Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/736

712 712 EGYPT [ANIMALS. handsome, but noted for vice, and for not being sure footed. The cattle are short-horned, rather small, and, as of old, very beautiful, speaking artistically. They are ex ceedingly quiet in disposition, and much valued for agri cultural labour by the people, who therefore very rarely slaughter them for meat, and then only for the Franks. Buffaloes of an uncouth appearance and of a dark slaty colour, strikingly contrasting with the neat cattle, abound in Egypt. When voyaging on the Nile, one often sees them standing or lying in the river by herds. They are very docile, and the little children of the villagers often ride them to or from the river. They are sometimes slaughtered, but their flesh is tough and coarse. Sheep (of which the greatei number are black) and goats are abundant in Egypt, and mutton is the ordinary butcher s meat. Swine are very rarely kept, and then almost wholly for the Franks, the Copts generally abstaining from eating their meat. It appears that the ancient Egyptians, though not forbidden this flesh, rarely ate it, perhaps because it is extremely unwholesome in a hot climate. The Muslims consider dogs unclean, and therefore those of Cairo and most of the towns are half-wild and without masters, living upon offal, and upon food thrown to them by humane persons. In the villages, however, and particularly in the Thebai s, thsir case is better, for they are kept as guards to protect live stock from thieves, and from hyenas and other wild animals, which come from the deserts by night in quest of prey. The common dog of Egypt is generally of a sandy colour and strong, though not remarkable for courage ; but in Upper Egypt, about Thebes, there is a fierce breed of dogs with wiry hair, generally black, and much esteemed for courage by their masters. Cats are as numerous in Cairo as dogs, and many of them are as homeless. They are, however, liked by the natives, who assign as their reason that Mohammad was fond of cats. This may perhaps be regarded as a relic of the veneration in which they were held by the ancient Egyptians. It is not a little curious, that there is at Cairo a royal foundation for the support of destitute cats. The author of this charity was the famous Memlook sultan. Edh-Dhahir Beybars, whose humane intentions have of late years been sadly neglected by the trustees. The wolf, fox, jackal, and hyena chiefly inhabit the deserts and waste places of Egypt, and lurk in the ancient tombs and deserted quarries. The wild cat is also found in that country, though it is not common. The weasel abounds in Cairo, and is proverbial for its mischievous and revengeful disposition, and rats and mice are not among the least of the plagues. The ichneumon, jerboa, hare., and hyrax are likewise natives of Egypt or its deserts, and the tame rabbit is kept for food. The beasts of the chase of the Egyptian deserts are antelopes of various kinds, and the wild ass, esteemed by the Arabs and Persians to be the prince of game, which is found in the southern part of the Eastern Desert. The most beautif.il of the antelopes is the gazelle, which is often tamed and kept in the large courts of the houses of Cairo. In Lower Egypt, principally in the desolate marshes near the Mediterranean, the wild boar is found and occasionally hunted. It is, however, a timid animal, so that the sport is not, like boar-hunting elsewhere, exciting and dangerous. From the representations in the tombs we see that in old times the hippopotamus was one of the wild beasts of the country. It has now retreated above the First Cataract, the southern boundary of Egypt. The croco dile has retreated in the same manner, and instead of being found throughout the Nile in Egypt, is rarely seen even in Lower Nubia. The name of the island of Elephantine, situate a little to the north of the First Cataract, bearing the same signification in hieroglyphics as in Greek, makes it probable that at some remote period elephants were found in Upper Egypt, though now they are not seen north of Abyssinia. In exploring the tombs and dark parts of the temples the traveller is annoyed by crowds of bats, which extinguish his candle, fly into his face, and cling to his clothes, some times rendering examination impossible without a lantern. One species is very large, but the common one is small. Birds of prey are numerous in Egypt, and of many kinds. Of the most remarkable are three species of large naked- necked vultures the Arabian, the sociable, and the fulvous; as well as the smaller species called the aquiline vulture. The aquiline vulture has a feathered neck, and when standing is by no means a handsome bird, but it is much to be admired when on the wing from the contrast of the black and white of its plumage, and the steady manner in which it soars in circles. Perhaps the bearded vulture breeds in the most lofty parts of the desolate moun tains of the Eastern Desert; for when the French army was in Egypt, one of these birds was killed. It is said to have been of extraordinary size, measuring more than 14 Parisian feet, or more than 15 English, from point to point of its expanded wings. Several species of eagles and falcons, two kinds of hawks, the common buzzard, and the moor- harrier live in Egypt, or visit that country, according as they are migratory, erratic, or sedentary. The common kite abounds at Cairo, and is one of the chief scavengers of the city, the others being the crow, the aquiline vulture, the half-wild dog, and the cat. The ruins and tombs of Egypt, and the modern houses, scarcely ever in perfect repair, shelter owls of various kinds. The Spanish sparrow, which differs little from that of Britain, the water-wagtail, linnets, and larks are among the birds of Egypt. The kind of kingfishsr which is commonly seen on the !Nile, perched on some eminence, and darting suddenly to seize a fish, is very inferior in its plumage, which is speckled, black and white, to the common king fisher, which is also occasionally seen. The beautiful hoopoe is among the least rare birds, and there are also three species of bee-eaters. The hoopoe may be often seen in Cairo, where it is regarded with some reverence, as the bird of Solomon. Crows of the kind which we call the Royston crow are very numerous at Cairo. Birds of the swallow tribe, the wood pecker, and the cuckoo are also known in Egypt. In the metropolis, in the towns and villages, and in the fields, no bird is more common than the pigeon, tame or wild. Pigeon-fancying is a favourite amusement of all classes at Cairo, and in the villages the pigeon-houses are often loftier than the huts upon which they are raised. Tourists on the Nile inflict great loss on the poor peasantry by recklessly shooting these tame birds. Wild turtle-doves build in the courts of the houses of the capital. These courts often serve for the purpose of poultry-yards, in which fowls wander about without any care being taken of them, except that food is occasionally thrown to them. They are consequently meagre, and produce very small eggs. Turkeys, ducks, and geese are kept in the same manner. Quails migrate to Egypt in great numbers ; and sand- grouse, called by the natives kata, from their cry, are common in the deserts. There also the Arabs, like the ancient Egyptians, hunt the ostrich. A red-legged partridge is likewise found in Egypt. The islands of the Nile, the sand-banks which appear when the river is low, the lakes and marshes, the sheets