Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/57

 such as Egyptian artists delighted in. A number of donkeys pass in file, their saddle-cloths are ornamented with fringes, and they are laden with panniers of grain. Men walk by the side to steady the heavy loads. One load, however, has shifted from its place, and two men are trying to put it back; the animal is restive, and one man has hold of him by the tail while another has grasped his nose. The donkey coming immediately behind has seized the opportunity of the halt to give the man in front of him a poke with his nose. Each driver is armed with a stout stick, and one of them is just raising his against the unruly animal. It is evident that donkeys were considered troublesome and obstinate some four or five thousand years ago, that their humours amused the Egyptian artists, and that donkey drivers then, as now, were ready to use their sticks.

In another drawing Thi is seen in a boat made of reeds, superintending a hippopotamus hunt. One of his men has succeeded in getting a rope round the neck of one savage-looking beast, and is preparing to despatch him with a