. On rough ground, or up an ascent, it is said even to gain on\nthe horse, probably because its little sharp hoofs give it a firm\nfooting where the larger hoof of the horse is liable to slip.\n\nThe familiar term \"saddling the Ass\" requires some little\nexplanation.\n\nThe saddle is not in the least like the article which we know by\nthat name, but is very large and complicated in structure. Over the\nanimal's back is first spread a cloth, made of thick woollen stuff,\nand folded several times. The saddle itself is a very thick pad of\nstraw, covered with carpet, and flat at the top, instead of being\nrounded as is the case with our saddles. The pommel is very high,\nand when the rider is seated on it, he is perched high above the\nback of the animal. Over the saddle is thrown a cloth or carpet,\nalways of bright colours, and varying in costliness of material and\nornament according to the wealth of the possessor. It is mostly\nedged with a fringe and tassels.\n\nThe bridle is decorated, like that of the horse, with bells,\nembroidery, tassels, shells, and other ornaments.\n\nAs we may see from 2 Kings iv. 24, the Ass was generally guided\nby a driver who ran behind it, just as is done with donkeys hired\nto children here. Owing to the unchanging character of the East,\nthere is no doubt that the \"riders on asses\" of the Scriptures rode\nexactly after the mode which is adopted at the present day. What\nthat mode is, we may learn from Mr. Bayard Taylor's amusing and\nvivid description of a ride through the streets of Cairo:--\n\n[Illustration: A STREET IN CAIRO, EGYPT.]\n\n\"To see Cairo thoroughly, one must first accustom himself to the\nways of these long-eared cabs, without the use of which I would\nadvise no one to trust himself in the bazaars. Donkey-riding is\nuniversal, and no one thinks of going beyond the Frank quarters on\nfoot. If he does, he must submit to be followed by not less than\nsix donkeys with their drivers. A friend of mine who was attended\nby such a cavalcade for two hours, was obliged to yield at last,\nand made no second attempt. When we first appeared in the gateway\nof an hotel, equipped for an excursion, the rush of men and animals\nwas so great that we were forced to retreat until our servant and\nthe porter whipped us a path through the yelling and braying mob.\nAfter one or two trials I found an intelligent Arab boy named Kish,\nwho for five piastres a day furnished strong and ambitious donkeys,\nwhich he kept ready at the door from morning till night. The other\ndrivers respected Kish's privilege, and henceforth I had no trouble.\n\n\"The donkeys are so small that my feet nearly touched the ground,\nbut there is no end to their strength and endurance. Their gait,\nwhether in pace or in gallop, is so easy and light that fatigue is\nimpossible. The drivers take great pride in having high-cushioned\nred saddles, and in hanging bits of jingling brass to the bridles.\nThey keep their donkeys close shorn, and frequently beautify them\nby painting them various colours. The first animal I rode had legs\nbarred like a zebra's, and my friend's rejoiced in purple flanks\nand a yellow belly. The drivers ran behind them with a short stick,\npunching them from time to time, or giving them a sharp pinch on the\nrump. Very few of them own their donkeys, and I understood their\npertinacity when I learned that they frequently received a beating\non returning home empty-handed.\n\n\"The passage of the bazaars seems at first quite as hazardous on\ndonkey-back as on foot; but it is the difference between knocking\nsomebody down and being knocked down yourself, and one certainly\nprefers the former alternative. There is no use in attempting to\nguide the donkey, for he won't be guided. The driver shouts behind,\nand you are dashed at full speed into a confusion of other donkeys,\ncamels, horses, carts, water-carriers, and footmen. In vain you cry\nout '_Bess_' (enough), '_Piacco_,' and other desperate adjurations;\nthe driver's only reply is: 'Let the bridle hang loose!' You\ndodge your head under a camel-load of planks; your leg brushes the\nwheel of a dust-cart; you strike a fat Turk plump in the back; you\nmiraculously escape upsetting a fruit-stand; you scatter a company\nof spectral, white-masked women; and at last reach some more quiet\nstreet, with the sensations of a man who has stormed a battery.\n\n[Illustration: BEGGAR IN THE STREETS OF CAIRO.]\n\n\"At first this sort of riding made me very nervous, but presently I\nlet the donkey go his own way, and took a curious interest in seeing\nhow near a chance I ran of striking or being struck. Sometimes there\nseemed no hope of avoiding a violent collision; but, by a series\nof the most remarkable dodges, he generally carried you through in\nsafety. The cries of the driver running behind gave me no little\namusement. 'The hawadji comes! Take care on the right hand! Take\ncare on the left hand! O man, take care! O maiden, take care! O boy,\nget out of the way! The hawadji comes!' Kish had strong lungs, and\nhis donkey would let nothing pass him; and so wherever we went we\ncontributed our full share to the universal noise and confusion.\"\n\n[Illustration: NIGHT-WATCH IN CAIRO.]\n\nThis description explains several allusions which are made in the\nScriptures to treading down the enemies in the streets, and to the\nchariots raging and jostling against each other in the ways.\n\nThe Ass was used in the olden time for carrying burdens, as it is\nat present, and, in all probability, carried them in the same way.\nSacks and bundles are tied firmly to the pack-saddle; but poles,\nplanks, and objects of similar shape are tied in a sloping direction\non the side of the saddle, the longer ends trailing on the ground,\nand the shorter projecting at either side of the animal's head. The\nNorth American Indians carry the poles of their huts, or wigwams, in\nprecisely the same way, tying them on either side of their horses,\nand making them into rude sledges, upon which are fastened the skins\nthat form the walls of their huts. The same system of carriage is\nalso found among the Esquimaux, and the hunters of the extreme\nNorth, who harness their dogs in precisely the same manner. The\nAss, thus laden, becomes a very unpleasant passenger through the\nnarrow and crowded streets of an Oriental city; and many an unwary\ntraveller has found reason to remember the description of Issachar\nas the strong Ass between two burdens.\n\nThe Ass was also used for agriculture, and was employed in the\nplough, as we find from many passages. See for example, \"Blessed\nare ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet\nof the ox and the ass\" (Isa. xxxii. 20). Sowing beside the waters\nis a custom that still prevails in all hot countries, the margins\nof rivers being tilled, while outside this cultivated belt there is\nnothing but desert ground.\n\nThe ox and the Ass were used in the first place for irrigation,\nturning the machines by which water was lifted from the river, and\npoured into the trenches which conveyed it to all parts of the\ntilled land. If, as is nearly certain, the rude machinery of the\nEast is at the present day identical with those which were used in\nthe old Scriptural times, they were yoked to the machine in rather\nan ingenious manner. The machine consists of an upright pivot, and\nto it is attached the horizontal pole to which the ox or Ass is\nharnessed. A machine exactly similar in principle may be seen in\nalmost any brick-field in England; but the ingenious part of the\nEastern water-machine is the mode in which the animal is made to\nbelieve that it is being driven by its keeper, whereas the man in\nquestion might be at a distance, or fast asleep.\n\nThe animal is first blindfolded, and then yoked to the end of the\nhorizontal bar. Fixed to the pivot, and rather in front of the bar,\nis one end of a slight and elastic strip of wood. The projecting\nend, being drawn forward and tied to the bridle of the animal, keeps\nup a continual pull, and makes the blinded animal believe that it is\nbeing drawn forward by the hand of a driver. Some ingenious but lazy\nattendants have even invented a sort of self-acting whip, _i.e._ a\nstick which is lifted and allowed to fall on the animal's back by\nthe action of the wheel once every round.\n\nThe field being properly supplied with water, the Ass is used for\nploughing it. It is worthy of mention that at the present day the\nprohibition against yoking an ox and an Ass together is often\ndisregarded. The practice, however, is not a judicious one, as the\nslow and heavy ox does not act well with the lighter and more active\nanimal, and, moreover, is apt to butt at its companion with its\nhorns in order to stimulate it to do more than its fair proportion\nof the work.\n\nThere is a custom now in Palestine which probably existed in the\ndays of the Scriptures, though I have not been able to find any\nreference to it. Whenever an Ass is disobedient and strays from its\nmaster, the man who captures the trespasser on his grounds clips a\npiece out of its ear before he returns it to its owner. Each time\nthat the animal is caught on forbidden grounds it receives a fresh\nclip of the ear. By looking at the ears of an Ass, therefore, any\none can tell whether it has ever been a straggler; and if so, he\nknows the number of times that it has strayed, by merely counting\nthe clip-marks, which always begin at the tip of the ear, and extend\nalong the edges. Any Ass, no matter how handsome it may be, that has\nmany of those clips, is always rejected by experienced travellers,\nas it is sure to be a dull as well as a disobedient beast.\n\nThere are recorded in the Scriptures two remarkable circumstances\nconnected with the Ass, which, however, need but a few words. The\nfirst is the journey of Balaam from Pethor to Moab, in the course\nof which there occurred that singular incident of the Ass speaking\nin human language (see Numb. xxii. 21, 35). The second is the\nwell-known episode in the story of Samson, where he is recorded as\nbreaking the cords with which his enemies had bound him, and killing\na thousand Philistines with the fresh jaw-bone of an Ass.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WILD ASS.\n\n Various allusions to the Wild Ass--Its swiftness and\n wildness--The Wild Ass of Asia and Africa--How the Wild Ass is\n hunted--Excellence of its flesh--Meeting a Wild Ass--Origin of\n the domestic Ass--The Wild Asses of Quito.\n\n\nThere are several passages of Scripture in which the Wild Ass is\ndistinguished from the domesticated animal, and in all of them there\nis some reference made to its swiftness, its intractable nature,\nand love of freedom. It is an astonishingly swift animal, so that\non the level ground even the best horse has scarcely a chance of\novertaking it. It is exceedingly wary, its sight, hearing, and sense\nof scent being equally keen, so that to approach it by craft is a\nmost difficult task.\n\nLike many other wild animals, it has a custom of ascending hills or\nrising grounds, and thence surveying the country, and even in the\nplains it will generally contrive to discover some earth-mound or\nheap of sand from which it may act as sentinel and give the alarm\nin case of danger. It is a gregarious animal, always assembling in\nherds, varying from two or three to several hundred in number, and\nhas a habit of partial migration in search of green food, traversing\nlarge tracts of country in its passage.\n\nIt has a curiously intractable disposition, and, even when captured\nvery young, can scarcely ever be brought to bear a burden or draw a\nvehicle.\n\nAttempts have been often made to domesticate the young that have\nbeen born in captivity, but with very slight success, the wild\nnature of the animal constantly breaking out, even when it appears\nto have become moderately tractable.\n\nAlthough the Wild Ass does not seem to have lived within the limits\nof the Holy Land, it was common enough in the surrounding country,\nand, from the frequent references made to it in Scriptures, was well\nknown to the ancient Jews.\n\nWe will now look at the various passages in which the Wild Ass is\nmentioned, and begin with the splendid description in Job xxxix. 5-8:\n\n\"Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands\nof the wild ass?\n\n\"Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren lands (or\nsalt places) his dwellings.\n\n\"He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the\ncrying of the driver.\n\n\"The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after\nevery green thing.\"\n\nHere we have the animal described with the minuteness and truth of\ndetail that can only be found in personal knowledge; its love of\nfreedom, its avoidance of mankind, and its migration in search of\npasture.\n\nAnother allusion to the pasture-seeking habits of the animal is to\nbe found in chapter vi. of the same book, verse 5: \"Doth the wild\nass bray when he hath grass?\" or, according to the version of the\nJewish Bible, \"over tender grass?\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nA very vivid account of the appearance of the animal in its wild\nstate is given by Sir R. Kerr Porter, who was allowed by a Wild Ass\nto approach within a moderate distance, the animal evidently seeing\nthat he was not one of the people to whom it was accustomed, and\nbeing curious enough to allow the stranger to approach him.\n\n\"The sun was just rising over the summit of the eastern mountains,\nwhen my greyhound started off in pursuit of an animal which, my\nPersians said, from the glimpse they had of it, was an antelope. I\ninstantly put spurs to my horse, and with my attendants gave chase.\nAfter an unrelaxed gallop of three miles, we came up with the dog,\nwho was then within a short stretch of the creature he pursued; and\nto my surprise, and at first vexation, I saw it to be an ass.\n\n\"Upon reflection, however, judging from its fleetness that it must\nbe a wild one, a creature little known in Europe, but which the\nPersians prize above all other animals as an object of chase, I\ndetermined to approach as near to it as the very swift Arab I was\non could carry me. But the single instant of checking my horse to\nconsider had given our game such a head of us that, notwithstanding\nour speed, we could not recover our ground on him.\n\n\"I, however, happened to be considerably before my companions, when,\nat a certain distance, the animal in its turn made a pause, and\nallowed me to approach within pistol-shot of him. He then darted off\nagain with the quickness of thought, capering, kicking, and sporting\nin his flight, as if he were not blown in the least, and the chase\nwas his pastime. When my followers of the country came up, they\nregretted that I had not shot the creature when he was within my\naim, telling me that his flesh is one of the greatest delicacies in\nPersia.\n\n\"The prodigious swiftness and the peculiar manner in which he\nfled across the plain coincided exactly with the description that\nXenophon gives of the same animal in Arabia. But above all, it\nreminded me of the striking portrait drawn by the author of the Book\nof Job. I was informed by the Mehnander, who had been in the desert\nwhen making a pilgrimage to the shrine of Ali, that the wild ass of\nIrak Arabi differs in nothing from the one I had just seen. He had\nobserved them often for a short time in the possession of the Arabs,\nwho told him the creature was perfectly untameable.\n\n\"A few days after this discussion, we saw another of these animals,\nand, pursuing it determinately, had the good fortune to kill it.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt has been suggested by many zoologists that the Wild Ass is\nthe progenitor of the domesticated species. The origin of the\ndomesticated animal, however, is so very ancient, that we have no\ndata whereon even a theory can be built. It is true that the Wild\nand the Domesticated Ass are exactly similar in appearance, and that\nan _Asinus hemippus_, or Wild Ass, looks so like an Asiatic _Asinus\nvulgaris_, or Domesticated Ass, that by the eye alone the two are\nhardly distinguishable from each other. But with their appearance\nthe resemblance ends, the domestic animal being quiet, docile, and\nfond of man, while the wild animal is savage, intractable, and has\nan invincible repugnance to human beings.\n\n[Illustration: HUNTING WILD ASSES.]\n\nThis diversity of spirit in similar forms is very curious, and is\nstrongly exemplified by the semi-wild Asses of Quito. They are the\ndescendants of the animals that were imported by the Spaniards, and\nlive in herds, just as do the horses. They combine the habits of\nthe Wild Ass with the disposition of the tame animal. They are as\nswift of foot as the Wild Ass of Syria or Africa, and have the same\nhabit of frequenting lofty situations, leaping about among rocks and\nravines, which seem only fitted for the wild goat, and into which no\nhorse can follow them.\n\nNominally, they are private property, but practically they may be\ntaken by any one who chooses to capture them. The lasso is employed\nfor the purpose, and when the animals are caught they bite, and\nkick, and plunge, and behave exactly like their wild relations of\nthe Old World, giving their captors infinite trouble in avoiding\nthe teeth and hoofs which they wield so skilfully. But, as soon\nas a load has once been bound on the back of one of these furious\ncreatures, the wild spirit dies out of it, the head droops, the\ngait becomes steady, and the animal behaves as if it had led a\ndomesticated life all its days.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MULE.\n\n Ancient use of the Mule--Various breeds of Mule--Supposed date\n of its introduction into Palestine--Mule-breeding forbidden to\n the Jews--The Mule as a saddle-animal--Its use on occasions of\n state--The king's Mule--Obstinacy of the Mule.\n\n\nThere are several references to the MULE in the Holy Scriptures, but\nit is remarkable that the animal is not mentioned at all until the\ntime of David, and that in the New Testament the name does not occur\nat all.\n\nThe origin of the Mule is unknown, but that the mixed breed between\nthe horse and the ass has been employed in many countries from very\nancient times is a familiar fact. It is a very strange circumstance\nthat the offspring of these two animals should be, for some\npurposes, far superior to either of the parents, a well-bred Mule\nhaving the lightness, surefootedness, and hardy endurance of the\nass, together with the increased size and muscular development of\nthe horse. Thus it is peculiarly adapted either for the saddle or\nfor the conveyance of burdens over a rough or desert country.\n\nThe Mules that are most generally serviceable are bred from the male\nass and the mare, those which have the horse as the father and the\nass as the mother being small, and comparatively valueless. At the\npresent day, Mules are largely employed in Spain and the Spanish\ndependencies, and there are some breeds which are of very great size\nand singular beauty, those of Andalusia being especially celebrated.\nIn the Andes, the Mule has actually superseded the llama as a beast\nof burden.\n\nIts appearance in the sacred narrative is quite sudden. In Gen.\nxxxvi. 24, there is a passage which seems as if it referred to the\nMule: \"This was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness.\"\nNow the word which is here rendered as Mules is \"Yemim,\" a word\nwhich is not found elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures. The best\nHebraists are agreed that, whatever interpretation may be put upon\nthe word, it cannot possibly have the signification that is here\nassigned to it. Some translate the word as \"hot springs,\" while the\neditors of the Jewish Bible prefer to leave it untranslated, thus\nsignifying that they are not satisfied with any rendering.\n\n[Illustration: MULES OF THE EAST.]\n\nThe word which is properly translated as Mule is \"Pered;\" and the\nfirst place where it occurs is 2 Sam. xiii. 29. Absalom had taken\nadvantage of a sheep-shearing feast to kill his brother Amnon in\nrevenge for the insult offered to Tamar: \"And the servants of\nAbsalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the\nking's sons arose, and every man gat him up upon his mule, and\nfled.\" It is evident from this passage that the Mule must have been\nin use for a considerable time, as the sacred writer mentions, as a\nmatter of course, that the king's sons had each his own riding mule.\n\n[Illustration: ABSALOM IS CAUGHT IN THE BOUGHS OF AN OAK TREE.]\n\nFarther on, chap. xviii. 9 records the event which led to the death\nof Absalom by the hand of Joab. \"And Absalom met the servants of\nDavid. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the\nthick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak,\nand he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule\nthat was under him went away.\"\n\nWe see by these passages that the Mule was held in such high\nestimation that it was used by the royal princes for the saddle, and\nhad indeed superseded the ass. In another passage we shall find that\nthe Mule was ridden by the king himself when he travelled in state,\nand that to ride upon the king's Mule was considered as equivalent\nto sitting upon the king's throne. See, for example, 1 Kings i. in\nwhich there are several passages illustrative of this curious fact.\nSee first, ver. 33, in which David gives to Zadok the priest, Nathan\nthe prophet, and Benaiah the captain of the hosts, instructions for\nbringing his son Solomon to Gihon, and anointing him king in the\nstead of his father: \"Take with you the servants of your lord, and\ncause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down\nto Gihon.\"\n\nThat the Mule was as obstinate and contentious an animal in\nPalestine as it is in Europe is evident from the fact that the\nEastern mules of the present day are quite as troublesome as their\nEuropean brethren. They are very apt to shy at anything, or nothing\nat all; they bite fiercely, and every now and then they indulge\nin a violent kicking fit, flinging out their heels with wonderful\nforce and rapidity, and turning round and round on their fore-feet\nso quickly that it is hardly possible to approach them. There is\nscarcely a traveller in the Holy Land who has not some story to tell\nabout the Mule and its perverse disposition; but, as these anecdotes\nhave but very slight bearing on the subject of the Mule as mentioned\nin the Scriptures, they will not be given in these pages.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: DANIEL REFUSES TO EAT THE KING'S MEAT.]\n\n\n\n\nSWINE.\n\n The Mosaic prohibition of the pig--Hatred of Swine by Jews and\n Mahometans--The prodigal son--Supposed connexion between Swine\n and diseases of the skin--Destruction of the herd of Swine--The\n wild boar of the woods--The damage which it does to the vines.\n\n\nMany are the animals which are specially mentioned in the Mosaic law\nas unfit for food, beside those that come under the general head of\nbeing unclean because they do not divide the hoof and chew the cud.\nThere is none, however, that excited such abhorrence as the hog, or\nthat was more utterly detested.\n\nIt is utterly impossible for a European, especially one of the\npresent day, to form even an idea of the utter horror and loathing\nwith which the hog was regarded by the ancient Jews. Even at the\npresent day, a zealous Jew or Mahometan looks upon the hog, or\nanything that belongs to the hog, with an abhorrence too deep for\nwords. The older and stricter Jews felt so deeply on this subject,\nthat they would never even mention the name of the hog, but always\nsubstituted for the objectionable word the term \"the abomination.\"\n\nSeveral references are made in the Scriptures to the exceeding\ndisgust felt by the Jews towards the Swine. The portion of the\nMosaic law on which a Jew would ground his antipathy to the flesh of\nSwine is that passage which occurs in Lev. xi. 7: \"And the swine,\nthough he divide the hoof, and be cloven-footed, yet he cheweth not\nthe cud; he is unclean to you.\" But the very same paragraph, of\nwhich this passage forms the termination, treats of other unclean\nbeasts, such as the coney (or hyrax) and the hare, neither of which\nanimals are held in such abhorrence as the Swine.\n\nThis enactment could not therefore have produced the singular\nfeeling with which the Swine were regarded by the Jews, and in all\nprobability the antipathy was of far greater antiquity than the time\nof Moses.\n\nHow hateful to the Jewish mind was the hog we may infer from many\npassages, several of which occur in the Book of Isaiah. See, for\nexample, lxv. 3, 4: \"A people that provoketh me to anger continually\nto my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon\naltars of brick;\n\n\"Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which\neat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their\nvessels.\" Here we have the people heaping one abomination upon\nanother--the sacrifice to idols in the gardens, the burning of\nincense upon a forbidden altar and with strange fire, the living\namong the tombs, where none but madmen and evil spirits were\nsupposed to reside, and, as the culminating point of iniquity,\neating Swine's flesh, and drinking the broth in which it was boiled.\n\nIn the next chapter, verse 3, we have another reference to the\nSwine. Speaking of the wickedness of the people, and the uselessness\nof their sacrifices, the prophet proceeds to say: \"He that killeth\nan ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he\nhad cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he\noffered swine's blood.\" We see here how the prophet proceeds from\none image to another: the murder of a man, the offering of a dog\ninstead of a lamb, and the pouring out of Swine's blood upon the\naltar instead of wine--the last-mentioned crime being evidently held\nas the worst of the three. Another reference to the Swine occurs\nin the same chapter, verse 17: \"They that sanctify themselves, and\npurify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst,\neating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be\nconsumed together, saith the Lord.\"\n\nNot only did the Jews refuse to eat the flesh of the hog, but they\nheld in utter abomination everything that belonged to it, and\nwould have thought themselves polluted had they been even touched\nwith a hog's bristle. Even at the present day this feeling has not\ndiminished, and both by Jews and Mahometans the hog is held in utter\nabhorrence.\n\nSome recent travellers have made great use of this feeling. Signor\nPierotti, for example, during his long sojourn in Palestine, found\nthe flesh of the hog extremely beneficial to him. \"How often has the\nflesh of this animal supported me, especially during the earlier\npart of my stay in Palestine, before I had learned to like the\nmutton and the goats' flesh! I give the preference to this meat\nbecause it has often saved me time by rendering a fire unnecessary,\nand freed me from importunate, dirty, and unsavoury guests, who used\ntheir hands for spoons, knives, and forks.\n\n\"A little piece of bacon laid conspicuously upon the cloth that\nserved me for a table was always my best friend. Without this\ntalisman I should never have freed myself from unwelcome company,\nat least without breaking all the laws of hospitality by not\ninviting the chiefs of my escort or the guides to share my meal;\na thing neither prudent nor safe in the open country. Therefore,\non the contrary, when thus provided I pressed them with the utmost\nearnestness to eat with me, but of course never succeeded in\npersuading them; and so dined in peace, keeping on good terms with\nthem, although they did call me behind my back a 'dog of a Frank'\nfor eating pork.\n\n\"Besides, I had then no fear of my stores failing, as I always took\ncare to carry a stock large enough to supply the real wants of my\nparty. So a piece of bacon was more service to me than a revolver,\na rifle, or a sword; and I recommend all travellers in Palestine to\ncarry bacon rather than arms.\"\n\nSuch being the feelings of the Jews, we may conceive the abject\ndegradation to which the Prodigal Son of the parable must have\ndescended, when he was compelled to become a swine-herd for a\nliving, and would have been glad even to have eaten the very husks\non which the Swine fed. These husks, by the way, were evidently the\npods of the locust-tree, or carob, of which we shall have more to\nsay in a future page. We have in our language no words to express\nthe depths of ignominy into which this young man must have fallen,\nnor can we conceive any office which in our estimation would be so\ndegrading as would be that of swine-herd to a Jew.\n\n[Illustration: THE PRODIGAL SON.]\n\nHow deeply rooted was the abhorrence of the Swine's flesh we can\nsee from a passage in 2 Maccabees, in which is related a series of\ninsults offered to the religion of the Jews. The temple in Jerusalem\nwas to be called the Temple of Jupiter Olympus, and that on Gerizim\nwas to be dedicated to Jupiter, the defender of strangers. The\naltars were defiled by forbidden things, and the celebration of the\nSabbath, or of any Jewish ceremony, was punishable with death.\n\nSevere as were all these afflictions, there was one which the Jews\nseem, from the stress laid upon it, to have felt more keenly than\nany other. This was the compulsory eating of Swine's flesh, an act\nwhich was so abhorrent to the Jews that in attempting to enforce it,\nAntiochus found that he was foiled by the passive resistance offered\nto him. The Jews had allowed their temples to be dedicated to the\nworship of heathen deities, they had submitted to the deprivation of\ntheir sacred rites, they had even consented to walk in procession on\nthe Feast of Bacchus, carrying ivy like the rest of the worshippers\nin that most licentious festival. It might be thought that any\npeople who submit to such degradation would suffer any similar\nindignity. But even their forbearance had reached its limits, and\nnothing could induce them to eat the flesh of Swine.\n\n[Illustration: ELEAZAR REFUSES TO EAT SWINE'S FLESH.]\n\nSeveral examples of the resistance offered by them are recorded in\nthe book just mentioned. Eleazer, for example, a man ninety years\nold, sternly refused to partake of the abominable food. Some of the\nofficials, in compassion for his great age, advised him to take\nlawful meat with him and to exchange it for the Swine's flesh.\nThis he refused to do, saying that his age was only a reason for\nparticular care on his part, lest the young should be led away by\nhis example. His persecutors then forced the meat into his mouth,\nbut he rejected it, and died under the lash.\n\nAnother example of similar, but far greater heroism, is given by\nthe same chronicler. A mother and her seven sons were urged with\nblows to eat the forbidden food, and refused to do so. Thinking\nthat the mother would not be able to endure the sight of her sons'\nsufferings, the officers took them in succession, and inflicted a\nseries of horrible tortures upon them, beginning by cutting off\ntheir tongues, hands, and feet, and ending by roasting them while\nstill alive. Their mother, far from counselling her sons to yield,\neven though they were bribed by promises of wealth and rank, only\nencouraged them to persevere, and, when the last of her sons was\ndead, passed herself through the same fiery trial.\n\n[Illustration: A MOTHER AND HER SEVEN SONS TORTURED FOR REFUSING TO\nEAT SWINE'S FLESH.]\n\nIt has been conjectured, and with plausibility, that the pig was\nprohibited by Moses on account of the unwholesomeness of its flesh\nin a hot country, and that its almost universal repudiation in such\nlands is a proof of its unfitness for food. In countries where\ndiseases of the skin are so common, and where the dreaded leprosy\nstill maintains its hold, the flesh of the pig is thought, whether\nrightly or wrongly, to increase the tendency to such diseases, and\non that account alone would be avoided.\n\n[Illustration: THE EVIL SPIRITS ENTER A HERD OF SWINE.]\n\nIt has, however, been shown that the flesh of Swine can be\nhabitually consumed in hot countries without producing any evil\nresults; and, moreover, that the prohibition of Moses was not\nconfined to the Swine, but included many other animals whose flesh\nis used without scruple by those very persons who reject that of the\npig.\n\nKnowing the deep hatred of the Jews towards this animal, we may\nnaturally wonder how we come to hear of herds of Swine kept in\nJewish lands.\n\nOf this custom there is a familiar example in the herd of Swine that\nwas drowned in the sea (Matt. viii. 28-34). It is an open question\nwhether those who possessed the Swine were Jews of lax principles,\nwho disregarded the Law for the sake of gain, or whether they\nwere Gentiles, who, of course, were not bound by the Law. The\nformer seems the likelier interpretation, the destruction of the\nSwine being a fitting punishment for their owners. It must be here\nremarked, that our Lord did not, as is often said, destroy the\nSwine, neither did He send the devils into them, so that the death\nof these animals cannot be reckoned as one of the divine miracles.\nEjecting the evil spirits from the maniacs was an exercise of His\ndivine authority; the destruction of the Swine was a manifestation\nof diabolical anger, permitted, but not dictated.\n\nSwine are at the present day much neglected in Palestine, because\nthe Mahometans and Jews may not eat the flesh, and the Christians,\nas a rule, abstain from it, so that they may not hurt the feelings\nof their neighbours. Pigs are, however, reared in the various\nmonasteries, and by the Arabs attached to them.\n\n[Illustration: WILD BOARS DEVOURING THE CARCASE OF A DEER.]\n\nWe now come to the wild animal. There is only one passage in the\nScriptures in which the WILD BOAR is definitely mentioned, and\nanother in which a reference is made to it in a paraphrase.\n\n[Illustration: WILD BOARS.]\n\nThe former of these is the well-known verse of the Psalms: \"Why hast\nthou broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way\ndo pluck her?\n\n\"The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of\nthe field doth devour it\" (Ps. lxxx. 12, 13). The second passage\nis to be found in Ps. lxviii. 30. In the Authorized Version it is\nthus rendered: \"Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of\nbulls, with the calves of the people.\" If the reader will refer to\nthe marginal translation (which, it must be remarked, is of equal\nauthority with the text), the passage runs thus: \"Rebuke the beasts\nof the reeds,\" &c. Now, this is undoubtedly the correct rendering,\nand is accepted in the Jewish Bible.\n\nHaving quoted these two passages, we will proceed to the description\nand character of the animal.\n\nIn the former times, the Wild Boar was necessarily much more\nplentiful than is the case in these days, owing to the greater\nabundance of woods, many of which have disappeared by degrees, and\nothers been greatly thinned by the encroachments of mankind. Woods\nand reed-beds are always the habitations of the Wild Boar, which\nresides in these fastnesses, and seems always to prefer the reed-bed\nto the wood, probably because it can find plenty of mud, in which it\nwallows after the fashion of its kind. There is no doubt whatever\nthat the \"beast of the reeds\" is simply a poetical phrase for the\nWild Boar.\n\nIf there should be any cultivated ground in the neighbourhood, the\nBoar is sure to sally out and do enormous damage to the crops. It\nis perhaps more dreaded in the vineyards than in any other ground,\nas it not only devours the grapes, but tears down and destroys the\nvines, trampling them under foot, and destroying a hundredfold as\nmuch as it eats.\n\nIf the reader will refer again to Ps. lxxx. he will see that the\nJewish nation is described under the image of a vine: \"Thou hast\nbrought a vine out of Egypt: Thou hast cast out the heathen and\nplanted it,\" &c. No image of a destructive enemy could therefore\nbe more appropriate than that which is used. We have read of the\nlittle foxes that spoil the vines, but the Wild Boar is a much more\ndestructive enemy, breaking its way through the fences, rooting up\nthe ground, tearing down the vines themselves, and treading them\nunder its feet. A single party of these animals will sometimes\ndestroy an entire vineyard in a single night.\n\n[Illustration: WILD BOARS DESTROYING A VINEYARD.]\n\nWe can well imagine the damage that would be done to a vineyard even\nby the domesticated Swine, but the Wild Boar is infinitely more\ndestructive. It is of very great size, often resembling a donkey\nrather than a boar, and is swift and active beyond conception. The\nWild Boar is scarcely recognisable as the very near relation of the\ndomestic species. It runs with such speed, that a high-bred horse\nfinds some difficulty in overtaking it, while an indifferent steed\nwould be left hopelessly behind. Even on level ground the hunter\nhas hard work to overtake it; and if it can get upon broken or\nhilly ground, no horse can catch it. The Wild Boar can leap to a\nconsiderable distance, and can wheel and turn when at full speed,\nwith an agility that makes it a singularly dangerous foe. Indeed,\nthe inhabitants of countries where the Wild Boar flourishes would\nas soon face a lion as one of these animals, the stroke of whose\nrazor-like tusks is made with lightning swiftness, and which is\nsufficient to rip up a horse, and cut a dog nearly asunder.\n\nAlthough the Wild Boar is not as plentiful in Palestine as used to\nbe the case, it is still found in considerable numbers. Whenever the\ninhabitants can contrive to cut off the retreat of marauding parties\namong the crops, they turn out for a general hunt, and kill as many\nas they can manage to slay. After one of these hunts, the bodies are\nmostly exposed for sale, but, as the demand for them is very small,\nthey can be purchased at a very cheap rate. Signor Pierotti bought\none in the plains of Jericho for five shillings. For the few who may\neat the hog, this is a fortunate circumstance, the flesh being very\nexcellent, and as superior to ordinary pork as is a pheasant to a\nbarn-door fowl or venison to mutton.\n\n[Illustration: chase]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: INDIAN ELEPHANT.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE ELEPHANT.\n\n The Elephant indirectly mentioned in the Authorized\n Version--The Elephant as an engine of war--Antiochus and\n his Elephants--Oriental exaggeration--Self-devotion of\n Eleazar--Attacking the Elephants, and their gradual abandonment\n in war.\n\n\nExcept indirectly, the Elephant is never mentioned in the Authorized\nVersion of the Canonical Scriptures, although frequent references\nare made to ivory, the product of that animal.\n\nThe earliest mention of ivory in the Scriptures is to be found in 1\nKings x. 18: \"Moreover the king (_i.e._ Solomon) made a great throne\nof ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.\" This passage forms\na portion of the description given by the sacred historian of the\nglories of Solomon's palace, of which this celebrated throne, with\nthe six steps and the twelve lions on the steps, was the central\nand most magnificent object. It is named together with the three\nhundred golden shields, the golden vessel of the royal palace, and\nthe wonderful arched viaduct crossing the valley of the Tyrop\u0153on,\n\"the ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord,\" all of\nwhich glories so overcame the Queen of Sheba that \"there was no more\nspirit in her.\"\n\n[Illustration: KING SOLOMON, SEATED UPON HIS THRONE, RECEIVES THE\nQUEEN OF SHEBA.]\n\nWe see, therefore, that in the time of Solomon ivory was so precious\nan article that it was named among the chief of the wonders to be\nseen in the palace of Solomon, the wealthiest and most magnificent\nmonarch of sacred or profane history.\n\nThat it should not have been previously mentioned is very singular.\nFive hundred years had elapsed since the Israelites escaped from\nthe power of Egypt, and during the whole of that time, though gold\nand silver and precious stones and costly raiment are repeatedly\nmentioned, we do not find a single passage in which any allusion is\nmade to ivory. Had we not known that ivory was largely used among\nthe Egyptians, such an omission would cause no surprise. But the\nresearches of modern travellers have brought to light many articles\nof ivory that were in actual use in Egypt, and we therefore cannot\nbut wonder that a material so valued and so beautiful does not seem\nto have been reckoned among the treasures which were brought by the\nIsraelites from the land of their captivity, and which were so\nabundant that the Tabernacle was entirely formed of them.\n\n[Illustration: INDIAN ELEPHANTS.]\n\nIn the various collections of Europe are many specimens of ivory\nused by the ancient Egyptians, among the chief of which may be\nmentioned an ivory box in the Louvre, having on its lid the name of\nthe dynasty in which it was carved, and the ivory-tipped lynch-pins\nof the splendid war-chariot in Florence, from which the illustration\non page 309 has been drawn.\n\nThe ivory used by the Egyptians was, of course, that of the African\nElephant; and was obtained chiefly from Ethiopia, as we find in\nHerodotus (\"Thalia,\" 114):--\"Where the meridian declines towards the\nsetting sun, the Ethiopian territory reaches, being the extreme part\nof the habitable world. It produces much gold, huge elephants, wild\ntrees of all kinds, ebony, and men of large stature, very handsome\nand long-lived.\"\n\nThe passages in the Bible in which the Elephant itself is named are\nonly to be found in the Apocrypha, and in all of them the Elephant\nis described as an engine of war. If the reader will refer to\nthe First Book of the Maccabees, he will find that the Elephant\nis mentioned at the very commencement of the book. \"Now when the\nkingdom was established before Antiochus, he thought to reign over\nEgypt, that he might have the dominion of two realms.\n\n\"Wherefore he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with\nchariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great navy.\" (i. 16,\n17.)\n\nHere we see that the Elephant was considered as a most potent engine\nof war, and, as we may perceive by the context, the King of Egypt\nwas so alarmed by the invading force, that he ran away, and allowed\nAntiochus to take possession of the country.\n\nAfter this, Antiochus Eupator marched against Jerusalem with a vast\narmy, which is thus described in detail:--\"The number of his army\nwas one hundred thousand footmen, and twenty thousand horsemen, and\ntwo and thirty elephants exercised in battle.\n\n\"And to the end that they might provoke the elephants to fight, they\nshowed them the blood of grapes and mulberries.\n\n\"Moreover, they divided the beasts among the armies, and for every\nelephant they appointed a thousand men, armed with coats of mail,\nand with helmets of brass on their heads; and, besides this for\nevery beast were ordained five hundred horsemen of the best.\n\n\"These were ready at every occasion wheresoever the beast was; and\nwhithersoever the beast went they went also, neither departed they\nfrom him.\n\n\"And upon the beasts were there strong towers of wood, which covered\nevery one of them, and were girt fast unto them with devices; there\nwere also upon every one two and thirty strong men that fought upon\nthem, beside the Indian that ruled him.\n\n\"As for the remnant of the horsemen, they set them on this side and\nthat side at the two fronts of the host, giving them signs what to\ndo, and being harnessed all over amidst the ranks.\" (1 Macc. vi. 30,\n&c.)\n\nIt is evident from this description that, in the opinion of the\nwriter, the Elephants formed the principal arms of the opposing\nforce, these animals being prominently mentioned, and the rest of\nthe army being reckoned as merely subsidiaries of the terrible\nbeasts. The thirty-two Elephants appear to have taken such a hold of\nthe narrator's mind, that he evidently looked upon them in the same\nlight that the ancient Jews regarded chariots of war, or as at the\npresent day savages regard artillery. According to his ideas, the\nthirty-two Elephants constituted the real army, the hundred thousand\ninfantry and twenty thousand cavalry being only in attendance upon\nthese animals.\n\nTaken as a whole, the description of the war Elephant is a good\none, though slightly exaggerated, and is evidently written by an\neye-witness. The mention of the native mahout, or \"Indian that\nguided him,\" is characteristic enough, as is the account of the\nhowdah, or wooden carriage on the back of the animal.\n\nThe number of warriors, however, is evidently exaggerated, though\nnot to such an extent as the account of Julius C\u00e6sar's Elephants,\nwhich are said to have carried on their backs sixty soldiers, beside\nthe wooden tower in which they fought. It is evident that, in the\nfirst place, no Elephant could carry a tower large enough to hold so\nmany fighting men, much less one which would afford space for them\nto use their weapons.\n\nA good account of the fighting Elephant is given by Topsel (p.\n157):--\"There were certain officers and guides of the Elephants,\nwho were called _Elephantarch\u00e6_, who were the governors of sixteen\nElephants, and they which did institute and teach them martial\ndiscipline were called _Elephantagogi_.\n\n\"The Military Elephant did carry four persons on his bare back, one\nfighting on the right hand, another fighting on the left hand, a\nthird, which stood fighting backwards from the Elephant's head, and\na fourth in the middle of these, holding the rains, and guiding the\nBeast to the discretion of the Souldiers, even as the Pilot in a\nship guideth the stem, wherein was required an equall knowledge and\ndexterity; for when the Indian which ruled them said, Strike here on\nthe right hand, or else on the left, or refrain and stand still, no\nreasonable man could yield readier obedience.\"\n\nThis description is really a very accurate as well as spirited one,\nand conveys a good idea of the fighting Elephant as it appeared when\nbrought into action.\n\nStrangely enough, after giving this temperate and really excellent\naccount of the war Elephant, the writer seems to have been unable to\nresist the fascination of his theme, and proceeds to describe, with\ngreat truth and spirit, the mode of fighting adopted by the animal,\nintermixed with a considerable amount of the exaggeration from which\nthe former part of his account is free.\n\n\"They did fasten iron chains, first of all, upon the Elephant that\nwas to bear ten, fifteen, twenty, or thirty men, on either side\ntwo panniers of iron bound underneath their belly, and upon them\nthe like panniers of wood, hollow, wherein they placed their men\nat armes, and covered them over with small boards (for the trunck\nof the Elephant was covered with a mail for defence, and upon that\na broadsword two cubits long); this (as also the wooden Castle, or\npannier aforesaid) were fastened first to the neck and then to the\nrump of the Elephant.\n\n\"Being thus armed, they entered the battle, and they shewed unto the\nBeasts, to make them more fierce, wine, liquor made of Rice, and\nwhite cloth, for at the sight of any of these his courage and rage\nincreaseth above all measure. Then at the sound of the Trumpet, he\nbeginneth with teeth to strike, tear, beat, spoil, take up into the\nair, cast down again, stamp upon men under feet, overthrow with his\ntrunck, and make way for his riders to pierce with Spear, Shield,\nand Sword; so that his horrible voice, his wonderful body, his\nterrible force, his admirable skill, his ready and inestimable\nobedience, and his strange and seldom-seen shape, produced in a main\nbattel no mean accidents and overturns.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE WAR ELEPHANT.]\n\nIn this account there is a curious mixture of truth and\nexaggeration. As we have already seen, the number of soldiers which\nthe animal was supposed to carry is greatly exaggerated, and it is\nrather amusing to note how the \"towers\" in which they fought are\nmodified into \"panniers.\" Then the method by which the animal is\nincited to the combat is partly true, and partly false. Of course\nan Elephant is not angered by seeing a piece of white cloth, or by\nlooking at wine, or a liquor made of rice.\n\nBut that the wine, or the \"liquor made of rice,\" _i.e._ arrack,\nwas administered to the Elephant before it was brought into the\nbattle-field, is likely enough. Elephants are wonderfully fond of\nstrong drink. They can be incited to perform any task within their\npowers by a provision of arrack, and when stimulated by a plentiful\nsupply of their favourite drink they would be in good fighting\ncondition.\n\nNext we find the writer describing the Elephant as being furnished\nwith a coating of mail armour on its proboscis, the end of which was\narmed with a sword a yard in length. Now any one who is acquainted\nwith the Elephant will see at once that such offensive and defensive\narmour would deprive the animal of the full use of the proboscis,\nand would, therefore, only weaken, and not strengthen, its use in\nbattle. Accordingly we find that the writer, when describing with\nperfect accuracy the mode in which the Elephant fights, utterly\nomits all mention of the sword and the mailed proboscis, and\ndescribes the animal, not as striking or thrusting with the sword,\nbut as overthrowing with the trunk, taking up into the air, and\ncasting down again--acts which could only be performed when the\nproboscis was unencumbered by armour. The use of weapons was left to\nthe soldiers that fought upon its back, the principal object of the\nhuge animal being to trample its way through the opposing ranks, and\nto make a way for the soldiers that followed.\n\nIt may be easily imagined that, before soldiers become familiarized\nwith the appearance of the Elephant, they might be pardoned for\nbeing panic-struck at the sight of so strange an animal. Not only\nwas it formidable for its vast size, and for the armed men which it\ncarried, but for the obedience which it rendered to its keeper, and\nthe skill with which it wielded the strange but powerful weapon with\nwhich Nature had armed it.\n\nAt first, the very approach of so terrible a foe struck\nconsternation into the soldiers, who knew of no mode by which\nthey could oppose the gigantic beast, which came on in its swift,\nswinging pace, crushing its way by sheer weight through the ranks,\nand striking right and left with its proboscis. No other method of\nchecking the Elephant, except by self-sacrifice, could be found; and\nin 1 Macc. vi. 43-46, we read how Eleazar, the son of Mattathias,\nnobly devoted himself for his country.\n\n\"Eleazar also, surnamed Savaran, perceiving that one of the beasts,\narmed with royal harness, was higher than all the rest, and\nsupposing that the king was upon him,\n\n\"Put himself in jeopardy, to the end he might deliver his people,\nand get him a perpetual name.\n\n\"Whereupon he ran upon him courageously, through the midst of the\nbattle, slaying on the right hand and on the left, so that they were\ndivided from him on both sides.\n\n\"Which done, he crept under the elephant, and thrust him under, and\nslew him; whereupon the elephant fell down upon him, and he died.\"\n\nI may here mention that the surname of Savaran, or Avaran, as it\nought to be called, signifies one who pierces an animal from behind,\nand was given to him after his death, in honour of his exploit.\n\nAt first, then, Elephants were the most formidable engines of war\nthat could be brought into the battle-field, and the very sight of\nthese huge beasts, towering above even the helmets of the cavalry,\ndisheartened the enemy so much that victory became easy.\n\nAfter a while, however, when time for reflection had been allowed,\nthe more intellectual among the soldiers began to think that, after\nall, the Elephant was not a mere engine, but a living animal, and,\nas such, subject to the infirmities of the lower animals. So they\ninvented scheme after scheme, by which they baffled the attacks of\nthese once dreaded foes, and sometimes even succeeded in driving\nthem back among the ranks of their own soldiery, so maddened with\npain and anger, that they dealt destruction among the soldiers for\nwhom they were fighting, and so broke up their order of battle that\nthe foe easily overcame them.\n\nThe vulnerable nature of the proboscis was soon discovered, and\nsoldiers were armed with very sharp swords, set on long handles,\nwith which they continually attacked the Elephants' trunks. Others\nwere mounted on swift horses, dashed past the Elephant, and hurled\ntheir darts before the animal could strike them. Others, again, were\nplaced in chariots, and armed with very long and sharply-pointed\nspears. Several of these chariots would be driven simultaneously\nagainst an Elephant, and sometimes succeeded in killing the animal.\nSlingers also were told off for the express purpose of clearing the\n\"castles,\" or howdahs, of the soldiers who fought on the Elephants'\nbacks, and their especial object was the native mahout, who sat on\nthe animal's neck.\n\nSometimes they made way for the Elephant as it pressed forward, and\nthen closed round it, so as to make it the central mark, on which\nconverged a hail of javelins, arrows, and stones on every side,\nuntil the huge animal sank beneath its many wounds. By degrees,\ntherefore, the Elephant was found to be so uncertain an engine of\nwar, that its use was gradually discontinued, and finally abandoned\naltogether.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Elephant which was employed in these wars was the Indian\nspecies, _Elephas Indicus_, which is thought to be more susceptible\nof education than the African Elephant. The latter, however, has\nbeen tamed, and, in the days of Rome's greatest splendour, was\ntaught to perform a series of tricks that seem almost incredible.\nAs, however, the Indian species is that with which we have here to\ndo, I have selected it for the principal illustrations.\n\nIt may be at once distinguished from its African relative by the\ncomparatively small ears, those of the African Elephant reaching\nabove the back of the head, and drooping well below the neck. The\nshape of the head, too, is different. In the Indian species, only\nthe males bear tusks, and even many of them are unarmed. In the\nAfrican species, however, both sexes bear tusks, those of the male\nfurnishing the best ivory, with its peculiar creamy colour and\nbeautiful graining, and those of the female being smaller in size,\nand producing ivory of a much inferior quality.\n\n[Illustration: AFRICAN ELEPHANTS.]\n\nThe Elephant, whether of Asia or Africa, always lives in herds\nvarying greatly in numbers, and invariably found in the deepest\nforests, or in their near vicinity. Both species are fond of\nwater, and never wander far from some stream or fountain, although\nthey can, and do, make tolerably long journeys for the purpose of\nobtaining the needful supply of liquid.\n\nThey have a curious capability of laying up a store of water in\ntheir interior, somewhat after the fashion of the camel, but also\npossess the strange accomplishment of drawing the liquid supply from\ntheir stomachs by means of their trunks, and scattering it in a\nshower over their backs to cool their heated bodies.\n\nWhen drinking, the Elephant inserts the tip of his trunk into the\nstream, fills it with water, and then, turning it into his throat,\ndischarges the contents.\n\nThe strangest portion of the Elephant is the trunk, or proboscis.\nThis wonderful appendage is furnished at its extremity with a\nfinger-like projection, with which the animal can pluck a single\nblade of grass or pick up a small object from the ground.\n\nThe value of the proboscis to the Elephant can be estimated when it\nis considered that without its aid the animal must soon starve to\ndeath. The short, thick neck and projecting tusks would entirely\nprevent it from reaching any of the vegetation upon which it feeds.\n\nWith the trunk, however, the Elephant readily carries its food to\nits mouth, and employs the useful member just as if it were a long\nand flexible arm.\n\nThe Elephant bears a worldwide fame for its capabilities as a\nservant and companion of man, and for the extraordinary development\nof its intellectual faculties. The Indian or Asiatic Elephant is the\nvariety that is considered most docile and easy to train; these are\nalmost invariably taken in a wild state from their native forests.\nThe Indian hunters usually proceed into the woods with trained\nfemale Elephants. These advance quietly, and by their blandishments\nso occupy the attention of any unfortunate male that they meet that\nthe hunters are enabled to tie his legs together and fasten him to\na tree. His treacherous companions now leave him to struggle in\nimpotent rage until he is so subdued by hunger and fatigue that the\nhunters can drive him home between two tame elephants. When once\ncaptured, he is easily trained.\n\nThe following curious instance of intelligence in an Elephant is\ngiven by a traveller in Ceylon:\n\n\"One evening, while riding in the vicinity of Kandy, my horse showed\nsome excitement at a noise which was heard in the thick jungle,\nsounding something like '_Urmph! Urmph!_' uttered in a hoarse and\ndissatisfied tone. A turn in the forest explained the mystery, by\nbringing me face to face with a tame working Elephant unaccompanied\nby any driver or attendant. He was laboring painfully with a heavy\nbeam of timber, which he had balanced across his tusks and was\ncarrying to the village from which I had come.\n\n\"The pathway being narrow, he was compelled to bend his head\nto one side to permit the passage of the long piece of wood, and\nthe exertion and inconvenience combined, led him to utter the\ndissatisfied sounds which had frightened my horse.\n\n[Illustration: ELEPHANTS' WATERING-PLACE.]\n\n\"On seeing us halt, the Elephant raised his head, looked at us for a\nmoment, then dropped the timber, and forced himself backward among\nthe bushes at the side of the road, so as to leave us plenty of room\nto pass.\n\n\"My horse still hesitated; the Elephant observed this, and\nimpatiently crowded himself still deeper in the jungle, repeating\nhis cry of, '_Urmph! Urmph!_' but in a voice evidently meant to\nencourage us to come on. Still the horse trembled; and, anxious to\nobserve the conduct of the two sagacious creatures, I forbore any\ninterference. Again the Elephant wedged himself farther in among the\ntrees and waited for us to pass him. At last the horse timidly did\nso, after which I saw the wise Elephant come out of the wood, take\nup the heavy timber upon his tusks, and resume his route, hoarsely\nsnorting, as before, his discontented remonstrance.\"\n\nAlthough so valuable an animal for certain kinds of work, the\nElephant is hardly so effective an assistant as might be supposed.\nThe working Elephant is always a delicate animal, and requires\nwatchfulness and care; as a beast of burden he is unsatisfactory,\nfor, although in the matter of mere strength there is hardly any\nweight that could be conveniently placed on him which he could not\ncarry, it is difficult to pack it without causing abrasions of the\nElephant's skin, which afterwards ulcerate.\n\nHis skin is easily chafed by harness, especially in wet weather.\nEither during long droughts, or too much moisture, his feet are also\nliable to sores which render him useless for months.\n\nIn India the Elephant is used more for purposes of state display\nor for hunting than for hard labor. It is especially trained for\ntiger-hunting, and, as there is a natural dread of the terrible\ntiger deeply implanted in almost all Elephants, it is no easy matter\nto teach the animal to approach his powerful foe.\n\nA stuffed tiger-skin is employed for this purpose, and is\ncontinually shown to the Elephant until he learns to lose all\ndistrust of the inanimate object, and to strike it, to crush it with\nhis feet, or to pierce it with his tusks.\n\nAfter a while a boy is put inside the tiger-skin, in order to\naccustom the Elephant to the sight of the tiger in motion.\n\n[Illustration: TIGER.]\n\nThe last stage in the proceedings is to procure a dead tiger, and to\nsubstitute it for the stuffed skin. Even with all this training, it\nmost frequently happens that when the Elephant is brought to face\na veritable living tiger the furious bounds, the savage yells, and\ngleaming eyes of the beast are so terrifying that he turns tail and\nmakes a hasty retreat. Hardly one Elephant out of ten will face an\nangry tiger. The Elephant, when used in tiger-hunting, is always\nguided by a native driver, called a mahout, who sits astride of the\nanimal's neck and guides its movements by means of the voice and the\nuse of an iron hook at the end of a short stick.\n\n[Illustration: THE TIGER IN THE REEDS.]\n\nThe hunters who ride upon the Elephant sit in a kind of box called\na howdah, which is strapped firmly upon the animal's back, or else\nmerely rests upon a large flat pad furnished with cross-ropes for\nmaintaining a firm hold. The Elephant generally kneels to enable\nthe riders to mount, and then rises from the ground with a peculiar\nswinging motion that is most discomposing to beginners in the art.\n\nThe chase of the tiger is among the most exciting and favourite\nsports in India. When starting on a hunt, a number of hunters\nusually assemble, mounted on Elephants trained for the purpose, and\ncarrying with them a supply of loaded rifles in their howdahs, or\ncarriages mounted on the Elephants' backs. Thus armed, they proceed\nto the spot where a tiger has been seen. The animal is usually\nfound hidden in the long grass or jungle, which is frequently\neight or more feet in height; and when roused, it endeavours to\ncreep away under the grass. The movement of the leaves betrays him,\nand he is checked by a rifle-ball aimed at him through the jungle.\nFinding that he cannot escape without being seen, he turns round\nand springs at the nearest Elephant, endeavouring to clamber up it\nand attack the party in the howdah. This is the most dangerous part\nof the proceedings, as many Elephants will turn round and run away,\nregardless of the efforts of their drivers to make them face the\ntiger. Should, however, the Elephant stand firm, a well-directed\nball checks the tiger in his spring; and he then endeavours to\nagain escape, but a volley of rifle-balls from the backs of the\nother Elephants, who by this time have come up, lays the savage\nanimal prostrate, and in a very short time his skin decorates the\nsuccessful marksman's howdah.\n\n[Illustration: tiger]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: jungle scene]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CONEY, OR HYRAX.\n\n The Shaphan of Scripture, and the correct meaning of\n the word--Identification of the Shaphan with the Syrian\n Hyrax--Description of the animal--Its feet, teeth, and apparent\n rumination--Passages in which the Coney is mentioned--Habits of\n the animal--Its activity and wariness--The South African Hyrax,\n and its mode of life--Difficulty of procuring it--Similarity in\n appearance and habits of the Syrian species--Three species of\n Hyrax known to naturalists.\n\n\nAmong the many animals mentioned in the Bible, there is one which is\nevidently of some importance in the Jewish code, inasmuch as it is\ntwice named in the Mosaic law.\n\nThat it was also familiar to the Jews is evident from other\nreferences which are made to its habits. This animal is the\nShaphan of the Hebrew language, a word which has very wrongly been\ntranslated in the Authorized Version as Coney, _i.e._ Rabbit, the\ncreature in question not being a rabbit, nor even a rodent. No\nrabbit has ever been discovered in Palestine, and naturalists\nhave agreed that the true Coney or Rabbit has never inhabited\nthe Holy Land. There is no doubt that the Shaphan of the Hebrew\nScripture, and the Coney of the Vulgate, was the SYRIAN HYRAX\n(_Hyrax Syriacus_). This little animal is rather larger than an\nordinary rabbit, is not unlike it in appearance, and has many of\nits habits. It is clothed with brown fur, it is very active, it\ninhabits holes and clefts in rocks, and it has in the front of\nits mouth long chisel-shaped teeth, very much like those of the\nrabbit. Consequently, it was classed by naturalists among the\nrodents for many years, under the name of Rock Rabbit. Yet, as I\nhave already mentioned, it is not even a rodent, but belongs to the\npachydermatous group of animals, and occupies an intermediate place\nbetween the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus.\n\n[Illustration: THE HYRAX.]\n\nIf it be examined carefully, the rodent-like teeth will be seen to\nresemble exactly the long curved tusks of the hippopotamus, with\ntheir sharp and chisel-edged tips; the little feet, on a close\ninspection, are seen to be furnished with a set of tiny hoofs just\nlike those of the rhinoceros; and there are many other points in\nits structure which, to the eye of a naturalist, point out its true\nplace in nature.\n\nIn common with the rodents, and other animals which have\nsimilarly-shaped teeth, the Hyrax, when at rest, is continually\nworking its jaws from side to side, a movement which it\ninstinctively performs, in order that the chiselled edges of the\nupper and lower teeth may be preserved sharp by continually rubbing\nagainst each other, and that they may not be suffered to grow too\nlong, and so to deprive the animal of the means whereby it gains\nits food. But for this peculiar movement, which looks very like the\naction of ruminating, the teeth would grow far beyond the mouth,\nas they rapidly deposit dental material in their bases in order to\nsupply the waste caused at their tips by the continual friction of\nthe edges against each other.\n\nIt may seem strange that an animal which is classed with the\nelephant, the rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus, all bare-skinned\nanimals, should be clothed with a furry coat. The reader may perhaps\nremember that the Hyrax does not afford a solitary instance of this\nstructure, and that, although the elephants of our day have only a\nfew bristly hairs thinly scattered over the body, those of former\ndays were clad in a thick and treble coat of fur and hair.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere are four passages of Scripture in which the CONEY is\nmentioned--two in which it is prohibited as food, and two in which\nallusion is made to its manner of life. In order to understand the\nsubject better, we will take them in their order.\n\nThe first mention of the Coney occurs in Leviticus xi. 5, among the\nlist of clean and unclean animals: \"The coney, because he cheweth\nthe cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.\" The\nsecond is of a like nature, and is to be found in Deut. xiv. 7:\n\"These ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that\ndivide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney:\nfor they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are\nunclean unto you.\"\n\nThe remaining passages, which describe the habits of the Coney,\nare as follow. The first alludes to the rock-loving habits of the\nanimal: \"The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the\nrocks for the conies.\" (Ps. civ. 18.) The second makes a similar\nmention of the localities which the animal frequents, and in\naddition speaks of its wariness, including it among the \"four things\nwhich are little upon the earth, but they are exceedingly wise.\" The\nfour are the ants, the locusts, the spiders, and the Conies, which\n\"are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.\"\n\nWe will take these passages in their order.\n\nIt has already been mentioned that the Hyrax, a true pachyderm,\ndoes not merely chew the cud, but that the peculiar and constant\nmovement of its jaws strongly resembles the act of rumination. The\nJews, ignorant as they were of scientific zoology, would naturally\nset down the Hyrax as a ruminant, and would have been likely to\neat it, as its flesh is very good. It must be remembered that two\nconditions were needful to render an animal fit to be eaten by a\nJew, the one that it must be a ruminant, and the second that it\nshould have a divided hoof. Granting, therefore, the presence of the\nformer qualification, Moses points out the absence of the latter,\nthereby prohibiting the animal as effectually as if he had entered\ninto a question of comparative anatomy, and proved that the Hyrax\nwas incapable of rumination.\n\nWe now come to the habits of the animal.\n\nAs we may gather from the passages of Scripture which have already\nbeen mentioned, the Hyrax inhabits rocky places, and lives in\nthe clefts that are always found in such localities. It is an\nexceedingly active creature, leaping from rock to rock with\nwonderful rapidity, its little sharp hoofs giving it a firm hold\nof the hard and irregular surface of the stony ground. Even in\ncaptivity it retains much of its activity, and flies about its cage\nwith a rapidity that seems more suitable to a squirrel than to an\nanimal allied to the rhinoceros and hippopotamus.\n\nThere are several species--perhaps only varieties--of the Hyrax,\nall of them identical in habits, and almost precisely similar in\nappearance. The best known of these animals is that which inhabits\nSouthern Africa (_Hyrax Capensis_), and which is familiar to the\ncolonists by its name of Klip-das, or Rock-rabbit. In situations\nwhich suit it, the Hyrax is very plentiful, and is much hunted\nby the natives, who esteem its flesh very highly. Small and\ninsignificant as it appears to be, even Europeans think that to kill\nthe Hyrax is a tolerable test of sportsmanship, the wariness of\nthe animal being so great that much hunter's craft is required to\napproach it.\n\nThe following account of the Hyrax has been furnished to me by Major\nA. W. Drayson, R.A.:--\"In the Cape Colony, and over a great portion\nof Southern Africa, this little creature is found. It is never, as\nfar as my experience goes, seen in great numbers, as we find rabbits\nin England, though the caution of the animal is such as to enable\nit to remain safe in districts from which other animals are soon\nexterminated.\n\n\"As its name implies, it is found among rocks, in the crevices and\nholes of which it finds a retreat. When a natural cavity is not\nfound, the klip-das scratches a hole in the ground under the rocks,\nand burrows like a common rabbit. In size it is about equal to a\nhare, though it is much shorter in the legs, and has ears more like\nthose of a rat than a rabbit. Its skin is covered with fur, thick\nand woolly, as though intended for a colder climate than that in\nwhich it is usually found; and, when seen from a distance, it looks\nnearly black.\n\n\"The rock-rabbit is a very watchful creature, and usually feeds on\nthe summit of any piece of rock near its home, always choosing one\nfrom which it can obtain a good view of the surrounding country.\nWhen it sees an enemy approaching, it sits rigidly on the rock and\nwatches him without moving, so that at a little distance it is\nalmost impossible to distinguish it from the rock on which it sits.\nWhen it does move, it darts quickly out of sight, and disappears\ninto its burrow with a sudden leap.\n\n\"In consequence of its activity and cunning, the rock-rabbit is\nseldom killed by white men; and when a hunter does secure one, it is\ngenerally by means of a long shot. The natives usually watch near\nits burrow, or noiselessly stalk it.\n\n\"I once killed one of these animals by a very long shot from a\nrifle, as it was sitting watching us from the top of a large\nboulder, at a distance of a hundred and fifty yards or thereabouts.\nThe Dutch Boers who were with me were delighted at the sight of\nit, as they said it was good eating; and so it proved to be, the\nflesh being somewhat like that of a hare, though in our rough\nfield-cookery we could not do justice to it.\"\n\nThis short narrative excellently illustrates the character of the\nanimal, which is classed among the \"four things which be exceeding\nwise.\" It is so crafty that no trap or snare ever set has induced\na Hyrax to enter it, and so wary that it is with difficulty to be\nkilled even with the aid of fire-arms. \"No animal,\" writes Mr.\nTristram, \"ever gave us so much trouble to secure.... The only\nchance of securing one is to be concealed, particularly about sunset\nor before sunrise, on some overhanging cliff, taking care not to\nlet the shadow be cast below, and then to wait until the little\ncreatures cautiously peep forth from their holes. They are said to\nbe common by those who have not looked for them, but are certainly\nnot abundant in Palestine, and few writers have ever had more than a\nsingle glimpse of one. I had the good fortune to see one feeding in\nthe gorge of the Kedron, and then to watch it as it sat at the mouth\nof its hole, ruminating, metaphorically if not literally, while\nwaiting for sunset.\"\n\nShould the Hyrax manage to catch a glimpse of the enemy, it utters a\nshrill cry or squeal, and darts at once to its hole--an action which\nis followed by all its companions as soon as they hear the warning\ncry. It is a tolerably prolific animal, rearing four or five young\nat a birth, and keeping them in a soft bed of hay and fur, in which\nthey are almost hidden. If surprised in its hole and seized, the\nHyrax will bite very sharply, its long chisel-edged teeth inflicting\nsevere wounds on the hand that attempts to grasp it. But it is of a\ntolerably docile disposition, and in a short time learns to know its\nowner, and to delight in receiving his caresses.\n\nThree species of Hyrax are known to naturalists. One is the\nKlip-das, or Rock-rabbit, of Southern Africa; the second is the\nAshkoko of Abyssinia; and the third is the Syrian Hyrax, or the\nConey of the Bible. The two last species have often been confounded\ntogether, but the Syrian animal may be known by the oblong pale spot\non the middle of its back.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: HIPPOPOTAMUS.]\n\n\n\n\nBEHEMOTH.\n\n Literal translation of the word Behemoth--Various theories\n respecting the identity of the animal--The Hippopotamus known\n to the ancient Hebrews--Geographical range of the animal--\"He\n eateth grass like the ox\"--Ravages of the Hippopotamus among\n the crops--Structure of the mouth and teeth--The \"sword or\n scythe\" of the Hippopotamus--Some strange theories--Haunts\n of the Hippopotamus--The Egyptian hunter--A valuable\n painting--Strength of the Hippopotamus--Rising of the\n Nile--Modern hunters--Wariness of the Hippopotamus--The pitfall\n and the drop-trap.\n\n\nIn the concluding part of that wonderful poem which is so familiar\nto us as the Book of Job, the Lord is represented as reproving the\nmurmurs of Job, by showing that he could not even understand the\nmysteries of the universe, much less the purposes of the Creator.\nBy presuming to bring a charge of injustice against his Maker, he\nin fact inferred that the accuser was more competent to govern\nthe world than was the Creator, and thus laid himself open to the\nunanswerable irony of the splendid passages contained in chapters\nxl. xli., which show that man cannot even rule the animals, his\nfellow-creatures, much less control the destinies of the human race.\n\nThe passages with which we are at present concerned are to be found\nat the end of the fortieth chapter, and contain a most powerful\ndescription of some animal which is called by the name of Behemoth.\nNow this word only occurs once in the whole of the Scriptures,\n_i.e._ in Job xl. 15: \"Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee,\"\n&c. Some commentators, in consequence of the plural termination\nof the word, which may be literally translated as \"beasts,\" have\nthought that it was a collective term for all the largest beasts of\nthe world, such as the elephant, the hippopotamus, the wild cattle,\nand their like. Others have thought that the elephant was signified\nby the word Behemoth; and some later writers, acquainted with\npal\u00e6ontology, have put forward a conjecture that the Behemoth must\nhave been some extinct pachydermatous animal, like the dinotherium,\nin which might be combined many of the qualities of the elephant and\nhippopotamus.\n\nIt is now, however, agreed by all Biblical scholars and naturalists,\nthat the hippopotamus, and no other animal, is the creature which\nwas signified by the word Behemoth, and this interpretation is\nfollowed in the Jewish Bible.\n\nWe will now take the whole of the passage, and afterwards examine it\nby degrees, comparing the Authorized Version with the Jewish Bible,\nand noting at the same time one or two variations in the rendering\nof certain phrases. The passage is given as follows in the Jewish\nBible, and may be compared with our Authorized Version:--\n\n \"Behold now the river-horse, which I have made with thee: he eateth\n grass like an ox.\n\n \"Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his vigour is in the\n muscles of his body.\n\n \"He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his thighs are\n wrapped together.\n\n \"His bones are pipes of copper; his bones are like bars of iron.\n\n \"He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can alone\n reach his sword.\n\n \"That the mountains should bring forth food for him, and all the\n beasts of the field play there.\n\n \"He lieth under wild lotuses, in the covert of the reed, and fens.\n\n \"Wild lotuses cover him with their shadow; willows of the brook\n compass him about.\n\n \"Behold, should a river overflow, he hasteth not: he feels secure\n should Jordan burst forth up to his mouth.\n\n \"He taketh it in with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.\"\n\nWe will now take this description in detail, and see how far it\napplies to the now familiar habits of the hippopotamus. A little\nallowance must of course be made for poetical imagery, but we shall\nfind that in all important details the account of the Behemoth\nagrees perfectly with the appearance and habits of the hippopotamus.\n\nIn the first place, it is evident that we may dismiss from our minds\nthe idea that the Behemoth was an extinct pachyderm. The whole tenor\nof the passage shows that it must have been an animal then existing,\nand whose habits were familiar to Job and his friends. Now the date\nof the Book of Job could not have been earlier than about 1500\nB.C., and in consequence, the ideas of a pal\u00e6ozoic animal must be\ndiscarded.\n\nWe may also dismiss the elephant, inasmuch as it was most unlikely\nthat Job should have known anything about the animal, and it is\ncertain that he could not have attained the familiarity with its\nappearance and habits which is inferred by the context. Moreover,\nit cannot be said of the elephant that \"he eateth grass as an ox.\"\nThe elephant feeds chiefly on the leaves of trees, and when he\ndoes eat grass, he cannot do so \"like an ox,\" but plucks it with\nhis proboscis, and then puts the green tufts into his mouth. So\ncharacteristic a gesture as this would never have passed unnoticed\nin a description so full of detail.\n\nThat the hippopotamus was known to the ancient Hebrews is\ncertain. After their sojourn in Egypt they had necessarily become\nfamiliarized with it; and if, as most commentators believe, the\ndate of the Book of Job be subsequent to the liberation of the\nIsraelites, there is no difficulty in assuming that Job and his\ncompanions were well acquainted with the animal. Even if the book\nbe of an earlier date, it is still possible that the hippopotamus\nmay, in those days, have lived in rivers where it is now as much\nextinct as it is in England. Mr. Tristram remarks on this point: \"No\nhippopotamus is found in Asia, but there is no reason for asserting\nthat it may not have had an eastern range as far as Palestine, and\nwallowed in the Jordan; for its bones are found in the _d\u00e9bris_\nof the rivers of Algeria, flowing into the Mediterranean, when\ntradition is quite silent as to its former existence.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.]\n\nThere is no doubt that the hippopotamus and the urus were the two\nlargest animals known to the Jews, and it is probably on that\naccount that the former received the name of Behemoth.\n\nAssuming, therefore, that the Behemoth is identical with the\nhippopotamus, we will proceed with the description.\n\n\"He eateth grass like the ox.\" The word which is here rendered\n\"grass\" is translated in Numb. xi. 5 as \"leeks.\" It means, something\nthat is green, and is probably used to signify green herbage of\nany description. Now it is perfectly true of the hippopotamus\nthat it eats grass like an ox, or like cattle, as the passage\nmay be translated. In order to supply its huge massive body with\nnourishment, it consumes vast quantities of food. The mouth is\nenormously broad and shovel-shaped, so as to take in a large\nquantity of food at once; and the gape is so wide, that when the\nanimal opens its jaws to their full extent it seems to split its\nhead into two nearly equal portions. This great mobility of jaw is\nassisted by the peculiar form of the gape, which takes a sudden turn\nupwards, and reaches almost to the eyes.\n\n[Illustration: THE GREAT JAWS OF THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.]\n\nJust as the mouth is formed to contain a vast quantity of food,\nso the jaws and teeth are made to procure it. From the front of\nthe lower jaw the incisor teeth project horizontally, no longer\nperforming the ordinary duties of teeth, but being modified into\ntusks, which are in all probability used as levers for prising up\nthe vegetables on which the animal lives. But the most singular\nportion of the jaw is the mode in which the canine teeth are\nmodified so as to resemble the incisor teeth of rodents, and to\nperform a similar office.\n\n[Illustration: THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.]\n\nThese teeth are very long, curved, and chisel-edged at their tips,\ntheir shape being preserved by continual attrition, just as has been\nmentioned of the hyrax. The material of the teeth is peculiarly\nhard, so much so, indeed, that it is in great request for artificial\nteeth, the \"verniers\" of philosophical instruments, and similar\npurposes. Consequently, with these teeth the hippopotamus can cut\nthrough the stems of thick and strong herbage as with shears, and\nthe strength of its jaws is so great that an angered hippopotamus\nhas been known to bite a man completely in two, and to crush a canoe\nto fragments with a single movement of its enormous jaws.\n\nKeeping this description in our minds, we shall see how true is the\nstatement in verse 19. This passage is not adequately rendered in\nthe Authorized Version: the word which is translated as \"sword\" also\nsignifies a scythe, and evidently having that meaning in the text.\nThe passage is best translated thus: \"His Maker hath furnished him\nwith his scythe.\"\n\nThe havoc which such an animal can make among growing crops may be\neasily imagined. It is fond of leaving the river, and forcing its\nway into cultivated grounds, where it eats vast quantities of green\nfood, and destroys as much as it eats, by the trampling of its heavy\nfeet. Owing to the width of the animal, the feet are placed very far\napart, and the consequence is that the hippopotamus makes a double\npath, the feet of each side trampling down the herbage, and causing\nthe track to look like a double rut, with an elevated ridge between\nthem.\n\nSome little difficulty has been made respecting the passage in\nverse 20, \"Surely the mountains bring him forth food.\" Commentators\nignorant of the habits of the hippopotamus, and not acquainted with\nthe character of the country where it lives, have thought that the\nanimal only lived in the rivers, and merely found its food along\nits banks, or at most upon the marshes at the river-side. The\nhippopotamus, say they, is not a dweller on the mountains, but an\ninhabitant of the river, and therefore this passage cannot rightly\nbe applied to the animal.\n\nNow, in the first place, the word _harim_, which is translated\nas \"mountains\" in the Authorized Version, is rendered as \"hills\"\nby many Hebraists. Moreover, as we know from many passages of\nScripture, the word \"mountain\" is applied to any elevated spot,\nwithout reference to its height. Such places are very common\nalong the banks of the Nile, and are employed for the culture\nof vegetables, which would not grow properly upon the flat and\nmarshy lands around them. These spots are very attractive to the\nhippopotamus, who likes a change of diet, and thus finds food\nupon the mountains. In many parts of Egypt the river runs through\na mountainous country, so that the hills are within a very short\ndistance of the water, and are easily reached by the hippopotamus.\n\n[Illustration: THE HIPPOPOTAMUS EATING GRASS.]\n\nWe will now proceed to the next verse. After mentioning that the\nBehemoth can eat grass like an ox, and finds its food upon the\nhills, the sacred writer proceeds to show that in its moments of\nrepose it is an inhabitant of the rivers and marshy ground: \"He\nlieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.\n\n\"The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the\nbrook compass him about.\"\n\nHere I may remind the reader that the compound Hebrew word which is\nrendered in the Authorized Version as \"shady trees\" is translated\nby some persons as \"wild lotuses\"--a rendering which is followed by\nthe editor of the Jewish Bible. Apparently, however, the Authorized\nVersion gives a more correct meaning of the term. Judging from a\nwell-known Egyptian painting, which represents a hunter in the\nact of harpooning the hippopotamus, the tall papyrus reeds are the\nplants that are signified by this word, which occurs in no other\nplace in the Scriptures.\n\nNothing can be more accurate than this description of the habits\nof the animal. I have now before me a number of sketches by Mr.\nT. Baines, representing various incidents in the life of the\nhippopotamus; and in one or two of them, the little islands that\nstud the river, as well as the banks themselves, are thickly clothed\nwith reeds mixed with papyrus, the whole being exactly similar to\nthose which are represented in the conventional style of Egyptian\nart. These spots are the favourite haunts of the hippopotamus, which\nloves to lie under their shadow, its whole body remaining concealed\nin the water, and only the eyes, ears, and nostrils appearing above\nthe surface.\n\nAs reference will be made to this painting when we come to the\nLeviathan, it will be as well to describe it in detail. In\norder that the reader should fully understand it, I have had it\ntranslated, so to speak, from the conventional outline of Egyptian\nart into perspective, exactly as has been done with the Assyrian and\nEgyptian chariots.\n\nIn the foreground is seen the hunter, standing on a boat that\nclosely resembles the raft-boat which is still in use in several\nparts of Africa. It is made of the very light wood called ambatch,\nby cutting down the requisite number of trees, laying them side by\nside so that their bases form the stern and their points the bow of\nthe extemporized boat. They are then firmly lashed together, the\npointed ends turned upwards, and the simple vessel is complete. It\nis, in fact, nothing more than a raft of triangular shape, but the\nwood is so buoyant that it answers every purpose.\n\nIn his hand the hunter grasps the harpoon which he is about to\nlaunch at the hippopotamus. This is evidently the same weapon which\nis still employed for that purpose. It consists of a long shaft,\ninto the end of which a barbed iron point is loosely inserted. To\nthe iron point is attached one end of a rope, and to the other end,\nwhich is held in the left hand of the harpooner, a float of ambatch\nwood is fastened.\n\nWhen the weapon is thrown, the furious struggles of the wounded\nanimal disengage the shaft of the harpoon, which is regained by the\nhunter; and as it dashes through the water, throwing up spray as it\ngoes, the ambatch float keeps the end of the rope at the surface, so\nthat it can be seen as soon as the animal becomes quieter. Sometimes\nit dives to the bottom, and remains there as long as its breath\ncan hold out; and when it comes up to breathe, it only pushes the\nnostrils out of the water under the shadow of the reeds, so that but\nfor the float it might manage to escape.\n\n[Illustration: A HIPPOPOTAMUS HUNT IN EGYPT.\n\n(This picture is taken from an ancient Egyptian painting.)]\n\nIn the meantime, guided by the float, the hunter follows the course\nof the animal, and, as soon as it comes within reach of his weapon,\ndrives another spear into it, and so proceeds until the animal dies\nfrom loss of blood. The modern hunters never throw a second harpoon\nunless the one already fixed gives way, mainly employing a spear to\ninflict the last wounds. But if we may judge from this painting, the\nEgyptian hunter attached a new rope with every cast of his weapon,\nand, when the hippopotamus became weak from its wounds, gathered up\nthe ropes and came to close quarters.\n\nIn the bow of the boat is the hunter's assistant, armed with a rope\nmade lasso-wise into a noose, which he is throwing over the head\nof the hippopotamus, whose attitude and expression show evidently,\nin spite of the rudeness of the drawing, the impotent anger of the\nweakened animal.\n\nBehind the hippopotamus are the tall and dense reeds and papyrus\nunder the shelter of which the animal loves to lie, and on the\nsurface of the water float the beautiful white flowers of the lotus.\n\nIn the Egyptian painting, the artist, in spite of the\nconventionalities to which he was bound, has depicted the whole\nscene with skill and spirit. The head and open mouth of the\nhippopotamus are remarkably fine, and show that the artist who drew\nthe animal must have seen it when half mad with pain, and half dead\nfrom loss of blood.\n\nThe enormous strength of the hippopotamus is shown in verses 16,\n18, the last of which passages requires a little explanation. Two\ndifferent words are used here to express the bones of the animal.\nThe first is derived from a word signifying strength, and means the\n\"strong bones,\" _i.e._ those of the legs. These are hollow, and are\ntherefore aptly compared to tubes or pipes of copper. The second\nterm is thought by some Hebraists to refer to the rib-bones, which\nare solid, and therefore are not likened to tubes, but to bars of\niron.\n\nThe 23d verse has been translated rather variously. The Authorized\nVersion can be seen by reference to a Bible, and another\ntranslation, that of the Jewish Bible, is given on page 374. A\nthird, and perhaps the best rendering of this passage is given by\nthe Rev. W. Drake, in Smith's \"Dictionary of the Bible:\" \"Lo, the\nriver swelleth proudly against him, yet he is not alarmed; he is\nsecurely confident though a Jordan burst forth against his mouth.\"\n\nIn all probability reference is here made to the annual rising of\nthe Nile, and the inundations which it causes. In some years,\nwhen it rises much above its usual height, the floods become most\ndisastrous. Whole villages are swept away, and scarcely a vestige of\nthe mud-built houses is left; the dead bodies of human beings are\nseen intermixed with those of cattle, and the whole country is one\nscene of desolation. Yet the almost amphibious hippopotamus cares\nnothing for the floods, as long as it can find food, and so, \"though\nthe river swelleth proudly against him,\" he is not alarmed.\n\nFrom the use of the word \"Jordan\" in the same verse, it might be\nthought that the river of Palestine was intended. This, however, is\nnot the case. The word \"Jordan\" is simply used as a poetical term\nfor any river, and is derived from a Hebrew word which signifies\n\"descending quickly.\"\n\nWe now come to the last verse of this noble description: \"He taketh\nit in with his eyes.\" These words have also been variously rendered,\nsome translating them as \"He receiveth it (_i.e._ the river) up to\nhis eyes.\" But the translation which seems to suit the context best\nis, \"Who will take him when in his sight? His nose pierceth through\n(_i.e._ detects) snares.\" Now, this faculty of detecting snares is\none of the chief characteristics of the hippopotamus, when it lives\nnear places inhabited by mankind, who are always doing their best\nto destroy it. In the first place, its body gives them an almost\nunlimited supply of flesh, the fat is very highly valued for many\npurposes, the teeth are sold to the ivory-dealers, and the hide is\ncut up into whips, or khoorbashes.\n\nThere is now before me a khoorbash, purchased from a native Egyptian\nwho was beating a servant with it. The whip is identical with that\nwhich was used by the ancient Egyptians in urging the Israelites to\ntheir tasks, and the scene reminded the traveller so forcibly of the\nold Scriptural times that he rescued the unfortunate servant, and\npurchased the khoorbash, which is now in my collection.\n\nNot content with hunting the hippopotamus, the natives contrive\nvarious traps, either pitfalls or drop-traps. The former are simply\npits dug in the path of the animal, covered with sticks and reeds,\nand having at the bottom a sharp stake on which the victim is\nimpaled, and so effectually prevented from escaping or damaging the\npit by its struggles.\n\nThe drop-trap is a log of wood, weighted with stones, and having at\none end an iron spike, which is sometimes poisoned. The path which\nthe animal takes is watched, a conveniently overhanging branch is\nselected, and from that branch the cruel spear is suspended, by a\ncatch or trigger, exactly over the centre of the path. There is no\ndifficulty in finding the precise centre of the path, owing to the\npeculiar gait of the animal, which has already been described. One\nend of the trigger supports the spear, and to the other is attached\na rope, which is brought across the path in such a way that when\ntouched it relieves the spear, which is driven deeply into the\nanimal's back. If well hung, the spear-blade divides the spine, and\nthe wounded animal falls on the spot, but, even if it should miss a\nvital part, the poison soon does its fatal work.\n\n[Illustration: HIPPOPOTAMUS AND TRAP.]\n\nIn consequence of the continual persecution to which it is\nsubjected, the hippopotamus becomes exceedingly wary, and, huge,\nclumsy, and blundering as it looks, is clever enough to detect\neither pitfall or drop-trap that have not been contrived with\nespecial care. An old and experienced hippopotamus becomes so wary\nthat he will be suspicious even of a bent twig, and, rather than\nventure across it, he will leave the path, force for himself a\nroundabout passage, and return to the path beyond the object that\nalarmed him.\n\nMr. T. Baines, to whose sketches I am indebted for the illustration,\ntold me that the hippopotamus is possessed of much more intellect\nthan might be expected from a creature of so dull, clumsy, and\nunpromising aspect. Apathetic it generally is, and, as long as it is\nleft unmolested, does not care to molest even the human beings that\nintrude upon its repose.\n\nIt likes to lie in the shade of the reeds and rushes, and may be\nseen floating in the water, with only the nostrils, the eyes, and\nthe ears above the surface, these organs being set in a line along\nthe head, evidently for the purpose of allowing the whole body to be\nhidden under water while the three most important senses are capable\nof acting.\n\nA canoe-man who knows the habits of the hippopotamus will fearlessly\ntake his fragile vessel through a herd of the animals, knowing\nthat, if he only avoids contact with them, they will not interfere\nwith him. The only danger is, that a hippopotamus may rise under\nthe canoe, and strike itself against the boat, in which case the\nanimal is rather apt to consider the intruding object as an enemy,\nand to attack it, sometimes crushing the canoe between its teeth,\nand mostly upsetting it, and throwing the crew into the water. In\nsuch a case, the men always dive at once to the bottom of the river,\nand hold on to some weed or rock as long as they can exist without\nbreathing. The reason for this proceeding is, that the hippopotamus\nalways looks for its enemy upon the surface of the water, and, if\nthe men were to swim to shore, they would be caught and killed\nbefore they had swum many strokes. But, as it sees nothing but the\ndamaged canoe, its short-lived anger vanishes, and it sinks again\ninto the river, leaving the men at liberty to regain and repair\ntheir vessel.\n\nThere is one passage in the description of the Behemoth which\nrequires a few words of explanation: \"He moveth his tail like a\ncedar\" (v. 17).\n\nSeveral commentators have imagined that this expression shows that\nthe Behemoth must have been an animal which had a very long and\npowerful tail, and have adduced the passage as a proof that the\ncrocodile was the animal that was signified by the Behemoth. Others,\nagain, have shifted the position of the tail, and, by rendering it\nas the \"proboscis,\" have identified the Behemoth with the elephant.\nThere is, however, no necessity for straining the interpretation,\nthe passage evidently signifying that the member in question is\nstiff and inflexible as the cedar-stem.\n\n[Illustration: lily pad scene]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: BABOON.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE APE.\n\n The Monkey tribe rarely mentioned in Scripture--Why the Ape\n was introduced into Palestine--Solomon's ships, and their\n cargo of Apes, peacocks, ivory, and gold--Various species of\n Monkey that might have been imported--Habits of the Monkey, and\n reverence in which it is held by the natives--The Egyptians and\n their Baboon worship--Idols and memorials--The Wanderoo--its\n singular aspect--Reasons why it should be introduced into\n Palestine--General habits of the Wanderoo--Various species of\n Monkey that may be included in the term \"Kophim.\"\n\n\nAnimals belonging to the monkey tribe are but sparingly mentioned in\nHoly Writ. If, as is possible, the Satyr of Scripture signifies some\nspecies of baboon, there are but three passages either in the Old or\nNew Testament where these animals are mentioned. In 1 Kings x. 22,\nand the parallel passage 2 Chron. ix. 21, the sacred historian makes\na passing allusion to apes as forming part of the valuable cargoes\nwhich were brought by Solomon's fleet to Tharshish, the remaining\narticles being gold, ivory, and peacocks. The remaining passage\noccurs in Is. xiii. 21, where the prophet foretells that on the site\nof Babylon satyrs shall dance.\n\nThe reason for this reticence is simple enough. No monkey was\nindigenous to Palestine when the various writers of the Bible lived,\nand all their knowledge of such animals must have been derived\neither from the description of sailors, or from the sight of the few\nspecimens that were brought as curiosities from foreign lands. Such\nspecimens must have been extremely rare or they would not have been\nmentioned as adjuncts to the wealth of Solomon, the wealthiest, as\nwell as the wisest monarch of his time. To the mass of the people\nthey must have been practically unknown, and therefore hold but a\nvery inferior place in the Scriptures, which were addressed to all\nmankind.\n\nThere is scarcely any familiar animal, bird, reptile or insect,\nwhich is not used in some metaphorical sense in the imagery which\npervades the whole of the Scriptures. For example, the various\ncarnivorous animals, such as the lion, wolf, and bear, are used\nas emblems of destruction in various ways; while the carnivorous\nbirds, such as the eagle and hawk, and the destructive insects, such\nas the locust and the caterpillar, are all similarly employed in\nstrengthening and illustrating the words of Holy Writ.\n\nBut we never find any animal of the monkey tribe mentioned\nmetaphorically, possibly because any monkeys that were imported into\nPalestine must only have been intended as objects of curiosity,\njust as the peacocks which accompanied them were objects of beauty,\nand the gold and ivory objects of value--all being employed in the\ndecoration of the king's palace.\n\nThe question that now comes before us is the species of monkey\nthat is signified by the Hebrew word Kophim. In modern days, we\ndistinguish this tribe of animals into three great sections, namely,\nthe apes, the baboons, and the monkey; and according to this\narrangement the ape, being without tails, must have been either the\nchimpanzee of Africa, the orang-outan of Sumatra, or one of the\nGibbons. But there is no reason to imagine that the word Kophim was\nintended to represent any one of these animals, and it seems evident\nthat the word was applied to any species of monkey, whether it had a\ntail or not.\n\nPerhaps the best method of ascertaining approximately the\nparticular species of monkey, is to notice the land from which the\nanimals came. Accordingly, we find that the ships of Solomon brought\ngold, ivory, apes, and peacocks, and that they evidently brought\ntheir cargoes from the same country. Consequently, the country in\nquestion must produce gold, and must be inhabited by the monkey\ntribe, by the elephant, and by the peacock. If the peacock had not\nbeen thus casually mentioned, we should have been at a loss to\nidentify the particular country to which reference is made; but the\nmention of that bird shows that some part of Asia must be signified.\nIt is most probable that the vessels in question visited both India\nand Ceylon, although, owing to the very imperfect geographical\nknowledge of the period, it is not possible to assert absolutely\nthat this is the case. In India, however, and the large island of\nCeylon, gold, elephants, peacocks, and monkeys exist; and therefore\nwe will endeavour to identify the animals which are mentioned under\nthe general term Apes, or Kophim.\n\n[Illustration: THE RHESUS MONKEY.]\n\nWe are quite safe in suggesting that some of the apes in question\nmust have belonged to the Macaques, and it is most likely that one\nof them was the RHESUS MONKEY.\n\n[Illustration: FEEDING THE MONKEYS IN INDIA.]\n\nThis animal is very plentiful in India, and is one of the many\ncreatures which are held sacred by the natives. Consequently, it\ntakes up its quarters near human habitations, feeling sure that it\nwill not be injured, and knowing that plenty of food is at hand.\nIt is said that in some parts of India the natives always leave\none-tenth of their grain-crops for the monkeys, and thus the animals\ncontent themselves with this offering, and refrain from devastating\nthe fields, as they would otherwise do. This story may be true or\nnot. It is certainly possible that in a long series of years the\nmonkeys of that neighbourhood have come to look upon their tithe as\na matter belonging to the ordinary course of things; but whether\nit be true or not, it illustrates the reverence entertained by the\nHindoos for their monkeys.\n\nIn many places where grain and fruit crops are cultivated, the\nmonkeys get rather more than their share, plundering without\nscruple, and finding no hindrance from the rightful owners, who dare\nnot drive them away, lest they should injure any of these sacred\nbeings. However, being of the opinion that no evil will follow a\nforeigner's action, they are only too glad to avail themselves of\nthe assistance of Europeans, who have no scruples on the subject.\nStill, although they are pleased to see the monkeys driven off, and\ntheir crops saved, they would rather lose all their harvest than\nallow a single monkey to be killed, and in the earlier years of the\nIndian colony, several riots took place between the natives and the\nEnglish, because the latter had killed a monkey through ignorance of\nthe reverence in which it was held.\n\n[Illustration: TROUBLESOME NEIGHBORS.]\n\nAnother monkey which may probably have been brought to Palestine\nfrom India is the HOONUMAN, ENTELLUS, or MAKUR, which is more\nreverenced by the Hindoos than any other species. Its scientific\ntitle is _Presbytes entellus_. In some parts of India it is\nworshipped as a form of divinity, and in all it is reverenced and\nprotected to such an extent that it becomes a positive nuisance to\nEuropeans who are not influenced by the same superstitious ideas as\nthose which are so prevalent in India. Being a very common species,\nit could easily be captured, especially if, as is likely to be the\ncase, it was fearless of man through long immunity from harm. The\nsailors who manned Solomon's navy would not trouble themselves about\nthe sacred character of the monkeys, but would take them without the\nleast scruple wherever they could be found.\n\n[Illustration: MONKEYS ENTERING A PLANTATION.]\n\nThe Hoonuman would also be valued by them on account of its docility\nwhen taken young, and the amusing tricks which it is fond of\ndisplaying in captivity as well as in a state of freedom. Moreover,\nit is rather a pretty creature, the general colour being yellowish,\nand the face black.\n\n[Illustration: SLOTHFUL MONKEYS.]\n\nPerfectly aware of the impunity with which they are permitted to\nact, these monkeys prefer human habitations to the forests which\nform the natural home of their race, and crowd into the villages and\ntemples, the latter being always swarming with the long-tailed host.\nAs is the case with the Rhesus, the Hoonuman monkeys are much too\nfond of helping themselves from the shops and stalls, and if they\ncan find a convenient roof, will sit there and watch for the arrival\nof the most dainty fruits.\n\nHowever, the natives, superstitious as they are, and unwilling to\ninflict personal injury on a monkey, have no scruple in making\narrangements by which a monkey that trespasses on forbidden spots\nwill inflict injury on itself. They may not shoot or wound in any\nway the monkeys which cluster on their roofs, and the animals\nare so perfectly aware of the fact, that they refuse to be driven\naway by shouts and menacing gestures. But, they contrive to make\nthe roofs so uncomfortable by covering them with thorns, that the\nmonkeys are obliged to quit their points of vantage, and to choose\nsome spot where they can sit down without fear of hurting themselves.\n\n[Illustration: A PRIVILEGED RACE.]\n\nThat the Hindoos should pay homage almost divine to a monkey,\ndoes seem equally absurd and contemptible. But, strange as\nthis superstition may be, and the more strange because the\nintellectual powers of the educated Hindoos are peculiarly subtle\nand penetrating, it was shared by a greater, a mightier, and a\nstill more intellectual race, now extinct as a nation. The ancient\nEgyptians worshipped the baboon, and ranked it among the most\npotent of their deities; and it can but strike us with wonder\nwhen we reflect that a people who could erect buildings perfectly\nunique in the history of the world, who held the foremost place in\ncivilization, who perfected arts which we, at a distance of three\nthousand years, have only just learned, should pay divine honours to\nmonkeys, bulls, and snakes. Such, however, was the case; and we find\nthat the modern Hindoo shows as great reverence for the identical\nanimals as did the Egyptian when Pharaoh was king, and Joseph his\nprime minister.\n\nIt is said by some, that neither the Egyptian of the ancient times,\nnor the Hindoo of the present day, actually worshipped these\ncreatures, but that they reverenced them as external signs of some\nattribute of God. Precisely the same remarks have been made as\nto the worship of idols, and it is likely enough that the highly\neducated among the worshippers did look upon a serpent merely as\nan emblem of divine wisdom, a bull as an image of divine strength,\nand a monkey as an external memorial of the promised incarnation of\ndivinity. So with idols, which to the man of educated and enlarged\nmind were nothing but visible symbols employed for the purpose of\ndirecting the mind in worship. But, though this was the case with\nthe educated and intellectual, the ignorant and uncultivated, who\ncompose the great mass of a nation, did undoubtedly believe that\nboth the living animal and the lifeless idol were themselves divine,\nand did worship them accordingly.\n\nThere is one species of monkey, which is extremely likely to have\nbeen brought to Palestine, and used for the adornment of a luxurious\nmonarch's palace. This is the WANDEROO, or NIL-BHUNDER (_Silenus\nveter_). The Wanderoo, or Ouanderoo, as the name is sometimes\nspelled, is a very conspicuous animal, on account of the curious\nmane that covers its neck and head, and the peculiarly formed tail,\nwhich is rather long and tufted, like that of a baboon, and has\ncaused it to be ranked among those animals by several writers, under\nthe name of the Lion-tailed Baboon. That part of the hairy mass\nwhich rolls over the head is nearly black, but as it descends over\nthe shoulders, it assumes a greyer tinge, and in some specimens is\nnearly white. As is the case with many animals, the mane is not\nnoticeable in the young specimens, but increases in size with age,\nonly reaching its full dimensions when the animal has attained adult\nage. Only in the oldest specimens is the full, white, venerable,\nwig-like mane to be seen in perfection.\n\nIn captivity, the general demeanour of this monkey corresponds with\nits grave and dignified aspect. It seems to be more sedate than the\nordinary monkeys, to judge from the specimens which have lived in\nthe Zoological Gardens, and sits peering with its shiny brown eyes\nout of the enormous mane, with as much gravity as if it were really\na judge deciding an important case in law. Not that it will not\ncondescend to the little tricks and playful sallies for which the\nmonkeys are so celebrated; but it soon loses the vivacity of youth,\nand when full-grown, presents as great a contrast to its former\nvivacity, as does a staid full-grown cat sitting by the fire, to the\nrestless, lively, playful kitten of three months old. During its\ngrowth, it can be taught to go through several amusing performances,\nbut it has little of the quick, mercurial manner, which is generally\nfound among the monkey tribe.\n\n[Illustration: THE WANDEROO.]\n\nThe docility of the Wanderoo often vanishes together with its youth.\nThe same animal may be gentle, tractable, and teachable when young,\nand yet, when a few years have passed over its head and whitened its\nmane, may be totally obstinate and dull.\n\n[Illustration: THE ENEMY DISCOVERED.]\n\nThe natives of the country in which the Wanderoo lives, attribute\nto it the wisdom which its venerable aspect seems to imply, much as\nthe ancient Athenians venerated the owl as the bird of wisdom, and\nthe chosen companion of the learned Minerva. In many places, the\nWanderoo is thought to be a sort of king among monkeys, and to enjoy\nthe same supremacy over its maneless kinsfolk, that the king-vulture\nmaintains over the other vultures which are destitute of the\nbrilliant crest that marks its rank.\n\nI am induced to believe that the Wanderoo must have been one of the\nmonkeys which were brought to Solomon, for two reasons.\n\nIn the first place, it is a native both of India and Ceylon, and\ntherefore might have formed an article of merchandise, together with\nthe peacock, gold, and ivory. And if, as is extremely probable, the\nTharshish of the Scripture is identical with Ceylon, it is almost\ncertain that the Wanderoo would have been brought to Solomon, in\norder to increase the glories of his palace. Sir Emerson Tennant\npoints out very forcibly, that in the Tamil language, the words for\napes, ivory, and peacocks, are identical with the Hebrew names for\nthe same objects, and thus gives a very strong reason for supposing\nthat Ceylon was the country from which Solomon's fleet drew its\nsupplies.\n\nAnother reason for conjecturing that the Wanderoo would have been\none of the animals sent to grace the palace of Solomon is this. In\nthe days when that mighty sovereign lived, as indeed has been the\ncase in all partially civilized countries, the kings and rulers have\nfelt a pride in collecting together the rarest objects which they\ncould purchase, giving the preference to those which were in any way\nconspicuous, whether for intrinsic value, for size, for beauty, or\nfor ugliness. Thus, giants, dwarfs, and deformed persons of either\nsex, and even idiots, were seen as regular attendants at royal\ncourts, a custom which extended even into the modern history of\nEngland, the \"Fool\" being an indispensable appendage to the train of\nevery person of rank. Animals from foreign lands were also prized,\nand value was set upon them, not only for their variety, but for any\nexternal characteristic which would make them especially conspicuous.\n\nOrdinary sovereigns would make collections of such objects, simply\nbecause they were rare, and in accordance with the general custom;\nand in importing the \"apes\" and peacocks together with the gold and\nivory, Solomon but followed the usual custom. He, however, on whom\nthe gift of wisdom had been especially bestowed, would have another\nmotive besides ostentation or curiosity. He was learned in the study\nof that science which we now call Natural History. It is, therefore,\nextremely probable, that he would not neglect any opportunities of\nprocuring animals from distant lands, in order that he might study\nthe products of countries which he had not personally visited, and\nit is not likely that so conspicuous an animal as the Wanderoo would\nhave escaped the notice of those who provided the cargo for which so\nwealthy a king could pay, and for which they would demand a price\nproportionate to its variety.\n\n[Illustration: BONNET MONKEYS.]\n\nThere is perhaps no monkey which is so conspicuous among its kin\nas the Wanderoo, and certainly no monkey or ape inhabiting those\nparts of the world to which the fleet of Solomon would have access.\nIts staid, sedate manners, its black body, lion-like tail, and huge\nwhite-edged mane, would distinguish it so boldly from its kinsfolk,\nthat the sailors would use all their efforts to capture an animal\nfor which they would be likely to obtain a high price.\n\nThe peculiar and unique character of Solomon affords good reason\nfor conjecture that, not only were several species of the monkey\ntribe included under the general word Kophim, but that the number\nof species must have been very great. He wrote largely of the\nvarious productions of the earth, and, to judge him by ourselves,\nit is certain that with such magnificent means at his command, he\nwould have ransacked every country that his ships could visit, for\nthe purpose of collecting materials for his works. It is therefore\nalmost certain that under the word Kophim may be included all the\nmost plentiful species of monkey which inhabit the countries to\nwhich his fleet had access, and that in his palace were collected\ntogether specimens of each monkey which has here been mentioned,\nbesides many others of which no special notice need be taken, such\nas the Bonnet Monkeys, and other Macaques.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE BAT.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BAT.\n\n The Bat mentioned always with abhorrence--Meaning of the Hebrew\n name--The prohibition against eating Bats--The edible species,\n their food and mode of life--The noisome character of the Bat,\n and the nature of its dwelling-place--Its hatred of light--Mr.\n Tristram's discoveries--Bats found in the quarries from which\n the stone of the Temple was hewn--Edible Bats in a cave near the\n centre of Palestine--Another species of long-tailed Bat captured\n in the rock caves where hermits had been buried--Other species\n which probably inhabit Palestine.\n\n\nAmong the animals that are forbidden to be eaten by the Israelites\nwe find the BAT prominently mentioned, and in one or two parts of\nScripture the same creature is alluded to with evident abhorrence.\nIn Isaiah ii. 20, for example, it is prophesied that when the day of\nthe Lord comes, the worshippers of idols will try to hide themselves\nfrom the presence of the Lord, and will cast their false gods to the\nbats and the moles, both animals being evidently used as emblems of\ndarkness and ignorance, and associated together for a reason which\nwill be given when treating of the mole. The Hebrew name of the Bat\nis expressive of its nocturnal habits, and literally signifies some\nbeing that flies by night, and it is a notable fact that the Greek\nand Latin names for the bat have also a similar derivation.\n\nIn Lev. xi. 20, the words, \"All fowls that creep, going upon all\nfour, shall be an abomination unto you,\" are evidently intended\nto apply to the bat, which, as is now well known, is not a bird\nwith wings, but a mammal with very long toes, and a well developed\nmembrane between them. Like other mammals, the Bat crawls, or walks,\non all four legs, though the movement is but a clumsy one, and\ngreatly different from the graceful ease with which the creature\nurges its course through the evening air in search of food.\n\nPerhaps the prohibition to eat so unsightly an animal may seem\nalmost needless; but it must be remembered that in several parts\nof the earth, certain species of Bat are used as food. These are\nchiefly the large species, that are called Kalongs, and which\nfeed almost entirely on fruit, thus being to their insectivorous\nrelatives what the fruit-loving bear is among the larger carnivora.\nThese edible Bats have other habits not shared by the generality\nof their kin. Some of the species do not retire to caves and\nhollow trees for shelter during their hours of sleep, but suspend\nthemselves by their hind legs from the topmost branches of the trees\nwhose fruit affords them nourishment. In this position they have a\nmost singular aspect, looking much as if they themselves were large\nbunches of fruit hanging from the boughs. Thus, they are cleanly\nanimals, and are as little repulsive as bats can be expected to be.\n\nBut the ordinary bats, such as are signified by the \"night-fliers\"\nof the Scriptures, are, when in a state of nature, exceedingly\nunpleasant creatures. Almost all animals are infested with parasitic\ninsects, but the Bat absolutely swarms with them, so that it is\nimpossible to handle a Bat recently dead without finding some of\nthem on the hands. Also, the bats are in the habit of resorting\nto caverns, clefts in the rocks, deserted ruins, and similar dark\nplaces, wherein they pass the hours of daylight, and will frequent\nthe same spots for a long series of years. In consequence of this\nhabit, the spots which they select for their resting place become\ninconceivably noisome, and can scarcely be entered by human beings,\nso powerful is the odour with which they are imbued.\n\nSometimes, when travellers have been exploring the chambers of\nruined buildings, or have endeavoured to penetrate into the recesses\nof rocky caves, they have been repelled by the bats which had taken\nup their habitation therein. No sooner does the light of the torch\nor lamp shine upon the walls, than the clusters of bats detach\nthemselves from the spots to which they had been clinging, and fly\nto the light like moths to a candle. No torch can withstand the\nmultitude of wings that come flapping about it, sounding like the\nrushing of a strong wind, while the bats that do not crowd around\nthe light, dash against the explorers, beating their leathery wings\nagainst their faces, and clinging in numbers to their dress. They\nwould even settle on the face unless kept off by the hands, and\nsometimes they force the intruders to beat a retreat. They do not\nintend to attack, for they are quite incapable of doing any real\ndamage; and, in point of fact, they are much more alarmed than those\nwhom they annoy. Nocturnal in their habits, they cannot endure the\nlight, which completely dazzles them, so that they dash about at\nrandom, and fly blindly towards the torches in their endeavours to\nescape.\n\n[Illustration: BATS' RESTING-PLACE.]\n\nIf, then, we keep in mind the habits of the bats, we shall\ncomprehend that their habitations must be inexpressibly revolting\nto human beings, and shall the better understand the force of the\nprophecy that the idols shall be cast to the bats and the moles.\n\nNo particular species of Bat seems to be indicated by the Hebrew\nword Hatalleph, which is evidently used in a comprehensive sense,\nand signifies all and any species of Bat. Until very lately, the\nexact species of Bats which inhabit Palestine were not definitely\nascertained, and could only be conjectured. But, Mr. Tristram, who\ntravelled in the Holy Land for the express purpose of investigating\nits physical history, has set this point at rest, in his invaluable\nwork, \"The Land of Israel,\" to which frequent reference will be made\nin the course of the following pages.\n\nAlmost every cavern which he entered was tenanted by bats, and he\nprocured several species of these repulsive but interesting animals.\nWhile exploring the vast quarries in which the stone for the Temple\nwas worked beneath the earth, so that no sound of tool was heard\nduring the building, numbers of bats were disturbed by the lights,\nand fluttered over the heads of the exploring party.\n\nOn another occasion, he was exploring a cave near the centre of\nPalestine, when he succeeded in procuring some specimens, and\ntherefore in identifying at least one species. \"In climbing the\nrocks soon afterwards, to examine a cave, I heard a singular whining\nchatter within, and on creeping into its recesses, a stone thrown\nup roused from their roosting-places a colony of large bats, the\nsoft waving flap of whose wings I could hear in the darkness. How\nto obtain one I knew not; but on vigorously plying my signal\nwhistle, all the party soon gathered to my help. B. suggested\nsmoking them, so a fire of brushwood was kindled, and soon two or\nthree rushed out. Two fell to our shot, and I was delighted to find\nmyself the possessor of a couple of large fox-headed bats of the\ngenus Pteropus (_Xantharpya \u00e6gyptiaca_), and extending twenty and\na half inches from wing to wing. As none of the bats of Palestine\nare yet known, this was a great prize, and another instance of the\nextension westward of the Indian fauna.\" These Bats belong to the\nfruit-eating tribe, and are closely allied to the Flying Foxes of\nJava, Australia, and Southern Africa. Therefore, this would be one\nof the species commonly used for food, and hence the necessity for\nthe prohibition. The present species extends over the greater part\nof Northern Africa and into parts of Asia.\n\n[Illustration: GREAT FOX-HEADED BAT, OR FLYING FOX.]\n\nThe same traveller subsequently discovered several more species of\nbats. On one occasion, he was exploring some caves, near the site of\nthe ancient Jericho. On the eastern face of the cliffs are a number\nof caves, arranged in regular tiers, and originally approached\nby steps cut out of the face of the rock. These staircases are,\nhowever, washed away by time and the rains, and in consequence the\nupper tiers were almost inaccessible. In some of these caves the\nwalls were covered with brilliant, but mutilated frescoes; and in\nothers, hermits had lived and died and been buried. Mr. Tristram and\nhis companions had penetrated to the second tier, and there made a\ncurious discovery.\n\n[Illustration: CAVE NEAR THE SITE OF ANCIENT JERICHO.]\n\n\"In the roof of this was a small hole, athwart which lay a stick.\nAfter many efforts, we got a string across it, and so hauled up\na rope, by which, finding the stick strong enough, we climbed,\nand with a short exercise of the chimney-sweeper's art, we found\nourselves in a third tier of cells, similar to the lower ones, and\ncovered with the undisturbed dust of ages. Behind the chapel was a\ndark cave, with an entrance eighteen inches high. Having lighted\nour lantern, we crept in on our faces, and found the place full of\nhuman bones and skulls; with dust several inches deep. We were in an\nancient burying-place of the Anchorites, or hermits of the country,\nwhose custom it was to retire to such desert and solitary places.\n\n\"Their bones lay in undisturbed order, probably as the corpses had\nbeen stretched after death.\n\n\"After capturing two or three long-tailed bats, of a species new\nto us, which were the only living occupants of the cave, we crept\nout, with a feeling of religious awe, from this strange, sepulchral\ncavern.\"\n\nBesides the species of bats that have been described, it is probable\nthat representatives of several more families of bats inhabit\nPalestine.\n\n[Illustration: bat]\n\n[Illustration: LEOPARDS.]\n\n[Illustration: BIRDS.]\n\n[Illustration: bird and nest]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: ossifrage]\n\n\n\n\nTHE L\u00c4MMERGEIER, OR OSSIFRAGE OF SCRIPTURE.\n\n Difficulty of identifying the various birds mentioned in\n Scripture--The vultures of Palestine--The L\u00e4mmergeier, or\n Ossifrage of Scripture--Appearance of the L\u00e4mmergeier--Its\n flight and mode of feeding--Nest of the L\u00e4mmergeier.\n\n\nIt has already been mentioned that even the best Biblical scholars\nhave found very great difficulties in identifying several of the\nanimals which are named in Scripture. This difficulty is greatly\nincreased when we come to the BIRDS, and in many instances it is\nabsolutely impossible to identify the Hebrew word with any precise\nspecies. In all probability, however, the nomenclature of the birds\nis a very loose one, several species being classed under the same\ntitle.\n\n[Illustration: THE L\u00c4MMERGEIER.]\n\nKeeping this difficulty in mind, I shall mention all the species\nwhich are likely to have been classed under a single title, giving\na general description of the whole, and a detailed account of the\nparticular species which seems to answer most closely to the Hebrew\nword.\n\n * * * * *\n\nFollowing the arrangement which has been employed in this work, I\nshall begin with the bird which has been placed by zoologists at\nthe head of its class, namely, the L\u00c4MMERGEIER, the bird which may\nbe safely identified with the Ossifrage of Scripture. The Hebrew\nword is \"Peres,\" a term which only occurs twice when signifying a\nspecies of bird; namely, in Lev. xi. 13, and the parallel passage in\nDeut. xiv. 12. The first of these passages runs as follows: \"These\nye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be\neaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and\nthe ospray.\" The corresponding passage in Deuteronomy has precisely\nthe same signification, though rather differently worded: \"These are\nthey of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and\nthe ospray.\"\n\nThe word _peres_ signifies a breaker; and the Latin term Ossifraga,\nor Bone-breaker, is a very good translation of the word. How it\napplies to the L\u00e4mmergeier we shall presently see.\n\nThe L\u00e4mmergeier belongs to the vultures, but has much more the\nappearance of an eagle than a vulture, the neck being clothed\nwith feathers, instead of being naked or only covered with down.\nIt may at once be known by the tuft of long, hair-like feathers\nwhich depends from the beak, and which has gained for the bird the\ntitle of Bearded Vulture. The colour of the plumage is a mixture of\ndifferent browns and greys, tawny below and beautifully pencilled\nabove, a line of pure white running along the middle of each\nfeather. When young it is nearly black, and indeed has been treated\nas a separate species under the name of Black Vulture.\n\nIt is one of the largest of the flying birds, its length often\nexceeding four feet, and the expanse of its wings being rather more\nthan ten feet. In consequence of this great spread of wing, it\nlooks when flying like a much larger bird than it really is, and\nits size has often been variously misstated. Its flight, as may be\nimagined from the possession of such wings, is equally grand and\ngraceful, and it sweeps through the air with great force, apparently\nunaccompanied by effort.\n\nThe L\u00e4mmergeier extends through a very large range of country, and\nis found throughout many parts of Europe and Asia. It is spread\nover the Holy Land, never congregating in numbers, like ordinary\nvultures, but living in pairs, and scarcely any ravine being\nuninhabited by at least one pair of L\u00e4mmergeiers.\n\nThe food of the L\u00e4mmergeier is, like that of other vultures, the\nflesh of dead animals, though it does not feed quite in the same\nmanner that they do. When the ordinary vultures have found a carcase\nthey tear it to pieces, and soon remove all the flesh. This having\nbeen done, the L\u00e4mmergeier comes to the half-picked bones, eats the\nremaining flesh from them, and finishes by breaking them and eating\nthe marrow. That a bird should be able to break a bone as thick and\nhard as the thigh-bone of a horse or ox seems rather problematical,\nbut the bird achieves the feat in a simple and effectual manner.\n\nSeizing the bone in its claws, it rises to an immense height in the\nair, and then, balancing itself over some piece of rock, it lets the\nbone fall, and sweeps after it with scarce less rapidity than the\nbone falls. Should the bone be broken by the fall, the bird picks\nthe marrow out of the fragments; and should it have escaped fracture\nby reason of falling on a soft piece of ground instead of a hard\nrock, the bird picks it up, and renews the process until it has\nattained its object. It will be seen, therefore, that the name of\nOssifrage, or Bone-breaker, may very properly be given to this bird.\n\nNot only does it extract the marrow from bones in this peculiar\nmanner, but it procures other articles of food by employing\nprecisely the same system. If it sees a tortoise, many of which\nreptiles are found in the countries which it inhabits, it does not\nwaste time and trouble by trying to peck the shell open, but carries\nits prey high in the air, drops it on the ground, and so breaks its\nshell to pieces. Tortoises are often very hard-shelled creatures,\nand the L\u00e4mmergeier has been observed to raise one of them and\ndrop it six or seven times before the stubborn armour would yield.\nSnakes, too, are killed in a similar manner, being seized by the\nneck, and then dropped from a height upon rocks or hard ground. The\nreader may perhaps be aware that the Hooded Crow of England breaks\nbones and the shells of bivalve molluscs in a similar manner.\n\nMr. Tristram suggests, with much probability, that the \"eagle\" which\nmistook the bald head of the poet \u00c6schylus for a white stone, and\nkilled him by dropping a tortoise upon it, was in all likelihood\na L\u00e4mmergeier, the bird being a denizen of the same country, and\nthe act of tortoise-dropping being its usual mode of killing those\nreptiles.\n\n[Illustration: A SUCCESSFUL DEFENCE.]\n\nWe now see why the L\u00e4mmergeier is furnished with such enormous\nwings, and so great a power of flight, these attributes being\nneedful in order to enable it to lift its prey to a sufficient\nheight. The air, as we all know, becomes more and more attenuated in\nexact proportion to the height above the earth; and did not the bird\npossess such great powers of flight, it would not be able to carry a\nheavy tortoise into the thinner strata of air which are found at the\nheight to which it soars.\n\nThe instinct of killing its prey by a fall is employed against other\nanimals besides snakes and tortoises, though exerted in a somewhat\ndifferent manner. The bird, as has already been mentioned, lives\namong mountain ranges, and it may be seen floating about them for\nhours together, watching each inch of ground in search of prey.\nShould it see a goat or other inhabitant of the rocks standing near\na precipice, the L\u00e4mmergeier sweeps rapidly upon it, and with a blow\nof its wing knocks the animal off the rock into the valley beneath,\nwhere it lies helplessly maimed, even if not killed by the fall.\n\nEven hares and lambs are killed in this manner, and it is from\nthe havoc which the L\u00e4mmergeier makes among the sheep that it has\nobtained the name of L\u00e4mmergeier, or Lamb-Vulture. So swift and\nnoiseless is the rush of the bird, that an animal which has once\nbeen marked by its blood-red eye seldom escapes from the swoop; and\neven the Alpine hunters, who spend their lives in pursuit of the\nchamois, have occasionally been put in great jeopardy by the sudden\nattack of a L\u00e4mmergeier, the bird having mistaken their crouching\nforms for the chamois, and only turned aside at the last moment.\n\nThe reason for employing so remarkable a mode of attack is to be\nfound in the structure of the feet, which, although belonging to\nso large and powerful a bird, are comparatively feeble, and are\nunable, like those of the eagle, to grasp the living animal in a\ndeadly hold, and to drive the sharp talons into its vitals. They\nare not well adapted for holding prey, the talons not possessing\nthe hook-like form or the sharp points which characterise those of\nthe eagle. The feet, by the way, are feathered down to the toes.\nThe beak, too, is weak when compared with the rest of the body,\nand could not perform its work were not the object which it tears\npreviously shattered by the fall from a height.\n\n[Illustration: STRUCK FROM A DIZZY HEIGHT.]\n\nThe nest of the L\u00e4mmergeier is made of sticks and sods, and is of\nenormous dimensions. It is almost always placed upon a lofty cliff,\nand contains about a wagon-load or so of sticks rudely interwoven,\nand supporting a nearly equal amount of sods and moss.\n\nAn allied species lives in Northern Africa, where it is called by a\nname which signifies Father Longbeard, in allusion to the beard-like\ntufts of the bill.\n\n[Illustration: bird feeding young]\n\n\n\n\nTHE EGYPTIAN VULTURE, OR GIER-EAGLE.\n\n The R\u00e2ch\u00e2m or Gier-Eagle identified with the Egyptian\n Vulture--Its appearance on the Egyptian monuments--The shape,\n size, and colour of the bird--Its value as a scavenger, and its\n general habits--The Egyptian Vultures and the griffons--Its\n fondness for the society of man--Nest of the Egyptian Vulture.\n\n\nIn the same list of unclean birds which has already been given,\nwe find the name of a bird which we can identify without much\ndifficulty, although there has been some little controversy about\nit. This is the so-called Gier-Eagle, which is named with the\ncormorant and the pelican as one of the birds which the Jews are\nforbidden to eat. The word which is translated as Gier-Eagle is\nR\u00e2ch\u00e2m, a name which is almost identical with the Arabic name of the\nEGYPTIAN VULTURE, sometimes called Pharaoh's Chicken, because it is\nso often sculptured on the ancient monuments of Egypt. It is called\nby the Turks by a name which signifies White Father, in allusion to\nthe colour of its plumage.\n\nThis bird is not a very large one, being about equal to a raven in\nsize, though its enormously long wings give it an appearance of much\ngreater size. Its colour is white, with the exception of the quill\nfeathers of the wings, which are dark-brown. The bill and the naked\nface and legs are bright ochreous yellow. It does not attain this\nwhite plumage until its third year, its colour before reaching adult\nage being brown, with a grey neck and dull yellow legs and face.\n\nThe Egyptian Vulture, although not large, is a really handsome\nbird, the bold contrast of pure white and dark brown being very\nconspicuous when it is on the wing. In this plumage it has never\nbeen seen in England, but one or two examples are known of the\nEgyptian Vulture being killed in England while still in its\ndark-brown clothing.\n\nIt inhabits a very wide range of country, being found throughout\nall the warmer parts of the Old World. Although it is tolerably\nplentiful, it is never seen in great numbers, as is the case with\nseveral of the vultures, but is always to be found in pairs, the\nmale and female never separating, and invariably being seen close\ntogether. In fact, in places where it is common it is hardly\npossible to travel more than a mile or two without seeing a pair\nof Egyptian Vultures. Should more than two of these birds be seen\ntogether, the spectator may be sure that they have congregated\nover some food. It has been well suggested that its Hebrew name\nof R\u00e2ch\u00e2m, or Love, has been given to it in consequence of this\nconstant association of the male and female.\n\n[Illustration: EGYPTIAN VULTURE, OR GIER-EAGLE.]\n\nThe Egyptian Vulture is one of the best of scavengers, not only\ndevouring the carcases of dead animals, but feeding on every kind of\noffal or garbage. Indeed, its teeth and claws are much too feeble\nto enable it to cope with the true vultures in tearing up a large\ncarcase, and in consequence it never really associates with them,\nalthough it may be seen hovering near them, and it never ventures\nto feed in their company, keeping at a respectful distance while\nthey feed, and, when they retire, humbly making a meal on the scraps\nwhich they have left.\n\nMr. Tristram narrates an amusing instance of this trait of\ncharacter. \"On a subsequent occasion, on the north side of Hermon,\nwe observed the griffons teaching a lesson of patience to the\ninferior scavengers. A long row of Egyptian vultures were sitting on\nsome rocks, so intently watching a spot in a corn-field that they\ntook no notice of our approach. Creeping cautiously near, we watched\na score of griffons busily engaged in turning over a dead horse, one\nside of which they had already reduced to a skeleton.\n\n\"Their united efforts had just effected this, when we showed\nourselves, and they quickly retired. The inferior birds, who dreaded\nus much less than them, at once darted to the repast, and, utterly\nregardless of our presence within ten yards of them, began to gorge.\nWe had hardly retired two hundred yards, when the griffons came down\nwith a swoop, and the Egyptian vultures and a pair or two of eagles\nhurriedly resumed their post of observation; while some black kites\nremained, and contrived by their superior agility to filch a few\nmorsels from their lordly superiors.\"\n\nSo useful is this bird as a scavenger, that it is protected in all\nparts of the East by the most stringent laws, so that a naturalist\nwho wishes for specimens has some difficulty in procuring the bird,\nor even its egg. It wanders about the streets of the villages, and\nmay generally be found investigating the heaps of refuse which are\nleft to be cleared away by the animals and birds which constitute\nthe scavengers of the East.\n\nIt not only eats dead animal substances, but kills and devours great\nquantities of rats, mice, lizards, and other pests that swarm in\nhot countries. So tame is it, that it may even be observed, like\nthe gull and the rook of our own country, following the ploughman\nas he turns up the ground, and examining the furrow for the purpose\nof picking up the worms, grubs, and similar creatures that are\ndisturbed by the share.\n\nBeing thus protected and encouraged by man, there is good reason\nwhy it should have learned in course of time to fear him far less\nthan its own kind. Indeed, it is so utterly fearless with regard to\nhuman beings, that it habitually follows the caravans as they pass\nfrom one town to another, for the sake of feeding on the refuse food\nand other offal which is thrown aside on the road.\n\nTwo articles of diet which certainly do not seem to fall within the\nordinary range of vulture's food are said to be consumed by this\nbird. The first is the egg of the ostrich, the shell of which is\ntoo hard to be broken by the feeble beak of the Egyptian Vulture.\nThe bird cannot, like the l\u00e4mmergeier, carry the egg into the air\nand drop it on the ground, because its feet are not large enough\nto grasp it, and only slip off its round and polished surface.\nTherefore, instead of raising the egg into the air and dropping it\nupon a stone, it carries a stone into the air and drops it upon the\negg. So at least say the natives of the country which it inhabits,\nand there is no reason why we should doubt the truth of the\nstatement.\n\nThe other article of food is a sort of melon, very full of juice.\nThis melon is called \"nara,\" and is devoured by various creatures,\nsuch as lions, leopards, mice, ostriches, &c. and seems to serve\nthem instead of drink.\n\nThe nest of the Egyptian Vulture is made in some rocky ledge, and\nthe bird does not trouble itself about selecting a spot inaccessible\nto man, knowing well that it will not be disturbed. The nest is,\nlike that of other vultures, a large and rude mass of sticks,\nsods, bones, and similar materials, to which are added any bits of\nrag, rope, skin, and other village refuse which it can pick up as\nit traverses the streets. There are two, and occasionally three,\neggs, rather variously mottled with red. In its breeding, as in\nits general life, it is not a gregarious bird, never breeding in\ncolonies, and, indeed, very seldom choosing a spot for its nest near\none which has already been selected by another pair.\n\nThe illustration on page 420 represents part of the nest of the\nEgyptian Vulture, in which the curious mixture of bones and sticks\nis well shown. The parent birds are drawn in two characteristic\nattitudes taken from life, and well exhibit the feeble beak, the\npeculiar and intelligent, almost cunning expression of the head,\nand the ruff of feathers which surrounds the upper part of the\nneck. In the distance another bird is drawn as it appears on the\nwing, in order to show the contrast between the white plumage and\nthe dark quill feathers of the wings, the bird presenting a general\nappearance very similar to that of the common sea-gull.\n\n\n\n\nTHE\n\nGRIFFON VULTURE, OR EAGLE OF SCRIPTURE.\n\n The Griffon Vulture identified with the Eagle of\n Scripture--Geographical range of the Griffon--Its mode of\n flight and sociable habits--The featherless head and neck of\n the bird--The Vulture used as an image of strength, swiftness,\n and rapacity--Its powers of sight--How Vultures assemble round\n a carcase--Nesting-places of the Griffon--Mr. Tristram's\n description of the Griffon--Rock-caves of the Wady Ham\u00e2m--Care\n of the young, and teaching them to fly--Strength of the Griffon.\n\n\nThe Griffon Vulture is found throughout a large portion of the Old\nWorld, inhabiting nearly all the warmer portions of this hemisphere.\nThe colour of the adult bird is a sort of yellowish brown,\ndiversified by the black quill feathers and the ruff of white down\nthat surrounds the neck. The head and neck are without feathers, but\nare sparingly covered with very short down of a similar character to\nthat of the ruff.\n\nIt is really a large bird, being little short of five feet in total\nlength, and the expanse of wing measuring about eight feet.\n\nThe Griffon Vulture is very plentiful in Palestine, and, unlike the\nlesser though equally useful Egyptian Vulture, congregates together\nin great numbers, feeding, flying, and herding in company. Large\nflocks of them may be seen daily, soaring high in the air, and\nsweeping their graceful way in the grand curves which distinguish\nthe flight of the large birds of prey. They are best to be seen in\nthe early morning, being in the habit of quitting their rocky homes\nat daybreak, and indulging in a flight for two or three hours, after\nwhich they mostly return to the rocks, and wait until evening, when\nthey take another short flight before retiring to rest.\n\nAllusion is made in the Scriptures to the gregarious habits of the\nVultures: \"Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be\ngathered together\" (Matt. xxiv. 28). That the Vulture, and not the\neagle, is here signified, is evident from the fact that the eagles\ndo not congregate like the Vultures, never being seen in greater\nnumbers than two or three together, while the Vultures assemble in\nhundreds.\n\nThere is also a curious passage in the Book of Proverbs, chap. xxx.\nver. 17, which alludes to the carnivorous nature of the bird: \"The\neye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother,\nthe ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles\nshall eat it.\"\n\nAllusion is made in several passages to the swiftness of the\nVulture, as well as its voracity. See, for example, a portion of\nDavid's lamentation over the bodies of Saul and Jonathan, who,\naccording to the poet's metaphor, \"were lovely and pleasant in their\nlives, and in their death they were not divided; they were swifter\nthan eagles, they were stronger than lions.\"\n\nThe \"bitter\" people--namely, the Chaldeans--are again mentioned in\na very similar manner by the prophet Jeremiah: \"Our persecutors are\nswifter than the eagles of the heavens; they pursued us upon the\nmountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness\" (Lam. iv. 19).\n\nThere is something peculiarly appropriate in employing the Vulture\nas an image of strength and swiftness when applied to warriors, the\nbird being an invariable attendant on the battle, and flying to the\nfield of death with marvellous swiftness. All who had ever witnessed\na battle were familiar with the presence of the Vulture--the scene\nof carnage, and the image which is employed, would be one which\ncommended itself at once to those for whom it was intended. And, as\nthe earlier history of the Jewish nation is essentially of a warlike\ncharacter, we cannot wonder that so powerful and familiar an image\nshould have been repeatedly introduced into the sacred writings.\n\nWonderful powers of sight are possessed by this bird. Its eyes\nare able to assume either a telescopic or a microscopic character,\nby means of a complex and marvellous structure, which can alter the\nwhole shape of the organ at the will of the bird.\n\n[Illustration: VULTURES.]\n\nNot only can the eye be thus altered, but it changes\ninstantaneously, so as to accommodate itself to the task which it is\nto perform. A Vulture, for example, sees from a vast height the body\nof a dead animal, and instantly swoops down upon it like an arrow\nfrom a bow. In order to enable the bird to see so distant an object,\nthe eye has been exercising its telescopic powers, and yet, in a\nsecond or two, when the Vulture is close to its prey, the whole form\nof the eye must be changed, or the bird would mistake its distance,\nand dash itself to pieces on the ground.\n\nBy means of its powerful eyes, the Vulture can see to an enormous\ndistance, and with great clearness, but neither so far nor so\nclearly as is popularly supposed. It is true that, as soon as a\ncarcase is discovered, it will be covered with Vultures, who arrive\nfrom every side, looking at first like tiny specks in the air,\nscarcely perceptible even to practised eyes, and all directing their\nflight to the same point. \"Where the carcase is, there will the\nvultures be gathered together.\" But, although they all fly towards\nthe same spot, it does not follow that they have all seen the same\nobject. The fact is, they see and understand each other's movements.\n\nA single Vulture, for example, sees a dead or dying sheep, and\nswoops down upon it. The other Vultures which are flying about\nin search of food, and from which the animal in question may be\nconcealed, know perfectly well that a Vulture soars high in the air\nwhen searching for food, and only darts to the earth when it has\nfound a suitable prey. They immediately follow its example, and\nin their turn are followed by other Vultures, which can see their\nfellows from a distance, and know perfectly well why they are all\nconverging to one spot.\n\nIn this way all the Vultures of a neighbourhood will understand, by\na very intelligible telegraph, that a dead body of some animal has\nbeen found, and, aided by their wonderful powers of flight, will\nassemble over its body in an almost incredibly short space of time.\n\nThe resting-place of the Griffon Vulture is always on some lofty\nspot. The Arabian Vulture will build within easy reach, the eagle\nprefers lofty situations, but nothing but the highest and most\ninaccessible spots will satisfy the Vulture. To reach the nest of\nthis bird is therefore a very difficult task, only to be attempted\nby experienced and intrepid cragsmen; and, in consequence, both the\neggs and young of the Griffon Vulture cannot be obtained except for\na very high price. The birds are fond of building in the rock-caves\nwhich are found in so many parts of Palestine, and in some places\nthey fill these places as thickly as rooks fill a rookery.\n\nIn Mr. Tristram's \"Land of Israel,\" there is a very graphic\ndescription of the Griffon's nests, and of the difficulty\nexperienced in reaching them. \"A narrow gorge, with limestone\ncliffs from five hundred to six hundred feet high, into which the\nsun never penetrates, walls the rapid brook on each side so closely\nthat we often had to ride in the bed of the stream. The cliffs\nare perforated with caves at all heights, wholly inaccessible to\nman, the secure resting-place of hundreds of noble griffons, some\nl\u00e4mmergeiers, lanner falcons, and several species of eagle....\nOne day in the ravine well repaid us, though so terrific were the\nprecipices, that it was quite impossible to reach any of the nests\nwith which it swarmed.\n\n\"We were more successful in the Wady Ham\u00e2m, the south-west end of\nthe plain, the entrance from Hattin and the Buttauf, where we spent\nthree days in exploration. The cliffs, though reaching the height of\nfifteen hundred feet, rise like terraces, with enormous masses of\n_d\u00e9bris_, and the wood is half a mile wide. By the aid of Giacomo,\nwho proved himself an expert rope-climber, we reaped a good harvest\nof griffons' eggs, some of the party being let down by ropes, while\nthose above were guided in working them by signals from others below\nin the valley. It required the aid of a party of a dozen to capture\nthese nests. The idea of scaling the cliff with ropes was quite new\nto some Arabs who were herding cattle above, and who could not,\nexcepting one little girl, be induced to render any assistance. She\nproved herself most sensible and efficient in telegraphing.\n\n\"While capturing the griffons' nests, we were re-enacting a\ncelebrated siege in Jewish history. Close to us, at the head of the\ncliffs which form the limits of the celebrated Plain of Hattin, were\nthe ruins of Irbid, the ancient Arbela, marked principally by the\nremains of a synagogue, of which some marble shafts and fragments of\nentablature, like those of Tell H\u00fbm, are still to be seen, and were\nafterwards visited by us.\n\n\"Hosea mentions the place apparently as a strong fortress: 'All thy\nfortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the\nday of battle' (Hos. x. 14). Perhaps the prophet here refers to the\nrefuges in the rocks below.\n\n\"The long series of chambers and galleries in the face of the\nprecipice are called by the Arabs, Kulat Ibn Ma\u00e2n, and are very\nfully described by Josephus. These cliffs were the homes of a set\nof bandits, who resided here with their families, and for years set\nthe power of Herod the Great at defiance. At length, when all other\nattempts at scaling the fortress had failed, he let down soldiers at\nthis very spot in boxes, by chains, who attacked the robbers with\nlong hooks, and succeeded in rooting them all out.\n\n\"The rock galleries, though now only tenanted by griffons, are very\ncomplete and perfect, and beautifully built. Long galleries wind\nbackwards and forwards in the cliff side, their walls being built\nwith dressed stone, flush with the precipice, and often opening\ninto spacious chambers. Tier after tier rise one after another\nwith projecting windows, connected by narrow staircases, carried\nsometimes upon arches, and in the upper portions rarely broken away.\nIn many of the upper chambers to which we were let down, the dust of\nages had accumulated, undisturbed by any foot save that of the birds\nof the air; and here we rested during the heat of the day, with the\nplains and lake set as in a frame before us. We obtained a full\nzoological harvest, as in three days we captured fourteen nests of\ngriffons.\"\n\nAlthough these caverns and rocky passages are much more accessible\nthan most of the places whereon the Griffons build, the natives\nnever venture to enter them, being deterred not so much by their\nheight, as by their superstitious fears. The Griffons instinctively\nfound out that man never entered these caverns, and so took\npossession of them.\n\nAs the young Griffons are brought up in these lofty and precipitous\nplaces, it is evident that their first flight must be a dangerous\nexperiment, requiring the aid of the parent birds. At first the\nyoung are rather nervous at the task which lies before them, and\nshrink from trusting themselves to the air. The parents, however,\nencourage them to use their wings, take short flights in order to\nset them an example, and, when they at last venture from the nest,\naccompany and encourage them in their first journey.\n\nIn flight it is one of the most magnificent birds that can be seen,\nand even when perched it often retains a certain look of majesty and\ngrandeur. Sometimes, however, especially when basking in the sun, it\nassumes a series of attitudes which are absolutely grotesque, and\nconvert the noble-looking bird into a positively ludicrous object.\nAt one moment it will sit all hunched up, its head sunk between its\nshoulders, and one wing trailing behind it as if broken. At another\nit will bend its legs and sit down on the ankle-joint, pushing its\nfeet out in front, and supporting itself by the stiff feathers of\nits tail. Often it will touch nearly flat on the ground, partly\nspread its wings, and allow their tips to rest on the earth, and\nsometimes it will support nearly all the weight of its body on the\nwings, which rest, in a half doubled state, on the ground. I have\nbefore me a great number of sketches, taken in a single day, of\nthe attitudes assumed by one of these birds, every one of which is\nstrikingly different from the others, and transforms the whole shape\nof the bird so much that it is scarcely recognisable as the same\nindividual.\n\n[Illustration: tree]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: eagle]\n\n\n\n\nTHE EAGLE.\n\n Signification of the word _Asniyeh_--The Golden Eagle and its\n habits--The Imperial Eagle--Its solitary mode of life--The\n Short-toed Eagle--Its domestic habits and fondness for the\n society of man--The Osprey, or Fishing Eagle--Its mode of\n catching fish--Its distribution in Palestine.\n\n\nAs to the Eagle, rightly so called, there is little doubt that it\nis one of the many birds of prey that seem to have been classed\nunder the general title of Asniyeh--the word which in the Authorized\nVersion of the Bible is rendered as Osprey. A similar confusion is\nobservable in the modern Arabic, one word, _ogab_, being applied\nindiscriminately to all the Eagles and the large _falconid\u00e6_.\n\nThe chief of the true Eagles, namely, the Golden Eagle (_Aquila\nchrysa\u00ebtos_), is one of the inhabitants of Palestine, and is seen\nfrequently, though never in great numbers. Indeed, its predacious\nhabits unfit it for associating with its kind. Any animal which\nlives chiefly, if not wholly, by the chase, requires a large\ndistrict in order to enable it to live, and thus twenty or thirty\neagles will be scattered over a district of twice the number of\nmiles. Like the lion among the mammalia, the Eagle leads an almost\nsolitary life, scarcely ever associating with any of its kind except\nits mate and its young.\n\nThe whole of the Falconid\u00e6, as the family to which the Eagles belong\nis called, are very destructive birds, gaining their subsistence\nchiefly by the chase, seldom feeding on carrion except when pressed\nby hunger, or when the dead animal has only recently been killed.\n\nHerein they form a complete contrast to the vultures, whose usual\nfood is putrefying carrion, and fresh meat the exception.\n\nDestructive though the Eagles may be, they cannot be called cruel\nbirds, for, although they deprive many birds and beasts of life,\nthey effect their purpose with a single blow, sweeping down upon the\ndoomed creature with such lightning velocity, and striking it so\nfiercely with their death-dealing talons, that almost instantaneous\ndeath usually results.\n\nWhen the Eagle pounces on a bird, the mere shock caused by the\nstroke of the Eagle's body is almost invariably sufficient to cause\ndeath, and the bird, even if a large one--such as the swan, for\nexample--falls dead upon the earth with scarcely a wound.\n\nSmaller birds are carried off in the talons of their pursuers, and\nare killed by the grip of their tremendous claws, the Eagle in no\ncase making use of its beak for killing its prey. If the great\nbird carries off a lamb or a hare, it grasps the body firmly with\nits claws, and then by a sudden exertion of its wonderful strength\ndrives the sharp talons deep into the vitals of its prey, and does\nnot loosen its grasp until the breath of life has fled from its\nvictim.\n\nThe structure by means of which the Eagle is enabled to use its\ntalons with such terrible effect is equally beautiful and simple,\ndeserving special mention.\n\nNow, many observant persons have been struck with the curious\npower possessed by birds which enables them to hold their position\nupon a branch or perch even while sleeping. In many instances the\nslumbering bird retains its hold of the perch by a single foot, the\nother being drawn up and buried in the feathers.\n\nAs this grasp is clearly an involuntary one, it is evidently\nindependent of the mere will of the bird, and is due to some\npeculiar formation.\n\nOn removing the skin from the leg of any bird, and separating the\nmuscles from each other, the structure in question is easily seen.\nThe muscles which move the leg and foot, and the tendons, or leaders\nwhich form the attachment of the muscles to the bones, are so\narranged that whenever the bird bends its leg the foot is forcibly\nclosed, and is opened again when the leg is straightened.\n\nA common chicken, as it walks along, closing its toes as it lifts\nits foot from the ground and spreading them as the leg is unbent,\ncannot do otherwise, as the tendons are shortened and lengthened as\neach step is taken.\n\n[Illustration: EAGLES.]\n\nIt will be seen, therefore, that when a bird falls asleep upon a\nbranch the legs are not only bent, but are pressed downwards by the\nweight of the body; so that the claws hold the perch with a firm and\ninvoluntary grasp which knows no fatigue, and which remains secure\nas long as the pressure from above keeps the limbs bent.\n\nTo return to the Eagle. When, therefore, the bird desires to\ndrive his talons into the body of his prey, he needs only to sink\ndownwards with his whole weight, and the forcible bending of his\nlegs will contract the talons with irresistible force, without the\nnecessity of any muscular exertion.\n\nExertion, indeed, is never needlessly used by the Eagle, for it is\nvery chary of putting forth its great muscular powers, and unless\nroused by the sight of prey, or pressed to fly abroad in search of\nfood, will sit upon a tree or point of rock for hours as motionless\nas a stuffed figure.\n\nThe Golden Eagle is a truly magnificent bird in size and appearance.\nA full-grown female measures about three feet six inches in length,\nand the expanse of her wings is nine feet. The male bird is smaller\nby nearly six inches. The colour of the bird is a rich blackish\nbrown on the greater part of the body, the head and neck being\ncovered with feathers of a golden red, which have earned for the\nbird its customary name.\n\nThe Golden Eagle is observed to frequent certain favourite places,\nand to breed regularly in the same spot, for a long series of years.\nThe nest is always made upon some high place, generally upon a ledge\nof rock, and is most roughly constructed of sticks.\n\nIn hunting for their prey the Eagle and his mate assist each other.\nIt may be also mentioned here that Eagles keep themselves to a\nsingle mate, and live together throughout their lives. Should,\nhowever, one of them die or be killed, the survivor does not long\nremain in a state of loneliness, but vanishes from the spot for a\nlonger or shorter time, and then returns with a new mate.\n\nAs rabbits and hares, which form a frequent meal for the Eagle, are\nusually hidden under bushes and trees during the day, the birds are\nfrequently forced to drive them from their place of concealment;\nthis they have been observed to do in a very clever manner. One of\nthe Eagles conceals itself near the cover, and its companion dashes\namong the bushes, screaming and making such a disturbance that the\nterrified inmates rush out in hopes of escape, and are immediately\npounced upon by the watchful confederate.\n\nThe prey is immediately taken to the nest, and distributed to the\nyoung after being torn to pieces by the parent birds.\n\nFour or five species of Eagle are known to inhabit Palestine. There\nis, for example, the Imperial Eagle (_Aquila mogilnik_), which may\nbe distinguished from the Golden Eagle by a white patch on the\nshoulders, and the long, lancet-shaped feathers of the head and\nneck. These feathers are of a fawn colour, and contrast beautifully\nwith the deep black-brown of the back and wings. It is not very\noften seen, being a bird that loves the forest, and that does not\ncare to leave the shelter of the trees. It is tolerably common in\nPalestine.\n\nThen there are several of the allied species, of which the best\nexample is perhaps the Short-toed Eagle (_Circa\u00ebtus cinereus_), a\nbird which is extremely plentiful in the Holy Land--so plentiful\nindeed that, as Mr. Tristram remarks, there are probably twice as\nmany of the Short-toed Eagles in Palestine as of all the other\nspecies put together. The genus to which this bird belongs does\nnot take rank with the true Eagles, but is supposed by systematic\nnaturalists to hold an intermediate place between the true Eagles\nand the ospreys.\n\nThe Short-toed Eagle is seldom a carrion-eater, preferring to kill\nits prey for itself. It feeds mostly on serpents and other reptiles,\nand is especially fond of frogs. It is a large and somewhat heavily\nbuilt bird, lightness and swiftness being far less necessary than\nstrength in taking the animals on which it feeds. It is rather\nmore than two feet in length, and is a decidedly handsome bird,\nthe back being dark brown, and the under parts white, covered with\ncrescent-shaped black spots.\n\n[Illustration: eagle]\n\n[Illustration: EAGLE RETURNING TO THE NEST WITH HER PREY.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE OSPREY.\n\n The Osprey, or Fishing Eagle--Its geographical range--Mode of\n securing prey--Structure of its feet--Its power of balancing\n itself in the air.\n\n\nWe now come to the Osprey itself (_Pandion halia\u00ebtus_), which was\nundoubtedly one of the birds grouped together under the collective\nterm Asniyeh. This word occurs only in the two passages in Deut.\nxiv. and Lev. xi. which have been several times quoted already, and\nneed not be mentioned again.\n\nThis fine bird is spread over a very large range of country, and is\nfound in the New World as well as the Old. In consequence of its\npeculiar habits, it is often called the Fishing Eagle.\n\nThe Osprey is essentially a fish-eater. It seems very strange that\na predacious bird allied to the eagles, none of which birds can\nswim, much less dive, should obtain its living from the water. That\nthe cormorant and other diving birds should do so is no matter of\nsurprise, inasmuch as they are able to pursue the fish in their own\nelement, and catch them by superior speed. But any bird which cannot\ndive, and which yet lives on fish, is forced to content itself\nwith those fish that come to the surface of the water, a mode of\nobtaining a livelihood which does not appear to have much chance of\nsuccess. Yet the Osprey does on a large scale what the kingfisher\ndoes on a small one, and contrives to find abundant food in the\nwater.\n\nIts method of taking prey is almost exactly like that which is\nemployed by the kingfisher. When it goes out in search of food, it\nsoars into the air, and floats in circles over the water, watching\nevery inch of it as narrowly as a kestrel watches a stubble-field.\nNo sooner does a fish rise toward the surface to take a fly, or to\nleap into the air for sport, than the Osprey darts downwards, grasps\nthe fish in its talons, drags the struggling prey from the water,\nand with a scream of joy and triumph bears it away to shore, where\nit can be devoured at leisure.\n\nThe bird never dives, neither does it seize the fish with its beak\nlike the kingfisher. It plunges but slightly into the water, as\notherwise it would not be able to use its strong wings and carry\noff its prey. In order to enable the bird to seize the hard and\nslippery body of the fish, it is furnished with long, very sharp,\nand boldly-hooked talons, which force themselves into the sides of\nthe fish, and hold it as with grappling irons.\n\n[Illustration: THE OSPREY SEARCHING FOR FISH.]\n\nThe flight of the Osprey is peculiarly easy and elegant, as might\nbe expected from a bird the length of whose body is only twenty-two\ninches, and the expanse of wing nearly five feet and a half.\n\nIt is therefore able to hover over the water for long periods of\ntime, and can balance itself in one spot without seeming to move a\nwing, having the singular facility of doing so even when a tolerably\nstrong breeze is blowing. It has even been observed to maintain its\nplace unmoved when a sharp squall swept over the spot.\n\nHarmless though the Osprey be--except to the fish--it is a most\npersecuted bird, being everywhere annoyed by rooks and crows, and,\nin America, robbed by the more powerful white-headed eagle.\n\nSuch a scene is thus described by Wilson:\n\n \"Elevated on the high, dead limb of a gigantic tree that\n commanded a wide view of the neighbouring shore and ocean, the\n great white-headed eagle calmly surveys the motions of various\n smaller birds that pursue their busy avocations below.\n\n \"The snow-white gulls slowly winnowing the air; the trains of\n ducks streaming over the surface; silent and watchful cranes,\n intent and wading, and all the winged multitude that subsist by\n the bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature.\n\n \"High over all these, hovers one whose action instantly arrests\n the eagle's attention. By his wide curvature of wing and sudden\n suspension in the air he knows him to be the Osprey, settling\n over some devoted victim of the deep. The eyes of the eagle\n kindle at the sight, and balancing himself with half-opened\n wings on the branch, he watches the result.\n\n \"Down, rapid as an arrow, from heaven descends the Osprey, the\n roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the\n water, making the surges foam around! At this moment the eager\n looks of the eagle are all ardour, and, levelling his neck for\n flight, he sees the Osprey once more emerge, struggling with his\n prey, and mounting in the air with screams of exultation.\n\n \"These are the signals for the eagle, who, launching into the\n air, instantly gives chase, and soon gains on the Osprey; each\n exerts his utmost to mount above the other, displaying in this\n encounter the most elegant and sublime a\u00ebrial evolutions.\n\n [Illustration: SNATCHED FROM THE DEEP: THE OSPREY RISES WITH HIS\n PREY.]\n\n \"The unencumbered eagle rapidly advances, and is just on the\n point of reaching his opponent, when, with a sudden scream,\n probably of despair and honest execration, the Osprey drops his\n fish.\n\n \"The eagle, poising himself for a moment, as if to take a more\n certain aim, descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his\n grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty\n silently away to the woods.\"\n\nAlthough not very plentiful in Palestine, nor indeed in any other\ncountry, the Osprey is seen throughout the whole of that country\nwhere it can find a sufficiency of water. It prefers the sea-shore\nand the rivers of the coast, and is said to avoid the Sea of Galilee.\n\n\n\n\nTHE KITE, OR VULTURE OF SCRIPTURE.\n\n The word _Dayah_ and its signification--Dayah a collective term\n for different species of Kites--The Common or Red Kite plentiful\n in Palestine--Its piercing sight and habit of soaring--The Black\n Kite of Palestine and its habits--The Egyptian Kite--The Raah or\n Glede of Scripture--The Buzzards and their habits--The Peregrine\n Falcon an inhabitant of Central Palestine, and the Lanner of the\n eastern parts of the country.\n\n\nIn Lev. xi. 14 and Deut. xiv. 13, we find the Vulture among the list\nof birds which the Jews were not permitted to eat. The word which\nis translated as Vulture is _dayah_, and we find it occurring again\nin Isaiah xxxiv. 15, \"There shall the vultures also be gathered,\nevery one with her mate.\" There is no doubt, however, that this\ntranslation of the word is an incorrect one, and that it ought to be\nrendered as Kite. In Job xxviii. 7, there is a similar word, _ayah_,\nwhich is also translated as Vulture, and which is acknowledged to\nbe not a Vulture, but one of the Kites: \"There is a path which no\nfowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen.\" Both these\nwords are nearly identical with modern Arabic terms which are\nemployed rather loosely to signify several species of Kite. Buxtorf,\nin his Hebrew Lexicon, gives the correct rendering, translating\n_dayah_ as _Milvus_, and the Vulgate in one or two places gives the\nsame translation, though in others it renders the word as Vulture.\n\n[Illustration: THE KITE, OR VULTURE OF SCRIPTURE.]\n\nMr. Tristram, who has given much attention to this subject, is\ninclined to refer the word _ayah_ to the Common Kite (_Milvus\nregalis_), which was once so plentiful in this country, and is now\nnearly extinct; and _dayah_ to the Black Kite (_Milvus atra_). He\nfounds this distinction on the different habits of the two species,\nthe Common or Red Kite being thinly scattered, and being in the\nhabit of soaring into the air at very great heights, and the latter\nbeing very plentiful and gregarious.\n\nWe will first take the Red Kite.\n\nThis bird is scattered all over Palestine, feeding chiefly on the\nsmaller birds, mice, reptiles, and fish. In the capture of fish the\nKite is almost as expert as the osprey, darting from a great height\ninto the water, and bearing off the fish in its claws. The wings of\nthis bird are very long and powerful, and bear it through the air in\na peculiarly graceful flight. It is indeed in consequence of this\nflight that it has been called the Glede, the word being derived\nfrom its gliding movements.\n\nThe sight of this bird is remarkably keen and piercing, and, from\nthe vast elevation to which it soars when in search of food, it is\nable to survey the face of the country beneath, and to detect the\npartridge, quail, chicken, or other creature that will serve it for\nfood. This piercing sight and habit of soaring render the passage in\nJob peculiarly appropriate to this species of Kite, though it does\nnot express the habits of the other. Should the Kite suspect danger\nwhen forced to leave its nest, it escapes by darting rapidly into\nthe air, and soaring at a vast height above the trees among which\nits home is made. From that elevation it can act as a sentinel, and\nwill not come down again until it is assured of safety.\n\n * * * * *\n\nOf the habits of the BLACK KITE (_Milvus atra_), Mr. Tristram\ngives an admirable description. \"The habits of the bird bear out\nthe allusion in Isa. xxxiv. 15, for it is, excepting during the\nwinter three months, so numerous everywhere in Palestine as to be\nalmost gregarious. It returns about the beginning of March, and\nscatters itself over the whole country, preferring especially the\nneighbourhood of valleys, where it is a welcome and unmolested\nguest. It does not appear to attack the poultry, among whom it may\noften be seen feeding on garbage. It is very sociable, and the\nslaughter of a sheep at one of the tents will soon attract a large\nparty of black kites, which swoop down regardless of man and guns,\nand enjoy a noisy scramble for the refuse, chasing each other in a\nlaughable fashion, and sometimes enabling the wily raven to steal\noff with the coveted morsel during their contentions. It is the\nbutt of all the smaller scavengers, and is evidently most unpopular\nwith the crows and daws, and even rollers, who enjoy the amusement\nof teasing it in their tumbling flight, which is a man\u0153uvre most\nperplexing to the kite.\"\n\nThe same writer proceeds to mention that the Black Kite unlike the\nred species, is very careless about the position of its nest, and\nnever even attempts to conceal it, sometimes building it in a tree,\nsometimes on a rock-ledge, and sometimes in a bush growing on the\nrocks. It seems indeed desirous of making the nest as conspicuous as\npossible, and hangs it all over with bits of cloth, strips of bark,\nwings of birds, and even the cast skins of serpents.\n\nAnother species (_Milvus \u00c6gyptiacus_) is sometimes called the Black\nKite from the dark hue of its plumage, but ought rather to retain\nthe title of Egyptian Kite. Unlike the black kite, this bird is\na great thief, and makes as much havoc among poultry as the red\nkite. It is also a robber of other birds, and if it should happen\nto see a weaker bird with food, it is sure to attack and rob it.\nLike the black kite, it is fond of the society of man, and haunts\nthe villages in great numbers, for the purpose of eating the offal,\nwhich in Oriental towns is simply flung into the streets to be\ndevoured by the dogs, vultures, kites, and other scavengers, without\nwhom no village would be habitable for a month.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhether the word _raah_, which is translated as Glede in Deut. xiv.\n13, among the list of birds which may not be eaten, is one of these\nspecies of Kite, or a bird of a different group, is a very doubtful\npoint. This is the only passage in which the word occurs, and we\nhave but small grounds for definitely identifying it with any one\nspecies. The Hebrew Bible retains the word Glede, but affixes a mark\nof doubt to it, and several commentators are of opinion that the\nword is a wrong reading of _dayah_, which occurs in the parallel\npassage in Lev. xi. 14. The reading of the Septuagint follows this\ninterpretation, and renders it as Vulture in both cases. Buxtorf\ntranslates the word _raah_ as Rook, but suggests that _dayah_ is the\ncorrect reading.\n\nAccepting, however, the word _raah_, we shall find that it is\nderived from a root which signifies sight or vision, especially of\nsome particular object, so that a piercing sight would therefore be\nthe chief characteristic of the bird, which, as we know, is one of\nthe attributes of the Kites, together with other birds of prey, so\nthat it evidently must be classed among the group with which we are\nnow concerned. It has been suggested that, granting the _raah_ to\nbe a species distinct from the _dayah_, it is a collective term for\nthe larger falcons and buzzards, several species of which inhabit\nPalestine, and are not distinctly mentioned in the Bible.\n\nSeveral species of buzzard inhabit the Holy Land, and there is\nno particular reason why they should be mentioned except by a\ncollective name. Some of the buzzards are very large birds, and\nthough their wings are short when compared with those of the\nvultures and eagles, the flight of the bird is both powerful and\ngraceful. It is not, however, remarkable for swiftness, and never\nwas employed, like the falcon, in catching other birds, being\nreckoned as one of the useless and cowardly birds of prey. In\nconsonance with this opinion, to compare a man to a buzzard was\nthought a most cutting insult.\n\n[Illustration: THE PEREGRINE FALCON, OR GLEDE OF SCRIPTURE.]\n\nAs a general rule, it does not chase its prey like the eagles or the\nlarge-winged falcons, but perches on a rock or tree, watches for\nsome animal on which it can feed, pounces on it, and returns to its\npost, the whole movements being very like those of the flycatcher.\nThis sluggishness of disposition, and the soft and almost owl-like\nplumage, have been the means of bringing the bird into contempt\namong falconers.\n\nAs to the large falcons, which seem to be included in the term\n_raah_, the chief of them is the Peregrine Falcon (_Falco\nperegrinus_), which is tolerably common in the Holy Land. In his\n\"Land of Israel,\" Mr. Tristram gives several notices of this bird,\nfrom which we may take the following picture from a description of\na scene at Endor. \"Dreary and desolate looked the plain, though of\nexuberant fertility. Here and there might be seen a small flock of\nsheep or herd of cattle, tended by three or four mounted villagers,\narmed with their long firelocks, and pistols and swords, on the\nwatch against any small party of marauding cattle-lifters.\n\n\"Griffon vultures were wheeling in circles far over the rounded top\nof Tabor; and here and there an eagle was soaring beneath them in\nsearch of food, but at a most inconvenient distance from our guns.\nHariers were sweeping more rapidly and closely over the ground,\nwhere lambs appeared to be their only prey; and a noble peregrine\nfalcon, which in Central Palestine does not give place to the more\neastern lanner, was perched on an isolated rock, calmly surveying\nthe scene, and permitting us to approach and scrutinize him at our\nleisure.\"\n\nThe habit of perching on the rock, as mentioned above, is very\ncharacteristic of the Peregrine Falcon, who loves the loftiest and\nmost craggy cliffs, and makes its nest in spots which can only be\nreached by a bold and experienced climber. The nests of this bird\nare never built in close proximity, the Peregrine preferring to have\nits home at least a mile from the nest of any other of its kinsfolk.\nSometimes it makes a nest in lofty trees, taking possession of the\ndeserted home of some other bird; but it loves the cliff better\nthan the tree, and seldom builds in the latter when the former is\nattainable.\n\nIn the passage from the \"Land of Israel\" is mentioned the LANNER\nFALCON (_Falco lanarius_), another of the larger falcons to which\nthe term _raah_ may have been applied.\n\nThis bird is much larger than the Peregrine Falcon, and, indeed, is\nvery little less than the great gerfalcon itself. It is one of the\nbirds that were reckoned among the noble falcons; and the female,\nwhich is much larger and stronger than the male, was employed for\nthe purpose of chasing the kite, whose long and powerful wings could\nnot always save it from such a foe.\n\nAlthough the Lanner has been frequently mentioned among the British\nbirds, and the name is therefore familiar to us, it is not even\na visitor of our island. The mistake has occurred by an error in\nnomenclature, the young female Peregrine Falcon, which is much\nlarger and darker than the male bird, having been erroneously called\nby the name of Lanner.\n\n[Illustration: THE LANNER FALCON.]\n\nIn the illustration, a pair of Lanner Falcons are depicted as\npursuing some of the rock-pigeons which abound in Palestine, the\nattitudes of both birds being taken from life.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: hawk]\n\n\n\n\nTHE HAWK.\n\n The Netz or Hawk--Number of species probably grouped under\n that name--Rare occurrence of the word--The Sparrow-Hawk and\n its general habits--Its place of nesting--The Kestrel, or\n Wind-hover--Various names by which it is known in England--Its\n mode of feeding and curious flight--The Hariers--Probable\n derivation of the name--Species of Harier known to inhabit\n Palestine--Falconry apparently unknown to the ancient Jews.\n\n\nThere is no doubt that a considerable number of species are grouped\ntogether under the single title Netz, or Hawk, a word which is\nrightly enough translated. That a great number of birds should have\nbeen thus confounded together is not surprising, seeing that even\nin this country and at the present time, the single word Hawk may\nsignify any one of at least twelve different species. The various\nfalcons, the hariers, the kestrel, the sparrow-hawk, and the\nhobbies, are one and all called popularly by the name of Hawk, and\nit is therefore likely that the Hebrew word Netz would signify as\nmany species as the English word Hawk. From them we will select one\nor two of the principal species.\n\nIn the first place, the word is of very rare occurrence. We only\nfind it three times. It first occurs in Lev. xi. 16, in which it is\nnamed, together with the eagle, the ossifrage, and many other birds,\nas among the unclean creatures, to eat which was an abomination. It\nis next found in the parallel passage in Deut. xiv. 15, neither of\nwhich portions of Scripture need be quoted at length.\n\nThat the word _netz_ was used in its collective sense is very\nevident from the addition which is made to it in both cases. The\nHawk, \"after its kind,\" is forbidden, showing therefore that\nseveral kinds or species of Hawk were meant. Indeed, any specific\ndetail would be quite needless, as the collective term was quite a\nsufficient indication, and, having named the vultures, eagles, and\nlarger birds of prey, the simple word _netz_ was considered by the\nsacred writer as expressing the rest of the birds of prey.\n\nWe find the word once more in that part of the Bible to which we\nusually look for any reference to natural history. In Job xxxix. 26,\nwe have the words, \"Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and turn [or\nstretch] her wings toward the south?\" The precise signification of\nthis passage is rather doubtful, but it is generally considered to\nrefer to the migration of several of the Hawk tribe. That the bird\nin question was distinguished for its power of flight is evident\nfrom the fact that the sacred poet has selected that one attribute\nas the most characteristic of the Netz.\n\nTaking first the typical example of the Hawks, we find that the\nSPARROW-HAWK (_Accipiter nisus_) is plentiful in Palestine, finding\nabundant food in the smaller birds of the country. It selects for\nits nest just the spots which are so plentiful in the Holy Land,\n_i.e._ the crannies of rocks, and the tops of tall trees. Sometimes\nit builds in deserted ruins, but its favourite spot seems to be\nthe lofty tree-top, and, in default of that, the rock-crevice. It\nseldom builds a nest of its own, but takes possession of that which\nhas been made by some other bird. Some ornithologists think that\nit looks out for a convenient nest, say of the crow or magpie, and\nthen ejects the rightful owner. I am inclined to think, however,\nthat it mostly takes possession of a nest that is already deserted,\nwithout running the risk of fighting such enemies as a pair of angry\nmagpies. This opinion is strengthened by the fact that the bird\nresorts to the same nest year after year.\n\nIt is a bold and dashing bird, though of no great size, and\nwhen wild and free displays a courage which it seems to lose in\ncaptivity. As is the case with so many of the birds, the female is\nmuch larger than her mate, the former weighing about six ounces, and\nmeasuring about a foot in length, and the latter weighing above nine\nounces, and measuring about fifteen inches in length.\n\n[Illustration: KESTREL HOVERING OVER A FIELD IN SEARCH OF PREY.]\n\nThe most plentiful of the smaller Hawks of Palestine is the COMMON\nKESTREL. This is the same species which is known under the names of\nKestrel, Wind-hover, and Stannel Hawk.\n\nIt derives its name of Wind-hover from its remarkable habit of\nhovering, head to windward, over some spot for many minutes\ntogether. This action is always performed at a moderate distance\nfrom the ground; some naturalists saying that the Hawk in question\nnever hovers at an elevation exceeding forty feet, while others,\nmyself included, have seen the bird hovering at a height of twice as\nmany yards. Generally, however, it prefers a lower distance, and is\nable by employing this man\u0153uvre to survey a tolerably large space\nbeneath. As its food consists in a very great measure of field-mice,\nthe Kestrel is thus able by means of its telescopic eyesight to see\nif a mouse rises from its hole; and if it should do so, the bird\ndrops on it and secures it in its claws.\n\n[Illustration: THE WIND-HOVER, OR KESTREL.]\n\nUnlike the sparrow-hawk, the Kestrel is undoubtedly gregarious, and\nwill build its nest in close proximity to the habitations of other\nbirds, a number of nests being often found within a few yards of\neach other. Mr. Tristram remarks that he has found its nest in the\nrecesses of the caverns occupied by the griffon vultures, and that\nthe Kestrel also builds close to the eagles, and is the only bird\nwhich is permitted to do so. It also builds in company with the\njackdaw.\n\nSeveral species of Kestrel are known, and of them at least two\ninhabit the Holy Land, the second being a much smaller bird than\nthe Common Kestrel, and feeding almost entirely on insects, which\nit catches with its claws, the common chafers forming its usual\nprey. Great numbers of these birds live together, and as they rather\naffect the society of mankind, they are fond of building their nests\nin convenient crannies in the mosques or churches. Independently of\nits smaller size, it may be distinguished from the Common Kestrel by\nthe whiteness of its claws.\n\nThe illustration is drawn from a sketch taken from life. The bird\nhovered so near a house, and remained so long in one place, that the\nartist fixed a telescope and secured an exact sketch of the bird\nin the peculiar attitude which it is so fond of assuming. After a\nwhile, the Kestrel ascended to a higher elevation, and then resumed\nits hovering, in the attitude which is shown in the upper figure. In\nconsequence of the great abundance of this species in Palestine, and\nthe peculiarly conspicuous mode of balancing itself in the air while\nin search of prey, we may feel sure that the sacred writers had it\nspecially in their minds when they used the collective term Netz.\n\nIt is easily trained, and, although in the old hawking days it was\nconsidered a bird which a noble could not carry, it can be trained\nto chase the smaller birds as successfully as the falcons can be\ntaught to pursue the heron. The name Tinnunculus is supposed by some\nto have been given to the bird in allusion to its peculiar cry,\nwhich is clear, shrill, and consists of a single note several times\nrepeated.\n\nOn page 444 the reader may see a representation of a pair of HARIER\nHAWKS flying below the rock on which the peregrine falcon has\nperched, and engaged in pursuing one of the smaller birds.\n\nThey have been introduced because several species of Harier are\nto be found in Palestine, where they take, among the plains and\nlowlands, the place which is occupied by the other hawks and falcons\namong the rocks.\n\nThe name of Harier appears to be given to these birds on account of\ntheir habit of regularly quartering the ground over which they fly\nwhen in search of prey, just like hounds when searching for hares.\nThis bird is essentially a haunter of flat and marshy lands, where\nit finds frogs, mice, lizards, on which it usually feeds. It does\nnot, however, confine itself to such food, but will chase and kill\nmost of the smaller birds, and occasionally will catch even the\nleveret, the rabbit, the partridge, and the curlew.\n\nWhen it chases winged prey, it seldom seizes the bird in the air,\nbut almost invariably keeps above it, and gradually drives it to\nthe ground. It will be seen, therefore, that its flight is mostly\nlow, as suits the localities in which it lives, and it seldom\nsoars to any great height, except when it amuses itself by rising\nand wheeling in circles together with its mate. This proceeding\ngenerally takes place before nest-building. The usual flight is a\nmixture of that of the kestrel and the falcon, the Harier sometimes\npoising itself over some particular spot, and at others shooting\nforwards through the air with motionless wings.\n\nUnlike the falcons and most of the hawks, the Harier does not as a\nrule perch on rocks, but prefers to sit very upright on the ground,\nperching generally on a mole-hill, stone, or some similar elevation.\nEven its nest is made on the ground, and is composed of reeds,\nsedges, sticks, and similar matter, materials that can be procured\nfrom marshy land. The nest is always elevated a foot or so from the\nground, and has occasionally been found on the top of a mound more\nthan a yard in height. It is, however, conjectured that in such\ncases the mound is made by one nest being built upon the remains of\nanother. The object of the elevated nest is probably to preserve the\neggs in case of a flood.\n\nAt least five species of Hariers are known to exist in the Holy\nLand, two of which are among the British birds, namely, the Marsh\nHarier (_Circus \u00e6ruginosus_), sometimes called the Duck Hawk and\nthe Moor Buzzard, and the Hen Harier (_Circus cyaneus_), sometimes\ncalled the White Hawk, Dove Hawk, or Blue Hawk, on account of the\nplumage of the male, which differs greatly according to age; and the\nRing-tailed Hawk, on account of the dark bars which appear on the\ntail of the female. All the Hariers are remarkable for the circlet\nof feathers that surrounds the eyes, and which resembles in a lesser\ndegree the bold feather-circle around the eye of the owl tribe.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBefore taking leave of the Hawks, it is as well to notice the entire\nabsence in the Scriptures of any reference to falconry. Now, seeing\nthat the art of catching birds and animals by means of Hawks is a\nfavourite amusement among Orientals, as has already been mentioned\nwhen treating of the gazelle (page 168), and knowing the unchanging\ncharacter of the East, we cannot but think it remarkable that no\nreference should be made to this sport in the Scriptures.\n\nIt is true that in Palestine itself there would be but little scope\nfor falconry, the rough hilly ground and abundance of cultivated\nsoil rendering such an amusement almost impossible. Besides, the use\nof the falcon implies that of the horse, and, as we have already\nseen, the horse was scarcely ever used except for military purposes.\n\nHad, therefore, the experience of the Israelites been confined\nto Palestine, there would have been good reason for the silence\nof the sacred writers on this subject. But when we remember that\nthe surrounding country is well adapted for falconry, that the\namusement is practised there at the present day, and that the\nIsraelites passed so many years as captives in other countries, we\ncan but wonder that the Hawks should never be mentioned as aids\nto bird-catching. We find that other bird-catching implements are\nfreely mentioned and employed as familiar symbols, such as the gin,\nthe net, the snare, the trap, and so forth; but that there is not\na single passage in which the Hawks are mentioned as employed in\nfalconry.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: BARN OWL.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE OWL.\n\n The words which have been translated as Owl--Use made of the\n Little Owl in bird-catching--Habits of the bird--The Barn,\n Screech, or White Owl a native of Palestine--The Yansh\u00fbph, or\n Egyptian Eagle Owl--Its food and nest.\n\n\nIn various parts of the Old Testament there occur several words\nwhich are translated as OWL in the Authorized Version, and in most\ncases the rendering is acknowledged to be the correct one, while in\none or two instances there is a difference of opinion on the subject.\n\nIn Lev. xi. 16, 17, we find the following birds reckoned among\nthose which are an abomination, and which might not be eaten by the\nIsraelites: \"The owl, and the night-hawk, and the cuckoo, and the\nhawk after his kind;\n\n\"And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl.\"\n\nIt is very likely that the Little Owl here mentioned is identical\nwith the Boomah of the Arabs. It is a bird that is common in Europe,\nwhere it is much valued by bird-catchers, who employ it as a means\nof attracting small birds to their traps. They place it on the top\nof a long pole, and carry it into the fields, where they plant the\npole in the ground. This Owl has a curious habit of swaying its\nbody backwards and forwards, and is sure to attract the notice of\nall the small birds in the neighbourhood. It is well known that the\nsmaller birds have a peculiar hatred to the Owl, and never can pass\nit without mobbing it, assembling in great numbers, and so intent\non their occupation that they seem to be incapable of perceiving\nanything but the object of their hatred. Even rooks, magpies, and\nhawks are taken by this simple device.\n\nWhether or not the Little Owl was used for this object by the\nancient inhabitants of Palestine is rather doubtful; but as they\ncertainly did so employ decoy birds for the purpose of attracting\ngame, it is not unlikely that the Little Owl was found to serve as a\ndecoy. We shall learn more about the system of decoy-birds when we\ncome to the partridge.\n\nThe Little Owl is to be found in almost every locality, caring\nlittle whether it takes up its residence in cultivated grounds, in\nvillages, among deserted ruins, or in places where man has never\nlived. As, however, it is protected by the natives, it prefers\nthe neighbourhood of villages, and may be seen quietly perched in\nsome favourite spot, not taking the trouble to move unless it be\napproached closely. And to detect a perched Owl is not at all an\neasy matter, as the bird has a way of selecting some spot where\nthe colours of its plumage harmonize so well with the surrounding\nobjects that the large eyes are often the first indication of its\npresence. Many a time I have gone to search after Owls, and only\nbeen made aware of them by the sharp angry snap that they make when\nstartled.\n\nThe common and well-known Barn Owl, also inhabits Palestine. Like\nthe Little Owl, it affects the neighbourhood of man, though it may\nbe found in ruins and similar localities. An old ruined building\nis sure to be tenanted by the Barn Owl, whose nightly shrieks very\noften terrify the belated wanderer, and make him fancy that the\nplace is haunted by disturbed spirits. Such being the habits of the\nbird, it is likely that in the East, where popular superstition has\npeopled every well with its jinn and every ruin with its spirit, the\nnocturnal cry of this bird, which is often called the Screech Owl\nfrom its note, should be exceedingly terrifying, and would impress\nitself on the minds of sacred writers as a fit image of solitude,\nterror, and desolation.\n\n[Illustration: THE LITTLE OWL.]\n\nThe Screech Owl is scarcely less plentiful in Palestine than the\nLittle Owl, and, whether or not it be mentioned under a separate\nname, is sure to be one of the birds to which allusion is made in\nthe Scriptures.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAnother name now rises before us: this is the Yansh\u00fbph, translated\nas the Great Owl, a word which occurs not only in the prohibitory\npassages of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, but in the Book of Isaiah. In\nthat book, ch. xxxiv. ver. 10, 11, we find the following passage:\n\"From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass\nthrough it for ever and ever.\n\n[Illustration: CAUGHT NAPPING.]\n\n\"But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl\n(_yansh\u00fbph_) also and the raven shall dwell in it: and He shall\nstretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of\nemptiness.\" The Jewish Bible follows the same reading.\n\nIt is most probable that the Great Owl or Yansh\u00fbph is the EGYPTIAN\nEAGLE OWL (_Bubo ascalaphus_), a bird which is closely allied to the\ngreat Eagle Owl of Europe (_Bubo maximus_), and the Virginian Eared\nOwl (_Bubo Virginianus_) of America. This fine bird measures some\ntwo feet in length, and looks much larger than its real size, owing\nto the thick coating of feathers which it wears in common with all\ntrue Owls, and the ear-like feather tufts on the top of its head,\nwhich it can raise or depress at pleasure. Its plumage is light\ntawny.\n\nThis bird has a special predilection for deserted places and ruins,\nand may at the present time be seen on the very spots of which the\nprophet spoke in his prediction. It is very plentiful in Egypt,\nwhere the vast ruins are the only relics of a creed long passed away\nor modified into other forms of religion, and its presence only\nintensifies rather than diminishes the feeling of loneliness that\noppresses the traveller as he passes among the ruins.\n\nThe European Eagle Owl has all the habits of its Asiatic congener.\nIt dwells in places far from the neighbourhood of man, and during\nthe day is hidden in some deep and dark recess, its enormous eyes\nnot being able to endure the light of day. In the evening it issues\nfrom its retreat, and begins its search after prey, which consists\nof various birds, quadrupeds, reptiles, fish, and even insects when\nit can find nothing better.\n\nOn account of its comparatively large dimensions, it is able to\novercome even the full-grown hare and rabbit, while the lamb and the\nyoung fawn occasionally fall victims to its voracity. It seems never\nto chase any creature on the wing, but floats silently through the\nair, its soft and downy plumage deadening the sound of its progress,\nand suddenly drops on the unsuspecting prey while it is on the\nground.\n\nThe nest of this Owl is made in the crevices of rocks, or in ruins,\nand is a very large one, composed of sticks and twigs, lined with a\ntolerably large heap of dried herbage, the parent Owls returning to\nthe same spot year after year. Should it not be able to find either\na rock or a ruin, it contents itself with a hollow in the ground,\nand there lays its eggs, which are generally two in number, though\noccasionally a third egg is found. The Egyptian Eagle Owl does much\nthe same thing, burrowing in sand-banks, and retreating, if it fears\ndanger, into the hollow where its nest has been made.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n RAVEN.\n BARN OWL.\n EAGLE OWL.\n]\n\n[Illustration: A FAMILY COUNCIL.]\n\nIn the large illustration the two last-mentioned species are given.\nThe Egyptian Eagle Owl is seen with its back towards the spectator,\ngrasping in its talons a dead hare, and with ear-tufts erect is\nlooking towards the Barn Owl, which is contemplating in mingled\nanger and fear the proceedings of the larger bird. Near them is\nperched a raven, in order to carry out more fully the prophetic\nwords, \"the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it.\"\n\n[Illustration: owl]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: night-hawk]\n\n\n\n\nTHE NIGHT-HAWK.\n\n Different interpretations of the word Tachm\u00e2s--Probability\n that it signifies the Nightjar--Various names of the bird--Its\n remarkable jarring cry, and wheeling flight--Mode of\n feeding--Boldness of the bird--Deceptive appearance of its size.\n\n\nWe next come to the vexed question of the word Tachm\u00e2s which is\nrendered in the Authorized Version as NIGHT-HAWK.\n\nThis word only occurs among the list of prohibited birds (see Lev.\nxi. 16, and Deut. xiv. 15), and has caused great controversies among\ncommentators. The balance of probability seems to lie between two\ninterpretations,--namely, that which considers the word _tachm\u00e2s_\nto signify the Night-hawk, and that which translates it as Owl. For\nboth of these interpretations much is to be said, and it cannot be\ndenied that of the two the latter is perhaps the preferable. If so,\nthe White or Barn Owl is probably the particular species to which\nreference is made.\n\nStill, many commentators think that the Night-hawk or Nightjar is\nthe bird which is signified by the word _tachm\u00e2s_; and, as we have\nalready treated of the owls, we will accept the rendering of the\nAuthorized Version. Moreover, the Jewish Bible follows the same\ntranslation, and renders _tachm\u00e2s_ as Night-hawk, but affixes the\nmark of doubt.\n\n[Illustration: THE NIGHT-HAWK.]\n\nIt is not unlikely that the Jews may have reckoned this bird among\nthe owls, just as is the case with the uneducated among ourselves,\nwho popularly speak of the Nightjar as the Fern Owl, Churn Owl, or\nJar Owl, the two last names being given to it on account of its\npeculiar cry. There are few birds, indeed, which have received a\ngreater variety of popular names, for, besides the Goatsucker and\nthe five which have already been mentioned, there are the Wheel-bird\nand Dor-hawk, the former of these names having been given to the\nbird on account of its wheeling round the trees while seeking for\nprey, and the latter on account of the dor-beetles on which it\nlargely feeds.\n\nThis curious variety of names is probably due to the very\nconspicuous character of the Nightjar, its strange, jarring,\nweird-like cry forcing itself on the ear of the least attentive, as\nit breaks the silence of night. It hardly seems like the cry of\na bird, but rather resembles the sound of a pallet falling on the\ncogs of a rapidly-working wheel. It begins in the dusk of evening,\nthe long, jarring note being rolled out almost interminably, until\nthe hearer wonders how the bird can have breath enough for such a\nprolonged sound. The hearer may hold his breath as long as he can,\ntake a full inspiration, hold his breath afresh, and repeat this\nprocess over and over again, and yet the Nightjar continues to trill\nout its rapid notes without a moment's cessation for breath, the\nsound now rising shrill and clear, and now sinking as if the bird\nwere far off, but never ceasing for an instant.\n\nThis remarkable cry has caused the uneducated rustics to look upon\nthe bird with superstitious dread, every one knowing its cry full\nwell, though to many the bird is unknown except by its voice. It is\nprobable that, in the days when Moses wrote the Law, so conspicuous\na bird was well known to the Jews, and we may therefore conjecture\nthat it was one of those birds which he would specially mention by\nname.\n\nThe general habits of the Nightjar are quite as remarkable as its\nnote. It feeds on the wing, chasing and capturing the various moths,\nbeetles, and other insects that fly abroad by night. It may be seen\nwheeling round the branches of some tree, the oak being a special\nfavourite, sometimes circling round it, and sometimes rising high\nin the air, and the next moment skimming along the ground. Suddenly\nit will disappear, and next moment its long trilling cry is heard\nfrom among the branches of the tree round which it has been flying.\nTo see it while singing is almost impossible, for it has a habit of\nsitting longitudinally on the branch, and not across it, like most\nbirds, so that the outline of its body cannot be distinguished from\nthat of the bough of which it is seated. As suddenly as it began,\nthe sound ceases, and simultaneously the bird may be seen wheeling\nagain through the air with its noiseless flight.\n\nBeing a very bold bird, and not much afraid of man, it allows a\ncareful observer to watch its movements clearly. I have often stood\nclose to the tree round which several Nightjars were circling, and\nseen them chase their prey to the ground within a yard or two of\nthe spot on which I was standing. The flight of the Nightjar is\nsingularly graceful. Swift as the swallow itself, it presents a\ncommand of wing that is really wonderful, gliding through the air\nwith consummate ease, wheeling and doubling in pursuit of some\nactive moth, whose white wings glitter against the dark background,\nwhile the sober plumage of its pursuer is scarcely visible, passing\noften within a few feet of the spectator, and yet not a sound or a\nrustle will reach his ears. Sometimes the bird is said to strike\nits wings together over its back, so as to produce a sharp snapping\nsound, intended to express anger at the presence of the intruder. I\nnever, however, heard this sound, though I have watched the bird so\noften.\n\nOwing to the soft plumage with which it is clad, this bird, like\nthe owls, looks larger than really is the case. It is between ten\nand eleven inches in length, with an expanse of wing of twenty\ninches, and yet weighs rather less than three ounces. Its large\nmouth, like that of the swallow tribe, opens as far as the eyes,\nand is furnished with a set of _vibriss\u00e6_ or bristles, which remind\nthe observer of the \"whale-bone\" which is set on the jaw of the\nGreenland whale.\n\n[Illustration: trees and bird]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: swallow]\n\n\n\n\nTHE SWALLOW.\n\n Identification of the smaller birds--Oriental indifference to\n natural history--Use of collective terms--The Swallow--The Bird\n of Liberty--Swallows and Swifts--Variety of small birds found in\n Palestine--The Swallows of Palestine.\n\n\nDifficult as is the identification of the mammalia mentioned in the\nBible, that of the birds is much more intricate.\n\nSome of the larger birds can be identified with tolerable certainty,\nbut when we come to the smaller and less conspicuous species,\nwe are at once lost in uncertainty, and at the best can only\noffer conjectures. The fact is, the Jews of old had no idea of\ndiscriminating between the smaller birds, unless they happened to be\ntolerably conspicuous by plumage or by voice. We need not be much\nsurprised at this. The Orientals of the present day do precisely the\nsame thing, and not only fail to discriminate between the smaller\nbirds, but absolutely have no names for them.\n\nBy them, the shrikes, the swallows, the starlings, the thrushes,\nthe larks, the warblers, and all the smaller birds, are called by\na common title, derived from the twittering sound of their voices,\nonly one or two of them having any distinctive titles. They look\nupon the birds much as persons ignorant of entomology look at a\ncollection of moths. There is not much difficulty in discriminating\nbetween the great hawk-moths, and perhaps in giving a name to one or\ntwo of them which are specially noticeable for any peculiarity of\nform or colour; but when they come to the \"Rustics,\" the \"Carpets,\"\nthe \"Wainscots,\" and similar groups, they are utterly lost; and,\nthough they may be able to see the characteristic marks when the\nmoths are placed side by side, they are incapable of distinguishing\nthem separately, and, to their uneducated eyes, twenty or thirty\nspecies appear absolutely alike.\n\nI believe that there is no country where a knowledge of practical\nnatural history is so widely extended as in England, and yet how few\neducated persons are there who, if taken along a country lane, can\nname the commonest weed or insect, or distinguish between a sparrow,\na linnet, a hedge-sparrow, and a chaffinch. Nay, how many are there\nwho, if challenged even to repeat the names of twelve little birds,\nwould be unable to do so without some consideration, much less to\nknow them if the birds were placed before them.\n\nSuch being the case in a country where the capability of observation\nis more or less cultivated in every educated person, we may well\nexpect that a profound ignorance on the subject should exist in\ncountries where that faculty is absolutely neglected as a matter of\neducation. Moreover, in England, there is a comparatively limited\nlist of birds, whereas in Palestine are found nearly all those which\nare reckoned among British birds, and many other species besides.\nThose which reside in England reside also for the most part in\nPalestine, while the greater part of the migratory birds pass, as we\nmight expect, into the Holy Land and the neighbouring countries.\n\nIf then we put together the two facts of an unobservant people and a\nvastly extended fauna, we shall not wonder that so many collective\nterms are used in the Scriptures, one word often doing duty for\ntwenty or thirty species. The only plan, therefore, which can be\nadopted, is to mention generally the birds which were probably\ngrouped under one name, and to describe briefly one or two of the\nmost prominent.\n\nIt is, however, rather remarkable that the song of birds does not\nappear to be noticed by the sacred writers. We might expect that\nseveral of the prophets, especially Isaiah, the great sacred poet,\nwho drew so many of his images from natural objects, would have\nfound in the song of birds some metaphor expressive of sweetness\nor joy. We might expect that in the Book of Job, in which so many\ncreatures are mentioned, the singing of birds would be brought as\nprominently forward as the neck clothed with thunder of the horse,\nthe tameless freedom of the wild ass, the voracity of the vulture,\nand the swiftness of the ostrich. We might expect the song of birds\nto be mentioned by Amos, the herdman of Tekoa, who introduces into\nhis rugged poem the roar of the old lion and the wail of the cub,\nthe venom of the serpent hidden in the wattled wall of the herdman's\nhut, and the ravages of the palmer-worm among the olives. Above all,\nwe might expect that in the Psalms there would be many allusions\nto the notes of the various birds which have formed such fruitful\nthemes for the poets of later times. There are, however, in the\nwhole of the Scriptures but two passages in which the song of birds\nis mentioned, and even in these only a passing allusion is made.\n\nOne of them occurs in Psalm civ. 12: \"By them (_i.e._ the springs\nof water) shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation,\nwhich sing among the branches.\" This passage is perhaps rendered\nmore closely in the Jewish Bible: \"Over them dwell the fowls of the\nheaven; they let their voices resound (or give their voice) from\nbetween the foliage.\"\n\nThe other occurs in Eccles. xii. 4: \"And the doors shall be shut in\nthe streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall\nrise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music\nshall be brought low.\" The word which is here translated as \"bird,\"\nis that which is rendered in some places as \"sparrow,\" in others\nas \"fowl,\" and in others as \"bird.\" Even in these passages, as the\nreader will have noticed, no marks of appreciation are employed, and\nwe hear nothing of the sweetness, joyousness, or mournfulness of the\nbird's song.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe will now proceed to the words which have been translated as\nSwallow in the Authorized Version.\n\nThese are two in number, namely, _der\u00f4r_ and _agar_. Hebraists are,\nhowever, agreed that the latter word has been wrongly applied, the\ntranslators having interchanged the signification of two contiguous\nwords.\n\nWe will therefore first take the word _deror_. This word signifies\nliberty, and is well applied to the Swallow, the bird of freedom.\nIt is remarkable, by the way, how some of the old commentators have\ncontrived to perplex themselves about a very simple matter. One of\nthem comments upon the bird as being \"so called, because it has\nthe liberty of building in the houses of mankind.\" Another takes a\nsomewhat similar view of the case, but puts it in a catechetical\nform: \"Why is the swallow called the bird of liberty? Because it\nlives both in the house and in the field.\" It is scarcely necessary\nto point out to the reader that the \"liberty\" to which allusion is\nmade is the liberty of flight, the bird coming and going at its\nappointed times, and not being capable of domestication.\n\n[Illustration: LOST FROM THE FLOCK.]\n\nSeveral kinds of Swallow are known in Palestine, including the true\nSwallows, the martins, and the swifts, and, as we shall presently\nsee, it is likely that one of these groups was distinguished by a\nseparate name. Whether or not the word _deror_ included other birds\nbeside the Swallows is rather doubtful, though not at all unlikely;\nand if so, it is probable that any swift-winged insectivorous bird\nwould be called by the name of Deror, irrespective of its size or\ncolour.\n\nThe bee-eaters, for example, are probably among the number of the\nbirds grouped together under the word _deror_, and we may conjecture\nthat the same is the case with the sunbirds, those bright-plumed\nlittle beings that take in the Old World the place occupied by the\nhumming-birds in the New, and often mistaken for them by travellers\nwho are not acquainted with ornithology. One of these birds, the\n_Nectarinia Ose\u00e6_, is described by Mr. Tristram as \"a tiny little\ncreature of gorgeous plumage, rivalling the humming-birds of America\nin the metallic lustre of its feathers--green and purple, with\nbrilliant red and orange plumes under its shoulders.\"\n\nIn order to account for the singular variety of animal life which\nis to be found in Palestine, and especially the exceeding diversity\nof species among the birds, we must remember that Palestine is a\nsort of microcosm in itself, comprising within its narrow boundaries\nthe most opposite conditions of temperature, climate, and soil.\nSome parts are rocky, barren, and mountainous, chilly and cold at\nthe top, and acting as channels through which the winds blow almost\ncontinuously. The cliffs are full of holes, rifts, and caverns, some\nnatural, some artificial, and some of a mixed kind, the original\ncaverns having been enlarged and improved by the hand of man.\n\nAs a contrast to this rough and ragged region, there lie close\nat hand large fertile plains, affording pasturage for unnumbered\ncattle, and of a tolerably equable temperature, so that the animals\nwhich are pastured in it can find food throughout the year. Through\nthe centre of Palestine runs the Jordan, fertilizing its banks with\nperpetual verdure, and ending its course in the sulphurous and\nbituminous waters of the Dead Sea, under whose waves the ruins of\nthe wicked cities are supposed to lie. Westward we have the shore of\nthe Mediterranean with its tideless waves of the salt sea, and on\nthe eastward of the mountain range that runs nearly parallel to the\nsea is the great Lake of Tiberias, so large as to have earned the\nname of the Sea of Galilee.\n\n[Illustration: THE SWALLOW AND SWIFT.]\n\nUnder these favourable conditions, therefore, the number of species\nwhich are found in Palestine is perhaps greater than can be seen\nin any other part of the earth of the same dimensions, and it\nseems probable that for this reason, among many others, Palestine\nwas selected to be the Holy Land. If, for example, the Christian\nChurch had been originated under the tropics, those who lived in a\ncold climate could scarcely have understood the language in which\nthe Scriptures must necessarily have been couched. Had it, on the\ncontrary, taken its rise in the Arctic regions, the inhabitants\nof the tropics and temperate regions could not have comprehended\nthe imagery in which the teachings of Scripture must have been\nconveyed. But the small and geographically insignificant Land of\nPalestine combines in itself many of the characteristics which\nbelong respectively to the cold, the temperate, and the hot regions\nof the world, so that the terms in which the sacred writings are\ncouched are intelligible to a very great proportion of the world's\ninhabitants.\n\n[Illustration: VIEW OF THE SEA OF GALILEE.]\n\nThis being the case, we naturally expect to find that several\nspecies of the Swallow are inhabitants of Palestine, if so migratory\na bird can be said to be an inhabitant of any one country.\n\n[Illustration: THE SWALLOW'S FAVOURITE HAUNT.]\n\nThe chief characteristic of the Swallow, the \"bird of freedom,\"\nis that it cannot endure captivity, but is forced by instinct to\npass from one country to another for the purpose of preserving\nitself in a tolerably equable temperature, moving northwards as the\nspring ripens into summer, and southwards as autumn begins to sink\ninto winter. By some marvellous instinct it traces its way over\nvast distances, passing over hundreds of miles where nothing but\nthe sea is beneath it, and yet at the appointed season returning\nwith unerring certainty to the spot where it was hatched. How it\nis guided no one knows, but the fact is certain, that Swallows,\nremarkable for some peculiarity by which they could be at once\nidentified, have been observed to leave the country on their\nmigration, and to return in the following year to the identical nest\nwhence they started.\n\nIts habit of making its nest among the habitations of mankind is\nmentioned in a well-known passage of the Psalms: \"The sparrow hath\nfound an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may\nlay her young, even Thine altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my\nGod\" (Ps. lxxxiv. 3). The Swallow seems in all countries to have\nenjoyed the protection of man, and to have been suffered to build\nin peace under his roof. We find the same idea prevalent in the New\nWorld as well as the Old, and it is rather curious that the presence\nof the bird should so generally be thought to bring luck to a house.\n\nIn some parts of our country, a farmer would not dare to kill a\nSwallow or break down its nest, simply because he thinks that if\nhe did so his cows would fail to give their due supply of milk.\nThe connexion between the milking of a cow in the field and the\ndestruction of a Swallow's nest in the house is not very easy to\nsee, but nevertheless such is the belief. This idea ranks with that\nwhich asserts the robin and the wren to be the male and female of\nthe same species, and to be under some special divine protection.\n\nWhatever may be the origin of this superstition, whether it be\nderived from some forgotten source, or whether it be the natural\nresult of the confiding nature of the bird, the Swallow enjoys at\nthe present day the protection of man, and builds freely in his\nhouses, and even his places of worship. The heathen temples, the\nMahometan mosques, and the Christian churches are alike inhabited by\nthe Swallow, who seems to know her security, and often places her\nnest where a child might reach it.\n\nThe bird does not, however, restrict itself to the habitations of\nman, though it prefers them; and in those places where no houses\nare to be found, and yet where insects are plentiful, it takes\npossession of the clefts of rocks, and therein makes its nest.\nMany instances are known where the Swallow has chosen the most\nextraordinary places for its nest. It has been known to build year\nafter year on the frame of a picture, between the handles of a pair\nof shears hung on the wall, on a lamp-bracket, in a table-drawer, on\na door-knocker, and similar strange localities.\n\nThe swiftness of flight for which this bird is remarkable is noticed\nby the sacred writers. \"As the bird by wandering, as the swallow\nby flying, so the curse causeless shall not come\" (Prov. xxvi. 2).\nThis passage is given rather differently in the Jewish Bible, though\nthe general sense remains the same: \"As the bird is ready to flee,\nas the swallow to fly away; so a causeless execration, it shall not\ncome.\" It is possible, however, that this passage may allude rather\nto the migration than the swiftness of the bird.\n\n[Illustration: SWALLOWS AT HOME.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOOPOE, OR LAPWING OF SCRIPTURE.\n\n The \"Dukiphath\" of Scripture--Various interpretations of the\n word--The Hoopoe--Its beauty and ill reputation--The unpleasant\n odour of its nest--Food of the Hoopoe--Its beautiful nest, and\n remarkable gestures--A curious legend of Solomon and the Hoopoe.\n\n\nIn the two parallel chapters, Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv., there occurs\nthe name of a bird which is translated in the Authorized Version,\nLapwing: \"And the stork, the heron after her kind, the lapwing, and\nthe bat.\"\n\nThe Hebrew word is _dukiphath_, and various interpretations have\nbeen proposed for it, some taking it to be the common domestic fowl,\nothers the cock-of-the-woods, or capercailzie, while others have\npreferred to translate it as Hoopoe. The Jewish Bible retains the\nword lapwing, but adds the mark of doubt. Commentators are, however,\nagreed that of all these interpretations, that which renders the\nword as HOOPOE (_Upupa epops_) is the best.\n\nThere would be no particular object in the prohibition of such a\nbird as the lapwing, or any of its kin, while there would be very\ngood reasons for the same injunction with regard to the Hoopoe.\n\nIn spite of the beauty of the bird, it has always had rather an ill\nreputation, and, whether in Europe or Asia, its presence seems to\nbe regarded by the ignorant with a kind of superstitious aversion.\nThis universal distaste for the Hoopoe is probably occasioned by an\nexceedingly pungent and disagreeable odour which fills the nest of\nthe bird, and which infects for a considerable time the hand which\nis employed to take the eggs.\n\nThe nest is, moreover, well calculated for retaining any unpleasant\nsmell, being generally made in the hollow of a tree, and having\ntherefore but little of that thorough ventilation which is found in\nnearly all nests which are built on boughs and sprays.\n\nThe food of the Hoopoe consists almost entirely of insects They\nhave been said to feed on earth-worms; but this notion seems to be\na mistaken one, as in captivity they will not touch an earth-worm\nso long as they can procure an insect. Beetles of various kinds\nseem to be their favourite food, and when the beetles are tolerably\nlarge--say, for example, as large as the common cockchafer and\ndor-beetle--the bird beats them into a soft mass before it attempts\nto eat them. Smaller beetles are swallowed without any ceremony. The\nvarious boring insects which make their home in decaying wood are\nfavourite articles of diet with the Hoopoe, which digs them out of\nthe soft wood with its long curved beak.\n\nIt has already been mentioned that the nest is usually made in the\nhollow of a tree. In many parts of the country however, hollow trees\ncannot be found, and in that case the Hoopoe resorts to clefts in\nthe rock, or even to holes in old ruins.\n\nThe bird is a peculiarly conspicuous one, not only on account of\nits boldly-barred plumage and its beautiful crest, but by its cry\nand its gestures. It has a way of elevating and depressing its\ncrest, and bobbing its head up and down, in a manner which could\nnot fail to attract the attention even of the most incurious, the\nwhole aspect and expression of the bird varying with the raising and\ndepressing of the crest.\n\nRespecting this crest there is a curious old legend. As is the case\nwith most of the Oriental legends, it introduces the name of King\nSolomon, who, according to Oriental notions, was a mighty wizard\nrather than a wise king, and by means of his seal, on which was\nengraven the mystic symbol of Divinity, held sway over the birds,\nthe beasts, the elements, and even over the Jinns and Afreets,\n_i.e._ the good and evil spirits, which are too ethereal for the\nmaterial world and too gross for the spiritual, and therefore hold\nthe middle place between them.\n\nOn one of his journeys across the desert, Solomon was perishing from\nthe heat of the sun, when the Hoopoes came to his aid, and flew in\na dense mass over his head, thus forming a shelter from the fiery\nsunbeams. Grateful for this assistance, the monarch told the Hoopoes\nto ask for a boon, and it should be granted to them. The birds,\nafter consulting together, agreed to ask that from that time every\nHoopoe should wear a crown of gold like Solomon himself. The request\nwas immediately granted, and each Hoopoe found itself adorned with\na royal crown. At first, while their honours were new, great was\nthe joy of the birds, who paused at every little puddle of water to\ncontemplate themselves, bowing their heads over the watery mirror so\nas to display the crown to the best advantage.\n\nSoon, however, they found cause to repent of their ambition. The\ngolden crown became heavy and wearisome to them, and, besides, the\nwealth bestowed on the birds rendered them the prey of every fowler.\nThe unfortunate Hoopoes were persecuted in all directions for the\nsake of their golden crowns which they could neither take off nor\nconceal.\n\nAt last, the few survivors presented themselves before Solomon, and\nbegged him to rescind his fatal gift, which he did by substituting a\ncrest of feathers for the crown of gold. The Hoopoe, however, never\nforgets its former grandeur, and is always bowing and bending itself\nas it used to do when contemplating its golden crown in the water.\n\n[Illustration: lapwing]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: EASTERN HOUSE-TOP.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPARROW.\n\n The Sparrow upon the house top--Architecture of the East--Little\n birds exposed for sale in the market--The two Sparrows sold for\n a farthing--Bird-catching--The net, the snare, and the trap.\n\n\nWe have already discussed the signification of the compound word\n_tzippor-deror_, and will now take the word _tzippor_ alone.\n\nLike many other Hebrew terms, the word is evidently used in a\ncollective sense, signifying any small bird that is not specially\ndesignated. In several portions of Scripture it is translated as\nSparrow, and to that word we will at present restrict ourselves.\n\nOn turning to Ps. cii. 5-7, we find that the word is used as an\nemblem of solitude and misery: \"By reason of the voice of my\ngroaning, my bones cleave to my skin.\n\n\"I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the\ndesert,\n\n\"I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house-top.\"\n\nThe word which is here translated as \"Sparrow\" is _tzippor_, the\nsame which is rendered as \"bird\" in Lev. xiv. 4. The Hebrew Bible\nmore consistently uses the collective term \"bird\" in both instances,\nand renders the passage as, \"I watch, and am as a lonely bird upon a\nroof.\"\n\nNow, any one who knows the habits of the Sparrow is perfectly aware\nthat it is a peculiarly sociable bird. It is quarrelsome enough with\nits fellows, and always ready to fight for a stray grain or morsel\nof food; but it is exceedingly gregarious, assembling together in\nlittle parties, enlivening the air with its merry though unmusical\ntwitterings.\n\nThis cosmopolitan bird is plentiful in the coast towns of Palestine,\nwhere it haunts the habitations of men with the same dauntless\nconfidence which it displays in this country. It is often seen upon\nroofs or house-tops, but is no more apt to sit alone in Palestine\nthan it is here. On the contrary, the Sparrows collect in great\nnumbers on the house-tops, attracted by the abundant supply of food\nwhich it finds there. This requires some little explanation.\n\nThe house-tops of the East, instead of being gabled and tiled as\namong ourselves, to allow the rain to run off, are quite flat,\nand serve as terraces or promenades in the evening, or even for\nsleeping-places; and from the house-tops proclamations were made.\nSee, for example, 1 Sam. ix. 25: \"And when they were come down from\nthe high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top\nof the house\"--this being the ordinary place which would be chosen\nfor a conversation. In order to keep out the heat of the mid-day\nsun, tents were sometimes pitched upon these flat house-tops. (See\n2 Sam. xvi. 22.) Reference to the use of the house-tops as places\nfor conversation are made in the New Testament. See, for example,\nMatt. x. 27: \"What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light;\nand what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops.\"\nAnother passage of a similar nature occurs in Luke xii. 3:\n\"Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in\nthe light, and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall\nbe proclaimed on the house-tops.\"\n\nThese roofs, instead of being built with sloping rafters like those\nto which we are accustomed in this country, are made with great\nbeams of wood laid horizontally, and crossed by planks, poles, and\nbrushwood packed tightly together. As this roof would not keep out\nthe rain, it is covered with a thick layer of clay mixed with straw,\nand beaten down as hard as possible. This covering has constantly\nto be renewed, as, even in the best made roofs, the heavy rains are\nsure to wash away some portion of the clay covering, which has to be\npatched up with a fresh supply of earth. A stone roller is generally\nkept on the roof of each house for the purpose of making a flat and\neven surface.\n\nThe earth which is used for this purpose is brought from the\nuncultivated ground, and is full of various seeds. As soon as the\nrains fall, these seeds spring up, and afford food to the Sparrows\nand other little birds, who assemble in thousands on the house-tops,\nand then peck away just as they do in our own streets and farm-yards.\n\nIt is now evident that the \"sparrow alone and melancholy upon the\nhouse-tops\" cannot be the lively, gregarious Sparrow which assembles\nin such numbers on these favourite feeding-places. We must therefore\nlook for some other bird, and naturalists are now agreed that we may\naccept the BLUE THRUSH (_Petrocossyphus cyaneus_) as the particular\nTzippor, or small bird, which sits alone on the house-tops.\n\nThe colour of this bird is a dark blue, whence it derives its\npopular name. Its habits exactly correspond with the idea of\nsolitude and melancholy. The Blue Thrushes never assemble in flocks,\nand it is very rare to see more than a pair together. It is fond of\nsitting on the tops of houses, uttering its note, which, however\nagreeable to itself, is monotonous and melancholy to a human ear.\n\nIn connexion with the passage already quoted, \"What ye hear in\nthe ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops,\" I will take the\nopportunity of explaining the passage itself, which scarcely seems\nrelevant to the occasion unless we understand its bearings. The\ncontext shows that our Lord was speaking of the new doctrines which\nHe had come to teach, and the duty of spreading them, and alludes\nto a mode of religious teaching which was then in vogue.\n\nThe long captivity of the Jews in Babylon had caused the Hebrew\nlanguage to be disused among the common people, who had learned\nthe Chaldaic language from their captors. After their return to\nPalestine, the custom of publicly reading the Scriptures was found\nto be positively useless, the generality of the people being\nignorant of the Hebrew language.\n\n[Illustration: READING THE LAW TO THE PEOPLE AFTER THE RETURN FROM\nCAPTIVITY.]\n\nAccordingly, the following modification was adopted. The roll of\nthe Scriptures was brought out as usual, and the sacred words read,\nor rather chanted. After each passage was read, a doctor of the law\nwhispered its meaning into the ear of a Targumista or interpreter,\nwho repeated to the people in the Chaldaic language the explanation\nwhich the doctor had whispered in Hebrew. The reader will now see\nhow appropriate is the metaphor, the whispering in the ear and\nsubsequent proclamation being the customary mode of imparting\nreligious instruction.\n\nIf the reader will now turn to Matt. x. 29, he will find that the\nword \"sparrow\" is used in a passage which has become very familiar\nto us. \"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them\nshall not fall on the ground without your Father.\n\n\"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.\n\n\"Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.\"\nThe same sentences are given by St. Luke (xii. 6), in almost the\nsame words.\n\n[Illustration: THE BLUE THRUSH, OR SPARROW OF SCRIPTURE.]\n\nNow the word which is translated as \"Sparrow\" is _strouthion_, a\ncollective word, signifying a bird of any kind. Without the addition\nof some epithet, it was generally used to signify any kind of small\nbird, though it is occasionally employed to signify even so large\na creature as an eagle, provided that the bird had been mentioned\nbeforehand. Conjoined with the word \"great,\" it signifies the\nostrich; and when used in connexion with a word significative of\nrunning, it is employed as a general term for all cursorial birds.\n\nIn the passages above quoted it is used alone, and evidently\nsignifies any kind of little bird, whether it be a sparrow or not.\nAllusion is made by our Lord to a custom, which has survived to\nthe present day, of exposing for sale in the markets the bodies\nof little birds. They are stripped of their feathers, and spitted\ntogether in rows, and always have a large sale.\n\nVarious birds are sold in this manner, little if any distinction\nbeing made between them, save perhaps in respect of size, the larger\nspecies commanding a higher price than the small birds. In fact,\nthey are arranged exactly after the manner in which the Orientals\nsell their \"kabobs,\" _i.e._ little pieces of meat pierced by wooden\nskewers.\n\nIt is evident that to supply such a market it is necessary that\nthe birds should be of a tolerably gregarious nature, so that a\nconsiderable number can be caught at a time. Nets were employed for\nthis purpose, and we may safely infer that the forms of the nets\nand the methods of using them were identical with those which are\nemployed in the same country at the present day.\n\nThe fowlers supply themselves with a large net supported on two\nsticks, and, taking a lantern with them fastened to the top of a\npole, they sally out at night to the places where the small birds\nsleep.\n\nRaising the net on its sticks, they lift it to the requisite height,\nand hold the lantern exactly opposite to it, so as to place the\nnet between the birds and the lantern. The roosting-places are\nthen beaten with sticks or pelted with stones, so as to awaken the\nsleeping birds. Startled by the sudden noise, they dash from their\nroosts, instinctively make towards the light, and so fall into the\nnet. Bird-catching with nets is several times mentioned in the Old\nTestament, but in the New the net is only alluded to as used for\ntaking fish.\n\nBeside the net, several other modes of bird-catching were used by\nthe ancient Jews, just as is the case at the present day. Boys, for\nexample, who catch birds for their own consumption, and not for the\nmarket, can do so by means of various traps, most of which are made\non the principle of the noose, or snare. Sometimes a great number\nof hair-nooses are set in places to which the birds are decoyed, so\nthat in hopping about many of them are sure to become entangled in\nthe snares. Sometimes the noose is ingeniously suspended in a narrow\npassage which the birds are likely to traverse, and sometimes a\nsimple fall-trap is employed.\n\nWe now pass to another division of the subject. In Ps. lxxxiv. 1-3,\nwe come upon a passage in which the Sparrow is again mentioned: \"How\namiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!\n\n\"My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my\nheart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.\n\n\"Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for\nherself, where she may lay her young, even Thine altars, O Lord of\nhosts, my King, and my God.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE TREE-SPARROW, OR SPARROW OF SCRIPTURE.]\n\nIt is evident that we have in this passage a different bird from the\nSparrow that sitteth alone upon the house-tops; and though the same\nword, _tzippor_, is used in both cases, it is clear that whereas\nthe former bird was mentioned as an emblem of sorrow, solitude,\nand sadness, the latter is brought forward as an image of joy and\nhappiness. \"Blessed are they,\" proceeds the Psalmist, \"that dwell\nin Thy house: they will be still praising Thee.... For a day in Thy\ncourts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in\nthe house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.\"\n\nAccording to Mr. Tristram, this is probably one of the species to\nwhich allusion is made by the Psalmist. While inspecting the ruins\nin the neighbourhood of the Temple, he came upon an old wall. \"Near\nthis gate I climbed on to the top of the wall, and walked along for\nsome time, enjoying the fine view at the gorge of the Kedron, with\nits harvest crop of little white tombs. In a chink I discovered a\nsparrow's nest (_Passer cisalpinus_, var.) of a species so closely\nallied to our own that it is difficult to distinguish it, one of the\nvery kind of which the Psalmist sung.... The swallows had departed\nfor the winter, but the sparrow has remained pertinaciously through\nall the sieges and changes of Jerusalem.\"\n\nThe same traveller thinks that the TREE SPARROW (_Passer montanus_)\nmay be the species to which the sacred writer refers, as it is even\nnow very plentiful about the neighbourhood of the Temple. In all\nprobability we may accept both these birds as representatives of the\nSparrow which found a home in the Temple. The swallow is separately\nmentioned, possibly because its migratory habits rendered it a\npeculiarly conspicuous bird; but it is probable that many species of\nbirds might make their nests in a place where they felt themselves\nsecure from disturbance, and that all these birds would be mentioned\nunder the collective and convenient term of Tzipporim.\n\n[Illustration: sparrows]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: old tree]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CUCKOO.\n\n The Cuckoo only twice mentioned in Scripture--The common\n species, and the Great Spotted Cuckoo--Depositing the egg.\n\n\nOnly in two instances is the word CUCKOO found in the Authorized\nVersion of the Bible, and as they occur in parallel passages they\nare practically reduced to one. In Lev. xi. 16 we find it mentioned\namong the birds that might not be eaten, and the same prohibition is\nrepeated in Deut. xiv. 15, the Jews being ordered to hold the bird\nin abomination.\n\nIt is rather remarkable that the Arabic name for the bird is exactly\nthe same as ours, the peculiar cry having supplied the name. Its\nhabit of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds is well known,\ntogether with the curious fact, that although so large a bird,\nmeasuring more than a foot in length, its egg is not larger than\nthat of the little birds, such as the hedge-sparrow, robin, or\nredstart.\n\n[Illustration: THE GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO.]\n\nBesides this species, another Cuckoo inhabits Palestine, and is\nmuch more common. This is the GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO (_Oxylophus\nglandarius_). The birds belonging to this genus have been separated\nfrom the other Cuckoos because the feathers on the head are formed\ninto a bold crest, in some species, such as Le Vaillant's Cuckoo,\nreminding the observer of the crest of the cockatoo. This fine bird\nmeasures nearly sixteen inches in length, and can be distinguished,\nnot only by the crested head, but by the reddish grey of the throat\nand chest, and the white tips of the wing and tail feathers.\n\nThis species lays its eggs in the nests of comparatively large\nbirds, such as the rooks, crows, and magpies.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: NOAH RECEIVES THE DOVE.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE DOVE.\n\n Parallel between the lamb and the Dove--The Dove and the olive\n branch--Abram's sacrifice, and its acceptance--The Dove-sellers\n of the Temple--The Rock Dove and its multitudes.\n\n\nIn giving the Scriptural history of the Doves and Pigeons, we\nshall find ourselves rather perplexed in compressing the needful\ninformation into a reasonable space. There is no bird which plays\na more important part, both in the Old and the New Testaments, or\nwhich is employed so largely in metaphor and symbol.\n\nThe Doves and Pigeons were to the birds what were the sheep and\nlambs to the animals, and, like them, derived their chief interest\nfrom their use in sacrifice. Both the lamb and the young pigeon\nbeing emblems of innocence, both were used on similar occasions, the\nlatter being in many instances permitted when the former were too\nexpensive for the means of the offerer. As to the rendering of the\nHebrew words which have been translated as Pigeon, Dove, and Turtle\nDove, there has never been any discussion. The Hebrew word _yon\u00e2h_\nhas always been acknowledged to signify the Dove or Pigeon, and the\nword _t\u00f4r_ to signify the Turtle Dove. Generally, the two words are\nused in combination, so that _tor-yon\u00e2h_ signifies the Turtle Dove.\n\nThough the interpretation of the word _yon\u00e2h_ is universally\naccepted, there is a little difficulty about its derivation, and\nits signification apart from the bird. Some have thought that it is\nderived from a root signifying warmth, in allusion to the warmth of\nits affection, the Dove having from time immemorial been selected as\nthe type of conjugal love. Others, among whom is Buxtorf, derive it\nfrom a word which signifies oppression, because the gentle nature of\nthe Dove, together with its inability to defend itself, cause it to\nbe oppressed, not only by man, but by many rapacious birds.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe first passage in which we hear of the Dove occurs in the earlier\npart of Genesis. Indeed, the Dove and the raven are the first\ntwo creatures that are mentioned by any definite names, the word\n_nachosh_, which is translated as \"serpent\" in Gen. iii. 1, being\na collective word signifying any kind of serpent, whether venomous\nor otherwise, and not used for the purpose of designating any\nparticular species.\n\nTurning to Gen. viii. 8, we come to the first mention of the Dove.\nThe whole passage is too familiar to need quoting, and it is only\nneedful to say that the Dove was sent out of the ark in order that\nNoah might learn whether the floods had subsided, and that, after\nshe had returned once, he sent her out again seven days afterwards,\nand that she returned, bearing an olive-branch (or leaf, in the\nJewish Bible). Seven days afterwards he sent the Dove for the third\ntime, but she had found rest on the earth, and returned no more.\n\nIt is not within the province of this work to treat, except in the\nmost superficial manner, of the metaphorical signification of the\nScriptures. I shall, therefore, allude but very slightly to the\nmetaphorical sense of the passages which record the exit from the\nark and the sacrifice of Noah. Suffice it to say that, putting\nentirely aside all metaphor, the characters of the raven and the\nDove are well contrasted. The one went out, and, though the trees\nwere at that time submerged, it trusted in its strong wings, and\nhovered above the watery expanse until the flood had subsided. The\nDove, on the contrary, fond of the society of man, and having none\nof the wild, predatorial habits which distinguish the raven, twice\nreturned to its place of refuge, before it was finally able to find\na resting-place for its foot.\n\nAfter this, we hear nothing of the Dove until the time of Abraham,\nsome four hundred years afterwards, when the covenant was made\nbetween the Lord and Abram, when \"he believed in the Lord, and it\nwas counted to him for righteousness.\" In order to ratify this\ncovenant he was ordered to offer a sacrifice, which consisted of a\nyoung heifer, a she-goat, a ram, a turtle-dove, and a young dove or\npigeon. The larger animals were severed in two, but the birds were\nnot divided, and between the portions of the sacrifice there passed\na lamp of fire as a symbol of the Divine presence.\n\nIn after days, when the promise that the seed of Abram should be as\nthe stars of heaven for multitude had been amply fulfilled, together\nwith the prophecy that they should be \"strangers in a land that was\nnot theirs,\" and should be in slavery and under oppression for many\nyears, the Dove was specially mentioned in the new law as one of the\ncreatures that were to be sacrificed on certain defined occasions.\n\nEven the particular mode of offering the Dove was strictly defined.\nSee Lev. i. 14-17: \"If the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the\nLord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtle-doves,\nor of young pigeons.\n\n\"And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his\nhead, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung\nout at the side of the altar.\n\n\"And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it\nbeside the altar, on the east part, by the place of the ashes.\n\n\"And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide\nit asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the\nwood that is upon the fire.\"\n\nHere we have a repetition not only of the sacrifice of Abram, but\nof the mode in which it was offered, care being taken that the body\nof the bird should not be divided. There is a slight, though not\nvery important variation in one or two portions of this passage.\nFor example, the wringing off the head of the bird is, literally,\npinching off, and had to be done with the thumb nail; and the\npassage which is by some translators rendered as the crop and the\nfeathers, is by others translated as the crop and its contents--a\nreading which seems to be more consonant with the usual ceremonial\nof sacrifice than the other.\n\nAs a general rule, the pigeon was only sanctioned as a sacrificial\nanimal in case one of more value could not be afforded; and so much\ncare was taken in this respect, that with the exception of the two\n\"sparrows\" (_tzipporim_) that were enjoined as part of the sacrifice\nby which the cleansed leper was received back among the people (Lev.\nxiv. 4), no bird might be offered in sacrifice unless it belonged to\nthe tribe of pigeons.\n\nIt was in consequence of the poverty of the family that the\nVirgin Mary brought two young pigeons when she came to present\nher new-born Son in the Temple. For those who were able to\nafford it, the required sacrifice was a lamb of the first year\nfor a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon or Turtle Dove for a\nsin-offering. But \"if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she\nshall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, the one for the\nburnt-offering and the other for a sin-offering.\" The extraordinary\nvalue which all Israelites set upon the first-born son is well\nknown, both parents even changing their own names, and being called\nrespectively the father and mother of Elias, or Joseph, as the case\nmay be. If the parents who had thus attained the summit of their\nwishes possessed a lamb, or could have obtained one, they would most\ncertainly have offered it in the fulness of their joy, particularly\nwhen, as in the case of Mary, there was such cause for rejoicing;\nand the fact that they were forced to substitute a second pigeon for\nthe lamb is a proof of their extreme poverty.\n\nWhile the Israelites were comparatively a small and compact nation,\ndwelling around their tabernacle, the worshippers could easily offer\ntheir sacrifices, bringing them from their homes to the altar. But\nin process of time, when the nation had become a large and scattered\none, its members residing at great distances, and only coming to the\nTemple once or twice in the year to offer their sacrifices, they\nwould have found that for even the poor to carry their pigeons with\nthem would have greatly increased the trouble, and in many cases\nhave been almost impossible.\n\nFor the sake of convenience, therefore, a number of dealers\nestablished themselves in the outer courts of the Temple, for the\npurpose of selling Doves to those who came to sacrifice. Sheep and\noxen were also sold for the same purpose, and, as offerings of money\ncould only be made in the Jewish coinage, money-changers established\nthemselves for the purpose of exchanging foreign money brought from\na distance for the legal Jewish shekel. That these people exceeded\ntheir object, and endeavoured to overreach the foreign Jews who were\nignorant of the comparative value of money and goods, is evident\nfrom the fact of their expulsion by our Lord, and the epithets which\nwere applied to them.\n\n[Illustration: JESUS DRIVES OUT OF THE TEMPLE THE MONEY-CHANGERS AND\nTHOSE WHO SOLD DOVES.]\n\nAccording to some old writers, the Dove was considered as having a\nsuperiority over other birds in the instinctive certainty with which\nit finds its way from one place to another. At the present time,\nour familiarity with the variety of pigeon known as the Carrier has\ntaught us that the eye is the real means employed by the pigeon\nfor the direction of its flight. Those who fly pigeons for long\ndistances always take them several times over the same ground,\ncarrying them to an increasing distance at every journey, so that\nthe birds shall be able to note certain objects which serve them as\nlandmarks.\n\nBees and wasps have recourse to a similar plan. When a young wasp\nleaves its nest for the first time, it does not fly away at once,\nbut hovers in front of the entrance for some time, getting farther\nand farther away from the nest until it has learned the aspect of\nsurrounding objects. The pigeon acts in precisely the same manner,\nand so completely does it depend upon eyesight that, if a heavy fog\nshould come on, the best-trained pigeon will lose its way.\n\n[Illustration: THE ROCK DOVE.]\n\nThe old writers, however, made up their minds that the pigeon found\nits way by scent, which sense alone, according to their ideas, could\nguide it across the sea. They were not aware of the power possessed\nby birds of making their eyes telescopic at will, or of the enormous\nincrease of range which the sight obtains by elevation. A pigeon at\nthe elevation of several hundred yards can see to an astonishing\ndistance, and there is no need of imagining one sense to receive\na peculiar development when the ordinary powers of another are\nsufficient to obtain the object.\n\nThat dove-cotes were in use among the earlier Jews is well known. An\nallusion to the custom of keeping pigeons in cotes is seen in Isa.\nlx. 8: \"Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their\nwindows?\" or, as the Jewish Bible translates the passage, \"as the\ndoves to their apertures?\" In this passage the sacred writer utters\na prophecy concerning the coming of the world to the Messiah, the\nGentiles flocking to Him as the clouds of pigeons fly homeward to\ntheir cotes.\n\n[Illustration: BLUE ROCK PIGEONS.]\n\nThe practice of pigeon-keeping has survived to the present day, the\nhouses of wealthy men being furnished with separate pigeon-houses\nfor the protection and shelter of these popular birds.\n\nIn the Holy Land are found all the species of Pigeons with which\nwe are familiar, together with one or two others. First, there is\nthe Rock Pigeon, or Blue Rock Dove, which is acknowledged to be the\norigin of our domestic breeds of Pigeons, with all their infinite\nvariety of colour and plumage. This species, though plentiful in\nPalestine, is not spread over the whole of the land, but lives\nchiefly on the coast and in the higher parts of the country. In\nthese places it multiplies in amazing numbers, its increase being\nalmost wholly unchecked by man, on account of the inaccessible\ncliffs in which it lays its eggs and nurtures its young, its only\nenemies being a few of the birds and beasts of prey, which can\nexercise but a trifling influence on these prolific birds.\n\nMr. Tristram, while visiting the Wady (or Valley) Seim\u00fbn, which lies\nnear the Lake of Gennesaret, witnessed an amusing example of the\nvast number of these Pigeons.\n\n\"No description can give an adequate idea of the myriads of rock\npigeons. In absolute clouds they dashed to and fro in the ravine,\nwhirling round with a rush and a whirr that could be felt like a\ngust of wind. It was amusing to watch them upset the dignity and the\nequilibrium of the majestic griffon as they swept past him. This\nenormous bird, quietly sailing along, was quite turned on his back\nby the sudden rush of wings and wind.\"\n\nIn Palestine these birds are taken in nets, into which they are\ndecoyed by a very effective though cruel device.\n\nWhen one of these birds is trapped or snared, it is seized by its\ncapturers, who spare its life for the sake of using it as a decoy.\nThey blind it by sewing its eyelids together, and then fasten it to\na perch among trees. The miserable bird utters plaintive cries, and\ncontinually flaps its wings, thus attracting others of its kind, who\nsettle on the surrounding branches and are easily taken, their whole\nattention being occupied by the cries of their distressed companion.\n\nWe now come to the Turtle Doves, several of which inhabit the Holy\nLand; but, as they are similar in habits, we will confine ourselves\nto the common species, with which we are so familiar in this\ncountry. Its migratory habits are noticed in the sacred writings.\nSee the following passage in the Song of Solomon:\n\n\"Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers\nappear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and\nthe voice of the turtle is heard in our land\" (Cant. ii. 11, 12).\nThe prophet Jeremiah also refers to the migration of this bird:\n\"Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the\nturtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe the time of their\ncoming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord\" (viii. 7).\n\nBeside this species, there is the Collared Turtle Dove, one variety\nof which is known as the Barbary Dove. It is a large species,\nmeasuring more than a foot in length. Another species is the Palm\nTurtle, so called from its habit of nesting on palm-trees, when it\nis obliged to build at a distance from the habitations of man. It is\na gregarious bird, several nests being generally found on one tree,\nand even, when it cannot find a palm, it will build among the thorns\nin multitudes. Like the common Dove, it is fond of the society of\nman, and is sure to make its nest among human habitations, secure in\nits knowledge that it will not be disturbed.\n\n[Illustration: THE TURTLE DOVE.]\n\nIt is rather a small bird, being barely ten inches in length, and\nhaving no \"collar\" on the neck, like the two preceding species.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: chickens]\n\n\n\n\nPOULTRY.\n\n Poultry plentiful in Palestine at the present day--The\n Domestic Fowl unknown in the early times of Israel--The\n eating and gathering of eggs--References to Poultry in the\n New Testament--The egg and the scorpion--The fatted fowl of\n Solomon--The hen brooding over her eggs--Poultry prohibited\n within Jerusalem--The cock-crowing.\n\n\nAt the present day, poultry are plentiful both in Palestine and\nSyria, and that they were bred in the time of the Apostles is\nevident from one or two references which are made by our Lord. How\nlong the Domestic Fowl had been known to the Jews is extremely\nuncertain, and we have very little to guide us in our search.\n\nThat it was unknown to the Jews during the earlier period of their\nhistory is evident from the utter silence of the Old Testament on\nthe subject. A bird so conspicuous and so plentiful would certainly\nhave been mentioned in the Law of Moses had it been known to the\nIsraelites; but, in all its minute and detailed provisions, the Law\nis silent on the subject.\n\nNeither the bird itself nor its eggs are mentioned, although there\nare a few references to eggs, without signifying the bird which\nlaid them. The humane provision in Deut. xxii. 6, 7, refers not to\na domesticated, but to a wild bird: \"If a bird's nest chance to be\nbefore thee in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young\nones, or eggs, and the dams sitting upon the young, or upon the\neggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: but thou shalt in\nany wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be\nwell with thee, that thou mayest prolong thy days.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE DOMESTIC FOWL.]\n\nThere is but one passage in the Old Testament which has ever been\nconjectured to refer to the Domestic Fowl. It occurs in 1 Kings iv.\n22, 23: \"And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of\nfine flour, and threescore measures of meal,\n\n\"Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred\nsheep, besides harts, and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and fatted\nfowl.\"\n\nMany persons think that the fatted fowl mentioned in the\nabove-quoted passage were really Domestic Fowl, which Solomon\nhad introduced into Palestine, together with various other birds\nand animals, by means of his fleet. There may be truth in this\nconjecture, but, as there can be no certainty, we will pass from the\nOld Testament to the New.\n\nWe are all familiar with the passages in which the Domestic Fowl\nis mentioned in the New Testament. There is, for example, that\ntouching image employed by our Lord when lamenting over Jerusalem:\n\"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest\nthem that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered\nthy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her\nwings, and ye would not!\" The reference is evidently made to the\nDomesticated Fowl, which in the time of our Lord was largely bred in\nthe Holy Land.\n\nSome writers have taken objection to this statement in consequence\nof a Rabbinical law which prohibited poultry from being kept within\nthe walls of Jerusalem, lest in their search for food they should\nscratch up any impurity which had been buried, and so defile the\nholy city. But it must be remembered that in the time of Christ\nJerusalem belonged practically to the Romans, who held it with a\ngarrison, and who, together with other foreigners, would not trouble\nthemselves about any such prohibition, which would seem to them, as\nit does to us, exceedingly puerile, not to say unjustifiable.\n\nThat the bird was common in the days of our Lord is evident from the\nreference to the \"cock-crowing\" as a measure of time.\n\n[Illustration: chickens]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: peacock]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PEACOCK.\n\n The foreign curiosities imported by Solomon--The word _Tucciyim_\n and its various interpretations--Identity of the word with\n the Cingalese name of the Peacock--Reasons why the Peacock\n should have been brought to Solomon--Its subsequent neglect and\n extirpation.\n\n\nAmong the many foreign objects which were imported by Solomon into\nPalestine, we find that the Peacock is specially mentioned. (See a\npassage which has already been mentioned in connexion with ivory and\napes.) The sacred historian, after mentioning the ivory throne, the\ngolden shields and targets, that all the vessels in Solomon's house\nwere of gold, and that silver was so common as to be of no account,\nproceeds to give the reason for this profuse magnificence. \"For the\nking had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in\nthree years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver,\nivory, and apes, and peacocks\" (1 Kings x. 22).\n\nThat this magnificent bird should have been one of those creatures\nthat were imported by Solomon is almost certain. It would be\nimported for the same reason as the apes; namely, for the purpose\nof adding to the glories of Solomon's house, and no bird could have\nbeen selected which would have a more magnificent effect than the\nPeacock. Moreover, although unknown in Palestine, it is extremely\nplentiful in India and Ceylon, inhabiting the jungle by thousands,\nand, by a curious coincidence, being invariably most plentiful in\nthose spots which are most frequented by tigers. In many parts\nof the country, great numbers of Peacocks frequent the temples,\nand live amicably with the sacred monkeys, passing their lives in\nabsolute security, protected by the sanctity of the place.\n\nTheir numbers, therefore, would render them easily accessible to\nSolomon's envoys, who would purchase them at a cheap rate from the\nnative dealers, while their surpassing beauty would render them\nsure of a sale on their arrival in Jerusalem. Indeed, their beauty\nmade so great an impression that they are separately mentioned by\nthe sacred chronicler, the Peacock and the ape being the only two\nanimals that are thought worthy of enumeration.\n\nThe Peacock may safely be termed one of the most beautiful of the\nfeathered tribe, and may even lay a well-founded claim to the\nchief rank among birds, in splendour of plumage and effulgence of\ncolouring.\n\nWe are so familiar with the Peacock that we think little of its\nreal splendour; but if one of these birds was brought to this\ncountry for the first time, it would create a greater sensation than\nmany animals which are now viewed in menageries with the greatest\ncuriosity and interest.\n\nThe train of the male Peacock is the most remarkable feature of this\nbeautiful bird; the feathers composing it are very long, and are\ncoloured with green, purple, bronze, gold, and blue in such a manner\nas to form distinct \"eyes.\"\n\nOn the head is a tuft of upright feathers, blackish upon their\nshafts, and rich golden green, shot with blue, on their expanded\ntips. The top of the head, the throat, and neck are the most\nrefulgent blue, changing in different lights to gold and green. The\nwings are darker than the rest of the plumage, the abdomen blackish,\nand the feathers of the thighs are fawn.\n\n[Illustration: THE PEACOCK.]\n\nThe female is much smaller than her mate, and not nearly so\nbeautiful, the train being almost wanting, and the colour\nashy-brown, with the exception of the throat and neck, which are\ngreen.\n\nIt seems that after Solomon's death the breed of Peafowl was not\nkept up, owing in all probability to the troubles which beset the\nthrone after that magnificent monarch died.\n\n[Illustration: feathers]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: partridge]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PARTRIDGE.\n\n The word _Kore_ and its signification--The Partridge upon\n the mountains--David's simile--The Desert Partridge and\n its habits--Hunting the Partridge with sticks--Eggs of the\n Partridge--Egg-hunting in Palestine--The various species of\n Partridge.\n\n\nThere is a bird mentioned in the Old Testament, which, although its\nname is only given twice, is a very interesting bird to all students\nof the Scriptures, both passages giving an insight into the manners\nand customs of the scarcely changing East. This is the bird called\nin the Hebrew Kore, a word which has been generally accepted as\nsignifying some kind of Partridge. There is no doubt that, like most\nother Hebrew names of animated beings, the word is a collective one,\nsignifying a considerable number of species.\n\nThe first passage occurs in 1 Sam. xxvi. 20. When David was being\npursued by Saul, and had been forced to escape from the city and\nhide himself in the rocky valleys, he compared himself to the\nPartridge, which frequented exactly the same places: \"The king of\nIsrael is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge\nupon the mountains.\"\n\nThe appositeness of this simile is perfect. The bird to which David\nalluded was in all probability the Desert Partridge (_Ammoperdix\nHeyii_), a species which especially haunts rocky and desert places,\nand even at the present day is exceedingly plentiful about the Cave\nof Adullam. The males, when they think themselves unobserved, are\nfond of challenging, or calling to each other in a loud ringing\nnote, a peculiarity that has earned for the bird the Hebrew name of\nKore, or \"the caller.\"\n\nIt is a very active bird, not taking to flight if it can escape by\nmeans of its legs, and, when pursued or disturbed, running with\ngreat swiftness to some rocky cleft in which it may hide itself,\ntaking care to interpose, as it runs, stones or other obstacles\nbetween itself and the object of its alarm. Thus, then, it will be\nseen how close was the parallel between this bird and David, who was\nforced, like the Partridge, to seek for refuge in the rocky caves.\n\nBut the parallel becomes even closer when we come to examine the\nfull meaning of the passage. The Partridge is at the present day\nhunted on the mountains exactly as was the case in the time of\nDavid. The usual hunters are boys, who provide themselves with\na supply of stout sticks about eighteen inches in length, and,\narmed with these, they chase the birds, hurling the sticks one\nafter the other along the ground, so as to strike the Partridge as\nit runs. Generally, several hunters chase the same bird, some of\nthem throwing the sticks along the ground, while others hurl them\njust above the bird, so that if it should take to flight, it may\nbe struck as it rises into the air. By pertinaciously chasing an\nindividual bird, the hunters tire it, and contrive to come so close\nthat they are certain to strike it.\n\n[Illustration: THE GREEK PARTRIDGE.]\n\nThe reader will now see how perfect is the image. Driven from\nthe city, David was forced to wander, together with the Desert\nPartridge, upon the hill-sides, and, like that bird, his final\nrefuge is the rock. Then came the hunters and pursued him, driving\nhim from place to place, as the boys hunt the Partridge, until he\nwas weary of his life, and exclaimed in his despair, \"I shall now\nperish one day by the hand of Saul.\"\n\nThe Partridges of Palestine are, like those of our own land,\nexceedingly prolific birds, laying a wonderful number of eggs, more\nthan twenty being sometimes found in a single nest. These eggs are\nused for food, and the consumption of them is very great, so that\nmany a Partridge has been deprived of her expected family: she has\nsat upon eggs, and hatched them not.\n\nJust as hunting the Partridge is an acknowledged sport among the\ninhabitants of the uncultivated parts of Palestine, so is searching\nfor the eggs of the bird a regular business at the proper time of\nyear.\n\n[Illustration: PARTRIDGES AND THEIR YOUNG.]\n\nOf these birds several species inhabit Palestine. There is, for\nexample, the Desert Partridge, which has already been mentioned. It\nis beautifully, though not brilliantly coloured, and may be known by\nthe white spot behind the eye, the purple and chestnut streaks on\nthe sides, and the orange bill and legs. These, however, soon lose\ntheir colour after death.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: EASTERN QUAIL.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE QUAIL.\n\n Migration of the Quail--Modes of catching the Quail in the\n East--The Quail-hunters of Northern Africa--Quarrelsome nature\n of the bird--Quail-fighting in the East--How the Quails were\n brought to the Israelites.\n\n\nIn one or two parts of the Old Testament is found a word which has\nbeen translated in the Authorized Version of the Bible as QUAIL.\n\nThe word is _sel\u00e2v_, and in every case where it is mentioned it is\nused with reference to the same occurrence; namely, the providing\nof flesh-meat in the wilderness, where the people could find no\nfood. As the passages remarkably bear upon each other, it will be\nadvisable to quote them in the order in which they come.\n\nThe first mention of the Sel\u00e2v occurs in Exod. xvi. Only a few days\nafter the Israelites had passed the Red Sea, they began to complain\nof the desert land into which Moses had led them, and openly said\nthat they wished they had never left the land of their slavery,\nwhere they had plenty to eat. According to His custom, pitying their\nnarrow-minded and short-sighted folly, the natural result of the\nlong servitude to which they had been subject, the Lord promised to\nsend both bread and flesh-meat.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,\n\n\"I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto\nthem, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye\nshall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord\nyour God.\n\n[Illustration: THE QUAIL.]\n\n\"And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered\nthe camp\" (ver. 11-13).\n\nThe next passage records a similar circumstance, which occurred\nabout a year afterwards, when the Israelites were tired of eating\nnothing but the manna, and again wished themselves back in Egypt.\n\"And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from\nthe sea, and let them fall by the camp as it were a day's journey\non this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side,\nround about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face\nof the earth.\n\n\"And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all\nthe next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least\ngathered ten homers; and they spread them all abroad for themselves\nround about the camp\" (Numb. xi. 31, 32).\n\nThe last passage in which Quails are mentioned occurs in the Psalms.\nIn Ps. cv. are enumerated the various wonders done on behalf of the\nIsraelites, and among them is specially mentioned this gift of the\nQuails and manna. \"The people asked, and He brought quails, and\nsatisfied them with the bread of heaven\" (ver. 40).\n\n\"He had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of\nheaven,\n\n\"And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of\nthe corn of heaven.\n\n\"Man did eat angels' food: He sent them meat to the full.\n\n\"He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven; and by His power He\nbrought in the south wind.\n\n\"He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as\nthe sand of the sea\" (Ps. lxxviii. 23-27).\n\nIf the ordinary interpretation of _sel\u00e2v_ by \"Quail\" be accepted,\nthe description is exactly correct. The Quails fly in vast flocks,\nand, being weak-winged birds, never fly against the direction of the\nwind. They will wait for days until the wind blows in the required\ndirection, and will then take wing in countless multitudes; so that\nin an hour or two a spot on which not a Quail could be seen is\ncovered with them.\n\nOn account of their short wings, they never rise to any great\nheight, even when crossing the sea, while on land they fly at a very\nlow elevation, merely skimming over the ground, barely a yard or\n\"two cubits high upon the face of the earth.\"\n\nMoreover, the flesh of the Quail is peculiarly excellent, and would\nbe a great temptation to men who had passed so long a time without\neating animal food. Another corroboration of the identity of the\nQuail and the Sel\u00e2v is to be found in the mode in which the flesh is\nprepared at the present day. As soon as the birds have arrived, they\nare captured in vast multitudes, on account of their weariness.\nMany are consumed at once, but great numbers are preserved for\nfuture use by being split and laid out to dry in the sun, precisely\nas the Israelites are said to have spread out the Selavim \"all\nabroad for themselves round about the camp.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nAccepting, therefore, the Sel\u00e2v and Quail to be identical, we may\nproceed to the description of the bird.\n\nIt is small, plump, and round-bodied, with the head set closely on\nthe shoulders. Owing to this peculiarity of form, it has its Arab\nname, which signifies plumpness or fatness. The wings are pressed\nclosely to the body, and the tail is pointed, very short, and\ndirected downwards, so that it almost appears to be absent, and the\nbird seems to be even more plump than really is the case.\n\nSeveral modes of capturing these birds are still practised in the\nEast, and were probably employed, not only on the two occasions\nmentioned in Exodus and Numbers, but on many others of which the\nScriptural narrative takes no notice. One very simple plan is, for\nthe hunters to select a spot on which the birds are assembled,\nand to ride or walk round them in a large circle, or rather in a\nconstantly diminishing spiral. The birds are by this process driven\ncloser and closer together, until at the last they are packed in\nsuch masses that a net can be thrown over them, and a great number\ncaptured in it.\n\nSometimes a party of hunters unite to take the Quails, and employ a\nsimilar man\u0153uvre, except that, instead of merely walking round\nthe Quails, they approach simultaneously from opposite points,\nand then circle round them until the birds are supposed to be\nsufficiently packed. At a given signal they all converge upon the\nterrified birds, and take them by thousands at a time.\n\nIn Northern Africa these birds are captured in a very similar\nfashion. As soon as notice is given that a flight of Quails has\nsettled, all the men of the village turn out with their great\nburnouses or cloaks. Making choice of some spot as a centre, where\na quantity of brushwood grows or is laid down, the men surround it\non all sides, and move slowly towards it, spreading their cloaks in\ntheir outstretched hands, and flapping them like the wings of huge\nbirds. Indeed, when a man is seen from a little distance performing\nthis act, he looks more like a huge bat than a human being.\n\nAs the men gradually converge upon the brushwood, the Quails\nnaturally run towards it for shelter, and at last they all creep\nunder the treacherous shade. Still holding their outspread cloaks\nin their extended hands, the hunters suddenly run to the brushwood,\nfling their cloaks over it, and so enclose the birds in a trap from\nwhich they cannot escape. Much care is required in this method of\nhunting, lest the birds should take to flight, and so escape. The\ncircle is therefore made of very great size, and the men who compose\nit advance so slowly that the Quails prefer to use their legs rather\nthan their wings, and do not think of flight until their enemies are\nso close upon them that their safest course appears to be to take\nrefuge in the brushwood.\n\nBoys catch the Quails in various traps and springes, the\nmost ingenious of which is a kind of trap, the door of which\nover-balances itself by the weight of the bird.\n\nBy reason of the colour of the Quail, and its inveterate habit\nof keeping close to the ground, it easily escapes observation,\nand even the most practised eye can scarcely distinguish a single\nbird, though there may be hundreds within a very small compass.\nFortunately for the hunters, and unfortunately for itself, it\nbetrays itself by its shrill whistling note, which it frequently\nemits, and which is so peculiar that it will at once direct the\nhunter to his prey.\n\nThis note is at the same time the call of the male to the female\nand a challenge to its own sex. Like all the birds of its group,\nthe Quail is very combative, and generally fights a battle for the\npossession of each of its many mates. It is not gifted with such\nweapons of offence as some of its kinsfolk, but it is none the\nless quarrelsome, and fights in its own way as desperately as the\ngame-cock of our own country.\n\nIndeed, in the East, it is used for exactly the same purpose as\nthe game-cock. Battles between birds and beasts, not to say men,\nare the common amusement with Oriental potentates, and, when they\nare tired of watching the combats of the larger animals, they have\nQuail-fights in their own chambers. The birds are selected for this\npurpose, and are intentionally furnished with stimulating food,\nso as to render them even more quarrelsome than they would be by\nnature. Partridges are employed for the same cruel purpose; and as\nboth these birds are easily obtained, and are very pugnacious, they\nare especially suited for the sport.\n\nTwo passages occur in the Scriptures which exactly explain the mode\nin which the Quails were sent to the Israelites. The first is in\nPs. lxxviii. 26. The Psalmist mentions that the Lord \"caused an\neast wind to blow in the heaven, and by His power He brought in the\nsouth wind.\" Here, on examining the geographical position of the\nIsraelites, we see exactly how the south-east wind would bring the\nQuails.\n\nThe Israelites had just passed the Red Sea, and had begun to\nexperience a foretaste of the privations which they were to expect\nin the desert through which they had to pass. Passing northwards\nin their usual migrations, the birds would come to the coast of\nthe Red Sea, and there would wait until a favourable wind enabled\nthem to cross the water. The south-east wind afforded them just the\nvery assistance which they needed, and they would naturally take\nadvantage of it.\n\nIt is remarkable how closely the Scriptural narrative agrees with\nthe habits of the Quail, the various passages, when compared\ntogether, precisely coinciding with the character of the bird. In\nExod. xvi. 13 it is mentioned that \"at even the quails came up and\ncovered the camp.\" Nocturnal flight is one of the characteristics of\nthe Quail. When possible, they invariably fly by night, and in this\nmanner escape many of the foes which would make great havoc among\ntheir helpless columns if they were to fly by day.\n\nThe identity of the Sel\u00e2v with the common Quail is now seen to be\nestablished. In the first place, we have the name still surviving\nin the Arabic language. Next, the various details of the Scriptural\nnarrative point so conclusively to the bird, that even if we were to\nput aside the etymological corroboration, we could have but little\ndoubt on the subject. There is not a detail which is not correct.\nThe gregarious instinct of the bird, which induces it to congregate\nin vast numbers; its habit of migration; its inability to fly\nagainst the wind, and the necessity for it to await a favourable\nbreeze; its practice of flying by night, and its custom of merely\nskimming over the surface of the ground; the ease with which it is\ncaptured; the mode of preserving by drying in the sun, and the\nproverbial delicacy of its flesh, are characteristics which all\nunite in the Quail.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBefore closing our account of the Quail, it will be as well to\ndevote a short space to the nature of the mode by which the\nIsraelites were twice fed. Commentators who were unacquainted\nwith the natural history of the bird have represented the whole\noccurrence as a miraculous one, and have classed it with the\ndivision of the Red Sea and of the Jordan, with the various plagues\nby which Pharaoh was induced to release the Israelites, and with\nmany other events which we are accustomed to call miracles.\n\n[Illustration: birds]\n\nIn reality, there is scarcely anything of a miraculous character\nabout the event, and none seems to have been claimed for it. The\nQuails were not created at the moment expressly for the purpose of\nsupplying the people with food, nor were they even brought from any\ngreat distance. They were merely assisted in the business on which\nthey were engaged--namely, their migration or customary travel from\nsouth to north, and waiting on the opposite side of the narrow sea\nfor a south-east wind. That such a wind should blow was no miracle.\nThe Quails expected it to blow, and without it they could not have\ncrossed the sea. That it was made to blow earlier than might have\nbeen the case is likely enough, but that is the extent of the\nmiraculous character of the event.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RAVEN.\n\n The Raven tribe plentiful in Palestine--The Raven and the\n Dove--Elijah and the Ravens--Desert-loving habits of the\n Raven--Notions of the old commentators--Ceremonial use of the\n Raven--Return of the Ravens--Cunning of the bird--Nesting-places\n of the Raven--The magpie and its character--The starling--Its\n introduction into Palestine.\n\n\nIt is more than probable that, while the Hebrew word _oreb_\nprimarily signifies the bird which is so familiar to us under the\nname of RAVEN, it was also used by the Jews in a much looser sense,\nand served to designate any of the Corvid\u00e6, or Crow tribe, such as\nthe raven itself, the crow, the rook, the jackdaw, and the like. We\nwill first take the word in its restricted sense, and then devote a\nbrief space to its more extended signification.\n\nAs might be expected from the cosmopolitan nature of the Raven, it\nis very plentiful in Palestine, and even at the present time is\napparently as firmly established as it was in the days when the\nvarious Scriptural books were written.\n\nThere are few birds which are more distinctly mentioned in the\nHoly Scriptures than the Raven, though the passages in which its\nname occurs are comparatively few. It is the first bird which is\nmentioned in the Scriptures, its name occurring in Gen. viii. 7:\n\"And it came to pass at the end of forty days that Noah opened the\nwindow of the ark which he had made;\n\n\"And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro until the\nwaters were dried up from off the earth.\"\n\nHere we have, at the very outset, a characteristic account of the\nbird. It left the ark, and flew to and fro, evidently for the\npurpose of seeking food. The dove, which immediately followed\nthe Raven, acted in a different manner. She flew from the ark in\nsearch of food, and, finding none, was forced to return again. The\nRaven, on the contrary, would find plenty of food in the bodies\nof the various animals that had been drowned, and were floating\non the surface of the waters, and, therefore, needed not to enter\nagain into the ark. The context shows that it made the ark a\nresting-place, and that it \"went forth to and fro,\" or, as the\nHebrew Bible renders the passage, \"in going and returning,\" until\nthe waters had subsided. Here, then, is boldly drawn the distinction\nbetween the two birds, the carrion-eater and the feeder on vegetable\nsubstances--a distinction to which allusion has already been made in\nthe history of the dove.\n\n[Illustration: THE RAVEN.]\n\nPassing over the declaration in Lev. xi. 15 and Deut. xiv. 14, that\nevery Raven (_i.e._ the Raven and all its tribe) is unclean, we\ncome to the next historical mention of the bird. This occurs in 1\nKings xvii. When Elijah had excited the anger of Ahab by prophesying\nthree years of drought, he was divinely ordered to take refuge by\nthe brook Cherith, one of the tributaries of the Jordan. \"And it\nshall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded\nthe ravens [_orebim_] to feed thee there.\n\n[Illustration: ELIJAH FED BY THE RAVENS.]\n\n\"So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went\nand dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.\n\n\"And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and\nbread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook.\"\n\nIn this passage we have a history of a purely miraculous character.\nIt is not one that can be explained away. Some have tried to do so\nby saying that the banished prophet found the nests of the Ravens,\nand took from them daily a supply of food for his sustenance. The\nrepetition of the words \"bread and flesh\" shows that the sacred\nwriter had no intention of signifying a mere casual finding of food\nwhich the Ravens brought for their young, but that the prophet was\nfurnished with a constant and regular supply of bread and meat twice\nin the day. It is a statement which, if it be not accepted as the\naccount of a miracle, must be rejected altogether.\n\nThe desert-loving habit of the Raven is noticed in Isa. xxxiv. 11:\n\"The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and\nthe raven shall dwell in it: and He shall stretch out upon it the\nline of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe will now pass to the notices of the Raven as given by the writers\nand commentators of the Talmud.\n\nBeing an unclean bird, and one of ill omen, it was not permitted\nto perch on the roof of the Temple. According to some writers, it\nwas kept off by means of scarecrows, and according to others, by\nlong and sharp iron spikes set so closely together that there was\nno room for the bird to pass between them. The latter is by far the\nmore probable account, as the Raven is much too cunning a bird to be\ndeceived by a scarecrow for any length of time. It might be alarmed\nat the first sight of a strange object, but in a very short time it\nwould hold all scarecrows in supreme contempt.\n\nIts carrion-eating propensities were well known to the ancient\nwriters, who must have had many opportunities of seeing the Raven\nunite with the vultures in consuming the bodies, not only of dead\nanimals, but of warriors killed in battle. So fond was the Raven of\nthis food that, according to those writers, the very smell of human\nblood attracted the bird; and, if a man accidentally cut himself, or\nif he were bled for some illness, the odour of the blood would bring\nround the spot all the Ravens of the place.\n\nThe punctuality with which the Raven, in common with all its kin,\nreturns to its roosting-place, was also familiar to the Talmudists,\nwho made rather an ingenious use of this habit The ceremonial law of\nthe Jews required the greatest care in observing certain hours, and\nit was especially necessary to know the precise time which marked\nthe separation of one day from another. This was ascertained easily\nenough as long as the day was clear, but in case of a dull, murky\nday, when the course of the sun could not be traced, some other plan\nwas needed.\n\nIn the olden times, no artificial means of measuring time were\nknown, and the devout Jew was consequently fearful lest he might\nunwittingly break the law by doing on one day an act which ought\nto have been done on another. A convenient method for ascertaining\nthe time was, however, employed, and, as soon as the Ravens, rooks,\nand similar birds were seen returning to their homes, the sun was\nsupposed to be setting.\n\nThis habit of returning regularly at the same time is mentioned by\nMr. Tristram in his \"Land of Israel:\"--\n\n\"Of all the birds of Jerusalem, the raven is decidedly the most\ncharacteristic and conspicuous. It is present everywhere to eye and\near, and the odours that float around remind us of its use. On the\nevening of our arrival we were perplexed by a call-note, quite new\nto us, mingling with the old familiar croak, and soon ascertained\nthat there must be a second species of raven along with the common\n_Corvus corax_. This was the African species (_Corvus umbrinus_,\nHed.), the ashy-necked raven, a little smaller than the world-wide\nraven, and here more abundant in individuals.\n\n\"Beside these, the rook (_Corvus agricola_, Trist.), the common\ngrey, or hooded crow (_Corvus cornix_, L.), and the jackdaw (_Corvus\nmonedula_, L.), roost by hundreds in the sanctuary. We used to watch\nthem in long lines passing over our tents every morning at daybreak,\nand returning in the evening, the rooks in solid phalanx leading the\nway, and the ravens in loose order bringing up the rear, generally\nfar out of shot. Before retiring for the night, popular assemblies\nof the most uproarious character were held together in the trees of\nthe Kedron and Mount Olivet, and not until sunset did they withdraw\nin silence, mingled indiscriminately, to their roosting-places on\nthe walls.\n\n\"My companions were very anxious to obtain specimens of these\nJerusalem birds, which could only be approached as they settled for\nthe night; but we were warned by the Consul that shooting them so\nclose to the mosque might be deemed a sacrilege by the Moslems, and\nprovoke an attack by the guardians of the Haram and the boys of the\nneighbourhood. They finally determined, nevertheless, to run the\nrisk; and stationing themselves just before sunset in convenient\nhiding-places near the walls, at a given signal they fired\nsimultaneously, and, hastily gathering up the spoils, had retreated\nout of reach, and were hurrying to the tents before an alarm could\nbe raised. The discharge of ten barrels had obtained fourteen\nspecimens, comprising five species.\n\n[Illustration: RAVENS' ROOSTING-PLACE.]\n\n\"The same man\u0153uvre was repeated with equal success on another\nevening; but on the third occasion the ravens had learned wisdom by\nexperience, and, sweeping round Siloam, chose another route to their\ndormitory.\"\n\nThose who have tried to come within gunshot of a Raven, can\nappreciate this anecdote, and can understand how the Raven would\never afterwards keep clear of the spot where the flash and smoke\nof fire-arms had twice appeared. In a large garden in which the\nsparrows used to congregate, it was a custom of the owner to lay a\ntrain of corn for the sparrows to eat, and then to rake the whole\nline with a discharge from a gun concealed in an outhouse. A tame\nRaven lived about the premises, and as soon as it saw any one\ncarrying a gun towards the fatal outhouse, it became much alarmed,\nand hurried off to hide itself. As soon as the gun was fired, out\ncame the Raven from its place of concealment, pounced on one of the\ndead sparrows, carried it off, and ate it in its private haunt.\n\n[Illustration: birds in flight]\n\nThe nest to which the Raven returns with such punctuality is placed\nin some spot where it is safe from ordinary intruders. The tops of\nlofty trees are favoured localities for the nest, and so are old\ntowers, the interior of caves, and clefts in lofty precipices.\n\n\n\n\nTHE OSTRICH.\n\n Hebrew words designating the Ostrich--Description of the bird\n in the Book of Job--Ancient use of Ostrich plumes--Supposed\n heedlessness of eggs and young--Mode of depositing the\n eggs--Hatching them in the sand--Natural enemies of the\n Ostrich--Anecdote of Ostriches and their young--Alleged\n stupidity of the Ostrich--Methods of hunting and snaring the\n bird--The Ostrich in domestication--Speed of the Ostrich--The\n flesh of the bird prohibited to the Jews--Ostrich eggs and their\n uses--Food of the Ostrich--Mode of drinking--Cry of the Ostrich,\n and reference made to it in Micah.\n\n\nThere is rather a peculiarity about the manner in which this bird is\nmentioned in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures, and, unless\nwe go to the original Hebrew, we shall be greatly misled. In that\nversion the Ostrich is mentioned only three times, but in the Hebrew\nit occurs eight times.\n\nThe Hebrew word _bath-haya'nah_, which is translated in the\nAuthorized Version as \"owl,\" ought really to be rendered as\n\"Ostrich.\" Taking this to be the case, we find that there are\nseveral passages in the Scriptures in which the word has been used\nin the wrong sense.\n\nIn those places, instead of rendering the word as \"owl,\" we ought to\nread it as \"Ostrich.\"\n\nThe first mention of this bird occurs in Lev. xi. 16, and the\nparallel passage of Deut. xiv., in which the Ostrich is reckoned\namong the unclean birds, without any notice being given of its\nappearance or habits.\n\nIn the Book of Job, however, we have the Ostrich mentioned with that\npreciseness and fulness of description which is so often the case\nwhen the writer of that wonderful poem treats of living creatures.\n\n\"Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and\nfeathers unto the ostrich?\n\n\"Who leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust,\n\n\"And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast\nmay break them.\n\n\"She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not\nhers: her labour is in vain without fear;\n\n\"Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath He imparted\nto her understanding.\n\n\"What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse\nand his rider.\" (Job xxxix. 13-19.)\n\nThere is rather a peculiarity in the translation of this passage,\nwherein the word which has been translated as \"peacock\" is now\nallowed to be properly rendered as \"Ostrich,\" while the word which\nis translated as \"Ostrich\" ought to have been given as \"feathers.\"\nThe marginal translation gives the last words of ver. 13 in a rather\ndifferent manner, and renders it thus:--\"Gavest thou the goodly\nwings unto the peacocks, or the feathers of the stork and ostrich?\"\nThe Hebrew Bible renders the next verses as follows:--\n\n\"She would yet leave her eggs on the earth, and warm them in dust;\nand forget that the foot may crush them, or that the beast of the\nfield may break them.\n\n\"She is hardened against her young ones, for those not hers; being\ncareless, her labour is in vain.\"\n\nIn the same Book, chap. xxx., is another passage wherein this bird\nis mentioned. \"I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I\ncried in the congregation.\n\n\"I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls,\" or Ostriches,\nin the marginal and correct reading. The Jewish Bible also\ntranslates the word as Ostriches, but the word which the Authorized\nVersion renders as \"dragons\" it translates as \"jackals.\" Of this\npoint we shall have something to say on a future page. A somewhat\nsimilar passage occurs in Isa. xliii. 20: \"The beast of the field\nshall honour me, the dragons and the owls\" (Ostriches in marginal\nreading), \"because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in\nthe desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen.\" The Jewish Bible\nretains the same reading, except that the word \"dragons\" is given\nwith the mark of doubt.\n\nAccepting, therefore, the rendering of the Hebrew as Ostriches, let\nus see how far the passages of Scripture agree with the appearance\nand habits of the bird.\n\nHere I may observe that, although in the Scriptures frequent\nallusions are made to the habits of animals, we are not to look for\nscientific exactness to the Scriptures. Among much that is strictly\nand completely true, there are occasional errors, to which a most\nneedless attention has been drawn by a certain school of critics,\nwho point to them as invalidating the truth of Scripture in general.\nThe real fact is, that they have no bearing whatever on the truth or\nfalsehood of the Scriptural teachings.\n\nThe Scriptures were written at various times, for instruction in\nspiritual and not in temporal matters, and were never intended for\nscientific treatises on astronomy, mathematics, zoology, or any\nsuch branch of knowledge. The references which are made to the\nlast-mentioned subject are in no case of a scientific nature, but\nare always employed by way of metaphor or simile, as the reader must\nhave seen in the previous pages. No point of doctrine is taught by\nthem, and none depends on them.\n\nThe Spirit which conveyed religious instruction to the people\ncould only use the means that existed, and could no more employ\nthe scientific knowledge of the present time than use as metaphors\nthe dress, arms, and inventions of the present day. The Scriptures\nwere written in Eastern lands for Orientals by Orientals, and were\nconsequently adapted to Oriental ideas; and it would be as absurd to\nlook for scientific zoology in the writings of an ancient Oriental,\nas for descriptions of the printing-press, the steam-engine, the\nphotographic camera, or the electric telegraph.\n\nSo, when we remember that only a few years ago the real history of\nthe Ostrich was unknown to those who had made zoology the study of\ntheir lives, we cannot wonder that it was also unknown to those who\nlived many centuries ago, and who had not the least idea of zoology,\nor any kindred science.\n\nStill, even with these drawbacks, it is wonderful how accurate in\nmany instances were the writers of the Scriptures, and the more\nso when we remember the character of the Oriental mind, with its\nlove of metaphor, its disregard of arithmetical precision, and its\npoetical style of thought.\n\nWe will now take the passage in Job xxxix. In ver. 13 reference is\nmade to the wings and feathers of the Ostrich. If the reader will\nrefer to page 310, he will see that the feathers of the Ostrich were\nformerly used as the emblem of rank. In this case, they are shown\nas fastened to the heads of the horses, and also in the form of a\nplume, fixed to the end of a staff, and appended to a chariot, as\nemblematical of the princely rank of the occupier. In the ancient\nEgyptian monuments these Ostrich plumes are repeatedly shown, and in\nevery case denote very high rank. These plumes were therefore held\nin high estimation at the time in which the Book of Job was written,\nand it is evidently in allusion to this fact that the sacred writer\nhas mentioned so prominently the white plumes of the Ostrich.\n\nPassing the next portion of the description, we find that the\nOstrich is mentioned as a bird that is careless of its eggs, and\nleaves them \"in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust, and\nforgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may\nbreak them.\"\n\nNow it is true that the Ostrich is often known to take the greatest\ncare of its eggs, the male collecting and sitting on them, and\nwatching them with loving assiduity, and by some persons this fact\nhas been brought forward as a proof that the writer of the Book of\nJob was mistaken in his statements. A further acquaintance with the\nhabits of the bird tells us, however, that in those parts of the\nworld which were known to the writer of that book the Ostrich does\nbehave in precisely the manner which is described by the sacred\nwriter.\n\nSeveral females lay their eggs in the same nest, if the title of\nnest can be rightly applied to a mere hollow scooped in the sand,\nand, at least during the daytime, when the sun is shining, they\nsimply cover the eggs with sand, so as to conceal them from ordinary\nenemies, and leave them to be hatched by the warm sunbeams. They\nare buried to the depth of about a foot, so that they receive the\nbenefit of a tolerably equable warmth. So much, then, for the\nassertion that the Ostrich leaves her eggs \"in the earth, and\nwarmeth them in the dust.\"\n\nWe next come to the statement that she forgets that \"the foot may\ncrush them, or that the wild beast may break them.\" It is evident\nfrom the preceding description that eggs which are buried a foot\ndeep in the sand could not be crushed by the foot, even were they of\na fragile character, instead of being defended by a shell as thick,\nand nearly as hard, as an ordinary earthenware plate. Neither would\nthe wild beast be likely to discover much less to break them.\n\n[Illustration: OSTRICH AND NEST.]\n\nA more intimate acquaintance with the history of the Ostrich shows\nthat, even in this particular, the sacred writer was perfectly\ncorrect. Besides the eggs which are intended to be hatched, and\nwhich are hidden beneath the sand to be hatched, a number of\nsupplementary eggs are laid which are not meant to be hatched,\nand are evidently intended as food for the young until they are\nable to forage for themselves. These are left carelessly on the\nsurface of the ground, and may easily be crushed by the hoof of a\nhorse, if not by the foot of man. We meet, however, with another\nstatement,--namely, that they may be broken by the wild beasts. Here\nwe have reference to another fact in the history of the Ostrich.\nThe scattered eggs, to which allusion is made, are often eaten,\nnot only by beasts, but also by birds of prey; the former breaking\nthe shells by knocking them against each other, and the latter by\npicking up large stones in their claws, rising above the eggs, and\ndropping the stones on them. The bird would like to seize the egg,\nrise with it in the air, and drop it on a stone, as mentioned on\npage 414, but the round, smooth surface of the egg defies the grasp\nof talons, and, instead of dropping the egg upon a stone, it is\nobliged to drop a stone upon the egg.\n\nUp to the present point, therefore, the writer of the Book of Job is\nshown to be perfectly correct in his statements. We will now proceed\nto verse 16: \"She is hardened against her young ones, as though they\nwere not hers.\" Now in the Jewish Bible the passage is rendered\nrather differently: \"She is hardened against her young ones, for\nthose not hers;\" and, as we shall presently see, the reading\nperfectly agrees with the character of the Ostrich.\n\nThere has long existed a belief that the Ostrich, contrary to the\ncharacter of all other birds, is careless of her young, neglects\nthem, and is even cruel to them. That this notion was shared by the\nwriter of the Book of Job is evident from the preceding passage.\nIt also prevailed for at least a thousand years after the Book of\nJob was written. See Lam. iv. 3: \"Even the sea monsters draw out\nthe breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my\npeople is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.\"\n\nIt is probable that this idea respecting the cruelty of the Ostrich\ntowards its young is derived from the fact that if a flock of\nOstriches be chased, and among them there be some very young birds,\nthe latter are left behind by their parents, and fall a prey to the\nhunters. But, in reality, the Ostrich has no choice in the matter.\nThe wide sandy desert affords no place of concealment in which it\nmight hide its young. Nature has not furnished it with weapons by\nmeans of which it can fight for them; and consequently it is forced\nto use the only means of escape by which it can avoid sacrificing\nits own life, as well as the lives of the young.\n\nIt does not, however, leave the young until it has tried, by all\nmeans in its power, to save them. For example, it sometimes has\nrecourse to the man\u0153uvre with which we are so familiar in the\ncase of the lapwing, and pretends to be wounded or lamed, in order\nto draw the attention of its pursuers, while its young escape\nin another direction. An instance of this practice is given by\nMr. Andersson in his \"Lake Ngami.\" \"When we had proceeded little\nmore than half the distance, and in a part of the plain entirely\ndestitute of vegetation, we discovered a male and female ostrich,\nwith a brood of young ones, about the size of ordinary barn-yard\nfowls. We forthwith dismounted from out oxen, and gave chase, which\nproved of no ordinary interest.\n\n\"The moment the parent birds became aware of our intention, they set\noff at full speed--the female leading the way, and the cock, though\nat some little distance, bringing up the rear of the family party.\nIt was very touching to observe the anxiety the birds evinced for\nthe safety of their progeny. Finding that we were quickly gaining\nupon them, the male at once slackened his pace and diverged somewhat\nfrom his course; but, seeing that we were not to be diverted from\nour purpose, he again increased his speed, and, with wings drooping\nso as almost to touch the ground, he hovered round us, now in wide\ncircles, and then decreasing the circumference until he came almost\nwithin pistol-shot, when he abruptly threw himself on the ground,\nand struggled desperately to regain his legs, as it appeared, like a\nbird that has been badly wounded.\n\n\"Having previously fired at him, I really thought he was disabled,\nand made quickly towards him. But this was only a ruse on his part,\nfor, on my nearer approach, he slowly rose, and began to run in a\ndifferent direction to that of the female, who by this time was\nconsiderably ahead with her charge.\" Nor is this a solitary instance\nof the care which the Ostrich will take of her young. Thunberg\nmentions that on one occasion, when he happened to ride near a place\nwhere an Ostrich was sitting on the eggs, the bird jumped up and\npursued him, evidently with the object of distracting his attention\nfrom the eggs. When he faced her, she retreated; but as soon as he\nturned his horse, she pursued him afresh.\n\nThe care of the mother for the young is perhaps less needed with\nthe Ostrich than with most birds. The young are able to run with\nsuch speed that ordinary animals are not able to overtake them, and,\nbesides, they are protected by their colour as long as they are\ncomparatively helpless. Their downy plumage harmonizes completely\nwith the sandy and stony ground, even when they run, and when they\ncrouch to the earth, as is their manner when alarmed, even the most\npractised eye can scarcely see them. Mr. Andersson, an experienced\nhunter, states that when the Ostrich chicks were crouching almost\nunder his feet, he had the greatest difficulty in distinguishing\ntheir forms.\n\nOwing to the great number of the eggs that are laid, the young are\noften very numerous, between thirty and forty chicks sometimes\nbelonging to one brood. In the Ostrich chase which has already been\ndescribed, the brood were eighteen in number, and so great was\ntheir speed that, in spite of their youth and diminutive size, Mr.\nAndersson only succeeded in capturing nine of them after an hour's\nsevere chase.\n\nWe find, therefore, that we must acquit the Ostrich of neglecting\nits young, much more of cruelty towards them; and we will now turn\nto the next charge against the bird, that of stupidity.\n\nIn one sense, the bird certainly may be considered stupid. Like\nnearly all wild creatures which live on large plains, it always runs\nagainst the wind, so as to perceive by scent if any enemies are\napproaching. Its nostrils are very sensitive, and can detect a human\nbeing at a very great distance. So fastidious is it in this respect,\nthat no hunter who knows his business ever attempts to approach the\nOstrich except from leeward. If a nest is found, and the discoverer\nwishes the birds to continue laying in it, he approaches on the\nleeward side, and rakes out the eggs with a long stick.\n\nThe little Bushman, who kills so many of these birds with his tiny\nbow and arrow, makes use of this instinct when he goes to shoot the\nOstrich, disguised in a skin of one of the birds. Should an Ostrich\nattack him, as is sometimes the case, he only shifts his position\nto windward, so as to allow the birds to catch the scent of a human\nbeing, when they instantly make off in terror.\n\nWhen, therefore, the Ostriches are alarmed, they always run to\nwindward, instinctively knowing that, if an enemy should approach\nin that direction, their powers of scent will inform them of the\ndanger. Being aware of this habit, the hunters manage so that while\none of them goes round by a long detour to frighten the game, the\nothers are in waiting at a considerable distance to windward, but\nwell on one side, so that no indication of their presence may\nreach the sensitive nostrils of the birds. As soon as the concealed\nhunters see the Ostriches fairly settled down to their course, they\ndash off at right angles to the line which the birds are taking, and\nin this way come near enough to use their weapons. The antelopes\nof the same country have a similar instinct, and are hunted in\nprecisely the same manner.\n\nThus, then, in one sense the Ostrich may be considered as open to\nthe charge of stupidity, inasmuch as it pursues a course which can\nbe anticipated by enemies who would otherwise be unable to overtake\nit. But it must be remembered that instinct cannot be expected to\nprove a match for reason, and that, although its human enemies are\nable to overreach it, no others can do so, the instinct of running\nagainst the wind serving to guard it from any foe which it is likely\nto meet in the desert.\n\nWhen captured alive and tamed, it certainly displays no particular\namount of intellect. The Arabs often keep tame Ostriches about\ntheir tents, the birds being as much accustomed to their quarters\nas the horses. In all probability they did so in ancient times, and\nthe author of the Book of Job was likely to be familiar with tame\nOstriches, as well as with the wild bird.\n\nStupidity is probably attributed to the tame bird in consequence\nof the habit possessed by the Ostrich of picking up and eating\nsubstances which cannot be used as food. For example, it will eat\nknives, bits of bone or metal, and has even been known to swallow\nbullets hot from the mould. On dissecting the digestive organs of an\nOstrich, I have found a large quantity of stones, pieces of brick,\nand scraps of wood. These articles are, however, not intended to\nserve as food, but simply to aid digestion, and the bird eats them\njust as domestic fowls pick up gravel, and smaller birds grains of\nsand. In swallowing them, therefore, the Ostrich does not display\nany stupidity, but merely obeys a natural instinct.\n\nLastly, we come to the speed of the Ostrich: \"What time she lifteth\nup herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.\"\n\nThis statement is literally true. When the Ostrich puts forth its\nfull speed, there is no horse that can catch it in a fair chase. It\nmay be killed by the ruse which has already been described, but an\nadult Ostrich can run away from the swiftest horse. When it runs\nat full speed, it moves its long legs with astonishing rapidity,\ncovering at each stride an average of twenty-four feet, a fact\nfrom which its rate of speed may be deduced. In consequence of\nthis width of stride, and the small impression made in the sand by\nthe two-toed foot, the track of a running Ostrich is very obscure.\nPerhaps no better proof of the swiftness of the bird can be given\nthan the extreme value set upon it by the Arabs. Although they are\nbred to the desert as much as the Ostrich itself, and are mounted on\nhorses whose swiftness and endurance are proverbial, they set a very\nhigh value on the Ostrich, and to have captured one of these birds\nestablishes an Arab's fame as a hunter.\n\nSometimes the Arabs employ the plan of cutting across the course\nof the bird, but at others they pursue it in fair chase, training\ntheir horses and themselves specially for the occasion. They furnish\nthemselves with a supply of water, and then start in pursuit of the\nfirst flock of Ostriches they find. They take care not to alarm the\nbirds, lest they should put out their full speed and run away out\nof sight, but just keep sufficiently near to force the birds to be\ncontinually on the move. They will sometimes continue this chase for\nseveral days, not allowing their game time to eat or rest, until at\nlast it is so tired that it yields itself an easy prey.\n\nIn Southern Africa, snares are used for taking the Ostrich. They\nare in fact ordinary springes, but of strength suitable to the size\nof the bird. The cord is made fast to a sapling, which is bent down\nby main strength, and the other end is then formed into a noose and\nfastened down with a trigger. Sometimes the bird is enticed towards\nthe snare by means of a bait, and sometimes it is driven over it\nby the huntsmen. In either case, as soon as the Ostrich puts its\nfoot within the fatal noose, the trigger is loosed, the sapling is\nreleased, and, with a violent jerk, the Ostrich is caught by the leg\nand suspended in the air.\n\nWhy the flesh of the Ostrich should have been prohibited to the\nJews is rather a mystery. It is much valued by most natives, though\nsome of the Arab tribes still adhere to the Jewish prohibition, and\nthose Europeans who have tried it pronounce it to be excellent when\nthe bird is young and tender, but to be unpleasantly tough when it\nis old. Mr. Andersson says that its flesh resembles that of the\nzebra, and mentions that the fat and blood are in great request,\nbeing mixed together by cutting the throat of the bird, passing a\nligature round the neck just below the incision, and then shaking\nand dragging the bird about for some time. Nearly twenty pounds of\nthis substance are obtained from a single Ostrich.\n\n[Illustration: ARABS HUNTING THE OSTRICH.]\n\nThe ancient Romans valued exceedingly the flesh of this bird. We\nare told that Heliogabalus once had a dish served at his table\ncontaining six hundred Ostrich brains, and that another emperor ate\na whole Ostrich at a meal. As an adult Ostrich weighs some three\nhundred and fifty pounds, we may presume that the bird in question\nwas a young one.\n\nThe eggs are most valuable articles of food, both on account of\ntheir excellent flavour and their enormous size. It is calculated\nthat one Ostrich egg contains as much as twenty-five ordinary hen's\neggs. Cooking the Ostrich egg is easily performed. A hole is made\nin the upper part of the egg, and the lower end is set on the fire.\nA forked stick is then introduced into the egg, and twirled between\nthe hands, so as to beat up the whole of the interior. Europeans\nusually add pepper and salt, and say that this simple mode of\ncooking produces an excellent omelette.\n\nThe ordinary food of the Ostrich consists of the seeds, buds, and\ntops of various plants. It seems strange, however, that in the\ndeserts, where there is so little vegetation, the bird should be\nable to procure sufficient food to maintain its enormous body. Each\nof the specimens which are kept at the Zoological Gardens eats\non an average a pint of barley, the same quantity of oats, four\npounds' weight of cabbage, and half a gallon of chaff, beside the\nbuns, bread, and other articles of food which are given to them by\nvisitors.\n\nAlthough the Ostrich, like many other inhabitants of the desert,\ncan live for a long time without water, yet it is forced to drink,\nand like the camel, which it resembles in so many of its ways,\ndrinks enormously, taking in the water by a succession of gulps.\nWhen the weather has been exceptionally hot, the Ostrich visits the\nwater-springs daily, and is so occupied in quenching its thirst that\nit will allow the hunter to come within a very short distance. It\nappears, indeed, to be almost intoxicated with its draught, and,\neven when it does take the alarm, it only retreats step by step,\ninstead of scudding off with its usually rapid strides.\n\nThe camel-like appearance of the Ostrich has already been mentioned.\nIn the Arabic language the Ostrich is called by a name which\nsignifies camel-bird, and many of the people have an idea that it\nwas originally a cross between a bird and a camel.\n\nThe cry of the Ostrich is a deep bellow, which, according to\ntravellers in Southern Africa, so resembles the roar of the lion\nthat even the practised ears of the natives can scarcely distinguish\nthe roar of the animal from the cry of the bird. The resemblance is\nincreased by the fact that both the lion and Ostrich utter their\ncry by night. It is evidently to this cry that the prophet Micah\nalludes: \"Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and\nnaked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as\nthe owls\" (Ostriches in marginal reading). The cry of the variety\nof Ostrich which inhabits Northern Africa is said to bear more\nresemblance to the lowing of an ox than the roar of the lion; but as\nthe bird is smaller than its southern relative, the difference is\nprobably accounted for.\n\nIt has been mentioned that the Ostrich has no weapons wherewith\nto fight for its young; still, though it be destitute of actual\nweapons, such as the spur of the gamecock or the beak and talons of\nthe eagle, it is not entirely defenceless. Its long and powerful\nlegs can be employed as weapons, and it can kick with such force\nthat a man would go down before the blow, and probably, if struck on\nthe leg or arm, have the limb broken. The blow is never delivered\nbackward, as is the kick of the horse, but forward, like that of the\nkangaroo. The natives of the countries where it resides say that it\nis able to kill by its kick the jackal that comes to steal its eggs,\nand that even the hy\u00e6na and the leopard are repelled by the gigantic\nbird.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: peaceful scene]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BITTERN.\n\n The Bittern and its general appearance--The bird of\n solitude--Difficulty of detecting the Bittern in its\n haunts--Mudie's description of the Bittern and its home--Nest of\n the Bittern--Scarcity of the bird at the present day--Food of\n the Bittern.\n\n\nThe Bittern belongs to the same family as the herons, the cranes,\nand the storks, and has many of the habits common to them all. It\nis, however, essentially a bird of solitude, hating the vicinity\nof man, and living in the most retired spots of marshy ground. As\nit sits among the reeds and rushes, though it is a large bird, it\nis scarcely visible even to a practised eye, its mottled plumage\nharmonizing with surrounding objects in such a way that the feathers\nof the bird can scarcely be distinguished from the sticks, stones,\nand grass tufts among which it sits. The ground colour of the\nplumage is dark buff, upon which are sprinkled mottlings and streaks\nof black, chestnut, grey, and brown. These mottled marks harmonize\nwith the stones and tufts of withered grass, while the longitudinal\ndashes of buff and black on the neck and breast correspond with the\nsticks and reeds.\n\nIn a similar manner the tiger, though so large an animal, can lie in\na very small covert of reeds without being detected, its striped fur\ncorresponding with the reeds themselves and the shadows thrown by\nthem; and the leopard can remain hidden among the boughs of a tree,\nits spotted coat harmonizing with the broken light and shade of the\nfoliage.\n\n[Illustration: THE BITTERN.]\n\nThe following powerful description of the Bittern's home is given\nby Mudie: \"It is a bird of rude nature, where the land knows no\ncharacter save that which the untrained, working of the elements\nimpresses upon it; so that when any locality is in the course of\nbeing won to usefulness, the bittern is the first to depart, and\nwhen any one is abandoned, it is the last to return. 'The bittern\nshall dwell there' is the final curse, and implies that the place is\nto become uninhabited and uninhabitable. It hears not the whistle of\nthe ploughman, nor the sound of the mattock; and the tinkle of the\nsheep-bell, or the lowing of the ox (although the latter bears so\nmuch resemblance to its own hollow and dismal voice, that it has\ngiven foundation to the name), is a signal for it to be gone.\n\n\"Extensive and dingy pools--if moderately upland, so much the\nbetter--which lie in the hollows, catching, like so many traps, the\nlighter and more fertile mould which the rains wash and the winds\nblow from the naked heights around, and converting it into harsh and\ndingy vegetation, and the pasture of those loathsome things which\nwriggle in the ooze, or crawl and swim in the putrid and mantling\nwaters, are the habitation of the bittern.\n\n\"Places which scatter blight and mildew over every herb which\nis more delicate than a sedge, a carex, or a rush, and consume\nevery wooded plant that is taller than the sapless and tasteless\ncranberry or the weeping upland willow; which shed murrain over the\nquadrupeds, chills which eat the flesh off their bones, and which,\nif man ventures there, consume him by putrid fever in the hot and\ndry season, and shake him to pieces with ague when the weather is\ncold and humid.\n\n\"Places from which the heath and the lichen stand aloof, and where\neven the raven, lover of disease, and battener upon all that expires\nmiserably and exhausted, comes rarely and with more than wonted\ncaution, lest that death which he comes to seal and riot upon in\nothers should unawares come upon himself. The raven loves carrion\non the dry and unpoisoning moor, scents it from afar, and hastens\nto it upon his best and boldest wing; but 'the reek o' the rotten\nfen' is loathsome to the sense of even the raven, and it is hunger's\nlast pinch ere he come nigh to the chosen habitation, the only loved\nabode, of the bittern.\"\n\nSecure in its retreat, the Bittern keeps its place even if a\nsportsman should pass by the spot on which it crouches. It will not\nbe tempted to leave its retreat by noise, or even by stone throwing,\nfor it knows instinctively that the quaking bogland which it selects\nas its home is unsafe for the step of man.\n\nThe very cry of the Bittern adds to this atmosphere of desolation.\nBy day the bird is silent, but after the sun has gone down it utters\nits strange wild cry, a sound which exactly suits the localities in\nwhich it loves to make its habitation. During part of the year it\nonly emits a sharp, harsh cry as it rises on the wing, but during\nthe breeding season it utters the cry by which it summons its mate,\none of the strangest love-calls that can be imagined. It is\nsomething between the neighing of a horse, the bellow of a bull, and\na shriek of savage laughter. It is very loud and deep, so that it\nseems to shake the loose and marshy ground. There was formerly an\nidea that, when the Bittern uttered this booming cry, it thrust its\nbill into the soft ground, and so caused it to shake. In reality,\nthe cry is uttered on the wing, the bird wheeling in a spiral\nflight, and modulating its voice in accordance with the curves which\nit describes in the air. This strange sound is only uttered by the\nmale bird.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BITTERN. CORMORANT.\n]\n\nLike most of the long-legged wading birds, the Bittern is able\nto change its shape, and apparently to alter its size, in an\nastonishing manner. When it is walking over the ground, with head\nerect and eye glanced vigilantly at surrounding objects, it looks\na large, bold, vigorous, and active bird. Next minute it will sink\nits head in its shoulders, so that the long beak seems to project\nfrom them, and the neck totally disappears, the feathers enveloping\neach other as perfectly and smoothly as if it never had had a neck.\nIn this attitude it will stand for an hour at a time on one leg,\nwith the other drawn close to its body, looking as dull, inert, and\nsluggish a bird as can well be imagined, and reduced apparently\nto one half of its former size. The Bittern is represented in one\nof its extraordinary attitudes on the plate which illustrates the\ncormorant.\n\nThe nest of the Bittern is placed on the ground, and near the\nwater, though the bird always takes care to build it on an elevated\nspot which will not be flooded if the water should rise by reason\nof a severe rain. There is, however, but little reason for the\nBittern to fear a flood, as at the time of year which is chosen\nfor nest-building the floods are generally out, and the water\nhigher than is likely to be the case for the rest of the year. The\nmaterials of the nest are found in marshes, and consist of leaves,\nreeds, and rushes.\n\nAs if to add to the general effect of its character, it is\nessentially a solitary bird, and in this characteristic entirely\nunlike its relatives the heron and the stork, which are peculiarly\nsociable, and love to gather themselves together in multitudes. But\nthe Bittern is never found except alone, or at the most accompanied\nfor a time by its mate and one or two young ones.\n\nThe localities in which it resides are sufficient evidence of the\nnature of its food. Frogs appear to be its favourite diet, but it\nalso feeds on various fish, insects, molluscs, worms, and similar\ncreatures. Dull and apathetic as it appears to be, it can display\nsufficient energy to capture tolerably large fish. Though the\nBittern is only about two feet in total length, one of these birds\nwas killed, in the stomach of which were found one perfect rudd\neight inches in length and two in depth, together with the remains\nof another fish, of a full-grown frog, and of an aquatic insect.\nIn another instance, a Bittern had contrived to swallow an eel as\nlong as itself; while in many cases the remains of five or six\nfull-grown frogs have been found in the interior of the bird, some\njust swallowed, and others in various stages of digestion.\n\n[Illustration: wetland]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE HERON.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE HERON.\n\n The Heron mentioned as an unclean bird--Nesting of the\n Heron--The papyrus marshes and their dangers--Description of the\n papyrus--Vessels of bulrushes.\n\n\nThe name of the Heron is only mentioned twice in the\nScriptures--namely, in the two parallel passages of Lev. xi. 19 and\nDeut. xiv. 18; in both of which places the Heron is ranked among the\nunclean birds that might not be eaten.\n\nIn some of the cases where beasts or birds are prohibited as food,\nthe prohibition seems scarcely needed. To us of the present day\nthis seems to be the case with the Heron, as it is never brought to\ntable. The reason for this disuse of the Heron as food is not that\nit is unfit for the table, but that it has become so scarce by the\nspread of cultivation and housebuilding, that it has been gradually\nabandoned as a practically unattainable article of diet. The flesh\nof the Heron, like that of the bittern, is remarkably excellent,\nand in the former days, when it was comparatively plentiful, and\nfalconry was the ordinary amusement of the rich, the Heron formed a\nvery important dish at every great banquet.\n\n[Illustration: THE HERON.]\n\nThe bird, however, must be eaten when young. A gentleman who liked\nto try experiments for himself in the matter of food, found that,\nif young Herons were properly cooked, they formed a most excellent\ndish, equal, in his opinion, to grouse. Wishing to have his own\njudgment confirmed by that of others, he had several of them trussed\nand dressed like wild geese, and served up at table under that name.\nThe guests approved greatly of the bird, and compared it to hare,\nthe resemblance being further increased by the dark colour of the\nflesh. There was not the slighest fishy flavour about the bird.\nThis, however, is apt to be found in the older birds, but can be\nremoved by burying them in the earth for several days, just as is\ndone with the solan goose and one or two other sea-birds.\n\nThe abundance of birds belonging to the Heron tribe is well shown by\nsome of the paintings and carvings on Egyptian monuments, in which\nvarious species of Herons and other water-birds are depicted as\nliving among the papyrus reeds, exactly the locality in which they\nare most plentiful at the present day.\n\nUnlike the bittern, the Heron is a most sociable bird, and loves not\nonly to live, but even to feed, in company with others of its own\nspecies.\n\nI have watched the Herons feeding in close proximity to each other.\nThe birds were fond of wading stealthily along the edge of the\nlake until they came to a suitable spot, where they would stand\nimmersed in the water up to the thighs, waiting patiently for their\nprey. They stood as still as if they were carved out of wood, the\nripples of the lake reflected on their plumage as the breeze ruffled\nthe surface of the water. Suddenly there would be a quick dive of\nthe beak, either among the reeds or in the water, and each stroke\nsignified that the Heron had caught its prey.\n\nFrogs and small fishes are the usual food of the Heron, though it\noften grapples with larger prey, having been seen to capture an\neel of considerable size in its beak. Under such circumstances\nit leaves the water, with the fish in its mouth, and beats it\nviolently against a stone so as to kill it. Now and then the bird\nis vanquished in the struggle by the fish, several instances being\nknown in which an eel, in its endeavours to escape, has twisted\nitself so tightly round the neck of the bird that both have been\nfound lying dead on the shore.\n\nIn one such case the Heron's beak had struck through the eyes of the\neel, so that the bird could not disengage itself. In another the\nHeron had tried to swallow an eel which was much too large for it,\nand had been nearly choked by its meal. The eel must necessarily\nhave been a very large one, as the Heron has a wonderful capacity\nfor devouring fish. Even when quite young, it can swallow a fish as\nlarge as a herring, and when it is full grown it will eat four or\nfive large herrings at a meal.\n\nNow when we remember that a man of average appetite finds one\nherring to form a very sufficient breakfast, we can easily imagine\nwhat must be the digestive power of a bird which, though very\ninferior to man in point of bulk, can eat four times as much at a\nmeal. Even though the fish be much larger in diameter than the neck\nof the bird, the Heron can swallow it as easily as a small snake\nswallows a large frog. The neck merely seems to expand as if it were\nmade of Indiarubber, the fish slips down, and the bird is ready for\nanother.\n\n[Illustration: THE HOME OF THE HERON.]\n\nGenerally the Herons feed after sunset, but I have frequently\nseen them busily engaged in catching their prey in full daylight,\nwhen the sunbeams were playing in the water so as to produce the\nbeautiful rippling effect on the Heron's plumage which has already\nbeen mentioned.\n\nThe Heron does not restrict itself to fishes or reptiles, but, like\nthe bittern, feeds on almost any kind of aquatic animal which comes\nwithin its reach. When it lives near tidal rivers, it feeds largely\non the shrimps, prawns, green crabs, and various other crustacea;\nand when it lives far inland, it still makes prey of the fresh-water\nshrimps, the water-beetles, and the boat-flies, and similar aquatic\ncreatures. In fact, it acts much after the fashion of the lions,\ntigers, and leopards, which put up with locusts and beetles when\nthey can find no larger prey.\n\nThe long beak of the Heron is not merely an instrument by which it\ncan obtain food, but is also a weapon of considerable power. When\nattacked, it aims a blow at the eye of its opponent, and makes the\nstroke with such rapidity that the foe is generally blinded before\nperceiving the danger. When domesticated, it has been known to keep\npossession of the enclosure in which it lived, and soon to drive\naway dogs by the power of its beak. When it is young, it is quite\nhelpless, its very long legs being unable to support its body,\nwhich is entirely bare of plumage, and has a very unprepossessing\nappearance.\n\nThe flight of the Heron is very powerful, its wings being very large\nin proportion to its slender body. Sometimes the bird takes to\nascending in a spiral line, and then the flight is as beautiful as\nit is strong. When chased by the falcon it mostly ascends in this\nmanner, each of the two birds trying to rise above the other.\n\nThe nest of the Heron is always made on the top of some lofty tree,\nwhenever the bird builds in places where trees can be found; and as\nthe bird is an eminently sociable one, a single nest is very seldom\nfound, the Heron being as fond of society as the rook. In some parts\nof Palestine, however, where trees are very scarce, the Heron is\nobliged to choose some other locality for its nest, and in that case\nprefers the great thickets of papyrus reeds which are found in the\nmarshes, and which are even more inaccessible than the tops of trees.\n\nOne of these marshes is well described by Mr. Tristram in his \"Land\nof Israel.\" \"The whole marsh is marked in the map as impassable; and\nmost truly it is so. I never anywhere have met with a swamp so vast\nand utterly impenetrable.\n\n\"The papyrus extends right across to the east side. A false step off\nits roots will take the intruder over head in suffocating peat-mud.\nWe spent a long time in attempting to effect an entrance, and at\nlast gave it up, satisfied that the marsh birds were not to be had.\nIn fact, the whole is simply a floating bog of several miles square;\na very thin crust of vegetation covers an unknown depth of water;\nand, if the explorer breaks through this, suffocation is imminent.\nSome of the Arabs, who were tilling the plain for cotton, assured us\nthat even a wild boar never got through it. We shot two bitterns,\nbut in endeavouring to retrieve them I slipped from the root on\nwhich I was standing, and was drawn down in a moment, only saving\nmyself from drowning by my gun, which had providentially caught\nacross a papyrus stem.\"\n\nIt may here be mentioned that the bulrush of Scripture is\nundoubtedly the papyrus. The ark or basket of bulrushes, lined with\nslime and pitch, in which Moses was laid, was made of the papyrus,\nwhich at the present day is used for the manufacture of baskets,\nmats, sandals, and for the thatching of houses. Many tribes which\ninhabit the banks of the Nile make simple boats, or rather rafts,\nof the papyrus, which they cut and tie in bundles; and it is worthy\nof notice that the Australian native makes a reed boat in almost\nexactly the same manner.\n\nCompare Is. xviii. 1, 2: \"Woe to the land shadowing with wings,\nwhich is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.\n\n\"That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes.\"\nDid we not know that vessels are actually made of bulrushes at the\npresent day, a custom which has survived from very ancient times,\nwe might find a difficulty in understanding this passage, while the\nmeaning is intelligible enough when it is viewed by the light of\nthe knowledge that the Ethiopian of the present day takes gold, and\nivory, and other merchandise down the Nile in his boat of papyrus\n(or bulrush) reeds tied together.\n\n[Illustration: THE PAPYRUS PLANT.]\n\nThe papyrus runs from ten to fifteen or sixteen feet in height, so\nthat the Herons are at no loss for suitable spots whereon to place\ntheir nests. From the name \"papyrus\" our word paper is derived. The\nstems of the plant, after having been split into thin slices, joined\ntogether, and brought to a smooth surface, formed the paper upon\nwhich the ancient Egyptians wrote.\n\nThe Egrets, which are probably included under the generic title\nof An\u00e2phah, are birds of passage, and at the proper season are\nplentiful in Palestine. These pretty birds much resemble the heron\nin general form, and in general habits both birds are very much\nalike, haunting the marshes and edges of lakes and streams, and\nfeeding upon the frogs and other inhabitants of the water. In\ncountries where rice is cultivated, the Egret may generally be seen\nin the artificial swamps in which that plant is sown. The colour\nof the Egret is pure white, with the exception of the train. This\nconsists of a great number of long slender feathers of a delicate\nstraw colour. Like those which form the train of the peacock, they\nfall over the feathers of the tail, and entirely conceal them.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: jungle scene]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CRANE.\n\n Various passages in which the Crane is mentioned--Its migratory\n habits, and loud voice--Geographical range of the Crane--Its\n favourite roosting-places--Size of the Crane, and measurement of\n the wings--The Crane once used as food--Plumes of the Crane and\n their use--Structure of the vocal organs--Nest and eggs of the\n Crane.\n\n\nIn the description of the dove and the swallow two passages have\nbeen quoted in which the name of the CRANE is mentioned, one\nreferring to its voice, and the other to its migratory instinct. The\nfirst passage occurs in Isa. xxxviii. 14: \"Like a crane or swallow,\nso did I chatter;\" and the other in Jer. viii. 7: \"The turtle and\nthe crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE CRANE.]\n\nIt is rather remarkable that in both these cases the word \"Crane\" is\nused in connexion with the swallow, or rather the swift, and that in\nboth instances the names of the birds should have been interchanged.\nIf we refer to the original of these passages, we shall find that\nthe former of them would run thus, \"Like a _sis_ or an _agur_,\" and\nthe latter thus, \"The turtle and the _sis_ and the _agur_.\" That in\nthese passages the interpretation of the words _sis_ and _agur_ have\nbeen interchanged has already been mentioned, and, as the former\nhas been described under the name of swallow or swift, we shall now\ntreat of the latter under the title of Crane.\n\nThe species here mentioned is the common Crane, a bird which has a\nvery wide range, and which seeks a warm climate on the approach of\nwinter.\n\nThe Crane performs its annual migrations in company, vast flocks of\nmany thousand individuals passing like great clouds at an immense\nheight, whence their trumpet-like cry is audible for a great\ndistance round, and attracts the ear if not the eye to them. Thus we\nhave at a glance both the characteristics to which reference is made\nin the Scriptures, namely, the noisy cry and the habit of migration.\n\nIt is a very gregarious bird, associating with its comrades in\nflocks, just as do the starlings and rooks of our own country,\nand, like these birds, has favourite roosting-places in which it\npasses the night. When evening approaches, the Cranes may be seen in\nlarge flocks passing to their roosting-places, and, on account of\ntheir great size, having a very strange effect. A fair-sized Crane\nwill measure seven feet across the expanded wings, so that even a\nsolitary bird has a very imposing effect when flying, while that of\na large flock of Cranes on the wing is simply magnificent.\n\nThe spots which the Crane selects for its roosting-places are\ngenerally of the same character. Being in some respects a wary bird,\nthough it is curiously indifferent in others, it will not roost\nin any place near bushes, rocks, or other spots which might serve\nto conceal an enemy. The locality most favoured by the Crane is a\nlarge, smooth, sloping bank, far from any spot wherein an enemy\nmay be concealed. The birds keep a careful watch during the night,\nand it is impossible for any foe to approach them without being\ndiscovered. The Crane is noisy on the wing, and, whether it be\nsoaring high over head on its long migratory journeys, or be merely\nflying at dusk to its roosting-place, it continually utters its\nloud, clangorous cry.\n\nThe food of the Crane is much like that of the heron, but in\naddition to the frogs, fish, worms, and insects, it eats vegetable\nsubstances. Sometimes it is apt to get into cultivated grounds,\nand then does much damage to the crops, pecking up the ground with\nits long beak, partly for the sake of the worms, grubs, and other\ncreatures, and partly for the sake of the sprouting seeds.\n\nAlthough by reason of its scarcity the Crane has been abandoned as\nfood, its flesh is really excellent, and in former days was valued\nvery highly.\n\nLike the egret, the Crane is remarkable for the flowing plumes of\nthe back, which fall over the tail feathers, and form a train. These\nfeathers are much used as plumes, both for purposes of dress and as\nbrushes or flappers wherewith to drive off the flies. By reason of\nthis conformation, some systematic zoologists have thought that it\nhas some affinity to the ostrich, the rh\u0153a, and similar birds,\nand that the resemblance is strengthened by the structure of the\ndigestive organs, which are suited to vegetable as well as animal\nsubstances, the stomach being strong and muscular.\n\nThe peculiar voice of the Crane, which it is so fond of using,\nand to which reference is made in the Scriptures, is caused by a\npeculiar structure of the windpipe, which is exceedingly long,\nand, instead of going straight to the lungs, undergoes several\nconvolutions about the breast-bone, and then proceeds to the lungs.\n\nThe Crane makes its nest on low ground, generally among osiers or\nreeds, and it lays only two eggs, pale olive in colour, dashed\nprofusely with black and brown streaks.\n\n[Illustration: water side]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: stork]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORK.\n\n Signification of the Hebrew word _Chasidah_--Various passages\n in which it is mentioned--The Chasidah therefore a large,\n wide-winged, migratory bird--Its identification with the\n Stork--The Stork always protected.\n\n\nIn the Old Testament there are several passages wherein is mentioned\nthe word _Chasidah_.\n\nThe Authorized Version invariably renders the word _Chasidah_ as\n\"Stork\" and is undoubtedly right.\n\nIn Buxtorf's Lexicon there is a curious derivation of the word. He\nsays that the word _Chasidah_ is derived from _chesed_, a word that\nsignifies benevolence.\n\nAccording to some writers, the name was given to the Stork because\nit was supposed to be a bird remarkable for its filial piety;\n\"for the storks in their turn support their parents in their old\nage: they allow them to rest their necks on their bodies during\nmigration, and, if the elders are tired, the young ones take them\non their backs.\" According to others, the name is given to the\nStork because it exercises kindness towards its companions in\nbringing them food; but in all cases the derivation of the word is\nacknowledged to be the same.\n\nPartly in consequence of this idea, which is a very old and almost\nuniversal one, and partly on account of the great services rendered\nby the bird in clearing the ground of snakes, insects, and garbage,\nthe Stork has always been protected through the East, as it is to\nthe present day in several parts of Europe. The slaughter of a\nStork, or even the destruction of its eggs, would be punished with a\nheavy fine; and in consequence of the immunity which it enjoys, it\nloves to haunt the habitations of mankind.\n\nIn many of the Continental towns, where sanitary regulations are not\nenforced, the Stork serves the purpose of a scavenger, and may be\nseen walking about the market-place, waiting for the offal of fish,\nfowls, and the like, which are simply thrown on the ground for the\nStorks to eat. In Eastern lands the Stork enjoys similar privileges,\nand we may infer that the bird was perfectly familiar both to the\nwriters of the various Scriptural books in which it was mentioned,\nand to the people for whom these books were intended.\n\nWhen they settle upon a tract of ground, the Storks divide it among\nthemselves in a manner that seems to have a sort of system in it,\nspreading themselves over it with wonderful regularity, each bird\nappearing to take possession of a definite amount of ground. By this\nmode of proceeding, the ground is rapidly cleared of all vermin; the\nStorks examining their allotted space with the keenest scrutiny,\nand devouring every reptile, mouse, worm, grub, or insect that they\ncan find on it. Sometimes they will spread themselves in this\nmanner over a vast extent of country, arriving suddenly, remaining\nfor several months, and departing without giving any sign of their\nintention to move.\n\n[Illustration: STORKS AND THEIR NESTS.]\n\nThe wings of the Stork, which are mentioned in Holy Writ, are very\nconspicuous, and are well calculated to strike an imaginative mind.\nThe general colour of the bird is white, while the quill feathers\nof the wings are black; so that the effect of the spread wings is\nvery striking, an adult bird measuring about seven feet across,\nwhen flying. As the body, large though it may be, is comparatively\nlight when compared with the extent of wing, the flight is both\nlofty and sustained, the bird flying at very great height, and, when\nmigrating, is literally the \"stork in the heavens.\"\n\nNext we come to the migratory habits of the Stork.\n\nLike the swallow, the Stork resorts year after year to the same\nspots; and when it has once fixed on a locality for its nest, that\nplace will be assuredly taken as regularly as the breeding-season\ncomes round. The same pair are sure to return to their well-known\nhome, notwithstanding the vast distances over which they pass, and\nthe many lands in which they sojourn. Should one of the pair die,\nthe other finds a mate in a very short time, and thus the same home\nis kept up by successive generations of Storks, much as among men\none ancestral mansion is inhabited by a series of members of the\nsame family.\n\nSo well is this known, that when a pair of Storks have made their\nnest in a human habitation their return is always expected, and\nwhen they arrive the absentees are welcomed on all sides. In many\ncountries breeding-places are specially provided for the Storks; and\nwhen one of them is occupied for the first time, the owner of the\nhouse looks upon it as a fortunate omen.\n\nThe localities chosen by the Stork for its nest vary according to\nthe surrounding conditions. The foundation which a Stork requires is\na firm platform, the more elevated the better, but the bird seems to\ncare little whether this platform be on rocks, buildings, or trees.\nIf, for example, it builds its nest in craggy places, far from the\nhabitations of man, it selects some flat ledge for the purpose,\npreferring those that are at the extreme tops of the rocks. The\nsummit of a natural pinnacle is a favourite spot with the Stork.\n\nIn many cases the Stork breeds among old ruins, and under such\ncircumstances it is fond of building its nest on the tops of\npillars or towers, the summits of arches, and similar localities.\nWhen it takes up its abode among mankind, it generally selects the\nbreeding-places which have been built for it by those who know its\ntaste, but it frequently chooses the top of a chimney, or some such\nlocality.\n\nSometimes, however, it is obliged to build in spots where it can\nfind neither rocks nor buildings, and in such cases it builds on\ntrees, and, like the heron, is sociable in its nesting, a whole\ncommunity residing in a clump of trees. It is not very particular\nabout the kind of tree, provided that it be tolerably tall, and\nstrong enough to bear the weight of its enormous nest; and the\nreader will at once see that the fir-trees are peculiarly fitted to\nbe the houses for the Stork.\n\nAs may be expected from the localities chosen by the Stork for its\nbreeding-place, its nest is very large and heavy. It is constructed\nwith very little skill, and is scarcely more than a huge quantity of\nsticks, reeds, and similar substances, heaped together, and having\nin the middle a slight depression in which the eggs are laid. These\neggs are usually three, or perhaps four in number, and now and then\na fifth is seen, and are of a very pale buff or cream colour.\n\nAs is the case with the heron, the young of the Stork are quite\nhelpless when hatched, and are most ungainly little beings, with\ntheir long legs doubled under them, unable to sustain their round\nand almost naked bodies, while their large beaks are ever gaping for\nfood. Those of my readers who have had young birds of any kind must\nhave noticed the extremely grotesque appearance which they possess\nwhen they hold up their heads and cry for food, with their bills\nopen to an almost incredible extent. In such birds as the Stork,\nthe heron, and others of the tribe, the grotesque appearance is\nexaggerated in proportion to the length and gape of the bill.\n\nThe Stork is noted for being a peculiarly kind and loving parent\nto its young, in that point fully deserving the derivation of its\nHebrew name, though its love manifests itself towards the young, and\nnot towards the parent.\n\nThe Rev. H. B. Tristram mentions from personal experience an\ninstance of the watchful care exercised by the Stork over its young.\n\"The writer was once in camp near an old ruined tower in the plains\nof Zana, south of the Atlas, where a pair of storks had their nest.\nThe four young might often be seen from a little distance, surveying\nthe prospect from their lonely height, but whenever any of the human\nparty happened to stroll near the tower, one of the old storks,\ninvisible before, would instantly appear, and, lighting on the nest,\nput its feet gently on the necks of all the young, so as to hold\nthem down out of sight till the stranger had passed, snapping its\nbill meanwhile, and assuming a grotesque air of indifference, as if\nunconscious of there being anything under its charge.\"\n\nThe snapping noise which is here mentioned is the only sound\nproduced by the Stork, which is an absolutely silent bird, as far as\nvoice is concerned.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere is another species of Stork found in Palestine, to which\nthe fir-trees are especially a home. This is the Black Stork\n(_Ciconia nigra_), which in some parts of the country is even more\nplentiful than its white relative, which it resembles in almost\nevery particular, except that it has a dark head and back, the\nfeathers being glossed with purple and green like those of the\nmagpie. This species, which is undoubtedly included in the Hebrew\nword _chasidah_, always makes its nest on trees whenever it can find\nthem, and in some of the more densely wooded parts of Palestine is\nin consequence plentiful, placing its nest in the deepest parts of\nthe forests. When it cannot obtain trees, it will build its nest on\nrocky ledges. It lays two or three eggs of a greenish white colour.\n\nLike the preceding species, the Black Stork is easily domesticated.\nColonel Montague kept one which was very tame, and would follow\nits keeper like a dog. Its tameness enabled its proceedings to be\nclosely watched, and its mode of feeding was thereby investigated.\nIt was fond of examining the rank grass and mud for food, and while\ndoing so always kept its bill a little open, so as to pounce down at\nonce on any insect or reptile that it might disturb.\n\nEels were its favourite food, and it was such an adept at catching\nthem that it was never seen to miss one, no matter how small or\nquick it might be. As soon as it had caught one of these active\nfish, it went to some dry place, and then disabled its prey by\nshaking and beating it against the ground before swallowing it,\nwhereas many birds that feed on fish swallow their prey as soon\nas it is caught. The Stork was never seen to swim as the heron\nsometimes does, but it would wade as long as it could place its feet\non the bed of the stream, and would strain its head and the whole of\nits neck under water in searching for fish.\n\n[Illustration: A NEST OF THE WHITE STORK.]\n\nIt was of a mild and peaceable disposition, and, even if angered,\ndid not attempt to bite or strike with its beak, but only denoted\nits displeasure by blowing the air sharply from its lungs, and\nnodding its head repeatedly. After the manner of Storks, it always\nchose an elevated spot on which to repose, and took its rest\nstanding on one leg, with its head so sunk among the feathers of its\nshoulders that scarcely any part of it was visible, the hinder part\nof the head resting on the back, and the bill lying on the fore-part\nof the neck.\n\nThough the bird is so capable of domestication, it does not of its\nown accord haunt the dwellings of men, like the White Stork, but\navoids the neighbourhood of houses, and lives in the most retired\nplaces it can find.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SWAN.\n\n Signification of the word _Tinshemeth_--The Gallinule and the\n Ibis--Appearance and habits of the Hyacinthine Gallinule--A\n strange use for the bird--The White or Sacred Ibis.\n\n\nIn the two parallel chapters of Lev. xi. 18 and Deut. xiv. 16, the\nHebrew word _tinshemeth_ is found, and evidently signifies some\nkind of bird which was forbidden as food. After stating (Lev. xi.\n13) that \"these are they which ye shall have in abomination among\nthe fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination,\" the\nsacred lawgiver proceeds to enumerate a number of birds, nearly all\nof which have already been described. Among them occurs the name of\n_tinshemeth_, between the great owl and the pelican.\n\nWhat was the precise species of bird which was signified by this\nname it is impossible to say, but there is no doubt that it could\nnot have been the Swan, according to the rendering of the Authorized\nVersion. The Swan is far too rare a bird in Palestine to have been\nspecially mentioned in the law of Moses, and in all probability it\nwas totally unknown to the generality of the Israelites. Even had\nit been known to them, and tolerably common, there seems to be no\nreason why it should have been reckoned among the list of unclean\nbirds.\n\nOn turning to the Hebrew Bible, we find that the word is left\nuntranslated, and simply given in its Hebrew form, thereby\nsignifying that the translators could form no opinion whatever of\nthe proper rendering of the word. The Septuagint translates the\nTinshemeth as the Porphyrio or Ibis, and the Vulgate follows the\nsame rendering. Later naturalists have agreed that the Septuagint\nand Vulgate have the far more probable reading; and, as two birds\nare there mentioned, they will be both described.\n\n[Illustration: IBIS AND GALLINULE (SWAN OF SCRIPTURE).]\n\nThe first is the Porphyrio, by which we may understand the\nHYACINTHINE GALLINULE (_Porphyrio veterum_). All the birds of this\ngroup are remarkable for the enormous length of their toes, by means\nof which they are enabled to walk upon the loose herbage that floats\non the surface of the water as firmly as if they were treading\non land. Their feet are also used, like those of the parrots, in\nconveying food to the mouth. We have in England a very familiar\nexample of the Gallinules in the common water-hen, or moor-hen,\nthe toes of which are of great proportionate length, though not so\nlong as those of the Purple Gallinule, which almost rivals in this\nrespect the jacanas of South America and China. The water-rail, and\ncorncrake or land-rail, are also allied to the Gallinules.\n\nThe Hyacinthine Gallinule derives its name from its colour, which is\na rich and variable blue, taking a turquoise hue on the head, neck,\nthroat, and breast, and deep indigo on the back. The large bill and\nthe legs are red. Like many other birds, however, it varies much in\ncolour according to age.\n\nIt has a very wide geographical range, being found in many parts of\nEurope, Asia, and Africa, and is common in the marshy districts of\nPalestine, where its rich blue plumage and its large size, equalling\nthat of a duck, render it very conspicuous. The large and powerful\nbill of this bird betokens the nature of its food, which consists\nalmost entirely of hard vegetable substances, the seeds of aquatic\nherbage forming a large portion of its diet. When it searches for\nfood on the seashore, it eats the marine vegetation, mixing with\nthis diet other articles of an animal nature, such as molluscs and\nsmall reptiles.\n\nThough apparently a clumsy bird, it moves with wonderful speed,\nrunning not only swiftly but gracefully, its large feet being no\nhindrance to the rapidity of its movements. It is mostly found in\nshallow marshes, where the construction of its feet enables it to\ntraverse both the soft muddy ground and the patches of firm earth\nwith equal ease. Its wings, however, are by no means equal to its\nlegs either in power or activity; and, like most of the rail tribe,\nit never takes to the air unless absolutely obliged to do so.\n\nThe nest of the Hyacinthine Gallinule is made on the sedge-patches\nwhich dot the marshes, much like that of the coot. The nest, too,\nresembles that of the coot, being composed of reeds, sedges, and\nother aquatic plants. The eggs are three or four in number, white in\ncolour, and nearly spherical in form.\n\nAs the Ibis has an equal claim to the title of Tinshemeth we will\ndevote a few lines to a description of the bird. The particular\nspecies which would be signified by the word _tinshemeth_ would\nundoubtedly be the WHITE or SACRED IBIS (_Ibis religiosa_), a bird\nwhich derives its name of Sacred from the reverence with which it\nwas held by the ancient Egyptians, and the frequency with which its\nfigure occurs in the monumental sculptures. It was also thought\nworthy of being embalmed, and many mummies of the Ibis have been\nfound in the old Egyptian burial-places, having been preserved for\nsome three thousand years.\n\nIt is about as large as an ordinary hen, and, as its name imports,\nhas the greater part of its plumage white, the ends of the\nwing-feathers and the coverts being black, with violet reflections.\nThe long neck is black and bare, and has a most curious aspect,\nlooking as if it were made of an old black kid glove, very much\ncrumpled, but still retaining its gloss.\n\nThe reason for the extreme veneration with which the bird was\nregarded by the ancient Egyptians seems rather obscure. It is\nprobable, however, that the partial migration of the bird was\nconnected in their minds with the rise of the Nile, a river as\nsacred to the old Egyptians as the Ganges to the modern Hindoo. As\nsoon as the water begins to rise, the Ibis makes its appearance,\nsometimes alone, and sometimes in small troops. It haunts the banks\nof the river, and marshy places in general, diligently searching for\nfood by the aid of its long bill. It can fly well and strongly, and\nit utters at intervals a rather loud cry, dipping its head at every\nutterance.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CORMORANT.\n\n The word _Sh\u00e2l\u00e2k_ and its signification--Habits of the\n Cormorant--The bird trained to catch fish--Mode of securing\n its prey--Nests and eggs of the Cormorant--Nesting in\n fir-trees--Flesh of the bird.\n\n\nAlthough in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures the word\nCormorant occurs three times, there is no doubt that in two of the\npassages the Hebrew word ought to have been rendered as Pelican, as\nwe shall see when we come presently to the description of that bird.\n\nIn the two parallel passages, Lev. xi. 17 and Deut. xiv. 17, a\ncreature called the Sh\u00e2l\u00e2k is mentioned in the list of prohibited\nmeats. That the Sh\u00e2l\u00e2k must be a bird is evident from the context,\nand we are therefore only left to discover what sort of bird it may\nbe. On looking at the etymology of the word we find that it is\nderived from a root which signifies hurling or casting down, and we\nmay therefore presume that the bird is one which plunges or sweeps\ndown upon its prey.\n\nWeighing, carefully, the opinions of the various Hebraists and\nnaturalists, we may safely determine that the word _sh\u00e2l\u00e2k_ has been\nrightly translated in the Authorized Version. The Hebrew Bible gives\nthe same reading, and does not affix the mark of doubt to the word,\nthough there are very few of the long list of animals in Lev. xi.\nand Deut. xiv. which are not either distinguished by the mark of\ndoubt, or, like the Tinshemeth, are left untranslated.\n\nThe Cormorant belongs to the family of the pelicans, the\nrelationship between them being evident to the most unpractised eye;\nand the whole structure of the bird shows its admirable adaptation\nfor the life which it leads.\n\nIts long beak enables it to seize even a large fish, while the\nhook at the end prevents the slippery prey from escaping. The\nlong snake-like neck gives the bird the power of darting its beak\nwith great rapidity, and at the same time allows it to seize\nprey immediately to the right or left of its course. Its strong,\nclosely-feathered wings enable it to fly with tolerable speed,\nwhile at the same time they can be closed so tightly to the body\nthat they do not hinder the progress of the bird through the water;\nwhile the tail serves equally when spread to direct its course\nthrough the air, and when partially or entirely closed to act as a\nrudder in the water. Lastly, its short powerful legs, with their\nbroadly-webbed feet, act as paddles, by which the bird urges itself\nthrough the water with such wonderful speed that it can overtake and\nsecure the fishes even in their own element. Besides these outward\ncharacteristics, we find that the bird is able to make a very\nlong stay under water, the lungs being adapted so as to contain a\nwonderful amount of air.\n\nThe Cormorant has been trained to play the same part in the water\nas the falcon in the air, and has been taught to catch fish, and\nbring them ashore for its master. So adroit are they, that if one\nof them should catch a fish which is too heavy for it, another bird\nwill come to its assistance, and the two together will bring the\nstruggling prey to land. Trained birds of this description have been\nemployed in China from time immemorial.\n\nIn order to prevent it from swallowing the fish which it takes, each\nbird has a ring or ligature passed round its neck.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Cormorant is a most voracious bird, swallowing a considerable\nweight of fish at a meal, and digesting them so rapidly that it is\nsoon ready for another supply. Although it is essentially a marine\nbird, hunger often takes it inland, especially to places where there\nare lakes or large rivers.\n\nWhile the ducks and teal and widgeons may be stationary on the\npool, the cormorant is seen swimming to and fro, as if in quest of\nsomething. First raising his body nearly perpendicular, down he\nplunges into the deep, and, after staying there a considerable time,\nhe is sure to bring up a fish, which he invariably swallows head\nforemost. Sometimes half an hour elapses before he can manage to\naccommodate a large eel quietly in his stomach.\n\nYou see him straining violently with repeated efforts to gulp it;\nand when you fancy that the slippery mouthful is successfully\ndisposed of, all on a sudden the eel retrogrades upwards from its\ndismal sepulchre, struggling violently to escape. The cormorant\nswallows it again, and up again it comes, and shows its tail a foot\nor more out of its destroyer's mouth. At length, worn out with\nineffectual writhings and slidings, the eel is gulped down into the\ncormorant's stomach for the last time, there to meet its dreaded and\ninevitable fate.\n\nMr. Fortune gives a very interesting account of the feeding of tame\nCormorants in China. The birds preferred eels to all other food,\nand, in spite of the difficulty in swallowing the slippery and\nactive creature, would not touch another fish as long as an eel\nwas left. The bird is so completely at home in the water that it\ndoes not need, like the heron and other aquatic birds, to bring its\nprey ashore in order to swallow it, but can eat fish in the water\nas well as catch them. It always seizes the fish crosswise, and is\ntherefore obliged to turn it before it can swallow the prey with the\nhead downwards. Sometimes it contrives to turn the fish while still\nunder water, but, if it should fail in so doing, it brings its prey\nto the surface, and shifts it about in its bill, making a series of\nlittle snatches at it until the head is in the right direction. When\nit seizes a very large fish, the bird shakes its prey just as a dog\nshakes a rat, and so disables it. It is said to eat its own weight\nof fish in a single day.\n\nSometimes, when it has been very successful or exceptionally hungry,\nit loads itself with food to such an extent that it becomes almost\ninsensible during the process of digestion, and, although naturally\na keen-eyed and wary bird, allows itself to be captured by hand.\n\nThe nest of the Cormorant is always upon a rocky ledge, and generally\non a spot which is inaccessible except by practised climbers\nfurnished with ropes, poles, hooks, and other appurtenances. Mr.\nWaterton mentions that when he descended the Raincliff, a precipice\nsome four hundred feet in height, he saw numbers of the nests and\neggs, but could not get at them except by swinging himself boldly\noff the face of the cliff, so as to be brought by the return swing\ninto the recesses chosen by the birds.\n\nThe nests are mostly placed in close proximity to each other, and\nare made of sticks and seaweeds, and, as is usual with such nests,\nare very inartificially constructed. The eggs are of a greenish\nwhite on the outside, and green on the inside. When found in the\nnest, they are covered with a sort of chalky crust, so that the\ntrue colour is not perceptible until the crust is scraped off. Two\nto four eggs are generally laid in, or rather on, each nest. As may\nbe imagined from the character of the birds' food, the odour of the\nnesting-place is most horrible.\n\nSometimes, when rocks cannot be found, the Cormorant is obliged to\nselect other spots for its nest. It is mentioned in the \"Proceedings\nof the Zoological Society,\" that upon an island in the midst of\na large lake there were a number of Scotch fir-trees, upon the\nbranches of which were about eighty nests of the Cormorant.\n\nThe flesh of the Cormorant is very seldom eaten, as it has a fishy\nflavour which is far from agreeable. To eat an old Cormorant is\nindeed almost impossible, but the young birds may be rendered edible\nby taking them as soon as killed, skinning them, removing the whole\nof the interior, wrapping them in cloths, and burying them for some\ntime in the ground.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PELICAN.\n\n The Pelican of the wilderness--Attitudes of the bird--Its love\n of solitude--Mode of feeding the young--Fables regarding the\n Pelican--Breeding-places of the bird--The object of its wide\n wings and large pouch--Colour of the Pelican.\n\n\nIt has been mentioned that in two passages of Scripture, the word\nwhich is translated in the Authorized Version as Cormorant, ought\nto have been rendered as PELICAN. These, however, are not the first\npassages in which we meet with the word _kaath_. The name occurs in\nthe two parallel passages of Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv. among the list\nof birds which are proscribed as food. Passing over them, we next\ncome to Ps. cii. 6. In this passage, the sacred writer is lamenting\nhis misery: \"By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave\nto my skin.\n\n\"I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the\ndesert.\"\n\nIn these sentences, we see that the Kaath was a bird of solitude\nthat was to be found in the \"wilderness,\" _i.e._ far from the\nhabitations of man. This is one of the characteristics of the\nPelican, which loves not the neighbourhood of human beings, and is\nfond of resorting to broad, uncultivated lands, where it will not be\ndisturbed.\n\nIn them it makes its nest and hatches its young, and to them it\nretires after feeding, in order to digest in quiet the ample meal\nwhich it has made. Mr. Tristram well suggests that the metaphor of\nthe Psalmist may allude to the habit common to the Pelican and its\nkin, of sitting motionless for hours after it has gorged itself with\nfood, its head sunk on its shoulders, and its bill resting on its\nbreast.\n\nThis is but one of the singular, and often grotesque, attitudes in\nwhich the Pelican is in the habit of indulging.\n\n[Illustration: THE PELICAN.]\n\nThere are before me a number of sketches made of the Pelicans at the\nZoological Gardens, and in no two cases does one attitude in the\nleast resemble another. In one sketch the bird is sitting in the\nattitude which has just been described. In another it is walking, or\nrather staggering, along, with its head on one side, and its beak\nso closed that hardly a vestige of its enormous pouch can be seen.\nAnother sketch shows the same bird as it appeared when angry with\na companion, and scolding its foe in impotent rage; while another\nshows it basking in the sun, with its magnificent wings spread and\nshaking in the warm beams, and its pouch hanging in folds from its\nchin.\n\nOne of the most curious of these sketches shows the bird squatting\non the ground, with its head drawn back as far as possible, and\nsunk so far among the feathers of the back and shoulders that only\na portion of the head itself can be seen, while the long beak is\nhidden, except an inch or two of the end. In this attitude it might\neasily be mistaken at a little distance for an oval white stone.\n\nThe derivation of the Hebrew word _kaath_ is a very curious one. It\nis taken from a verb signifying \"to vomit,\" and this derivation has\nbeen explained in different ways.\n\nThe early writers, who were comparatively ignorant of natural\nhistory, thought that the Pelican lived chiefly on molluscs, and\nthat, after digesting the animals, it rejected their shells, just as\nthe owl and the hawk reject the bones, fur, and feathers of their\nprey.\n\nThey thought that the Pelican was a bird of a hot temperament, and\nthat the molluscs were quickly digested by the heat of the stomach.\n\nAt the present day, however, knowing as we do the habits of the\nPelican, we find that, although the reasons just given are faulty,\nand that the Pelican lives essentially on fish, and not on molluscs,\nthe derivation of the word is really a good one, and that those\nwho gave the bird the name of Kaath, or the vomiter, were well\nacquainted with its habits.\n\nThe bird certainly does eat molluscs, but the principal part of its\ndiet is composed of fish, which it catches dexterously by a sort\nof sidelong snatch of its enormous bill. The skin under the lower\npart of the beak is so modified that it can form, when distended,\nan enormous pouch, capable of holding a great quantity of fish,\nthough, as long as it is not wanted, the pouch is so contracted into\nlongitudinal folds as to be scarcely perceptible. When it has filled\nthe pouch, it usually retires from the water, and flies to a retired\nspot, often many miles inland, where it can sit and digest at its\nease the enormous meal which it has made.\n\nAs it often chooses its breeding-places in similar spots, far from\nthe water, it has to carry the food with which it nourishes its\nyoung for many miles. For this purpose it is furnished, not only\nwith the pouch which has been just mentioned, but with long, wide,\nand very powerful wings, often measuring from twelve to thirteen\nfeet from tip to tip. No one, on looking at a Pelican as it waddles\nabout or sits at rest, would imagine the gigantic dimensions of\nthe wings, which seem, as the bird spreads them, to have almost as\nunlimited a power of expansion as the pouch.\n\nIn these two points the true Pelicans present a strong contrast to\nthe cormorants, though birds closely allied. The cormorant has its\nhome close by the sea, and therefore needs not to carry its food\nfor any distance. Consequently, it needs no pouch, and has none.\nNeither does it require the great expanse of wing which is needful\nfor the Pelican, that has to carry such a weight of fish through\nthe air. Accordingly, the wings, though strong enough to enable the\nbird to carry for a short distance a single fish of somewhat large\nsize, are comparatively short and closely feathered, and the flight\nof the cormorant possesses neither the grace nor the power which\ndistinguishes that of the Pelican.\n\nWhen the Pelican feeds its young, it does so by pressing its beak\nagainst its breast, so as to force out of it the enclosed fish.\nNow the tip of the beak is armed, like that of the cormorant, with\na sharply-curved hook, only, in the case of the Pelican, the hook\nis of a bright scarlet colour, looking, when the bird presses the\nbeak against the white feathers of the breast, like a large drop of\nblood. Hence arose the curious legend respecting the Pelican, which\nrepresented it as feeding its young with its own blood, and tearing\nopen its breast with its hooked bill. We find that this legend is\nexemplified by the oft-recurring symbol of the \"Pelican feeding its\nyoung\" in ecclesiastical art, as an emblem of Divine love.\n\nThis is one of the many instances in which the inventive, poetical,\ninaccurate Oriental mind has seized some peculiarity of form, and\nbased upon it a whole series of fabulous legends. As long as they\nrestricted themselves to the appearance and habits of the animals\nwith which they were familiarly acquainted, the old writers were\ncuriously full, exact, and precise in their details. But as soon as\nthey came to any creature of whose mode of life they were entirely\nor partially ignorant, they allowed their inventive faculties full\nscope, and put forward as zoological facts statements which were\nthe mere creation of their own fancy. We have already seen several\nexamples of this propensity, and shall find more as we proceed with\nthe zoology of the Scriptures.\n\nThe fabulous legends of the Pelican are too numerous to be even\nmentioned, but there is one which deserves notice, because it is\nmade the basis of an old Persian fable.\n\nThe writer of the legend evidently had some partial knowledge of the\nbird. He knew that it had a large pouch which could hold fish and\nwater; that it had large and powerful wings; and that it was in the\nhabit of flying far inland, either for the purpose of digesting its\nfood or nourishing its young. Knowing that the Pelican is in the\nhabit of choosing solitary spots in which it may bring up its young\nin safety, but not knowing the precise mode of its nesting, the\nwriter in question has trusted to his imagination, and put forward\nhis theories as facts.\n\nKnowing that the bird dwells in \"the wilderness,\" he has assumed\nthat the wilderness in question is a sandy, arid desert, far from\nwater, and consequently from vegetation. Such being the case, the\nnurture of the Pelican's young is evidently a difficult question.\nBeing aquatic birds, the young must needs require water for drink\nand bathing, as well as fish for food; and, though a supply of\nboth these necessaries could be brought in the ample pouches of\nthe parents, they would be wasted unless some mode of storing were\nemployed.\n\nAccordingly, the parent birds were said to make their nest in a\nhollow tree, and to line it with clay, or to build it altogether of\nclay, so as to leave a deep basin. This basin the parent birds were\nsaid to use as a sort of store-pond, bringing home supplies of fish\nand water in their pouches, and pouring them into the pond. The wild\nbeasts who lived in the desert were said to be acquainted with these\nnests, and to resort to them daily in order to quench their thirst,\nrepaying their entertainers by protecting their homes.\n\nIn real fact, the Pelican mostly breeds near water, and is fond of\nselecting little rocky islands where it cannot be approached without\ndanger. The nest is made on the ground, and is formed in a most\ninartificial manner of reeds and grass, the general mass of the\nnest being made of the reeds, and the lining being formed of grass.\nThe eggs are white, of nearly the same shape at both ends, and are\nfrom two to five in number. On an average, however, each nest will\ncontain about two eggs.\n\nThe parent birds are very energetic in defence of their eggs or\nyoung, and, according to Le Vaillant, when approached they are \"like\nfurious harpies let loose against us, and their cries rendered us\nalmost deaf. They often flew so near us that they flapped their\nwings in our faces, and, though we fired our pieces repeatedly, we\nwere not able to frighten them.\" When the well-known naturalist\nSonnerat tried to drive a female Pelican from her nest, she appeared\nnot to be frightened, but angry. She would not move from her nest,\nand when he tried to push her off, she struck at him with her long\nbill and uttered cries of rage.\n\nIn order to aid the bird in carrying the heavy weights with which\nit loads itself, the whole skeleton is permeated with air, and is\nexceedingly light. Beside this, the whole cellular system of the\nbird is honeycombed with air-cells, so that the bulk of the bird\ncan be greatly increased, while its weight remains practically\nunaltered, and the Pelican becomes a sort of living balloon.\n\nThe habit of conveying its food inland before eating it is so\ncharacteristic of the Pelican that other birds take advantage of\nit. In some countries there is a large hawk which robs the Pelican,\njust as the bald-headed eagle of America robs the osprey. Knowing\ninstinctively that when a Pelican is flying inland slowly and\nheavily and with a distended pouch it is carrying a supply of food\nto its home, the hawk dashes at it, and frightens it so that the\npoor bird opens its beak, and gives up to the assailant the fish\nwhich it was bearing homewards.\n\nIt is evident that the wings which are needed for supporting such\nweights, and which, as we have seen, exceed twelve feet in length\nfrom tip to tip, would be useless in the water, and would hinder\nrather than aid the bird if it attempted to dive as the close-winged\ncormorant does. Accordingly, we find that the Pelican is not a\ndiver, and, instead of chasing its finny prey under water, after\nthe manner of the cormorant, it contents itself with scooping up\nin its beak the fishes which come to the surface of the water. The\nvery buoyancy of its body would prevent it from diving as does the\ncormorant, and, although it often plunges into the water so fairly\nas to be for a moment submerged, it almost immediately rises, and\npursues its course on the surface of the water, and not beneath it.\nLike the cormorant, the Pelican can perch on trees, though it does\nnot select such spots for its roosting-places, and prefers rocks to\nbranches. In one case, however, when some young Pelicans had been\ncaptured and tied to a stake, their mother used to bring them food\nduring the day, and at night was accustomed to roost in the branches\nof a tree above them.\n\nThough under some circumstances a thoroughly social bird, it is yet\nfond of retiring to the most solitary spots in order to consume at\npeace the prey that it has captured; and, as it sits motionless and\nalone for hours, more like a white stone than a bird, it may well be\naccepted as a type of solitude and desolation.\n\nThe colour of the common Pelican is white, with a very slight\npinky tinge, which is most conspicuous in the breeding season. The\nfeathers of the crest are yellow, and the quill feathers of the\nwings are jetty black, contrasting well with the white plumage of\nthe body. The pouch is yellow, and the upper part of the beak bluish\ngrey, with a red line running across the middle, and a bright red\nhook at the tip. This plumage belongs only to the adult bird, that\nof the young being ashen grey, and four or five years are required\nbefore the bird puts on its full beauty. There is no difference in\nthe appearance of the sexes. The illustration represents a fine old\nmale Crested Pelican. The general colour is a greyish white, with a\nslight yellowish tint on the breast. The pouch is bright orange, and\nthe crest is formed of curling feathers.\n\n[Illustration: scene]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: reptile]\n\n\n\n\nREPTILES.\n\n[Illustration: scene]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: tortoise]\n\n\n\n\nTHE TORTOISE.\n\n The Tzab of the Scriptures, translated as Tortoise--Flesh\n and eggs of the Tortoise--Its slow movements--Hibernation\n dependent on temperature--The Water-Tortoises--Their food and\n voracity--Their eggs--Their odour terrifying the horses--The\n Dhubb lizard and its legends--Its food, and localities which it\n prefers.\n\n\nWe now come to a different class of animated beings. In Levit. xi.\n29, there occurs among the list of unclean beasts a word which is\ntranslated in the Authorized Version as \"tortoise.\" The word is\n_Tzab_, and is rendered in the Hebrew Bible as \"lizard,\" but with\nthe mark of doubt affixed to it. As the correct translation of the\nword is very dubious, we shall examine it in both these senses.\n\nThe common Tortoise is very common in Palestine, and is so plentiful\nthat it would certainly have been used by the Israelites as food,\nhad it not been prohibited by law. At the present day it is cooked\nand eaten by the inhabitants of the country who are not Jews, and\nits eggs are in as great request as those of the fowl.\n\nThese eggs are hard, nearly spherical, thick-shelled, and covered\nwith minute punctures, giving them a roughness like that of a file.\nIn captivity the Tortoise is very careless about the mode in which\nthey are deposited, and I have seen a large yard almost covered\nwith eggs laid by Tortoises and abandoned. The white or albumen of\nthe egg is so stiff and gelatinous that to empty one of them without\nbreaking the shell is a difficult task, and the yolk is very dark,\nand covered with minute spots of black. When fresh the eggs are as\ngood as those of the fowl, and many persons even think them better;\nthe only drawback being that their small size and thick shell cause\nconsiderable trouble in eating them.\n\n[Illustration: THE DHUBB OR LIZARD AND THE TORTOISE].\n\nThe flesh of the Tortoise is eaten, not only by human beings, but by\nbirds, such as the l\u00e4mmergeier. In order to get at the flesh of the\nTortoise, they carry it high in the air and drop it on the ground so\nas to break the shell to pieces, should the reptile fall on a stone\nor rock. If, as is not often the case in such a rocky land as that\nof Palestine, it should fall on a soft spot, the bird picks it up,\nsoars aloft, and drops it again.\n\nThe Tortoises have no teeth, but yet are able to crop the herbage\nwith perfect ease. In lieu of teeth the edges of the jaws are\nsharp-edged and very hard, so that they cut anything that comes\nbetween them like a pair of shears. Leaves that are pulpy and\ncrisp are bitten through at once, but those that are thin, tough,\nand fibrous are rather torn than bitten, the Tortoise placing its\nfeet upon them, and dragging them to pieces with its jaws. The\ncarnivorous Tortoises have a similar habit, as we shall presently\nsee.\n\n[Illustration: WATER TORTOISE.]\n\nThis is the species from whose deliberate and slow movements the\nfamiliar metaphor of \"slow as a Tortoise\" was derived, and it is\nthis species which is the hero of the popular fable of the \"Hare and\nthe Tortoise.\" Many of the reptiles are very slow in some things and\nastonishingly quick in others. Some of the lizards, for example,\nwill at one time remain motionless for many hours together, or creep\nabout with a slow and snail-like progress, while at others they\ndart from spot to spot with such rapidity that the eye can scarcely\nfollow their movements. This however is not the case with the\nTortoise, which is always slow, and, but for the defensive armour in\nwhich it is encased, would long ago have been extirpated.\n\nDuring the whole of the summer months it may be seen crawling\ndeliberately among the herbage, eating in the same deliberate style\nwhich characterises all its movements, and occasionally resting in\nthe same spot for many hours together, apparently enjoying the warm\nbeams of the sunshine.\n\nAs winter approaches, it slowly scrapes a deep hole in the ground,\nand buries itself until the following spring awakes it once more to\nactive life. The depth of its burrow depends on the severity of the\nwinter, for, as the cold increases, the Tortoise sinks itself more\ndeeply into the earth.\n\n * * * * *\n\nMention has been made of a species of Tortoise that inhabits the\nwater. This is the CASPIAN EMYS (_Emys caspica_), a small species,\nmeasuring about six inches in length. It belongs to the large family\nof the Terrapins, several of which are so well known in America, and\nhas a long, retractile neck, very sharp jaws, and webbed feet, and a\nwell-developed tail.\n\nThe body is flattish, and the colour is olive, with lines of yellow\nedged with black, and the head is marked with longitudinal streaks\nof bright yellow. After the death of the creature these yellow\nstreaks fade away gradually, and at last become nearly black. The\nskin of the head is thin, but very hard. In general appearance it\nis not unlike the chicken Tortoise of America, a species which is\noften brought to England and kept in captivity, on account of its\nhardy nature and the little trouble which is needed for keeping it\nin health.\n\nI have kept specimens of the Caspian Emys for some time, and found\nthem to be more interesting animals than they at first promised\nto be. They were active, swimming with considerable speed, and\nsnatching quickly at anything which they fancied might be food.\n\nThey were exceedingly voracious, consuming daily a quantity of meat\napparently disproportioned to their size, and eating it in a manner\nthat strongly reminded me of the mole when engaged on a piece of\nmeat or the body of a bird or mouse. The Tortoise would plant its\nfore-paws firmly at each side of the meat, seize a mouthful in its\njaws, and, by retracting its head violently, would tear away the\npiece which it had grasped.\n\nThey are most destructive among fish, and are apt to rise quietly\nunderneath a fish as it basks near the surface of the water,\ngrasp it beneath with its sharp-edged jaws, and tear away the\npiece, leaving the fish to die. It is rather remarkable that the\nLepidosiren, or mud-fish of the Gambia, destroys fish in a precisely\nsimilar manner, though, as its jaws are much sharper than those of\nthe Emys, it does not need the aid of fore-paws in biting out its\nmouthful of flesh.\n\nLike the land Tortoise, it is one of the hibernators, and during the\nwinter months buries itself deeply in the earth, choosing for this\npurpose the soft, muddy bed or bank of the pond in which it lives.\n\nIts eggs are white, and hard-shelled, but are more oval than those\nof the land Tortoise, and both ends are nearly alike. In fact, its\negg might well be mistaken for that of a small pigeon. The shell\nhas a porcelain-like look, and is very liable to crack, so that the\nresemblance is increased.\n\nThere is one drawback to these reptiles when kept as pets. They\ngive out a very unpleasant odour, which is disagreeable to human\nnostrils, but is absolutely terrifying to many animals. The monkey\ntribe have the strongest objection to these aquatic Tortoises. I\nonce held one of them towards a very tame chimpanzee, much to his\ndiscomfiture. He muttered and remonstrated, and retreated as far as\nhe could, pushing out his lips in a funnel-like form, and showing\nhis repugnance to the reptile in a manner that could not be mistaken.\n\nHorses seem to be driven almost frantic with terror, not only by the\nsight, but by the odour of these Tortoises. In Southern Africa there\nare Tortoises closely allied to the Caspian Emys, and having the\nsame power of frightening horses.\n\nI have read an account of an adventure there with one of those\nTortoises, which I will give. This variety is described as being of\nan olive colour. When adult, there is a slight depression on either\nside of the vertebral line.\n\n\"Some very awkward accidents have occurred to parties from the\nterror caused by the fresh-water turtle (_Pelamedusa subrufa_).\nCarts have been smashed to fragments, riders thrown, and the utmost\nconfusion caused by them. It is their smell, and it is certainly\nvery disagreeable.\n\n\"My first acquaintance with the fact was in this wise. I was out\nshooting with two young ladies who had volunteered as markers; and,\nas you know, all our shooting is done from horseback. I had jumped\noff for a shot at some francolins near a knill, or water-hole, and,\nafter picking up my birds, was coming round the knoll to windward\nof the horses. In my path scrambled a turtle. I called out to my\nyoung friends, and told them of my find, on which one of them, in\na hasty voice, said, 'Oh, please, Mr. L., don't touch it; you will\nfrighten the horses!'\n\n\"Of course I laughed at the idea, and picked up the reptile, which\ninstantly emitted its pungent odour--its means of defence. Though\na long way off, the moment the horses caught the scent, away they\nflew, showing terror in every action. The girls, luckily splendid\nriders, tugged in vain at the reins; away they went over the Veldt,\nleaving me in mortal fear that the yawning 'aard-vark' holes\n(_Orycteropus capensis_) would break their necks. My own horse,\nwhich I had hitched to a bush, tore away his bridle, and with the\nends streaming in the wind and the stirrups clashing about him,\nsped off home at full gallop, and was only recovered after a severe\nchase by my gallant young Amazons, who, after a race of some miles,\nsucceeded in checking their affrighted steeds and in securing my\nrunaway. But for some hours after, if I ventured to windward, there\nwere wild-looking eyes and cocked ears--the smell of the reptile\nclung to me.\"\n\nShould any of my readers keep any of those water Tortoises, they\nwill do well to supply them plentifully with food, to give them an\nelevated rocky perch on which they can scramble, and on which they\nwill sit for hours so motionless that at a little distance they can\nscarcely be distinguished from the stone on which they rest. They\nshould also be weighed at regular intervals, as decrease of weight\nis a sure sign that something is wrong, and, as a general rule, is\nan almost certain precursor of death.\n\nThis little reptile is not without its legends. According to the old\nwriters on natural history, it is of exceeding use to vine-growers\nin the season when there is excess of rain or hail. Whenever the\nowner of a vineyard sees a black cloud approaching, all he has to do\nis, to take one of these Tortoises, lay it on its back, and carry it\nround the vineyard. He must then go into the middle of the ground\nand lay the reptile on the earth, still on its back; and the effect\nof this proceeding would be that the cloud would pass aside from a\nplace so well protected.\n\n\"But,\" proceeds the narrator, not wishing to be responsible for\nthe statement, \"such diabolical and foolish observations were not\nso muche to be remembered in this place, were it not for their\nsillinesse, that by knowing them men might learn the weaknesse\nof human wisdom when it erreth from the fountain of all science\nand true knowledge (which is Divinity), and the most approved\nassertions of nature. And so I will say no more in this place of the\nsweet-water tortoise.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE DHUBB.\n\n\nWe now come to the second animal, which may probably be the Tzab of\nthe Old Testament.\n\nThis creature is one of the lizards, and is a very odd-looking\ncreature. It is certainly not so attractive in appearance that the\nJews might be supposed to desire it as food; but it often happens\nthat, as is the case with the turtle and iguana, from the most\nungainly, in the latter animal even repulsive, forms are produced\nthe most delicate meats.\n\nThe DHUBB, or EGYPTIAN MASTIGURE, as the lizard is indifferently\ncalled, grows to a considerable size, measuring when adult three\nfeet in length. Its colour is green, variegated with brown, and is\nslightly changeable, though not to the extent that distinguishes\nthe chameleon. The chief peculiarity of this lizard consists in its\ntail, which is covered with a series of whorls or circles of long,\nsharply-pointed, hard-edged scales. The very appearance of this tail\nsuggests its use as a weapon of defence, and it is said that even\nthe dreaded cerastes is conquered by it, when the lizard and the\nsnake happen to find themselves occupants of the same hole.\n\nThe ancients had a very amusing notion respecting the use of the\nspiny tail possessed by the Dhubb and its kin. They had an idea\nthat, comparatively small though it was, it fed upon cattle, and\nthat it was able to take them from the herd and drive them to its\nhome. For this purpose, when it had selected an ox, it jumped on\nits back, and by the pricking of its sharp claws drove the animal\nto gallop in hope of ridding himself of his tormentor. In order to\nguide him in the direction of its home, it made use of its tail,\nlashing the ox \"to make him go with his rider to the place of his\nmost fit execution, free from all rescue of his herdsman, or\npastor, or the annoyance of passengers, where, in most cruel and\nsavage manner, he teareth the limbs and parts one from another till\nhe be devoured.\"\n\nThis very absurd account is headed by an illustration, which, though\nbad in drawing and rude in execution, is yet so bold and truthful\nthat there is no doubt that it was sketched from the living animal.\n\nAs it haunts sandy downs, rocky spots, and similar localities, it\nis well adapted for the Holy Land, which is the home of a vast\nnumber of reptiles, especially of those belonging to the lizards. In\nthe summer time they have the full enjoyment of the hot sunbeams,\nin which they delight, and which seem to rouse these cold-blooded\ncreatures to action, while they deprive the higher animals of all\nspirit and energy. In the winter time these very spots afford\nlocalities wherein the lizards can hibernate until the following\nspring, and in such a case they furnish the reptiles with secure\nhiding-places.\n\nAlthough the Dhubb does not destroy and tear to pieces oxen and\nother cattle, it is yet a rather bloodthirsty reptile, and will kill\nand devour birds as large as the domestic fowl. Usually, however,\nits food consists of beetles and other insects, which it takes\ndeliberately.\n\n[Illustration: rocks and water]\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEVIATHAN OR CROCODILE.\n\n Signification of the word _Leviathan_--Description in the Book\n of Job--Structure and general habits of the Crocodile--The\n throat-valve and its use--Position of the nostrils--Worship of\n the Crocodile--The reptile known in the Holy Land--Two legends\n respecting its presence there--Mode of taking prey--Cunning\n of the Crocodile--The baboons and the Crocodile--Speed of\n the reptile--Eggs and young of the Crocodile, and their\n enemies--Curious story of the ichneumon and ibis--Modes of\n capturing the Crocodile--Analysis of Job's description--The\n Crocodile also signified by the word _Tannin_. Aaron's rod\n changed into a Tannin--Various passages in which the word\n occurs--Use of the word by the prophet Jeremiah.\n\n\nThe word _Leviathan_ is used in a rather loose manner in the Old\nTestament, in some places representing a mammalian of the sea, and\nin others signifying a reptile inhabiting the rivers. As in the most\nimportant of these passages the Crocodile is evidently signified, we\nwill accept that rendering, and consider the Crocodile as being the\nLeviathan of Scripture. The Jewish Bible accepts the word Crocodile,\nand does not add the mark of doubt.\n\nThe fullest account of the Leviathan occurs in Job xli., the whole\nof which chapter is given to the description of the terrible\nreptile. As the translation of the Jewish Bible differs in some\npoints from that of the Authorized Version, I shall here give the\nformer, so that the reader may be able to compare them with each\nother.\n\n \"Canst thou draw out a crocodile with a hook, or his tongue with a\n cord which thou lettest down?\n\n \"Canst thou put a reed into his nose, or bore his jaw through with\n a thorn?\n\n \"Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words\n unto thee?\n\n \"Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him as a servant\n for ever?\n\n \"Wilt thou play with him as with a bird, or wilt thou bind him for\n thy maidens?\n\n \"Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him\n among the merchants?\n\n \"Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with\n fish-spears?\n\n \"Lay thine hand upon him, thou wilt no more remember the battle.\n\n \"Behold, the hope of him is in vain; shall not one be cast down at\n the sight of him?\n\n \"None is so fierce that dare stir him up; who then is able to stand\n before Me?\n\n \"Who hath forestalled Me that I should repay him? whatsoever is\n under the whole heaven is Mine.\n\n \"I will not be silent of his parts, nor of the matter of his power,\n nor of his comely proportion.\n\n \"Who can uncover the face of his garment? who would enter the double\n row in his jaw?\n\n \"Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round\n about.\n\n \"The strength of his shields are his pride, shut up together as\n with a close seal.\n\n \"One is so near to another that no air can come between them.\n\n \"They are joined one to another, they stick together that they\n cannot be sundered.\n\n \"His snortings make light to shine, and his eyes are like the\n eyelids of the morning dawn.\n\n \"Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or\n caldron.\n\n \"His breath kindleth live coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.\n\n \"In his neck abideth strength, and before him danceth terror.\n\n \"The flakes of his flesh are joined together, they are firm in\n themselves; yea, as hard as nether millstone.\n\n \"When he raiseth himself up, the mighty are afraid; by reason of\n breakings they lose themselves.\n\n \"The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the\n dart, nor the habergeon.\n\n \"He esteemeth iron as straw, and copper as rotten wood.\n\n \"The arrow cannot make him flee: sling-stones are turned with him\n into stubble.\n\n \"Clubs are counted as stubble; he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.\n\n [Illustration: CROCODILE ATTACKING HORSES.]\n\n \"His under parts are like sharp points of potsherd; he speaketh\n sharp points upon the mire.\n\n \"He maketh the deep to boil like a pot; he maketh the sea like a pot\n of ointment.\n\n \"He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be\n hoary.\n\n \"Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.\n\n \"He beholdeth all high things; he is a king over all the children\n of pride.\"\n\nThis splendid description points as clearly to the Crocodile as the\ndescription of the Behemoth which immediately precedes it does to\nthe hippopotamus, and it is tolerably evident that the sacred poet\nwho wrote these passages must have been personally acquainted with\nboth the Crocodile and the hippopotamus. In both descriptions there\nare a few exaggerations, or rather, poetical licences. For example,\nthe bones of the hippopotamus are said to be iron and copper, and\nthe Crocodile is said to kindle live coals with his breath. These,\nhowever, are but the natural imagery of an Oriental poet, and,\nconsidering the subject, we may rather wonder that the writer has\nnot introduced even more fanciful metaphors.\n\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE CROCODILE.\n\nThere are several species of Crocodile in different parts of the\nworld, ten species at least being known to science.\n\nSome inhabit India, some tropical America, some Asia, and some\nAfrica, so that the genus is represented in nearly all the warmer\nparts of the world.\n\nThey are all known by the formation of the teeth, the lower canines\nfitting each into a notch on the side of the upper jaw. The feet are\nwebbed to the tips, and though the reptile mostly propels itself\nthrough the water by means of its tail, it can also paddle itself\ngently along by means of its feet.\n\nThe teeth are all made for snatching and tearing, but not for\nmasticating, the Crocodile swallowing its prey entire when possible;\nand when the animal is too large to be eaten entire, the reptile\ntears it to pieces, and swallows the fragments without attempting to\nmasticate them.\n\nIn order to enable it to open its mouth under water, the back\nof its throat is furnished with a very simple but beautiful\ncontrivance, whereby the water is received on a membranous valve\nand, in proportion to its pressure, closes the orifice of the\nthroat. As the Crocodiles mostly seize their prey in their open jaws\nand hold it under water until drowned, it is evident that without\nsuch a structure as has been described the Crocodile would be as\nlikely to drown itself as its prey. But the throat-valve enables\nit to keep its mouth open while the water is effectually prevented\nfrom running down its throat, and the nostrils, placed at the end of\nthe snout, enable it to breathe at its ease, while the unfortunate\nanimal which it has captured is being drowned beneath the surface of\nthe water.\n\nThis position of the nostrils serves another purpose, and enables\nthe Crocodile to breathe while the whole of its body is under the\nwater, and only an inch or two of the very end of the snout is\nabove the surface. As, moreover, the Crocodile, as is the case with\nmost reptiles, is able to exist for a considerable time without\nbreathing, it only needs to protrude its nostrils for a few moments,\nand can then sink entirely beneath the water. In this way the\nreptile is able to conceal itself in case it should suspect danger;\nand as, in such instances, it dives under the herbage of the river,\nand merely thrusts its nose into the air among the reeds and rushes,\nit is evident that, in spite of its enormous size, it baffles the\nobservation of almost every foe.\n\nAmong reptiles, the mailed Crocodiles may be mentioned as most\nformidable foes to man. Vast in bulk, yet grovelling with the belly\non the earth; clad in bony plates with sharp ridges; green eyes with\na peculiar fiery stare, gleaming out from below projecting orbits;\nlips altogether wanting, displaying the long rows of interlocking\nteeth even when the mouth is closed, so that, even when quiet, the\nmonster seems to be grinning with rage,--it is no wonder that the\nCrocodile should be, in all the countries which it inhabits, viewed\nwith dread.\n\nNor is this terror groundless. The Crocodiles, both of the Nile\nand of the Indian rivers, are well known to make man their victim,\nand scarcely can a more terrible fate be imagined than that of\nfalling into the jaws of this gigantic reptile. Strange as it may\nappear, the Crocodile is one of the many animals to which divine\nhonours were paid by the ancient Egyptians. This we learn from\nseveral sources. Herodotus, for example, in \"Euterpe,\" chapter\n69, writes as follows: \"Those who dwell about Thebes and Lake\nM\u0153ris, consider them to be very sacred; and they each of them\ntrain up a Crocodile, which is taught to be quite tame; and they put\ncrystal and gold ear-rings into their ears, and bracelets on their\nfore-paws; and they give them appointed and sacred food, and treat\nthem as well as possible while alive and when dead, they embalm\nthem, and bury them in sacred vaults.\"\n\n[Illustration: A CROCODILE POOL OF ANCIENT EGYPT.]\n\nThe reasons for this worship are several. At the root of them all\nlies the tendency of man to respect that which he fears rather\nthan that which he loves; and the nearer the man approaches the\nsavage state, the more is this feeling developed. By this tendency\nhis worship is regulated, and it will be found that when man is\nsufficiently advanced to be capable of worship at all, his reverence\nis invariably paid to the object which has the greatest terrors\nfor him. The Crocodile, therefore, being the animal that was most\ndreaded by the ancient Egyptians, was accepted as the natural type\nof divinity.\n\n[Illustration: CROCODILES OF THE UPPER NILE.]\n\nOwing to the accuracy of the description in the Book of Job, which\nis evidently written by one who was personally acquainted with\nthe Crocodile, it is thought by many commentators that the writer\nmust have been acquainted with the Nile, in which river both the\nCrocodile and hippopotamus are found at the present day.\n\nIt is possible, however, that the hippopotamus and the Crocodile\nhave had at one time a much wider range than they at present enjoy.\nEven within the memory of man the hippopotamus has been driven\nfurther and further up the Nile by the encroachments of man. It has\nlong been said that even at the present day the Crocodile exists in\nPalestine in the river which is called \"Nhar Zurka,\" which flows\nfrom Samaria through the plains of Sharon. Several of the older\nwriters have mentioned its existence in this river, and, since this\nwork was commenced, the long-vexed question has been set at rest; a\nCrocodile, eight feet in length, having been captured in the Nhar\nZurka.\n\nNo description of the Crocodile would be complete without allusion\nto the mode in which it seizes its prey. It does not attack it\nopenly, neither, as some have said, does it go on shore for that\npurpose. It watches to see whether any animal comes to drink, and\nthen, sinking beneath the surface of the water, dives rapidly,\nrises unexpectedly beneath the unsuspecting victim, seizes it with\na sudden snap of its huge jaws, and drags it beneath the water.\nShould the intended prey be too far from the water to be reached by\nthe mouth, or so large that it may offer a successful resistance,\nthe Crocodile strikes it a tremendous blow with its tail, and knocks\nit into the water. The dwellers on the Nile bank say that a large\nCrocodile will with a single blow of its tail break all the four\nlegs of an ox or a horse.\n\nThese cunning reptiles even contrive to catch birds as they come for\nwater. On the banks of the Nile the smaller birds drink in a very\npeculiar manner. They settle in numbers on the flexible branches\nthat overhang the stream, and when, by their weight, the branch\nbends downwards, they dip their beaks in the water. The Crocodile\nsees afar off a branch thus loaded, swims as near as possible, and\nthen dives until it can see the birds immediately above it, when it\nrises suddenly, and with a snap of its jaws secures a whole mouthful\nof the unsuspecting birds.\n\nSir S. Baker, in his travels on the Nile, gave much attention to\nthe Crocodile, and has collected a great amount of interesting\ninformation about the reptile, much of which is peculiarly valuable,\ninasmuch as it illustrates the Scriptural notices of the creature.\nHe states that it is a very crafty animal, and that its usual mode\nof attack is by first showing itself, then swimming slowly away to a\nconsiderable distance, so as to make its intended victim think that\ndanger is over, and then returning under water. It is by means of\nthis man\u0153uvre that it captures the little birds. It first makes\na dash at them, open-mouthed, causing them to take to flight in\nterror. It then sails slowly away as if it were so baffled that it\ndid not intend to renew the attack. When it is at a considerable\ndistance, the birds think that their enemy has departed, and return\nto the branch, which they crowd more than ever, and in a minute\nor two several dozen of them are engulfed in the mouth of the\nCrocodile, which has swiftly dived under them.\n\nOn one occasion, Sir S. Baker was walking near the edge of the\nriver, when he heard a great shrieking of women on the opposite\nbank. It turned out that a number of women had been filling their\n\"gerbas\" (water-skins), when one of them was suddenly attacked by\na large Crocodile. She sprang back, and the reptile, mistaking the\nfilled gerba for a woman, seized it, and gave the owner time to\nescape. It then dashed at the rest of the women, but only succeeded\nin seizing another gerba.\n\nA short time previously a Crocodile, thought by the natives to be\nthe same individual, had seized a woman and carried her off; and\nanother had made an attack on a man in a very curious manner. A\nnumber of men were swimming across the river, supported, after\ntheir custom, on gerbas inflated with air, when one of them felt\nhimself seized by the leg by a Crocodile, which tried to drag him\nunder water. He, however, retained his hold on the skin, and his\ncompanions also grasped his arms and hair with one hand, while\nwith the other they struck with their spears at the Crocodile. At\nlast they succeeded in driving the reptile away, and got their\nunfortunate companion to land, where they found that the whole of\nthe flesh was stripped from the leg from the knee downwards. The\npoor man died shortly afterwards.\n\nAnother traveller relates that three young men who were obliged to\ncross a branch of a river in their route, being unable to procure\na boat, endeavoured to swim their horses to the opposite shore.\nTwo of them had reached the bank in safety, but the third loitered\nso long on the brink as only to have just entered the water at the\nmoment his comrades had reached the opposite side. When he was\nnearly half-way across, they saw a large Crocodile, which was known\nto infest this pass, issuing from under the reeds. They instantly\nwarned their companion of his danger; but it was too late for him\nto turn back. When the Crocodile was so close as to be on the point\nof seizing him, he threw his saddle-bag to it. The ravenous animal\nimmediately caught the whole bundle in its jaws, and disappeared for\na few moments, but soon discovered its mistake, and rose in front\nof the horse, which, then seeing it for the first time, reared and\nthrew its rider. He was an excellent swimmer, and had nearly escaped\nby diving towards the bank; but, on rising for breath, his pursuer\nalso rose, and seized him by the middle. This dreadful scene,\nwhich passed before the eyes of his companions, without the least\npossibility of their rendering any assistance, was terminated by the\nCrocodile, having previously drowned the unfortunate man, appearing\non an opposite sand-bank with the body, and there devouring it.\n\nThe crafty Crocodile tries to catch the baboons by lying in wait for\nthem at their drinking places; but the baboons are generally more\nthan a match for the Crocodile in point of cunning and quickness of\nsight. Sir S. Baker witnessed an amusing example of such an attempt\nand its failure.\n\n\"The large tamarind-trees on the opposite bank are generally full\nof the dog-faced baboons (_Cynocephalus_) at their drinking hour.\nI watched a large Crocodile creep slily out of the water and lie\nin waiting among the rocks at the usual drinking place before they\narrived, but the baboons were too wide awake to be taken in so\neasily.\n\n\"A young fellow was the first to discover the enemy. He had\naccompanied several wise and experienced old hands to the extremity\nof a bough that at a considerable height overhung the river; from\nthis post they had a bird's eye view, and reconnoitred before one of\nthe numerous party descended to drink. The sharp eyes of the young\none at once detected the Crocodile, who matched in colour so well\nwith the rocks that most probably a man would not have noticed it\nuntil too late.\n\n\"At once the young one commenced shaking the bough and screaming\nwith all his might, to attract the attention of the Crocodile and to\ninduce it to move. In this he was immediately joined by the whole\nparty, who yelled in chorus, while the large old males bellowed\ndefiance, and descended to the lowest branches within eight or\nten feet of the Crocodile. It was of no use--the pretender never\nstirred, and I watched it until dark. It remained still in the\nsame place, waiting for some unfortunate baboon whose thirst might\nprovoke his fate, but not one was sufficiently foolish, although\nthe perpendicular bank prevented them from drinking except at that\nparticular spot.\"\n\nIt may be imagined that if the Crocodile were to depend entirely\nfor its food upon the animals that it catches on the bank or in\nthe river, it would run a risk of starving. The fact is, that its\nprincipal food consists of fish, which it can chase in the water.\nThe great speed at which the Crocodile darts through the water is\nnot owing to its webbed feet, but to its powerful tail, which is\nswept from side to side, and thus propels the reptile after the\nmanner of a man \"sculling\" a boat with a single oar in the stern.\nThe whales and the fishes have a similar mode of propulsion.\n\nOn land, the tail is the Crocodile's most formidable weapon. It is\none mass of muscle and sinew, and the force of its lateral stroke\nis terrible, sweeping away every living thing that it may meet.\nFortunately for its antagonists, the Crocodile can turn but very\nslowly, so that, although it can scramble along at a much faster\npace than its appearance indicates, there is no great difficulty\nin escaping, provided that the sweep of its tail be avoided. As\nthe Crocodile of the Nile attains when adult a length of thirty\nfeet, one moiety of which is taken up by the tail, it may easily be\nimagined that the power of this weapon can scarcely be exaggerated.\n\nAs if to add to the terrors of the animal, its head, back, and tail\nare shielded by a series of horny scales, which are set so closely\ntogether that the sharpest spear can seldom find its way through\nthem, and even the rifle ball glances off, if it strikes them\nobliquely. Like many other reptiles, the Crocodile is hatched from\neggs which are laid on shore and vivified by the warmth of the sun.\n\nThese eggs are exceedingly small when compared with the gigantic\nlizard which deposited them, scarcely equalling in dimensions those\nof the goose. There is now before me an egg of the cayman of South\nAmerica, a fresh-water lizard but little smaller than the Crocodile\nof the Nile, and this is barely equal in size to an ordinary hen's\negg. It is longer in proportion to its width, but the contents of\nthe two eggs would be as nearly as possible of the same bulk. On\nthe exterior it is very rough, having a granulated appearance, not\nunlike that of dried sharkskin, and the shell is exceedingly thin\nand brittle. The lining membrane, however, is singularly thick and\ntough, so that the egg is tolerably well defended against fracture.\n\nWhen first hatched, the young Crocodile is scarcely larger than a\ncommon newt, but it attains most formidable dimensions in a very\nshort time. Twenty or thirty eggs are laid in one spot, and, were\nthey not destroyed by sundry enemies, the Crocodiles would destroy\nevery living creature in the rivers. Fortunately, the eggs and young\nhave many enemies, chiefly among which is the well-known ichneumon,\nwhich discovers the place where the eggs are laid and destroys them,\nand eats any young Crocodiles that it can catch before they succeed\nin making their way to the water.\n\nThe old writers were aware of the services rendered by the\nichneumon, but, after their wont, exaggerated them by additions of\ntheir own, saying that the ichneumon enters into the mouth of the\nCrocodile as it lies asleep, and eats its way through the body,\n\"putting the Crocodile to exquisite and intolerable torment, while\nthe Crocodile tumbleth to and fro, sighing and weeping, now in\nthe depth of water, now on the land, never resting till strength\nof nature faileth. For the incessant gnawing of the ichneumon so\nprovoketh her to seek her rest in the unrest of every part, herb,\nelement, throws, throbs, rollings, but all in vain, for the enemy\nwithin her breatheth through her breath, and sporteth herself in\nthe consumption of those vital parts which waste and wear away by\nyielding to unpacificable teeth, one after another, till she that\ncrept in by stealth at the mouth, like a puny thief, comes out at\nthe belly like a conqueror, through a passage opened by her own\nlabour and industry.\"\n\nThe author has in the long passage, a part of which is here quoted,\nmentioned that the ichneumon takes its opportunity of entering the\njaws of the Crocodile as it lies with its mouth open against the\nbeams of the sun. It is very true that the Crocodile does sleep\nwith its mouth open; and, in all probability, the older observers,\nknowing that the ichneumon did really destroy the eggs and young\nof the Crocodile, only added a little amplification, and made up\ntheir minds that it also destroyed the parents. The same writer\nwho has lately been quoted ranks the ibis among the enemies of the\nCrocodile, and says that the bird affects the reptile with such\nterror that, if but an ibis's feather be laid on its back, the\nCrocodile becomes rigid and unable to move. The Arabs of the\npresent time say that the water-tortoises are enemies to the eggs,\nscratching them out of the sand and eating them.\n\n[Illustration: ICHNEUMON DEVOURING THE EGGS OF THE CROCODILE.]\n\nAs this reptile is so dangerous a neighbour to the inhabitants of\nthe river-banks, many means have been adopted for its destruction.\n\nOne such method, where a kind of harpoon is employed, is described\nby a traveller in the East as follows:--\n\n\"The most favourable season for thus hunting the Crocodile is\neither the winter, when the animal usually sleeps on sand-banks,\nluxuriating in the rays of the sun, or the spring, after the pairing\ntime, when the female regularly watches the sand islands where she\nhas buried her eggs.\n\n\"The native hunter finds out the place and conceals himself by\ndigging a hole in the sand near the spot where the animal usually\nlies. On its arrival at the accustomed spot the hunter darts his\nharpoon or spear with all his force, for, in order that its stroke\nmay be successful, the iron should penetrate to a depth of at least\nfour inches, in order that the barb may be fixed firmly in the flesh.\n\n\"The Crocodile, on being wounded, rushes into the water, and the\nhuntsman retreats into a canoe, with which a companion has hastened\nto his assistance.\n\n\"A piece of wood attached to the harpoon by a long cord swims on the\nwater and shows the direction in which the Crocodile is moving. The\nhunters pull on this rope and drag the beast to the surface of the\nwater, where it is again pierced by a second harpoon.\n\n\"When the animal is struck it by no means remains inactive; on the\ncontrary, it lashes instantly with its tail, and endeavours to bite\nthe rope asunder. To prevent this, the rope is made of about thirty\nseparate slender lines, not twisted together, but merely placed in\njuxtaposition, and bound around at intervals of every two feet. The\nthin strands get between the Crocodile's teeth, and it is unable to\nsever them.\n\n\"In spite of the great strength of the reptile, two men can drag a\ntolerably large one out of the water, tie up his mouth, twist his\nlegs over his back, and kill him by driving a sharp steel spike into\nthe spinal cord just at the back of the skull.\n\n\"There are many other modes of capturing the Crocodile, one of which\nis the snare portrayed in the illustration.\n\n[Illustration: A CROCODILE TRAP]\n\n\"Two elastic saplings are bent down and kept in position by stout\ncords, one of which, bears a baited hook, while the other is\nfashioned into a noose. These cords are so arranged as to release\nthe bent saplings as soon as the Crocodile pulls upon the baited\nhook. If all works properly, the animal suddenly finds himself\nsuspended in the air, where he remains helpless and at the mercy of\nthe hunter, who soon arrives and despatches him.\n\n\"The extreme tenacity of life possessed by the Crocodile is well\nexemplified by an incident which occurred in Ceylon. A fine specimen\nhad been caught, and to all appearance killed, its interior parts\nremoved, and the aperture kept open by a stick placed across it.\nA few hours afterwards the captors returned to their victim with\nthe intention of cutting off the head, but were surprised to find\nthe spot vacant. On examining the locality it was evident that the\ncreature had retained sufficient life to crawl back into the water.\nFrom this it may be imagined that it is no easy matter to drive the\nbreath out of a Crocodile. Its life seems to take a separate hold\nof every fibre in the creature's body, and though pierced through\nand through with bullets, crushed by heavy blows, and its body\nconverted into a very pincushion for spears, it writhes and twists\nand struggles with wondrous strength, snapping savagely with its\nhuge jaws, and lashing its muscular tail from side to side with such\nvigour that it requires a bold man to venture within range of that\nterrible weapon.\"\n\nSometimes combats occur between this creature and the tiger, one of\nthe fiercest and most terrible of all quadrupeds. Tigers frequently\ngo down to the rivers to drink, and, upon these occasions, the\nCrocodile, if near, may attempt to seize them. The ferocious beast,\nhowever, seldom falls unrevenged; for the instant he finds himself\nseized, he turns with great agility and fierceness on his enemy, and\nendeavours to strike his claws into the Crocodile's eyes, while the\nlatter drags him into the water, where they continue to struggle\nuntil the tiger be drowned, and his triumphant antagonist feasts\nupon his carcass. Such a combat is depicted in the illustration\nwhich appears on an accompanying page.\n\n[Illustration: A FIGHT FOR LIFE.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE CYPRIUS, OR LIZARD OF SCRIPTURE.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE LET\u00c2\u00c2H OR LIZARD.\n\n Difficulty of identifying the Let\u00e2\u00e2h--Probability that\n it is a collective and not a specific term--Various\n Lizards of Palestine--The Green or Jersey Lizard--The\n Cyprius, its appearance and habits--The Glass Snake or\n Scheltopusic--Translation of the word _chomet_--Probability that\n it signifies the Skink--Medicinal uses of the Lizard--The Seps\n tribe--The common Cicigna, and the popular belief concerning its\n habits--The Sph\u00e6nops and its shallow tunnel.\n\n\nIn Leviticus xi. 30, the word LIZARD is used as the rendering of the\nHebrew word _let\u00e2\u00e2h_ (pronounced as L't\u00e2h-\u00e2h). There are one or two\ndifficulties about the word, but, without going into the question\nof etymology, which is beside the object of this work, it will be\nsufficient to state that the best authorities accept the rendering,\nand that in the Jewish Bible the word Lizard is retained, but with\nthe mark of doubt appended to it.\n\nA very common species of Lizard, and therefore likely to be one\nof those which are grouped under the common name of Let\u00e2\u00e2h,\nis the CYPRIUS (_Plestiodon auratum_). This handsome Lizard is\ngolden-yellow in colour, beautifully spotted with orange and\nscarlet, and may be distinguished, even when the colours have fled\nafter death, by the curiously formed ears, which are strongly\ntoothed in front. It is very plentiful in Palestine, and, like\nothers of its kin, avoids cultivated tracts, and is generally found\non rocky and sandy soil which cannot be tilled. It is active, and,\nif alarmed, hides itself quickly in the sand or under stones.\n\nIt belongs to the great family of the Skinks, many of which, like\nthe familiar blind-worm of our own country, are without external\nlegs, and, though true Lizards, progress in a snake-like manner, and\nare generally mistaken for snakes. One of these is the GLASS SNAKE\nor SCHELTOPUSIC (_Pseudopus pallasii_), which has two very tiny hind\nlegs, but which is altogether so snake-like that it is considered\nby the natives to be really a serpent. They may well be excused for\ntheir error, as the only external indications of limbs are a pair of\nslightly-projecting scales at the place where the hind legs would be\nin a fully-developed Lizard.\n\nThough tolerably plentiful, the Scheltopusic is not very often seen,\nas it is timid and wary, and, when it suspects danger, glides away\nsilently into some place of safety. When adult, the colour of this\nLizard is usually chestnut, profusely mottled with black or deep\nbrown, the edge of each scale being of the darker colour. It feeds\nupon insects and small reptiles, and has been known to devour a nest\nfull of young birds.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIn Levit. xi. 30 is a Hebrew word, _chomet_, which is given in the\nAuthorized Version as SNAIL. There is, however, no doubt that the\nword is wrongly translated, and that by it some species of Lizard\nis signified. The Jewish Bible follows the Authorized Version,\nbut affixes the mark of doubt to the word. There is another word,\n_shablul_, which undoubtedly does signify the snail, and will be\nmentioned in its proper place.\n\nIt is most probable that the word _chomet_ includes, among other\nLizards, many of the smaller Skinks which inhabit Palestine.\nAmong them we may take as an example the COMMON SKINK (_Scincus\nofficinalis_), a reptile which derives its specific name from the\nfact that it was formerly used in medicine, together with mummy, and\nthe other disgusting ingredients which formed the greater part of\nthe old Pharmacop\u0153ia.\n\nEven at the present day, it is used for similar purposes in the\nEast, and is in consequence captured for the use of physicians,\nthe body being simply dried in the sun, and then sent to market\nfor sale. It is principally employed for the cure of sunstroke,\nnettle-rash, sand-blindness, or fever, and both patient and\nphysician have the greatest confidence in its powers. It is said by\nsome European physicians that the flesh of the Skink really does\npossess medicinal powers, and that it has fallen into disrepute\nchiefly because those powers have been exaggerated. In former days,\nthe head and feet were thought to possess the greatest efficacy, and\nwere valued accordingly.\n\nLike all its tribe, the Skink loves sandy localities, the soil\nexactly suiting its peculiar habits. Although tolerably active,\nit does not run so fast or so far as many other Lizards, and,\nwhen alarmed, it has a peculiar faculty for sinking itself almost\ninstantaneously under the sand, much after the fashion of the\nshore-crabs of our own country. Indeed, it is even more expeditious\nthan the crab, which occupies some little time in burrowing under\nthe wet and yielding sand, whereas the Skink slips beneath the dry\nand comparatively hard sand with such rapidity that it seems rather\nto be diving into a nearly excavated burrow than to be scooping a\nhollow for itself.\n\nThe sand is therefore a place of safety to the Skink, which does\nnot, like the crab, content itself with merely burying its body just\nbelow the surface, but continues to burrow, sinking itself in a few\nseconds to the depth of nearly a yard.\n\nThe length of the Skink is about eight inches, and its very variable\ncolour is generally yellowish brown, crossed with several dark\nbands. Several specimens, however, are spotted instead of banded\nwith brown, while some are banded with white, and others are spotted\nwith white. In all, however, the under-surface is silver grey.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE CHAMELEON.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHAMELEON, MONITOR, AND GECKO.\n\n Demeanour of the Chameleon on the ground--The independent\n eyes--Its frequent change of colour--The Nilotic Monitor.\n\n\nIn Levit. xi. 30 there occurs a word which has caused great trouble\nto commentators. The word is _koach_.\n\nThere are two lizards to which the term may possibly be\napplied--namely, the Chameleon and the Monitor; and, as the\nAuthorized Version of the Scriptures accepts the former\ninterpretation, we will first describe the Chameleon.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThis reptile is very plentiful in the Holy Land, as well as in\nEgypt, so that the Israelites would be perfectly familiar with\nit, both during their captivity and after their escape. It is but\na small reptile, and the reader may well ask why a name denoting\nstrength should be given to it. I think that we may find the reason\nfor its name in the extraordinary power of its grasp, as it is able,\nby means of its peculiarly-formed feet and prehensile tail, to grasp\nthe branches so tightly that it can scarcely be removed without\ndamage.\n\nI once saw six or seven Chameleons huddled up together, all having\nclasped each other's legs and tails so firmly that they formed a\nbundle that might be rolled along the ground without being broken\nup. In order to show the extraordinary power of the Chameleon's\ngrasp, I have had a figure drawn from a sketch taken by myself from\na specimen which I kept for several months.\n\n[Illustration: GECKO AND CHAMELEON.]\n\nWhen the Chameleon wished to pass from one branch to another, it\nused to hold firmly to the branch by the tail and one hind-foot, and\nstretch out its body nearly horizontally, feeling about with the\nother three feet, as if in search of a convenient resting-place.\nIn this curious attitude it would remain for a considerable time,\napparently suffering no inconvenience, though even the spider-monkey\nwould have been unable to maintain such an attitude for half the\nlength of time.\n\nThe strength of the grasp is really astonishing when contrasted\nwith the size of the reptile, as any one will find who allows the\nChameleon to grasp his finger, or who tries to detach it from the\nbranch to which it is clinging. The feet are most curiously made.\nThey are furnished with five toes, which are arranged like those of\nparrots and other climbing birds, so as to close upon each other\nlike the thumb and finger of a human hand. They are armed with\nlittle yellow claws, slightly curved and very sharp, and when they\ngrasp the skin of the hand they give it an unpleasantly sharp pinch.\n\nThe tail is as prehensile as that of the spider-monkey, to which\nthe Chameleon bears a curious resemblance in some of its attitudes,\nthough nothing can be more different than the volatile, inquisitive,\nrestless disposition of the spider-monkey and the staid, sober\ndemeanour of the Chameleon. The reptile has the power of guiding the\ntail to any object as correctly as if there were an eye at the end\nof the tail. When it has been travelling over the branches of trees,\nI have often seen it direct its tail to a projecting bud, and grasp\nit as firmly as if the bud had been before and not behind it.\n\nSometimes, when it rests on a branch, it allows the tail to\nhang down as a sort of balance, the tip coiling and uncoiling\nunceasingly. But, as soon as the reptile wishes to move, the tail is\ntightened to the branch, and at once coiled round it. There really\nseems to be almost a separate vitality and consciousness on the part\nof the tail, which glides round an object as if it were acting with\nentire independence of its owner.\n\nOn the ground the Chameleon fares but poorly. Its walk is absolutely\nludicrous, and an experienced person might easily fail to identify\na Chameleon when walking with the same animal on a branch. It\ncertainly scrambles along at a tolerable rate, but it is absurdly\nawkward, its legs sprawling widely on either side, and its feet\ngrasping futilely at every step. The tail, which is usually so lithe\nand nimble, is then held stiffly from the body, with a slight curve\nupwards.\n\nThe eyes are strange objects, projecting far from the head, and each\nacting quite independently of the other, so that one eye may often\nbe directed forwards, and the other backwards. The eyeballs are\ncovered with a thick wrinkled skin, except a small aperture at the\ntip, which can be opened and closed like our own eyelids.\n\nThe changing colour of the Chameleon has been long known, though\nthere are many mistaken ideas concerning it.\n\nThe reptile does not necessarily assume the colour of any object on\nwhich it is placed, but sometimes takes a totally different colour.\nThus, if my Chameleon happened to come upon any scarlet substance,\nthe colour immediately became black, covered with innumerable\ncircular spots of light yellow. The change was so instantaneous\nthat, as it crawled on the scarlet cloth, the colour would alter,\nand the fore-part of the body would be covered with yellow spots,\nwhile the hinder parts retained their dull black. Scarlet always\nannoyed the Chameleon, and it tried to escape whenever it found\nitself near any substance of the obnoxious hue.\n\nThe normal colour was undoubtedly black, with a slight tinge of\ngrey. But in a short time the whole creature would become a vivid\nverdigris green, and, while the spectator was watching it, the legs\nwould become banded with rings of bright yellow, and spats and\nstreaks of the same colour would appear on the head and body.\n\nWhen it was excited either by anger or by expectation--as, for\nexample, when it heard a large fly buzzing near it--the colours\nwere singularly beautiful, almost exactly resembling in hue and\narrangement those of the jaguar. Of all the colours, green seemed\ngenerally to predominate, but the creature would pass so rapidly\nfrom one colour to another that it was scarcely possible to follow\nthe various gradations of hue.\n\nSome persons have imagined that the variation of colour depends on\nthe wants and passions of the animal. This is not the case. The\nchange is often caused by mental emotion, but is not dependent on\nit; and I believe that the animal has no control whatever over its\ncolour. The best proof of this assertion may be found in the fact\nthat my own Chameleon changed colour several times after its death;\nand, indeed, as long as I had the dead body before me, changes of\nhue were taking place.\n\nThe food of the Chameleon consists of insects, mostly flies, which\nit catches by means of its tongue, which can be protruded to an\nastonishing distance. The tongue is nearly cylindrical, and is\nfurnished at the tip with a slight cavity, which is filled with\na very glutinous secretion. When the Chameleon sees a fly or\nother insect, it gently protrudes the tongue once or twice, as if\ntaking aim, like a billiard-player with his cue, and then, with a\nmoderately smart stroke, carries off the insect on the glutinous tip\nof the tongue. The force with which the Chameleon strikes is really\nwonderful. My own specimen used to look for flies from my hand, and\nat first I was as much surprised with the force of the blow struck\nby the tongue as I was with the grasping power of the feet.\n\n[Illustration: THE GECKO.\n\nFOOT OF THE GECKO--UNDER SIDE.]\n\nSo much for the Chameleon. We will now take the NILOTIC MONITOR and\nthe LAND MONITOR, the other reptiles which have been conjectured to\nbe the real representatives of the Koach.\n\nThese lizards attain to some size, the former sometimes measuring\nsix feet in length, and the latter but a foot or so less. Of the\ntwo, the Land Monitor, being the more common, both in Palestine and\nEgypt, has perhaps the best claim to be considered as the Koach\nof Scripture. It is sometimes called the Land Crocodile. It is a\ncarnivorous animal, feeding upon other reptiles and the smaller\nmammalia, and is very fond of the eggs of the crocodile, which it\ndestroys in great numbers, and is in consequence much venerated by\nthe inhabitants of the country about the Nile.\n\nThe theory that this reptile may be the Koach of Leviticus is\nstrengthened by the fact that even at the present day it is cooked\nand eaten by the natives, whereas the chameleon is so small and bony\nthat scarcely any one would take the trouble of cooking it.\n\nThe Gecko takes its name from the sound which it utters, resembling\nthe word \"geck-o.\" It is exceedingly plentiful, and inhabits the\ninterior of houses, where it can find the flies and other insects\non which it lives. On account of the structure of the toes, each\nof which is flattened into a disk-like form, and furnished on the\nunder surface with a series of plates like those on the back of\nthe sucking-fish, it can walk up a smooth, perpendicular wall with\nperfect ease, and can even cling to the ceiling like the flies on\nwhich it feeds.\n\nIn the illustration the reader will observe the flat, fan-like\nexpansions at the ends of the toes, by which the Gecko is able to\nadhere to flat surfaces, and to dart with silent rapidity from place\nto place.\n\n[Illustration: serpent]\n\n[Illustration: serpents]\n\n\n\n\nSERPENTS.\n\n Serpents in general--The fiery Serpents of the\n wilderness--Explanation of the words \"flying\" and \"fiery\" as\n applied to Serpents--Haunts of the Serpent--The Cobra, or Asp\n of Scripture--The Cerastes, or Horned Serpent--Appearance and\n habits of the reptile--The \"Adder in the path.\"\n\n\nAs we have seen that so much looseness of nomenclature prevailed\namong the Hebrews even with regard to the mammalia, birds, and\nlizards, we can but expect that the names of the Serpents will be\nequally difficult to identify.\n\nNo less than seven names are employed in the Old Testament to\ndenote some species of Serpent; but there are only two which can\nbe identified with any certainty, four others being left to mere\nconjecture, and one being clearly a word which, like our snake or\nserpent, is a word not restricted to any particular species, but\nsignifying Serpents in general. This word is _n\u00e2ch\u00e2sh_ (pronounced\nnah-kahsh). It is unfortunate that the word is so variously\ntranslated in different passages of Scripture, and we cannot do\nbetter than to follow it through the Ola Testament, so as to bring\nall the passages under our glance.\n\nThe first mention of the N\u00e2ch\u00e2sh occurs in Gen. iii., in the\nwell-known passage where the Serpent is said to be more subtle than\nall the beasts of the field, the wisdom or subtlety of the Serpent\nhaving evidently an allegorical and not a categorical signification.\nWe find the same symbolism employed in the New Testament, the\ndisciples of our Lord being told to be \"wise as serpents, and\nharmless as doves.\"\n\nAllusion is made to the gliding movement of the Serpent tribe in\nProv. xxx. 19. On this part of the subject little need be said,\nexcept that the movements of the Serpent are owing to the mobility\nof the ribs, which are pushed forward in succession and drawn back\nagain, so as to catch against any inequality of the ground. This\npower is increased by the structure of the scales. Those of the\nupper part of the body, which are not used for locomotion, are\nshaped something like the scales of a fish; but those of the lower\npart of the body, which come in contact with the ground, are broad\nbelts, each overlapping the other, and each connected with one pair\nof ribs.\n\nWhen, therefore, the Serpent pushes forward the ribs, the edges of\nthe scaly belts will catch against the slightest projection, and are\nable to give a very powerful impetus to the body. It is scarcely\npossible to drag a snake backwards over rough ground; while on a\nsmooth surface, such as glass, the Serpent would be totally unable\nto proceed. This, however, was not likely to have been studied by\nthe ancient Hebrews, who were among the most unobservant of mankind\nwith regard to details of natural history: it is, therefore, no\nwonder that the gliding of the Serpent should strike the writer of\nthe proverb in question as a mystery which he could not explain.\n\nThe poisonous nature of some of the Serpents is mentioned in several\npassages of Scripture; and it will be seen that the ancient Hebrews,\nlike many modern Europeans, believed that the poison lay in the\nforked tongue. See, for example, Ps. lviii. 4: \"Their poison is\nlike the poison of a serpent\" (_n\u00e2ch\u00e2sh_). Also Prov. xxiii. 32, in\nwhich the sacred writer says of wine that it brings woe, sorrow,\ncontentions, wounds without cause, redness of eyes, and that \"at the\nlast it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.\"\n\n[Illustration: COBRA AND CERASTES, THE ASP AND ADDER OF SCRIPTURE.]\n\nThe idea that the poison of the Serpent lies in the tongue is seen\nin several passages of Scripture. \"They have sharpened their tongues\nlike a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips\" (Ps. cxl. 3).\nAlso in Job xx. 16, the sacred writer says of the hypocrite, that\n\"he shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay\nhim.\"\n\nAs to the fiery Serpents of the wilderness, it is scarcely needful\nto mention that the epithet of \"fiery\" does not signify that the\nSerpents in question produced real fire from their mouths, but that\nallusion is made to the power and virulence of their poison, and\nto the pain caused by their bite. We ourselves naturally employ a\nsimilar metaphor, and speak of a \"burning pain,\" of a \"fiery trial,\"\nof \"hot anger,\" and the like.\n\n[Illustration: THE ISRAELITES ARE BITTEN BY SERPENTS IN THE\nWILDERNESS, AND MOSES LIFTS UP THE SERPENT OF BRASS.]\n\nThe epithet of \"flying\" which is applied to these Serpents is\nexplained by the earlier commentators as having reference to a\nSerpent which they called the Dart Snake, and which they believed\nto lie in wait for men and to spring at them from a distance. They\nthought that this snake hid itself either in hollows of the ground\nor in trees, and sprang through the air for thirty feet upon any man\nor beast that happened to pass by.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe will now take the various species of Serpents mentioned in the\nBible, as nearly as they can be identified.\n\nOf one species there is no doubt whatever. This is the Cobra di\nCapello, a serpent which is evidently signified by the Hebrew word\n_pethen_.\n\nThis celebrated Serpent has long been famous, not only for the\ndeadly power of its venom, but for the singular performances in\nwhich it takes part. The Cobra inhabits many parts of Asia, and\nin almost every place where it is found, certain daring men take\nupon themselves the profession of serpent-charmers, and handle\nthese fearful reptiles with impunity, cause them to move in time to\ncertain musical sounds, and assert that they bear a life charmed\nagainst the bite of these deadly playmates.\n\nOne of these men will take a Cobra in his bare hands, toss it about\nwith perfect indifference, allow it to twine about his naked breast,\ntie it around his neck, and treat it with as little ceremony as\nif it were an earth-worm. He will then take the same Serpent--or\napparently the same--make it bite a fowl, which soon dies from the\npoison, and will then renew his performance.\n\nSome persons say that the whole affair is but an exhibition of that\njugglery in which the natives of the East Indies are such wondrous\nadepts; that the Serpents with which the man plays are harmless,\nhaving been deprived of their fangs, and that a really venomous\nspecimen is adroitly substituted for the purpose of killing the\nfowl. It is, moreover, said, and truly, that a snake thought to have\nbeen rendered harmless by the deprivation of its fangs, has bitten\none of its masters and killed him, thus proving the imposture.\n\nStill, neither of these explanations will entirely disprove the\nmastery of man over a venomous Serpent.\n\nIn the first instance, it is surely as perilous an action to\nsubstitute a venomous Serpent as to play with it. Where was it\nhidden, why did it not bite the man instead of the fowl, and how did\nthe juggler prevent it from using its teeth while he was conveying\nit away?\n\nAnd, in the second instance, the detection of one impostor is by no\nmeans a proof that all who pretend to the same powers are likewise\nimpostors.\n\nThe following narrative by a traveller in the East seems to prove\nthat the serpent-charmer possessed sufficient power to induce a\ntruly poisonous Serpent to leave its hole, and to perform certain\nantics at his command:\n\n\"A snake-charmer came to my bungalow, requesting me to allow him\nto show his snakes. As I had frequently seen his performance, I\ndeclined to witness a repetition of it, but told him that if he\nwould accompany me to the jungle and catch a Cobra, that I knew\nfrequented the place, I would give him a present of money. He was\nquite willing, and as I was anxious to test the truth of the charm\nhe claimed to possess, I carefully counted his tame snakes, and put\na guard over them until we should return.\n\n\"Before starting I also examined his clothing, and satisfied myself\nthat he had no snake about his person. When we arrived at the spot,\nhe commenced playing upon a small pipe, and, after persevering for\nsome time, out crawled a large Cobra from an ant-hill which I knew\nit occupied.\n\n\"On seeing the man it tried to escape, but he quickly caught it by\nthe tail and kept swinging it round until we reached the bungalow.\nHe then laid it upon the ground and made it raise and lower its head\nto the sound of his pipe.\n\n\"Before long, however, it bit him above the knee. He immediately\nbandaged the leg tightly above the wound, and applied a piece of\nporous stone, called a snake-stone, to extract the poison. He was in\ngreat pain for a few minutes, but afterwards it gradually subsided,\nthe stone falling from the wound just before he was relieved.\n\n\"When he recovered he held up a cloth, at which the snake flew and\nhung by its fangs. While in this position the man passed his hand up\nits back, and having seized it tightly by the throat, he pulled out\nthe fangs and gave them to me. He then squeezed out the poison, from\nthe glands in the Serpent's mouth, upon a leaf. It was a clear, oily\nsubstance, which when rubbed with the hand produced a fine lather.\n\n\"The whole operation was carefully watched by me, and was also\nwitnessed by several other persons.\"\n\nHow the serpent-charmers perform their feats is not very\nintelligible. That they handle the most venomous Serpents with\nperfect impunity is evident enough, and it is also clear that they\nare able to produce certain effects upon the Serpents by means of\nmusical (or unmusical) sounds. But these two items are entirely\ndistinct, and one does not depend upon the other.\n\nIn the first place, the handling of venomous snakes has been\nperformed by ordinary men without the least recourse to any arts\nexcept that of acquaintance with the habits of Serpents. The late\nMr. Waterton, for example, would take up a rattlesnake in his bare\nhand without feeling the least uneasy as to the behaviour of his\nprisoner. He once took twenty-seven rattlesnakes out of a box,\ncarried them into another room, put them into a large glass case,\nand afterwards replaced them in the box. He described to me the\nmanner in which he did it, using my wrist as the representative of\nthe Serpent.\n\n[Illustration: THE SERPENT-CHARMER.]\n\nThe nature of all Serpents is rather peculiar, and is probably\nowing to the mode in which the blood circulates. They are extremely\nunwilling to move, except when urged by the wants of nature, and\nwill lie coiled up for many hours together when not pressed by\nhunger. Consequently, when touched, their feeling is evidently like\nthat of a drowsy man, who only tries to shake off the object which\nmay rouse him, and composes himself afresh to sleep.\n\nA quick and sudden movement would, however, alarm the reptile, which\nwould strike in self-defence, and, sluggish as are its general\nmovements, its stroke is delivered with such lightning rapidity that\nit would be sure to inflict its fatal wound before it was seized.\n\nIf, therefore, Mr. Waterton saw a Serpent which he desired to\ncatch, he would creep very quietly up to it, and with a gentle,\nslow movement place his fingers round its neck just behind the\nhead. If it happened to be coiled up in such a manner that he could\nnot get at its neck, he had only to touch it gently until it moved\nsufficiently for his purpose.\n\nWhen he had once placed his hand on the Serpent, it was in his\npower. He would then grasp it very lightly indeed, and raise it\ngently from the ground, trusting that the reptile would be more\ninclined to be carried quietly than to summon up sufficient energy\nto bite. Even if it had tried to use its fangs, it could not have\ndone so as long as its captor's fingers were round its neck.\n\nAs a rule, a great amount of provocation is needed before a venomous\nSerpent will use its teeth. One of my friends, when a boy, caught a\nviper, mistaking it for a common snake. He tied it round his neck,\ncoiled it on his wrist by way of a bracelet, and so took it home,\nplaying many similar tricks with it as he went. After arrival in the\nhouse, he produced the viper for the amusement of his brothers and\nsisters, and, after repeating his performances, tried to tie the\nsnake in a double knot. This, however, was enough to provoke the\nmost pacific of creatures, and in consequence he received a bite on\nhis finger.\n\nThe poison was not slow to take effect; first, the wound looked\nand felt like a nettle sting, then like a wasp sting, and in the\ncourse of a few minutes the whole finger was swollen. At this\njuncture his father, a medical man, fortunately arrived, and set the\napproved antidotes, ammonia, oil, and lunar caustic, to the wound,\nhaving previously made incisions about the punctured spot, and with\npaternal affection attempted to suck out the poison. In spite of\nthese remedies a serious illness was the result of the bite, from\nwhich the boy did not recover for several weeks.\n\n[Illustration: snake]\n\nThere is no doubt that the snake-charmers trust chiefly to this\nsluggish nature of the reptile, but they certainly go through\nsome ceremonies by which they believe themselves to be rendered\nimpervious to snake-bites. They will coil the cobra round their\nnaked bodies, they will irritate the reptile until it is in a state\nof fury; they will even allow it to bite them, and yet be none the\nworse for the wound. Then, as if to show that the venomous teeth\nhave not been abstracted, as is possibly supposed to be the case,\nthey will make the cobra bite a fowl, which speedily dies from the\neffects of the poison.\n\nEven if the fangs were extracted, the Serpents would lose little\nof their venomous power. These reptiles are furnished with a whole\nseries of fangs in different stages of development, so that when the\none in use is broken or shed in the course of nature, another comes\nforward and fills its place. There is now before me a row of four\nfangs, which I took from the right upper jawbone of a viper which I\nrecently caught.\n\nIn her interesting \"Letters from Egypt,\" Lady Duff-Gordon gives an\namusing account of the manner in which she was formally initiated\ninto the mysteries of snake-charming, and made ever afterwards\nimpervious to the bite of venomous Serpents:--\n\n\"At K\u00f3m Omboo, we met with a Rif\u00e1ee darweesh with his basket of tame\nsnakes. After a little talk, he proposed to initiate me: and so we\nsat down and held hands like people marrying. Omar [her attendant]\nsat behind me, and repeated the words as my 'wakeel.' Then the\nRif\u00e1ee twisted a cobra round our joined hands, and requested me to\nspit on it; he did the same, and I was pronounced safe and enveloped\nin snakes. My sailors groaned, and Omar shuddered as the snakes put\nout their tongues; the darweesh and I smiled at each other like\nRoman augurs.\"\n\nShe believed that the snakes were toothless; and perhaps on this\noccasion they may have been so. Extracting the teeth of the Serpent\nis an easy business in experienced hands, and is conducted in two\nways. Those snake-charmers who are confident of their own powers\nmerely grasp the reptile by the neck, force open its jaws with a\npiece of stick, and break off the fangs, which are but loosely\nattached to the jaw. Those who are not so sure of themselves\nirritate the snake, and offer it a piece of cloth, generally the\ncorner of their mantle, to bite. The snake darts at it, and, as it\nseizes the garment, the man gives the cloth a sudden jerk, and so\ntears away the fangs.\n\nStill, although some of the performers employ mutilated snakes,\nthere is no doubt that others do not trouble themselves to remove\nthe fangs of the Serpents, but handle with impunity the cobra or the\ncerastes with all its venomous apparatus in good order.\n\nWe now come to the second branch of the subject, namely, the\ninfluence of sound upon the cobra and other Serpents. The charmers\nare always provided with musical instruments, of which a sort of\nflute with a loud shrill sound is the one which is mostly used in\nthe performances. Having ascertained, from slight marks which their\npractised eyes easily discover, that a Serpent is hidden in some\ncrevice, the charmer plays upon his flute, and in a short time the\nsnake is sure to make its appearance.\n\nAs soon as it is fairly out, the man seizes it by the end of the\ntail, and holds it up in the air at arm's length. In this position\nit is helpless, having no leverage, and merely wriggles about in\nfruitless struggles to escape. Having allowed it to exhaust its\nstrength by its efforts, the man lowers it into a basket, where\nit is only too glad to find a refuge, and closes the lid. After a\nwhile, he raises the lid and begins to play the flute.\n\n[Illustration: TEACHING COBRAS TO DANCE.]\n\nThe Serpent tries to glide out of the basket, but, as soon as it\ndoes so, the lid is shut down again, and in a very short time the\nreptile finds that escape is impossible, and, as long as it hears\nthe sound of the flute, only raises its head in the air, supporting\nitself on the lower portion of its tail, and continues to wave its\nhead from side to side as long as it hears the sound of the music.\n\nThe rapidity with which a cobra learns this lesson is extraordinary,\nthe charmers being as willing to show their mastery over\nnewly-caught Serpents as over those which have been long in their\npossession.\n\nThe colour of the Cobra is in most cases a brownish olive. The most\nnoted peculiarity is the expansion of the neck, popularly called\nthe hood. This phenomenon is attributable not only to the skin and\nmuscles, but to the skeleton. About twenty pairs of the ribs of\nthe neck and fore part of the back are flat instead of curved, and\nincrease gradually from the head to the eleventh or twelfth pair,\nfrom which they decrease until they are merged into the ordinary\ncurved ribs of the body. When the snake is excited, it brings these\nribs forward so as to spread the skin, and then displays the oval\nhood to best advantage.\n\nIn the Cobra di Capello the back of the hood is ornamented by two\nlarge eye-like spots, united by a curved black stripe, so formed\nthat the whole mark bears a singular resemblance to a pair of\nspectacles.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CERASTES, OR SHEPHIPHON OF SCRIPTURE.\n\n\nThe word _shephiphon_, which evidently signifies some species of\nsnake, only occurs once in the Scriptures, but fortunately that\nsingle passage contains an allusion to the habits of the serpent\nwhich makes identification nearly certain. The passage in question\noccurs in Gen. xlix. 17, and forms part of the prophecy of Jacob\nrespecting his children: \"Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an\nadder in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider\nshall fall backward.\"\n\nPutting aside the deeper meaning of this prophecy, there is here an\nevident allusion to the habits of the CERASTES, or HORNED VIPER, a\nspecies of venomous serpent, which is plentiful in Northern Africa,\nand is found also in Palestine and Syria. It is a very conspicuous\nreptile, and is easily recognised by the two horn-like projections\nover the eyes. The name Cerastes, or horned, has been given to it\non account of these projections.\n\nThis snake has a custom of lying half buried in the sand, awaiting\nthe approach of some animal on which it can feed. Its usual diet\nconsists of the jerboas and other small mammalia, and as they are\nexceedingly active, while the Cerastes is slow and sluggish, its\nonly chance of obtaining food is to lie in wait. It will always take\nadvantage of any small depression, such as the print of a camel's\nfoot, and, as it finds many of these depressions in the line of the\ncaravans, it is literally \"a serpent by the way, an adder in the\npath.\"\n\n[Illustration: HORNED VIPER.]\n\nAccording to the accounts of travellers, the Cerastes is much more\nirritable than the cobra, and is very apt to strike at any object\nwhich may disturb it. Therefore, whenever a horseman passes along\nthe usual route, his steed is very likely to disturb a Cerastes\nlying in the path, and to be liable to the attack of the irritated\nreptile. Horses are instinctively aware of the presence of the\nsnake, and mostly perceive it in time to avoid its stroke. Its\nsmall dimensions, the snake rarely exceeding two feet in length,\nenable it to conceal itself in a very small hollow, and its\nbrownish-white colour, diversified with darker spots, causes it to\nharmonize so thoroughly with the loose sand in which it lies buried,\nthat, even when it is pointed out, an unpractised eye does not\nreadily perceive it.\n\nEven the cobra is scarcely so dreaded as this little snake, whose\nbite is so deadly, and whose habits are such as to cause travellers\nconsiderable risk of being bitten.\n\nThe head of the Viper affords a very good example of the venomous\napparatus of the poisonous serpents, and is well worthy of\ndescription. The poison fangs or teeth lie on the sides of the upper\njaw, folded back, and almost undistinguishable until lifted with a\nneedle. They are singularly fine and delicate, hardly larger than a\nlady's needle, and are covered almost to their tips with a muscular\nenvelope, through which the points just peer.\n\nThe poison bags or glands, and the reservoir in which the venom is\nstored, are found at the back and sides of the head, and give to the\nvenomous serpents that peculiar width of head which is so unfailing\na characteristic.\n\nOn examining carefully the poison fangs, the structure by which the\nvenom is injected into the wound will be easily understood. Under a\nmagnifying glass they will be seen to be hollow, thus affording a\npassage for the poison.\n\nWhen the creature draws back its head and opens its mouth to strike,\nthe deadly fangs spring up with their points ready for action, and\nfully charged with their poisonous distillment.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: viper]\n\n\n\n\nTHE VIPER, OR EPHEH.\n\n The Sand-Viper, or Toxicoa--Its appearance and habits--Adder's\n poison--The Cockatrice, or Tsepha--The Yellow Viper--Ancient\n ideas concerning the Cockatrice--Power of its venom.\n\n\nWe now come to the species of snake which cannot be identified with\nany certainty, and will first take the word _epheh_.\n\nMr. Tristram believes that he has identified the Epheh of the Old\nTestament with the Sand-Viper, or Toxicoa. This reptile, though very\nsmall, and scarcely exceeding a foot in length, is a dangerous one,\nbut its bite is not so deadly as that of the cobra or cerastes. It\nis variable in colour, and has angular white streaks on its body,\nwith a row of whitish spots along the back. The top of the head is\ndark, and variegated with arrow-shaped white marks.\n\nThe Toxicoa is very plentiful in Northern Africa, Palestine, Syria,\nand the neighbouring countries, and, as it is exceedingly active, is\nheld in some dread by the natives.\n\nAnother name of a poisonous snake occurs several times in the Old\nTestament. The word is _tsepha_, or _tsiph\u00f4ni_, and it is sometimes\ntranslated as Adder, and sometimes as Cockatrice. The word is\nrendered as Adder in Prov. xxiii. 32, where it is said that wine\n\"biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.\" Even in this\ncase, however, the word is rendered as Cockatrice in the marginal\ntranslation.\n\n[Illustration: THE TOXICOA. (Supposed to be the viper of Scripture.)]\n\nIt is found three times in the Book of Isaiah. Ch. xi. 8: \"The\nweaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.\" Also, ch.\nxiv. 29: \"Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him\nthat smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's (_nachash_) nest\nshall come forth a cockatrice (_tsepha_), and his fruit shall be a\nfiery flying serpent.\" The same word occurs again in ch. lix. 5:\n\"They hatch cockatrice' eggs.\" In the prophet Jeremiah we again find\nthe word: \"For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices among you,\nwhich will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.\"\n\nAround this reptile a wonderful variety of legends have been\naccumulated. The Cockatrice was said to kill by its very look,\n\"because the beams of the Cockatrice's eyes do corrupt the visible\nspirit of a man, which visible spirit corrupted all the other\nspirits coming from the brain and life of the heart, are thereby\ncorrupted, and so the man dyeth.\"\n\nThe subtle poison of the Cockatrice infected everything near it, so\nthat a man who killed a Cockatrice with a spear fell dead himself,\nby reason of the poison darting up the shaft of the spear and\npassing into his hand. Any living thing near which the Cockatrice\npassed was instantly slain by the fiery heat of its venom, which was\nexhaled not only from its mouth, but its sides. For the old writers,\nwhose statements are here summarized, contrived to jumble together a\nnumber of miscellaneous facts in natural history, and so to produce\na most extraordinary series of legends.\n\nI should not have given even this limited space to such puerile\nlegends, but for the fact that such stories as these were fully\nbelieved in the days when the Authorized Version of the Bible was\ntranslated. The translators of the Bible believed most heartily in\nthe mysterious and baleful reptile, and, as they saw that the Tsepha\nof Scripture was an exceptionally venomous serpent, they naturally\nrendered it by the word Cockatrice.\n\n[Illustration: viper]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: frog]\n\n\n\n\nTHE FROG.\n\n The Frog only mentioned in the Old Testament as connected with\n the plagues of Egypt--The severity of this plague explained--The\n Frog detestable to the Egyptians--The Edible Frog and its\n numbers--Description of the species.\n\n\nPlentiful as is the FROG throughout Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, it\nis very remarkable that in the whole of the canonical books of the\nOld Testament the word is only mentioned thrice, and each case in\nconnexion with the same event.\n\nIn Exod. viii. we find that the second of the plagues which visited\nEgypt came out of the Nile, the sacred river, in the form of\ninnumerable Frogs. The reader will probably remark, on perusing the\nconsecutive account of these plagues, that the two first plagues\nwere connected with that river, and that they were foreshadowed by\nthe transformation of Aaron's rod.\n\nWhen Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh to ask him to let\nthe people go, Pharaoh demanded a miracle from them, as had been\nforetold. Following the divine command, Aaron threw down his rod,\nwhich was changed into a serpent.\n\nNext, as was most appropriate, came a transformation wrought on\nthe river by means of the same rod which had been transformed into\na Serpent, the whole of the fresh-water throughout the land being\nturned into blood, and the fish dying and polluting the venerated\nriver with their putrefying bodies. In Egypt, a partially rainless\ncountry, such a calamity as this was doubly terrible, as it at the\nsame time desecrated the object of their worship, and menaced them\nwith perishing by thirst.\n\nThe next plague had also its origin in the river, but extended far\nbeyond the limits of its banks. The frogs, being unable to return to\nthe contaminated stream wherein they had lived, spread themselves\nin all directions, so as to fulfil the words of the prediction: \"If\nthou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders\nwith frogs:\n\n\"And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up\nand come into thine house, and into thy bed-chamber, and upon thy\nbed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and\ninto thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs\" (or dough).\n\nSupposing that such a plague was to come upon us at the present\nday, we should consider it to be a terrible annoyance, yet scarcely\nworthy of the name of plague, and certainly not to be classed with\nthe turning of a river into blood, with the hail and lightning that\ndestroyed the crops and cattle, and with the simultaneous death of\nthe first-born. But the Egyptians suffered most keenly from the\ninfliction. They were a singularly fastidious people, and abhorred\nthe contact of anything that they held to be unclean. We may well\nrealize, therefore, the effect of a visitation of Frogs, which\nrendered their houses unclean by entering them, and themselves\nunclean by leaping upon them; which deprived them of rest by getting\non their beds, and of food by crawling into their ovens and upon the\ndough in the kneading-troughs.\n\nAnd, as if to make the visitation still worse, when the plague was\nremoved, the Frogs died in the places into which they had intruded,\nso that the Egyptians were obliged to clear their houses of the dead\ncarcases, and to pile them up in heaps, to be dried by the sun or\neaten by birds and other scavengers of the East.\n\nAs to the species of Frog which thus invaded the houses of the\nEgyptians, there is no doubt whatever. It can be but the GREEN,\nor EDIBLE FROG (_Rana esculenta_), which is so well known for the\ndelicacy of its flesh. This is believed to be the only aquatic Frog\nof Egypt, and therefore must be the species which came out of the\nriver into the houses.\n\nBoth in Egypt and Palestine it exists in very great numbers,\nswarming in every marshy place, and inhabiting the pools in such\nnumbers that the water can scarcely be seen for the Frogs. Thus the\nmultitudes of the Frogs which invaded the Egyptians was no matter\nof wonder, the only miraculous element being that the reptiles were\nsimultaneously directed to the houses, and their simultaneous death\nwhen the plague was taken away.\n\nFrogs are also mentioned in Rev. xvi. 13: \"And I saw three unclean\nspirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of\nthe mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.\"\nWith the exception of this passage, which is a purely symbolical\none, there is no mention of Frogs in the New Testament. It is\nrather remarkable that the Toad, which might be thought to afford\nan excellent symbol for various forms of evil, is entirely ignored,\nboth in the Old and New Testaments. Probably the Frogs and Toads\nwere all classed together under the same title.\n\n[Illustration: creek]\n\n[Illustration: waterfall]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: birds over water]\n\n\n\n\nFISHES.\n\n Impossibility of distinguishing the different species of\n Fishes--The fishermen Apostles--Fish used for food--The miracle\n of the loaves and Fishes--The Fish broiled on the coals--Clean\n and unclean Fishes--The Sheat-fish, or Silurus--The Eel and the\n Mur\u00e6na--The Long-headed Barbel--Fish-ponds and preserves--The\n Fish-ponds of Heshbon--The Sucking-fish--The Lump-sucker--The\n Tunny--The Coryphene.\n\n\nWe now come to the FISHES, a class of animals which are repeatedly\nmentioned both in the Old and New Testaments, but only in general\nterms, no one species being described so as to give the slightest\nindication of its identity.\n\nThis is the more remarkable because, although the Jews were, like\nall Orientals, utterly unobservant of those characteristics by which\nthe various species are distinguished from each other, we might\nexpect that St. Peter and other of the fisher Apostles would have\ngiven the names of some of the Fish which they were in the habit of\ncatching, and by the sale of which they gained their living.\n\nIt is true that the Jews, as a nation, would not distinguish between\nthe various species of Fishes, except, perhaps, by comparative\nsize. But professional fishermen would be sure to distinguish one\nspecies from another, if only for the fact that they would sell the\nbest-flavoured Fish at the highest price.\n\nWe might have expected, for example, that the Apostles and disciples\nwho were present when the miraculous draught of Fishes took place\nwould have mentioned the technical names by which they were\naccustomed to distinguish the different degrees of the saleable and\nunsaleable kinds.\n\n[Illustration: PETER CATCHES THE FISH.]\n\nOr we might have expected that on the occasion when St. Peter cast\nhis line and hook into the sea, and drew out a Fish holding the\ntribute-money in his mouth, we might have learned the particular\nspecies of Fish which was thus captured. We ourselves would\nassuredly have done so. It would not have been thought sufficient\nmerely to say that a Fish was caught with money in its mouth, but it\nwould have been considered necessary to mention the particular fish\nas well as the particular coin.\n\nBut it must be remembered that the whole tone of thought differs in\nOrientals and Europeans, and that the exactness required by the one\nhas no place in the mind of the other. The whole of the Scriptural\nnarratives are essentially Oriental in their character, bringing\nout the salient points in strong relief, but entirely regardless of\nminute detail.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe find from many passages both in the Old and New Testaments that\nFish were largely used as food by the Israelites, both when captives\nin Egypt and after their arrival in the Promised Land. Take, for\nexample, Numb. xi. 4, 5: \"And the children of Israel also wept\nagain, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?\n\n\"We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely.\" Then, in\nthe Old Testament, although we do not find many such categorical\nstatements, there are many passages which allude to professional\nfishermen, showing that there was a demand for the Fish which they\ncaught, sufficient to yield them a maintenance.\n\nIn the New Testament, however, there are several passages in which\nthe Fishes are distinctly mentioned as articles of food. Take, for\nexample, the well-known miracle of multiplying the loaves and the\nFishes, and the scarcely less familiar passage in John xxi. 9: \"As\nsoon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there,\nand fish laid thereon, and bread.\"\n\nWe find in all these examples that bread and Fish were eaten\ntogether. Indeed, Fish was eaten with bread just as we eat cheese\nor butter; and St. John, in his account of the multiplication of\nthe loaves and Fishes, does not use the word \"fish,\" but another\nword which rather signifies sauce, and was generally employed to\ndesignate the little Fish that were salted down and dried in the\nsunbeams for future use.\n\nAs to the various species which were used for different purposes, we\nknow really nothing, the Jews merely dividing their Fish into clean\nand unclean.\n\nSome of the species to which the prohibition would extend are\nevident enough. There are, for example, the Sheat-fishes, which have\nthe body naked, and which are therefore taken out of the list of\npermitted Fishes. The Sheat-fishes inhabit rivers in many parts of\nthe world, and often grow to a very considerable size. They may be\nat once recognised by their peculiar shape, and by the long, fleshy\ntentacles that hang from the mouth. The object of these tentacles\nis rather dubious, but as the fish have been seen to direct them at\nwill to various objects, it is likely that they may answer as organs\nof touch.\n\n[Illustration: 1. MUR\u00c6NA. 2. LONG-HEADED BARBEL. 3. SHEAT-FISH.]\n\nAs might be conjectured from its general appearance, it is one of\nthe Fishes that love muddy banks, in which it is fond of burrowing\nso deeply that, although the river may swarm with Sheat-fishes, a\npractised eye is required to see them.\n\nAs far as the Sheat-fishes are concerned, there is little need for\nthe prohibition, inasmuch as the flesh is not at all agreeable\nin flavour, and is difficult of digestion, being very fat and\ngelatinous. The swimming-bladder of the Sheat-fish is used in some\ncountries for making a kind of isinglass, similar in character to\nthat of the sturgeon, but of coarser quality.\n\nThe lowermost figure in the above illustration represents a species\nwhich is exceedingly plentiful in the Sea of Galilee.\n\nOn account of the mode in which their body is covered, the whole of\nthe sharks and rays are excluded from the list of permitted Fish,\nas, although they have fins, they have no scales, their place being\ntaken by shields varying greatly in size. The same rule excludes the\nwhole of the lamprey tribe, although the excellence of their flesh\nis well known.\n\nMoreover, the Jews almost universally declare that the Mur\u00e6na and\nEel tribe are also unclean, because, although it has been proved\nthat these Fishes really possess scales as well as fins, and are\ntherefore legally permissible, the scales are hidden under a slimy\ncovering, and are so minute as to be practically absent.\n\nThe uppermost figure in the illustration represents the celebrated\nMur\u00e6na, one of the fishes of the Mediterranean, in which sea it is\ntolerably plentiful. In the days of the old Roman empire, the Mur\u00e6na\nwas very highly valued for the table. The wealthier citizens built\nponds in which the Mur\u00e6n\u00e6 were kept alive until they were wanted.\nThis Fish sometimes reaches four feet in length.\n\nThe rest of the Fishes which are shown in the three illustrations\nbelong to the class of clean Fish, and were permitted as food.\nThe figure of the Fish between the Mur\u00e6na and Sheat-fish is the\nLong-headed Barbel, so called from its curious form.\n\nThe Barbels are closely allied to the carps, and are easily known\nby the barbs or beards which hang from their lips. Like the\nsheat-fishes, the Barbels are fond of grubbing in the mud, for the\npurpose of getting at the worms, grubs, and larv\u00e6 of aquatic insects\nthat are always to be found in such places. The Barbels are rather\nlong in proportion to their depth, a peculiarity which, owing to the\nlength of the head, is rather exaggerated in this species.\n\nThe Long-headed Barbel is extremely common in Palestine, and may be\ntaken with the very simplest kind of net. Indeed, in some places,\nthe fish are so numerous that a common sack answers nearly as well\nas a net.\n\nIt has been mentioned that the ancient Romans were in the habit of\nforming ponds in which the Mur\u00e6n\u00e6 were kept, and it is evident, from\nseveral passages of Scripture, that the Jews were accustomed to\npreserve fish in a similar manner, though they would not restrict\ntheir tanks or ponds to one species.\n\nThe accompanying illustration represents Fishes of the Mediterranean\nSea, and it is probable that one of them may be identified, though\nthe passage in which it is mentioned is only an inferential one. In\nthe prophecy against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the prophet Ezekiel\nwrites as follows: \"I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause\nthe fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring\nthee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy\nrivers shall stick unto thy scales\" (xxix. 4).\n\n[Illustration: FISHES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.\n\n1. SUCKING-FISH. 2. TUNNY. 3. CORYPHENE.]\n\nSome believe that the prophet made allusion to the Sucking-fish,\nwhich has the dorsal fins developed into a most curious apparatus\nof adhesion, by means of which it can fasten itself at will to any\nsmooth object, and hold so tightly to it that it can scarcely be\ntorn away without injury.\n\nThe common Sucking-fish is shown in the upper part of the\nillustration.\n\nThere are, however, other fish which have powers of adhesion which,\nalthough not so remarkable as those of the Sucking-fish, are yet\nvery strong. There is, for example, the well-known Lump-sucker, or\nLump-fish, which has the ventral fins modified into a sucker so\npowerful that, when one of these fishes has been put into a pail of\nwater, it has attached itself so firmly to the bottom of the vessel\nthat when lifted by the tail it raised the pail, together with\nseveral gallons of water.\n\nThe Gobies, again, have their ventral fins united and modified into\na single sucker, by means of which the fish is able to secure itself\nto a stone, rock, or indeed any tolerably smooth surface. These\nfishes are popularly known as Bull-routs.\n\nThe centre of the illustration is occupied by another of the\nMediterranean fishes. This is the well-known Tunny, which furnishes\nfood to the inhabitants of the coasts of this inland sea, and indeed\nconstitutes one of their principal sources of wealth. This fine fish\nis on an average four or five feet in length, and sometimes attains\nthe length of six or seven feet.\n\nThe flesh of the Tunny is excellent, and the fish is so conspicuous,\nthat the silence of the Scriptures concerning its existence shows\nthe utter indifference to specific accuracy that prevailed among the\nvarious writers.\n\nThe other figure represents the Coryphene, popularly, though very\nwrongly, called the Dolphin, and celebrated, under that name, for\nthe beautiful colours which fly over the surface of the body as it\ndies.\n\nThe flesh of the Coryphene is excellent, and in the times of classic\nRome the epicures were accustomed to keep these fish alive, and at\nthe beginning of a feast to lay them before the guests, so that they\nmight, in the first place, witness the magnificent colours of the\ndying fish, and, in the second place, might be assured that when it\nwas cooked it was perfectly fresh. Even during life, the Coryphene\nis a most lovely fish, and those who have witnessed it playing round\na ship, or dashing off in chase of a shoal of flying-fishes, can\nscarcely find words to express their admiration of its beauty.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: fishermen]\n\n\n\n\nFISHES.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n Various modes of capturing Fish--The hook and line--Military\n use of the hook--Putting a hook in the jaws--The fishing\n spear--Different kinds of net--The casting-net--Prevalence\n of this form--Technical words among fishermen--Fishing\n by night--The draught of Fishes--The real force of the\n miracle--Selecting the Fish--The Fish-gate and Fish-market--Fish\n killed by a draught--Fishing in the Dead Sea--Dagon, the\n fish-god of Philistina, Assyria, and Siam--Various Fishes of\n Egypt and Palestine.\n\n\nAs to the various methods of capturing Fish, we will first take the\nsimplest plan, that of the hook and line.\n\nSundry references are made to angling, both in the Old and New\nTestaments. See, for example, the well-known passage respecting the\nleviathan, in Job xli. 1, 2: \"Canst thou draw out leviathan with an\nhook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?\n\n\"Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with\na thorn?\"\n\nIt is thought that the last clause of this passage refers, not to\nthe actual capture of the Fish, but to the mode in which they were\nkept in the tanks, each being secured by a ring or hook and line, so\nthat it might be taken when wanted.\n\nOn referring to the New Testament, we find that the fisher Apostles\nused both the hook and the net. See Matt. xvii. 27: \"Go thou to the\nsea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up.\"\nNow this passage explains one or two points.\n\nIn the first place, it is one among others which shows that,\nalthough the Apostles gave up all to follow Christ, they did not\nthrow away their means of livelihood, as some seem to fancy, nor\nexist ever afterwards on the earnings of others. On the contrary,\nthey retained their fisher equipment, whether boats, nets, or hooks;\nand here we find St. Peter, after the way of fishermen, carrying\nabout with him the more portable implements of his craft.\n\nNext, the phrase \"casting\" the hook into the sea is exactly\nexpressive of the mode in which angling is conducted in the sea and\nlarge pieces of water, such as the Lake of Galilee. The fisherman\ndoes not require a rod, but takes his line, which has a weight just\nabove the hook, coils it on his left arm in lasso fashion, baits the\nhook, and then, with a peculiar swing, throws it into the water as\nfar as it will reach. The hook is allowed to sink for a short time,\nand is then drawn towards the shore in a series of jerks, in order\nto attract the Fish, so that, although the fisherman does not employ\na rod, he manages his line very much as does an angler of our own\nday when \"spinning\" for pike or trout.\n\nSometimes the fisherman has a number of lines to manage, and in this\ncase he acts in a slightly different manner. After throwing out the\nloaded hook, as above mentioned, he takes a short stick, notched at\none end, and pointed at the other, thrusts the sharp end into the\nground at the margin of the water, and hitches the line on the notch.\n\nHe then proceeds to do the same with all his lines in succession,\nand when he has flung the last hook into the water, he sits down\non a heap of leaves and grass which he has gathered together, and\nwatches the lines to see if either of them is moved in the peculiar\njerking manner which is characteristic of a \"bite.\" After a while,\nhe hauls them in successively, removes the Fish that may have been\ncaught, and throws the lines into the water afresh.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe now come to the practice of catching Fish by the net, a custom\nto which the various Scriptural writers frequently refer, sometimes\nin course of historical narrative, and sometimes by way of allegory\nor metaphor. The reader will remember that the net was also used on\nland for the purpose of catching wild animals, and that many of the\nallusions to the net which occur in the Old Testament refer to the\nland and not to the water.\n\nThe commonest kind of net, which was used in the olden times as it\nis now, was the casting-net. This kind of net is circular, and is\nloaded all round its edge with weights, and suspended by the middle\nto a cord. When the fisherman throws this net, he gathers it up in\nfolds in his arms, and, with a peculiar swing of the arms, only to\nbe learned by long practice, flings it so that it spreads out and\nfalls in its circular form upon the surface of the water. It rapidly\nsinks to the bottom, the loaded circumference causing it to assume\na cup-like form, enclosing within its meshes all the Fish that\nhappen to be under it as it falls. When it has reached the bottom,\nthe fisherman cautiously hauls in the rope, so that the loaded\nedges gradually approach each other, and by their own weight cling\ntogether and prevent the Fish from escaping as the net is slowly\ndrawn ashore.\n\nThis kind of net is found, with certain modifications, in nearly\nall parts of the world. The Chinese are perhaps supreme in their\nmanagement of it. They have a net of extraordinary size, and cast it\nby flinging it over their backs, the huge circle spreading itself\nout in the most perfect manner as it falls on the water.\n\nAt the present day, when the fishermen use this net they wade into\nthe sea as far as they can, and then cast it. In consequence of this\ncustom, the fishermen are always naked while engaged in their work,\nwearing nothing but a thick cap in order to save themselves from\nsun-stroke. It is probable that on the memorable occasion mentioned\nby St. John, in chap. xxi., all the fishermen were absolutely,\nand not relatively naked, wearing no clothes at all, not even the\nordinary tunic.\n\nThat a great variety of nets was used by the ancient Jews is\nevident from the fact that there are no less than ten words to\nsignify different kinds of net. At the present day we have very\ngreat difficulty in deciding upon the exact interpretation of these\ntechnical terms, especially as in very few cases are we assisted\neither by the context or by the etymology of the words. It is the\nsame in all trades or pursuits, and we can easily understand how our\nown names of drag-net, seine, trawl, and keer-drag would perplex\nany commentator who happened to live some two thousand years after\nEnglish had ceased to be a living language.\n\n[Illustration: MODE OF DRAGGING THE SEINE-NET.]\n\nThe Sagene, or seine-net, was made in lengths, any number of which\ncould be joined together, so as to enclose a large space of water.\nThe upper edge was kept at the surface of the water by floats, and\nthe lower edge sunk by weights.\n\nThis net was always taken to sea in vessels, and when \"shot\" the\nvarious lengths were joined together, and the net extended in a\nline, with a boat at each end. The boats then gradually approached\neach other, so as to bring the net into a semicircle, and finally\nmet, enclosing thereby a vast number of Fishes in their meshen\nwalls. The water was then beaten, so as to frighten the Fishes\nand drive them into the meshes, and the net was then either taken\nashore, or lifted by degrees on board the boats, and the Fish\nremoved from it.\n\nAs in a net of this kind Fishes of all sorts are enclosed, the\ncontents are carefully examined, and those which are unfit for\neating are thrown away. Even at the present day much care is taken\nin the selection, but in the ancient times the fishermen were still\nmore cautious, every Fish having to be separately examined in order\nthat the presence both of fins and scales might be assured before\nthe captors could send it to the market.\n\nIt is to this custom that Christ alludes in the well-known parable\nof the net: \"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that\nwas cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind;\n\n\"Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and\ngathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nLastly, we come to the religious, or rather superstitious, part\nplayed by Fish in the ancient times. That the Egyptians employed\nFish as material symbols of Divine attributes we learn from secular\nwriters, such as Herodotus and Strabo.\n\nThe Jews, who seem to have had an irrepressible tendency to\nidolatry, and to have adopted the idols of every people with whom\nthey came in contact, resuscitated the Fish-worship of Egypt as soon\nas they found themselves among the Philistines. We might naturally\nimagine that as the Israelites were bitterly opposed to their\npersistent enemy, who trod them under foot and crushed every attempt\nat rebellion for more than three hundred years, they would repudiate\nthe worship as well as the rule of their conquerors. But, on the\ncontrary, they adopted the worship of Dagon, the Fish-god, who was\nthe principal deity of the Philistines, and erected temples in his\nhonour.\n\nWe find precisely the same worship at the present day in Siam, where\nDagon has exactly the same form as among the Philistines of old.\nThere is now before me a photograph of a great temple at Ayutia, the\nentrance to which is guarded by two huge images of the Fish-god.\nThey are about sixty feet in height, and have both legs and feet\nlike man, but in addition the lower part of the body is modified\ninto the tail of a Fish, which, in common with the whole of the\nbody, is covered with gilded scales.\n\nIn order that the reader may see examples of the typical Fish which\nare to be found in Egypt and Palestine, I have added three more\nspecies, which are represented in the following illustration.\n\n[Illustration: FISHES OF EGYPT AND PALESTINE.\n\n1. NILE PERCH. 2. SURMULLET. 3. STAR-GAZER.]\n\nThe uppermost figure represents the NILE PERCH. This Fish is\nplentiful in the Nile, and in the mouths of many Asiatic rivers. It\nis brown above, silvery white below, and may be distinguished by the\narmed gill-covers, and the three strong spines of the anal fin. The\ntongue is smooth.\n\nImmediately below the Nile Perch is the STAR-GAZER.\n\nThis Fish is found in the Mediterranean, and derives its name from\nthe singular mode in which the eyes are set in the head, so that it\nlooks upwards instead of sideways. It is one of the mud-lovers,\na fact which accounts for the peculiar position of the eyes. It\nis said to feed after the fashion of the fishing-frog--_i.e._ by\nburying itself in the mud and attracting other Fishes by a worm-like\nappendage of its mouth, and pouncing on them before they are aware\nof their danger.\n\nThis is not a pretty Fish, and as it is very spiny, is not pleasant\nto the grasp, but its flesh is very good, and it is much valued by\nthose who can obtain it.\n\nThe last Fish to be noticed is the SURMULLET, a Fish that is equally\nremarkable for the beauty of its colours and the excellence of its\nflesh.\n\n[Illustration: man]\n\n\n\n\nMOLLUSCS.\n\n The purple of Scripture--The sac containing the purple\n dye--Curious change of colour--Mode of obtaining the dye--The\n Tyrian purple--The king of the Ethiopians and the purple\n robe--The professional purple dyers--Various words expressive of\n different shades of purple.\n\n\nLeaving the higher forms of animal life, we now pass to the\nInvertebrated Animals which are mentioned in Scripture.\n\nAs may be inferred from the extreme looseness of nomenclature\nwhich prevails among the higher animals, the species which can be\nidentified are comparatively few, and of them but a very few details\nare given in the Scriptures.\n\nTaking them in their zoological order, we will begin with the\nMOLLUSCS.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe are all familiar with the value which was set by the ancients\nupon the peculiar dye which may be called by the name of Imperial\nPurple. In the first place, it was exceedingly costly, not only\nfor its richness of hue, but from the great difficulty with which\na sufficient quantity could be procured for staining a dress.\nPurple was exclusively a royal colour, which might not be worn by a\nsubject. Among the ancient Romans, during the times of the C\u00e6sars,\nany one who ventured to appear in a dress of purple would do so at\nthe peril of his life. In the consular days of Rome, the dress of\nthe consuls was white, striped with purple; but the C\u00e6sars advanced\nanother step in luxury, and dyed the whole toga of this costly hue.\n\nThe colour of the dye is scarcely what we understand by the term\n\"purple,\" _i.e._ a mixture of blue and red. It has but very little\nblue in it, and has been compared by the ancients to the colour\nof newly-clotted blood. It is obtained from several Shell Fish\nbelonging to the great Whelk family, the chief of which is the\n_Murex brandaris_.\n\nThe shell is shaped something like that of a whelk, but is very\nsmooth and porcelain-like, and is generally white, ornamented with\nseveral coloured bands. It is, however, one of the most variable of\nshells, differing not only in colour but in form. It always inhabits\nthe belt of the shore between tide-marks, and preys upon other\nMolluscs, such as the mussel and periwinkle, literally licking them\nto pieces with its long riband tongue.\n\nThis tongue is beset with rows of hooked teeth, exactly like the\nshark-tooth weapons of the Samoan and Mangaian Islanders, and with\nit the creature is enabled to bore through the shells of mussels\nand similar Molluscs, and to eat the enclosed animal. It is very\ndestructive to periwinkles, thrusting its tongue through the mouth\nof the shell, piercing easily the operculum by which the entrance is\nclosed, and gradually scooping out the unfortunate inmate.\n\nEven the bivalves, which can shut themselves up between two shells,\nfare no better, the tongue of the Dog-Whelk rasping a hole in the\nhard shell in eight-and-forty hours.\n\nIn order to procure the animal, the shell must be broken with a\nsharp blow of a small hammer, and the receptacle of the colouring\nmatter can then be seen behind the head, and recognised by its\nlighter hue.\n\nWhen it is opened, a creamy sort of matter exudes. It is yellowish,\nand gives no promise of its future richness of hue. There is only\none drop of this matter in each animal, and it is about sufficient\nin quantity to stain a piece of linen the size of a dime.\n\nThe best mode of seeing the full beauty of the purple is to take a\nnumber of the Molluscs, and to stain as large a surface as possible.\nThe piece of linen should then be exposed to the rays of the sun,\nwhen it will go through a most curious series of colours. The yellow\nbegins to turn green, and, after a while, the stained portions of\nthe linen will be entirely green, the yellow having been vanquished\nby the blue. By degrees the blue predominates more and more over the\nyellow, until the linen is no more green, but blue. Then, just as\nthe yellow yielded to the blue, the blue yields to red, and becomes\nfirst violet, then purple, and lastly assumes the blood-red hue of\nroyalty.\n\nThe colour is very permanent, and, instead of fading by time, seems\nrather to brighten.\n\nIn some cases the ancients appear not to have troubled themselves\nwith the complicated operation of taking the animal out of the\nshell, opening the receptacle, and squeezing the contents on the\nfabric to be dyed, but simply crushed the whole of the Mollusc,\nso as to set the colouring matter free, and steeped the cloth\nin the pulp. Tyre was one of the most celebrated spots for this\nmanufacture, the \"Tyrian dye\" being celebrated for its richness.\nHeaps of broken shells remain to the present day as memorials of the\nlong-perished manufacture.\n\nThe value which the ancients set upon this dye is shown by many\npassages in various books. Among others we may refer to Herodotus.\n\nCambyses, it appears, had a design to make war upon three\nnations, the Ammonians, the Carthaginians, and the Ethiopians. He\ndetermined to invade the first by land, and the second by sea;\nbut, being ignorant of the best method of reaching the Ethiopians,\nhe dispatched messengers to them, nominally as ambassadors, but\npractically as spies. He sent to the King of Ethiopia valuable\npresents--namely, a purple mantle, a golden necklace and bracelet,\nan elaborate box of perfumed ointment, and a cask of palm-wine,\nthese evidently being considered a proof of imperial magnificence.\n\nThe Ethiopian king ridiculed the jewels, praised the wine, and\nasked curiously concerning the dye with which the purple mantle\nwas stained. On being told the mode of preparation, he refused\nto believe the visitors, and, referring to the changing hues of\nthe mantle and to the perfume of the ointment, he showed his\nappreciation of their real character by saying that the goods were\ndeceptive, and so were the bearers.\n\nThe Hebrew word _argaman_, which signifies the regal purple, occurs\nseveral times in Scripture, and takes a slightly different form\naccording to the Chaldaic or Hebraic idiom.\n\nFor example, we find it in Exod. xxv. 4: \"This is the offering which\nye shall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass,\n\n\"And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen,\" &c. &c.\n\nIt occurs again in 2 Chron. ii. 7: \"Send me now therefore a man\ncunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron,\nand in purple, and crimson, and blue.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE SNAIL.\n\n The Snail which melteth--Rendering of the Jewish Bible--Theory\n respecting the track of the Snail--The Hebrew word\n _Shablul_--Various Snails of Palestine.\n\n\nThere is a very remarkable and not very intelligible passage in Ps.\nlviii. 8: \"As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass\naway.\" The Jewish Bible renders the passage in a way which explains\nthe idea which evidently prevailed at the time when the Psalms were\ncomposed: \"As a snail let him melt as he passeth on.\"\n\nThe ancients had an idea that the slimy track made by a Snail as it\ncrawled along was subtracted from the substance of its body, and\nthat in consequence the farther it crept, the smaller it became,\nuntil at last it wasted entirely away. The commentators on the\nTalmud took this view of the case. The Hebrew word _shablul_, which\nundoubtedly does signify a Snail of some kind, is thus explained:\n\"The Shablul is a creeping thing: when it comes out of its shell,\nsaliva pours from itself, until it becomes liquid, and so dies.\"\n\nOther explanations of this passage have been offered, but there is\nno doubt that the view taken by these commentators is the correct\none, and that the Psalmist, when he wrote the terrible series of\ndenunciations in which the passage in question occurs, had in his\nmind the popular belief regarding the gradual wasting away of the\nSnail as it \"passeth on.\"\n\nIt is needless to say that no particular species of Snail is\nmentioned, and almost as needless to state that in Palestine there\nare many species of Snails, to any or all of which these words are\nequally applicable.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: PEARL OYSTER.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PEARL.\n\n The Pearl of Scripture--Wisdom compared to Pearl--Metaphorical\n uses of the Pearl--The Pearl of great price--Casting Pearls\n before swine.\n\n\nThere is only one passage in the Old Testament in which can be found\nthe word which is translated as PEARL, and it is certain that the\nword in question may have another interpretation.\n\nThe word in question is _gabish_, and occurs in Job xxviii.\n18. Treating of wisdom, in that magnificent passage beginning,\n\"But where shall Wisdom be found, and where is the place of\nunderstanding?\" the sacred writer uses these words, \"No mention\nshall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is\nabove rubies.\"\n\nIn consequence of the labour and research required for seeking\nwisdom, it was proverbially likened to a Pearl, and in this sense\nwe must understand the warning of our Lord, not to cast Pearls\nbefore swine. The \"pearl of great price\" is another form of the same\nmetaphor.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe substance of Pearls is essentially the same as that which lines\nmany shells, and is known as \"mother of pearl.\"\n\nAlthough a large number of shell-fish secrete \"mother of pearl,\"\nonly a few of them yield true Pearls. The finest are obtained from\nthe so-called Pearl oyster, an illustration of which is given on the\npreceding page.\n\nThe Ancients obtained their Pearls chiefly from India and the\nPersian Gulf, where to this day the industry of Pearl-fishing is\nstill carried on by the natives.\n\nThe oysters containing the Pearls are brought up from the bottom of\nthe sea by divers, who go out in boats to the fishing-grounds, which\nare some distance from the shore.\n\nLeaping naked into the water, carrying a heavy stone to enable him\nto sink quickly to the bottom, the diver descends to where the\noysters lie, and secures as many of them as possible during the\nlimited time that his breath lasts. On an average the divers remain\nunder water from fifty to eighty seconds, though some can endure a\nmuch longer period.\n\nSharks are the special dread of Pearl-divers, and many are carried\noff by this fierce monster of the deep. To arm himself against their\nattack the diver carries a sharp knife, and instances are known of\nhis having attacked and fairly defeated the dread destroyer in its\nown element.\n\nNot only is the diver exposed to the danger of attack from sharks,\nbut his hazardous calling is necessarily exhausting, and, as a rule,\nhe is a short-lived man.\n\nThere are some kinds of fresh-water mussels which contain Pearls of\nan inferior quality; perhaps the most celebrated of these is the\nPearl Mussel of the Chinese, who make a singular use of it. They\nstring a number of globular pellets, and introduce them between\nthe valves of the mussel, so that in course of time the creature\ndeposits a coating of pearly substance upon them, and forms a very\ngood imitation of real Pearls.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: insects]\n\n[Illustration: butterfly]\n\n\n\n\nINSECTS.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LOCUST.\n\n Insects--The Locust-The two migratory Locusts at rest and on\n the wing--The Locust swarms--Gordon Cumming's account--Progress\n of the insect hosts--Vain attempts to check them--Tossed up and\n down as a Locust--Effect of the winds on the insect--The east\n and the west winds--Locusts used for food--Ancient and modern\n travellers--The food of John the Baptist.\n\n\nOf the LOCUSTS there are several species in Palestine, two of which\nare represented in the accompanying plate. Those on the ground are\nthe common Migratory Locusts, while those on the wing, which have\nlong heads, are a species of _Truxalis_.\n\nThe Locust belongs to the great order of Orthoptera, or\nstraight-winged insects. They have, when fully developed, four\nwings, the two front being thick and membraneous, while the\ntwo hinder wings are large, delicate, translucent, and folded\nlongitudinally under the front pair of wings when the insect is at\nrest. In the Locusts these characteristics are admirably shown. The\nappearance of a Locust when at rest and when flying is so different\nthat the creature is at first sight scarcely recognisable as the\nsame creature. When at rest, it is a compact and tolerably stout\ninsect, with a dull though delicately coloured body; but when it\ntakes flight it appears to attain twice its previous dimensions.\n\nThe front pair of wings, which alone were seen before they were\nexpanded, became comparatively insignificant, while the hinder\npair, which were before invisible, became the most prominent part\nof the insect, their translucent folds being coloured with the most\nbrilliant hues, according to the species. The body seems to have\nshrunk as the wings have increased, and to have diminished to half\nits previous size, while the long legs that previously were so\nconspicuous are stretched out like the legs of a flying heron.\n\nAll the Locusts are vegetable-feeders, and do great harm wherever\nthey happen to be plentiful, their powerful jaws severing even the\nthick grass stems as if cut by scissors. But it is only when they\ninvade a country that their real power is felt. They come flying\nwith the wind in such vast multitudes that the sky is darkened as\nif by thunder-clouds; and when they settle, every vestige of green\ndisappears off the face of the earth.\n\nMr. Gordon Cumming once saw a flight of these Locusts. They flew\nabout three hundred feet from the ground, and came on in thick,\nsolid masses, forming one unbroken cloud. On all sides nothing was\nto be seen but Locusts. The air was full of them, and the plain was\ncovered with them, and for more than an hour the insect army flew\npast him. When the Locusts settle, they eat with such voracity that\nthe sound caused by their jaws cutting the leaves and grass can be\nheard at a great distance; and even the young Locusts, which have no\nwings, and are graphically termed by the Dutch colonists of Southern\nAfrica \"voet-gangers,\" or foot-goers, are little inferior in power\nof jaw to the fully-developed insect.\n\nAs long as they have a favourable wind, nothing stops the progress\nof the Locusts. They press forward just like the vast herds of\nantelopes that cover the plains of Africa, or the bisons that once\nblackened the prairies of America, and the progress of even the\nwingless young is as irresistible as that of the adult insects.\nRegiments of soldiers have in vain attempted to stop them. Trenches\nhave been dug across their path, only to be filled up in a few\nminutes with the advancing hosts, over whose bodies the millions of\nsurvivors continued their march. When the trenches were filled with\nwater, the result was the same; and even when fire was substituted\nfor water, the flames were quenched by the masses of Locusts that\nfell into them. When they come to a tree, they climb up it in\nswarms, and devour every particle of foliage, not even sparing the\nbark of the smaller branches. They ascend the walls of houses that\ncome in the line of their march, swarming in at the windows, and\ngnawing in their hunger the very woodwork of the furniture.\n\nWe shall now see how true to nature is the terrible prophecy of\nJoel. \"A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of\nthick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great\npeople and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither\nshall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.\n\n[Illustration: LOCUSTS.]\n\n\"A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth:\nthe land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a\ndesolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.\n\n\"And the Lord shall utter His voice before His army: for His camp is\nvery great\" (Joel ii. 2-11).\n\nNothing can be more vividly accurate than this splendid description\nof the Locust armies. First we have the darkness caused by them as\nthey fly like black clouds between the sun and the earth. Then comes\nthe contrast between the blooming and fertile aspect of the land\nbefore they settle on it, and its utter desolation when they leave\nit.\n\nThere is one passage in the Scriptures which at first sight seems\nrather obscure, but is clear enough when we understand the character\nof the insect to which it refers: \"I am gone like the shadow when it\ndeclineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust\" (Ps. cix. 23).\n\nAlthough the Locusts have sufficient strength of flight to remain\non the wing for a considerable period, and to pass over great\ndistances, they have little or no command over the direction of\ntheir flight, and always travel with the wind, just as has been\nmentioned regarding the quail. So entirely are they at the mercy\nof the wind, that if a sudden gust arises the Locusts are tossed\nabout in the most helpless manner; and if they should happen to come\nacross one of the circular air-currents that are so frequently found\nin the countries which they inhabit, they are whirled round and\nround without the least power of extricating themselves.\n\nIn the account of the great plague of Locusts, the wind is mentioned\nas the proximate cause both of their arrival and their departure.\nSee, for example, Exod. x. 12, 13:\n\n\"And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land\nof Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of\nEgypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath\nleft.\n\n\"And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the\nLord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that\nnight; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.\"\n\nAfterwards, when Moses was brought before Pharaoh, and entreated to\nremove the plague which had been brought upon the land, the west\nwind was employed to take the Locusts away, just as the east wind\nhad brought them.\n\n\"He went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord.\n\n\"And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the\nlocusts, and cast them into the Red Sea; there remained not one\nlocust in all the coasts of Egypt\" (Exod. x. 18, 19).\n\nModern travellers have given accounts of these Locust armies, which\nexactly correspond with the sacred narrative. One traveller mentions\nthat, after a severe storm, the Locusts were destroyed in such\nmultitudes, that they were heaped in a sort of wall, varying from\nthree to four feet in height, fifty miles in length, and almost\nunapproachable, on account of the odour of their decomposing bodies.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe now come to the use of Locusts as food.\n\nVery few insects have been recognised as fit for human food, even\namong uncivilized nations, and it is rather singular that the\nIsraelites, whose dietary was so scrupulously limited, should have\nbeen permitted the use of the Locust. These insects are, however,\neaten in all parts of the world which they frequent, and in some\nplaces form an important article of diet, thus compensating in some\nway for the amount of vegetable food which they consume.\n\nWhen their captors have roasted and eaten as many as they can manage\nto devour, they dry the rest over the fires, pulverize them between\ntwo stones, and keep the meal for future use, mixing it with water,\nor, if they can get it, with milk.\n\nWe will now take a few accounts given by travellers of the present\nday, selecting one or two from many. Mr. W. G. Palgrave, in his\n\"Central and Eastern Arabia,\" gives a description of the custom of\neating Locusts. \"On a sloping bank, at a short distance in front, we\ndiscerned certain large black patches, in strong contrast with the\nwhite glisten of the soil around, and at the same time our attention\nwas attracted by a strange whizzing, like that of a flight of\nhornets, close along the ground, while our dromedaries capered and\nstarted as though struck with sudden insanity.\n\n\"The cause of all this was a vast swarm of locusts, here alighted\nin their northerly wanderings from their birthplace in the Dahna;\ntheir camp extended far and wide, and we had already disturbed their\noutposts. These insects are wont to settle on the ground after\nsunset, and there, half-stupified by the night chill, await the\nmorning rays, which warm them once more into life and movement.\n\n\"This time, the dromedaries did the work of the sun, and it would be\nhard to say which of the two were the most frightened, they or the\nlocusts. It was truly laughable to see so huge a beast lose his wits\nfor fear at the flight of a harmless, stingless insect, for, of all\ntimid creatures, none equal this 'ship of the desert' for cowardice.\n\n\"But, if the beasts were frightened, not so their masters. I really\nthought they would have gone mad for joy. Locusts are here an\narticle of food, nay, a dainty, and a good swarm of them is begged\nof Heaven in Arabia....\n\n\"The locust, when boiled or fried, is said to be delicious, and\nboiled and fried accordingly they are to an incredible extent.\nHowever, I never could persuade myself to taste them, whatever\ninvitations the inhabitants of the land, smacking their lips over\nlarge dishes full of entomological 'delicatesses,' would make me to\njoin them. Barak\u00e0t ventured on one for a trial. He pronounced it\noily and disgusting, nor added a second to the first: it is caviare\nto unaccustomed palates.\n\n\"The swarm now before us was a thorough godsend for our Arabs, on no\naccount to be neglected. Thirst, weariness, all were forgotten, and\ndown the riders leaped from their starting camels. This one spread\nout a cloak, that one a saddle-bag, a third his shirt, over the\nunlucky creatures, destined for the morning meal. Some flew away,\nwhizzing across our feet; others were caught, and tied up in sacks.\"\n\nMr. Mansfield Parkyns, in his \"Life in Abyssinia,\" mentions that the\ntrue Abyssinian will not eat the Locust, but that the negroes and\nArabs do so. He describes the flavour as being something between\nthe burnt end of a quill and a crumb of linseed cake. The flavour,\nhowever, depends much on the mode of cooking, and, as some say, on\nthe nature of the Locusts' food.\n\nSignor Pierotti states, in his \"Customs and Traditions of\nPalestine,\" that Locusts are really excellent food, and that he was\naccustomed to eat them, not from necessity, but from choice, and\ncompares their flavour to that of shrimps.\n\nDr. Livingstone makes a similar comparison. In Palestine, Locusts\nare eaten either roasted or boiled in salt and water, but, when\npreserved for future use, they are dried in the sun, their heads,\nwings, and legs picked off, and their bodies ground into dust. This\ndust has naturally a rather bitter flavour, which is corrected by\nmixing it with camel's milk or honey, the latter being the favourite\nsubstance.\n\nWe may now see that the food of John the Baptist was, like his\ndress, that of a people who lived at a distance from towns, and\nthat there was no more hardship in the one than in the other.\nSome commentators have tried to prove that he fed on the fruit of\nthe locust or carob tree--the same that is used in some countries\nfor feeding cattle; but there is not the least ground for such\nan explanation. The account of his life, indeed, requires no\nexplanation; Locust-dust, mixed with honey, being an ordinary\narticle of food even at the present day.\n\n[Illustration: locust]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: flowers]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEE.\n\n The Honey Bee of Palestine--Abundance of Bees in the\n Holy Land--Habitations of the wild Bee--The honey of\n Scripture--Domesticated Bees and their hives--Stores of wild\n honey--The story of Jonathan--The Crusaders and the honey.\n\n\nFortunately, there is no doubt about the rendering of the Hebrew\nword _deb\u00f4rah,_ which has always been acknowledged to be rightly\ntranslated as \"Bee.\"\n\nThe Honey Bee is exceedingly plentiful in Palestine, and in some\nparts of the country multiplying to such an extent that the\nprecipitous ravines in which it takes up its residence are almost\nimpassable by human beings, so jealous are the Bees of their\ndomains. Although the Bee is not exactly the same species as that\nof our own country, being the Banded Bee _(Apis fasciata),_ and not\nthe _Apis mellifica,_ the two insects very much resemble each other\nin shape, colour, and habits. Both of them share the instinctive\ndislike of strangers and jealousy of intrusion, and the Banded Bee\nof Palestine has as great an objection to intrusion as its congener\nin this country.\n\nSeveral allusions are made in the Scriptures to this trait in the\ncharacter of the Bee. See, for example, Deut. i. 44: \"And the\nAmorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you,\nand chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto\nHormah.\" All those who have had the misfortune to offend Bees will\nrecognise the truth of this metaphor, the Amorites swarming out of\nthe mountain like wild Bees out of the rocky clefts which serve them\nas hives, and chasing the intruder fairly out of their domains.\n\n[Illustration: THE BEE]\n\nA similar metaphor is employed in the Psalms: \"They compassed me\nabout; yea, they compassed me about; but in the name of the Lord I\nwill destroy them.\n\n\"They compassed me about like bees, they are quick as the fire of\nthorns, but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.\"\n\nThe custom of swarming is mentioned in one of the earlier books of\nScripture. The reader will remember that, after Samson had killed\nthe lion which met him on the way, he left the carcase alone.\nThe various carnivorous beasts and birds at once discover such a\nbanquet, and in a very short time the body of a dead animal is\nreduced to a hollow skeleton, partially or entirely covered with\nskin, the rays of the sun drying and hardening the skin until it is\nlike horn.\n\nIn exceptionally hot weather, the same result occurs even in this\ncountry. Some years before this account was written there was a\nvery hot and dry summer, and a great mortality took place among the\nsheep. So many indeed died that at last their owners merely flayed\nthem, and left their bodies to perish. One of the dead sheep had\nbeen thrown into a rather thick copse, and had fallen in a spot\nwhere it was sheltered from the wind, and yet exposed to the fierce\nheat of the summer's sun. The consequence was that in a few days\nit was reduced to a mere shell. The heat hardened and dried the\nexternal layer of flesh so that not even the carnivorous beetles\ncould penetrate it, while the whole of the interior dissolved into\na semi-putrescent state, and was rapidly devoured by myriads of\nblue-bottles and other larv\u00e6.\n\nIt was so thoroughly dried that scarcely any evil odour clung to\nit, and as soon as I came across it the story of Samson received a\nsimple elucidation. In the hotter Eastern lands, the whole process\nwould have been more rapid and more complete, and the skeleton of\nthe lion, with the hard and horny skin strained over it, would\nafford exactly the habitation of which a wandering swarm of Bees\nwould take advantage. At the present day swarms of wild Bees often\nmake their habitations within the desiccated bodies of dead camels\nthat have perished on the way.\n\nAs to the expression \"hissing\" for the Bee, the reader must bear in\nmind that a sharp, short hiss is the ordinary call in Palestine,\nwhen one person desires to attract the attention of another. A\nsimilar sound, which may perhaps be expressed by the letters _tst_,\nprevails on the Continent at the present day. Signor Pierotti\nremarks that the inhabitants of Palestine are even now accustomed to\nsummon Bees by a sort of hissing sound.\n\nWhether the honey spoken of in the Scriptures was obtained from wild\nor domesticated Bees is not very certain, but, as the manners of the\nEast are much the same now as they were three thousand years ago,\nit is probable that Bees were kept then as they are now. The hives\nare not in the least like ours, but are cylindrical vases of coarse\nearthenware, laid horizontally, much like the bark hives employed in\nmany parts of Southern Africa.\n\nIn some places the hives are actually built into the walls of the\nhouses, the closed end of the cylinder projecting into the interior,\nwhile an entrance is made for the Bees in the other end, so that the\ninsects have no business in the house. When the inhabitants wish to\ntake the honey, they resort to the operation which is technically\ntermed \"driving\" by bee-masters.\n\nThey gently tap the end within the house, and continue the tapping\nuntil the Bees, annoyed by the sound, have left the hive. They then\ntake out the circular door that closes the end of the hive, remove\nas much comb as they want, carefully put back those portions which\ncontain grubs and bee-bread, and replace the door, when the Bees\nsoon return and fill up the gaps in the combs. As to the wasteful,\ncruel, and foolish custom of \"burning\" the Bees, the Orientals never\nthink of practising it.\n\nIn many places the culture of Bees is carried out to a very great\nextent, numbers of the earthenware cylinders being piled on one\nanother, and a quantity of mud thrown over them in order to defend\nthem from the rays of the sun, which would soon melt the wax of the\ncombs.\n\nIn consequence of the geographical characteristics of the Holy Land,\nwhich supplies not only convenient receptacles for the Bees in the\nrocks, but abundance of thyme and similar plants, vast stores of\nbee-comb are to be found in the cliffs, and form no small part of\nthe wealth of the people.\n\nThe abundance of wild honey is shown by the memorable events\nrecorded in 1 Sam. xiv. Saul had prohibited all the people\nfrom eating until the evening. Jonathan, who had not heard the\nprohibition, was faint and weary, and, seeing honey dripping on the\nground from the abundance and weight of the comb, he took it up on\nthe end of his staff, and ate sufficient to restore his strength.\n\nThus, if we refer again to the history of John the Baptist and his\nfood, we shall find that he was in no danger of starving for want\nof nourishment, the Bees breeding abundantly in the desert places\nhe frequented, and affording him a plentiful supply of the very\nmaterial which was needed to correct the deficiencies of the dried\nlocusts which he used instead of bread.\n\nThe expression \"a land flowing with milk and honey\" has become\nproverbial as a metaphor expressive of plenty. Those to whom the\nwords were spoken understood it as something more than a metaphor.\nIn the work to which reference has already been made Signor Pierotti\nwrites as follows:--\"Let us now see how far the land could be said\nto flow with milk and honey during the latter part of its history\nand at the present day.\n\n\"We find that honey was abundant in the time of the Crusades, for\nthe English, who followed Edward I. to Palestine, died in great\nnumbers from the excessive heat, and from eating too much fruit and\nhoney.\n\n\"At the present day, after traversing the country in every\ndirection, I am able to affirm that in the south-east and\nnorth-east, where the ancient customs of the patriarchs are most\nfully preserved, and the effects of civilization have been felt\nleast, milk and honey may still be said to flow, as they form a\nportion of every meal, and may even be more abundant than water,\nwhich fails occasionally in the heat of summer.... I have often\neaten of the comb, which I found very good and of delicious\nfragrance.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Bee represented in the illustration is the common Bee of\nPalestine, _Apis fasciata_. The lowest figure in the corner, with\na long body and shut wings, is the queen. The central figure\nrepresents the drone, conspicuous by means of his large eyes, that\nalmost join each other at the top of the head, and for his thicker\nand stouter body, while the third figure represents the worker Bee.\nNear them is shown the entrance to one of the natural hives which\nare so plentiful in the Holy Land, and are made in the \"clefts of\nthe rocks.\" A number of Bees are shown issuing from the hole.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE HORNET AND ITS NEST.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE HORNET.\n\n The Tzirah or Hornet of Scripture--Travellers driven\n away by Hornets--The Hornet used as a metaphor--Oriental\n symbolism--Sting of the Hornet.\n\n\nStill keeping to the hymenopterous insects, we come to the Hornet.\nThere are three passages in which occurs the word _tzirah_, which\nhas been translated as Hornet. In every case when the word is\nmentioned the insect is employed in a metaphorical sense. See, for\nexample, Exod. xxiii. 27, 28: \"I will send my fear before thee, and\nwill destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come; and I will make\nall thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.\n\n\"And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the\nHivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.\"\n\nThe Hornet affords a most appropriate image for such a promise\nas was made to the Israelites, and was one which they must\nhave thoroughly comprehended. The Hornets of Palestine and the\nneighbouring countries are far more common than our own Hornets\nhere, and they evidently infested some parts to such an extent that\nthey gave their name to those spots. Thus the word _Zoreah_, which\nis mentioned in Josh. xv. 33, signifies the \"place of Hornets.\"\n\nThey make their nests in various ways; some species placing them\nunderground, and others disposing them as shown in the illustration,\nand merely sheltering them from the elements by a paper cover.\nSuch nests as these would easily be disturbed by the animals which\naccompanied the Israelites on their journeys, even if the people\nwere careful to avoid them. In such a case, the irritated insects\nrush out at the intruders; and so great is the terror of their\nstings, that men and beasts fly promiscuously in every direction,\neach only anxious to escape from the winged foes.\n\nThe recollection of such scenes would necessarily dwell in the\nmemory of those who had taken part in them, and cause the metaphor\nto impress itself strongly upon them.\n\nIt is needless to say that the passages in question might be literal\nstatements of facts, and that the various nations were actually\ndriven out of their countries by Hornets. Let the insects be brought\nupon the land in sufficient numbers, and neither man nor beast\ncould stay in it. It is not likely, however, that such a series of\nmiracles, far exceeding the insect-plagues of Egypt, would have been\nworked without frequent references to them in the subsequent books\nof the Scriptures; and, moreover, the quick, short, and headlong\nflight of the attack of Hornets is a very different thing from\nthe emigration which is mentioned in the Scriptures, and the long\njourneys which such a proceeding involved.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: ANTS ON THE MARCH.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANT.\n\n The Ant of Scripture--Habit of laying up stores of food--The\n Ants of Palestine, and their habits--The Agricultural or\n Mound-making Ant--Preparing ground, sowing, tending, reaping,\n and storing the crop--Different habits of Ants--The winged Ants.\n\n\nOne of the best-known and most frequently quoted passages of\nScripture is found in Proverbs, chap. vi. 6-8: \"Go to the ant, thou\nsluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:\n\n\"Which, having no guide, overseer, or ruler,\n\n\"Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the\nharvest.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nIn Palestine Ants abound, and the species are tolerably numerous.\nAmong them are found some species which do convey seeds into their\nsubterranean home; and if their stores should be wetted by the heavy\nrains which sometimes prevail in that country, bring them to the\nouter air, as soon as the weather clears up, and dry them in the\nsun.\n\nThe writer of the Proverbs was therefore perfectly right when he\nalluded to the vegetable stores within the nest, and only spoke\nthe truth when he wrote of the Ant that it was exceeding wise. Any\none who wishes to test the truth of his words can easily do so by\nwatching the first Ants' nest which he finds, the species of the Ant\nnot being of much consequence. The nests of the Wood-Ant are perhaps\nthe best suited for investigation, partly because the insect and its\nhabitation are comparatively large, and, secondly, because so much\nof the work is done above-ground.\n\nThe most wonderful Ant in the world is one which hitherto is only\nknown in some parts of America. Its scientific name is _Atta\nmalefaciens_, and it has been called by various popular names, such\nas the Mound-making Ant and the Agricultural Ant on account of its\nhabits, and the Stinging Ant on account of the pungency of its\nvenom. This characteristic has gained for it the scientific name of\n_malefaciens_, or villanous.\n\nThe habits of this Ant were studied in Texas by Dr. Lincecum for\nthe space of twelve years, and the result of his investigations was\ncommunicated to the Linn\u00e6an Society by C. Darwin, Esq. It is so\nextraordinary an account that it must be given the narrator's own\nwords:--\n\n\"The species which I have named 'Agricultural' is a large brownish\nant. It dwells in what may be termed paved cities, and, like a\nthrifty, diligent, provident farmer, makes suitable and timely\narrangements for the changing seasons. It is, in short, endowed\nwith skill, ingenuity, and untiring patience sufficient to enable\nit successfully to contend with the varying exigencies which it may\nhave to encounter in the life-conflict.\n\n\"When it has selected a situation for its habitation, if on ordinary\ndry ground, it bores a hole, around which it raises the surface\nthree and sometimes six inches, forming a low circular mound having\na very gentle inclination from the centre to the outer border, which\non an average is three or four feet from the entrance. But if the\nlocation is chosen on low, flat, wet land liable to inundation,\nthough the ground may be perfectly dry at the time the ant sets to\nwork, it nevertheless elevates the mound, in the form of a pretty\nsharp cone, to the height of fifteen to twenty inches or more, and\nmakes the entrance near the summit. Around the mound in either case\nthe ant clears the ground of all obstructions, levels and smooths\nthe surface to the distance of three or four feet from the gate of\nthe city, giving the space the appearance of a handsome pavement, as\nit really is.\n\n\"Within this paved area not a blade of any green thing is allowed to\ngrow, except a single species of grain-bearing grass. Having planted\nthis crop in a circle around, and two or three feet from, the centre\nof the mound, the insect tends and cultivates it with constant care,\ncutting away all other grasses and weeds that may spring up amongst\nit and all around outside of the farm-circle to the extent of one or\ntwo feet more.\n\n\"The cultivated grass grows luxuriantly, and produces a heavy\ncrop of small, white, flinty seeds, which under the microscope\nvery closely resemble ordinary rice. When ripe, it is carefully\nharvested, and carried by the workers, chaff and all, into the\ngranary cells, where it is divested of the chaff and packed away.\nThe chaff is taken out and thrown beyond the limits of the paved\narea.\n\n\"During protracted wet weather, it sometimes happens that the\nprovision stores become damp, and are liable to sprout and spoil.\nIn this case, on the first fine day the ants bring out the damp and\ndamaged grain, and expose it to the sun till it is dry, when they\ncarry it back and pack away all the sound seeds, leaving those that\nhad sprouted to waste.\n\n\"In a peach-orchard not far from my house is a considerable\nelevation, on which is an extensive bed of rock. In the sand-beds\noverlying portions of this rock are fine cities of the Agricultural\nants, evidently very ancient. My observations on their manners\nand customs have been limited to the last twelve years, during\nwhich time the enclosure surrounding the orchard has prevented the\napproach of cattle to the ant-farms. The cities which are outside\nof the enclosure as well as those protected in it are, at the\nproper season, invariably planted with the ant-rice. The crop may\naccordingly always be seen springing up within the circle about the\n1st of November every year.\n\n\"Of late years, however, since the number of farms and cattle has\ngreatly increased, and the latter are eating off the grass much\ncloser than formerly, thus preventing the ripening of the seeds, I\nnotice that the Agricultural ant is placing its cities along the\nturn-rows in the fields, walks in gardens, inside about the gates,\n&c., where they can cultivate their farms without molestation from\nthe cattle.\n\n\"There can be no doubt of the fact, that the particular species of\ngrain-bearing grass mentioned above is intentionally planted. In\nfarmer-like manner the ground upon which it stands is carefully\ndivested of all other grasses and weeds during the time it is\ngrowing. When it is ripe the grain is taken care of, the dry stubble\ncut away and carried off, the paved area being left unencumbered\nuntil the ensuing autumn, when the same 'ant-rice' reappears within\nthe same circle, and receives the same agricultural attention as was\nbestowed upon the previous crop; and so on year after year, as I\n_know_ to be the case, in all situations where the ants' settlements\nare protected from graminivorous animals.\"\n\nIn a second letter, Dr. Lincecum, in reply to an inquiry from Mr.\nDarwin, whether he supposed that the Ants plant seeds for the\nensuing crop, says, \"I have not the slightest doubt of it. And\nmy conclusions have not been arrived at from hasty or careless\nobservation, nor from seeing the ants do something that looked a\nlittle like it, and then guessing at the results. I have at all\nseasons watched the same ant-cities during the last twelve years,\nand I know that what I stated in my former letter is true. I visited\nthe same cities yesterday, and found the crop of ant-rice growing\nfinely, and exhibiting also the signs of high cultivation, and not\na blade of any other kind of grass or weed was to be seen within\ntwelve inches of the circular row of ant-rice.\"\n\nThe economical habits of this wonderful insect far surpass anything\nthat Solomon has written of the Ant, and it is not too much to say\nthat if any of the Scriptural writers had ventured to speak of an\nAnt that not only laid up stores of grain, but actually prepared\nthe soil for the crop, planted the seed, kept the ground free from\nweeds, and finally reaped the harvest, the statement would have been\nutterly disbelieved, and the credibility not only of that particular\nwriter but of the rest of Scripture severely endangered.\n\nAs may be inferred from the above description, the habits of Ants\nvary greatly according to their species and the climate in which\nthey live. All, however, are wonderful creatures; and whether we\nlook at their varied architecture, their mode of procuring food,\nthe system of slave-catching adopted by some, the \"milking\" of\naphides practised by others, their astonishing mode of communicating\nthought to each other, and their perfect system of discipline, we\nfeel how true were the words of the royal naturalist, that the Ants\nare \"little upon earth, but are exceeding wise.\"\n\n[Illustration: ANT OF PALESTINE.]\n\nThere is one point of their economy in which all known species\nagree. Only those which are destined to become perfectly developed\nmales and females attain the winged state. Before they assume the\ntransitional or pupal condition, each spins around itself a slight\nbut tough silken cocoon, in which it lies secure during the time\nwhich is consumed in developing its full perfection of form.\n\nWhen it is ready to emerge, the labourer Ants aid in freeing it\nfrom the cocoon, and in a short time it is ready to fly. Millions of\nthese winged ants rise into the air, seeking their mates, and, as\nthey are not strong on the wing, and are liable to be tossed about\nby every gust of wind, vast numbers of them perish. Whole armies of\nthem fall into the water and are drowned or devoured by fish, while\nthe insectivorous birds hold great festival on so abundant a supply\nof food. As soon as they are mated they bend their wings forward,\nsnap them off, and pass the rest of their lives on the ground.\n\nIn consequence of the destruction that takes place among the winged\nAnts, the Arabs have a proverb which is applied to those who are\nover-ambitious: \"If God purposes the destruction of an ant, He\npermits wings to grow upon her.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE CRIMSON WORM.\n\n The scarlet or crimson of Scripture--The Coccus or Cochineal of\n Palestine compared with that of Mexico--Difference between the\n sexes--Mode of preparing the insect.\n\n\nWe now come to another order of insects.\n\nJust as the purple dye was obtained from a shell-fish, the scarcely\nless valuable crimson or scarlet was obtained from an insect. This\nis an insect popularly known as the Crimson Worm. It is closely\nallied to the cochineal insect of Mexico, which gives a more\nbrilliant dye, and has at the present day nearly superseded the\nnative insect. It is, however, still employed as a dye in some parts\nof the country.\n\nLike the cochineal insect of Mexico, the female is very much larger\nthan her mate, and it is only from her that the dye is procured. At\nthe proper season of year the females are gathered off the trees\nand carefully dried, the mode of drying having some effect upon the\nquality of the dye. During the process of drying the insect alters\ngreatly, both in colour and size, shrinking to less than half its\noriginal dimensions, and assuming a greyish brown hue instead of\na deep red. When placed in water it soon gives out its colouring\nmatter, and communicates to the water the rich colour with which\nwe are familiar under the name of carmine, or crimson. This latter\nname, by the way, is only a corruption of the Arabic _kermes_, which\nis the name of the insect.\n\n[Illustration: THE CRIMSON WORM.]\n\nThe reader will remember that this was one of the three sacred\ncolours--scarlet, purple, and blue--used in the vestments of the\npriests and the hangings of the tabernacle, the white not taking\nrank as a colour.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CLOTHES MOTH.\n\n The Moth of Scripture evidently the Clothes Moth--Moths and\n garments--Accumulation of clothes in the East--Various uses of\n the hoarded robes--The Moths, the rust, and the thief.\n\n\nOne of the insects mentioned by name in the Scriptures is the MOTH,\nby which we must always understand some species of Clothes Moth.\nThese are as plentiful and destructive in Palestine as in this\ncountry.\n\nSeveral references are made to the Moth in the Scriptures, and\nnearly all have reference to its destructive habits. The solitary\nexceptions occur in the Book of Job, \"Behold, He put no trust in His\nservants; and His angels He charged with folly: how much less in\nthem that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust,\nwhich are crushed before the moth?\"\n\nIn the New Testament reference is made several times to the Moth.\n\"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust\ndoth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal\" (Matt. vi.\n19).\n\nEven to ourselves these passages are significant enough, but to the\nJews and the inhabitants of Palestine they possessed a force which\nwe can hardly realize in this country. In the East large stores of\nclothing are kept by the wealthy, not only for their own use, but\nas presents to others. At a marriage feast, for example, the host\npresents each of the guests with a wedding garment. Clothes are also\ngiven as marks of favour, and a present of \"changes of raiment,\"\n_i.e._ suits of clothing, is one of the most common gifts. As at the\npresent day, there was anciently no greater mark of favour than for\nthe giver to present the very robe which he was wearing, and when\nthat robe happened to be an official one, the gift included the rank\nwhich it symbolized. Thus Joseph was invested with royal robes, as\nwell as with the royal ring (Gen. xli. 42). Mordecai was clothed in\nthe king's robes: \"Let the royal apparel be brought which the king\nuseth to wear, and the horse the king rideth upon, and the crown\nroyal which is set upon his head.\n\n[Illustration: MORDECAI IS LED THROUGH THE CITY UPON THE KING'S\nHORSE.]\n\n\"And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of\nthe king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal\nwhom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback\nthrough the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall\nit be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.\" (Esther\nvi. 8, 9.)\n\nThe loose clothing of the East requires no fitting, as is the case\nwith the tight garments of the West; any garment fits any man: so\nthat the powerful and wealthy could lay up great stores of clothing,\nknowing that they would fit any person to whom they were given. An\nallusion to this practice of keeping great stores of clothing is\nmade in Job xxvii. 26: \"Though he heap up silver as the dust, and\nprepare raiment as the clay;\n\n\"He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent\nshall divide the silver.\"\n\nSo large was the supply of clothing in a wealthy man's house, that\nspecial chambers were set apart for it, and a special officer,\ncalled the \"keeper of the garments\" (2 Chron. xxxiv. 22), was\nappointed to take charge of them.\n\nThus, when a man was said to have clothing, the expression was a\nsynonym for wealth and power. See Isa. iii. 6: \"When a man shall\ntake hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou\nhast clothing, be thou our ruler.\"\n\nThe reader will now see how forcible was the image of the Moth and\nthe garments, that is used so freely in the Scriptures. The Moth\nwould not meddle with garments actually in use, so that a poor man\nwould not be troubled with it. Only those who were rich enough to\nkeep stores of clothing in their houses need fear the Moth.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SILKWORM MOTH.\n\n Probability that the Hebrews were acquainted with Silk--Present\n cultivation of the Silkworm--The Silk-farms of the\n Lebanon--Silkworms and thunder.\n\n\nIn the Authorized Version there are several passages wherein silk\nis mentioned, but it is rather doubtful whether the translation be\ncorrect or not, except in one passage of the Revelation: \"And the\nmerchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man\nbuyeth their merchandise any more:\n\n\"The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of\npearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk.\" (xviii. 11, 12.)\n\nThat the Hebrews were acquainted with silk from very early times is\nnearly certain, but it is probable that until comparatively late\nyears they only knew the manufactured material, and were ignorant\nof the source whence it was derived. As to the date at which silk\nwas introduced into Palestine, nothing certain is known; but it is\nmost likely that Solomon's fleets brought silk from India, together\nwith the other valuables which are mentioned in the history of that\nmonarch.\n\nAt the present day silk is largely cultivated, and the silk-farmers\nof the Lebanon are noted for the abundance of the crop which is\nannually produced. The greatest care is taken in rearing the worms.\nAn excellent account of these farms is given by Mr. G. W. Chasseaud\nin his \"Druses of the Lebanon:\"--\n\n\"Proceeding onward, and protected from the fierce heat of the sun's\nrays by the pleasant shade of mountain pines, we were continually\nencountering horseloads of cocoons, the fruit of the industry of the\nDruse silk-rearer. The whole process, from hatching the silkworms'\neggs till the moment that the worm becomes a cocoon, is one series\nof anxiety and labour to the peasant. The worms are so delicate that\nthe smallest change of temperature exposes them to destruction, and\nthe peasant can never confidently count upon reaping a harvest until\nthe cocoon is fairly set.\"\n\nAfter a long and interesting description of the multiplied and\nceaseless labours of the silk-grower in providing food for the\narmies of caterpillars and sheltering them from the elements, the\nwriter proceeds as follows:--\n\n\"The peasant is unwilling to permit of our remaining and watching\noperations. Traditional superstition has inculcated in him a dread\nof the evil eye. If we stop and admire the wisdom displayed by the\nworm, it will, in his opinion, be productive of evil results; either\nthe cocoon will be badly formed, or the silk will be worthless. So,\nfirst clearing the place of all intruders, he puts a huge padlock on\nthe door, and, locking the _khlook_ (room in which the silkworms are\nkept), deposits the key in his _zinnar,_ or waistband.\n\n\"Next week he will come and take out the cocoons, and, separating\nthem from the briars, choose out a sufficiency for breeding\npurposes, and all the rest are handed over to the women of his\nfamily. These first of all disentangle the cocoon from the rich and\nfibrous web with which it is enveloped, and which constitutes an\narticle of trade by itself. The cocoons are then either reeled off\nby the peasant himself or else sold to some of the silk factories\nof the neighbourhood, where they are immediately reeled off, or are\nsuffocated in an oven, and afterwards, being well aired and dried,\npiled up in the magazines of the factory.\n\n\"Such is a brief account or history of these cocoons, of which we\nwere continually encountering horseload after horseload.\n\n\"As you will perceive, unless suffering from a severe cold in\nthe head, the odour arising from these cocoons is not the most\nagreeable; but this arises partly from the neglect and want of\ncare of the peasants themselves, who, reeling off basketful after\nbasketful of cocoons, suffer the dead insects within to be thrown\nabout and accumulate round the house, where they putrefy and emit\nnoxious vapours.\"\n\n[Illustration: BUTTERFLIES OF PALESTINE.\n\n SYRIAN GRAYLING.\n SYRIAN ORANGE-TIP.\n SYRIAN SWALLOW-TAIL.\n]\n\nAlthough our limits will not permit the cultivation of the\nSilkworm to be described more fully, it may here be added that all\nsilk-growers are full of superstition regarding the welfare of the\ncaterpillars, and imagine that they are so sensitive that they will\ndie of fear. The noise of a thunderclap is, in their estimation,\nfatal to Silkworms; and the breeders were therefore accustomed to\nbeat drums within the hearing of the Silkworms, increasing the\nloudness of the sound, and imitating as nearly as possible the crash\nand roll of thunder, so that the caterpillars might be familiar with\nthe sound if the thunderstorm should happen to break near them.\n\n\n\n\nFLIES.\n\n Flies of Scripture--Annoyance caused by the House-fly--Flies\n and ophthalmia--Signor Pierotti's account of the Flies--The\n sovereign remedy against Flies--Causes of their prevalence.\n\n\nThere are two Hebrew words which are translated as \"fly.\" One is\n_zebub_, and the other is _arob_, the latter being applied to the\nflies which were brought upon Egypt in the great plague. It is\nprobable that some different species is here signified, but there\nis no certainty in the matter. Any species, however, would be a\nsufficient plague if they exceeded the usual number which infest\nEgypt, and which at first make the life of a foreigner a burden to\nhim. They swarm in such myriads, that he eats flies, drinks flies,\nand breathes flies.\n\nNot the least part of the nuisance is, that they cluster in the eyes\nof those who are affected with the prevalent ophthalmia, which is so\nfertile a cause of blindness, and so convey the infection with them.\nA stranger is always struck with the appearance of the children, who\nhave quantities of these pests upon and about their eyes, and yet\nseem perfectly unaffected by a visitation which would wellnigh drive\na European mad.\n\nSignor Pierotti writes feelingly on the subject:--\n\n\"These insects sometimes cause no slight suffering in Palestine, as\nI can vouch from my own experience. However large or however small\nthey may be, a rabid and restless foe, they attack alike, and make\nthemselves insufferable in a thousand ways, in every season and\nplace, in the house and in the field, by day and by night.\n\n\"While I was encamped near the tents of the Bedaw\u00een, in the\nneighbourhood of the Jordan, and to the south of Hebron, flies were\nbrought in such numbers by the east wind that all, beasts and men,\nwere in danger of being choked by them, as they crept into our\nears, noses, and mouths, and all over our bodies. My servant and I\nwere the first to fly from the pest, as we were spotted all over\nlike lepers with the eruption caused by their bites: the Bedaw\u00een\nthemselves were not slow to follow our example.\n\n\"The flies, therefore, still infest Palestine as they did of old,\nexcept that they are not now so numerous as to compel the chiefs of\nthe villages or tribes (answering to the kings of the Pentateuch and\nJoshua) to evacuate the country before them.\n\n\"The Philistines had a special deity whom they invoked against these\npests, Baalzebub, the God of Flies, whose temple was at Ekron.\nThe reason of this is evident at the present day, for the ancient\ncountry of the Philistines is infested with insect plagues, as I\nexperienced to my cost.\n\n\"As, however, we had no faith in Baalzebub, we were obliged to arm\nourselves with fly-traps and stoical patience. Many travellers bring\nwith them a perfect druggist's shop from Europe as a protection\nagainst these nuisances, and leave behind them this only efficacious\nremedy, patience. This I strongly recommend; it is very portable,\nvery cheap, and equally useful in all climates.\n\n\"It is especially valuable in the case of the insects, as they\nare found everywhere in greater or less numbers; especially in\nthe dwellings, where they are nourished by the carrion that lies\nabout, the heaps of rubbish, the filth of the streets, the leakage\nof cesspools and sewers, the dirt in the houses, the filthy\nclothing worn by the people, and the kind of food they eat. Though\nthe country of Baalzebub is deserted and enslaved, the flies are\nstill abundant and free, self-invited guests at the table, unasked\nassistants in the kitchen, tasting everything, immolating themselves\nin their gastronomic ardour, and forming an undesired seasoning in\nevery dish.\"\n\n\n\n\nGNATS.\n\n The Gnat of Scripture--Straining out the Gnat and swallowing the\n camel, a typographical error--Probable identity of the Gnat and\n the mosquito.\n\n\nIt has already been stated that only one species of fly is mentioned\nby name in the Scriptures. This is the Gnat, the name of which\noccurs in the familiar passage, \"Ye blind guides, which strain at a\ngnat and swallow a camel\" (Matt, xxiii. 24).\n\n[Illustration: NOXIOUS FLIES OF PALESTINE.\n\nMOSQUITO. CAMEL FLY. ]\n\nI may again mention here that the words \"strain at\" ought to have\nbeen printed \"strain out,\" the substitution of one for the other\nbeing only a typographical error. The allusion is made to a custom\nwhich is explained by reference to the preceding article on the\nfly. In order to avoid taking flies and other insects into the mouth\nwhile drinking, a piece of thin linen stuff was placed over the cup,\nso that if any insects, as was usually the case, had got into the\nliquid, they would be \"strained out\" by the linen.\n\nWhether or not any particular species of insect was signified by the\nword \"gnat\" is very doubtful, and in all probability the word is\nonly used to express the contrast between the smallest known insects\nand the largest known beasts. Gnats, especially those species which\nare popularly known by the word \"mosquito,\" are very plentiful in\nmany parts of Palestine, especially those which are near water, and\nare as annoying there as in other lands which they inhabit.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LOUSE.\n\n Insect parasites--The plague of Lice--Its effect on the\n magicians or priests--The Hebrew word _Chinnim_--Probability\n that it may be represented by \"tick\"--Habits of the ticks, their\n dwellings in dust, and their effects on man and beast.\n\n\nWe close the history of insects mentioned in Scripture with two\nparasites of a singularly disagreeable character.\n\nWith respect to the former of them, we find it mentioned in the\naccount of the great plagues of Egypt. After the two plagues of the\nwaters and the frogs, both of which were imitated by the magicians,\ni.e. the priests, a third was brought upon Egypt, which affected the\nmagicians even more than the people, for a reason which we shall\npresently see:--\n\n\"And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod,\nand smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice, throughout\nall the land of Egypt.\n\n\"And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod,\nand smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man and in\nbeast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land\nof Egypt.\n\n\"And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth\nlice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man and upon\nbeast.\"\n\nNow it is hardly possible to conceive a calamity which would have\ntold with greater effect upon the magicians, by whose advice Pharoah\nhad resisted the requests of Moses and Aaron.\n\nLiving in a land where all, from the highest to the lowest, were\ninfested with parasites, the priests were so much in advance of the\nlaity that they were held polluted if they harboured one single\nnoxious insect upon their persons, or in their clothing. The\nclothing, being linen, could be kept clean by frequent washing,\nwhile the possibility of the body being infested by parasites was\nprevented by the custom of shaving the whole of the body, from the\ncrown of the head to the sole of the foot, at least once in every\nthree days.\n\nIt may easily be imagined, therefore, how terrible this visitation\nmust have been to such men. As swine to the Pharisee, as the flesh\nof cattle to the Brahmin, so was the touch of a parasite to the\nEgyptian priest. He was degraded in his own estimation and in\nthat of his fellows. He could perform no sacred offices: so that,\nin fact, all the idolatrous worship of Egypt ceased until this\nparticular plague had been withdrawn.\n\nWe now come to a consideration of the insect which is signified by\nthe Hebrew word _chinnim_. Sir Samuel Baker is of opinion that the\nword ought to have been translated as \"ticks,\" and for the following\nreasons:--\n\nAfter quoting the passage which relates to the stretching of Aaron's\nrod over the dust, and the consequence of that action, he proceeds\nas follows: \"Now the louse that infests the human body and hair has\nno connexion whatever with dust, and, if subjected to a few hours'\nexposure to the dry heat of the burning sand, it would shrivel and\ndie. But a tick is an inhabitant of the dust, a dry horny insect,\nwithout any apparent moisture in its composition. It lives in hot\nsand and dust, where it cannot possibly obtain nourishment until\nsome wretched animal should lie down upon the spot, and become\ncovered with these horrible vermin.\n\n\"I have frequently seen dry desert places so infested with ticks\nthat the ground was perfectly alive with them, and it would have\nbeen impossible to have rested upon the earth. In such spots, the\npassage in Exodus has frequently seemed to me as bearing reference\nto these vermin, which are the greatest enemy to man and beast.\nIt is well known that from the size of a grain of sand, in their\nnatural state, they will distend to the size of a hazel nut after\nhaving preyed for some days on the body of an animal.\"\n\nGranting that this suggestion be the correct one, as it certainly\nis the most consistent both with actual facts and with the words of\nHoly Writ, the plague would lose none of its intensity, but would,\nif anything, be more horrible. Only those who have suffered from\nthem can appreciate the miseries caused by the attack of these\nticks, which cling so tightly that they can scarcely be removed\nwithout being torn in pieces, and without leaving some portion of\ntheir head beneath the skin of their victim. Man and beast suffer\nequally from them, as is implied in the words of Scripture, and,\nunless they are very cautiously removed, painful and obstinate is\nthe result of their bites.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FLEA.\n\nPrevalence of the Flea in the East, and the annoyance caused by\nthem to travellers-Fleas of the Lebanon--The Bey's bedfellows--The\nPasha at the bath--Use of the word in Scripture.\n\n\nThis active little pest absolutely swarms in the East. The\ninhabitants are so used to the Fleas that either the insects do not\ntouch them, or by long custom they become so inured to their attack\nthat the bites are not felt.\n\nBut every traveller in Eastern lands has a tale to tell about the\nFleas, which seem to be accepted as one of the institutions of\nthe country, and to be contemplated with perfect equanimity. Miss\nRogers, for example, in her \"Domestic Life in Palestine,\" mentions\nhow she was obliged to stand upon a box in order to be out of the\nreach of a large company of Fleas that were hopping about on the\nfloor!\n\nMr. Urquhart, experienced Orientalist as he was, found on one\noccasion that the Fleas were too strong for him. He had forgotten\nhis curtain, and was invaded by armies of Fleas, that marched\nsteadily up the bed and took possession of their prey. The people\nwere quite amused at his complaints, and said that their Bey could\nnot sleep without a couple of hundred of them in his bosom. Mr.\nUrquhart suggests that these little creatures act as a wholesome\nirritant to the skin, and says that the last two mouthfuls of every\nmeal are for the benefit of the Fleas.\n\nIn order to show the perfect indifference with which the presence of\nthese little pests is regarded, I quote a passage from Mr. Farley's\n\"Druses of the Lebanon.\" He was in a Turkish bath, and was much\namused at a scene which presented itself.\n\n\"A man, whose skin resembled old discoloured vellum, was occupying\nhimself with the somewhat undignified pursuit of pursuing with great\neagerness something that, from the movement of his hands, seemed\ncontinually to elude him, jumping about and taking refuge in the\ncreases and folds of his shirt, that was spread out over his lap as\nhe sat cross-legged on his bedstead like a tailor on his board. This\noddity was no less a dignitary than a Pasha.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: SCORPION.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE SCORPION.\n\nmud walls--Venom of the Scorpion--Scorpions at sea--The Scorpion\nwhip, and its use--The Scorpion Pass.\n\n\nScorpions are exceedingly common in Palestine, and to a novice\nare a constant source of terror until he learns to be accustomed\nto them. The appearance of the Scorpion is too well known to need\ndescription, every one being aware that it is in reality a kind of\nspider that has the venom claw at the end of its body, and not in\nits jaw. As to the rendering of the word _akrabbim_ as \"Scorpions,\"\nthere has never been any doubt.\n\nThese unpleasant creatures always manage to insinuate themselves in\nsome crevice, and an experienced traveller is cautious where the\nScorpions are plentiful, and will never seat himself in the country\nuntil he has ascertained that no Scorpions are beneath the stones\non or near which he is sitting. Holes in walls are favourite places\nof refuge for the Scorpion, and are very plentiful, the mud walls\nalways tumbling down in parts, and affording homes for Scorpions,\nspiders, snakes, and other visitors.\n\nThe venom of the Scorpion varies much in potency according to the\nspecies and size of the creature, some of the larger Scorpions being\nable to render a man ill for a considerable time, and even to kill\nhim if he should be a sensitive subject. So much feared were the\nScorpions that one of the chief privileges of the Apostles and their\nimmediate followers was their immunity from the stings of Scorpions\nand the bite of venomous serpents.\n\nIt is said, however, that after a person has been stung once by a\nScorpion, he suffers comparatively little the second time, and that\nif he be stung three or four times, the only pain that he suffers\narises from the puncture. Sailors also say that after a week at\nsea the poison of the Scorpion loses its power, and that they care\nnothing for the Scorpions which are sure to come on board inside the\nbundles of firewood.\n\nThose passages which mention the venom of the Scorpion are numerous,\nthough most, if not all, of them occur in the New Testament. See\nRev. ix. 5: \"And to them it was given that they should not kill\nthem, but that they should be tormented five months, and their\ntorment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.\"\nAlso ver. 10 of the same chapter: \"And they had tails like unto\nscorpions: and there were stings in their tails: and their power was\nto hurt men five months.\"\n\nThere is, also, the well-known saying of our Lord, \"If a son shall\nask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?\" (Luke xi. 12.) And in the\npreceding chapter of the same Evangelist Scorpions are classed with\nserpents in their power of injury: \"Behold, I give unto you power\nto tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the\nenemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere is another reference to the Scorpion in the Old Testament,\nwhich requires an explanation. It forms part of the rash counsel\ngiven to Rehoboam by his friends: \"My father made your yoke heavy,\nand I will add to your yoke; my father also chastised you with\nwhips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.\"\n\nThe general tenor of this passage is evident enough, namely, that\nhe intended to be far more severe than his father had been. But his\nwords assume a new force when we remember that there was a kind of\nwhip called a Scorpion. This terrible instrument was made for the\nexpress purpose of punishing slaves, so that the mere mention of it\nwas an insult. It consisted of several thongs, each of which was\nloaded with knobs of metal, and tipped with a metal hook, so that it\nresembled the jointed and hooked tail of the Scorpion. This dreadful\ninstrument of torture could kill a man by a few blows, and it was\neven used in combats in the amphitheatre, a gladiator armed with a\nScorpion being matched against one armed with a spear.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPIDER.\n\nSpiders of Palestine.\n\n\nThere are very many species of Spider in Palestine; some which spin\nwebs, like the common Garden Spider, some which dig subterranean\ncells and make doors in them, like the well-known Trap-door Spider\nof Southern Europe, and some which have no webs, but chase their\nprey upon the ground, like the Wolf and Hunting Spiders.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HORSE LEECH.\n\n Signification of the word Alukah--Leeches in Palestine--The\n horse and the Leech.\n\n\nIn Prov. xxx. 15 there is a word which only occurs once in the\nScriptures. This is _alukah,_ which is translated as horse-leech.\n\"The horseleech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give.\"\n\nThe Leeches are very common in Palestine, and infest the rivers to\nsuch an extent that they enter the nostrils of animals who come to\ndrink, and cause great annoyance and even danger. The following\nanecdote, related by Mr. H. Dixon in his \"Holy Land,\" gives us a\ngood idea of the prevalence of the Leeches, and the tenacity with\nwhich they retain their hold:--\n\n\"At Beit-Dejan, on a slight twist in the road, we find the wheel and\nwell, and hear a delicious plash and rustle in the troughs. To slip\nfrom my seat to dip Sabeah's nose into the fluid is the work of a\nsecond; but no sooner has she lapped up a mouthful of water, than\none sees that the refuse falling back from her lips into the tank is\ndabbled and red. Opening her mouth, I find a gorged leech dangling\nfrom her gum. But the reptile being swept off, and the mare's nose\ndipt into the cooling stream, the blood still flows from between her\nteeth, and, forcing them open, I find two other leeches lodged in\nthe roof of her mouth.\n\n\"Poor little beast! how grateful and relieved she seems, how gay,\nhow gentle, when I have torn these suckers from her flesh, and\nsoused the water about her wounds; and how my hunting-whip yearns\nto descend upon the shoulders of that laughing and careless Nubian\nslave!\"\n\nPersons passing through the river are also attacked by them, and, if\nthey have a delicate skin, suffer greatly.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: CORAL.]\n\n\n\n\nSPONGE AND CORAL.\n\n Use of the Sponge in Scripture--Probability that the ancient\n Jews were acquainted with it--Sponges of the Mediterranean--The\n Coral, and its value--Signification of the word _Ramoth_.\n\n\nThere is little to be said on either of these subjects.\n\nSponge is only mentioned with reference to the events of the\nCrucifixion, where it is related that a soldier placed a sponge upon\nhyssop, dipped it in vinegar (_i.e._ the acid wine issued to the\nRoman soldiers), and held it to the Lord's lips. There is little\ndoubt that the ancient Hebrews were fully aware of the value of the\nSponge, which they could obtain from the Mediterranean which skirted\nall their western coasts.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Coral is mentioned in two passages of Scripture: \"No mention\nshall be made of coral, or of pearls\" (Job xxviii. 18). The second\noccurrence of the word is in Ezek. xxvii. 16: \"They occupied in thy\nfairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and\ncoral, and agate.\"\n\nThis Coral, which is described as being brought from Syria, was\nprobably that of the Red Sea, where the Coral abounds, and where it\nattains the greatest perfection.\n\n[Illustration: roses]\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n A. PAGE\n\n Addax, 171-173\n\n Adder, 628\n\n Ant, 671\n agricultural, 672\n habits of, 674\n cocoon, 675\n\n Aoudad, 212-215\n\n Ape, 387\n brought by Solomon, 389\n worshipped in India, 390-395\n\n Apis, 145\n\n Ass, 315\n domesticated, 315\n royal, 316\n treatment of, 319\n saddle, 321\n in Cairo, 323\n uses of, 326\n wild, 328\n\n\n B.\n\n Badger, 96\n skins for tabernacle, 96-112\n skins for robes and sandals, 97\n nocturnal in habits, 100\n\n Barbel, long-headed, 639\n\n Bat, 401\n\n Bear, Syrian, 103\n omnivorous, 106\n a dangerous enemy, 108\n robbed of whelps, 110\n mode of fighting, 110\n\n Beden, 233-237\n\n Bee, 664\n banded, 664\n hives, 667\n honey, 667\n\n Behemoth, 372\n food, 376\n hunted, 380\n\n Bison, 160\n\n Bittern, 536\n haunts waste places, 538\n cry, 538\n nest, 540\n\n Blue thrush, 481\n\n Boer hunting the lion, 36-41\n\n Bottles, skin, 221-225\n\n Bubale, 173-175\n\n Buffalo, 149\n\n Bull, 142\n wild, 152\n hunted with nets, 153\n\n\n C.\n\n Calf, 134\n fatted, 135\n worshipped, 146, 148\n\n Camel, 248\n Arabian, 248\n Bactrian, 248, 286-290\n milk of, 251\n power of carrying water, 252\n flesh, 254\n as beast of burden, 255-258\n riding, 259-268\n speed, 269\n malice of, 273\n food, 277-280\n foot, 280\n hair and skin, 283\n needle's eye, 284\n\n Caspian emys, 580\n hibernates, 581\n terror to horses, 581\n legends, 582\n\n Cattle, 132\n\n Cerastes, 624\n\n Chameleon, 602\n strength of grasp, 607\n eyes, 607\n change of color, 608\n\n Chamois, 211\n\n Chariots, 300-311\n\n Chetah, 42\n\n Cobra di capello, 616\n\n Cockatrice, 628\n\n Coney, 366\n ruminant, 368\n watchful, 370\n\n Coral, 695\n\n Cormorant, 563\n fishing, 564\n voracious, 565\n in China, 565\n nests, 566\n\n Coryphene, 641\n\n Crane, 549\n\n Crocodile, 585\n description in Job, 586\n worshipped by Egyptians, 589\n seizing its prey, 592\n eggs, 595\n hunting, 598\n\n Cuckoo, 487\n great spotted, 488\n\n Cyprius, 602\n\n\n D.\n\n Deer, 238\n hunted, 244\n watchfulness of, 244-246\n\n Deloul, 268\n\n Dhubb, 583\n\n Dishon, 171\n\n Dove, 489\n turtle, 489, 496\n Noah's, 490\n in sacrifice, 491\n carrier, 493\n blue rock, 495\n collared turtle, 497\n palm, 497\n Barbary, 497\n\n\n E.\n\n Eagle, 430\n golden, 433\n short-toed, 434\n\n Egret, 548\n\n Egyptian mastigure, 583\n\n Elephant, 349\n ivory, 349\n in war, 352\n in hunting, 362\n\n\n F.\n\n Falcon, peregrine, 445\n lanner, 445\n\n Fallow deer, 173-175\n\n Field-mouse, 121-124\n\n Fishes, 635-648\n apostolic fishermen, 635\n as food, 637\n manner of catching, 643\n as symbols, 646\n\n Flea, 688\n\n Flies, 683\n god of, 684\n\n Frogs, 630\n plague of, 631\n green, 632\n edible, 632\n\n Fox, 76\n plentiful in Palestine, 77\n feeds upon the slain, 78\n Samson's foxes, 78-85\n\n\n G.\n\n Gazelle, 163\n mode of defence, 165\n manner of capture, 166\n chase of, 166-170\n\n Gecko, 605\n\n Gier-eagle, 419\n\n Gnats, 685\n\n Goad, 137\n\n Goat, 217\n as food, 217-219\n milking-scene, 220\n hair for clothing, 220\n skin bottles, 221-225\n kneading-troughs, 225\n scapegoat, 226\n intractable, 227\n separated from sheep, 227-229\n\n\n H.\n\n Hamster, 124\n\n Hare, 126\n not a ruminant, 127\n two species in Palestine, 131\n\n Hart, 255\n\n Hawk, 447\n sparrow, 448\n harrier, 451\n white, 453\n dove, 453\n blue, 453\n ring-tailed, 453\n night, 462\n\n Herdsmen, 144\n Arab, 177\n\n Heron, 542\n as food, 542\n sociable, 544\n flight, 546\n nest, 547\n\n Hind, 255\n\n Hippopotamus, 374\n\n Honey, 667\n\n Hoopoe, 476\n legend of, 477\n\n Hornet, 669\n\n Horse, 291\n Arab, 291\n hoofs, 295\n sale of Arab, 296-300\n chariots, 300\n\n Horse-leech, 693\n\n House-top, 480\n\n Hyacinthine gallinule, 560\n\n Hy\u00e6na, 85\n as scavenger, 86-88\n haunting graves, 88\n odour of, 89\n superstitions concerning, 90\n\n Hyrax, 366\n\n\n I.\n\n Ibex, 233-236\n\n Ibis, white or sacred, 562\n\n Ichneumon, 596\n\n Insects, 657\n\n Ivory, 349-352\n\n\n J.\n\n Jackal, 76\n\n Jerboa, 125\n\n\n K.\n\n Kestrel, 449\n\n Kite, 440\n red, 441\n black, 442\n\n Kneading-troughs, 225\n\n\n L.\n\n L\u00e4mmergeier, 411\n food, 414\n bone-breaker, 414\n\n Lapwing, 476\n\n Leviathan, 585\n\n Lizard, 602\n\n Locust, 657\n swarms, 658\n plague of, 660\n as food, 661\n\n Louse, 686\n\n Lump-fish, 641\n\n\n M.\n\n Mole, 114\n hard to capture, 116\n frequents ruins, 117\n food, 118\n\n Molluscs, 648\n\n Monitor, 605\n Nilotic, 610\n land, 610\n\n Monkey, 387\n\n Mosquito, 686\n\n Mouflon, 215\n\n Mouse, 119\n voracity, 119\n\n Mule, 333\n ridden by kings, 335\n perverse, 336\n\n Mur\u00e6na, 639\n\n Moth, clothes, 678\n silkworm, 680\n\n\n N.\n\n Night-hawk, 462\n\n Nightjar, 462\n cry, 464\n\n Nile-perch, 647\n\n Nineveh, sculptures of, 34\n\n\n O.\n\n Oryx, 154-156\n\n Osprey, 436\n fishing, 436\n flight, 438\n\n Ossifrage, 411\n\n Ostrich, 523\n neglect of young, 526-528\n nest in sand, 526\n chase, 529\n scent, 530\n speed, 531\n as food, 532\n eggs, 534\n cry, 531\n\n Ounce, 42\n\n Owl, 454\n use in bird-catching, 455\n little, 455\n barn, 455\n screech, 456\n great, 456\n Egyptian eagle, 458\n European eagle, 458\n Virginian eared, 458\n\n Ox, 133\n stalled, 133\n yoke, 136\n plough, 136\n goad, 137\n threshing, 138\n cart, 139\n pasturage, 141\n worshipped, 148\n\n\n P.\n\n Palestine, 470\n\n Partridge, 505\n desert, 507\n\n Passover, 204\n Samaritan, 205-210\n\n Peacock, 501\n\n Pearl, 653\n\n Pelican, 567\n pouch, 569\n feeding young, 570\n legends, 570\n flight, 572\n crested, 573\n\n Pigeon, 489\n\n Plough, 136\n\n Porcupine, 113\n\n Poultry, 498\n\n Purple dye, 649\n\n Pygarg, 171\n\n\n Q.\n\n Quail, 509\n sent to Israelites, 510\n flight, 511\n as food, 511\n mode of capture, 512\n\n\n R.\n\n Rams' horns, 201-203\n\n Raven, 516\n in ark, 516\n sent to Elijah, 518\n notices of, in Talmud, 519\n ashy-necked, 520\n in Jerusalem, 520\n\n\n S.\n\n Scheltopusic, 603\n\n Scorpion, 690\n\n Serpents, 613\n motion, 614\n poison, 615\n sluggish, 620\n anecdotes of, 620\n\n Sheat-fishes, 637\n\n Sheep, 177\n pasturage, 177\n watering, 180\n names, 186\n folds, 189-191\n dogs, 191\n broad-tailed, 194\n uses of, 197\n in sacrifice, 203\n\n Shepherds, 185\n sling, 185\n care of flock, 188\n\n Shephiphon, 624\n\n Silkworm, 681\n\n Skink, 603\n\n Snail, 652\n\n Snake, glass, 603\n dart, 616\n charmer, 617\n\n Sparrow, 479\n on house-tops, 480\n value of, 483\n caught with nets, 484\n nests, 485\n tree, 486\n\n Spider, 692\n\n Sponge, 694\n\n Star-gazer, 647\n\n Stork, 553\n sacred, 554\n migratory, 556\n care of young, 557\n black, 558\n\n Sucking-fish, 640\n\n Surmullet, 648\n\n Swallow, 466\n swift, 470, 474\n\n Swan, 560\n\n Swine, 337\n prohibited to Jews, 337\n hated, 338\n wild, 334\n\n\n T.\n\n Threshing, 138\n\n Tortoise, 577\n as food, 577\n slow-motioned, 579\n\n Toxicoa, 627\n\n Tunny, 641\n\n\n U.\n\n Unicorn, 158\n a real animal, 159\n\n\n V.\n\n Viper, horned, 624\n sand, 627\n\n Vulture, Egyptian, 419\n scavengers, 421\n griffon, 423\n\n\n W.\n\n Wanderoo, 395-400\n\n Weasel, 92\n fond of eggs, 94\n story of owl and weasel, 94\n\n Wild bull, 152\n goat, 233\n ass, 328\n boar, 344\n\n Wind-hover, 449\n\n Wolf, 69\n only mentioned symbolically, 69\n hunting in packs, 71\n fierceness of, 71\n special enemy of sheep, 72\n tamed by a monk, 75\n\n Wool, 199\n\n Worm, crimson, 676\n\n\n Y.\n\n Yoke, 136\n\n\n\n\n =THE\n HOME EDITION\n OF THE\n Story of the Bible=\n\n =Surpasses in Value and Completeness All Former Editions\n of this Standard Work.=\n\n It contains fine Colored Illustrations.\n\n It contains a Map of the Bible Lands.\n\n It contains a Steel Plate Engraving after Rembrandt (engraved\n expressly for the Frontispiece).\n\n It is printed on extra heavy paper, and bound in rich and\n attractive style.\n\n=THE HOME EDITION of the Story of the Bible.=\n\nGives admirers of the book an opportunity to procure it in a\nhandsomer form, either for presentation to friends or for use at\nhome.\n\nThe COVER of this edition bears an appropriate and ornamental\ndesign in gold and color. The INSIDE is no less attractive than\nthe outside. On opening it, the ILLUMINATED PRESENTATION PAGE\nfirst meets the eye. This is followed by the beautiful STEEL PLATE\nENGRAVING OF JACOB'S DREAM, as a Frontispiece. A double page COLORED\nMAP comes next, showing countries and places mentioned in the Bible.\nSIX RICHLY COLORED PLATES, with 300 ENGRAVINGS, illustrating the\nprincipal scenes and events narrated in the book, are distributed\nthroughout its pages, from beginning to end.\n\n =FOR SALE\n by the same Dealer from whom this book is obtained.=\n\n\n=The Story of the Gospel.=\n\n=By CHARLES FOSTER, Author of the \"Story of the Bible.\"=\n\n=360 Pages. 16mo. With 150 Illustrations, and a Frontispiece in\nColors.=\n\n =The New Testament in simple form for Children. Written in\n Language easy to understand. Printed in large, plain type, and\n filled with Pictures.=\n\n=100th THOUSAND NOW SELLING.=\n\nThe Author of the \"STORY OF THE BIBLE,\" after publishing that work,\nfound that a smaller and still simpler book on the New Testament\nalone, was needed.\n\nHe therefore prepared the \"STORY OF THE GOSPEL,\" which contains the\nLife of Christ written in a style easily understood by children, and\nillustrated by a large number of excellent wood engravings.\n\n =_From Rev. M. A. GOODELL, Northwood, Iowa._=\n\n I am much pleased with the \"STORY OF THE GOSPEL.\" The\n illustrations are excellent. The Story is told in beautiful\n language, and in such a way that very difficult points are made\n plain even to children. It is also a good commentary on the Word\n for older persons, and should be in every family.\n\n I lent my copy of the \"STORY OF THE GOSPEL\" to the teacher of\n the Primary Department in our public school, who used it instead\n of the Bible in opening school, and after a few days said she\n could not do without it.\n\n =FOR SALE\n by the same Dealer from whom this book is obtained.=\n\n\n =FIRST STEPS\n FOR LITTLE FEET IN GOSPEL PATHS.=\n\n =328 Pages. 16mo. With Colored Frontispiece and\n 140 Illustrations.=\n\n By CHARLES FOSTER, Author of the \"Story of the Bible.\"\n\nThere still remained one class of learners whose wants were not\nsupplied by either the STORY OF THE BIBLE or the STORY OF THE\nGOSPEL. These were the little ones in the Nursery, the Infant\nSchool, and the Kinder-Garten. For their instruction the author\nhas prepared a third book, FIRST STEPS FOR LITTLE FEET IN GOSPEL\nPATHS. This book is arranged on a different plan from either of the\npreceding. Instead of being divided into Chapters, it consists of\nseparate passages or Lessons, most of them quite short, and each one\ncomplete in itself. Each Lesson is followed by Questions so simple\nthat the little hearers, if attentive when the passage is read, may\nreadily answer them.\n\n =From Robert W. Fenwick, President of the Washington Fr\u00f6ebel\n Society, Washington, D. C.=\n\n TO THE PUBLISHER: I am the grateful recipient of a nicely-bound,\n well-printed and illustrated work entitled \"First Steps.\" Upon\n an examination of it, I feel that every Kinder-Garten teacher\n should possess this gem of a book for little children. Its\n simple presentation of great truths and facts, in words as well\n as in pictures, should be brought home to the heart of every\n child by the parent or teacher; and, this done, the coming\n generation will be wiser and better than the past. I am thankful\n (as President of the Washington Fr\u00f6ebel Society, having under\n its care the Bethany Free Kinder-Garten) that this book has\n reached me.\n\n =FOR SALE by the same Dealer from whom this book is obtained.=\n\n\n =NEW LIGHTS=\n --ON--\n OLD PATHS.\n\n By Charles Foster, Author of the \"Story of the Bible,\" Etc.\n\n =QUARTO, 496 PAGES. 350 ILLUSTRATIONS.=\n\nThe author of the stories contained in this beautiful book has given\nlife and power of speech to many of the inanimate objects which we\nmeet in every-day life.\n\nThe Well in the Yard, the Gate and Gate-Post, the Brook and\nWater-Wheel, with other familiar things, give their impressions, in\nthese charming and original tales, of what takes place around them,\nand speak to one another with audible voice.\n\nIf the reader will listen to what they say, he will learn some\nvaluable lessons, and perhaps receive advice that will help him in\ndays to come.\n\nMany familiar places and oft-trodden paths will be given a new\ninterest by reading some of the stories contained in this book.\n\nObjects that have been familiar for years, and which have never\ncaused a moment's reflection as they were carelessly passed by,\nwill now have a new significance, and whenever seen will connect\nthemselves with the imaginary parts they play in this volume.\n\nIn appearance the book is an unusually handsome one, being\nTASTEFULLY BOUND AND PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. It contains =350=\nPICTURES which in artistic merit, interest, and faithful portrayal\nof the scenes described in the text, are unsurpassed by any book of\nits class.\n\n Office of Charles Foster's Publications, 118 S. Seventh St.,\n Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n\n[Illustration: cover New Lights on Old Paths]\n\n NEW LIGHTS\n --ON--\n OLD PATHS.\n\n By CHARLES FOSTER, Author of the \"Story of the Bible,\" Etc.\n\n =QUARTO, 496 PAGES. 350 ILLUSTRATIONS.=\n\n Office of Charles Foster's Publications, 118 S. Seventh St.,\n Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n\n =BIBLE PICTURES\n --AND--\n WHAT THEY TEACH US.=\n\n Containing 312 Illustrations from the Old and New Testaments,\n WITH BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS\n\n By CHARLES FOSTER, Author of the \"Story of the Bible.\"\n\n =Quarto, 232 Pages, 312 Engravings, printed on extra heavy calendered\n paper, and bound in English cloth, black side stamp, gilt\n title on back.=\n\nThe Collection of Bible Pictures contained in this book is probably\none of the most complete that has ever been brought together in one\nvolume.\n\nIn preparing the work, the greatest care has been observed to use\nonly such designs as will adequately illustrate the Bible scenes and\nfittingly portray the principal events in Bible history.\n\nIt has been a matter of great difficulty to obtain so large a\nnumber of pictures of the necessary merit, as illustrations of\nBible subjects present peculiar difficulties to the artist. While\npreserving the freedom of style and vigor of treatment necessary\nto give life to his designs and reality to the varied scenes of\nthe Scripture narrative, he must preserve for them a feeling of\nreverence and endow them with a dignity worthy of their sacred\ncharacter.\n\nA large number of the pictures in this book are reproduced from\ndesigns by foreign artists who have been celebrated for their skill\nin this branch of art. Others are by artists in this country. All\nthe pictures have been personally selected by, or else drawn under\nthe direction of, the author, who has spent years of labor and\nthousands of dollars in forming this collection.\n\nMany of the engravings in \"BIBLE PICTURES\" were first obtained and\nused for illustrating the \"Story of the Bible\" and the \"Story of the\nGospel,\" two former books by the same author. Other new engravings\nhave been added, and the whole set, THREE HUNDRED AND TWELVE in\nnumber, are now brought together in this one volume, in which the\nbroad pages (8 \u00d7 9-3/4 inches), fine, heavy paper and careful\nprinting, display their artistic excellence to the best advantage.\n\nThe book forms a complete pictorial history of the main portion of\nthe Bible. Many parts are so fully illustrated that the narrative\ncan be followed and understood by merely looking at the series of\npictures which illustrate them, so that children unable to read may\nobtain a fair idea of the nature and sequence of Bible events, by\nsimply turning over the pages. The book, however, is by no means\nmerely a picture book. A lucid and brief explanation, written by the\nauthor of the \"Story of the Bible,\" accompanies each picture, on the\nsame page, or on the page immediately facing it, so that the picture\nand the explanation appear simultaneously to the eye.\n\n =FOR SALE by the same Dealer from whom this book is obtained.=\n\n\n[Illustration: cover Bible Pictures]\n\n =BIBLE PICTURES,=\n AND\n WHAT THEY TEACH US.\n\n A Book containing 312 Illustrations from the Old and New Testaments,\n with brief descriptions.\n\n By CHARLES FOSTER, Author of the \"Story of the Bible,\" etc.\n\n Quarto, 232 Pages, 312 Engravings, printed on extra heavy calendered\n paper and bound in English cloth, ornamental side and back\n stamp.\n\n Charles Foster's Publications, 118 S. Seventh St., Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n\n =--THE--\n STORY OF THE BIBLE ANIMALS.=\n\n =704 Pages. 300 Illustrations.=\n\nThis book contains a description of each animal mentioned in the\nBible, and tells of its appearance, its habits and the use to which\nit was put by mankind.\n\nThe importance of understanding the nature of these animals, as a\nmeans of making clear the Scriptures, will be readily seen when\nit is remembered how frequently they are mentioned in the Bible,\nand how different many of them must be from those which we are\naccustomed to see.\n\nSome passages in the Bible which have formerly possessed little\nor no meaning to the ordinary reader will have a new significance\nafter the \"=Story of the Bible Animals=\" has been read, and the\ndescriptions which it contains of the animals of the East, and the\nhabits of Eastern people, have become familiar.\n\nThe book is not only interesting and instructive from the stories\nwhich it contains on the ever-popular subject of Natural History,\nbut it also presents a vivid description of life in the Bible lands.\n\nIt describes the appearance at the present time of many of the\nplaces mentioned in the Bible, as well as the manners and customs of\nthe people who dwell there.\n\nAdventures of modern travellers in these unfamiliar and\nseldom-trodden paths form an important part of the book and are of\nabsorbing interest, presenting to the reader a graphic picture of\nlife in the Holy Land as it is to-day.\n\nIn the never-changing East this is in many respects a counterpart\nof the times in which the Bible was written. The Arab as he speeds\nacross the desert upon his swift dromedary, or sits at the door of\nhis tent watching his flocks and herds, retains many of the customs\nwhich prevailed in the time of Abraham.\n\nThe wild animals of these countries still roam through the forests\nand are hunted and slain by mankind. The crocodile and hippopotamus\nof the Nile are yet found in that mighty river, and yield their\nlives to the courage and skill of modern hunters as did those of old.\n\nThese scenes are vividly portrayed in the \"=Story of the Bible\nAnimals=\" by travellers who have taken an active part in the\nadventures which they narrate, and who are thus able to adequately\ndescribe incidents that will be new and strange to most readers.\n\nThe book is also a valuable commentary on many portions of the\nBible, for without some knowledge of the matters upon which it\ntreats, the point of many passages of Scripture must either be\nentirely missed or else wrongly interpreted.\n\n =Office of Charles Foster's Publications, 118 S. Seventh St.,\n Philadelphia, Pa.=\n\n\n * * * * *\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nMinor typographical errors have been corrected without note.\nIrregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as\nprinted.\n\nThe illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up\nparagraphs, thus the page number of the illustration might not match\nthe page number in the List of Illustrations.","title":"Story of the Bible Animals: A Description of the Habits and Uses of every living Creature mentioned in the Scriptures, with Explanation of Passages in the Old and New Testament in which Reference is made to them","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":184305}