v v
 
 THE OSTRICH. 
 "What time she lifteth np hfrselt on lii^h, she scorneth the horse and his rider. 1 ' JOB xxxix. 18.
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS; 
 
 BEING A DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 EVERY LIVING CREATURE MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES, 
 FROM THE APE TO THE CORAL. 
 
 REV. J. G. WOOD, M.A., F.L.S. ETC, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "HOMES WITHOUT HANDS," 
 "COMMON OBJECTS OF THE SEA-SHORE AND COUNTRY," ETC. 
 
 WITH ONE HUNDRED NEW DESIGNS BY W. F. KEYL, T. W. WOOD, AND E. A. SMITH. 
 
 ENGRAVED BY G. PEARSON. 
 
 NEW EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 
 1883.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 K. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, 
 BREAD STREET HILL.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 OWING to the conditions of time, language, country, and race 
 under which the various books of the Holy Scriptures were 
 written, it is impossible that they should be rightly understood 
 at the present day, and in this land, without the aid of many 
 departments of knowledge. Contemporary history, philology, 
 geography, and ethnology must all be pressed into the service of 
 the true Biblical scholar ; and there is yet another science which 
 is^ to the full as important as either of the others. This is 
 Natural History, in its widest sense. 
 
 The Oriental character of the Scriptural books causes them to 
 abound with metaphors and symbols, taken from the common 
 life of the time. They embrace the barren precipitous rocks 
 alternating with the green and fertile valleys, the trees, flowers, 
 and herbage, the creeping things of the earth, the fishes of the 
 sea, the birds of the air, and the beasts which abode with man or 
 dwelt in the deserts and forests. Unless, therefore, we under- 
 stand these writings as those understood them for whom they 
 were written, it is evident that we shall misinterpret instead 
 of rightly comprehending them. Even with secular books of 
 equally ancient date, the right understanding of them would be 
 important, but in the case of the Holy Scriptures it is more than 
 important, and becomes a duty. The field which is laid open 
 to us is so large that only one department of Natural History, 
 namely Zoology, can be treated in this work, although it is 
 
 2000375
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 illustrated by many references to other branches of Natural 
 History, to the physical geography of Palestine, Egypt, and Syria, 
 the race-character of the inhabitants, and historical parallels. 
 The importance of Zoology in elucidating the Scriptures cannot 
 be overrated, and without its aid we shall not only miss the 
 point of innumerable passages of the Old and New Testament, 
 but the words of our Lord Himself will either be totally misin- 
 terpreted, or at least lose the greater part of their significance. 
 
 The object of the present work is therefore to take, in its 
 proper succession, every creature whose name is given in the 
 Scriptures, and to supply so much of its history as will enable 
 the reader to understand all the passages in which it is men- 
 tioned. A general account of each animal will be first given, 
 followed by special explanations (wherever required) of those 
 texts in which pointed reference is made to it, but of which the 
 full force cannot be gathered without a knowledge of Natural 
 History. 
 
 The illustrations are all taken from the living animals, while 
 the accessory details have been obtained either from the 
 Egyptian or Assyrian monuments, from actual specimens, or 
 from the photographs and drawings of the latest travellers. They 
 have been selected and arranged so that each illustration explains 
 one or more passages of Scripture, and it is hoped that the work 
 will possess equal interest for the natural historian and the 
 Biblical student.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 MAMMALIA. 
 
 THE APE. 
 
 The Monkey tribe rarely mentioned in Scripture Why the Ape was introduced 
 into Palestine Solomon's ships, and their cargo of Apes, peacocks, ivory, 
 and gold Various species of Monkey that might have been imported The 
 Rhesus Monkey The Hoonuman, or Entellus Habits of the Monkey, and 
 reverence in which it is held by the natives The Egyptians and their Baboon 
 worship Idols and memorials The Wauderoo Its singular aspect Reasons 
 why it should be introduced into Palestine General habits of the Wanderoo 
 Its love of curiosities Probability that Solomon had a menagerie Various 
 species of Monkey that may be included in the term Kophim The Satyr 
 of Scripture Babylon in its glory and fall Fulfilment of prophecy Judaic 
 ideas of the Satyrs, or Seirim 1 
 
 THE BAT. 
 
 The Bat mentioned always with abhorrence Meaning of the Hebrew name The 
 prohibition against eating Bats The edible species, their fuod and mode of 
 life The noisome character of the Bat, and the nature of its dwelling-place 
 Its hatred of light Baruch and his prophecy Appropriateness of the pro- 
 phecy Singular Mahommedan legend respecting the original creation of tlie 
 Bat The legend compared with the apocryphal gospels The Bats of Palestine 
 Mr. Tristram's discoveries Bats found in the quarries from which the stone 
 of the Temple was hewn Edible Bats in a cave near the centre of Palestine 
 Another species of long-tailed Bat captured in the rock caves where hermits 
 had been buried Other species which probably inhabit Palestine ... 1 1 
 
 THE LION. 
 
 Frequent mention of the Lion in the Scriptures Probability that it was once 
 a common animal, though now extinct Reasons for its disappearance The 
 Lion employed as an emblem in the Bible Similarity of the African and 
 Asiatic species The chief characteristics of the Lion Its strength, activity,
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 and mode of seizing its prey Various names of the Lion Its courage when 
 roused Its roar, and peculiar mode of utterance Invisibility of the Lion at 
 dusk The Lion lying in wait The dwelling-place of the Lion Its restless- 
 ness at night Passages illustrative of these characteristics Modes of cap- 
 turing the Lion The pitfall and the net Lions kept as curiosities The 
 Lion-lmnt as depicted on the buildings of ancient Nineveh ..... 18 
 
 THE LEOPAED. 
 
 The Leopard not often mentioned in the Scriptures Its attributes exactly 
 described Probability that several animals were classed under the name- 
 How the Leopard takes its prey Craft of the Leopard Its ravages among 
 the flocks The empire of man over the beast The Leopard at bay 
 Localities wherein the Leopard lives The skin of the Leopard Various 
 passages of Scripture explained 29 
 
 THE CAT. 
 
 The Cat never mentioned by name in the canonical Scriptures, and only once in 
 the Apocrypha The Cat domesticated among the Egyptians, and trained in 
 bird-catching Neglected capabilities of the Cat Anecdote of an English 
 Cat that caught fish for her master Presumed reason why the Scriptures are 
 silent about the Cat The Cat mentioned by Baruch 36 
 
 THE DOG. 
 
 Antipathy displaj'ed by Orientals towards the Dog, and manifested throughout 
 the Scriptures Contrast between European and Oriental Dogs Habits of 
 the Dogs of Palestine The city Dogs and their singular organization The 
 herdsman's Dog Various passages of Scripture Dogs and the crumbs 
 Their numbers Signor Pierotti's experience of the Dogs Possibility of their 
 perfect domestication The peculiar humiliation of Lazarus Voracity of the 
 Wild Dogs The fate of Ahab and Jezebel Anecdote of a volunteer Watch- 
 dog Innate affection of the Dog towards mankind Peculiar local instinct of 
 the Oriental Dog Albert Smith's account of the Dogs at Constantinople 
 The Dervish and his Dogs The Greyhound Uncertainty of the word . 39 
 
 THE WOLF. 
 
 Identity of the animal indisputable Its numbers, past and present The Wolf 
 never mentioned directly Its general habits References in Scripture Its 
 mingled ferocity and cowardice Its association into packs The Wolf's bite 
 How it takes its prey Its ravages among the flocks Allusions to this 
 habit The shepherd and his nightly enemies Mr. Tristram and the Wolf 
 A semi-tamed Wolf at Marsaba , aO
 
 CONTENTS. ix 
 
 THE FOX, OR JACKAL. 
 
 The two animals comprehended under one name The Jackal Its numbers in 
 ancient and modern Palestine General habits of the Jackal Localities 
 where the Jackal is found Samson, and the three hundred "foxes" Popular 
 objections to the narrative The required number easily obtained Signor 
 Pierotti's remarks upon the Jackal An unpleasant position How the fields 
 were set on fire The dread of fire inherent in wild beasts The truth of tho 
 narrative proved The Fox and Jackal destructive among grapes Allusions 
 to the Fox in the New Testament Partially tamed Foxes 55 
 
 THE HYAENA. 
 
 The Hyaena not mentioned by name, but evidently alluded to Signification of 
 the word Zabua Translated in the Septuagint as " Hya?.na " A scene described 
 by the Prophet Isaiah The Hyaena plentiful in Palestine at the present day 
 Its well-known cowardice and fear of man The uses of the Hyaena, and the 
 services which it renders The particular species of Hyaena The Hysena in 
 the burial-grounds Hunting the Hyaena Curious superstition respecting 
 the talismanic properties of its skin Precautions adopted in flaying it 
 Popular legends of the Hysena and its magical powers The cavern home of 
 the Hysena The Valley of Zeboim 62 
 
 THE WEASEL. 
 
 Difficulty of identifying the Weasel of Scripture The Weasel of Palestine 
 Suggested identity with the Ichneumon 68 
 
 THE FEEEET. 
 
 Translation of the Hebrew word Anakah The Shrew-mouse of Palestine 
 Etymology of the word The Gecko or Fan-foot, its habits and peculiar cry 
 Repugnance felt by the Arabs of the present day towards the Gecko . 69 
 
 THE BADGER. 
 
 Difficulty of identifying the Tachash of Scripture References to " badgers' skins" 
 The Dugong thought to be the Badger The Bedouin sandals Nature of 
 the materials for the Tabernacle Habits of the Badger The species found in 
 Palestine Uses of the Badgers' skins Looseness of zoological terms . . 70
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE BEAR. 
 
 The Syrian Bear Identity of the Hebrew and Arabic titles Its colour variable 
 according to age Bears once numerous in Palestine, and now only occasion- 
 ally seen Reason for their diminution Present localities of the Bear, and 
 its favourite haunts Food of the Bear Its general habits Its ravages 
 among the flocks The Bear dangerous to mankind The Bear robbed of her 
 whelps Illustrative passages Its mode of fighting Various references to 
 the Bear, from the time of Samuel to that of St. John 75 
 
 THE HEDGEHOG, OR BITTERN. 
 
 Various readings of the word Kippdd The Jewish Bible and its object The 
 Syrian Hedgehog and its appearance Its fondness for dry spots The pro- 
 phecies of Isaiah and Zephaniah, and their bearing on the subject The 
 Porcupine supposed to be the Kippod The Hedgehog and Porcupine called 
 by the same name in Greek and Arabic Habits of the Porcupine Its quills, 
 and the manner of their shedding SO 
 
 THE PORCUPINE. 
 
 Presumed identity of the Kippod with the Porcupine The same Greek name 
 applied to the Porcupine and Hedgehog Habits of the Porcupine The 
 common Porcupine found plentifully in Palestine 85 
 
 THE MOLE. 
 
 The two Hebrew words which are translated as " Mole " Obscurity of the former 
 name A parallel case in our own language The second name The Moles 
 and the Bats, why associated together The real Mole of Scripture, its 
 different names, and its place in zoology Description of the Mole-rat and 
 its general habits Curious superstition Discovery of the species by Mr. 
 Tristram Scripture and science How the Mole-rat finds its food Distinc- 
 tion between the Mole and the present animal 86 
 
 THE MOUSE. 
 
 Conjectures as to the right translation of the Hebrew word Akbar Signification 
 of the word The Mice which marred the land Miracles, and their economy 
 of power The Field-mouse Its destructive habits and prolific nature The 
 insidious natxire of its attacks, and its power of escaping observation The 
 Hamster, and its habits Its custom of storing up provisions for the winter 
 Its fertility and unsociable nature The Jerboa, its activity and destructive- 
 ness Jerboas and Hamsters eaten by Arabs and Syrians Various species of 
 Dormice and Sand-rats ... 91
 
 CONTENTS. xi 
 
 THE HAEE. 
 
 The prohibitions of the Mosaic law The chewing of the cud and division of the 
 hoof Identity of the Hare of Scripture Rumination described The Hare a 
 rodent and not a ruminant, Cowper and his Hares Structure of the rodent 
 tooth The Mosaic law accommodated to its recipients The Hares of Palestine 
 and their habits 96 
 
 CATTLE. 
 
 The cattle of Palestine, and their decadence at the present day Ox-flesh not 
 used for food in modern times Oxen of the stall, and oxen of the pasture 
 The use of the ox in agriculture The yoke and its structure The plough 
 and the goad The latter capable of being used as a weapon Treading out 
 the corn The cart and its wheels The ox used as a beast of burden Cattle 
 turned loose to graze The bulls of Bashan Curiosity of the ox tribe A 
 season of drought Branding the cattle An Egyptian field scene Cattle- 
 keeping an honourable post The ox as used for sacrifice Ox-worship The 
 bull Apis, and his history Persistency of the bull-worship Jeroboam's sin 
 Various names of cattle The Indian buffalo . . 101 
 
 THE WILD BULL. 
 
 The To, Wild Bull of the Old Testament Passages in which it is mentioned 
 The Wild Bull in the net Hunting with nets in the East The Oryx sup- 
 posed to be the To of Scripture Description of the Oryx, its locality, ap- 
 pearance, and habits The points in which the Oryx agrees with the To 
 The " snare " in which the foot is taken, as distinguished from the net . 116 
 
 THE EEEM, OE " UNICORN " OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 The Reem evidently known to the Jews Various theories concerning the Unicorn 
 Supposed identity with the Indian Rhinoceros Passages of Scripture 
 alluding to the strength, violent and intractable temper of the Reem The 
 Reem a two-horned animal Its evident connexion with the Ox tribe Its 
 presumed identity with the now extinct Urus Mr. Dawkins' treatise on the 
 Unis Enormous size and dangerous character of the Urus Rabbinical legend, 
 of the Reem Identity of the Urus with the modern varieties of cattle The 
 Bull-hunts of Nineveh , . 121
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE BISOX. 
 
 The Bison tribe and its distinguishing marks Its former existence in Palestine 
 Its general habits Origin of its name Its musky odour Size and speed of 
 the Bison Its dangerous character when brought to bay Its defence against 
 the Wolf Its un tameable disposition . 131 
 
 THE GAZELLE, OR ROE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 The Gazelle identified with the Tscbi, i. e. the Roe or Roebuck of Scripture 
 Various passages relating to the Tsebi Its swiftness, its capabilities as a 
 beaut of chase, its beanty, and the quality of its flesh The Tsebiyah rendered 
 in Greek as Tabitha, and translated as Dorcas, or Gazelle Different varieties 
 of the Gazelle How the Gazelle defends itself against wild beasts Chase of 
 the Gazelle The net, the battue, and the pitfall Coursing the Gazelle with 
 greyhounds and falcons Mr. Chasseaiid's account of a hunting party 
 Gentleness of the Gazelle 133 
 
 THE PYGARG, OR ADDAX. 
 
 The Dishon or Dyshon Signification of the word Pygarg Certainty that the 
 Dishon is an antelope, and that it must be one of a few species Former and 
 present range of the Addax Description of the Addax The Strepsiceros 
 of Pliny 14] 
 
 THE FALLOW-DEER, OR BUBALE. 
 
 The word Jachmur evidently represents a species of antelope Probability that 
 the Jachmur is identical with the Bubale, or Bekk'r-el-Wash Resemblance 
 of the animal to the ox tribe Its ox-like horns and mode of attack Its 
 capability of domestication Former and present range of the Bubale Its 
 representation on the monuments of ancient Egypt Delicacy of its flesh 
 Size and general appearance of the animal 143 
 
 THE SHEEP. 
 
 Importance of Sheep in the Bible The Sheep the chief wealth of the pastoral 
 tribes Tenure of land Value of good pasture-land Arab shepherds of the 
 present day Difference between the shepherds of Palestine and England 
 Wanderings of the flocks in search of food Value of the wells How the
 
 CONTENTS. XI 11 
 
 Sheep are watered Duties of the shepherd The shepherd a kiiid of irregular 
 soldier His use of the sling Sheep following their shepherd Calling the 
 Sheep by name The shepherd usually a part owner of the flocks Structure 
 of the sheepfolds The rock caverns of Palestine David's adventure with 
 Saul Penning of the Sheep by night Use of the dogs Sheep sometimes 
 brought up by hand How Sheep are fattened in the Lebanon district 
 The two breeds of Sheep in Palestine The broad-tailed Sheep, and its 
 peculiarities Reference to this peculiarity in the Bible The Talmudical 
 writers, and their directions to sheep-owners 146 
 
 THE CHAMOIS. 
 
 The Zenier or Chamois only once mentioned in the Bible Signification of the 
 word Zemer Probability that the Zemer is the Aoudad Appearance of the 
 Aoudad Its strength and activity Fierce temper of the adult male Horn-; 
 of the Aoudad Their probable use as musical instruments Habits of the 
 Aoudad The Mouflou, probably classed with the Aoudad under the name of 
 Zemer Appearance and habits of the Mouflon 18,"> 
 
 THE GOAT. 
 
 Value of the Goat Its use in furnishing food The male kid the usual animal of 
 slaughter Excellence of the flesh, and deception of Isaac Milk of the Goat 
 An Oriental milking scene The hair of the Goat, and the uses to which it 
 is put The Goat's skin used for leather The " bottle " of Scripture Mode 
 of making and repairing the bottles Ruse of the Gibeonites The " bottle in 
 the smoke " The sacks and the kneading-troughs The Goat as used for 
 sacrifice General habits of the Goat Separation of the Goats from the sheep 
 Performing Goats Different breeds of Goats in Palestine . . . .189 
 
 THE WILD GOAT. 
 
 The Azelim or Wild Goats of Scripture identical with tlie Beden or Arabian Ibex 
 Different names of the Beden Its appearance and general habits En-gedi, 
 or Goats' Fountain The Beden formerly very plentiful in Palestine, and now 
 tolerably common Its agility Difficulty of catching or killing it How the 
 young are captured Flesh of the Beden Use of the horns at the present day 
 The Ako of Deuteronomy 203 
 
 THE DEER. 
 
 The Hart and Hind of Scripture Species of Deer existing in Palestine Earliest 
 mention of the Hind The Hart classed among the clean animals Passages 
 alluding to its speed Care of the mother for her young, and her custom of 
 secreting it Tameable character of the Deer The Rabbinical writers and 
 their theories Shedding of the Deer's horns Its fabled mode of sleeping 
 The gall in the tail Curious traditions of the enmity between Deer and 
 serpents Virtues of a Deer-skin coat , 208
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 THE CAMEL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The two species of Camel, and the mode of distinguishing them Value of the 
 Camel in the East Camels mentioned as elements of wealth Uses of the 
 Camel The Jews forbidden to eat its flesh The milk of the Camel Thirst- 
 enduring capability The internal reservoir The hump, and its uses to the 
 Animal The Camel as a beast of draught and burden How the Camel is laden 
 Knowledge of its own powers Camels for riding Difficulty of sitting a 
 Camel A rough-paced steed Method of guiding the Camel The mesh'ab, 
 or Camel-stick of office The women's saddle Rachel's stratagem Ornaments 
 of the Camel The swift dromedary, Heine, or Deloul Its ungainly aspect 
 Speed and endurance of the Deloul The Camel-posts of Bornu Camel- 
 drivers and their conduct The driver's song Young Camels and their 
 appearance The deserted Camel 216 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Camel and its master Occasional fury of the animal A boy killed by a 
 Camel Another instance of an infuriated Camel Theory respecting the 
 Arab and his Camel Apparent stupidity of the Camel Its hatred of a load, 
 and mode of expressing its disapprobation Riding a Camel through the 
 streets A narrow escape Ceremony of weaning a young Camel The Camel's 
 favourite food Structure of the foot and adaptation to locality Difficulty 
 in provisioning Camel's hair and skin Sal-ammoniac and desert fuel 
 The Camel and the needle's eye Straining at a gnat and swallowing a 
 Camel 233 
 
 THE BACTRIAX CAMEL. 
 
 General description of the animal Its use in mountain roads Peculiar formation 
 of the foot Uses of a mixed breed Its power of enduring cold Used chiefly 
 as a beast of draught Unfitness for the plough The cart and mode of 
 harnessing The load which it can draw Camel-skin ropes A Rabbinical 
 legend 244 
 
 The Hebrew words which signify the Horse The Horse introduced into Palestine 
 from Egypt Similarity of the war-horse of Scripture and the Arab horse of 
 the present day Characteristics of the Horse Courage and endurance of the 
 Horse Hardness of its unshod hoofs Love of the Arab for his Horse Diffi- 
 culty of purchasing the animal The Horse prohibited to the Israelites 
 Solomon's disregard of the edict The war-chariot, its form and use Probable 
 construction of the iron chariot The cavalry Horse Lack of personal interest 
 in the animal . 248
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE ASS. 
 
 Importance of the Ass in the East Its general use for the saddle Riding 
 the Ass not a mark of humility The triumphal entry White Asses 
 Character of the Scriptural Ass Saddling the Ass The Ass used in agricul- 
 ture The Ass's millstone The water-wheel and the plough Reminiscences 
 of the Ass in the Scriptural narrative Its value as property The flesh of 
 the Ass The siege of Samaria and its horrors Various legends respecting the 
 Ass The impostor and his fate Samson and Balaam 264 
 
 THE WILD ASS. 
 
 The Arod and Pere of Scripture Various allusions to the Wild Ass Its swiftness 
 and wildness The Wild Ass of Asia and Africa Knowledge of the animal 
 displayed by the sacred writers How the Wild Ass is hunted Excellence of 
 its flesh Sir R. K. Porter's meeting with a Wild Ass Origin of the domestic 
 Ass The Wild Asses of Quito , .279 
 
 THE MULE. 
 
 Ancient use of the Mule Various breeds of Mule Supposed date of its introduc- 
 tion into Palestine Mule-breeding forbidden to the Jews The Mule as a 
 saddle-animal Its use on occasions of state The king's Mule Mules brought 
 from Babylon after the captivity Obstinacy of the Mule The Mule as a 
 beast of burden The " Mule's burden " of earth Mules imported by the 
 Pho3nicians Legends respecting the Mule 285 
 
 SWINE. 
 
 The Mosaic prohibition of the pig Hatred of Swine by Jews and Mahometans 
 A strange use of bacon The prodigal son Resistance to the prosecution of 
 Antiochus Swine hated by the early Egyptians Supposed connexion between 
 Swine and diseases of the skin Destruction of the herd of Swine The 
 locality of the event discovered Pigs bred for the monasteries The jewel of 
 gold in a Swine's snout The wild boar of the woods, and the beast of the 
 reeds The damage which it does to the vines General account of the wild 
 boar of Palestine Excellence of its flesh 292 
 
 THE ELEPHANT.. 
 
 The Elephant indirectly mentioned in the Authorized Version Solomon's ivory 
 throne Ivory used in Egypt Horns of ivory The ivory palaces Beds of 
 ivory The Tyrian ships Ivory mentioned by Homer Vessels of ivory
 
 xvi CONTENTS 
 
 The Elephant as an engine of war Antiochus and his Elephants Oriental 
 exaggeration Self-devotion of Eleazar Attacking the Elephants, and their 
 gradual abandonment in war The Talmudical writers on the Elephant A 
 funeral and an omen 302 
 
 THE COXEY, OR HYEAX. 
 
 The Shaphan of Scripture, and the correct meaning of the word Identification 
 of the Shaphan with the Syrian Hyrax Description of the animal Its feet, 
 teeth, and apparent rumination Passages in which the Coney is mentioned 
 Habits of the animal Its activity and wariness The South African Hyrax, 
 and its mode of life Difficulty of procuring it Similarity in appearance and 
 habits of the Syrian species Three species of Hyrax known to naturalists 
 The Talraudical writers on the Shaphan The jerboa and the rabbit A 
 curious speculation and a judicious compromise 312 
 
 BEHEMOTH. 
 
 Literal translation of the word Behemoth Various theories respecting the 
 identity of the animal The Hippopotamus known to the ancient Hebrews 
 Geographical range of the animal "He eateth grass like the ox" Ravages 
 of the Hippopotamus among the crops Structure of the mouth and teeth 
 The " sword or scythe " of the Hippopotamus Some strange theories Haunts 
 of the Hippopotamus The Egyptian hunter A valuable painting Strength 
 of the Hippopotamus Rising of the Nile Modern hunters Wariness of the 
 Hippopotamus The pitfall and the drop-trap -. . . 318 
 
 BIEDS. 
 
 THE LAMMERGEIER, OR OSSIFRAGE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Difficulty of identifying the various birds mentioned in Scripture The Vultures 
 of Palestine The Lammergeier, or Ossifrage of Scripture The Hebrew word 
 Peres, and its signification The Ossifrage, or Bone-breaker Appearance of 
 the Lammergeier Its flight and mode of feeding How the Lammergeier kills 
 snakes and tortoises, and breaks marrow-bones Mode of destroying the 
 chamois and mountain sheep Nest of the Lammergeier ...... 333 
 
 THE EGYPTIAN VULTURE, OR GIER-EAGLE. 
 
 The Racham or Gier-Eagle identified with the Egyptian Vulture Its appearance 
 on the Egyptian monuments Signification of the word JRdchdm Various 
 translations of the word The shape, size, and colour of the bird Its value as 
 a scavenger, and its general habits The Egyptian Vul hires and the griffons- 
 Its fondness for the society of man Nest of the Egyptian Vulture . . 339
 
 CONTENTS. xvii 
 
 THE GRIFFON VULTURE, OR EAGLE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 The Griffon Vulture identified with the Eagle of Scripture The word Neshcr and 
 its signification Geographical range of the Griffon Its mode of flight and 
 sociable habits The featherless head and neck ot the bird The Vulture used 
 as an image of strength, swiftness, and rapacity Its powers of sight How 
 Vultures assemble round a carcase Nesting-places of the Grilfou Mr. 
 Tristram's description of the Griffon Rock-caves of the Wady Humain Care 
 of the young, and teaching them to fly Strength of the Griffon Its emble- 
 matical use in Egypt and Assyria The god Nisroch Noble aspect of the 
 Griffon Its lonirevitv Various attitudes assumed bv the bird . . 344 
 
 THE EAGLE. 
 
 Signification of the word Asniych The Golden Eagle and its habits The Imperial 
 Eagle Its solitary mode of life The Short-toed Eagle common in Palestine 
 Its zoological position Food of the Short-toed Eagle Its form and 
 colour . 354 
 
 THE OSPREY. 
 
 The Osprey, or Fishing Eagle Its geographical range Mode of securing prey 
 Structure of its feet Its power of balancing itself in the air .... 356 
 
 THE KITE, OR VULTURE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 < 
 
 The word Dayah and its signification Dayah a collective term for different 
 species of Kites The Common or Red Kite plentiful in Palestine Its piercing 
 sight and habit of soaring The Black Kite of Palestine and its habits Thi- 
 Egyptian Kite The Raah or Glede of Scripture The Buzzards and their 
 habits The Peregrine Falcon an inhabitant of Central Palestine, and the 
 Lanner of the eastern parts of the country 357 
 
 THE HAWK. 
 
 The Netz or Hawk Dumber of species probably grouped under that name Rare 
 occurrence of the word The Sparrow-Hawk and its general habits Its place 
 of nesting The Kestrel, or Wind-hover Various names by which it is known 
 in England Its mode of feeding and curious flight The Hariers Probable 
 derivation of the name Species of Hariers known to inhabit Palestine 
 
 Falconry apparently unknown to the ancient Jews 364 
 
 I
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE OWL. 
 
 The words which have been translated as " Owl " The G6s, or Little Owl Use 
 made of the Little Owl in bird-catching Habits of the bird The Barn, 
 Screech, or White Owl a native of Palestine The Yanshuph, or Egyptian 
 Eagle Owl Its food and nest The Lilith, or Night Monster Various 
 interpretations of the word The Kippoz probably identical with the Scops 
 Owl, or Marouf 370 
 
 THE NIGHT-HAWK. 
 
 Different interpretations of the word Tachmds Probability that it signifies the 
 Nightjar Various names of the bird Its remarkable jarring cry, and wheel- 
 ing flight Mode of feeding Boldness of the bird Deceptive appearance of 
 its size . . 377 
 
 THE SWALLOW. 
 
 Identification of the smaller birds Oriental indifference to natural history Use 
 of collective terms -The Swallow Signification of the word Deror The Bird 
 of Liberty Swallows and Swifts The Snnbirds and Bee-eaters Variety .of 
 small birds found in Palestine The Swallows of Palestine Swallows pro- 
 tected by man in various countries Nesting of the Swallow The Rufous 
 Swallow and Martin The Sis or Swift -Various species of Swift inhabiting 
 the .Holy Land Talmudical notions of the Swift or Swallow The leper 
 and his offering The cooking pot and the sacrificial vessel Signification 
 of the word Tzijypor-deror 381 
 
 THE HOOPOE, OR LAPWING OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 The Dukiphath of Scripture -Various interpretations of the word The 
 Hoopoe Its beauty and ill reputation The unpleasant odour of its nest- 
 Food of the Hoopoe Its beautiful nest, and remarkable gestures A curious 
 legend of Solomon and the Hoopoe 392 
 
 THE SPARROW. 
 
 Signification of the word Tzippor The bird used for the leper's sacrifice Th< 
 SpaiTow upon the house-top Architecture of the East Proclamation from 
 the house-tops The Blue Thrush, its appearance and habits Little birds 
 exposed for sale in the market The two Sparrows sold for a farthing Bird - 
 catching The net, the snare, and the trap The Sparrow that builds her nest 
 in the Temple The Tree Sparrow Various Sparrows that inhabit Palestine- 
 Birds kopt in cages . 395
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE CUCKOO. 
 
 The Cuckoo only twice mentioned in Scripture Difficulty of identifying the 
 Shachaph The common species, and the Great Spotted Cuckoo Deposit- 
 ing the egg Conjectures respecting the Shachaph Etymology of the word 
 The various gulls, and other sea-birds 405 
 
 THE DOVE. 
 
 Parallel between the lamb and the Dove Derivation of the Hebrew word 
 Yondh The Dove and the olive branch Abram's sacrifice, and its acceptance 
 The sacrifice according to the law of Moses The Dove-sellers of the 
 Temple Talmudical zoology The story of Ilisch The Dove and the raven 
 The Dove a type of Israel The Beni-yonah, or Sons of Pigeons Home- 
 finding instinct of the pigeon The Oriental Dove-cotes Veice of the 
 Dove Its strength of wing The Dove's dung of Samaria Various pigeons 
 of Palestine The Rock Dove and its multitudes The Dove and the Griffon 
 The Turtle Doves of Palestine, and their appearance and habits . . 408 
 
 POULTRY. 
 
 Poultry plentiful in Palestine at the present day The Domestic Fowl unknown 
 in the early times of Israel The eating and gathering of eggs References to 
 Poultry in the New Testament The egg and the scorpion The fatted fowl of 
 Solomon The hen brooding over her eggs Poultry prohibited within Jeru- 
 salem The cock-crowing 421 
 
 THE PEACOCK. 
 
 The foreign curiosities imported by Solomon The word Tucciyim and its various 
 interpretations Identity of the word with the Cingalese name of the Peacock 
 Reasons why the Peacock should have been brought to Solomon Its sub- 
 sequent neglect and extirpation 425 
 
 THE PARTRIDGE. 
 
 The word Kore and its signification The Partridge upon the mountains David's 
 simile The Desert Partridge and its habits Hunting the Partridge with 
 sticks Eggs of the Partridge A disputed reading, and probable signification 
 
 of the passage Egg-hunting in Palestine The various species of Partridge 
 
 The Francolin and the Sand-grouse . ....... 426 
 
 62
 
 xx CONTENTS. 
 
 THE QUAIL. 
 
 Signification of the word Seldv Various passages in which the word is men- 
 tionedThe locust, the stork, and the sand-grouse Spreading the birds 
 around the camp Migration of the Quail Drying the Quails for food -Modes 
 of catching the Quail in the East The Quail-hunters of Northern Africa- 
 Quarrelsome nature of the bird Quail-fighting in the East How the Quails 
 were brought to the Israelites -*SO 
 
 THE RAVEN. 
 
 Signification of the word Orcb The Raven tribe plentiful in Palestine The 
 Raven and the dove Elijah and the Ravens Various explanations of the 
 circumstance Feeding the young Ravens Luis of Grenada's sermon The 
 white Raven of ancient times An old legend Reference to the blackness 
 of the Raven's plumage Desert-loving habits of the Raven Its mode of 
 attacking the eye Notions of 'the old commentators Ceremonial use of the 
 Raven Return of the Ravens Cunning of the bird Nesting-places of the 
 Raven The magpie and its character The starling Its introduction into 
 Palestine The Rabbi perplexed Solution of the difficulty 439 
 
 THE OSTRICH. 
 
 Hebrew words designating the Ostrich Description of the bird in the Book of Job 
 Ancient use of Ostrich plumes Supposed heedlessness of eggs and young 
 Mode of depositing the eggs Hatching them in the sand Natural enemies 
 of the Ostrich Anecdote of Ostrk-hes and their young Alleged stupidity of 
 the Ostrich Methods of hunting and snaring the bird The Ostrich in 
 domestication Speed of the Ostrich The flesh of the bird prohibited to the 
 Jews Ostrich eggs and their uses Food of the Ostrich Mode of drinking 
 Cry of the Ostrich, and reference made to it in Micah 4".0 
 
 THE BITTERN. 
 
 Signification of the word Kippod The Bittern and its general appearance The 
 bird of solitude Difficulty of detecting the Bittern in its haunts Mudie's 
 description of the Bittern and its home The strange cry of the bird Super- 
 stitions connected with itThe Night-raven Nest of the Bittern Scarcity 
 of the bird at the present day Food of the Bittern The bird formerly brought 
 to table . 462 
 
 THE HERON. 
 
 The Heron mentioned as an unclean bird The Heron used for food in England, 
 and considered as a delicacy Sociable character of the bird, and its mode of 
 feeding Its enormous appetite How the Heron fights Ancient falcrmn-
 
 CONTENTS. xxi 
 
 Nesting of the Heron The papyrus marshes and their dangers Description of 
 the papyrus Vessels of bulrushes The Egret and its beautiful plumage 
 Uses of the train feathers 468 
 
 THE CRANE. 
 
 Various passages in which the Crane is mentioned Its migratory habits and loud 
 voice Geographical range of the Crane The bird once plentiful in the feu 
 districts of England Its favourite roosting-places Size of the Crane, and 
 measurement of the wings TheJCrane once used as food Plumes of the Crane 
 and their use Structure of the vocal organs Nest and eggs of the Crane. 474 
 
 THE STORK. 
 
 Signification of the Hebrew word Chasidah Various passages in which it is 
 mentioned The Chasidah therefore a large, wide-winged, migratory bird Its 
 identification with the Stork Derivation of its Hebrew name The Stork 
 always protected Uses of the tail Its mode of quartering the ground in 
 search of food Migratory habits of the Stork Nesting of the bird, and its 
 favourite localities The fir-trees of Palestine Love of the Stork for its 
 young 478 
 
 THE SWAN. 
 
 Signification of the word Tinshemeth The Gallinule and the Ibis Appear- 
 ance and habits of the Hyacin thine Gallinule A strange use for the bird 
 The White or Sacred Ibis The bird mentioned by Herodotus The Glossy 
 Ibis, or Black Ibis Veneration with which the bird was regarded . . . 485 
 
 THE CORMORANT. 
 
 The word Shdldk and its signification The Greek Catarrhactes Habits of the 
 Cormorant The bird trained to catch fish Mode of securing its prey Nests 
 and eggs of the Cormorant Nesting in fir-trees Flesh of the bird . . 490 
 
 THE PELICAN. 
 
 The Pelican of the wilderness Attitudes of the bird Its love of solitude 
 Derivation of the Hebrew word Fantastic interpretation Mode of feeding 
 the young Fables regarding the Pelican Breeding-places of the bird The 
 object of its wide wings and large pouch Colour of the Pelican . . . 495
 
 xxii CONTENTS. 
 
 REPTILES. 
 
 THE TORTOISE. 
 
 Reptiles iu general Looseness of the term " creeping things " The Tzab of the 
 Scriptures, translated as Tortoise Flesh and eggs of the Tortoise Its slow 
 movements Hibernation dependent on temperature The Water-Tortoises 
 Their food and voracity Their eggs Their odour terrifying the horses The 
 Dhubb lizard and its legends Its armed tail, and the use made of it Its 
 food, and localities which it prefers 505 
 
 THE LEVIATHAN, OR CROCODILE. 
 
 Signification of the word Leviathan Description in the Book of Job Structure 
 and general habits of the Crocodile The throat-valve and its use Position 
 of the nostrils Worship of the Crocodile The reptile known in the Holy 
 Land Two legends respecting its presence there Mode of taking prey 
 Cunning of the Crocodile The baboons and the Crocodile Speed of the 
 reptile Eggs and young of the Crocodile, and their enemies Curious story 
 of the ichneumon and ibis Modes of capturing the Crocodile Analysis of 
 Job's description The Crocodile also signified by the word Tannin. Aaron's 
 rod changed into a Tannin Various passages in which the word occurs 
 Use of the word by the Prophet Jeremiah 514 
 
 THE LETAAH OR LIZARD. 
 
 Difficulty of identifying the Letaah Probability that it is a collective and not a 
 specific term Various Lizards of Palestine The Green or Jersey Lizard The 
 Cyprius, its appearance and habits The Glass Snake or Scheltopusic Trans- 
 lation of the word Chomet Probability that it signifies the Skink Medicinal 
 uses of the Lizard The Seps tribe The common Cicigua, and the popular 
 belief concerning its habits The Sphsenops and its shallow tunnel . . . 529 
 
 . THE CHAMELEON, MONITOR, AND GECKO. 
 
 Translation of the word Koach Signification of the word, and its applicability to 
 the Chameleon Power of the reptile's grasp The prehensile tail Demeanour 
 of the Chameleon on the ground The independent eyes Its frequent change 
 of colour Mode of taking prey Strange notions respecting the Chameleon 
 The Monitor, or Land Crocodile Its habits and use to mankind The Nilotic 
 Monitor, and its habit of destroying the eggs and young of the Crocodile 
 The Gecko or Ferret of Scripture 534
 
 CONTENTS. xxiii 
 
 SEEPENTS. 
 
 Serpents in general Signification of the Hebrew word Nachash Various passages 
 in which the Nachash is mentioned The tiery Serpents of the wilderness 
 Explanation of the words " flying " and " fiery " as applied to Serpents Haunts 
 of the Serpent The Cobra, or Asp of Scripture Meaning of the word Pethcn 
 The deaf Adder that stoppeth her ear Serpent-charming in the East Prin- 
 ciple on which the charmers work Sluggishness of the Serpent nature 
 Ceremony of initiation into Serpent-charming Theories respecting the deaf 
 Adder Luis of Grenada's sermon The Cerastes, or Horned Serpent Appear- 
 ance and habits of the reptile The " Adder in the path " 540 
 
 THE VIPEE, OR EPHEH. 
 
 Passages in which the word Epheh occurs El-effah The Sand Viper, or Toxicon 
 Its appearance and habits The Acshub Adder's poison The. Spiuigh- 
 Slange The Cockatrice, or Tsepha The Yellow Viper Ancient ideas con- 
 cerning the Cockatrice Power of its venom 552 
 
 THE FEOG. 
 
 The Frog only mentioned in the Old Testament as connected with the plagues of 
 Egypt The severity of this plague explained The Frog detestable . to the 
 Egyptians The Edible Frog and its numbers Description of the Species. 557 
 
 FISHES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Impossibility of distinguishing the different species of fishes The fishermen 
 Apostles Fish used for food The miracle of the loaves and Fishes The Fisli 
 broiled on the coals Clean and unclean Fishes The scientific writings of 
 Solomon The Sheat-fish, or Silurus The Eel and the Mursena The Long- 
 headed Barbel Fish-ponds and preserves The Fish-ponds of Heshbon The 
 Sucking-fish The Lump-sucker The Tunny The Coryphene . " . . 563 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 Various modes of capturing Fish The hook and line Military use of the hook 
 Putting a hook in the jaws The fishing spear Different kinds of net The 
 casting-net Prevalence of this form Technical words among fishermen 
 Fishing by night The draught of Fishes The real force of the miracle 
 Selecting the Fish The Fish-gate and Fish-market Fish killed by a draught 
 Fishing in the Dead Sea Dagou, the fish-god of Philistina, Assyria, and 
 Siain Various Fishes of Egypt and Palestine 571
 
 xxiv CONTENTS. 
 
 INVERTEBRATES. 
 
 MOLLUSCS. 
 
 The purple of Scripture Various Molluscs from which it is obtaiucd The 
 common Dog whelk of England The sac containing the purple dye Curious 
 change of colour Mode of obtaining the dye The Tyrian purple The king 
 of the Ethiopians and the purple robe The professional purple dyers 
 Various words expressive of different shades of purple Care taken to keep 
 the preparation of the dye secret 5So 
 
 THE SNAIL. 
 
 The Snail which melteth Eendering of the Jewish Bible Theory respecting 
 the track of the Snail The Hebrew word Shablul Various Snails of 
 Palestine 589 
 
 THE ONYCHA. 
 
 Ingredients of the sacred incense The Onyx, or Onycka Derivation of the 
 word The Arabic Dofr The Doofu of Abyssinia Odour of the perfume 590 
 
 THE PEARL. 
 
 The Pearl of Scripture Wisdom compared to Pearl Different renderings of the 
 Hebrew word Opinions of the Talmudists Structure of Pearls The Pearls 
 of the marine and aquatic mussels Pearl-fisheries of the Conway Meta- 
 phorical uses of the Pearl The Pearl of great price Casting Pearls before 
 swiiie An ancient proverb 592 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 Insects Beetles not mentioned in Scripture The Ix>cust Various species of the 
 insect, and different words used to signify it The Arbeh of Scripture, and its 
 derivation The two migratory Locusts at rest and on the wing The Locust 
 swarms Gordon Cumming's account Progress of the insect hosts Vain 
 attempts to check them Tossed up and down as a Locust Effect of the winds 
 on the insect The east and the west winds Locusts used for food Ancient 
 and modern travellers The food of St. John . 596 
 
 THE BEE. 
 
 The Hebrew word Debdrah The Honey Bee of Palestine Abundance of Bees in 
 the Holy Land Habitations of the wild Bee Hissing for the Bee Bees in 
 dead carcases The houey of Scripture Domesticated Bees and their hives 
 Stores of wild honey The story of Jonathan The Crusaders and the houey 
 Butter and honey Oriental sweetmeats The Dibs, or grape-honey, and mode 
 of preparation Wax, its use as a metaphor 605
 
 CONTENTS. . XXV 
 
 THE HORNET. 
 
 The Tzirah or Hornet of Scripture -Travellers driven away by Hornets The 
 Hornet used as a metaphor Oriental symbolism The Talmudical writers 
 Sting of the Hornet 613 
 
 THE ANT. 
 
 The Ant of Scripture Solomon's allusion to the Ant Habit of ayiug up stores 
 of food A controversy respecting the Ant The Ants of Palestine, and their 
 habits The Agricultural or Mound-making Ant Preparing ground, sowing, 
 tending, reaping, and storing the crop Different habits of Ants Development 
 of the insect The winged Ants An Arab proverb 616 
 
 THE CRIMSON WORM. 
 
 The scarlet or crimson of Scripture Signification of the word Tolddth The 
 Coccus or Cochineal of Palestine compared with that of Mexico Differ- 
 ence between the sexes Mode of preparing the insect The Arabic word 
 Kermes . . . . 622 
 
 THE CLOTHES MOTH. 
 
 The Moth of Scripture evidently the Clothes Moth The Sas and the 'Ash- 
 Similitude between the Hebrew sds and the Greek ses Moths and garments 
 Accumulation of clothes in the East Various uses of the hoarded robes The 
 Moths, the rust, and the thief 624 
 
 THE SILKWORM MOTH. 
 
 Various passages wherein Silk is mentioned The virtuous woman and her 
 household Probability that the Hebrews were acquainted with Silk Present 
 cultivation of the Silkworm The Silk-farms of the Lebanon Signification 
 of the word Meshi Silkworms and thunder Luis of Grenada's sermon 
 The Hebrew word Gdzam, and its signification The Palmer-worm of 
 Scripture 627 
 
 FLIES. 
 
 Flies of Scripture Dead Flies and the apothecary's ointment Gadflies and 
 their attacks Annoyance caused by the House-fly Flies and ophthalmia 
 Sigiior Pierotti's account of the Flies The sovereign remedy against Flies 
 Causes of their prevalence 632
 
 XXVi - CONTENTS. 
 
 GNATS. 
 
 The Gnat of Scripture Straining out the Gnat and swallowing the camel, a 
 typographical error Probable identity of the Gnat and the mosquito . . (135 
 
 THE LOUSE. 
 
 Insect parasites The plague of Lice Its effect on the magicians or priests The 
 Hebrew word Chinnim Probability that it may be represented by " tick "- 
 Habits of the ticks, their dwellings in dust, and their effects on man and 
 heast 636 
 
 THE FLEA. 
 
 Prevalence of the Flea in the East, and the annoyanc* caused by them to tra- 
 vellers Fleas of the Lebanon The Bey's bedfellows The Pasha at the bath 
 Use of the word in Scripture 638 
 
 THK SCORPION. 
 
 The Scorpions of Palestine Signification of the word Akrabbim. Habits of the 
 Scorpion Dangers of mud walls Venom of the Scorpion Scorpions at sea 
 The Scorpion whip, and its use The Scorpion Pass 640 
 
 THE SPIDER. 
 
 Signification of the word Semamith Various interpretations of a Scriptural 
 passage Talmudical opinions respecting the creature The 'Akkabish and its 
 web Spiders of Palestine 643 
 
 THE WORM. 
 
 Various words translated as "Worm" Probable confusion of the words The 
 Rimmah and the Tole'ah The Worm which destroyed Jonah's gourd The- 
 Earthworm 644 
 
 THE HORSE LEECH. 
 
 Signification of the word Alukah -The Arabic word Leeches in Palestine The 
 horse and the Leech Leeches in England 646 
 
 SPONGE AND CORAL. 
 
 Use of the Sponge in Scripture Probability that the ancient Jews were acquainted 
 with it Sponges of the Mediterranean The Coral, and its value Signification 
 of the word Ramoth
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAOK 
 
 THE OSTRICH AND ITS HUNTERS. (Job xxxix. 19) Frontispiece. 
 
 THE LION AND HIS DEN. (Ezek. xix. 2) to face 26 
 
 DOGS PUOWLING AT NIGHT. (Psa. lix. 14) 48 
 
 THE BADGER AND ITS HOME. (Exod. xxvi. 14) 72 
 
 BEARS DESCENDING FROM THE HILLS. (Prov. xxviii. 15) ... 76 
 
 OXEN BEARING THE YOKE. (Lam. iii. 27) 104 
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR SHEPHERD AND FOLD. (Psa. xxiii. 2) ... 156 
 
 GOATS WOUNDED BY LION. (Amos iii. 12) ........ 202 
 
 THE HIND AND HER YOUNG. (Job xxxix. 1) ;) 212 
 
 CAMELS AND THEIR BURDENS. (Isa. xxx. 6) 222 
 
 THE WAU HORSE GOING TO BATTLE. (Job xxxix. 25) .... 250 
 
 WILD ASSES AND THE HUNTERS. (Job xxxix. 5 8) .... ; , 282 
 
 THE WILD BQAR IN THE VINEYARD. (Psa. Ixxx. 13) .... 300 
 
 ELEPHANTS IN A FOREST. (Ezek. xxvii. 15) 312 
 
 THE HIPPOPOTAMUS OR BEHEMOTH. (Job xl. 21) 324 
 
 VULTURES AND THEIR PREY. (Matt. xxiv. 28) ;i 352 
 
 THE EAOT.K AND ITS NEST. (Job xxxix. 27) 354 
 
 THE OSPRKV AND ITS HAUNTS. (Dent. xiv. 12j M 356 
 
 THE OWL AMONG RUINS. (Job xxx. 29) 376 
 
 PEACOCKS. (1 Kings x. 22) , . . . 426 
 
 THE BITTERN AND ITS HOME. (Isa. xiv. 23) 466 
 
 THE STORK IN THE FIR-TREES. (Psa. civ. 17) 482 
 
 THE CROCODILE OR LEVIATHAN. (Job xli. 7) 520 
 
 LOCUSTS ON THE MARCH. (Exod. x. 5) 600 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE RHESUS AND ENTELLUS. (1 Kings x. 22) -8 
 
 THE WANDEROO 
 
 BATS IN THEIR CAVE. (Levit. xi. 19) 17 
 
 THE LEOPARD BY THE WAY. (Hos. xiii. 7) 30 
 
 THE WOLF AMONG THE SHEEP. (John x. 12) . . . 51 
 
 JACKALS AND THE SCAPEGOAT. (Psa. Ixiii. 10) 56 
 
 HYENAS AND VULTURES. (Ezek. xxix. 5) 65 
 
 THF, HEDGEHOG. (Isa. xxxiv. 11) 81
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAOH 
 
 THE MOLE-RAT. (Lev-it, xi. 30) 87 
 
 FIELD-MICE AMONG CORN. (I Sam. vi. 5) 93 
 
 SYRIAN HARES. (Deut. xiv. 7) 97 
 
 OXEN TREADING OUT CORN. (Deut. xxv. 4) 107 
 
 THE BUFFALO. (Amos vi. 12) 114 
 
 THE WILD BULL, OR ORYX. (Isa. li. 21) ll'J 
 
 THE [JNICOKX, OR Bisox. (Job xxxix. 9) 132 
 
 GAZELLES urox THE MOUNTAINS. (Cant ii. 8) 136* 
 
 THE PYGAIIG, on ADIJAX. (Deut. xiv. 4) 142 
 
 THE FALLOW-DEKI:, ou BUBALE. (1 Kings iv. 23) 145 
 
 SHEEP LED TO PASTURE. (John x. 3) 154 
 
 THE RAM'S HORN TRUMPET. (Josh. vi. 4) 175 
 
 THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE ON MOUNT GERIZIM 181 
 
 THE CHAMOIS, OR AOL-DAD. (Deut. xiv. 4, 5) 187 
 
 GOATS DIVIDED FROM SHEEP. (Matt. xxv. 52} 199 
 
 THE WILD GOAT, OK IIJEX. (Psa. cxiv. 18) - 206 
 
 THE HIXD, OR FALLOW-DEER. (Cant. ii. 7) 209 
 
 THE DROMEDARY AND ITS RIDER. (Jer. ii. 23) 231 
 
 THE CAMEL AND THE "NEEDLE'S EYE." (Matt. xix. 24) 243 
 
 BACTRIAN CAMELS HARNESSED. (Isa. xxi. 7) 246 
 
 THE AVAR CHARIOT or EGVIT. (Jer. xlvi. 9) 261 
 
 THE STATE CHARIOT or ASSYRIA. (Jer. xvii. 25) 262 
 
 SYRIAN ASSES. (Prov. xxvi. 3) 269 
 
 MULES AND THEIR DRIVER. (Psa. xxxii. 9) 287 
 
 CONIES AMONG THE ROCKS. (Prov. xxx. 26) 313 
 
 THE HIPPOPOTAMUS IN THE RIVER. (Job xl. 21) 325 
 
 THE HIPPOPOTAMUS AND TRAP. (Job xl. 24) 328 
 
 THE OSSIFRAGE, OR LAMMERGKIER. (Deut. xiv. 12) 334 
 
 THE GIER-EAGLE, OR EGYPTIAN VULTURE. (Deut. xiv. 17) 340 
 
 THE VULTURE, ou KITE. (Job xxviii. 7) 358 
 
 THE GLEDE, ou PEREGRINE FALCON. (Dent. xiv. 13} 361 
 
 THE LANNER FALCON 363 
 
 THE HAWK, OR KESTREL. (Job xxxix. 26) 366 
 
 THE LITTLE OWL. (Psa. cii. 6) 372 
 
 THE NIGHT-HAWK. (Deut. xiv. 15) 378 
 
 THE SWALLOW AND SWIFT. (Jer. viii. 7) 385 
 
 THE LAPWING, on HOOPOE. (Levit. xi. 19) 393 
 
 THE SPARROW, OR BLUE THRUSH. (Psa. cii. 7) 399 
 
 THE SPARROW, OR TREE SPARROW. (Psa. Ixxxiv. 3) . . . . 403 
 
 THE CUCKOO. (Levit. xi. 16) . . . 406 
 
 THE ROCK DOVE. (Cant. ii. 14) . 4jg 
 
 THE TURTLE DOVE. (Cant. ii. 12) 420 
 
 POULTRY. (Luke xiii. 34) 423 
 
 THE PARTRIDGE ON THE MOUNTAINS. (1 Sam. xxvi. 20) 428 
 
 THE QUAIL. (Psa. cv. 40) . . 431 
 
 THE RAVEN. (Job xxxviii. 41) .441 
 
 THE OSTRICH AND ITS EGGS. (Job xxxix. 14) 454 
 
 THE BITTERN. (Isa. xiv. 23) .4(53 
 
 THE HERON. (Deut. xi. 19) '459 
 
 THE CRANE. (Isa. xxxviii. 14) ....
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XXIX 
 
 PA OB 
 
 THE SWAN OR IBIS, OR GALLINULE. (Deut riv. 16) 486 
 
 THE PELICAN OF THE WILDERNESS. (Psa. cii. 6) 496 
 
 THE TORTOISE AND DHUBB. (Levit. xi. 29) 507 
 
 THE LIZARD, OR CYPRIUS. (Levit. xi. 30) 530 
 
 THE CHAMELON AND THE GECKO. (Levit. xi. 30) 535 
 
 THE Asp AND THE ADDER, OR THE COBUA AND TIIF. CriiASTEs. (Psa. 
 
 Iviii. 4; Geii. xlix. 17) 542 
 
 THE VIPER, OR TOXICOA. iJob xx. 16i 553 
 
 THE FROG. (Exod. viii. 3) 558 
 
 FISHES MUIUENA, BARBEL, AND SHEAT-FISH. (Levit. xi. 10) . , . . 566 
 FISHES SCCKING-FISH, TUNNY, AND CORYPHENE. (Levit. x. 9j . . . 569 
 FISHES LATES, MULLUS, AND UBANOSCOPUS. (Numb. xi. 5) .... 582 
 
 THE PEARL OYSTER. (Matt. xiii. 45) 594 
 
 THE BEE. (Isa. viL 19) 606 
 
 THE HORNET. (Exod. xxiii. 28) 614 
 
 THE ANT. (Prov. vi. 6) 621 
 
 THE CRIMSON WORM, OR COCHINEAL. (Isa. i. 18) 623 
 
 BUTTERFLIES AND CATERPILLARS OF PALESTINE. (Joel i. 4) 631 
 
 FLIES. (Isa. viL 18) 635 
 
 THE SCORPION. (Rev. ix. 10) 041 
 
 THE CORAL. (Job xxviii. 18) .048
 
 MAMMALIA.
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE APE. 
 
 The Monkey tribe rarely mentioned in Scripture Why the Ape was introduced 
 into Palestine Solomon's ships, and their cargo of Apes, peacocks, ivory and 
 gold Various species of Monkey that might have been imported The Rhesus 
 Monkey The Hoonuman or Entellus Habits of the Monkey, and reverence 
 in which it is held by the natives The Egyptians and their Baboon worship 
 Idols and memorials The Wanderoo its singular aspect Reasons why it 
 should be introduced into Palestine General habits of the Wanderoo its love 
 of curiosities Probability that Solomon had a menagerie "Various species of 
 Monkey that maybe included in the term " Kophim" The Satyr of Scripture 
 Babylon in its glory and fall Fulfilment of prophecy Judaic ideas of the 
 Satyrs, or Seirim. 
 
 ANIMALS' belonging to the monkey tribe are but sparingly 
 mentioned in Holy Writ. If, as is possible, the Satyr of 
 Scripture signifies some species of baboon, there are but three 
 passages either in the Old or New Testament where these 
 animals are mentioned. In 1 Kings x. 22, and the parallel 
 passage 2 Chron. ix. 21, the sacred historian makes a passing 
 allusion to apes as formiug part of the valuable cargoes which 
 were brought by Solomon's fleet to Tharshish, the remaining 
 articles being gold, ivory, and peacocks. The remaining passage 
 occurs in Is. xiii. 21, where the prophet foretells that on the 
 site of Babylon satyrs shall dance. 
 
 The reason for this reticence is simple enough. No monkey 
 was indigenous to Palestine when the various writers of the 
 Bible lived, and all their knowledge of such animals must have 
 been derived either from the description of sailors, or from the 
 sight of the few specimens that were brought as curiosities from 
 foreign lands. Such specimens must have been extremely rare, 
 or they would not have been mentioned as adjuncts to the 
 
 t)
 
 2 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 wealth of Solomon, the wealthiest, as well as the wisest monarch 
 of his time. To the mass of the people they must have been 
 practically unknown, and therefore hold but a very inferior place 
 in the Scriptures, which were addressed to all mankind. 
 
 There is scarcely any familiar animal, bird, reptile or insect, 
 which is not used in some metaphorical sense in the imagery 
 which pervades the whole of the Scriptures. For example, 
 the various carnivorous animals, such as the lion, wolf, and 
 bear, are used as emblems of destruction in various ways ; while 
 the carnivorous birds, such as the eagle and hawk, and the 
 destructive insects, such as the locust and the caterpillar, are 
 all similarly employed in strengthening and illustrating the 
 words of Holy Writ. 
 
 But we never find any animal of the monkey tribe mentioned 
 metaphorically, possibly because any monkeys that were im- 
 ported into Palestine must only have been intended as objects of 
 curiosity, just as the peacocks which accompanied them were 
 objects of beauty, and the gold and ivory objects of value all 
 being employed in the decoration of the king's palace. 
 
 The question that now comes before us is the species of 
 monkey that is signified by the Hebrew word Kophim. In 
 modern days, we distinguish this tribe of animals into three 
 great sections, namely, the apes, the baboons, and the monkey ; 
 and according to this arrangement the ape, being without tails, 
 must have been either the chimpanzee of Africa, the orang-outan 
 of Sumatra, or one of the Gibbons. But there is no reason to 
 imagine that the word Kophim was intended to represent any 
 one of these animals, and it seems evident that the word was 
 applied to any species of monkey, whether it had a tail or not. 
 
 Perhaps the best method of ascertaining approximately the 
 particular species of monkey, is to notice the land from which 
 the animals came. Accordingly, we find that the ships of 
 Solomon brought gold, ivory, apes, and peacocks, and that they 
 evidently brought their cargoes from the same country. Conse- 
 quently, the country in question must produce gold, and must be 
 inhabited by the monkey tribe, by the elephant, arid by the 
 peacock. If the peacock had not been thus casually mentioned, 
 we should have been at a loss to identify the particular country 
 to which reference is made ; but the mention of that bird shows 
 that some part of Asia must be signified. It is most probable
 
 THE APE. 
 
 3 
 
 that the vessels in question visited both India and Ceylon, 
 although, owing to the very imperfect geographical knowledge 
 of the period, it is not possible to assert absolutely that this is 
 the case. In India, however, and the large island of Ceylon, 
 gold, elephants, peacocks, and monkeys exist ; and therefore we 
 will endeavour to identify the animals which are mentioned 
 under the general term Apes, or Kophim. 
 
 THK KHKSl'S ASD KNTKI I.t'S. 
 
 " firinging gold, and silver, ivory, and apes." 1 KINC;S x. 22 
 
 We are quite safe in suggesting that some of the apes in 
 question must have belonged to the Macaques, and it is most 
 likely that one of them was the RHESUS, or BHUNDER, scien- 
 tifically named Macacus Rhesus. 
 
 This animal is very plentiful in India, and is one of the many 
 creatures which are held sacred by the natives. Consequently, 
 it takes up its quarters near human habitations, feeling sure that 
 it will not be injured, and knowing that plenty of food is at 
 'hand. It is said that in some parts of India the natives always 
 leave one-tenth of their grain-crops for the monkeys, and thus 
 
 15 2
 
 4 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the animals content themselves with this offering, and refrain 
 from devastating the fields, as they would otherwise do. This 
 story may be true or not. It is certainly possible that in a long 
 series of years the monkeys of that neighbourhood have come to 
 look upon their tithe as a matter belonging to the ordinary 
 course of things ; but whether it be true or not, it illustrates the 
 reverence entertained by the Hindoos for their monkeys. 
 
 In many places where grain and fruit crops are cultivated, the 
 monkeys get rather more than their share, plundering without 
 scruple, and finding no hindrance from the rightful owners, who 
 dare not drive them away, lest they should injure any of these 
 sacred beings. However, being unmindful of the maxim, " qui 
 facit per alium, facit per se," they are only too glad to avail 
 themselves of the assistance of Europeans, who have no scruples 
 on the subject. Still, although they are pleased to see the 
 monkeys driven off, and their crops saved, they would rather 
 lose all their harvest than allow a single monkey to be killed, 
 and in the earlier years of our Indian colony, several riots took 
 place between the natives and the English, because the latter 
 had killed a monkey through ignorance of the reverence in 
 which it was held. 
 
 Another monkey which may probably have been brought to 
 Palestine from India is the HOONUMAX, ENTELLUS, or MAKUR, 
 which is more reverenced by the Hindoos than any other 
 species. Its scientific title is Presbytes entcllus. In some parts of 
 India it is worshipped as a form of divinity, and in all it is 
 reverenced and protected to such an extent that it becomes a 
 positive nuisance to Europeans who are not influenced by the 
 same superstitious ideas as those which are so prevalent in 
 India. Being a very common species, it could easily be 
 captured, especially if, as is likely to be the case, it was fearless 
 of man through long immunity from harm. The sailors who 
 manned Solomon's navy would not trouble themselves about the 
 sacred character of the monkeys, but would take them without 
 the least scruple wherever they could be found. 
 
 The Hoonuman would also be valued by them on account of 
 its docility when taken young, and the amusing tricks which it 
 is fond of displaying in captivity as well as in a state of 
 freedom. Moreover, it is rather a pretty creature, the general 
 colour being yellowish, and the face black.
 
 THE APE. 5 
 
 Perfectly aware of the impunity with which they are per- 
 mitted to act, these monkeys prefer human habitations to the 
 forests which form the natural home of their race, and crowd 
 into the villages and temples, the latter being always swarming 
 with the long-tailed host. As is the case with the Rhesus, the 
 Hoonuman monkeys are much too fond of helping themselves 
 from the shops and stalls, and if they can find a convenient roof, 
 will sit there and watch for the arrival of the most dainty 
 fruits. 
 
 However, the natives, superstitious as they are, and unwilling 
 to inflict personal injury on a monkey, have no scruple in 
 making arrangements by which a monkey that trespasses on 
 forbidden spots will inflict injury on itself. They may not shoot 
 or wound in any way the monkeys which cluster on their roofs, 
 and the animals are so perfectly aware of the fact, that they 
 refuse to be driven away by shouts and menacing gestures. 
 But, they contrive to make the roofs so uncomfortable by cover- 
 ing them with thorns, that the monkeys are obliged to quit their 
 points of vantage, and to choose some spot where they can sit 
 down without fear of hurting themselves. 
 
 That the Hindoos should pay homage almost divine to a 
 monkey, does seem equally absurd and contemptible. But, 
 strange as this superstition may be, and the more strange because 
 the intellectual powers of the educated Hindoos are peculiarly 
 subtle and penetrating, it was shared by a greater, a mightier, 
 and a still more intellectual race, now extinct as a nation. The 
 ancient Egyptians worshipped the baboon, and ranked it among 
 the most potent of their deities ; and it can but strike us with 
 wonder when we reflect that a people who couid erect buildings 
 perfectly unique in the history of the world, who held the fore- 
 most place in civilization, who perfected arts which we, at a 
 distance of three thousand years, have only just learned, should 
 pay divine honours to monkeys, bulls, and snakes. Such, 
 however, was the case ; and we find that the modem Hindoo 
 shows as great reverence for the identical animals as did the 
 Egyptian when Pharaoh was king, and Joseph his prime 
 minister. 
 
 It is said by some, that neither the Egyptian of the ancient 
 times, nor the Hindoo of the present day, actually worshipped 
 those creatures, but that they reverenced them as external signs
 
 Q BIBLK ANIMALS. 
 
 of some attribute of God. Precisely the same remorks have 
 been made as to the worship of idols, and it is likely enough 
 that the highly educated among the worshippers did look upon a 
 serpent merely as an emblem of divine wisdom, a bull as an 
 image of divine strength, and a monkey as an external memorial 
 of the promised incarnation of divinity. So with idols, which to 
 the man of educated and enlarged mind were nothing but visible 
 symbols employed for the purpose of directing the mind in 
 
 THE WAXbEROO. 
 
 worship. But, though this was the case with the educated and 
 intellectual, the ignorant and uncultivated, who compose the 
 great mass of a nation, did undoubtedly believe that both the 
 living animal and the lifeless idol were themselves divine, and 
 did worship them accordingly. 
 
 There is one species of monkey, which is extremely likely 
 to have been brought to Palestine, and used for the adorn- 
 ment of a luxurious monarch's palace. This is the WANDEROO, 
 or NIL-BHUNUER (Silenus veter). The Wanderoo, or Ouanderoo, 
 as the name is sometimes spelled, is a very conspicuous animal,
 
 THE APE. 7 
 
 on account of the curious mane that covers its neck and head, 
 and the peculiarly formed tail, which is rather long and tufted, 
 like that of a baboon, and has caused it to be ranked among 
 those animals by several writers, under the name of the Lion- 
 tailed Baboon. That part of the hairy mass which rolls over the 
 head is. nearly black, but as it descends over the shoulders, it 
 assumes a greyer tinge, and in some specimens is nearly white, 
 reminding the observer of the huge wigs which were so pre- 
 valent in the time of Charles II, or of the scarcely less enormous 
 head-dresses with which our judges are decorated. As is the 
 case with many animals, the mane is not seen in the young 
 specimens, and increases in size with age, only reaching its full 
 dimensions when the animal has attained adult age. Moreover, 
 the grey hue belongs exclusively to the elder monkeys, and only 
 in the oldest specimens is the full, white, venerable, wig-like 
 mane to be seen in perfection. 
 
 In captivity, the general demeanour of this monkey corre- 
 sponds with its grave and dignified aspect. It seems to be 
 more sedate than the ordinary monkeys, to judge from" the 
 specimens which have lived in the Zoological Gardens, and sits 
 peering with its shiny brown eyes out of the enormous mane, 
 with as much gravity as if it were really a judge deciding an im- 
 portant case in law. Not that it will not condescend to the little 
 tricks and playful sallies for which the monkeys are so cele- 
 brated ; but it soon loses the vivacity of youth, and when full- 
 grown, presents as great a contrast to its former vivacity, as does 
 a staid full-grown cat sitting by the fire, to the restless, lively, 
 playful kitten of three months old. During its growth, it can be 
 taught to go through several amusing performances, but it has 
 little of the quick, mercurial manner, which is generally found 
 among the monkey tribe. 
 
 The docility of the Wanderoo often vanishes together with its 
 youth. The same animal may be gentle, tractable, and teachable 
 when young, and yet, when a few years have passed over its 
 head and whitened its mane, may be totally obstinate and dull, 
 refusing to perform the feats which it accomplished in its youth, 
 or to learn others more suitable to its years. Consistent kind 
 treatment will, however, have its effect upon the creature, but as 
 a general rule, an old Wanderoo is apt to be a treacherous and 
 spiteful animal.
 
 g BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ' The natives of the country in which the Wanderoo lives, 
 attribute to it the wisdom which Hs veneraHe aspect see to 
 imply, much as the ancient Athenians venerated the owl as 
 hetod of wisdom, and the chosen companion of the learned 
 ml va In many places, the Wauderoo is thought to be a sort 
 of king 'among monkeys, and to enjoy the same supremacy 
 over its maneless kinsfolk, that the king-vulture ^ maintains over 
 the other vultures which are destitute of the brilliant crest that 
 
 marks its rank. 
 
 I am induced to believe that the Wanderoo must have been 
 one of the monkeys which were brought to Solomon, for two 
 
 reasons. 
 
 In the first place, it is a native both of India and Ceylon, and 
 therefore might have formed an article of merchandise, together 
 with the peacock, gold, and ivory. And if, as is extremely pro- 
 bable, the Tharshish of the Scripture is identical with Ceylon, it 
 is almost certain that the Wanderoo would have been brought to 
 Solomon, in order to increase the glories of his palace. Sir 
 Emerson Tennaut points out very forcibly, that in the Tami 
 language, the words for apes, ivory, and peacocks, are identica. 
 with the Hebrew names for the same objects, and thus gives a 
 very strong reason for supposing that Ceylon was the country 
 from which Solomon's fleet drew its supplies. 
 
 Another reason for conjecturing that the Wanderoo would 
 
 have been one of the animals sent to grace the palace of 
 
 Solomon is tliip. In the days when that mighty sovereign lived, 
 
 as indeed has been the case in all partially civilized countries, the 
 
 kings and rulers have felt a pride in collecting together the 
 
 . rarest objects which they could purchase, giving the preference to 
 
 those which were in any way conspicuous, whether for intrinsic 
 
 value, for size, for beauty, or for ugliness. Thus, giants, dwarfs, 
 
 and deformed persons of either sex, and even idiots, were seen as 
 
 regular attendants at the court, a custom which extended even 
 
 into the modern history of this country, the " Fool " being an 
 
 indispensable appendage to the train of every person of rank. 
 
 Animals from foreign lands were also prized, and value was set 
 
 upon them, not only for their variety, but for any external 
 
 characteristic which would make them especially conspicuous. 
 
 Ordinary sovereigns would make collections of such objects, 
 simply because they were rare, and in accordance with the
 
 THE APE. 9 
 
 general custom ; and in importing the " apes " and peacocks 
 together with the gold and ivory, Solomon but followed the 
 usual custom. He, however, on whom the gift of wisdom had 
 been especially bestowed, would have another motive besides 
 ostentation or curiosity. He was learned in the study of that 
 science which we now call Natural History. It is, therefore, 
 extremely probable, that he would not neglect any opportunities 
 of procuring animals from distant lands, in order that he might 
 study the products of countries which he had not personally 
 visited, and it is not likely that so conspicuous an animal as the 
 Wanderoo would have escaped the notice of those who provided 
 the cargo for which so wealthy a king could pay, and for which 
 they would demand a price proportionate to its variety. 
 
 There is perhaps no monkey which is so conspicuous among 
 its kin as the Wanderoo, and certainly no monkey or, ape 
 inhabiting those parts of the world to which the fleet of Solomon 
 would have access. Its staid, sedate manners, its black body, 
 lion-like tail, and huge white-edged mane, would distinguish it 
 so boldly from its kinsfolk, that the sailors would use all their 
 efforts to capture an animal for which they would be likely to 
 obtain a high price. 
 
 The peculiar and unique character of Solomon affords good 
 reason for conjecture that, not only were several species of the 
 monkey tribe included under the general word Kophim, but that 
 the number of species must have been very large. An ordinary 
 monarch would have been content with one or two species, and 
 would probably have been perfectly satisfied if a number of 
 monkeys had been brought from beyond seas, irrespective of 
 distinction of species. But, if we consider the character of 
 Solomon, we shall find that he would not have been content 
 with such imperfect knowledge. We are told that he wrote 
 largely of the various productions of the earth, and, to judge 
 him by ourselves, it is certain that with such magnificent means 
 at his command, he would have ransacked every country that 
 his ships could visit, for the purpose of collecting materials for 
 his works. It is therefore almost certain that under the word 
 Kophim may be included all the most plentiful species of 
 monkey which inhabit the countries to which his fleet had 
 access, and that in his palace were collected together specimens 
 of each monkey which has here been mentioned, besides many
 
 JO ' BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 others of which uo special notice need be taken, such as the 
 Bonnet Monkeys, and other Macaques. 
 
 We now come to the vexed question of the SATYRS, respecting 
 which word great controversies- have been raised. The Hebrew 
 word Seirim merely signifies "hairy beings," and does not 
 seem to be applied to any definite species of animal. Severa, 
 scholars, therefore, translate the word by "wild goats," and 
 instead of reading the passages (Is. xiii. 21, and xxxiv. 14) 
 " Satyrs shall dance there," they read them, " The he-goats shall 
 skip there." This is certainly an easier interpretation than that 
 which is accepted in our translation, but whether it is more 
 correct may be doubted. Moreover, the word " goat " would not 
 convey the idea of utter desolation which the prophecy implied, 
 and which has been so signally fulfilled in the Babylon of the 
 present day. The vast palaces and temples have sunk into 
 shapeless heaps of ruins, affording scarcely a trace by which the 
 buildings can be identified. The many massive gates, for which 
 the city was famous, have disappeared. The double lines of forti- 
 fication are only to be distinguished by a few scattered mounds, 
 while the wonderful palace of Nebuchadnezzar has left but a 
 few shattered walls as relics of an edifice whose fame spread 
 over the world. 
 
 What precise animal was meant by the word Seirim cannot 
 be ascertained, nor is it even certain whether the word signified 
 any particular species at all. The ancient commentators identified 
 Seirim with the semi-human creatures of mythology, known as 
 Satyrs, and strengthened this opinion by a reference to Lev. xvii. 7, 
 where the Israelites are warned against worshipping Seirim, or 
 " devils " according to our translation. In common with all the 
 civilized world, they fully believed that Satyrs were veritable 
 inhabitants of the woods and deserts, with forms half man half 
 goat, with powers more than human, and with passions below 
 humanity. Of course we cannot now accept such an interpre- 
 tation, but must grant, either that a mere metaphor of desolation 
 was intended, or that the prophecy alluded to various wild 
 animals that inhabit deserted places. . Accept which interpretation 
 we will, it is impossible to identify any particular animal with 
 '' Satyr " of Isaiah, and therefore it will be better to decline 
 giving any opinion on a subject which cannot be definitely 
 explained.
 
 THE BAT. 11 
 
 THE BAT. 
 
 The Bat mentioned always with abhorrence Meaning of the Hebrew name The 
 prohibition against eating Bats The edible species, their food and mode of 
 life The noisome character of the Bat, and the nature of its dwelling-place 
 Its hatred of light Baruch and his prophecy Appropriateness of the pro- 
 phecy. Singular Mahommedan legend respecting the original creation of the 
 Bat- -The legend compared with the apocryphal gospels The Bats of Palestine 
 Mr. Tristram's discoveries Bats found in the quarries from which the stone 
 of the Temple was hewn Edible Bats in a cave near the centre of Palestine 
 Another species of long-tailed Bat captured in the rock caves where hermits 
 had been buried Other species which probably inhabit Palestine. 
 
 AMONG the animals that are forbidden to be eaten by the 
 Israelites we find the BAT prominently mentioned, and in one or 
 two parts of Scripture the same creature is alluded to with 
 evident abhorrence. In Isaiah ii. 20, for example, it is pro- 
 phesied that when the day of the Lord comes, the worshippers 
 of idols will try to hide themselves from the presence of the 
 Lord, and will cast their false gods to the bats and the moles, 
 both animals being evidently used as emblems of darkness and 
 ignorance, and associated together for a reason which will be 
 given when treating of the mole. The Hebrew name of the 
 Bat is expressive of its nocturnal habits, and literally signifies 
 some being that flies by night, and it is a notable fact that the 
 Greek and Latin names for the bat have also a similar deri- 
 vation. 
 
 In Lev. xi. 20, the words, " All fowls that creep, going upon 
 all four, shall be an abomination unto you," are evidently in- 
 tended to apply to the bat, which, as is now well known, is not 
 a bird with wings, but a mammal with very long toes, and a 
 well developed membrane between them. Like other mammals, 
 the Bat crawls, or walks, on all four legs, though the movement 
 is but a clumsy one, and greatly different from the graceful ease 
 with which the creature urges its course through the evening air 
 in search of food.
 
 12 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Perhaps the prohibition to eat so unsightly an animal may 
 seem almost needless; but it must be remembered that in 
 several parts of the earth, certain species of Bat are used as 
 food. These are chiefly the large species, that are called 
 Kalongs, and which feed almost entirely on fruit, thus being to 
 their insectivorous relatives what the fruit-loving bear is among 
 the larger carnivora. These edible Bats have other habits not 
 shared by the generality of their kin. Some of the species do 
 not retire to caves and hollow trees for shelter during their hours 
 of sleep, but suspend themselves by their hind legs from the 
 topmost branches of the trees whose fruit affords them nourish- 
 ment. In this position they have a most singular aspect, looking 
 much as if they themselves were large bunches of fruit hanging 
 from the *boughs. Thus, they are cleanly animals, and are as 
 little repulsive as bats can be expected to be. 
 
 But the ordinary bats, such as are signified by the "night- 
 fliers " of the Scriptures, are, when in a state of nature, exceed- 
 ingly unpleasant creatures. Almost all animals are infested with 
 parasitic insects, but the Bat absolutely swarms with them, so 
 that it is impossible to handle a Bat recently dead without find- 
 ing some of them on the hands. Also, the bats are in the habit 
 of resorting to caverns, clefts in the rocks, deserted ruins, and 
 similar dark places, wherein they pass the hours of daylight, and 
 will frequent the same spots for a long series of years. In con- 
 sequence of this habit, the spots which they select for their 
 resting place become inconceivably noisome, and can scarcely be 
 entered by human beings, so powerful is the odour with which 
 they are imbued. 
 
 Sometimes, when travellers have been exploring the chambers 
 of ruined buildings, or have endeavoured to penetrate into the 
 recesses of rocky caves, they have been repelled by the bat3 
 which had taken up their habitation therein. No sooner does 
 the light of the torch or lamp shine upon the walls, than the 
 clusters of bats detach themselves from the spots to which they 
 had been clinging, and fly to the light like moths to a candle. 
 No torch can withstand the multitude of wings that come flap- 
 ping about it, sounding like the rushing of a strong wind, while 
 the bats that do not crowd around the light, dash against the 
 explorers, beating their leathery wings against their faces, and 
 clinging in numbers to their dress. They would even settle on the
 
 THE BAT. 13 
 
 face unless kept off by the hands, and sometimes they force the in- 
 truders to beat a retreat. They do not intend to attack, for they 
 are quite incapable of doing any real damage ; and, in point of 
 fact, they are much more alarmed than those whom they annoy. 
 Nocturnal in their habits, they cannot endure the light, which 
 completely dazzles them, so that they dash about at random, and 
 fly blindly towards the torches in their endeavours to escape. 
 
 If, then, we keep in mind the habits of the bats, we shall 
 comprehend that their habitations must be inexpressibly revolt- 
 ing to human beings, and shall the better understand the force of 
 the prophecy that the idols shall be cast to the bats and the 
 moles. 
 
 There is another, and a very forcible passage, in which the 
 Bat is mentioned. In the apocryphal book of Baruch, the Bat is 
 used as a lively image of something peculiarly repulsive and 
 hateful. Baruch was the secretary and faithful friend of 
 Jeremiah the prophet, and Chapter VI. of the book of Baruch 
 purports to be an epistle of Jeremiah to the captive Jews about 
 to be led away to Babylon. After showing that they had 
 brought their fate upon themselves by neglecting the worship of 
 the true God, and prophesying that they would remain in cap- 
 tivity for seven generations, the writer proceeds, in a strain of 
 scathing and sustained satire, to deride the idols which they had 
 adored, and to censure the infamous ceremonies that formed part 
 of the worship. 
 
 After describing the idols, made splendid with silver and gold, 
 whose hands hold sceptres, and axes, and wands, and yet cannot 
 save themselves from robbers ; whose tongues are polished by 
 the workman and yet cannot speak a word ; whose eyes are 
 covered with dust which they cannot wipe off for themselves ; 
 he proceeds as "follows : " Their hearts are gnawed upon by 
 things creeping out of the earth ; and when they eat them and 
 their clothes they feel it not. Their faces are blacked through 
 the smoke that conieth out of the Temple. Upon their bodies 
 and heads sit bats, swallows and birds, and the cats also. By 
 this ye may know that they are no gods ; therefore fear 
 them not." 
 
 It is not to be expected that so strange looking an animal as 
 the Bat would escape mention in the legends which are so 
 plentiful in the East.
 
 14 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Signer Pierotti, who has done such signal service in the in- 
 vestigation of the Holy Land, gives a most remarkable semi- 
 Mahonimedan and semi-Christian legend respecting the origin of 
 the Bat. The Mahommedans, unlike the generality of Jews, 
 have always respected the memory of our Lord Christ the 
 Prophet Isa, as they call Him ranking Him as one of the 
 greatest of God's prophets, though they deny His actual 
 divinity. In this curious legend, they have confused the forty 
 days fast in the wilderness with the enforced Mahommedan fast 
 called Ptamaclhan, much as the writers of the apocryphal gospels 
 attributed to the holy family and the apostles certain phrases 
 and acts of worship which were not in existence until several 
 centuries after the Christian era. 
 
 Towards the west of Jericho, there is a mountain which is 
 identified both by Christians and Mahommedans as being the 
 spot to which our Lord -retired during his passion, and which, 
 in consequence of this supposition, is called Kuruntun, or 
 Quarantine. 
 
 The reader, while perusing the following legend, must bear 
 in mind that the fast of Piamadhan lasts for a month, and that 
 from sunrise to sunset an entire abstinence from all kinds of 
 nourishment is imperative upon all good Mussulmans. Even 
 such luxuries as smoking or inhaling perfumes are forbidden, and 
 although washing is permitted, the head must not be plunged 
 under water, lest a few drops might find their way through the 
 nostrils. In consequence of this strict prohibition, the moments 
 of daybreak and sunset are noted with the most scrupulous care, 
 the tables being set, pipes lighted, coffee prepared,, and every 
 luxury being made ready just before sunset, so that as the orb 
 disappears beneath the horizon, the fasting multitudes may not 
 lose a moment in satisfying their wants. A similar anxiety 
 marks the approach of daybreak, because, as the first beams of 
 the sun break through the darkness, neither food nor drink may 
 pass their lips. 
 
 We will now proceed to the Mahommedan legend, as it is 
 given by S. Pierotti : " In this wild spot the great prophet Isa 
 retired with his disciples to keep the holy month of the 
 Ramadhan, afar from the tumults of the world. As the view 
 westward was obstructed by the mountains of Jerusalem, and, 
 consequently, the sunset could not he seen, he made, by the per-
 
 THE BAT. 15 
 
 mission of God, an image in clay representing a winged 
 creature ; and, after invoking tho aid of the Eternal, breathed 
 upon it. Immediately it flapped its large wings, and fled into 
 one of the dark caverns in the mountains. This creature was 
 the Khopash (bat), which lies hid so long as the sun shines 
 upon the world, and comes forth from its retreat when it sets. 
 Every night, at the Moghreb, i.e. at the moment of breaking the 
 fast, this bat fluttered round Isa, who then prepared himself 
 with his disciples for prayer. 
 
 " As soon as they had performed this sacred duty, the Merciful 
 caused to descend from heaven a silver table, covered with a 
 cloth whose brilliancy illumined the darkness, on which were 
 placed a large roasted fish, five loaves, salt, vinegar, oil, pome- 
 granates, dates, and fresh salad, gathered in the gardens of 
 heaven. On these the Prophet supped, and the angels of heaven 
 ministered at table." 
 
 This curious legend bears a great resemblance to the tales 
 which are told of our Lord's childhood in some of the spurious 
 gospels. It shows that both emanated from the same class of 
 mind. In both is seen a strange mixture of vivid imagination 
 contrasted with unexpected and almost puerile lack of inven- 
 tion ; and, in both is exhibited a total failure in apprehension 
 of cause and effect. Indeed, it is evident that this legend was 
 the work of a comparatively modern Mahommedan story-teller, 
 who appropriated the forty days' fast of our Lord from the true 
 gospels, and the making of a flying creature of clay from the 
 false, and modified them both to suit the purposes of his tale. 
 
 No particular species of Bat seems to be indicated by the 
 Hebrew word Hatalleph, which is evidently used in a compre- 
 hensive sense, and signifies all and any species of Bat. Until 
 very lately, the exact species of Bats which inhabit Palestine 
 were riot definitely ascertained, and could only be conjectured. 
 But, Mr. Tristram, who travelled in the Holy Land for the ex- 
 press purpose of investigating its physical histoiy, has set this 
 point at rest, in his invaluable work, " The Land of Israel," to 
 which frequent reference will be made in the course of the 
 following pages. 
 
 Almost every cavern which he entered was tenanted by bats, 
 and he procured several species of these repulsive but interesting 
 animals. While exploring the vast prairies in which the stone
 
 1(] BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 for the Temple was worked beneath the earth, so that no sound 
 of tool was heard during the building, numbers of bats were dis- 
 turbed by the lights, and fluttered over the heads of the 
 exploring party. 
 
 On another occasion, he was exploring a cave near the centre 
 of Palestine, when he succeeded in procuring some specimens, 
 and therefore in identifying at least one species. " In climbing 
 the rocks soon afterwards, to examine a cave, I heard a singular 
 whining chatter within, and on creeping into its recesses, a stone 
 thrown up roused from their roosting-places a colony of large bats, 
 the soft waving flap of whose wings I could hear in the darkness. 
 How to obtain one I knew not ; but on vigorously plying my 
 signal whistle, all the party soon gathered to my help. B. sug- 
 gested smoking them, so a fire of brushwood was kindled, and 
 soon two or three rushed out. Two fell to our shot, and I was 
 delighted to find myself the possessor of a couple of large fox- 
 headed bats of the genus Pteropus (Xantharpya cegyptiaca), and 
 extending twenty and a half inches from wing to wing. As none 
 of the bats of Palestine are yet known, this was a great prize, 
 and another instance of the extension westward of the Indian 
 fauna." These Bats belong to the fruit-eating tribe, and are 
 closely allied to the Flying Foxes of Java, Australia, and 
 Southern Africa. Therefore, this would be one of the species 
 commonly used for food, and hence the necessity for the prohibi- 
 tion. The present species extends over the greater part of 
 Northern Africa and into parts of Asia. 
 
 The same traveller subsequently discovered several more 
 species of bats. On one occasion, he was exploring some caves, 
 near the site of the ancient Jericho. On the eastern face of the 
 cliffs are a number of caves, arranged in regular tiers, and 
 originally approached by steps cut out of the face of the rock. 
 These staircases are, however, washed away by time and the 
 rains, and in consequence the upper tiers were almost inacces- 
 sible. In some of these caves the walls were covered with 
 brilliant, but mutilated frescoes ; and in others, hermits had 
 lived and died and been buried. Mr. Tristram and his com- 
 panions had penetrated to the second tier, and there made a 
 curious discovery. 
 
 " In the roof of this was a small hole, athwart which lay a 
 stick. After many efforts, we got a string across it, and so
 
 THE BAT. 
 
 17 
 
 hauled up a rope, by which, finding the stick strong enough, we 
 climbed, and with a short exercise of the chimney-sweeper's art, 
 we found ourselves in a third tier of cells, similar to the lower 
 ones, and covered with the undisturbed dust of ages. Behind 
 the chapel was a dark cave, with an entrance eighteen inches 
 high. Having lighted our lantern, we crept in on our faces, and 
 
 THE BAT. 
 
 " Tht Ijapv'ing and the P>at are unclean. ' LEV xi. }'i. 
 
 found the place full of human bones and skulls ; with dust 
 several inches deep. We were in the burying-place of the 
 Anchorites. Their bones lay heaped, but in undisturbed order, 
 probably as the corpses had been stretched soon after death, and 
 as in the campo-santo of some Italian monasteries, had bee:; 
 
 (5
 
 13 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 desiccated, and in the dry atmosphere had gradually pulverized. 
 The skeletons were laid west and east, awaiting the resurrection. 
 After capturing two or three long-tailed bats, of a species new to 
 us (Rhinopoma microphylla), the only living occupants, we crept 
 out, with a feeling of religious awe, from this strange sepulchral 
 cave." This bat is called the Egyptian Khinopome, and the same 
 species of Bat was found in considerable numbers in the cave at 
 Es Sumrah. Three more species were found in the tombs of the 
 kings, and it is probable that many other species inhabit 
 Palestine. It is certain, at all events, that representatives of 
 three more families of Bats inhabit Egypt, and therefore are 
 most probably to be found in Palestine. 
 
 THE LION. 
 
 Frequent mention of the Lion in the Scriptures Probability that it was once a 
 common animal, though now extinct Reasons for its disappearance The Lion 
 employed as an emblem in the Bible Similarity of the African and Asiatic 
 species The chief characteristics of the Lion its strength, activity, and mode 
 of seizing its prey Various names of the Lion its courage when roused its 
 roar and peculiar mode of utterance Invisibility of the Lion at dusk The 
 Lion lying in wait The dwelling-place of the Lion Its restlessness at night 
 Passages illustrative of these characteristics Modes of capturing the Lion 
 The pitfall and the net Lions kept as curiosities The Lion hunt as depicted 
 on the buildings of ancient Nineveh. 
 
 OF all the undomesticated animals of Palestine, none is men- 
 tioned so frequently as the LION. This may appear the more 
 remarkable, because for many years the Lion has been extinct 
 in Palestine. The leopard, the wolf, the jackal, and the hyajna, 
 still retain their place in the land, although their numbers are 
 comparatively few ; but the Lion has vanished completely out of 
 the land. The reason for this disappearance is twofold, first, 
 the thicker population; and second, the introduction of 
 firearms. 
 
 No animal is less tolerant of human society than the Lion. In 
 the first place, it dreads the very face of man, and as a rule,
 
 THE LION. 10 
 
 whenever it sees a man will slink away and hide itself. There 
 are, of course, exceptional cases to this rule. Sometimes a Lion 
 becomes so old and stiff, his teeth are so worn, and his endurance 
 so slight, that he is unable to chase his usual prey, and is 
 obliged to seek for other means of subsistence. In an unpopu- 
 lated district, he would simply be starved to death, but when 
 his lot is cast in the neighbourhood of human beings, he is per- 
 force obliged to become a " man-eater." Even in that case, a 
 Lion will seldom attack a man, unless he should be able to do so 
 unseen, but will hang about the villages, pouncing on the women 
 as they come to the wells for water, or upon the little children 
 as they stray from their parents, and continually shifting his 
 quarters Jest he should be assailed during his sleep. The Lion 
 requires a very large tract of country for his maintenance, and 
 the consequence is, that in proportion as the land is populated 
 does the number of Lions decrease. 
 
 Firearms are the special dread of the Lion. In the first place, 
 the Lion, like all wild beasts, cannot endure fire, and the flash of 
 the gun terrifies him greatly. Then, there is the report, surpass- 
 ing even his roar in resonance ; and lastly, there is the uuseen 
 bullet, which seldom kills him at once, but mostly drives him to 
 furious anger by the pain of his wound, yet which he does not 
 dread nearly so much as the harmless flash and report. There is 
 another cause of the Lion's banishment from the Holy Land. 
 It is well known that to attract any wild beast or bird to some 
 definite spot, all that is required is to provide them with a suit- 
 able and undisturbed home, and a certainty of food. Conse- 
 quently, the surest method of .driving them away is to deprive 
 them of both these essentials. Then the Lion used to live in 
 forests, which formerly stretched over large tracts of ground, but 
 which have long since been cut down, thus depriving the Lion of 
 its home, while the thick population and the general use of fire- 
 arms have deprived him of his food. In fact, the Lion has been 
 driven out of Palestine, just as the wolf has been extirpated 
 from England. 
 
 But, in the olden times, Lions must have been very plentiful. 
 There is scarcely a book in the Bible, whether of the Old or 
 New Testaments, whether historical or prophetical, that does not 
 contain some mention of this terrible animal ; sometimes de- 
 scribing the actions of individual Lions, but mostly using the 
 
 c2
 
 on BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 41 J 
 
 word as an emblem of strength and force, whether used for a 
 good purpose or abused for a bad one. 
 
 " There are several varieties of Lion, which may be reduced to 
 two, namely, the African and the Asiatic Lion. It is almost 
 certain, however, that these animals really are one and the same 
 species, and that the trifling differences which exist between an 
 African and an Asiatic Lion, are not sufficient to justify a 
 naturalist in considering them to be distinct specie?. The habits 
 of both are identical, modified, as is sure to be the case, by the 
 difference of locality ; but then, such variations in habit are con- 
 tinually seen in animals confessedly of the same species, which 
 happen to be placed in different conditions of climate and 
 
 locality. 
 
 That it was once exceedingly plentiful in Palestine is evident, 
 from a very cursory knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. It is 
 every where mentioned as a well-known animal, equally familiar 
 and dreaded. When the disobedient prophet was killed by the 
 Lion near Bethel, the fact seemed not to have caused any sur- 
 prise in the neighbourhood. When the people came out to 
 rescue the body of the prophet, they wondered much because the 
 Lion was standing by the fallen man, but had not torn him, and 
 had left the ass unhurt. But that a Lion should have killed a 
 man seems to have been an event which was not sufficiently 
 rare to be surprising. 
 
 We will now proceed to those characteristics of the Lion 
 which bear especial reference to the Scriptures. 
 
 In the first place, size for size, the Lion is one of the strongest 
 of beasts. Perhaps it is surpassed in point of sheer strength by 
 the mole, but it possesses infinitely more activity than that 
 animal. Moreover, the strength of the mole is concentrated in 
 its fore-quarters, the hind limbs being comparatively feeble ; 
 whereas, the strength of the Lion is equally distributed over the 
 body and limbs, giving to the animal an easy grace of movement 
 which is rare except with such a structure. A full-grown Lion 
 cannot only knock down and kill, but can carry away in its 
 mouth, an ordinary ox ; and one of these terrible animals has been 
 known to pick up a heifer in its mouth, and to leap over a wide 
 ditch still carrying its burden. Another Lion carried a two-year 
 old heifer, and was chased for five hours by mounted farmers, so 
 
 B / 
 
 that it must have traversed a very considerable distance. Yet, in
 
 THE LION. 21 
 
 the whole of this long journey, the legs of the heifer had only 
 two or three times touched the ground. 
 
 It kills man, and comparatively small animals, such as deer 
 and antelopes, with a blow of its terrible paw ; and often needs 
 to give no second blow to cause the death of its victim. The 
 sharp talons are not needed to cause death, for the weight of the 
 blow is sufficient for that purpose. 
 
 When the hunter pursues it with dogs, after the usual fashion, 
 there is often a great slaughter among them, especially among 
 those that are inexperienced in the chase of the Lion. Urged by 
 their instinctive antipathy, the dogs rush forward to the spot 
 where the Lion awaits them, and old hounds bay at him from a 
 safe distance, while the young and inexperienced among them 
 are apt to convert the sham attack into a real one. Their valour 
 meets with a poor reward, for a few blows from the Lion's ter- 
 rible paws send his assailants flying in all directions, their bodies 
 streaming with blood, and in most cases a fatal damage inflicted, 
 while more than one unfortunate dog lies fairly crushed by the 
 weight of a paw laid with apparent carelessness upon its body. 
 There is before me a Lion's skin, a spoil of one of these animals 
 shot by the celebrated sportsman, Gordon Gumming. Although 
 the skin lies flat upon the floor, and the paws are nothing but 
 the skin and talons, the weight of each paw is very consider- 
 able, and always surprises those who hear it fall on the floor. 
 
 There are several Hebrew words which are used for the Lion, 
 but that which signifies the animal in its adult state is derived 
 from an Arabic word signifying strength ; and therefore the 
 Lion is called the Strong-one, just as the Bat is called the Night- 
 flier. No epithet could be better deserved, for the Lion seems to 
 be a very incarnation of strength, and, even when dead, gives as 
 vivid an idea of concentrated power as when it was living. 
 And, when the skin is stripped from the body, the tremendous 
 muscular development never fails to create a sensation of awe. 
 The muscles of the limbs, themselves so havd as to blunt the 
 keen-edged knives employed by a dissecter, are enveloped in 
 their glittering sheaths, playing upon each other like well-oiled 
 machinery, and terminating in tendons seemingly strong as steel, 
 and nearly as impervious to the knife. Not until the skin is re- 
 moved can any one form a conception of the enormously power- 
 ful muscles of tl:e neck, which enable the Lion to lift the
 
 22 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 weighty prey which it kills, and to convey it to a place of 
 security. 
 
 Although usually unwilling to attack an armed man, it is one 
 of the most courageous animals in existence when it is driven to 
 fight, and if its anger is excited, it cares little for the number of 
 its foes, or the weapons with which they are armed. Even the 
 dreaded firearms lose their terrors to an angry Lion, while a 
 Lioness, who fears for the safety of her young, is simply the 
 most terrible animal in existence. We know how even a hen 
 will fight for her chickens, and how she has been known to beat 
 off the fox and the hawk by the reckless fury of her attack. 
 It may be easily imagined, therefore, that a Lioness actuated by 
 equal courage, and possessed of the terrible weapons given to 
 her by her Creator, would be an animal almost too formidable 
 for the conception of those who have not actually witnessed the 
 scene of a Lioness defending her little ones. 
 
 The roar of the Lion is another of the characteristics for which 
 it is celebrated. There is no beast that can produce a sound that 
 could for a moment be mistaken for the roar of the Lion. The 
 Lion has a habit of stooping his head towards the ground when 
 he roars, so that the terrible sound rolls along like thunder, and 
 reverberates in many an echo in the far distance. Owing to this 
 curious habit, the roar can be heard at a very great distance, but its 
 locality is rendered uncertain, and it is often difficult to be quite 
 sure whether the Lion is to the right or the left of the hearer. 
 
 There are few sounds which strike more awe than the Lion's 
 roar. Even at the Zoological Gardens, where the hearer knows 
 that he is in perfect safety, and where the Lion is enclosed in a 
 small cage faced with strong iron bars, the sound of the terrible 
 roar always has a curious effect upon the nerves. It is not 
 exactly fear, because the hearer knows that he is safe ; but it is 
 somewhat akin to the feeling of mixed awe and admiration with 
 which one listens to the crashing thunder after the lightning has 
 sped its course. If such be the case when the Lion is safely 
 housed in a cage, and is moreover so tame that even if he did 
 escape, he would be led back by the keeper without doing any 
 harm, the effect of the roar must indeed be terrific when the 
 Lion is at liberty, when he is in his own country, and when the 
 shades of evening prevent him from being seen even at a short 
 distance.
 
 THE LION. . 23 
 
 In the dark, t,iere is no animal so invisible as a Lion. Almost 
 every hunter has told a similar story of the Lion's approach at 
 night, of the terror displayed by dogs and cattle as he drew 
 near, and of the utter inability to see him, though he was so 
 close that they could hear his breathing. Sometimes, when he 
 has crept near an encampment, or close to a cattle inclosure, he 
 does not proceed any farther lest he should venture within the 
 radius illumined by the rays of the fire. So he crouches closely 
 to the ground, and, in the semi- darkness, looks so like a large 
 stone, or a little hillock, that any one might pass close to it 
 without, perceiving its real nature. This gives the opportunity 
 for which the Lion has been watching, and in a moment he 
 strikes down the careless straggler, and carries off his prey to 
 the den. Sometimes, when very much excited, he accompanies 
 the charge with a roar, but, as a general fact, he secures his prey 
 in silence. 
 
 The roar of the Lion is very peculiar. It is not a mere out- 
 burst f sound, but a curiously graduated performance. No de- 
 scription of the Lion's roar is so vivid, so true, and so graphic as 
 that of- Gordon Gumming : " One of the most striking things 
 connected with the Lion is his voice, which is extremely grand 
 and peculiarly striking. It consists at times of a low, deep 
 moaning, repeated five or six times, ending in faintly audible 
 sighs. At other times he startles the forest with loud, deep- 
 toned, solemn roars, repeated five or six times in quick succes- 
 sion, each increasing in loudness to the third or fourth, when his 
 voice dies away in five or six low, muffled sounds, very much 
 resembling distant thunder. As a general rule, Lions roar during 
 the night, their sighing moans commencing as the shades of 
 evening envelop the forest, and continuing at intervals through- 
 out the night. In distant and secluded regions, however, I have 
 constantly heard them roaring loudly as late as nine or ten 
 o'clock on a bright sunny morning. In hazy and rainy weather 
 they are to be heard at every hour in the day, but their roar is 
 subdued." 
 
 Lastly, we come to the dwelling-place of the Lion. This 
 animal always fixes its residence in the depths of some forest, 
 through which it threads its stealthy way with admirable cer- 
 tainty. No fox knows every hedgerow, ditch, drain, and covert 
 better than the Lion knows the whole country around his den.
 
 24 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Each Lion seems to have his peculiar district, in which only 
 himself and his family will be found. These animals seem to 
 parcel out the neighbourhood among themselves by a tacit law 
 like that which the dogs of eastern countries have imposed upon 
 themselves, and which forbids them to go out of the district in 
 which they were born. During the night he traverses his 
 dominions ; and, as a rule, he retires to his den as soon as the 
 sun is fairly above the horizon. Sometimes he will be in wait 
 for prey in the broadest daylight, but his ordinary habits are 
 nocturnal, and in the daytime he is usually asleep in his secret 
 dwelling-place. 
 
 We will now glance at a few of the passages in which the 
 Lion is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, selecting those which 
 treat of its various characteristics. 
 
 The terrible strength of the Lion is the subject of repeated 
 reference. In the magnificent series of prophecies uttered by 
 Jacob on his deathbed, the power of the princely tribe of Judah 
 is predicted under the metaphor of a Lion the beginning of its 
 power as a Lion's whelp, the fulness of its strength as an adult 
 Lion, and its matured establishment in power as the old Lion 
 that couches himself and none dares to disturb him. Then 
 Solomon, in the Proverbs, speaks of the Lion as the " strongest 
 among beasts, and that turneth not away for any." 
 
 Solomon also alludes to its courage in the same book, Prov. 
 xxviii. 1, in the well-known passage, " The wicked fleeth when 
 no man pursueth : but the righteous are bold as a lion." And, 
 in 2 Sam. xxiii. 20, the courage of Benaiah, one of the mighty 
 three of David's army, is specially honoured, because he fought 
 and killed a Lion single-handed, and because he conquered 
 " two lion-like men of Moab." David, their leader, had also dis- 
 tinguished himself, when a mere keeper of cattle, by pursuing 
 and killing a Lion that had come to plunder his herd. In the 
 same book of Samuel which has just been quoted (xvii. 10), 
 the valiant men are metaphorically described as having the 
 hearts of Lions. 
 
 ^ The ferocity of this terrible beast of prey is repeatedly men- 
 tioned, and the Psalms are full of such allusions, the fury and 
 anger of enemies being compared to the attacks of the Lion. 
 
 Many passages refer to the Lion's roar, and it is remarkable 
 that the Hebrew language contains several words by which the
 
 THE LION. 25 
 
 different kind of roar is described. One word, for example, 
 represents the low, deep, thunder-like roar of the Lion seeking 
 its prey, and which has already been mentioned. This is the 
 word which is used in Amos iii. 4, "Will a lion roar in the 
 forest when he hath no prey ? " and in this passage the word 
 which is translated as Lion signifies the animal when full grown 
 and in the prime of life. Another word is used to signify the 
 sudden exulting cry of the Lion as it leaps upon its victim. A 
 third is used for the angry growl with which a Lion resents any 
 endeavour to deprive it of its prey, a sound with which we are 
 all familiar, on a miniature scale, when we hear a cat growling 
 over a mouse which she has just caught. The fourth term signifies 
 the peculiar roar uttered by the young Lion after it has ceased 
 to be a cub and before it has attained maturity. This last term 
 is employed in Jer. li. 38, " They shall roar together like lions ; 
 they shall yell as lions' whelps," in which passage two distinct 
 words are used, one signifying the roar of the Lion when search- 
 ing after prey, and the other the cry of the young Lions. 
 
 The prophet Amos, who in his capacity of herdsman was 
 familiar with the wild beasts, from which he had to guard his 
 cattle, makes frequent mention of the Lion, and does so with a force 
 and vigour that betoken practical experience. How powerful is 
 this imagery, " The lion hath roared; who will not fear ? The Lord 
 God hath spoken ; who can but prophesy ? " Here we have the 
 picture of the man himself, the herdsman and prophet, who had 
 trembled many a night, as the Lions drew nearer and nearer ; 
 and who heard the voice of the Lord, and his lips poured out 
 prophecy. Nothing can be more complete than the parallel 
 which he has drawn. It breathes the very spirit of piety, and 
 may bear comparison even with the prophecies of Isaiah for its 
 simple grandeur. 
 
 It is remarkable how the sacred writers have entered into the 
 spirit of the world around them, and how closely they observed 
 the minutest details even in the lives of the brute beasts. There 
 is a powerful passage in the book of Job, iv. 11, " The old 
 lion perisheth for lack of prey," in which the writer betrays his 
 thorough knowledge^ of the habits of the animal, and is aware 
 that the usual mode of a Lion's death is through hunger, in con- 
 sequence of his increasing inability to catch prey. 
 
 The nocturnal habits of the Lion and its custom of lying in
 
 26 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 wait for prey are often mentioned in the Scriptures. The former 
 habit is spoken of in that familiar and beautiful passage in 
 the Psalms (civ. 20), " Thou makest darkness, and it is night ; 
 wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young 
 Lions roar after their prey ; and seek their meat from God. The 
 sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down 
 in their dens." 
 
 Its custom of lying in wait is frequently alluded to. See Psalm 
 x. 9, where it is said of the wicked man, that " He lieth in wait 
 secretly, as a lion in his den." Also, Lam. iii. 10, " He was unto 
 me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places." Also, 
 Ps. xvii. 11, wherein the peculiar gait and demeanour of the 
 Lion is admirably depicted, " They have now compassed us in 
 our steps ; they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth ; 
 like as a lion that is greedy of his- prey, and as it were a young 
 lion lurking in secret places." 
 
 The retired spots, deep in the forest, where the Lion makes his 
 den, are repeatedly mentioned. See for example, Cant. iv. 8, 
 "Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and 
 Hermon, from the lions' dens." Also, Jer. iv. 7, " The lion is 
 come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is 
 on his way." The same Prophet contains several passages 
 illustrative of the Lion's habitation ; see ch. v. 6, " Wherefore 
 a lion out of the forest shall slay them ; " xii. 8, " Mine 
 heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest ; " and lastly, xxv. 38, 
 " He hath forsaken Ms covert as the lion." 
 
 An animal so destructive among the flocks and herds could 
 not be allowed to carry out its depredations unchecked, and as 
 we have already seen, the warfare waged against it has been so 
 successful, that the Lions have long ago been fairly extirpated in 
 Palestine. The usual method of capturing or killing the Lion 
 was by pitfalls or nets, to both of which there are many refer- 
 ences in the Scriptures. 
 
 The mode of hunting the Lion with nets was identical with 
 that which is practised in India at the present time. The pre- 
 cise locality of the Lion's dwelling-p]ace having been discovered, 
 a circular wall of net is arranged round it, or if only a few nets 
 can be obtained, they are set in a curved form, the concave side 
 being towards the Lion. They then send dogs into the thicket, 
 hurl stones and sticks at the den, shoot arrows into it, flinj
 
 THE LION. 
 
 "The lion is come up from his thicket." JF.R. iv. 7. 
 'She )ay ilown among lions, she nourished her whelps among yonng lions." EZEKIEI. xix. -J.
 
 THE LION. 27 
 
 burning torches at it, and so irritate and alarm the animal that it 
 rushes against the net, which is so made that it falls down and 
 envelopes the animal in its folds. If the nets be few, the drivers 
 go to the opposite side of the den, and induce the Lion to escape 
 in the direction where he sees no foes, but where he is sure to run 
 against the treacherous net. Other large and dangerous animals 
 were also captured by the same means. 
 
 Allusions to this sort of hunting are familiar to all students 
 of the Bible. In the book of Job, xix. 6, the writer laments 
 that " God hath compassed me with his net," in allusion to the 
 custom of surrounding the den of the animal. The Psalms 
 make frequent mention of the net as used in hunting. See 
 Ps. ix. 15, " In the net they hid is their foot taken." Ps. xxxv. 
 8, " Let his net that he hath hid catch himself," together with 
 other passages. Then, the prophet Isaiah alludes to the utter 
 helplessness of a wild animal when thus taken. Isaiah li. 20, 
 " Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, 
 as a wild bull in a net." 
 
 Another and more common, because an easier and a cheaper 
 method was, by digging a deep pit, covering the mouth with a 
 slight covering of sticks and earth, and driving the animal upon 
 the treacherous covering. It is an easier method than the net, 
 because after the pit is once dug, the only trouble lies in throw- 
 ing the covering over its mouth. But, it is not so well adapted 
 for taking beasts alive, as they are likely to be damaged, either 
 by the fall into the pit, or by the means used in getting them 
 out again. Animals, therefore, that are caught in pits are 
 generally, though not always, killed before they are taken out. 
 The net, however, envelops the animal so perfectly, and renders 
 it so helpless, that it can be easily bound and taken away. The 
 hunting net is very expensive, and requires a large staff of men 
 to work it, so that none but a rich man could use the net in 
 hunting. 
 
 The passages in which allusion is made to the use of the pitfall 
 in hunting are too numerous to be quoted, and it will be suf- 
 ficient to mention one or two passages, such as those wherein the 
 Psalmist laments that his enemies have hidden for him their net 
 in a pit, and that the proud have digged pits for him. 
 
 Lions that were taken in nets seem to have been kept alive 
 in dens, either as mere curiosities, or as instruments of royal
 
 28 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 vengeance. Such seems to have been the object of the Lions 
 which were kept by Darius, into whose den Daniel was thrown, 
 by royal command, and which afterwards killed his accusers 
 when thrown into the same den. It is plain that the Lions kept 
 by Darius must have been exceedingly numerous, because they 
 killed at once the accusers of Daniel, who were many in number, 
 together with their wives and children, who, in accordance with 
 the cruel custom of that age and country, were partakers of 
 the same punishment with the real culprits. The whole of the 
 first part of Ezek. xix. alludes to the custom of taking Lions 
 alive and keeping them in durance afterwards. 
 
 Sometimes the Lion was hunted as a sport, but this amuse- 
 ment seems to have been restricted to the great men, on account 
 of its expensive nature. Such hunting scenes are graphically 
 depicted in the famous Nineveh sculptures, which represent the 
 hunters pursuing their mighty game in chariots, and destroying 
 them with arrows. Eude, and even conventional as are these 
 sculptures, they have a spirit, a force, and a truthfulness, that 
 prove them to have been designed by artists to whom the 
 scene was a' familiar one. Nothing can be better than the 
 attitudes of the Lions ; and, whether they are shown in the act 
 of striking a blow, with all the talons thrust out and the toes 
 spread as widely as possible ; whether they are springing on the 
 chariot' of the hunter, or sinking lifeless beneath his arrows, 
 every attitude is marvellously true to nature, and makes the 
 spectator regret that the artist should have been trammelled by 
 the exigencies of the woik on which lie was engaged.
 
 THK LEOPARD. 29 
 
 THE LEOPARD. 
 
 The Leopard not often mentioned in the Scriptures its attributes exactly 
 described Probability that several animals were classed under the name 
 How the Leopard takes its prey Craft of the Leopard its ravages among the 
 flocks The empire of man over the beast The Leopard at Bay Localities 
 wherein the Leopard lives The skin of the Leopard Various passages of 
 Scripture explained. 
 
 OF the LEOPARD but little is said in the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 In the New Testament this animal is only mentioned once, 
 and then in a metaphorical rather than a literal sense. In the 
 Old Testament it is casually mentioned seven times, and only in 
 two places is the word Leopard used in the strictly literal sense. 
 Yet, in those brief passages of Holy Writ, the various attributes 
 of the animal are delineated with such fidelity, that no one 
 could doubt that the Leopard was familiarly known in Palestine. 
 Its colour, its swiftness, its craft, its ferocity, and the nature of 
 its dwelling-place, are all touched upon in a few short sentences 
 scattered throughout the Old Testament, and even its peculiar 
 habits are alluded to in a manner that proves it to have been well 
 known at the time when the words were written. 
 
 It is my purpose in the following pages to give a brief account 
 of the Leopard of the Scriptures, laying most stress on the 
 qualities to which allusion is made, and then to explain the 
 passages in which the name of the animal occurs. 
 
 In the first place, it is probable that under the word Leopard 
 are comprehended three animals, two of which, at least, were 
 thought to be one species until the time of Cuvier. These three 
 animals are the LEOPARD proper (Leopardus varius), the OUNCE 
 (Leopardus undo), and the CHETAH, or HUNTING LEOPARD (Guc- 
 parda jubata). All these three species belong to the same family 
 of animals ; all are spotted and similar in colour, all are nearly 
 alike in shape, and all are inhabitants of Asia, while two of 
 them, the Leopard and the Chetah, are also found in Africa.
 
 30 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to mention that the Leopard is a beast 
 of prey belonging to the cat tribe, that its colour is tawny, 
 variegated with rich black spots, and that it is a fierce and 
 voracious animal, almost equally dreaded by man and beast. It 
 inhabits many parts of Africa and Asia, and in those portions of 
 the country which are untenanted by mankind, it derives all its 
 sustenance from the herb-eating animals of the same tracts. 
 
 THE LEOPARD. 
 
 'As a Leopard by the way will I observe, them." Hos. xiii. 7. 
 
 To deer and antelopes it is a terrible enemy, and in spite of 
 their active limbs, seldom fails in obtaining its prey. Swift as 
 is the Leopard, for a short distance, and wonderful as its spring, 
 it has not the enduring speed of the deer or antelope, animals 
 which are specially formed for running, and which, if a limb is
 
 THK LEOPAEP. 31 
 
 shattered, can run nearly as fast and quite as far on three legs 
 as they can when all four limbs are uninjured. Instinctively 
 knowing its inferiority in the race, the Leopard supplies by 
 cunning the want of enduring speed. 
 
 It conceals itself in some spot whence it can see far around 
 without being seen, and thence surveys the country. A tree is 
 the usual spot selected for this purpose, and the Leopard, after 
 climbing the trunk by means of its curved talons, settles itself 
 in the fork of the branches, so that its body is hidden by the 
 boughs, and only its head is shown between them. "With such 
 scrupulous care does it conceal itself, that none but a practised 
 hunter can discover it, while any one who is unaccustomed to 
 the woods cannot see the animal even when the tree is pointed 
 out to him. 
 
 As soon as the Leopard sees the deer feeding at a distance, he 
 slips down the tree and stealthily glides off in their direction. 
 He has many difficulties to overcome, because the deer are 
 among the most watchful of animals, and if the Leopard were 
 to approach to the windward, they would scent him while he 
 was yet a mile away from them. If he were to show himself 
 but for one moment in the open ground he would be seen, and 
 if he were but to shake a branch or snap a dry twig he would 
 be heard. So, he is obliged to approach them against the wind, 
 to keep himself under cover, and yet to glide so carefully along 
 that the heavy foliage of the underwood shall not be shaken, and 
 the dry sticks and leaves which strew the ground shall not be 
 broken. He has also to escape the observation of certain birds 
 and beasts which inhabit the woods, and which would certainly 
 set up their alarm- cry as soon as they saw him, and so give 
 warning to the wary deer, which can perfectly understand a cry 
 of alarm, from whatever animal it may happen to proceed. 
 
 Still, he proceeds steadily on his course, gliding from one 
 2overt to another, and often expending several hours before he 
 can proceed for a mile. By degrees he contrives to come toler- 
 ably close to them, and generally manages to conceal himself in 
 some spot towards which the deer are gradually feeding their 
 way. As soon as they are near enough, he collects himself for 
 a spring, just as a cat does when she leaps on a bird, and dashes 
 towards the deer in a series of mighty bounds. For a moment 
 or two they are startled and paralysed with fear at the sudden
 
 32 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 appearance of their enemy, and thus give him time to get among 
 them. Singling out some particular animal, he leaps upon it, 
 strikes it down with one blow of his paw, and then, couching 
 on the fallen animal, he tears open its throat, and laps the 
 flowing blood. 
 
 In this manner does it obtain its prey when it lives in the 
 desert, but when it happens to be in the neighbourhood of 
 human habitations, it acts in a different manner. Whenever man 
 settles himself in any place, his presence is a signal for the 
 beasts of the desert and forest to fly. The more timid, such as 
 the deer and antelope, are afraid of him, and betake themselves 
 as far away as possible. The more savage inhabitants of the 
 land, such as the lion, leopard, and other animals, wage an un- 
 equal war against him for a time, but are continually driven 
 farther and farther away, until at last they -are completely ex- 
 pelled from the country. The predaceous beasts are, however, loth 
 to retire, and do so by very slow degrees. They can no longer 
 support themselves on the deer and antelopes, but find a simple 
 substitute for them in the flocks and herds which man intro- 
 duces, and in the seizing of which there is as much craft re- 
 quired as in the catching of the fleeter and wilder animals. 
 Sheep and goats cannot run away like the antelopes, but they 
 are penned so carefully within inclosures, and guarded so 
 watchfully by herdsmen and dogs, that the Leopard is obliged to 
 exert no small amount of cunning before it can obtain a meal. 
 
 Sometimes it creeps quietly to the fold, and escapes the notice 
 of the dogs, seizes upon a sheep, and makes off with it before 
 the alarm is given. Sometimes it hides by the wayside, and as 
 the flock pass by it dashes into the midst of them, snatches up a 
 sheep, and disappears among the underwood on the opposite 
 side of the road. Sometimes it is crafty enough to deprive the 
 fold of its watchful guardian. Dogs which are used to Leopard- 
 hunting never attack the animal, though they are rendered 
 furious by the sound of its voice. They dash at it as if they 
 meant to devour it, but take very good care to keep out of reach 
 of its terrible paws. By continually keeping the animal at bay, 
 they give time for their master to come up, and generally con- 
 trive to drive it into a tree, where it can be shot. 
 
 But instances have been known where the Leopard has taken 
 advantage of the dogs, and carried them off in a very cunning
 
 THE LEOPARD. 3H 
 
 manner. It hides itself tolerably near the fold, and then begins 
 to growl in a low voice. The dogs think that they hear a 
 Leopard at a distance, and dash towards the sound with 
 furious barks and yells. In so doing, they are sure to pass by 
 the hiding-place of the Leopard, which springs upon them 
 unawares, knocks one of them over, and bounds away to its den 
 in the woods. It does not content itself with taking sheep or 
 goats from the fold, but is also a terrible despoiler of the hen- 
 roosts, destroying great numbers in a single night when once it 
 contrives to find its way into the house. 
 
 As an instance of the cunning which seems innate in the 
 Leopard, I may mention that whenever it takes up its abode 
 near a village, it does not meddle with the flocks and herds of 
 its neighbours, but prefers to go to some other village at a dis- 
 tance for food, thus remaining unsuspected almost at the very 
 doors of the houses. 
 
 In general, it does not willingly attack mankind, and at all 
 events seems rather to fear the presence of a full-grown man. 
 But, when wounded or irritated, all sense of fear is lost in an 
 overpowering rush of fury, and it then becomes as terrible a foe 
 as the lion himself. It is not so large nor so strong, but it is 
 more agile and quicker in its movements ; and when it is seized 
 with one of these paroxysms of anger, the eye can scarcely 
 follow it as it darts here and there, striking with lightning 
 rapidity, and dashing at any foe within reach. Its whole shape 
 seems to be transformed, and absolutely to swell with anger ; its 
 eyes flash with fiery lustre, its ears are thrown back on the 
 head, and it continually utters alternate snarls and yells of rage. 
 It is hardly possible to recognise the graceful, lithe glossy 
 creature, whose walk is so noiseless, and whose every movement 
 is so easy, in the furious passion-swollen animal that flies at 
 every foe with blind fury, and pours out sounds so fierce and 
 menacing that few men, however well armed, will care to face it. 
 
 As is the case with most of the cat tribe, the Leopard is an 
 excellent climber, and can ascend trees and traverse their boughs 
 without the least difficulty. It is so fond of trees, that it is 
 seldom to be seen except in a well-wooded district. Its 
 favourite residence is a forest where there is plenty of under- 
 wood, at least six or seven feet in height, among which trees are 
 sparingly interspersed. When crouched in this cover it is prac- 
 
 D
 
 34 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 tically invisible, even though its body may be within arm's 
 length of a passenger. The spotted body harmonizes so per- 
 fectly with the broken lights and deep shadows of the foliage 
 that even a practised hunter will not enter a covert in search of 
 a Leopard unless he is accompanied by dogs. The instinct which 
 teaches the Leopard to choose such localities is truly wonderful, 
 and may be compared with that of the tiger, which cares little 
 for underwood, but haunts the grass jungles, where the long, 
 narrow blades harmonize with the stripes which decorate 
 its body. 
 
 The skin of the Leopard has always been highly valued on 
 account of its beauty, and in Africa, at the present day, a robe 
 made of its spotted skin is as much an adjunct of royalty as is 
 the ermine the emblem of judicial dignity in England. In more 
 ancient times, a leopard skin was the official costume of a priest, 
 the skin being sometimes shaped into a garment, and sometime? 
 thrown over the shoulders and the paws crossed over the breast. 
 
 Such is a general history of the Leopard. We will now pro- 
 ceed to the various passages in which it is mentioned, beginning 
 with its outward aspect. 
 
 In the first place, the Hebrew word Namer signifies " spotted," 
 and is given to the animal in allusion to its colours. The reader 
 will now see how forcible is the lament of Jeremiah, " Can the 
 Ethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his spots ? " Literally, 
 " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the spotted one his 
 spots ? " 
 
 The agility and swiftness of the Leopard are alluded to in 
 the prediction by the prophet Habakkuk of the vengeance that 
 would come upon Israel through the Chaldeans. In chap. i. 5, 
 we read : " I will work a work in your days, which ye will not 
 believe though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, 
 that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the 
 breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling-places that are not 
 theirs. They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and 
 their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Their horses also are 
 swifter than the Leopards, and are more fierce than the evening 
 wolves." 
 
 The craftiness of the Leopard, and the manner in which it 
 lies in wait for its prey, are alluded to in more than one passage 
 of Holy Writ Hosea the prophet alludes to the Leopard, in a
 
 THE LEOPARD. 35 
 
 few simple words which display an intimate acquaintance with 
 the habits of this formidable animal, and in this part of his 
 prophecies he displays that peculiar local tone which dis- 
 tinguishes his writings. Speaking of the Israelites under the 
 metaphor of a flock, or a herd, he proceeds to say : " According 
 to their pasture so were they filled ; they were filled, and their 
 heart was exalted ; therefore have they forgotten me. Therefore 
 I will be unto them as a lion, as a Leopard by the way will I 
 observe them." Th reader will note the peculiar force of this 
 sentence, whereby God signifies that He will destroy them 
 openly, as a lion rushes on its prey, and that he will chastise 
 them unexpectedly, as if it were a Leopard crouching by the 
 wayside, and watching for the flock to pass, that it may spring 
 on its prey unexpectedly. The same habit of the Leopard 
 is also alluded to by Jeremiah, who employs precisely the same 
 imagery as is used, by Habakkuk. See Jer. v. 5, 6, " These have 
 altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. Wherefore 
 a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the 
 evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their 
 cities." It is evident from the employment of this image by 
 two prophets, the one being nearly a hundred years before the 
 other, that the crafty, insidious habits of the Leopard were well 
 known in Palestine, and that the metaphor would tell with full 
 force among those to whom it was addressed. 
 
 The havoc which the Leopard makes among the sheep and 
 goats is alluded to by the prophet Isaiah, chap. xi. 6 : " The 
 wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie 
 down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion together, 
 and a little child shall lead them." Here again we find the same 
 imagery employed, the people being signified under the metaphor 
 of flocks and herds, and their enemies symbolised by lions, 
 wolves, and Leopards. And herein the Prophet speaks as from 
 accurate knowledge of the habits of the three predaceous animals. 
 The wolf, as a rule, devastates the sheepfolds ; the Leopard will 
 steal upon and carry off the straggling goat or kid, because it 
 can follow them upon the precipices where no wolf would dare 
 to tread; while the lion > being the strongest and more daring 
 of the three, attacks the herds, and carries away to its lair the 
 oxen which neither Leopard nor wolf could move. 
 
 There is of course a deeper meaning than has been mentioned 
 
 D2
 
 ;-i(] BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 but any commentary on that subject would be out of place in 
 a work like the present, and, however tempting the subject may 
 be to the writer, it is better that the reader should be left to 
 investigate it for himself. 
 
 Lastly, the peculiar localities which the Leopard loves are 
 mentioned in the Song of Solomon, chap. iv. 8 : " Come with 
 me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon : look from 
 the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermort, from 
 the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards." Formerly, 
 large forests of pine, oak, and cedar covered Lebanon, and in 
 those days the wild beasts of the forest would be extremely 
 plentiful. Even at the present day they are not extinct, and 
 a recent traveller, the Eev. J. L. Porter, states that considerable 
 numbers of wild beasts still inhabit the retired glens of the 
 range of Lebanon, and that he himself has seen jackals, hyaenas, 
 wolves, bears, and Leopards. 
 
 The remaining passages, in which a beast formed like a 
 Leopard was seen in a vision by the prophet Daniel and St. John 
 the Evangelist, are purely allegorical, and have nothing to do 
 with the actual animal. 
 
 THE CAT. 
 
 The Cat never mentioned by name in the canonical Scriptures, anil only once in 
 the Apocrypha The Cat domesticated among the Egyptians, and trained in 
 bird-catching Neglected capabilities of the Cat Anecdote of an English 
 Cat that caught fish for her master Presumed reason why the Scriptures are 
 silent about the Cat The Cat mentioned by Baruch. 
 
 IT is a very remarkable circumstance that the word CAT is not 
 once mentioned in the whole of the canonical Scriptures, and 
 only once in the Apocrypha. 
 
 The Egyptians, as is well known, kept Cats domesticated in 
 their houses, a fact which is mentioned by Herodotus, in his 
 second book, and the 66th and 67th chapters. After describing 
 the various animals which were kept and fed by this nation, he
 
 THE CAT. 37 
 
 proceeds to narrate the habits of the Cat, and writes as follows : 
 " When a fire takes place, a supernatural impulse seizes the 
 cats. For the Egyptians, standing at a distance, take care of 
 the cats and neglect to quench the fire ; but the cats make 
 their escape, and leaping over the men, cast themselves into the 
 fire, and when this occurs, great lamentations are made among 
 the Egyptians. In whatever house a cat dies of a natural death, 
 all the family shave their eyebrows. All cats that die are 
 carried to certain sacred houses, where, after being embalmed, 
 they are buried in the city of Bubastis." 
 
 Now, as many of those cat-mummies have been discovered in 
 good preservation, the species has been identified with the 
 Egytian Cat of the present day, which is scientifically termed 
 Felis maniculatus. Not only did the Egyptians keep Cats at 
 their houses, but, as is shown by certain sculptures, took the 
 animals with them w 7 hen they went bird- catching, and employed 
 them in securing their prey. Some persons have doubted this 
 statement, saying, that in the first place, the Cat is not possessed 
 of sufficient intelligence for the purpose ; and that in the second 
 place, as the hunter is represented as catching wild fowl, the Cat 
 would not be able to assist him, because it would not enter the 
 water. Neither objection is valid, nor would have been made 
 by a naturalist. 
 
 There are no grounds whatever for assuming that the Cat lias 
 not sufficient intelligence to aid its master in hunting. On the 
 contrary, there are many familiar instances where the animal 
 has been trained, even in this country, to catch birds and other 
 game, and bring its prey home. By nature the Cat is an accom- 
 plished hunter, and, like other animals of the same disposition, 
 can be taught to use its powers for mankind. We all know that 
 the chetah, a member of the same tribe, is in constant use at 
 the present day, and we learn from ancient sculptures that the 
 lion was employed for the same purpose. Passing from land to 
 water, .mankind has succeeded in teaching the seal and the otter 
 to plunge into the water, catch their finny prey, and deliver it to 
 their owners. Among predaceous birds, we have trained the 
 eagle, the falcon, and various hawks, to assist us in hunting the 
 finned and feathered tribes, while we have succeeded in teaching 
 the cormorant to catch fish for its master, and not for itself. 
 Why, then, should the Cat be excepted from a rule so general ?
 
 38 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The fact is, the Cat lias been, although domesticated for so 
 many centuries, a comparatively neglected animal ; and it is the 
 fashion to heap upon it the contumacious epithets of sullen, 
 treacherous, selfish, spiteful, and intractable, just as we take as 
 our emblems of stupidity the ass and the goose, which are 
 really among the most cunning of the lower animals. We have 
 never tried to teach the Cat the art of hunting for her owners, 
 but that is no reason for asserting that the animal could not be 
 taught. 
 
 As to entering the water, every one who is familiar with the 
 habits of the Cat knows perfectly well that the Cat will volun- 
 tarily enter water in chase of prey. A Cat does not like to wet 
 her feet, and will not enter the water without a very powerful 
 reason, but when that motive is supplied, she has no hesitation 
 about it. A curious and valuable confirmation of this fact 
 appeared some time ago in " The Field " newspaper, in which 
 was recorded the history of an old fisherman, whose Cat invari- 
 ably went to sea with him, and as invariably used to leap over- 
 board, seize fish in her mouth, and bring them to the side of the 
 boat, where her kindly owner could lift her out, together with 
 the captured fish. 
 
 The Cat, then, having been the favoured companion of the 
 Egyptians, among whom the Israelites lived while they multi- 
 plied from a family into a nation, it does seem very remark- 
 able that the sacred writers should not even mention it. There 
 is no prohibition of the animal, even indirectly, in the Mosaic 
 law ; but it may be the case that the Israelites repudiated the 
 Cat simply because it was so favoured by their former masters. 
 
 The only passage in the Apocrypha is a passing allusion in 
 Baruch (vi. 22), where it is said of the idols, that bats and birds 
 shall sit on their bodies, and the cats also. That the word is 
 rightly translated admits of no doubt, because it is the same 
 that is employed by Herodotus in the passage already quoted
 
 THE DOC 39 
 
 THE DOG. 
 
 Antipathy displayed by Orientals towards the Dog, and manifested throughout 
 the Scriptures Contrast between European and Oriental Dogs Habits of the 
 Dogs of Palestine The City Dogs and their singular organization The herds- 
 man's Dog Various passages of Scripture Dogs and the crumbs their 
 numbers Signor Pierotti's experience of the Dogs Possibility of their perfect 
 domestication The peculiar humiliation of Lazarus Voracity of the Wild 
 Dogs The fate of Ahab and Jezebel Anecdote of a volunteer Watch-dog 
 Innate affection of the Dog towards mankind Peculiar local Instinct of the 
 Oriental Dog Albert Smith's account of the Dogs at Constantinople The 
 Dervish and his Dogs The Greyhound Uncertainty of the word. 
 
 SCARCELY changed by the lapse of centuries, the Oriental of the 
 present day retains most of the peculiarities which distinguished 
 him throughout the long series of years during which the books 
 of sacred Scripture were given to the world. In many of these 
 characteristics he differs essentially from Europeans of the pre- 
 sent day, and exhibits a tone of mind which seems to be not 
 merely owing to education, but to be innate and inherent in 
 the race. 
 
 One of these remarkable characteristics is the strange loathing 
 with which he regards the Dog. In all other parts of the 
 world, the Dog is one of the most cherished and valued of 
 animals, but among those people whom we popularly class under 
 the name of Orientals, the Dog is detested and despised. As the 
 sacred books were given to the world through the mediumship 
 of Orientals, we find that this feeling towards the Dog is mani- 
 fested whenever the animal is mentioned ; and whether we turn 
 to the books of the Law, the splendid poetry of the Psalms and 
 the book of Job, the prophetical or the historical portions of the 
 Old Testament, we find the name of the Dog repeatedly men- 
 tioned; and in every case in connexion with some repulsive 
 idea. If we turn from the Old to the New Testament, we find 
 the same idea manifested, whether in the Gospels, the Epistles, 
 or the Revelation.
 
 4() BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 To the mind of the true Oriental the very name of the Do 
 carries with it an idea of something utterly repugnant to his 
 nature, and he does not particularly like even the thought of the 
 animal coming across his mind. And this is the more extra- 
 ordinary, because at the commencement and termination of 
 their history the Dog was esteemed by their masters. The 
 Egyptians, under whose rule they grew to be a nation, knew 
 the value of the Dog, and showed their appreciation in the many 
 works of art which have survived to our time. Then the 
 Romans, under whose iron grasp the last vestiges of nationality 
 crumbled away, honoured and respected the Dog, made it their 
 companion, and introduced its portrait into their houses. But, 
 true to their early traditions, the Jews of the East have ever held 
 the Dog in the same abhorrence as is manifested by their present 
 masters, the followers of Mahommed. . 
 
 Owing to the prevalence of this feeling, the Dogs of Oriental 
 towns are so unlike their more fortunate European relatives, that 
 they can hardly be recognised as belonging to the same species. 
 In those lands the traveller finds that there is none of the 
 wonderful variety which so distinguishes the Dog of Europe. 
 There he will never see the bluff, sturdy, surly, faithful mastiff, 
 the slight gazelle-like greyhound, the sharp, intelligent terrier, 
 the silent, courageous bulldog, the deep-voiced, tawny blood- 
 hound, the noble Newfoundland, the clever, vivacious poodle, or 
 the gentle, silken-haired spaniel. 
 
 As he traverses the streets, he finds that all the dogs are 
 alike, and that all are gaunt, hungry, half starved, savage, and 
 cowardly, more like wolves than dogs, and quite as ready as 
 wolves to attack when they fancy they can do so with safety. 
 They prowl about the streets in great numbers, living, as they 
 best can, on any scraps of food that they may happen to find. 
 They have no particular masters, and no particular homes. 
 Charitable persons will sometimes feed them, but will never 
 make companions of them, feeling that the very contact of a dog 
 would be a pollution. They are certainly useful animals, be- 
 cause they act as scavengers, and will eat almost any animal 
 substance that comes in their way. 
 
 The strangest part of their character is the organization which 
 prevails among them. By some extraordinary means they divide 
 the to\vn into districts, and not one do" ever ventures out of
 
 THE DOG. 41 
 
 that particular district to which it is attached. The boundaries, 
 although invisible, are as effectual as the loftiest \valls, and not 
 even the daintiest morsel will tempt a dog to pass the myste- 
 rious line which forms the boundary of his district. Generally, 
 these bands of dogs are so savage that any one who is obliged to 
 walk in a district where the dogs do not know him is forced to 
 carry a stout stick for his protection. Like their European rela- 
 tives, they have great dislike towards persons who are dressed 
 after a fashion to which they are unaccustomed, and therefore 
 are sure to harass any one who comes from Europe and wears 
 the costume of his own country. As is customary among 
 animals which unite themselves in troops, each band is under the 
 command of a single leader, whose position is recognised and his 
 authority acknowledged by all the members. 
 
 These peculiarities are to be seen almost exclusively in the 
 dogs which run wild about the towns, because there is abundant 
 evidence in the Scriptures that the animal was used in a 
 partially domesticated state, certainly for the protection of their 
 herds, and possibly for the guardianship of their houses. That 
 the Dog was employed for the first of these purposes is shown 
 in Job xxx. i : " But now they that are younger than I have me 
 in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set 
 with the dogs of my flock." And that the animal was used for 
 the protection of houses is thought by some commentators to be 
 shown by the well-known passage in Is. Ivi. 10 : " His watch- 
 men are blind : they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, 
 they cannot bark ; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber." 
 Still, it is very probable that in this passage the reference is not 
 made to houses, but to the flocks and herds which these watch- 
 men ought to have guarded. 
 
 The rooted dislike and contempt felt by the Israelites towards 
 the Dog is seen in numerous passages. Even in that sentence 
 from Job which has just been quoted, wherein the writer pas- 
 sionately deplores the low condition into which he has fallen, 
 and contrasts it with his former high estate, he complains that 
 he is despised by those whose fathers he held even in less esteem 
 than the dogs which guarded his herds. There are several re- 
 ferences to the Dog in the books of Samuel, in all of which the 
 name of the animal is mentioned contemptuously. For example, 
 when David accepted the challenge of Goliath, and went to
 
 42 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 meet his gigantic enemy wit! tout the ordinary protection of 
 mail, and armed only with a sling and his shepherd's staff, 
 Goliath said to him, " Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with 
 staves ? " (1 Sam. xvii. 43.) And in the same book, chapter 
 xxiv. 14, David remonstrates with Saul for pursuing so insig- 
 nificant a person as himself, and said, " After whom is the King 
 of Israel come out ? after a dead dog, after a flea." 
 
 The same metaphor is recorded in the second book of the 
 same writer. Once it was employed by Mephibosheth, the lame 
 son of Jonathan, when extolling the generosity of David, then 
 King of Israel in the place of his grandfather Saul : " And he 
 bowed himself, and said, ' What is thy servant, that thou 
 shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am ? ' " (2 Sam. ix. 8.) 
 In the same book, chapter xvi 9, Abishai applies this contemp- 
 tuous epithet to Shimei, who was exulting over the troubled 
 monarch with all the insolence of a cowardly nature, " Why 
 should this dead dog curse my lord the king ? " Abner also 
 makes use of a similar expression, " Am I a dog's head ? " And 
 we may also refer to the familiar passage in 2 Kings viii. 13. 
 Elisha had prophesied to Hazael that he would become king on 
 the death of Ben-hadad, and that he would work terrible mis- 
 chief in the land. Horrified at these predictions, or at all events 
 pretending to be so, he replied, " But what, is thy servant a dog, 
 that he should do this great thing ? " 
 
 If we turn from the Old to the New Testament, we find the 
 same contemptuous feeling displayed towards the Dog. It is 
 mentioned as an intolerable aggravation of the sufferings endured 
 by Lazarus the beggar as he lay at the rich man's gate, that the 
 dogs came and licked his sores. In several passages, the word 
 Dog is employed as a metaphor for scoffers, or unclean persons, 
 or sometimes for those who did not belong to the Church, 
 whether Jewish or Christian. In the Sermon on the Mount 
 our Lord himself uses this image, " Give not that which is holy 
 unto dogs " (Matt. vii. 6.) In the same book, chapter xv. 2G, 
 Jesus employs the same metaphor when speaking to the 
 Canaauitish woman who had come to ask him to heal her 
 daughter : " It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast 
 it to dogs." And that she understood the meaning of the words 
 is evident from her answer, in which faith and humility are so 
 admirably blended. Both St. Paul and St. John employ the
 
 THE DOG. 43 
 
 word Dog in the same sense. In his epistle to the Philippians, 
 chapter iii. 2, St. Paul writes, " Beware of dogs, beware of evil 
 workers." And in the Revelation, chapter xxii. 14, these words 
 occur : " Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they 
 may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the 
 gates to the city ; for without are dogs, and sorcerers, and 
 whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whomsoever 
 loveth and maketh a lie." 
 
 That the dogs of ancient times formed themselves into bands 
 just as they do at present is evident from many passages of 
 Scripture, among which may be mentioned those sentences from 
 the Psalms, wherein David is comparing the assaults of his 
 enemies to the attacks of the dogs which infested the city. 
 " Thou hast brought me into the dust of death ; for dogs have 
 compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me." 
 This passage will be better appreciated when the reader has 
 perused the following extract from a recent work by Signor 
 Pierotti. After giving a general account of the Dogs of Pales- 
 tine and their customs, he proceeds as follows : 
 
 " In Jerusalem, and in the other towns, the dogs have an 
 organization of their own. They are divided into families and 
 districts, especially in the night time, and no one of them 
 ventures to quit his proper quarter; for if he does, he 'is imme- 
 diately attacked by all the denizens of that into which he 
 intrudes, and is driven back, with several bites as a reminder. 
 Therefore, when an European is walking through Jerusalem by 
 night, he is always followed by a number of canine attendants, 
 and greeted at every step with growls and howls. These tokens 
 of dislike, however, are not intended for him, but for his 
 followers, who are availing themselves of his escort to pass 
 unmolested from one quarter to another. 
 
 " During the hard winter of 1859, 1 fed many of the dogs, who 
 frequented the road which I traversed almost every evening, and 
 afterwards, each time that I passed, I received the homage not 
 only of the individuals, but of the whole band to which they 
 belonged, for they accompanied me to the limits of their respec- 
 tive jurisdictions and were ready to follow me to my own house, 
 if 1 did but give them a sign of encouragement, coming at my 
 beck from any distance. They even recollected the signal in 
 1861, 'though it was but little that I had given them."
 
 44 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The account which this experienced writer gives of the animal 
 presents a singular mixture of repulsive and pleasing traits, 
 the latter being attributable to the true nature of the Dog, and 
 the former to the utter neglect with which it is treated. He 
 remarks that the dogs which run wild in the cities of Palestine 
 are ill-favoured, ill-scented, and ill-conditioned beasts, more like 
 jackals or wolves than dogs, and covered with scars, which 
 betoken their quarelsome nature. Yet, the same animals lose 
 their wild, savage disposition, as soon as any human being 
 endeavours to establish that relationship which was evidently 
 intended to exist between man and the dog. How readily even 
 these despised and neglected animals respond to the slightest 
 advance, has been already shown by Sig. Pierotti's experience, 
 and there is no doubt that these tawny, short-haired, wolf-like 
 animals, could be trained as perfectly as their more favoured 
 brethren of the western world. 
 
 As in the olden times, so at the present day, the dogs lie 
 about in the streets, dependent for their livelihood upon the offal 
 that is flung into the roads, or upon the chance morsels that may 
 be thrown to them. An allusion to this custom is made in the 
 well-known passage in Matt. xv. The reader will remember the 
 circumstance that a woman of Canaan, and therefore not an 
 Israelite, 'came to Jesus, and begged him to heal her daughter, 
 who was vexed with a devil. Then, to try her faith, He said, " It 
 is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." 
 And she said, " Truth, Lord : yet the dogs eat of the crumbs 
 which fall from their master's table." Now, the " crumbs " which 
 are here mentioned are the broken pieces of bread which were 
 used at table, much as bread is sometimes used in eating fish. 
 The form of the " loaves " being flat, and much like that of the 
 oat-cake of this coimtry, adapted them well to the purpose. 
 The same use of broken bread is alluded to in the parable of 
 Lazarus, who desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from 
 the rich man's table, i. e. to partake of the same food as the dogs 
 which swarmed round him and licked his sores. Thus we see 
 that Lazarus was supposed to have undergone the very worst 
 indignities to which poverty could bring a man, and the contrast 
 between himself and the other personage of the parable receives 
 additional strength. 
 
 The " crumbs," however liberally distributed, would not nearly
 
 THE DOG. 45 
 
 suffice for the subsistence of the canine armies, and their chief 
 support consists of the offal, -which is rather too plentifully flung 
 into the streets. The Dogs of Palestine are, indeed, much like 
 hysenas of certain African towns, and act as scavengers, devour- 
 ing any animal substance that may fall in their way. If the 
 body of any animal, not excluding their own kind, be found 
 lying in the streets, the dogs will assemble round it, and tear it 
 to pieces, and they have no scruples even in devouring a human 
 body. Of course, owing to the peculiar feeling entertained by 
 the Orientals towards the Dog, no fate can be imagined more 
 repulsive to the feelings of humanity than to be eaten by dogs ; 
 and therein lies the terror of the fate which was* prophesied of 
 Ahab and Jezebel. Moreover, the blood, even of the lower 
 animals, was held in great sanctity, and it was in those days 
 hardly possible to invoke a more dreadful fate upon any one 
 than that his blood should be lapped by dogs. 
 
 We lose much of the real force of the Scriptures, if we do not 
 possess some notion of the manners and customs of Palestine 
 and the neighbouring countries, as well as of the tone of mind 
 prevalent among the inhabitants. In our own country, that any 
 one should be eaten by dogs would be a fate so contrary 1o 
 usage, that we can hardly conceive its possibility, and such a 
 fate would be out of the ordinary course of events. P>ut, if such 
 a fate- should happen to befall any one, we should have no 
 stronger feeling of pity than the natural regret that the dead 
 person was not buried with Christian rites. 
 
 But, with the inhabitants of Palestine, such an event was by 
 no means unlikely. It was, and is still, the custom to bury the 
 corpse almost as soon as life has departed, and such would 
 ordinarily have been the case with the dead body of Jezebel. 
 But, through fear of the merciless Jehu, by whose command she 
 had been flung from the window of her own palace, no one 
 dared to remove her mangled body. The dogs, therefore, seized 
 upon their prey; and, even before Jehu had risen from the 
 banquet with which he celebrated his deed, nothing was left of 
 the body but the skull, the feet, and the hands. 
 
 In Mr. Tristram's work, the author has recognised the true 
 dog nature, though concealed behind an uninviting form : " Our 
 watch-dog, Beirut, attached himself instinctively to Wilhelm, 
 though his canine instinct soon taught him to recognise every
 
 46 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 one of our party of fourteen, and to cling to the tents, whether 
 in motion or at rest, as his home. Poor Beirut ! though the 
 veriest pariah in appearance, thy plebeian form encased as noble 
 a dog-heart as ever beat at the sound of a stealthy step." 
 
 The same author records a very remarkable example of the 
 sagacity of the native Dog, and the fidelity with which it will 
 keep guard over the property of its master. " The guard-house 
 provided us, unasked, with an invaluable and vigilant sentry, 
 who was never relieved, nor ever quitted the post of duty. The 
 poor Turkish conscript, like every other soldier in the world, is 
 fond of pets, and in front of the grim turret that served for a 
 guard-house was a collection of old orange-boxes and crates, 
 thickly peopled with a garrison of dogs of low degree, whose 
 attachment to the spot was certainly not purchased by the 
 loaves and fishes which fell to their lot. 
 
 " One of the family must indeed have had hard times, for she 
 had a family of no less than five dependent on her exertions, 
 and on the superfluities of the sentries' mess. With a sagacity 
 almost more than canine, the poor gaunt creature had scarcely 
 seen our tents pitched before she came over with all her litter 
 and deposited them in front of our tent. At once she scanned 
 the features of every member of the encampment, and introduced 
 herself to our notice. During the week of our stay, she never 
 quitted her post, or attempted any depredation on our kitchen- 
 tent, which might have led to her banishment. Night and day 
 she proved a faithful and vigilant sentry, permitting no stranger, 
 human or canine, European or Oriental, to approach the tents 
 without permission, but keeping on the most familiar terms with 
 ourselves and our servants. 
 
 "On the morning of our departure, no sooner had she seen our 
 camp struck, than she conveyed her puppies back to their old 
 quarters in the orange-box, and no intreaties or bribes could 
 induce her to accompany us. On three subsequent visits to 
 Jerusalem, the same dog acted in a similar way, though no 
 longer embarrassed by family cares, and would on no account 
 permit any strange dog, nor even her companions at the guard- 
 house, to approach within the tent ropes." 
 
 After pemsing this account of the Dog of Palestine, two 
 points strike the reader. The first is the manner in which the 
 Dog, in spite of all the social disadvantages under which it
 
 THE DOG. 47 
 
 labours, displays one of the chief characteristics of canine 
 nature, namely, the yearning after human society. The animal 
 in question had already attached herself to the guard-house, 
 where she could meet with some sort of human converse, though 
 the inborn prejudices of the Moslem would prevent the soldiers 
 from inviting her to associate with them, as would certainly 
 have been done by European soldiers. She nestled undisturbed 
 in the orange-box, and, safe under the protection of the guard, 
 brought up her young family in their immediate neighbour- 
 hood. But, as soon as Europeans arrived, her instinct told her 
 that they would be closer associates than the Turkish soldiers 
 who were quartered in the guard-house, and accordingly she 
 removed herself and her family to the shelter of their tents. 
 
 Herein she carried out the leading principle of a dog's nature. 
 A dog must have a master, or at all events a mistress, and just 
 in proportion as he is free from human control, does he become 
 less dog-like and more wolf-like. In fact, familiar intercourse 
 with mankind is an essential part of a dog's true character, and 
 the animal seems to be so well aware of this fact, that he will 
 always contrive to find a master of some sort, and will endure a 
 life of cruel treatment at the hands of a brutal owner rather 
 than have no master at all. 
 
 The second point in this account is the singular local instinct 
 which characterises the Dogs of Palestine and other eastern 
 countries, and which is as much inbred in them as the faculty 
 of marking game in the pointer, the combative nature in the 
 bulldog, the exquisite scent in the bloodhound, and the love of 
 water in the Newfoundland dog. In England, we fancy that 
 the love of locality belongs especially to the cat, and that the 
 Dog cares little for place, and much for man. But, in this case, 
 we find that the local instinct overpowered 'the yearning for 
 human society. Fond as was this dog of her newly-found 
 friends, and faithful as she was in her self-imposed service, she 
 would not follow them away from the spot where she had been 
 born, and where she had produced her own young. 
 
 This curious love for locality has evidently been derived 
 from the traditional custom of successive generations, which has 
 passed from the realm of reason into that of instinct. The 
 reader will remember that Sig. Pierotti mentions an instance 
 where the dogs which he had been accustomed to feed would
 
 48 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 follow him as far as the limits of their particular district, Imt 
 would go no farther. The late Albert Smith, in his " Month at 
 Constantinople," gives a similar example of this characteristic. 
 He first describes the general habits of the dogs. 
 
 On the first night of his arrival, he could not sleep, and went 
 to the window to look out in the night. " The noise I heard then 
 I shall never forget. To say that if all the sheep-dogs, in going 
 to Smithfield on a market-day, had been kept on the constant 
 bark, and pitted against the yelping curs upon all the carts 
 in London, they could have given any idea of the canine uproar 
 , that now first astonished me, would be to make the feeblest of 
 images. The whole city rang with one vast riot. Down below 
 me, at Tophane" over- about Stamboul far away at Scutari 
 the whole sixty thousand dogs that are said to overrun Con- 
 stantinople appeared engaged in the most active extermination 
 of each other, without a moment's cessation. The yelping, howl- 
 ing, barking, growling, and snarling, were all merged into one 
 uniform and continuous even sound, as the noise of frogs 
 becomes when heard at a distance. For hours there was no 
 lull. I went to sleep, and woke again, and still, with my win- 
 dows open, 1 heard the same tumult going on ; nor was it until 
 daybreak that anything like tranquillity was restored. 
 
 " Going out in the daytime, it is not difficult to find traces of 
 the fights of the night about the limbs of all the street dogs. 
 There is not one, among their vast number, in the possession of 
 a perfect skin. Some have their ears gnawed away or pulled off; 
 others have their eyes taken out ; from the backs and haunches 
 of others perfect steaks of flesh had been torn away; and all 
 bear the scars of desperate combats. 
 
 " Wild and desperate as is their nature, these poor animals 
 are susceptible of kindness. If a scrap of bread is thrown to 
 one of them now and then, he does not forget it ; for they have, 
 at times, a hard matter to live not the dogs amongst the shops 
 of Galata or Stamboul, but those whose ' parish ' lies in the large 
 burying-grounds and desert places without the city; for each 
 keeps, or rather is kept, to his district, and if he chanced to 
 venture into a strange one, the odds against his return would be 
 very large. One battered old animal, to whom I used occa- 
 sionally to toss a scrap of food, always followed me from tho 
 hotel to the cross street in Pera, where the two soldiers stood on
 
 "At evening let them return ; and let them make a noise like ,1 dog, anil RO round about 
 the pity. Let them wander up and down for mfat, and snid^e if fii ( >y lx> not satisfied " 
 INu.M lix. It. ir..
 
 THE DOG. 49 
 
 guard, but would never come beyond this point. He knew the 
 fate that awaited him had he done so ; and therefore, when I 
 left him, he would lie down in the road, and go to sleep until 
 I came back. 
 
 " When a horse or camel dies, and is left about the roads near 
 the city, the bones are soon picked very clean by these dogs, 
 and they will carry the skulls or pelves to great distances. I was 
 told that they will eat their dead fellows a curious fact, I 
 believe, in canine economy. They are always troublesome, not 
 to say dangerous, at night ; and are especially irritated by 
 Europeans, whom they will single out amongst a crowd of 
 Levantines." 
 
 In the same work there is a short description of a solitary 
 dervish, who had made his home in the hollow of a large plane- 
 tree, in front of which he sat, surrcamded by a small fence of 
 stakes only a foot or so in height. Around him, but not ven- 
 turing within the fence, were a number of gaunt, half-starved 
 dogs, who prowled about him in hopes of having an occasional 
 morsel of food thrown to them. Solitary as he was, and scanty 
 as must have been the nourishment which he could afford to 
 them, the innate trustfulness of the dog-nature induced them 
 to attach themselves to human society of some sort, though their 
 master was one, and they were many he was poor, and they 
 were hungry. 
 
 Once in the Scriptures the word Greyhound occurs, namely, in 
 Prov. xxx. 29-31 : " There be three things which go well, yea, 
 four are comely in going : a lion, which is strongest among 
 beasts, and turneth not away for any ; a greyhound ; an he-goat 
 also ; and a king, against whom there is no rising up." But the 
 word " Greyhound" is only employed conjecturally, inasmuch as 
 the signification of the Hebrew word Zarzir-matlmdim is " one 
 girt about the loins." Some commentators have thought that the 
 horse might be signified by this word, and that the girding about 
 the loins referred to the trappings with which all Easterns love 
 to decorate their steeds. Probably, however, the word in ques- 
 tion refers neither to a horse nor a dog, but to a human athlete, 
 or wrestler, stripped, and girt about the loins ready for the 
 contest.
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE WOLF. 
 
 Identity of the animal indisputable its numbers, past and present The Wolf 
 never mentioned directly its general habits References in Scripture its 
 mingled ferocity and cowardice its association into packs The Wolf's bite- 
 How it takes its prey its ravages among the flocks Allusions to this habit 
 The shepherd and his nightly enemies Mr. Tristram and the Wolf A semi- 
 tamed Wolf at Marsaba. 
 
 THERE is no doubt that the Hebrew word Zeeb, which occurs in 
 a few passages of the Old Testament, is rightly translated as 
 WOLF, and signifies the same animal as is frequently mentioned 
 in the New Testament. 
 
 ' This fierce and dangerous animal was formerly very plentiful 
 in Palestine, but is now much less common, owing to the same 
 causes which have extirpated the lion from the country. It is a 
 rather remarkable fact, that in no passage of Holy Writ is the 
 Wolf directly mentioned. Its name is used as a symbol of a 
 fierce and treacherous enemy, but neither in the Old nor New 
 Testament does any sacred writer mention any act as performed 
 by the Wolf. We have already heard of the lion which attacked 
 Samson and was killed by him, of the lion which slew the dis- 
 obedient prophet, and of the lions which spared Daniel when 
 thrown into their den. "We also read of the dogs which licked 
 Ahab's blood, and ate the body of Jezebel, also of the bears 
 which tore the mocking children. 
 
 But in no case is the Wolf mentioned, except in a meta- 
 phorical sense ; and this fact is the more remarkable, because the 
 animals were so numerous that they were very likely to have 
 exercised some influence on a history extending over such a 
 lengthened range of years, and limited to so small a portion of 
 the earth. Yet we never hear of the Wolf attacking any of the 
 personages mentioned in Scripture ; and although we are told of 
 the exploit of David, who pursued a lion and a bear that had 
 taken a lamb out of his fold, we are never told of any similar 
 deed in connexion with the Wolf.
 
 THE WOLF. 5| 
 
 This animal was then what it is now. Seldom seen by day, 
 it lies hidden in its covert as long as the light lasts, and steals 
 out in search of prey in the evening. This custom of the Wolf 
 is- mentioned in several passages of Holy Scripture, such as that 
 in Jer. v. 5, 6 : " These have altogether broken the yoke, and 
 burst the bonds. Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay 
 them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them." In this 
 passage the reader will see that the rebellious Israelites are 
 
 THE WOLK. 
 
 The wolf mtcheth and scaltereth tkt sheejt 
 
 '' JOHN x. 12. 
 
 compared to restive draught cattle which have broken away from 
 their harness and run loose, so that they are deprived of the 
 protection of their owners, and exposed to the fury of wild 
 beasts. A similar reference is made in Hab. i. 8 : " Their horses 
 also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the 
 evening wolves." The same habit of the Wolf is alluded to in 
 
 E 2
 
 52 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Zeph. iii. 3 : " Her princes within her are roaring lions ; her 
 judges are evening wolves." 
 
 Individually, the Wolf is rather a timid animal. It will avoid 
 a man rather than meet him. It prefers to steal upon its prey 
 and take it unawares, rather than to seize it openly and boldly. 
 It is ever suspicious of treachery, and is always imagining that a 
 trap is laid for it. Even the shallow device of a few yards of 
 rope trailing from any object, or a strip of cloth fluttering in the 
 breeze, is quite sufficient to keep the Wolf at bay for a consider- 
 able time. This fact is well known to hunters, who are accus- 
 tomed to secure the body of a slain deer by simply tying a strip 
 of cloth to its horn. If taken in a trap of any kind, or even if 
 it fancies itself in an enclosure from which it can find no egress, 
 it loses all courage, and will submit to be killed without offering 
 the least resistance. It will occasionally endeavour to effect its 
 escape by feigning death, and has more than once been known to 
 succeed in this device. 
 
 But, collectively, the Wolf is one of the most dangerous 
 animals that can be found. Herding together in droves when 
 pressed by hunger, the wolves will openly hunt prey, performing 
 this task as perfectly as a pack of trained hounds. Full of wiles 
 themselves, they are craftily wise in anticipating the wiles of 
 the animals which they pursue ; and even in full chase, while the 
 body of the pack is following on the footsteps of the flying 
 animal, one or two are detached on the flanks, so as to cut it off 
 if it should attempt to escape by doubling on its pursuers. 
 
 There is no animal which a herd of wolves will not attack, 
 and very few which they will not ultimately secure. Strength 
 avails nothing against the numbers of these savage foes, which 
 give no moment of rest, but incessantly assail their antagonist, 
 dashing by instinct at those parts of the body which can be 
 least protected, and lacerating with their peculiar short, snapping 
 bite. Should several of their number be killed or disabled, it 
 makes no difference to the wolves, except that a minute or two 
 are wasted in devouring their slain or wounded brethren, and 
 they only return to the attack the more excited by the taste of 
 blood. Swiftness of foot avails nothing against the tireless per- 
 severance of the wolves, who press on in their peculiar, long, 
 slinging gallop, and in the end are sure to tire out the swifter 
 footed but less enduring animal that flees before them. The
 
 TUP; WOLF. 53 
 
 stately buffalo is conquered by the ceaseless assaults of the 
 wolves ; the bear has been forced to succumb to them, and the 
 fleet-footed stag finds his swift limbs powerless to escape the 
 pursuing band, and his branching horns unable to resist their 
 furious onset when once they overtake him. 
 
 In the passage from -Habakkuk which has already been 
 quoted, allusion is made to the ferocity of the Wolf, and the 
 same characteristic is mentioned in several other parts of Scrip- 
 ture. Take, for example, Gen. xlix. 27 : " Benjamin shall ravin 
 as a wolf : in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night 
 he shall divide the spoil." Or the passage in Ezekiel xxii. 27 : 
 " Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the 
 prey, to shed blood." Or the well-known metaphor of our Lord 
 in Matt. vii. 15 : " Beware of false prophets, which come to you 
 in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening w r olves." 
 
 That the Wolf is a special enemy to the sheep-fold is. shown 
 in many parts of the Scriptures, both in the Old and New Tes- 
 taments, especially in the latter. In John x. 1-16, Jesus com- 
 pares himself to a good shepherd, who watches over the fold, 
 and, if the wolves should come to take the sheep, would rather 
 give up His life than they should succeed. But the false teachers 
 are compared to bad shepherds, hired for money, but having no 
 interest in the sheep, and who therefore will not expose them- 
 selves to danger in defence of their charge. 
 
 This metaphor was far more effective in Palestine, and at that 
 time, than it is in this country and at the present day. In this 
 land, the shepherd has no anxiety about the inroads of wild 
 beasts, but in Palestine one of his chief cares was to keep watch 
 at night lest the wolves should attack the fold, and to drive them 
 away himself in case they should do so. Therefore the shep- 
 herd's life was one which involved no small danger as well as 
 anxiety, and the metaphor used by our Lord gains additional 
 force from the knowledge of this fact. 
 
 A similar metaphor is used when Jesus wished to express in 
 forcible terms the dangers to which the chosen seventy would 
 oft be subjected, and the impossibility that they should be able 
 to overcome the many perils with which they would be sur- 
 rounded. " Go your ways : behold. I send you forth as lambs 
 among wolves " (Luke x. 3). 
 
 The well-known fact of the ravages of wolves among sheep has
 
 54: BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 been employed by the propbet Isaiah in two passages, wherein 
 he foretells the peaceful state of the world when the kingdom of 
 the Messiah shall have been established : " The wolf also shall 
 dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the 
 kid ; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together ; 
 and a little child shall lead them " (Is. xi. 6). The second passage 
 occurs in chapter Ixv. 23-25, and is of a similar character : " They 
 shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble ; for they 
 are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with 
 them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will 
 answer ; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf 
 and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like 
 the bullock : and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall 
 not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." 
 
 Mr. Tristram several times met wolves while he was engaged 
 in his .travels, and mostly saw solitary specimens. One such 
 encounter took place in the wilderness of Judah : " On my way 
 back, I met a fine solitary wolf, who watched me very coolly, at 
 the distance of sixty yards, while I drew my charge and dropped 
 a bullet down the barrel. Though I sent the ball into a rock 
 between his legs as he stood looking at me in the wady, he was 
 not sufficiently alarmed, to do more than move on a little more 
 quickly, ever and anon turning to look at me, while gradually 
 increasing his distance. Darkness compelled me to desist from 
 the chase, v/hen he quietly turned and followed me at a respect- 
 ful distance. He was a magnificent animal, larger than any 
 European wolf, and of a much lighter colour." 
 
 Those who are acquainted with the character of the animal 
 will appreciate the truthfulness of this description. The cautious 
 prowl at a distance, the slow trot away when he fancied ho 
 might be attacked, the reverted look, arid the final turning back 
 and following at a respectful distance, are all characteristic traits 
 of the Wolf, no matter to what species it may belong, nor what 
 country it may inhabit. 
 
 On another occasion, while riding in the open plain of Gen- 
 nesaret, the horse leaped over the bank of a little ditch, barely 
 three feet in depth. After the horse had passed, and not until 
 then, a Wolf started out of the ditch, literally from under the 
 horse's hoofs, and ran off. The animal had been crouching under 
 the little bank, evidently watching for some cows and calves
 
 THE FOX OR JACKAL. 55 
 
 which were grazing at a short distance, under the charge of a 
 Bedouin boy. The same author mentions that one of the monks 
 belonging to the monastery at Marsaba had contrived to render a 
 Wolf almost tame. Every evening at six o'clock the Wolf came 
 regularly across the ravine, had a piece of bread, and then went 
 back again. With the peculiar jealousy of all tamed animals, 
 the Wolf would not suffer any of his companions to partake of 
 his good fortune. Several of them would sometimes accompany 
 him, but as soon as they came under the wall of the monastery 
 he always drove them away. 
 
 The inhabitants of Palestine say that the Wolves of that 
 country are not gregarious, and that they hunt singly, or at most 
 in little packs of few in number. Still they dread The animal 
 exceedingly, and say that one Wolf will do more damage in a 
 flock of sheep than a whole pack of jackals. 
 
 As a general rule, the Syrian wolf, like the Syrian bear, is of 
 a lighter colour than its European relatives, and appears to be a 
 larger and stronger animal. 
 
 THE FOX OK JACKAL. 
 
 The two animals comprehended under one name The Jackal its numbers in 
 ancient and modern Palestine General habits of the Jackal Localities where 
 the Jackal is found Samson, and the three hundred "foxes" Popular 
 objections to the narrative The required number easily obtained Signor 
 Pierotti's remarks upon the Jackal An unpleasant position How the fields 
 were set on fire The dread of fire inherent in wild beasts The truth of the 
 narrative proved The Fox and Jackal destructive among grapes Allusions 
 to the Fox in the New Testament Partially tamed Foxes. 
 
 THERE are several passages in the Old Testament in which the 
 word Fox occurs, and it is almost certain that the Hebrew word 
 Shudl, which is rendered in our translation as Fox, is used rather 
 loosely, and refers in some places to the Jackal, and in others to
 
 56 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the Fox. We will first take those passages in which the former 
 rendering of the word is evidently the right one, and will begin 
 by examining those characteristics of the animal which afford 
 grounds for such an assertion. 
 
 Even at the present time, the Jackal is extremely plentiful in 
 Palestine ; and as the numbers of wild beasts have much de- 
 creased in modern days, the animals must have been even more 
 
 THE FOX OR JACKAL. 
 
 'They shall be a portion for foxes." PSALM ixiii. 10. The end of the Scajie Gout. 
 
 numerous than they are at present. It is an essentially noc- 
 turnal and gregarious animal. During the whole of the day the 
 Jackals lie concealed in their holes or hiding-places, which are 
 usually cavities in the rocks, in tombs, or among ruins. At 
 nightfall they issue from their dens, and form themselves into 
 packs, often consisting of several hundred individuals, and prowl 
 about in search of food. Carrion of various kinds forms their
 
 THE FOX OR JACKAL. 57 
 
 chief subsistence, and they perform in the country much the 
 same task as is fulfilled by the dogs in the cities. 
 
 If any animal should be killed, or even severely wounded, the 
 Jackals are sure to find it out and to devour it before the day- 
 break. They will scent out the track of the hunter, and feed 
 upon the offal of the beasts which he has slain. If the body of 
 a human being were to be left on the ground, the Jackals would 
 certainly leave but little traces of it ; and in the olden times of 
 warfare, they must have held high revelry in the battle-field 
 after the armies had retired. It is to this propensity of the 
 Jackal that David refers himself a man of war, who had 
 fought on many a battle-field, and must have seen the carcases 
 of the slain mangled by these nocturnal prowlers : " Those that 
 seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the 
 earth. They shall fall by the sword ; they shall be a portion for 
 foxes " (Ps. Ixiii. 9, 10). Being wild beasts, afraid of man, and 
 too cowardly to attack him even when rendered furious by 
 hunger, and powerful by force of numbers, they keep aloof from 
 towns and cities, and live in the uninhabited parts of the 
 country. Therefore the prophet Jeremiah, in his Book of 
 Lamentations, makes use of the following forcible image, when 
 deploring the pitiful state into which Judsea had fallen : " For 
 this our heart is faint ; for these things our eyes are dim : 
 because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes 
 walk upon it " (Lam. v. 17). And Ezekiel makes use of a similar 
 image : " Israel, thy prophets are like foxes in the desert." 
 
 But, by far the most important passage in which the Fox 
 is mentioned, is that wherein is recorded the grotesque 
 vengeance of Samson upon the Philistines : " And Samson went 
 and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned 
 tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 
 And when he had set the brands' on fire, he let them go into the 
 standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks 
 and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives" 
 (Judges xv. 4, 5). Now, as this is one of the passages of Holy Writ 
 to which great objections have been taken, it will be as well lo 
 examine these objections, and see whether they have any real 
 force. The first of these objections is, that the number of foxes 
 is far too great to have been caught at one time, and to this 
 objection two answers have been given. The first answer is, that
 
 58 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 they need not have been caught at once, but by degrees, and 
 kept until wanted. But the general tenor of the narrative is 
 undoubtedly in favour of the supposition that this act of Samson 
 was unpremeditated, and that it was carried into operation at 
 once, befere his anger had cooled. The second answer is, that 
 the requisite number of Foxes might have been miraculously 
 sent to Samson for this special purpose. This theory is really 
 so foolish and utterly untenable, that I only mention it because 
 it has been put forward. It fails on two grounds: the first 
 being that a miracle would hardly have been wrought to enable 
 Samson to revenge himself in so cruel and unjustifiable a 
 manner ; and the second, that there was not the least necessity 
 for any miracle at all. 
 
 If we put out of our minds the idea of the English Fox, an 
 animal comparatively scarce in this country, and solitary in its 
 habits, and substitute the extremely plentiful and gregarious 
 Jackal, wandering in troops by night, and easily decoyed by 
 hunger into a trap, we shall see that double the number might 
 have been taken, if needful. Moreover, it is not to be imagined 
 that Samson caught them all with his own hand. He was at 
 the head of his people, and had many subordinates at his 
 command, so that a large number of hunters might have been 
 employed simultaneously in the capture. In corroboration of 
 this point, I insert an extremely valuable extract from Signor 
 Pierotti's work, in which he makes reference to this very portion 
 of the sacred history : 
 
 " It is still very abundant near Gaza, Askalon, Ashdod, Ekron, 
 and Eamleh. I have frequently met with it during my wan- 
 derings by night, and on one occasion had an excellent oppor- 
 tunity of appreciating their number and their noise. 
 
 " One evening in the month of January 1857, while it was 
 raining a perfect deluge, I was obliged, owing to the dangerous 
 illness of a friend, to return from Jerusalem to Jaffa The depth 
 of snow on the road over a great part of the mountain, the 
 clayey mud in the plain, and the darkness of the night, pre- 
 vented my advancing quickly ; so that about half-past three in 
 the morning I arrived on the bank of a small torrent, about 
 half an hour's journey to the east of Eamleh. I wished to 
 cross: my horse at first refused, but, on my spurring it, ad- 
 vanced and at once sank up to the breast, followed of course by
 
 THE FOX OK JACKAL. 59 
 
 my legs, thus teaching me to respect the instinct of an Arab 
 horse for the future. 
 
 " There I stuck, without the possibility of escape, and consoled 
 my horse and myself with some provisions that I had in my 
 saddle-bags, shouting and singing at intervals, in the hope of 
 obtaining succour, and of preventing accidents, as I knew that 
 the year before a mule in the same position had been mistaken 
 for a wild beast, and killed. The darkness was profound, and 
 the wind very high ; but, happily, it was not cold ; for the only 
 things attracted by my calls were numbers of jackals, who 
 remained at a certain distance from me, and responded to my 
 cries, especially when I tried to imitate them, as though they 
 took me for their music-master. 
 
 " About five o'clock, one of the guards of the English con- 
 sulate at Jerusalem came from Eamleh and discovered my state. 
 He charitably returned thither, and brought some men, who 
 extricated me and my horse from our unpleasant bath, which, as 
 may be supposed, was not beneficial to our legs. 
 
 " During this most uncomfortable night, I had good oppor- 
 tunity of ascertaining that, if another Samson had wished to 
 burn again the crops in the country of the Philistines, he would 
 have had no difficulty in finding more than three hundred 
 jackals, and catching as many as he wanted in springs, traps, 
 or pitfalls. (See Ps. cxl. 5.)" 
 
 The reader will now see that there was not the least difficulty 
 in procuring the requisite number of animals, and that con- 
 sequently the first objection to the truth of the story is dis- 
 posed of. 
 
 We will now proceed to the second objection, which is, that if 
 the animals were tied tail to tail, they would remain on or near 
 the same spot, because they would pull in different directions, 
 and that, rather than run about, they would turn round and 
 fight each other. Now, in the first place, we are nowhere told 
 that the tails of the foxes, or jackals, were placed in contact with 
 each other, and it is probable that some little space was left 
 between them. That animals so tied would not run in a straight 
 line is evident enough, and this was exactly the effect which 
 Samson wished to produce. Had they been at liberty, and the 
 fiery brand fastened to their tails, they would have run straight 
 to their dens, and produced but little effect. But their captor,
 
 60 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 with cruel ingenuity, had foreseen this contingency, and, by 
 the method of securing them which he adopted, forced them to 
 pursue a devious course, each animal trying to escape from the 
 dreaded firebrand, and struggling in vain endeavours to drag its 
 companion towards its own particular den. 
 
 All wild animals have an instinctive dread of fire ; and there 
 is none, not even the fierce and courageous lion, that dares enter 
 within the glare of the bivouac fire. A lion has even been 
 struck in the face with a burning brand, and has not ventured 
 to attack the man that wielded so dreadful a weapon. Conse- 
 quently it may be imagined that the unfortunate animals that 
 were used by Samson for his vindictive purpose, must have been 
 filled with terror at the burning brands which they dragged after 
 them, and the blaze of the fire which was kindled wherever 
 they went. They would have no leisure to fight, and would only 
 think of escaping from the dread and unintelligible enemy which 
 pursued them. 
 
 When a prairie takes fire, all the wild inhabitants flee in 
 terror, and never think of attacking each other, so that the bear, 
 the wolf, the cougar, the deer, and the wild swine, may all be 
 seen huddled together, their natural antagonism quelled in the 
 presence of a common foe. So it must have been with the 
 miserable animals which were made the unconscious instruments 
 of destruction. That they would stand still when a burning 
 brand was between them, and when flames sprang up around 
 them, is absurd. That they would pull in exactly opposite 
 directions with precisely balanced force is equally improbable, 
 and it is therefore evident that they would pursue a devious 
 path, the stronger of the two dragging the weaker, but being 
 jerked out of a straight course and impeded by the resistance 
 which it would offer. That they would stand on the same spot 
 and fight has been shown to be contrary to the custom of 
 animals under similar circumstances. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that every objection not only falls to the 
 ground, but carries its own refutation, thus vindicating this 
 episode in sacred history, and showing, that not only were the 
 circumstances possible, but that they were highly probable. Of 
 course every one of the wretched animals must have been ulti- 
 mately burned to death, after suffering a prolonged torture from 
 the firebrand that was attached to it. Such a consideration
 
 THE FOX OR JACKAL. 01 
 
 would, however, have had no effect for deterring Samson from 
 employing them. The Orientals are never sparing of pain, even 
 when inflicted upon human beings, and in too many cases they 
 seem utterly unable even to comprehend the cruelty of which 
 they are guilty. And Samson was by no means a favourable 
 specimen of his countrymen. He was the very incarnation of 
 strength, but was as morally weak as he was corporeally power- 
 ful ; and to that weakness he owed his fall. Neither does he 
 seem to possess the least trace of forbearance any more than of 
 self-control, but he yields to his own undisciplined nature, places 
 himself, and through him the whole Israelitish nation, in 
 jeopardy, and then, with a grim humour, scatters destruction on 
 every side in revenge for the troubles which he has brought 
 upon himself by his own acts. 
 
 There is a passage in the Old Testament which is tolerably 
 familiar to most students of the Scriptures : " Take us the foxes, 
 the little foxes, that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender 
 grapes " (Solomon's Song, ii. 15). In this passage allusion is 
 made to the peculiar fondness for grapes and several other fruits 
 which exist both in the Fox and the Jackal. Even the domes- 
 ticated dog is often fond of ripe fruits, and will make great 
 havoc among the gooseberry bushes and the strawberry beds. 
 But both the Fox and the Jackal display a wonderful predilec- 
 tion for the grape above all other fruit, and even when confined 
 and partly tamed, it is scarcely possible to please them better 
 than by offering them a bunch of perfectly ripe grapes. The 
 well-known fable of the fox and the grapes will occur to the 
 mind of every one who reads the passage which has just been 
 quoted. 
 
 There are two instances in the New Testament where the Fox 
 is mentioned, and in both cases the allusion is made by the Lord 
 himself. The first of these passages is the touching and well- 
 known reproach, " The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air 
 have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head " 
 (Matt. viii. 20). The second passage is that in which He speaks 
 of Herod as " that fox," selecting a term which well expressed 
 the character of the cruel and cunning ruler to whom it was 
 applied. 
 
 The reader will remember that, in the history of the last- 
 mentioned animal an anecdote is told of a semi-tamed wolf that
 
 62 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 used to come every evening for the purpose of receiving a piecs 
 of bread. At the same monastery, three foxes used to enjoy a 
 similar privilege. They came regularly to the appointed place, 
 which was not that which the wolf frequented, and used to howl 
 until their expected meal was given to them. Several com- 
 panions generally accompanied them, but were always jealously 
 driven away before the monks appeared with the bread. 
 
 THE HYAENA. 
 
 The Hyaena not mentioned by name, but evidently alluded to Signification of 
 the word Zabua Translated in the Septuagint as Hyaena A scene described 
 by the Prophet Isaiah The Hyaena plentiful in Palestine at the present day 
 its \rell-kno\rh cowardice and fear of man The uses of the Hysena and the 
 services which it renders The particular species of Hyaena The Hyaena in 
 the burial-grounds Hunting the Hyaena- Curious superstition respecting the 
 talismanic properties of its skin Precautions adopted in flaying it Popular 
 legends of the Hyaena and its magical powers The cavern home of the Hyrena 
 The Valley of Zeboim. 
 
 ALTHOUGH in our version of the Scriptures the Hysena is not 
 mentioned by that name, there are two passages in the Old 
 Testament which evidently refer to that animal, and therefore it 
 is described in these pages. If the reader will refer to the 
 prophet Jeremiah, xii. 7-9, he will find these words : " I 
 have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage ; I have 
 given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her 
 enemies. Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest ; it 
 crieth out against me : therefore have I hated it. Mine heritage 
 is unto me as a speckled bird ; the birds round about are against 
 her: come y6, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to 
 devour." Now, the word zabua signifies something that is 
 streaked, and in the Authorized Version it is rendered as a
 
 THE HYAENA. 03 
 
 speckled bird. But in the Septuagint it is rendered as Hyaena, 
 and this translation is thought by many critical writers to be 
 the true one. It is certain that the word zabua is one of the 
 four names by which the Talmudical writers mention the Hyrena, 
 when treating of its character; and it is equally certain that 
 t.uch a rendering makes the passage more forcible, and is in 
 perfect accordance with the habits of predacious animals. 
 
 The whole scene which the Prophet thus describes was evi- 
 dently familiar to him. First, we have the image of a deserted 
 country, allowed to be overrun with wild beasts. Then we have 
 the lion, which has struck down its prey, roaring with exultation, 
 and defying any adversary to take it from him. Then, the lion 
 having eaten his fill and gone away, we have the Hy.nenas, vul- 
 tures, and other carrion-eating creatures, assembling around the 
 carcase, and hastening to devour it. This, is a scene which has 
 been witnessed by many hunters who have pursued their sport 
 in lands where lions, hyaenas, and vultures are found; and all 
 these creatures were inhabitants of Palestine at the time when 
 Jeremiah wrote. 
 
 At the present day, the Hy?cna is still plentiful in Palestine, 
 though in the course of the last few years its numbers have 
 sensibly diminished. The solitary traveller, when passing by 
 night from one town to another, often falls in with the Hysena, 
 but need suffer no fear, as it will not attack a human being, and 
 prefers to slink out of his way. But dead, and dying, or 
 wounded animals are the objects for which it searches ; and 
 when it finds them, it devours the whole of its prey. The lion 
 will strike down an antelope, an ox, or a goat will tear off its 
 flesh with its long fangs, and lick the bones with its rough 
 tongue until they are quite cleaned. The wolves and jackals 
 will follow the lion, and eat every soft portion of the dead 
 animal, while the vultures will fight with them for the coveted 
 morsels. But the Hyaena is a more accomplished scavenger 
 than lion, wolf, jackal, or vulture ; for it will eat the very bones 
 themselves, its tremendously-powerful jaws and firmly-set teeth 
 enabling it to crush even the leg-bone of an ox, and its un- 
 paralleled digestive powers enabling it to assimilate the sharp 
 and hard fragments which would kill any creature not con- 
 stituted like itself. 
 
 In a wild, or even a partially-inhabited country, the Hyaena
 
 64 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 is, therefore, a most useful animal. It may occasionally kill a 
 crippled or weakly ox, and sometimes carry off a sheep ; but, 
 even in that case, no very great harm is done, for it does not 
 meddle with any animal that can resist. But these few delin- 
 quencies are more than compensated by the great services which 
 it renders as scavenger, consuming those substances which even 
 the lion cannot eat, and thus acting as a scavenger in removing 
 objects which would be offensive to sight and injurious to 
 health. 
 
 The species which is mentioned in the Scriptures is the Striped 
 Hysena (Hycena striata) ; but the habits of all the species are 
 almost exactly similar. We are told by travellers of certain 
 towns in different parts of Africa which would be unendurable 
 but for the Hysenas. With the disregard for human life which 
 prevails throughout all savage portions of that country, the rulers 
 of these towns order executions almost daily, the bodies of the 
 victims being allowed to lie where they happened to fall. No 
 one chooses to touch them, lest they should also be added to the 
 list of victims, and the decomposing bodies would soon cause a 
 pestilence but for the Hyaenas, who assemble at night round 
 the bodies, and by the next morning have left scarcely a trace of 
 the murdered men. 
 
 Even in Palestine, and in the present day, the Hyasna will 
 endeavour to rifle the grave, and to drag out the interred corpse. 
 The bodies of the rich are buried in rocky caves, whose entrances 
 are closed with heavy stones, which the Hyrena cannot move ; 
 but those of the poor, which, are buried in the ground, must be 
 defended by stones heaped over them. Even when this pre- 
 caution is taken, the Hyaana will sometimes find out a weak 
 spot, drag out the body, and devour it. 
 
 In consequence of this propensity, the inhabitants have an 
 utter detestation of the animal. They catch it whenever they 
 can, in pitfalls or snares, using precisely the same means as were 
 employed two thousand years ago ; or they hunt it to its den, 
 and then kill it, stripping off the hide, and carrying it about still 
 wet, receiving a small sum of money from those to whom they 
 show it. Afterwards the skin is dressed, by rubbing it with lime 
 and salt, and steeping it in the waters of the Dead Sea. It is then 
 made into sandals and leggings, which are thought to be power- 
 ful charms, and to defend the wearer from the Hyasna's bite.
 
 THE HY/EXA. 
 
 C5 
 
 They always observe certain superstitious precautions in Hay- 
 ing the dead animal. Believing that the scent of the flesh 
 would corrupt the air, they invariably take the carcase to the 
 leeward of the tents before they strip off the skin. Even in the 
 animal which has been kept for years in a cage, and has eaten 
 nothing but fresh meat, the odour is too powerful to be agreeable, 
 
 TUB HVjKNA. 
 
 " / hare giren tlieefor meat to fht beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven." KZF.K. xxix. 5. 
 
 as I can testify from practical experience when dissecting a 
 Hyaena that had died in the Zoological Gardens ; and it is evident 
 that the scent of an animal that has lived all its life on carrion 
 must be almost unbearable. The skin being removed, the carcase 
 is burnt, because the hunters think that by this process the 
 other Hycenas are prevented from finding the body of their 
 
 P
 
 66 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 comrade, and either avenging its death or taking warning by 
 
 its fate. 
 
 Superstitions seem to be singularly prevalent concerning the 
 Hyrena. In Palestine, there is a prevalent idea that if a Hyrena 
 meets a solitary man at night, it can enchant him in such a 
 manner as to make him follow it through thickets and over 
 rocks, until he is quite exhausted, and falls an unresisting prey ; 
 but that over two persons he has no such influence, and therefore 
 a solitary traveller is gravely advised to call for help as soon as 
 he sees a Hyaena, because the fascination of the beast would be 
 neutralized by the presence of a second person. So firmly is 
 this idea rooted in the minds of the inhabitants, that they will 
 never travel by night, unless they can find at least one companion 
 in their journey. 
 
 Tn Northern Africa there are many strange superstitions con- 
 nected with this animal, one of the most curious of which is 
 founded on its well-known cowardice. The Arabs fancy that 
 any weapon which has killed a Hyaena, whether it be gun, 
 sword, spear, or dagger, is thenceforth unfit to be used in war- 
 fare. " Throw away that sword," said an Arab to a French 
 officer, who had killed a Hy^na, " it has slain the Hysena, and it 
 will be treacherous to you." 
 
 At the present day, its numbers are not nearly so great in 
 Palestine as they used to be, and are decreasing annually. The 
 causr of this diminution lies, according to Signer Pierotti, more 
 in the destruction of forests than in the increase of population 
 and the use of fire-arms, though the two latter causes have 
 undoubtedly considerable influence. 
 
 There is a very interesting account by Mr. Tristram of the 
 haunt of these animals. While exploring the deserted quarries 
 of Es Sumrah, between Beth-arabah and Bethel, he came upon a 
 wonderful mass of hysenine relics. The quarries in which were 
 lying the half-hewn blocks, scored with the marks of wedges, 
 had evidently formed the resort of Hysenas for a long series of 
 years. "Vast heaps of bones of camels, oxen, and sheep had 
 been collected by these animals, in some places to the depth of 
 two or three feet, and on one spot I counted the skulls of seven 
 camels. There were no traces whatever of any human remains. 
 We had here a beautiful recent illustration of the mode of 
 foundation of the old bone caverns, so valuable to the geologist.
 
 THE I-IYJSNA. 67 
 
 These bones must all have been brought in by the Hyaenas, as 
 no camel or sheep could possibly have entered the caverns alive, 
 nor could any floods have washed them in. Near the entrance 
 where the water percolates, they were already forming a soft 
 breccia." 
 
 The second allusion to the Hyaena is made in 1 Sam. xiii. 18, 
 " Another company turned to the way of the border that looketh 
 to the Valley of Zeboim towards the wilderness," i.e. to the 
 Valley of Hyaenas. 
 
 The colour of the Striped Hyaena varies according to its age. 
 When young, as is the case with many creatures, birds as well 
 as mammals, the stripes from which it derives its name are 
 much more strongly marked than in the adult specimen. The 
 general hue of the fur is a pale grey-brown, over which are 
 drawn a number of dark stripes, extending along the ribs and 
 across the limbs. 
 
 In the young animal these stripes are nearly twice as dark 
 and twice as wide as in the adult, and they likewise appear on 
 the face and on other parts of the body, whence they afterwards 
 vanish. The fur is always rough; and along the spine, and espe- 
 cially over the neck and shoulders, it is developed into a kind 
 of mane, which gives a very fierce aspect to the animal. The 
 illustration shows a group of Hyaenas coming to feed on the 
 relics of a dead animal. The jackals and vultures have eaten as 
 much of the flesh as they can manage, and the vultures are 
 sitting, gorged, round the stripped bones. The Hyaenas are now 
 coming up to play their part as scavengers, and have already 
 begun to break up the bones in their crushing-mills of jaws. 
 
 I-- 2
 
 68 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE WEASEL. 
 
 Difficulty of identifying the Weasel of Scripture The Weasel of Palestine 
 ' Si^gested identity with the Ichneumon. 
 
 THE word Weasel occurs once in the Holy Scriptures, and 
 therefore it is necessary that the animal should be mentioned. 
 There is a great controversy respecting the identification of the 
 animal, inasmuch as there is nothing in the context which gives 
 the slightest indication of its appearance or habits. 
 
 The passage in question is that which prohibits the Weasel and 
 the mouse as unclean animals (see Lev. xi. 29). Now the word 
 which is here translated Weasel is Choled, or Chol'd ; and, I 
 believe, never occurs again in the whole of the Old Testament. 
 Mr. W. Houghton conjectures that the Hebrew word Choled is 
 identical with the Arabic Chuld and the Syriac Chuldo, both 
 words signifying a mole ; and therefore infers that the unclean 
 animal in question is not a Weasel, but a kind of mole. 
 
 The Weasel does exist in Palestine, and seems to be as plentiful 
 there as in our own country. Indeed, the whole tribe of Weasels 
 is well represented, and the polecat is seen there as well as the 
 Weasel. 
 
 It has been suggested with much probability, that, as is 
 clearly the case in many instances, several animals have been 
 included in the general term Weasel, and that among them may 
 be reckoned the common ichneumon (Herpestes), which is one of 
 the most plentiful of animals in Palestine, and which may be 
 met daily. 
 
 The Septuagint favours the interpretation of Weasel, and, as 
 there is no evidence on either side, there we may allow the 
 question to rest. As, however, the word only occurs once, and 
 as the animal, whatever it may be, is evidently of no particular 
 importance, we may reserve our space for the animals which 
 have more important bearings upon the Holy Scriptures. The 
 subject will be again mentioned in the account of the Mole of 
 the Old Testament.
 
 THE FERRET. 69 
 
 THE FERRET. 
 
 Translation of the Hebrew word Anakah The Shrew-mouse of Palestine 
 Etymology of the word The Gecko or Fan-foot, its habits and peculiar cry 
 Repugnance felt by the Arabs of the present day towards the Gecko. 
 
 WHY the Hebrew word Anakah should have been translated in 
 our version as Ferret there is little ground for conjecture. 
 
 The name occurs among the various creeping things that were 
 reckoned as unclean, and were prohibited as food (see Lev. xi. 
 29, 30) : " These also shall be unclean unto you among the 
 creeping things that creepeth upon the earth : the weasel, and 
 the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind, and the ferret, and the 
 chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole." Now 
 the word in question is translated in the Septuagint as the 
 Mygale, or Shrew-mouse, and it is probable that this animal was 
 accepted by the Jews as the Anakah. But, whether or not it 
 was the Shrew-mouse, it is certain that it is not the animal which 
 we call the Ferret. Mr. Tristram suggests that the etymology 
 of the name, i.e. Anakah, the Groaner, or Sigher, points to some 
 creature which utters a mournful cry. And as the animal in 
 question is classed among the creeping things, he offers a con- 
 jecture that the Gecko, Wall-lizard, or Fan-foot, may be the 
 true interpretation of the word. 
 
 Being one of the lizards, it belongs to the " creeping things," 
 and frequently utters a mournful sound like the word " geck-o." 
 It is exceedingly plentiful, and inhabits the interior of houses, 
 where it can find the flies and other insects on which it lives. 
 On account of the structure of the toes, each of which is flat- 
 tened into a disk-like form, and furnished on the under surface 
 with a series of plates like those on the back of the sucking-fish, 
 it can walk up a smooth, perpendicular wall with perfect ease, 
 and can even cling to the ceiling like the flies on which it feeds. 
 
 The structure of the feet enables it to move about without 
 the least sound, and at first an observer is apt to be rather
 
 YO BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 startled at the mournful cry, and at the silent rapidity with 
 which it darts from place to place. 
 
 The Arabs of the present day are horribly afraid of the Gecko, 
 thinking that it poisons everything that it touches, and are even 
 more terrified than are ignorant people in England when they 
 see a toad. Both creatures are equally repulsive in aspect, and 
 equally harmless towards the human race. 
 
 THE BADGER. 
 
 Difficulty in identifying the Tachash of Scripture References to "Badgers' 
 skins " The Dugong thought to be the Badger The Bedouin sandals 
 Nature of the materials for the Tabernacle Habits of the Badger The species 
 found in Palestine Uses of the Badgers' skius Looseness of zoological 
 terras. 
 
 DNTTL very lately, there was much difficulty in ascertaining 
 whether the word Tachash has been rightly translated as 
 Badger. It occurs in several parts of the Scriptures, and almost 
 invariably is used in relation to a skin or fur of some sort. We 
 will first examine the passages in which the Badger is men- 
 tioned, and then proceed to identify the animal. 
 
 Nearly all the references to the Badger occur in the book of 
 Exodus, and form part of the directions for constructing the 
 Tabernacle and its contents. The first notice of the word occurs 
 in Exodus xxv. 5, where the people of Israel are ordered to 
 bring their offerings for the sanctuary, among which offerings are 
 gold, silver, and brass, blue, purple, and scarlet, fine linen, goats' 
 hair, rams' skins dyed red, badgers' skins, and shittim wood all 
 these to be used in the construction of the Tabernacle. Then a 
 little farther on, in chapter xxvi. 14, we find one of the special 
 uses to which the badgers' skins were to be put, namely, to make 
 the outer covering or roof of the tabernacle. Another use for 
 the badgers' skins was to form an outer covering for the ark, table
 
 THE BADGER. 71 
 
 of shewbread, and other furniture of the Tabernacle, when the 
 people were on the march. 
 
 In all these cases the badger-skin is used as a covering to 
 defend a building or costly furniture, but there is one example 
 where it is employed for a different purpose. This passage 
 occurs in the book of Ezekiel, chapter xvi. 10. The prophet is 
 speaking of Jerusalem tinder the image of a woman, and uses 
 these words, " I anointed thee with oil ; I clothed thee also with 
 broidered work, and shod thee with badger's skin, and I girded 
 thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I 
 decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy 
 hands, and a chain upon thy neck, and I put a jewel on thy 
 forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon 
 thine head." 
 
 So we have here the fact, that the same material which was 
 used for the covering of the Tabernacle, and of the sacred furni- 
 ture, could also be used for the manufacture of shoes. This 
 passage is the more valuable because of an inference which may 
 be drawn from it. The reader will see that the badger-skin, 
 whatever it may have been, must have been something of con- 
 siderable value, and therefore, in all probability, something of 
 much rarity. 
 
 In the present instance, it is classed with the most luxurious 
 robes that were known in those days, and it is worthy of special 
 mention among the bracelet, earrings, necklace, and coronal with 
 which the symbolized city was adorned. If the reader will now 
 refer to the passage in which the children of Israel were com- 
 manded to bring their offerings, he will see that in those cases 
 also the badger-skins were ra-nked with the costliest articles of 
 apparel that could be found, and had evidently been brought 
 from Egypt, the peculiar home of all the arts ; together with the 
 vast quantity of gold and jewels which were used for the same 
 sacred purpose. 
 
 Now we find that the badger-skins in question must possess 
 three qualities : they must be costly, they must be capable of 
 forming a defence against the weather, and they must be strong 
 enough to be employed in the manufacture of shoes. If we 
 accept the word Tachash as signifying a Badger, we shall find 
 that these conditions have been fulfilled. 
 
 But many commentators have thought that badger- skins could
 
 72 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 not have been procured in sufficient numbers for the purpose, 
 and have therefore conjectured that some other animal must be 
 signified by the word Tachash. 
 
 A species of dugong (Halicore hemprichii} is the animal that 
 has been selected as the Badger of the Scriptures. It is one of 
 the marine mammalia, and always lives near the shore, where it 
 can find the various algae on which it feeds. It is a gregarious 
 animal, and, as it frequently ascends rivers for some distance, it 
 may be captured in sufficient numbers to make both its flesh 
 and skin useful Moreover, it is of considerable size, fourteen 
 or fifteen feet in length being its usual dimensions, so that a 
 comparatively small number of the skins would be required for 
 the covering of the Tabernacle. 
 
 That shoes can be made of it is evident from the fact that at 
 the present day shoes, or rather sandals, are made from its hide, 
 and are commonly used by the Bedouins. But the very qualities 
 and peculiarities which render it a fit material for the sandal of a 
 half-naked Bedouin Arab, who has to walk continually over hard, 
 hot, sandy, and rough ground, would surely make it unsuitable for 
 the delicate shoes worn by a woman of rank who spends her 
 time in the house, and the rest of whose clothing is of fine linen 
 and silk, embroidered with gold and jewels. In our own country, 
 the hobnailed shoes of the ploughman and the slight shoe of a 
 lady are made of very different materials, and it is reasonable 
 to conjecture that such was the case when the passage in ques- 
 tion was written. 
 
 Then Dr. Robinson, who admits that the hide of the dugong 
 could hardly have been used as the material for a lady's shoe, 
 thinks that it would have. answered very well for the roof of the 
 Tabernacle, because it was large, clumsy, and coarse. It seems 
 strange that he did not also perceive that the two latter qualities 
 would completely disqualify such skins for that sendee. Every- 
 thing clumsy and coarse was studiously prohibited, and nothing 
 but the very best was considered fit for the Tabernacle of the 
 Lord. By special revelation, Moses was instructed to procure, 
 not merely the ordinary timber of the country for the frame- 
 work not only the fabrics which would keep out rain and 
 wind not simply the metals in common use, from which 
 to make the lamps and other furniture not the ordinary 
 oils for supplying the lamps ; but, on the contrary, the finest
 
 THE BADGER. 
 
 'Thou slialt make a covering above of baggers' skins." Ex. xxvi. 14.
 
 THE BADGER. 73 
 
 linen, the most elaborate embroidery, the rarest woods, the 
 purest gold, the costliest gems, were demanded, and nothing 
 common or inferior was accepted. The commonest material 
 that was permitted was the long, soft fleece of rams' wool; 
 but, even in that case, the wool had to be dyed of the regal 
 scarlet a dye so rare and so costly that none but the 
 wealthiest rulers could use it. Even the very oil that burned 
 in the lamps must be the purest olive-oil, prepared expressly 
 for that purpose. 
 
 The very fact, therefore, that any article was plentiful and 
 could easily be obtained, would be a proof that such article was 
 not used for so sacred a purpose ; while it is impossible that 
 anything coarse and clumsy could have been accepted for the 
 construction of that Tabernacle within which the Shekinah ever 
 burned over the Mercy-seat over which the cloud rested by 
 day, and the fire shone by night, visible external proofs of the 
 Divine glory within. 
 
 We therefore dismiss from our minds the possibility of accept- 
 ing any material for it which was not exceptionably valuable, 
 and which would be employed in the uses of ordinary life. The 
 great object of the minutely-elaborate directions which were 
 given through Moses to the Israelites was evidently to keep 
 continually before their eyes the great truth that they owed all 
 to God, and that their costliest offerings were but acknowledg- 
 ments of their dependence. 
 
 We will now presume that the Tachash of the Pentateuch and 
 Ezekiel is really the animal which we know by the name of 
 Badger. It exists throughout the whole of the district traversed 
 by the Israelites, though it is not very plentiful, nor is it easily 
 taken. Had such been the case, its fur would not have been 
 employed in the service of the sanctuary. 
 
 It is nocturnal in its habits, and very seldom is seen during 
 the hours of daylight, so that it cannot be captured by chase. It 
 is not gregarious, so that it cannot be taken in great numbers, as 
 is the case with certain wild animals which have been thought 
 to be the Tachash of Scripture. It is not a careless animal, so 
 that it cannot be captured or killed without the exercise of con- 
 siderable ingenuity, and the expenditure of much time and 
 trouble. It is one of the burrowing animals, digging for itself 
 a deep subterranean home, and always ready whenever it is
 
 74 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 alarmed to escape into the dark recesses of its dwelling, from 
 which it can scarcely be dislodged. It is not a large animal, so 
 that a considerable number of skins would be required in order 
 to make a covering which should overlap a structure forty-five 
 feet in length and fifteen in breadth. Were it a solitary animal, 
 there might be a difficulty in procuring a sufficient number of 
 skins. But it is partly gregarious in its habits, living together 
 in small families, seven or eight being sometimes found to inhabit 
 a single dwelling-place. It is, therefore, sufficiently rare to make 
 its skin valuable, and sufficiently plentiful to furnish the requisite 
 number of skins. All these facts tend to show that the cost of 
 such a covering must have been veiy great, even though it was 
 the outermost, and, consequently, the least valuable of the four. 
 It has been suggested that these skins were only used to lay over 
 the lines where the different sets of coverings overlapped each 
 other, and that, in consequence, they need not have been very 
 numerous. 
 
 But we find that these same skins, which were evidently those 
 which formed the external roof, were used, when the Tabernacle 
 was taken down, for the purpose of forming distinct coverings 
 for the ark of the testimony, the table of shewbread, the seven- 
 branched candlestick, the golden altar, the various vessels used in 
 the ministrations, and lastly, the altar of sacrifice itself. Thus, 
 when we recollect the dimensions of the ark, the table, the candle- 
 stick, and the two altars, we shall see that, in order to make 
 separate covers for them, a quantity of material would be used 
 which would be amply sufficient to cover the whole roof of the 
 Tabernacle, even if it had, as was most probably the case, a ridged, 
 and not a flat roof. 
 
 We now come to our next point, namely, the aptitude of the 
 Badger's skin to resist weather. Any one who has handled the 
 skin of the Badger will acknowledge that a better material could 
 hardly be found. The fur is long, thick, and, though light, is 
 moderately stiff, the hairs falling over each other in such a 
 manner as to throw off rain or snow as off a penthouse. And, 
 as to the third point, namely, its possible use as a material for the 
 manufacture of shoes, we may call to mind that the skin of the 
 Badger is proverbially tough, and that this very quality has 
 caused the animal to be subjected to most cruel treatment by a 
 class of sporting men which is now almost extinct.
 
 THE BEAR. 75 
 
 The Septuagint gives little assistance in determining the precise 
 nature of the Tachash, and rather seems to consider the word as 
 expressive of the colour with which the* fur was dyed than that of 
 the animal from which it was taken. Still, it must be remem- 
 bered that not only are zoological terms used very loosely in the 
 Scriptures, but that in Hebrew, as in all other languages, the 
 same combination of letters often expresses two different ideas, 
 so that the word Tachash may equally signify a colour and an 
 animal. Moreover, it has been well pointed out that the repeated 
 use of the word in the plural number shows that it cannot 
 refev to colour; while its almost invariable combination with 
 the Hebrew word that signifies a skin implies that it does not 
 refer to colour, but to an animal. 
 
 What that animal may be, is, as I have already mentioned, 
 conjectural But, as the authorized translation renders the word 
 as Badger, and as this reading fulfils the conditions necessary to 
 its identification, and as no other reading does fulfil them, we 
 cannot be very far wrong if we accept that translation as the 
 correct one, and assume the Tachash of the Scriptures to be the 
 animal which we call by the name of Badger. 
 
 THE BEAR 
 
 The Syrian Bear Identity of the Hebrew and Arabic titles Its colour variable 
 according to age Bears once numerous in Palestine, and now only occasionally 
 seen Reason for their diminution Present localities of the Bear, and its 
 favourite haunts Food of the Bear Its general habits Its ravages among 
 the flocks The Bear dangerous to mankind The Bear robbed of her whelps 
 Illustrative passages Its mode of fighting Various references to the Bear, 
 from the time of Samuel to that of St. John. 
 
 WHATEVER doubt may exist as to the precise identity of 
 various animals mentioned in the Scriptures, there is none what- 
 ever as to the creature which is frequently alluded to under the 
 name of Bear.
 
 76 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The Hebrew word is D6b, and it is a remarkable fact that the 
 name of this animal in the Arabic language is almost identical 
 with the Hebrew term, namely, Dubh. The peculiar species of 
 Bear which inhabits Palestine is the Syrian Bear (Ursus 
 Isabdlinus), and, though it has been variously described by 
 different eye-witnesses, there is no doubt that the same species 
 was seen by them all. As is the case with many animals, the 
 Syrian Bear changes its colour as it grows older. When a cub, it is 
 of a darkish brown, which becomes a light brown as it approaches 
 maturity. But, when it has attained its full growth, it becomes 
 cream-coloured, and each succeeding year seems to lighten its 
 coat, so that a very old Bear is nearly as white as its relative of 
 the Arctic regions. Travellers, therefore, who have met the 
 younger specimens, have described them as brown in hue, while 
 those who have seen more aged individuals have stated that 
 the colour of the Syrian Bear is white. 
 
 Owing to the destruction of forests, the Bear, which is essentially 
 a lover of the woods, has decreased considerably in number. Yet, 
 even at the present time, specimens may be seen by the w 7 atehful 
 traveller, mostly about the range of Lebanon, but sometimes at 
 a considerable distance from that locality. Mr. Tristram, for 
 example, saw it close to the Lake of Gennesaret. " We never 
 met with so many wild animals as on one of those days. First 
 of all, a wild boar got out of some scrub close to us, as we were 
 ascending the valley. Then a deer was started below, ran up 
 the cliff, and wound along the ledge, passing close to us. Then 
 a large ichneumon almost crossed my feet and ran into a cleft : 
 and, while endeavouring to trace him, I was amazed to see a 
 brown Syrian Bear clumsily but rapidly clamber down the 
 rocks and cross the ravine. He was, however, far too cautious 
 to get within hailing distance of any of the riflemen." 
 
 The same author mentions that some of the chief strongholds 
 of this Bear are certain clefts in the face of a precipitous chasm 
 through which the river Leontes flows. This river runs into the 
 sea a few miles northward of Tyre, and assists in carrying off the 
 melted snows from the Lebanon range of mountains. His 
 description is so picturesque, that it must be given in his own 
 words. " The channel, though a thousand feet deep, was so 
 narrow that the opposite ridge was within gunshot. Looking 
 down the giddy abyss, we could see the cliff on our side partially
 
 "As a roaring lion nii<l a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people." PROV. xxviii. 1.1.
 
 THE BEAR. 77 
 
 covered with myrtle, bay, and caper hanging from the fissures, 
 while the opposite side was perforated with many shallow caves, 
 the inaccessible eyries of vultures, eagles, and lanner falcons, which 
 were sailing in multitudes around. The lower part had many 
 ledges clad with shrubs, the strongholds of the Syrian Bear, 
 though inaccessible even to goats. Far beneath dashed the 
 milk-white river, a silver line in a ruby setting of oleanders, 
 roaring doubtless fiercely, but too distant to be heard at the 
 height on which we stood. This cleft of the Leontes was the only 
 true Alpine scenery we had met with in Palestine, and in any 
 country, and amidst any mountains, it would attract admi- 
 ration." 
 
 On those elevated spots the Bear loves to dwell, and throughout 
 the summer-time generally remains in such localities. For the 
 Bear is one of the omnivorous animals, and is able to feed ou 
 vegetable as well as animal substances, preferring the former 
 when they can be found. There is nothing that a Bear likes better 
 than strawberries and similar fruits, among which it will revel 
 throughout the whole fruit season, daintily picking the ripest 
 berries, and becoming wonderfully fat by the constant banquet. 
 Sometimes, when the fruits fail, it makes incursions among the 
 cultivated grounds, and is noted for the ravages which it makes 
 among a sort of vetch which is much grown in the Holy Land. 
 
 But during the colder months of the year the Bear changes 
 its diet, and becomes carnivorous. Sometimes it contents itself 
 with the various wild animals which it can secure, but some- 
 times it descends to the lower plains, and seizes upon the goats 
 and sheep in their pastures. This habit is referred to by David, 
 in his well-known speech to Saul, when the king was trying tu 
 dissuade him from matching himself against the gigantic 
 Philistine. " And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go 
 against this Philistine to fight with him : for thou art but a 
 
 youth, and he a man of war from his youth Thy servant 
 
 kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and 
 took a lamb out of the flock : and I went out after him, and 
 smote him, and delivered it out of his hand ; and when he arose 
 against me, I caught him by the beard, and smote him, and slew 
 him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear : and this 
 uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath 
 defied the armies of the living God." 1 Sam. xvii. 33 30.
 
 78 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Though not generally apt to attack mankind, it will do so if 
 first attacked, and then becomes a most dangerous enemy. See, 
 for example, that most graphic passage in the book of the 
 prophet Amos, whose business as a herdsman must have made 
 him conversant with the habits, not only of the flocks and herds 
 which he kept, but of the wild beasts which might devour 
 them : " Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord ! to 
 what end is it for you ? the day of the Lord is darkness, and 
 not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met 
 him ; or went into a house, and leaned his hand on the wall. 
 and a serpent bit him." (v. 19.) 
 
 Another reference to the dangerous character of the Bear is 
 made in 2 Kings ii. 23, 24, in which is recorded that two she- 
 bears came out of the wood near Bethel, and killed forty-two of 
 the children that mocked at Elisha. 
 
 As the Bear is not swift of foot, but rather clumsy in its 
 movements, it cannot hope to take the nimbler animals in open 
 chase. It prefers to lie in wait for them in the bushes, and to 
 strike them down with a sudden blow of its paw, a terrible 
 weapon, which it can wield as effectively as the lion uses its 
 claws. An allusion to this habit is made in the Lamentations 
 of Jeremiah (iii. 10), " He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, 
 and as a lion in secret places." 
 
 Harmless to man as it generally is. there are occasions on 
 which it becomes a terrible and relentless foe, not seeking to 
 avoid his presence, but even searching for him, and attacking 
 him as soon as seen. In the proper season of the year, hunters, 
 or those who are travelling through those parts of the country 
 infested by the Bear, will sometimes find the cubs, generally 
 two in number, their mother having left them in the den while 
 she has gone to search for food. Although they would not 
 venture to take the initiative in an attack upon either of the 
 parents, they are glad of an opportunity which enables them to 
 destroy one or two Bears without danger to themselves. The 
 young Bears are easily killed or carried off, because at a very 
 early age they are as confident as they are weak, and do not try 
 to escape when they see the hunters approaching. 
 
 The only danger lies in the possibility that their deed may 
 be discovered by the mother before they can escape from the 
 locality, and, if she should happen to return while the robbers
 
 THE BEAR. 79 
 
 are still in the neighbourhood, a severe conflict is sure to follow. 
 At any time an angry Bear is a terrible antagonist, especially it 
 it be wounded with sufficient severity to cause pain, and not 
 severely enough to cripple its movements. But, when to this 
 easily-roused ferocity is added the fury of maternal feelings, it 
 may be imagined that the hunters have good reason to fear its 
 attack. 
 
 To all animals that rear their young is given a sublime arid 
 almost supernatural courage in defending their offspring, and 
 from the lioness, that charges a host of armed men when her 
 cubs are in danger, to the hen, which defies the soaring kite or 
 prowling fox, or to the spider, that will give up her life rather 
 than abandon her yet unhatched brood, the same self-sacrificing 
 spirit actuates them all Most terrible therefore is the wrath 
 of a creature which possesses, as is the case of the Bear, the 
 strongest maternal affections, added to great size, tremendous 
 weapons, and gigantic strength. That the sight of a Bear 
 bereaved of her young was well known to both writers and 
 contemporary readers of the Old Testament, is evident from 
 the fact that it is mentioned by several writers, and always 
 as a familiar illustration of furious anger. See for example 
 2 Sam. xvii. 8, when Hushai is dissuading Absalom from fol- 
 lowing the cautious counsel of Ahithophel, " For thou knowest 
 thy father and his men, that they be mighty men of war, and 
 they be chafed in their minds as a bear robbed of her whelps 
 in the field." Solomon also, in the Proverbs (xvii. 12), uses 
 the same image, " Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, 
 rather than a fool in his folly." 
 
 When the Bear fights, it delivers rapid strokes with its armed 
 paw, tearing and rending away everything' that it strikes. A 
 blow from a bear's paw has been several times known to strip 
 the entire skin, together with the hair, from a man's head, and, 
 when fighting with dogs, to tear its enemies open as if each 
 claw were a chisel. This mode of fighting is clearly alluded to 
 by the prophet Hosea, who seems, from the graphic force of his 
 sentences, to have been an actual spectator of some such combat, 
 " I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and 
 will rend the caul of their heart " (Hos. xiii. 8). 
 
 That the Bear was a well-known animal both in the earlier 
 and later times of the Scripture is also evident from the fact
 
 80 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 that it was twice used as a symbol exhibited to a seer in a 
 vision. The first of these passages occurs in the book of 
 Daniel (vii. 5), when the prophet is describing the wonderful 
 vision of the four beasts : " And behold another beast, a second, 
 like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had 
 three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it, and they 
 said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." The second 
 allusion occurs in the Revelation, the seven-headed and ten- 
 crowned beast having a form like that of a leopard, but feet 
 like those of a Bear. 
 
 THE HEDGEHOG, OR BITTERN. 
 
 Various readings of the word Kippdd The Jewish Bible and its object The 
 Syrian Hedgehog and its appearance Its fondness for dry spots The prophe- 
 cies of Isaiah and Zephaniah, and their bearing on the subject The Porcupine 
 supposed to be the KippSd The Hedgehog and Porcupine called by the same 
 name in Greek and Arabic Habits of the Porcupine Its quills, and the 
 manner of their shedding. 
 
 IN our Authorized Bible, there are one or two passages where 
 the Hebrew word Kipp6d is translated as BITTERN. For example, 
 there is Isaiah xiv. 22, 23, " I will cut off from Babylon the 
 name, and remnant, and son and nephew, saith the Lord. I 
 will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of 
 water, and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith 
 the Lord of hosts." 
 
 Then there is another passage of the same prophet 
 (xxxiv. 11), "But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess 
 it (i.e. Idumea), the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it." 
 The last mention of this creature occurs in Zephaniah ii. 14, 
 "And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her (i.e. Nineveh), 
 all the beasts of the nations : both the bittern and the cormorant 
 shall lodge in the upper lintels of it ; their voice shall sing in
 
 THE HEDGEHOG, OR BITTEEN. 
 
 81 
 
 the windows ; desolation shall be in the thresholds ; for he shall 
 uncover the cedar-work." 
 
 Now, in the " Jewish School and Family Bible," a new literal 
 translation by Dr. A. Benisch, under the superintendence of 
 the Chief Rabbi, the word Kippod is translated, not as Bittern, 
 but Hedgehog. As I shall have to refer to this translation 
 repeatedly in the course of the present work, I will give a few 
 remarks mado by the translator in the preface. 
 
 SYRIAN 
 
 " Pelican and hedyehog shall possess it ISA. xxxiv. 11 (Jewish Biblr). 
 
 After premising that both Christian and Jew agree in con- 
 sidering the Old Testament as emanating from God, and 
 reverencing it as such, he proceeds to say that the former, as 
 holding himself absolved from the ceremonial law of the 
 Mosaic dispensation, has not the interest in the exact significa- 
 tion of every letter of the law which necessarily attaches itself 
 to the Jew, who considers himself bound by that law, although 
 some ceremonies, " by their special reference to the Temple in 
 Jerusalem and the actual existence of Israel in the Holy Land, 
 are at present not practicable."
 
 82 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 He then observes that the translators of the authorized 
 Anglican version, whose many excellences he fully admits, 
 could not he considered as free agents, as they were bound by 
 the positive injunctions of their monarch, as well as by the less 
 obvious, but more powerful influence of Christian authorities, 
 to alter the original translation as little as possible, and to keep 
 the ecclesiastical words. Retaining, therefore, the renderings of 
 the Anglican translation whenever it can be done without in- 
 fringing upon absolute accuracy, the translator has marked with 
 great care various passages where he has felt himself obliged to 
 give a different rendering to the Hebrew. Whenever words, 
 especially such as are evidently the names of animals, cannot 
 be rendered with any amount of probability, they have not been 
 translated at all, and to those about which there are good 
 grounds of doubt a distinctive mark is affixed. 
 
 Now to the word Hedgehog, by which the Hebrew Kippod 
 is rendered, no such marking is attached in either of the three 
 quoted passages, and it is evident therefore that the rendering is 
 satisfactory to the highest authorities on the Hebrew language. 
 And we have the greater assurance of this accuracy, because, in 
 the mere translation of the name of an animal, no doctrinal 
 point is involved, and so there can be no temptation to the 
 translator to be carried away by preconceived ideas, and to give 
 to the word that rendering which may tend to establish his 
 peculiar doctrinal ideas. 
 
 The Septuagint also translates Kippod as c^lvo? (echinus) 
 i.e. the Hedgehog, and this rendering is advocated by the 
 eminent scholar Gesenius, who considers it to be formed from 
 the Hebrew word ~kaped, i.e. contracted ; reference being of 
 course made to the Hedgehog's habit of rolling itself up when 
 alarmed, and presenting only an array of bristles to the enemy. 
 This derivation of the word is certainly more convincing than a 
 suggestion which has been made, that the Hebrew Kippod may 
 signify the Hedgehog, because it resembles the Arabic name of 
 the same animal, viz. Kunfod. 
 
 As therefore the word Kippod is translated as Hedgehog in 
 the Septuagint and Jewish Bible, and as Bittern in the authorized 
 version, we very naturally ask ourselves whether either or both 
 of these animals inhabit Palestine and the neighbouring countries. 
 We find that both are plentiful even at the present day, and
 
 THE HEDGEHOG, OR BITTERN. 83 
 
 that more than one species of Hedgehog and Bittern are known 
 in the Holy Land. About the Bittern we shall treat in good 
 time, and will now take up the rendering of Hedgehog. 
 
 There are at least two species of Hedgehog known in Pales- 
 tine, that of the north being identical with our own well-known 
 animal (Erinaceus JEJuropceits), and the other being a distinct 
 species (Erinaceus Syriacus). The latter animal is the species 
 which has been chosen for illustration. It is smaller than its 
 northern relative, lighter in colour, and, as may be seen from the 
 illustration, is rather different in general aspect. 
 
 Its habits are identical with those of the European Hedgehog. 
 Like that animal it is carnivorous, feeding on worms, snails, 
 frogs, lizards, snakes, and similar creatures, and occasionally 
 devouring the eggs and young of birds that make their nest on 
 the ground. 
 
 Small as is the Hedgehog, it can devour 1 all such animals with 
 perfect ease, its jaws and teeth being much stronger than might 
 be anticipated from the size of their owner. 
 
 One or two objections that have been made to the translation 
 of the Kippod as Hedgehog must be mentioned, so that the 
 reader may see what is said on both sides in dubious cases. 
 One objection is, that the Kippod is (in Isaiah xiv. 23) men- 
 tioned in connexion with pools of water, and that, as the 
 Hedgehog prefers dry places to wet, whereas the Bittern is 
 essentially a marsh-dweller, the latter rendering of the word is 
 preferable to the former. Again, as the Kippod is said by 
 Zephaniah to "lodge in the upper lintels," and its "voice to 
 sing in the windows," it must be a bird, and not a quadruped. 
 We will examine these passages separately, and see how they 
 bear upon the subject. As to Zephaniah ii. 13, the Jewish Bible 
 treats the passage as follows : " And he will stretch out his hand 
 against the north, and destroy Assyria ; and will make Nineveh 
 a desolation, and arid like the desert. And droves shall crouch 
 in the midst of her, all the animals of nations : both pelican and 
 hedgehog (Kippod) shall lodge nightly in the knobs of it, a voice 
 shall sing in the windows ; drought shall be in the thresholds, for 
 he shall uncover the cedar-work." 
 
 Now the reader will see that, so far from the notion of 
 marsh-land being connected with the Kippod, the whole imagery 
 of the prophecy turns upon the opposite characteristics of deso- 
 
 G 2
 
 84 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 lation, aridity, and drought. The same imagery is used in Isaiah 
 xxxiv. 7 12, which the Jewish Bible reads as follows, "For it 
 is the day of the vengeance of the Eternal, and the year of re- 
 compenses for the quarrel of Zion. And the brooks thereof 
 shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, 
 and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not 
 go out night nor day ; the smoke of it shall go up for ever ; from 
 generation to generation it shall lie waste ; none shall pass 
 through it for ever and ever. Pelican and hedgehog (Kippod) 
 shall possess it ; owls also and ravens shall dwell in it ; and he 
 shall stretch over it the line of desolation, and the stones of 
 emptiness." And to the end of the chapter the same idea of 
 drought, desolation, and solitude is earned out. 
 
 Thus, even putting the question in the simplest manner, we 
 have two long passages which directly connect the Kippod with 
 drought, aridity, and desolation, in opposition to one in which 
 the Kippod and " pools of water " are mentioned in proximity to 
 each other. Now the fact is, that the sites of Nineveh and 
 Babylon fulfil both prophecies, being both dry and marshy 
 dry away from the river, and marshy among the reed-swamps 
 that now exist on its banks. 
 
 So much for the question of locality. 
 
 As to the second objection, namely, that the Kippod was to 
 lodge in the upper lintels, and therefore must be a bird, and not 
 a quadruped, it is sufficient to say that the allusion is evidently 
 made to ruins that are thrown down, and not to buildings that 
 are standing upright. 
 
 As to the words, " their voices shall sing in the windows," the 
 reader may see, on reference to the English Bible, that the word 
 " their " is printed in italics, showing that it does not exist in the 
 original, and has been supplied by the translator. Taking the 
 passage as it really stands, " Both the cormorant and the bittern 
 (Kippod) shall lodge in the upper lintels of it ; a voice shall sing 
 in the windows," it is evident that the voice or sound which 
 sings in the windows does not necessarily refer to the cormorant 
 and Bittern at all. Dr. Harris remarks that "the phrase is 
 elliptical, and implies ' the voice of birds.' "
 
 THE PORCUPINE. 85 
 
 THE PORCUPINE. 
 
 Presumed identity of the Kippod with the Porcupine The same Grtek name 
 applied to the Porcupine and Hedgehog Habits of the Porcupine the 
 common Porcupine found plentifully in Palestine. 
 
 ALTHOUGH, like the hedgehog, the Porcupine is not mentioned 
 by name in the Scriptures, many commentators think that the 
 word Kippod signifies both the hedgehog and Porcupine. 
 
 That the two animals should be thought to be merely two 
 varieties of one species is not astonishing, when we remember 
 the character of the people among whom the Porcupine lives. 
 Not having the least idea of scientific geology, they look only to 
 the most conspicuous characteristics, and because the Porcupine 
 and hedgehog are both covered with an armature of quills, and 
 the quills are far more conspicuous than the teeth, the inhabi- 
 tants of Palestine naturally class the two animals together. In 
 reality, they belong to two very different orders, the hedgehog 
 being classed with the shrew-mice and moles, while the Porcu- 
 pine is a rodent animal, and is classed with the rats, rabbits, 
 beavers, marmots, and other rodents. 
 
 At the present day the inhabitants of the Holy Land believe 
 the Porcupine to be only a large species of hedgehog, and the 
 same name is applied to both animals. Such is the case even in 
 the Greek language, the word Hystrix (varpiy^ or t/<r#/n|;) being 
 employed indifferently in either sense. 
 
 Its food is different from that of the hedgehog, for whereas 
 the hedgehog lives entirely on animal food, as has been already 
 mentioned, the Porcupine is as exclusively a vegetable eater, 
 feeding chiefly on roots and bark. 
 
 It is quite as common in Palestine as the hedgehog, a fact 
 which increases the probability that the two animals may have 
 been mentioned under a common title. Being a nocturnal 
 animal, it retires during the day-time to some crevice in a rock or 
 burrow in the ground, and there lies sleeping until the sunset
 
 86 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 awakens it and calls it to action. And as the hedgehog is also 
 a nocturnal animal, the similarity of habit serves to strengthen 
 the mutual resemblance. 
 
 The Porcupine is peculiarly fitted for living in dry and un- 
 watered spots, as, like many other animals, of which our 
 common rabbit is a familiar example, it can exist without 
 water, obtaining the needful moisture from the succulent roots 
 on which it feeds. 
 
 The sharply pointed quills with which its body is covered are 
 solid, and strengthened in a most beautiful manner by internal 
 ribs, that run longitudinally along its length, exactly like those 
 of the hollow iron masts, which are now coming so much into 
 use. As they are, in fact, greatly developed hairs, they are con- 
 tinually shed and replaced, and when they are about to fall are 
 so loosely attached that they fall off if pulled slightly, or even if 
 the animal shakes itself. Consequently the shed quills that lie 
 about the localities inhabited by the Porcupine indicate its 
 whereabouts, and so plentiful are these quills in some places, 
 that quite a bundle can be collected in a short time. 
 
 There are many species of Porcupines which inhabit different 
 parts of the world, but that which has been mentioned is the 
 common Porcupine of Europe, Asia, and Africa (Hystrix 
 cristata). 
 
 THE MOLE. 
 
 The two Hebrew words which are translated as Mole Obscurity of the former 
 name A parallel case in our own language The second name -The Moles 
 and the Bats, why associated together The real Mole of Scripture, its different 
 names, and its place in zoology Description of the Mole-rat and its general 
 habits- Curious superstition Discovery of the species by Mr. Tristram- 
 Scripture and science How the Mole-rat finds its food Distinction between 
 the Mole and the present animal. 
 
 THERE are two words which are translated as Mole in our 
 authorized version of the Bible. One of them is so obscure that 
 there seems no possibility of deciding the creature that is repre- 
 sented by it. We cannot even tell to what class of the anima]
 
 THE MOLE. 
 
 87 
 
 kingdom it refers, because in more than one place it is mentioned 
 as one of the unclean birds that might not be eaten (translated 
 as swan in our version), whereas, in another place, it is enume- 
 rated among the unclean creeping things. 
 
 We may conjecture that the same word might be used to 
 designate two distinct animals, though we have no clue to their 
 identification. It is rather a strange coincidence, in corroboration 
 of this theory, that our word Mole signifies three distinct ob- 
 jects firstly, an animal ; secondly, a cutaneous growth ; and 
 thirdly, a bank of earth. Now, supposing English to be a dead 
 
 THE MOLE-RAT. 
 
 ' These alto skull be unclean, unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the 'irth . . 1h* 
 lizard, the snail, and the mole." LEV. xi. 29, 30. 
 
 language, like the Hebrew, it may well be imagined that a trans- 
 lator of an English book would feel extremely perplexed when 
 he saw the word Mole used in such widely different senses. 
 
 The best Hebraists can do no more than offer a conjecture 
 founded on the structure of the word Tinshcmeih, which is 
 thought by some to be the chameleon. Some think that it 
 is the Mole, some the ibis, some the salamander, while others
 
 88 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 consider it to be the centipede ; and in neither case have any 
 decisive arguments been adduced. 
 
 We will therefore leave the former of these two names, and 
 proceed to the second, Chephor-peroth. 
 
 This word occurs in that passage of Isaiah which has already 
 been quoted when treating of the bat. " In that day a man shall 
 cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made 
 each one to himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats ; to 
 go into the clefts of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged 
 rocks, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty, when 
 he ariseth to shake terribly the earth." 
 
 It is highly probable that the animal in question is the Mole 
 of Palestine, which is not the same as our European species, but 
 is much larger in size, and belongs to a different order of mam- 
 malia. The true Mole is one of the insectivorous and carnivorous 
 animals, and is allied to the shrews and the hedgehogs ; whereas 
 the Mole of Palestine (Spalax typhlus) is one of the rodents, 
 and allied to the rabbits, mice, marmots, and jerboas. A better 
 term for it is the Mole-rat, by which name it is familiar to 
 zoologists. It is also known by the names of Slepez and 
 Nenni. 
 
 In length it is about eight inches, and its colour is a pale slate. 
 As is the case with the true Moles, the eyes are of very minute 
 dimensions, and are not visible through the thick soft fur with 
 which the whole head and body are covered. Neither are there 
 any visible external ears, although the ear is really very large, 
 and extremely sensitive to sound. This apparent privation of 
 both ears and eyes gives to the animal a most singular and 
 featureless appearance, its head being hardly recognisable as such 
 but for the mouth, and the enormous projecting teeth, which not 
 only look formidable, but really are so. There is a curious 
 superstition in the Ukraine, that if a man will dare to grasp a 
 Mole-rat in his bare hand, allow it to bite him, and then squeeze 
 it to death, the hand that did the deed will ever afterwards 
 possess the virtue of healing goitre or scrofula. 
 
 This animal is spread over a very large tract of country, and 
 is very common in Palestine. Mr. Tristram gives an interesting 
 account of its discovery. " We had long tried in vain to capture 
 the Mole of Palestine. Its mines and its mounds we had seen 
 everywhere, and reproached ourselves with having omitted the
 
 THE MOLE. 89 
 
 mole-trap among the items of our outtit. From the size of the 
 mounds and the shallowness of the subterranean passages, we 
 felt satisfied it could not be the European species, and our hopes 
 of solving the question were raised when \ve found that one of 
 them had taken up its quarters close to our camp. After several 
 vain attempts to trap it, an Arab one night brought a live Mole 
 in a jar to the tent. It was no Mole properly so called, but the 
 Mole-rat, which takes its place throughout Western Asia, The 
 man, having observed our anxiety to possess a specimen, refused 
 to part with it for less than a hundred piastres, and scornfully 
 rejected the t\venty piastres I offered. Ultimately, Dr. Chaplin 
 purchased it for five piastres after our departure, and I kept it 
 alive for some time in a box, feeding it on sliced onions." 
 
 The same gentleman afterwards caught many of the Mole-rats, 
 and kept them in earthen vessels, as they soon gnawed their 
 way through wood. They fed chiefly on bulbs, but also ate 
 sopped bread. Like many other animals, they reposed during 
 the day, and were active throughout the night. 
 
 The author then proceeds to remark on the peculiarly appro- 
 priate character of the prophecy that the idols should be cast 
 to the Moles and the bats. Had the European Mole been the 
 animal to which reference was made, there would have been 
 comparatively little significance in the connexion of the two 
 names, because, although both animals are lovers of darkness, 
 they do not inhabit similar localities. But the Mole-rat is fond 
 of frequenting deserted ruins and burial-places, so that the 
 Moles and the bats are roally companions, and as such are asso- 
 ciated together in the sacred narrative. Here, as in many other 
 instances, we find that closer study of the Scriptures united to 
 more extended knowledge are by no means the enemies of 
 religion, as some well-meaning, but narrow-minded persons 
 think. On the contrary, the Scriptures were never so well 
 understood, and their truth and force so well recognised, as at 
 the present day ; and science has proved to be, not the destroyer 
 of the Bible, but its interpreter. We shall soon cease to hear of 
 " Science versus the Bible," and shall substitute " Science and 
 the Bible versus Ignorance and Prejudice." 
 
 The Mole-rat needs not to dig such deep tunnels as the true 
 Moles, because its food does not lie so deep. The Moles live 
 chiefly upon earthworms, and are obliged to procure them in the
 
 90 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 varying depths to which they burrow. But the Mole-rat lives 
 mostly upon roots, preferring those of a bulbous nature. Now 
 bulbous roots are, as a rule, situated near the surface of the 
 ground, and, therefore, any animal which feeds upon them 
 must be careful not to burrow too deeply, lest it should pass 
 beneath them. The shallowness of the burrows is thus accounted 
 for. Gardens are often damaged by this animal, the root-crops, 
 such as carrots and onions, affording plenty of food without 
 needing much exertion. 
 
 The Mole-rat does not keep itself quite so jealously secluded as 
 does our common Mole, but occasionally will come out of the 
 burrow and lie on the ground, enjoying the warm sunshine. Still 
 it is not easily to be approached ; for though its eyes are almost 
 useless, the ears are so sharp, and the animal is so wary, that at 
 the sound of a footstep it instantly seeks the protection of its 
 burrow, where it may bid defiance to its foes. 
 
 How it obtains its food is a mystery. There seems to be 
 absolutely no method of guiding itself to the precise spot where 
 a bulb may be growing. It is not difficult to conjecture the 
 method by which the Mole discovers its prey. Its sensitive ears 
 may direct it to the spot where a worm is driving its way 
 through the earth, and should it come upon its prey, the very 
 touch of the worm, writhing in terror at the approach of its 
 enemy, would be sufficient to act as a guide. I have kept 
 several Moles, and always noticed that, though they would pass 
 close to a worm without seeming to detect its presence, either 
 by sight or scent, at the slightest touch they would spring 
 round, dart on the worm, and in a moment seize it between their 
 jaws. But with the Mole-rat the case is different. The root can 
 utter no sound, and can make no movement, nor is it likely that 
 the odour of the bulb should penetrate through the earth to a 
 very great distance.
 
 THE MOUSE. 91 
 
 THE MOUSE. 
 
 Conjectures as to the right translation of the Hebrew word Akbar Signification 
 of the word The Mice which marred the land Miracles, and their economy 
 of power The Field-mouse Its destructive habits and prolific nature The 
 insidious nature of its attacks, and its power of escaping observation The 
 Hamster, and its habits Its custom of storing up provisions for the winter 
 Its fertility and unsociable nature The Jerboa, its activity and destructive- 
 ness Jerboas and Hamsters eaten by Arabs and Syrians Various species of 
 Dormice and Sand-rats. 
 
 THAT the Mouse mentioned in the Old Testament was some 
 species of rodent animal is tolerably clear, though it is impos- 
 sible to state any particular species as being signified by the 
 Hebrew word Aklar. The probable derivation of this name is 
 from two words which signify "destruction of corn," and it is 
 therefore evident that allusion is made to some animal which 
 devours the produce of the fields, and which exists in sufficient 
 numbers to make its voracity formidable. 
 
 Some commentators on the Old Testament translate the 
 word Akbar as jerboa. Now, although the jerboa is common in 
 Syria, it is not nearly so plentiful as other rodent animals, and 
 would scarcely be selected as the means by which a terrible 
 disaster is made to befall a whole country. The student of 
 Scripture is well aware that, in those exceptional occurrences 
 which are called miracles, a needless development of the 
 wonder-working power is never employed. We are not to sup- 
 pose, for example, that the clouds of locusts that devoured the 
 harvests of the Egyptians were created for this express purpose, 
 but that their already existing hosts were concentrated upon a 
 limited area, instead of being spread over a ]arge surface. Nor 
 need we fancy that the frogs which rendered their habitations 
 unclean, and contaminated their food, were brought into exist- 
 ence simply to inflict a severe punishment on the fastidious and 
 superstitious Egyptians.
 
 92 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Of course, had such an exercise of creative power been needed, 
 it would have been used, but we can all see that a needless 
 miracle is never worked. He who would not suffer even a 
 crumb of the miraculously multiplied bread to be wasted, is not 
 likely to waste that power by which the miracle was wrought. 
 
 If we refer to the early history of the Israelitish nation, as 
 told in 1 Sam. iv. vi., we shall find that the Israelites made an 
 unwarrantable use of the ark, by taking it into battle, and that 
 it was captured and carried off into the country of the Philistines. 
 Then various signs were sent to warn the captors to send the 
 ark back to its rightful possessors. Dagon, the great fish-god, 
 was prostrated before it, painful diseases attacked them, so that 
 many died, and scarcely any seem to have escaped, while their 
 harvests were ravaged by numbers of "mice that marred the 
 land." 
 
 The question is now simple enough. If the ordinary transla- 
 tion is accepted, and the word Akbar rendered as Mouse, would 
 the necessaiy conditions be fulfilled, i.e. would the creature be 
 destructive, and would it exist in very great numbers ? Now 
 we shall find that both these conditions are fulfilled by the 
 common Field-mouse (Arvicola awaits). 
 
 This little creature is, in proportion to its size, one of the most 
 destructive animals in the world. Let its numbers be increased 
 from any cause whatever, and it will most effectually " mar 
 the land." It will devour every cereal that is sown, and kill 
 almost any sapling that is planted. It does not even wait for 
 the corn to spring up, but will burrow beneath the surface, and 
 dig out the seed before it has had time to sprout. In the early 
 part of the year, it will eat the green blade as soon as it springs 
 out of the ground, and is an adept at climbing the stalks of corn, 
 and plundering the ripe ears in the autumn. 
 
 When stacked or laid up in barns, the harvest is by no means 
 safe, for the Mice will penetrate into any ordinary barn, and find 
 their way into any carelessly-built stack, from which they can 
 scarcely be ejected. The rat itself is not so dire a foe to the 
 farmer, as the less obtrusive, but equally mischievous Field- 
 mouse. The ferret will drive the rats out of their holes, and if 
 they have taken possession of a wheat-stack they can be ejected 
 by depriving them of access to water. But the burrows of the 
 Field-mouse are so small that a ferret cannot make its way
 
 THE MOUSE. 
 
 93 
 
 through them, and the nightly dew that falls on the stack affordf, 
 an ample supply of water. 
 
 When the Field-mouse is deprived of the food which it loves 
 best, it finds a subsistence among the trees. Whenever mice can 
 discover a newly-planted sapling, they hold great revel upon it, 
 eating away the tender young bark as high as they can reach, 
 and consequently destroying the tree as effectually as if it were 
 
 THE FIELD-MOUSE. 
 
 " Wherefore ye shall make images oj your mice that mar the laitd."l SAM. vi. .">. 
 
 cut down. Even when the young trees fail them, and no tender 
 bark is to be had, the Field-mice can still exert their destructive 
 powers. They will then betake themselves to the earth, burrow 
 beneath its surface, and devour the young rootlets of the forest 
 trees. .All botanists know that a healthy tree is continually 
 pushing forward fresh roots below the ground, in order to gain 
 sufficient nourishment to supply the increasing growth above. 
 If, therefore, these young roots are destroyed, the least harm
 
 94 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 that can happen to the tree is that its further growth is arrested ; 
 while, in many cases, the tree, which cannot repair the injuries 
 it has received, droops gradually, and finally dies. Even in this 
 country, the Field-mouse has proved itself a terrible enemy to 
 the agriculturist, and has devastated considerable tracts of land. 
 
 So much for the destructive powers of the Field-mouse, and 
 the next point to be considered is its abundance. 
 
 Nearly all the rats and mice are singularly prolific animals, 
 producing a considerable number at a brood, and having several 
 broods in a season. The Field-mouse is by no means an excep- 
 tion to the general rule, but produces as many young in a season 
 as any of the Mice. 
 
 Not only is it formidable from its numbers, but from the in- 
 sidious nature of its attacks. Any one can see a rabbit, a hare, 
 or even a rat ; but to see a Field-mouse is not easy, even when the 
 little creatures are present in thousands. A Field-mouse never 
 shows itself except from necessity, its instinct teaching it to 
 escape the observation of its many furred and feathered enemies. 
 Short-legged and soft-furred, it threads its noiseless way among 
 the herbage with such gentle suppleness that scarcely a grass- 
 blade is stirred, while, if it should be forced to pass over a spot 
 of bare ground, the red-brown hue of its fur prevents it from 
 being detected by an inexperienced eye. Generally the Field- 
 mouse is safe from human foes, and. has only to dread the 
 piercing eye and swift wings of the hawk, or the silent flight 
 and sharp talons of the owl. 
 
 Although there can be no doubt that the Field-mouse is one 
 of the animals to which the name of Akbar is given, it is pro- 
 bable that many species were grouped under this one name, 
 Small rodents of various kinds are very plentiful in Palestine, 
 and there are several species closely allied to the Field-mouse 
 itself. 
 
 Among them is the Hamster (Cricetus frument'.irius), so 
 widely known for the ravages which it makes among the crops. 
 This terribly destructive animal not only steals the crops for 
 immediate subsistence, but lays up a large stock of provisions 
 for the winter, seeming to be actuated by a sort of miserly 
 passion for collecting and storing away. There seems to be no 
 bounds to the quantity of food which a Hamster will carry 
 into its subterranean store-house, from seventy to one hundred
 
 THE MOUSE. ( J5 
 
 pounds' weight being sometimes taken out of the burrow of a 
 single animal. The fact of the existence of these large stores 
 shows that the animal must need them, and accordingly we find 
 that the Hamster is only a partial hibernator, as it is awake 
 during a considerable portion of the winter months, and is con- 
 sequently obliged to live on the stores which it has collected. 
 
 It is an exceedingly prolific animal, each pair producing on an 
 average twenty-five young in the course of a year. The families 
 are unsociable, and, as soon as they are strong enough to feed 
 themselves, the young Hamsters leave their home, and make 
 separate burrows for themselves. Thus we see that the Hamster, 
 as well as the Field-mouse, fulfils the conditions which are 
 needed in order to class it under the general title of Akbar. 
 
 I have already stated that some translators of the Bible use 
 the word Jerboa as a rendering of the Hebrew Akbar. As the 
 Jerboa certainly is found in Palestine, there is some foundation 
 for this idea, and we may safely conjecture that it also is one of 
 the smaller rodents which are grouped together under the appel- 
 lation of Mouse. 
 
 The Common Jerboa (Dipus JEgyptiacus) is plentiful in Pales- 
 tine, and several other species inhabit the same country, known 
 at once by their long and slender legs, which give them so 
 curious a resemblance to the kangaroos of Australia. The Jerboas 
 pass over the ground with astonishing rapidity. Instead of 
 creeping stealthily among the grass-blades, like the short-limbed 
 field-mouse, the Jerboa flies along with a succession of wonderful 
 leaps, darting here and there with such rapidity that the eye can 
 scarcely follow its wayward movements. When quiet and undis- 
 turbed, it hops along gently enough, but as soon as it takes 
 alarm, it darts off in its peculiar manner, which is to the ordi- 
 nary walk of quadrupeds what the devious course of a frightened 
 snipe is to the steady flight of birds in general. 
 
 It prefers hot and dry situations, its feet being defended by a 
 thick coating of stiff hairs, which serve the double purpose of 
 protecting it from the heat, and giving it a firm hold on the 
 ground. It is rather a destructive animal, its sharp and powerful 
 teeth enabling it to bite its way through obstacles which would 
 effectually stop an ordinary Mouse. That the Jerboa may be 
 one of the Akbarim is rendered likely by the prohibition in 
 Lev. xi. 29, forbidding the Mouse to be eaten. It would be
 
 96 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 scarcely probable that such a command need have been issued 
 against .eating the common Mouse, whereas the Jerboa, a much 
 larger and palatable animal, is always eaten by the Arabs. The 
 Hamster is at the present day eaten in Northern Syria. 
 
 Beside these creatures there are the Dormice, several species 
 of which animal inhabit Palestine at the present day. There are 
 also the Sand-rats, one species of which is larger than our ordi- 
 nary rats. The Sand-rats live more in the deserts than the 
 cultivated! lands, making their burrows at the foot of hills, and 
 among the roots of bushes. 
 
 THE HARE. 
 
 The prohibitions of the Mosaic law The chewing of the cud, and division of the 
 hoof Identity of the Hare of Scripture Rumination described The Hare 
 a rodent and not a ruminant Co'.vper and his Hares Structure of the rodent 
 tooth The Mosaic law accommodated to its recipients The Hares of Palestine 
 and their habits. 
 
 AMONG the many provisions of the Mosaic law are several which 
 refer to the diet of the Israelites, and which prohibit certain 
 kinds of food. Special stress is laid upon the flesh of animals, 
 and the list of those which may be lawfully eaten is a singularly 
 restricted one, all being excluded except those which " divide the 
 hoof and chew the cud." And, lest there should be any mistake 
 about the matter, examples are given both of those animals 
 which may and those which may not be eaten. 
 
 The ox, sheep, goat, and antelopes generally are permitted as 
 lawful food, because they fulfil both conditions ; whereas there is 
 a special prohibition of the swine, because it divides the hoof 
 but does not chew the cud, and of the camel, coney, and hare 
 because they chew the cud, but do not divide the hoof. Our 
 business at present is with the last of these animals. 
 
 Considerable discussion has been raised concerning this 
 animal, because, as is well known to naturalists, the Hare is not
 
 THE SYRIAN HARE. 
 
 97 
 
 one of the ruminant animals, but belongs to the same order as 
 the rat, rabbit, beaver, and other rodents. Neither its teeth nor 
 its stomach are constructed for the purpose of enabling it to 
 ruminate, i.e. to return into the mouth the partially-digested 
 food, and then to masticate it afresh ; and therefore it has been 
 thought that either :here is some mistake in the sacred narrative, 
 or that the Hebrew word has been mistranslated. 
 
 "Nevertheless, these ye shall not eat of thein, that chew the cud, or of thc:n that divide the cloceii, 
 hoof; as the camel, and the hart, and the coney." DEUT. xiv. 7. 
 
 Taking the latter point first, as being the simplest of the two, 
 we find that the Hebrew word which is rendered as Hare is 
 Arnebeth, and that it is rendered in the Septuagint as Dasypus, 
 or the Hare, a rendering which the Jewish Bible adopts. 
 That the Arnebeth is really the Hare may also be conjectured 
 from the fact that the Arabic name for that animal is Arneb. 
 In consequence of the rather wide sense to which the Greek 
 word Dasypus (i.e. hairy-foot) is used, some commentators have 
 suggested that the rabbit may have been included in the samo 
 title. This, however, is not at all likely, inasmuch as the Hare 
 
 II
 
 98 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 is very plentiful in Palestine, and the rabbit is believed not to 
 be indigenous to that part of the world. And, even if the two 
 animals had been classed under the same title, the physiological 
 difficulty would not be removed. 
 
 Before proceeding further, it will be as well to give a brief 
 description of the curious act called rumination, or "chewing 
 the cud." 
 
 There are certain animals, such as the oxen, antelopes, deer, 
 sheep, goats, camels, &c. which have teeth unfitted for the rapid 
 mastication of food, and which therefore are supplied with a 
 remarkable apparatus by which the food can be returned into 
 the mouth when the animal has leisure, and be re-masticated 
 before it passes into the true digestive organs. 
 
 For this purpose they are furnished with four stomachs, which 
 are arranged in the following order. First comes the paunch or 
 " rumen " (whence the word " ruminating "), into which passes the 
 food in a very rough state, just as it is torn, rather than bitten, 
 from the herbage, and which is analogous to the crop in birds. It 
 thence passes into the second stomach, or "honeycomb," the 
 walls of which are covered with small angular cells. Into those 
 cells the food is received from the first stomach, and compressed 
 into little balls, which can be voluntarily returned into the 
 mouth for mastication. 
 
 After the second mastication has been completed, the food 
 passes at once into the third stomach, and thence into the fourth, 
 which is the true digesting cavity. By a peculiar structure of 
 these organs, the animal is able to convey its food either into 
 the first or third stomach, at will, i.e. into the first when the grass 
 is eaten, and into the third after rumination. Thus it will be seen 
 that an animal which chews the cud must have teeth of a certain 
 character, and be possessed of the fourfold stomach which has 
 just been described. 
 
 Two points are conceded which seem to be utterly irrecon- 
 cilable with each other. The first is that the Mosaic law 
 distinctly states that the Hare chews the cud ; the second is, 
 that in point of fact the Hare is not, and cannot be, a rumi- 
 nating animal, possessing neither the teeth nor the digestive 
 organs which are indispensable for that process. Yet, totally 
 opposed as these statements appear to be, they are in fact, not so 
 irreconcilable as they seem.
 
 THE SYRIAN HARE. 99 
 
 Why the flesh of certain animals was prohibited, we do not at 
 the present time know. That the flesh of swine should be for- 
 bidden food is likely enough, considering the effects which the 
 habitual eating of swine's flesh is said to produce in hot countries. 
 But it does seem very strange that .the Israelites should have 
 been forbidden to eat the flesh of the camel, the coney (or hyrax), 
 and the Hare, and that these animals should have been specified 
 is a proof that the eating or refraining from their flesh was not 
 a mere sanitary regulation, but was a matter of importance. 
 The flesh of all these three animals is quite as good and 
 nutritious as that of the oxen, or goats, which are eaten in 
 Palestine, and that of the Hare is far superior to them. There- 
 fore, the people of Israel, who were always apt to take liberties 
 with the restrictive laws, and were crafty enough to evade them 
 on so many occasions, would have been likely to pronounce that 
 the flesh of the Hare was lawful meat, because the animal chewed 
 the cud, or appeared to do so, and they would discreetly have 
 omitted the passage which alluded to the division of the hoof. 
 
 To a non-scientific observer the Hare really does appear to 
 chew the cud. When it is reposing at its ease, it continually 
 moves its jaws about as if eating something, an action which 
 may readily be mistaken for true rumination. Even Cowper, 
 the poet, who kept some hares for several years, and had them 
 always before his eyes, was deceived by this mumbling move- 
 ment of the jaws. Speaking of his favourite hare, " Puss," he 
 proceeds as follows : " Finding him exceedingly tractable, I 
 made it my custom to carry him always after breakfast into the 
 garden, where he hid himself generally under the leaves of a 
 cucumber vine, sleeping, or chewing the cud, till evening." 
 
 The real object of this continual grinding or mumbling move- 
 ment is simple enough. The chisel-like incisor teeth of the 
 rodent animals need to be rubbed against each other, in order to 
 preserve their edge and shape, and if perchance such friction 
 should be wanting to a tooth, as, for example, by the breaking of 
 the opposite tooth, it becomes greatly elongated, and sometimes 
 grows to such a length as to prevent the animal from eating. 
 Instinctively, therefore, the Hare, as well as the rabbit and 
 other rodents, always likes to be nibbling at something, as any one 
 knows who has kept rabbits in wooden hutches, the object of 
 
 H2
 
 100 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 this nibbling not being to eat the wood, but to keep the teeth 
 in order. 
 
 But we may naturally ask ourselves, why the Mosaic law, an 
 emanation from heaven, should mention an animal as being a 
 ruminant, when its very structure shows that such an act was 
 utterly imposible ? The answer is clear enough. The law was 
 suited to the capacity of those for whom it was intended, and 
 was never meant to be a handbook of science, as well as a code 
 of religious duties and maxims. The Jews, like other Orientals, 
 were indifferent to that branch of knowledge which we designate 
 by the name of physical science, and it was necessary that the 
 language in which the law was conveyed to them should be 
 accommodated to their capabilities of receiving it. 
 
 It would have been worse than useless to have interrupted 
 the solemn revelation of Divine will with a lesson in compara- 
 tive anatomy; the object of the passage in question being, not to 
 teach the Jews the distinctive characteristics of a rodent and a 
 ruminant, but to guard against their mistaking the Hare for one 
 of the ruminants which were permitted as food. That they 
 would in all probability have fallen into that mistake is evident 
 from the fact that the Arabs are exceedingly fond of the flesh of 
 the Hare, and accept it, as well as the camel, as lawful food, 
 because it chews the cud, the division of the hoof not being 
 considered by them as an essential. 
 
 Hares are very plentiful in Palestine, and at least two species 
 are found in that country. One of them, which inhabits the 
 more northern and hilly portion of Palestine, closely resembles 
 our own species, but has not ears quite so long in proportion, 
 while the head is broader. The second species, which lives in 
 the south, and in the valley of the Jordan, is very small, is of a 
 light dun colour, and has very long ears. In their general 
 habits, these Hares resemble the Hare of England.
 
 CATTLE. 
 
 101 
 
 CATTLE. 
 
 The cattle of Palestine, and their decadence at the present day Ox-flesh not used 
 for food in modern times Oxen of the stall, and oxen of the pasture The use 
 of the ox in agriculture The yoke and its structure The plough and the goad 
 The latter capable of being used as a weapon Treading out the corn The 
 cart and its wheels The ox used as a bea?t of burden Cattle turned loose to 
 graze The bulls of Bashan Curiosity of the ox-tribe A season of drought 
 Branding the cattle An Egyptian field scene Cattle -keeping an honourable 
 post The ox as used for sacrifice Ox-worship The bull Apis, and his history 
 Persistency of the bull-worship Jeroboam's sin Various names of cattle 
 The Indian buffalo. 
 
 UNDEH this head we shall treat of the domesticated oxen of 
 Scripture, whether mentioned as Bull, Cow, Ox, Calf, Heifer, &c. 
 
 Two distinct species of cattle are found in Palestine, namely, 
 the ordinary domesticated ox, and the Indian buffalo, which 
 lives in the low-lying and marshy valley of the Jordan. Of this 
 species we shall treat presently. 
 
 The domesticated cattle are very much like our own, but there 
 is not among them that diversity of breed for which this country 
 is famous; nor is there even any distinction of long and short 
 homed cattle. There are some places where the animals are 
 larger than in others, but this difference is occasioned simply by 
 the better quality and greater quantity of the food. 
 
 As is the case in most parts of the world where civilization 
 has made any progress, Domesticated Cattle were, and still are, 
 plentiful in Palestine. Even at the present time the cattle are 
 in common use, though it is evident, from many passages of 
 Holy Writ, that in the days of Judaea's prosperity cattle were far 
 more numerous than they are now, and were treated in a better 
 fashion. 
 
 To take their most sacred use first, a constant supply of cattle 
 was needed for the sacrifices, and, as it was necessary that every 
 animal which was brought to the altar should be absolutely 
 perfect, it is evident that great care v;as required in order
 
 102 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 that the breed should not deteriorate, a skill which has long 
 been rendered useless by the abandonment of the sacrifices. 
 
 Another reason for their better nurture in the times of old is 
 that in those days the ox was largely fed and fatted for the 
 table, just as is done with ourselves. At the present day, the 
 flesh of the cattle is practically unused as food, that of the sheep 
 or goat being always employed, even when a man gives a feast 
 to his friends. But, in the old times, stalled oxen, i. e. oxen kept 
 asunder from those which were used for agricultural purposes, 
 and expressly fatted for the table, were in constant use. See for 
 example the well-known passage in the Prov. xv. 17, "Better is 
 a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred 
 therewith." Again, the Prophet Jeremiah makes use of a 
 curious simile, " Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction 
 cometh ; it cometh out of the north. Also her hired men are in 
 the midst of her like fatted bullocks [or, bullocks of the stall], 
 for they also are turned back, and are fled away together." 
 (Jer. xlvi. 20.) And in 1 Kings iv. 22, 23, when describing the 
 glories of Solomon's household, the sacred writer draws a dis- 
 tinction between the oxen which were especially fattened for the 
 table of the king and the superior officers, and those which were 
 consumed by the lower orders of his household : "And Solomon's 
 provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and three- 
 score measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the 
 pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and 
 fallow-deer, and fatted fowl." Again, in the well-known parable 
 of the king's marriage, there is an allusion to fatted animals, and 
 a distinction is made between the oxen of the pasture and those 
 of the stall. " Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell 
 them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner, my 
 oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready." 
 
 Calves mostly, if not always, bull-calves were largely used 
 for food in Palestine, and in the households of the wealthy were 
 fatted for the table. See, for example, the familiar parable of 
 the prodigal son, in which the rejoicing father is mentioned as 
 preparing a great feast in honour of his son's return, and ordering 
 the fatted calf to be killed the calf in question being evidently 
 one of the animals that were kept in good condition against any 
 festive occasion. And, even in the earliest history of the Bible, 
 the custom of keeping a fatted calf evidently prevailed, as is
 
 CATTLE. 103 
 
 shown by the conduct of Abraham, who, when he was visited by 
 the three heavenly guests, " ran unto the herd, and fetched a 
 calf, tender and good," and had it killed and dressed at once, 
 after the still existing fashion of the East. 
 
 But, even in the times of Israel's greatest prosperity, the chief 
 use of the ox was as an agricultural labourer, thus reversing the 
 custom of this country, where the horse has taken the place of 
 the ox as a beast of draught, and where cattle are principally 
 fed for food. Piougliing was, and is, always performed by oxen, 
 and allusions to this office are scattered plentifully through the 
 Old and New Testaments. 
 
 "When understood in this sense, oxen are almost always 
 spoken of in connexion with the word " yoke," and as each yoke 
 comprised two oxen, it is evident that the word is used as we 
 employ the term " brace," or pair. The yoke, which is the chief 
 part of the harness, is a very simple affair. A tolerably stout 
 beam of wood is cut of a sufficient length to rest upon the necks 
 of the oxen standing side by side, and a couple of hollows are 
 scooped out to receive the crest of the neck. In order to hold 
 it in its place, two flexible sticks are bent under their necks, 
 and the ends fixed into the beam of the yoke. In the middle 
 of this yoke is fastened the pole of the plough or cart, and this 
 is all the harness that is used, not even traces being required. 
 
 It will be seen that so rude an implement as this would 
 be very likely to gall the necks of the animals, unless the 
 hollows were carefully smoothed, and the heavy beam adapted 
 to the necks of the animals. This galling nature of the yoke, so 
 familiar to the Israelites, is used repeatedly as a metaphor in 
 many passages of the Old and New Testaments. These passages 
 are too numerous to be quoted, but I will give one or two ef the 
 most conspicuous among them. The earliest mention of the 
 yoke in the Scriptures is a metaphor. 
 
 After Jacob had deceived his father, in procuring for himself 
 the blessing which was intended for his elder brother, Isaac 
 comforts Esau by the prophecy that, although he must serve his 
 brother, yet " it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the 
 dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck." 
 Again, in the next passage where the yoke is mentioned, namely, 
 Lev. xxvi. 13, the word is employed in the metaphorical sense : 
 " I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the
 
 104 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen, and I have 
 inken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright." 
 Then, in Deut xxviii. 48, the word yoke is not only used 
 metaphorically, but with an addition that forcibly expresses its 
 weight and galling character : " Therefore shalt thou serve thine 
 enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and 
 in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things, and He 
 shall put a yoke of iron upon -thy neck, until He have destroyed 
 thee." 
 
 The word yoke is also used as a metaphor for servitude, even 
 of a domestic character, as we may see in 1 Tim. vi. 1 : " Let as 
 many servants as are unde*r the yoke count their own masters 
 worthy of all honour." In the Acts of the Apostles, we find 
 St. Peter using the same metaphor: "Why tempt ye God, to 
 put a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our 
 fathers nor we were able to bear ? " And the Lord Himself uses 
 the same metaphor in the well-known passage, " Take my yoke 
 upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden light." 
 
 The plough was equally simple, and consisted essentially of a 
 bent branch, one end of which was armed with an iron point by 
 way of a share, while the other formed the pole or beam, and 
 was fastened to the middle of the yoke. It was guided by a 
 handle, which was usually a smaller branch that grew from the 
 principal one. A nearly similar instrument is used in Asia 
 Minor to the present day, and is a curious relic of the most 
 ancient times of history, for we find on the Egyptian monuments 
 figures of the various agricultural processes, in which the plough 
 is made after this simple manner. 
 
 Of course such an instrument is a very ineffective one, and can 
 but scratch, rather than plough the ground, the warmth of the 
 climate and fertility of the land rendering needless the deep 
 ploughing of our own country, where the object is to turn up 
 the earth to the greatest possible depth. One yoke of oxen was 
 generally sufficient to draw a plough, but occasionally a much 
 greater number were required. We read, for example, of Elisha, 
 who, when he received his call from Elijah, was ploughing with 
 twelve yoke of oxen, i. e. twenty-four. It has been suggested, 
 that the twelve yoke of oxen were not all attached to the same 
 plough, but that there were twelve ploughs, each with its single 
 yoke of oxen. This, however, was scarcely likely to be the case,
 
 'It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth."- LAM. iii. 27. 
 'He maketh them also to skip like a calf." PSALM xxix. G.
 
 CATTLE. 105 
 
 as it is definitely stated that I'lisha " was ploughing with twelve 
 yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth," and it is 
 much more probable that the land was heavy, and that, therefore, 
 the plough could not be properly worked without the additional 
 force. 
 
 The instrument with which the cattle were driven was not a 
 whip, but a goad. This goad was a long and stout stick, armed 
 with a spike at one end, and having a kind of spud at the other, 
 with which the earth could be scraped off the share when it 
 became clogged. Such an instrument might readily be used as 
 a weapon, and, in the hands of a powerful man, might be made 
 even more formidable than a spear. As a weapon, it often was 
 used, as we see from many passages of the Scriptures. For 
 example, it is said in Judges iii. 31, " that Shamgar the son of 
 Anath killed six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad." 
 
 Afterwards, in the beginning of Saul's reign, when the 
 Israelites fairly measured themselves against the Philistines, it 
 was found that only Saul and Jonathan were even tolerably 
 armed. .Fearful of the numbers and spirit of the Israelites, the 
 Philistines had disarmed them, and were so cautious that they 
 did not even allow them to possess forges wherewith to make or 
 sharpen the various agricultural instruments which they pos- 
 sessed, lest they should surreptitiously provide themselves with 
 weapons. The only smith's tool which they were allowed to 
 retain was a file with which each man might trim the edges of the 
 ploughshares, mattocks, axes, and sharpen the points of the goad. 
 The only weapons which they could muster were made of their 
 agricultural implements, and among the most formidable of 
 them was the goad. 
 
 How the goad came into use in Palestine may easily be seen. 
 The Egyptians, from among whom the people of Israel passed 
 into the Promised Land, did not use the goad in ploughing, but 
 the whip, which, from the representations on the Egyptian 
 monuments, was identical with the koorbash, or " cow-hide " 
 whip, which is now in use in the same country. But this 
 terrible whip, which is capable, when wielded by a skilful hand, 
 of cutting deep grooves through the tough hide of the ox, could 
 not be obtained by the Jews, because the hippopotamus, of whose 
 hide it was made, did not live in or near Palestine. They 
 therefore were forced to use some other instrument wherewith
 
 106 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 to urge on the oxen, and the goad was clearly the simplest and 
 most effective implement for this purpose. 
 
 After the land was ploughed and sown, and the harvest was 
 ripened, the labours of the oxen were again called into requi- 
 sition, first for threshing out the corn, and next for carrying or 
 drawing the grain to the storehouses. 
 
 O O 
 
 In the earlier days, the process of threshing was very simple. 
 A circular piece of ground was levelled, and beaten very hard 
 and flat, its diameter being from fifty to a hundred feet. On 
 this ground the corn was thrown, and a number of oxen were 
 driven here and there on it, so that the constant trampling of 
 their feet shook the ripe grain out of the ears. The corn was 
 gathered together in the middle of the floor, and as fast as it 
 was scattered by the feet of the oxen, it was thrown back 
 towards the centre. 
 
 Afterwards, an improvement was introduced in the form of a 
 rough sledge, called " moreg," to which the oxen were harnessed 
 by a yoke, and on which the driver stood as he guided his team 
 round the threshing-floor. This instrument is mentioned in 
 Isa. xli. 15 : "Behold, I will make thee anew and sharp threshing 
 instrument having teeth [or mouths] : thou shalt thresh the moun- 
 tains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff." 
 Mention is also made of the same implement in 2 Sam. xxiv. 22 ; 
 where it is related that Araunah the Jebusite offered to give 
 David the oxen for a burnt-sacrifice, and the moregs and other 
 implements as wood with which they could be burned. 
 
 The work of treading out the corn was a hard and trying one 
 for the oxen, and it was probably on this account that the kindly 
 edict was made, that the oxen who trod out the corn should not 
 be muzzled. As a rule, the cattle were not fed nearly as care- 
 fully as is done with us, and so the labours of the threshing- 
 floor would find a compensation in the temporary abundance of 
 which the animals might take their fill. 
 
 After the corn was threshed, or rather trodden out, the oxen 
 had to draw it home in carts. These were but slight improve- 
 ments on the threshing-sledge, and were simply trays or shallow 
 boxes on a pair of wheels. As the wheels were merely slices cut 
 from the trunk of a tree, and were not furnished with iron tires, 
 they were not remarkable for roundness, and indeed, after a 
 little time, were worn into rather irregular ovals, so that the task
 
 CATTLE. 
 
 in 1 ; 
 
 of dragging a cart over the rough roads was by no means an 
 easy one. And, as the axle was simply a stout pole fastened to 
 the bottom of the cart, and having its rounded ends thrust 
 through holes in the middle of the wheels, the friction was 
 enormous. As, moreover, oil and grease were far too precious 
 
 TKEADIMO OUT COKS. 
 
 1 Tftou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn." (Dtir. xxv. iv.) 
 
 luxuries to be wasted in lubricating the axles, the creaking 
 and groaning of the wheels was a singularly disagreeable and 
 ear-piercing sound. 
 
 The common hackery of India is a good example of the carts 
 mentioned in the Scriptures. As with the plough, the cart was 
 drawn by a couple of oxen, connected by the yoke. The two 
 kinds of cart, namely, the tray and the box, are clearly indicated 
 in the Scriptures. The new cart on which the Ark was placed
 
 108 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 when it was sent back by the Philistines (see 1 Sam. vi. 7) was 
 evidently one of the former kind, and so was that which was 
 made twenty years afterwards, for the purpose of conveying the 
 Ark to Jerusalem. 
 
 The second kind of cart is mentioned by the Prophet Amos 
 (ch. ii 13), "Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is 
 pressed that is full of sheaves," reference being evidently made 
 to heaping up of the sheaves in the cart, and pressing thorn 
 down, as is done at the present day. 
 
 That oxen were also employed as beasts- of burden is shown 
 by the passage in 1 Chron. xii. 40, " Moreover, they that were 
 nigh them, even unto Issachar. and Zebulun, and Napthali, 
 brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on 
 oxen." 
 
 Although the cattle were evidentlv better tended in the olden 
 
 O * 
 
 times than at present, those animals which were used for agri- 
 culture seem to have passed rather a rough life, especially in the 
 winter time. It is rather curious that the Jews should have 
 had no idea of preserving the grass by making it into hay, as is 
 done in Europe. Consequently the chief food of the cattle was 
 the straw and chaff which remained on the threshing-floor after 
 the grain had been separated. See Isa. xxx. 23 . " Tn that day 
 shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. The oxen likewise, and 
 the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, 
 which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan." 
 
 This, indeed, was the only use to which the straw could be 
 put, for it was so crushed and broken by the feet of the oxen 
 and the threshing-sledge that it was rendered useless. Allusion 
 is made to the crushing of the straw in many passages of Scrip- 
 ture. See, for example, Isa. xxv. 10, " Moab shall be trodden 
 down [or threshed] under him, even as straw is trodden down 
 for the dunghill." 
 
 The want of winter forage is the chief reason why cattle are 
 so irregularly disposed over Palestine, many parts of that 
 country being entirely without them, and only those districts 
 containing them in which fresh forage may be found throughout 
 the year. 
 
 Except a few yoke of oxen, which are kept in order to draw 
 carts, and act as beasts of burden, the cattle are turned loose 
 for a considerable portion of the year, and run about in herds
 
 CATTLE. 1 09 
 
 from one pasturage to another. Thus they regain many of the 
 characteristics of wild animals, and it is to this habit of theirs 
 that many of the Scriptural allusions can be traced. 
 
 For example, see Ps. xxii. 12, " Many bulls have com- 
 passed me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They 
 gaped on me with their mouths [or, their mouths opened against 
 me] as a ravening and a roaring lion." This passage alludes to 
 the curiosity inherent in cattle, which have a habit of following 
 objects which they do not understand or dislike, and surround- 
 ing it with looks of grave wonderment. Even in their domesti- 
 cated state this habit prevails. When I was a boy, I sometimes 
 amused myself with going into a field where a number of cows 
 and oxen were grazing, and lying down in the middle of it. 
 The cattle would soon become uneasy, toss their heads about, 
 and gradually draw near on every side, until at last they would 
 be pressed together closely in a circle, with their heads just 
 above the object of their astonishment. Their curious, earnest 
 looks have always been present to my mind when reading the 
 above quoted passage. 
 
 The Psalmist does not necessarily mean that the bulls in 
 question were dangerous animals. On the contrary, the bulls 
 of Palestine are gentle in comparison with our own animals, 
 which are too often made savage by confinement and the harsh 
 treatment to which they are subjected by rough and ignorant 
 labourers. In Palestine a pair of bulls may constantly be seen 
 attached to the same yoke, a thing that never would be seen in 
 this country. 
 
 The custom of turning the herds of cattle loose to find 
 pasture for themselves is alluded to in Joel i. 18, " How do 
 the beasts groan ! the herds of cattle are perplexed because they 
 have no pasture." We can easily imagine to ourselves the 
 terrible time to which the prophet refers, " when the rivers 
 of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pas- 
 tures of the wilderness," as it is wont to do when a spark 
 falls upon grass dried up and withered, by reason of the sun's 
 heat and the lack of water. Over such a country, first withered 
 by drought, and then desolated by fire, would the cattle wander, 
 vainly searching on the dusty and blackened surface for the 
 tender young blades which always spring up on a burnt pasture 
 as soon as the first rains fall. Moaning and bellowing with
 
 HO BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 thirst and disappointment, they would vainly seek for food or 
 water in places where the seed lies still under the clods where it 
 was sown (v. 17), where the vines are dried up, and the fig, the 
 pomegranate and the palm (v. 12) are all withered for want of 
 moisture. 
 
 Such scenes are still to be witnessed in several parts of the 
 world. Southern Africa is sometimes sadly conspicuous for 
 them, an exceptional season of drought keeping back the fresh 
 grass after the old pastures have been burned (the ordinary mode 
 of cultivating pasture land). Then the vast herds of cattle, 
 whose milk forms the staff of life to the inhabitants, wander to 
 and fro, gathering in masses round any spot where a spring still 
 yields a little water, and bellowing and moan-ing with thirst as 
 they press their way towards the spot where their owners are 
 doling out to each a small measure of the priceless fluid. 
 
 The cattle are branded with the mark of their owners, so that 
 in these large herds there might be no difficulty in distinguish- 
 ing them when they were re-captured for the plough and the 
 cart. On one of the Egyptian monuments there is a very 
 interesting group, which has furnished the idea for the plate 
 which illustrates this article. It occurs in the tombs of the 
 kings at Thebes, and represents a ploughing scene. The simple 
 two-handled plough is being dragged by a pair of cows, who 
 have the yoke fastened across the horns instead of lying on 
 the neck, and a sower is following behind, scattering the grain 
 out of a basket into the newly-made furrows. In front of the 
 cows is a young calf, which has run to meet its mother, and is 
 leaping for joy before her as she steadily plods along her course. 
 
 The action of both animals is admirably represented; the 
 steady and firm gait of the mother contrasting with the light, 
 gambolling step and arched tail of her offspring. Both are 
 branded with the same mark, namely, three equal-armed crosses, 
 one on the haunch, another on the side, and a third on the neck. 
 The driver carries the whip, or koorbash, which has been already 
 mentioned, and which is familiar to travellers in Southern Africa 
 under the title of " sjambok." 
 
 In the olden times of the Israelitish race, herd-keeping was 
 considered as an honourable occupation, in which men of the 
 highest rank might engage without any derogation to their 
 dignity. We find, for instance, that Saul himself, even after he
 
 CATTLE. Ill 
 
 had been appointed king, was acting as herdsman when the 
 people saw the mistake they had made in rejecting him as their 
 monarch, and came to fetch their divinely-appointed leader from 
 his retirement. (See 1 Sam. xi. 5.) Doeg, too, the faithful com- 
 panion of Saul, was made the chief herdsman of his master's 
 cattle, so that for Saul to confer such an office, and Doeg to 
 accept it, shows that the post was one of much honour. And 
 afterwards, when David was in the zenith of his power, he 
 completed the organization of his kingdom, portioning out not 
 only his army into battalions, and assigning a commanding 
 officer to each battalion, but also appointing a ruler to each 
 tribe, and setting officers over his treasury, over the vineyards, 
 over the olive-trees, over the storehouses, and over the cattle. And 
 these offices were so important that the names of their holders 
 are given at length in 1 Chron. xxvii. those of the various herds- 
 men being thought as worthy of mention as those of the 
 treasurers, the military commanders, or the headmen of the 
 tribes. 
 
 Before concluding this necessarily short account of the domes- 
 ticated oxen of Palestine, it will be needful to give a few lines 
 to the animal viewed in a religious aspect. Here we have, in 
 bold contrast to each other, the divine appointment of certain 
 cattle to be slain as sacrifices, and the reprobation of worship 
 paid to those very cattle as living emblems of divinity. This 
 false worship was learned by the Israelites during their long 
 residence in Egypt, and so deeply had the customs of the Egyp- 
 tian religion sunk into their hearts, that they were not eradi- 
 cated after the lapse of centuries. It may easily be imagined 
 that such a superstition, surrounded as it was with every ex- 
 ternal circumstance which could make it more imposing, would 
 take a powerful hold of the Jewish mind. 
 
 Chief among the multitude of idols or symbols was the god 
 Apis, represented by a bull. Many other animals, specially the 
 cat and the ibis, were deeply honoured among the ancient Egyp- 
 tians, as we learn from their own monuments and from the 
 works of the old historians. All these creatures were symbols 
 as well as idols, symbols to the educated and idols to the 
 ignorant. 
 
 None of them was held in such uniA r ersal honour as the bull 
 Apis. The particular animal which represented the deity, and
 
 112 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 which was lodged with great state and honour in his temple at 
 Memphis, was thought to be divinely selected for the purpose, 
 and to be impressed with certain marks. His colour must be 
 black, except a square spot on the forehead, a crescent-shaped 
 white spot on the right side, and the figure of an eagle on his 
 back. Under the tongue must be a knob shaped like the sacred 
 scarabaeus, and the hairs of his tail must be double. 
 
 This representative animal was only allowed to live for a 
 certain time, and when he had reached this allotted period, he 
 was taken in solemn procession to the Nile, and drowned in 
 its sacred waters. His body was then embalmed, and placed 
 with great state in the tombs at Memphis. 
 
 After his death, whether natural or not, the whole nation 
 went into mourning, and exhibited all the conventional signs of 
 sorrow, until the priests found another bull which possessed 
 the distinctive marks. The people then threw off their mourn- 
 ing robes, and appeared in their best attire, and the sacred bull 
 was exhibited in state for forty days before he was taken to his 
 temple at Memphis. The reader will here remember the analo- 
 gous case of the Indian cattle, some of which are held to be 
 little less than incarnations of divinity. 
 
 Even at the very beginning of the exodus, when their minds 
 must have been filled with the many miracles that had been 
 wrought in their behalf, and with the cloud and fire of Sinai 
 actually before their eyes, Aaron himself made an image of a 
 calf in gold, and set it up as a symbol of the Lord. That the idol 
 in question was intended as a symbol by Aaron is evident from 
 the words which he used when summoning the people to worship, 
 "To-morrow is a feast of the Lord" (Gen. xxxii. 5). The people, 
 however, clearly lacked the power of discriminating between the 
 symbol and that which it represented, and worshipped the image 
 just as any other idol might be worshipped. And, in spite of 
 the terrible and swift punishment that followed, and which 
 showed the profanity of the act. the idea of ox- worship still 
 remained among the people. 
 
 Five hundred years afterwards we find a familiar example of 
 it in the conduct of Jeroboam, "who made Israel to sin," the 
 peculiar crime being the open resuscitation of ox-worship. " The 
 king made two calves of gold and said unto them, It is too much 
 for you to go up to Jerusalem : behold thy gods, Israel, which
 
 CATTLE. 113 
 
 brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one 
 in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. . . . And he made an 
 house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the 
 people, which were not of the tribe of Levi. And Jeroboam 
 ordained a feast. . . . like unto the feast in Judah, and he 
 offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto 
 the calves that he had made." 
 
 Here we have a singular instance of a king of Israel repeat- 
 ing, after a lapse of five hundred years, the very acts which had 
 drawn down on the people so severe a punishment, and which 
 were so contrary to the law that they had incited Moses to fling 
 down and break the sacred tables on which the commandments 
 had been divinely inscribed. Nothing is omitted : the shape of 
 the idol, the material of which it is composed, the offerings, and 
 the very words in which Aaron had so deeply sinned, " Behold 
 thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up out of the land 
 of Egypt." Successive inonarchs followed his example, and, 
 according to the graphic words of Scripture, they " departed not 
 from the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel 
 to sin." 
 
 As was likely to be the case in a land where cattle were of 
 such importance, and often formed the principal wealth of the 
 inhabitants, many words were in use to distinguish the cattle 
 according to sex, age, and number. Thus, Bakar signifies the 
 adult animal of either sex, the test of full growth being fitness 
 for the plough. Consequently, Ben-Baka, or son of the herd, 
 signifies a male calf, and Aiglah-Bakar, a female calf. The term 
 Bakar is derived from a Hebrew word signifying to cleave or 
 plough, and hence it is used as to signify those animals which 
 are old enough to be put to the plough. 
 
 Then there is the word Shor, or Tor, to signify a single head 
 of cattle, of any age, or of either sex. The second form of this 
 word is familiar to us in the Latin word " taurus," and the 
 English " steer." There are several other words, such as Par, a 
 young bull, and Parah, a heifer, which do not need explanation.
 
 114 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ANOTHEK species of the ox-tribe now inhabits Palestine, 
 though commentators rather doubt whether it is not a compa- 
 ratively late importation. This is the true BUFFALO (Bubal us 
 bu/elus, Gray), which is spread over a very large portion of the 
 earth, and is very plentiful in India. In that country there 
 are two distinct breeds of the Buffalo, namely, the Arnee, a wild 
 
 variety, and the Bhainsa, a tamed variety. The former animal 
 is much larger than the latter, being sometimes more than ten 
 feet in length from the nose to the root of the tail, and measur- 
 ing between six and seven feet in height at the shoulder. Its 
 horns are of enormous length, the tail is very short, and tufts of 
 hair grow on the forehead and horns. The tamed variety is at 
 least one-third smaller, and, unlike the Arnee, never seems to 
 get into higli condition. It is an ugly, ungainly kind of beast, 
 and is rendered very unprepossessing to the eye by the bald 
 patches which are mostly found upon its hide.
 
 CATTLE. 115 
 
 Being a water-loving animal, the Buffalo always inhabits the 
 low-lying districts, and is fond of wallowing in the oozy marshes 
 in which it remains for hours, submerged all but its head, and 
 tranquilly chewing the cud while enjoying its mud-bath. While 
 thus engaged the animal depresses its horns so that they are 
 scarcely visible, barely allowing more than its eyes, ears, and 
 nostrils to remain above the surface, so that the motionless 
 heads are scarcely distinguishable from the grass and reed tufts 
 which stud the marshes. Nothing is more startling to an inex- 
 perienced traveller than to pass by a silent and tranquil pool 
 where the muddy surface is unbroken except by a number of 
 black lumps and rushy tufts, and then to see these tufts suddenly 
 transformed into twenty or thirty huge beasts rising out of the 
 still water as if by magic. Generally, the disturber of their 
 peace had better make the best of his way out of their reach, as 
 the Buffalo, whether wild or tame, is of a tetchy and irritable 
 nature, 'and resents being startled out of its state of dreamy 
 repose. 
 
 In the Jordan valley the Buffalo is found, and is used for 
 agriculture, being of the Bhainsa, or domesticated variety. 
 Being much larger and stronger than the ordinary cattle, it is 
 useful in drawing the plough, but its temper is too uncertain 
 to render it a pleasant animal to manage. As is the case with 
 all half-wild cattle, its milk is very scanty, but compensates 
 by the richness of the quality for the lack of quantity.
 
 116 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE WILD BULL. 
 
 The To, "Wild Bull of the Old Testament Passages in which it is mentioned The 
 Wild Bull in the net Hunting with nets in the East The Oryx supposed to 
 be the To of Scripture Description of the Oryx, its locality, appearance, and 
 habits The points in which the Oryx agrees with the T6 The " snare " in 
 which the foot is taken, as distinguished from the net. 
 
 IN two passages of the Old Testament an animal is mentioned, 
 respecting which the translators and commentators have been 
 somewhat perplexed, in one passage being translated as the 
 " Wild Ox," and in the other as the " Wild Bull." In the 
 Jewish Bible the same rendering is preserved, but the sign of 
 doubt is added to the word in both cases, showing that the 
 translation is an uncertain one. 
 
 The first of these passages occurs in Deut. xiv. 5, where it is 
 classed together with the ox, sheep, goats, and other ruminants, 
 as one of the beasts which were lawful for food. Now, although 
 we cannot identify it by this passage, we can at all events ascer- 
 tain two important points the first, that it was a true ruminant, 
 and the second, that it was not the ox, the sheep, or the goat. 
 It was, therefore, some wild ruminant, and we now have to ask 
 how we are to find out the species. 
 
 If we turn to Isa. li. 20, we shall find a passage which will 
 help us considerably. Addressing Jerusalem, the prophet uses 
 these words, " By whom shall I comfort thee ? Thy sons have 
 fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in 
 a net ; they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of 
 thy God." We now see that the To or Teo must be an animal 
 which is captured by means of nets, and therefore must inhabit 
 spots wherein the toils can be used. Moreover, it is evidently 
 a powerful animal, or the force of the simile would be lost. 
 The prophet evidently refers to some large and strong beast 
 which haS been entangled in the hunter's nets, and which lies 
 helplessly struggling in them. We are, therefore, almost per- 
 force driven to recognise it as some large antelope.
 
 THE WILD BULL. 117 
 
 The expression used by the prophet is so characteristic that 
 it needs a short explanation. In this country, and at the present 
 day, the use of the net is almost entirely restricted to fishing 
 and bird-catching ; but in the East nets are still employed in the 
 capture of very large game. 
 
 A brief allusion to the hunting-net is made at page 27, but, as 
 the passage in Isaiah li. requires a more detailed account of this 
 mode of catching large animals, it will be as well to describe 
 the sport as at present practised in the East. 
 
 When a king or some wealthy man determines to hunt game 
 without taking much trouble himself, he gives orders to his men 
 to prepare their nets, which vary in size or strength according to 
 the particular animal for which they are intended. If, for ex- 
 ample, only the wild boar and similar animals are to be hunted, 
 the nets need not be of very great width ; but for agile creatures, 
 such as the antelope, they must be exceedingly wide, or the 
 intended prey will leap over them. As the net is much used in 
 India for the purpose of catching game, Captain Williamson's 
 description of it will explain many of the passages of Scripture 
 wherein it is mentioned. 
 
 The material of the net is hemp, twisted loosely into a kind 
 of rope, and the mode in which it is formed is rather peculiar. 
 The meshes are not knotted together, but only twisted round 
 each other, much after the fashion of the South American ham- 
 mocks, so as to obtain considerable elasticity, and to prevent a 
 powerful animal from snapping the cord in its struggles. Some 
 of these nets are thirteen feet or more in width, and even such 
 a net as this has been overleaped by a herd of antelopes. Their 
 length is variable, but, as they can be joined in any number when 
 set end to end, the length is not so important as the width. 
 
 The mode of setting the nets is singularly ingenious. When 
 a suitable spot has been selected, the first care of the hunters is 
 to stretch a rope as tightly as possible along the ground. For 
 this purpose stout wooden stakes or truncheons are sunk cross- 
 wise in the earth, and between these the rope is carefully 
 strained. The favourite locality of the net is a ravine, through 
 which the animals can be driven so as to run against the net in 
 their efforts to escape, and across the ravine a whole row of 
 these stakes is sunk. The net is now brought to the spot, 
 and its lower edge fastened strongly to the ground rope.
 
 118 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The strength of this mode of fastening is astonishing, and, 
 although the stakes are buried scarcely a foot below the surface, 
 they cannot be torn up by any force which can be applied to 
 them ; and, however strong the rope may be, it would be broken 
 before the stakes could be dragged out of the ground. 
 
 A smaller rope is now attached to the upper edge of the 
 net, which is raised upon a series of slight poles. It is not 
 stretched quite tightly, but droops between each pair of poles, 
 so that a net which is some thirteen feet in width will only give 
 nine or ten feet of clear height when the upper edge is sup- 
 ported on the poles. These latter are not fixed in the ground, 
 but merely held in their places by the weight of the net resting 
 upon them. 
 
 When the nets have been properly set, the beaters make a 
 wide circuit through the country, gradually advancing towards 
 the fatal spot, and driving before them all the wild animals that 
 inhabit the neighbourhood. As soon as any large beast, such, 
 for example, as an antelope, strikes against the net, the support- 
 ing pole falls, and the net collapses upon the unfortunate animal, 
 whose struggles especially if he be one of the horned animals 
 only entangle him more and more in the toils. 
 
 As soon as the hunters see a portion of the net fall, they run 
 to the spot, kill the helpless creature that lies enveloped in the 
 elastic meshes, drag away the body, and set up the net again 
 in readiness for the next comer. Sometimes the line of nets 
 will extend for half a mile or more, and give employment to a 
 large staff of hunters, in killing the entangled animals, and 
 raising afresh those portions of the net which had fallen. 
 
 Allusions to this mode of hunting are plentiful in the Old 
 Testament. Take, for example, Job xviii. 7 : " The steps of his 
 strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him 
 down ; for he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh 
 upon a snare." And again in the next chapter, ver. 6, " Know 
 now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with 
 His net," in which is depicted forcibly the helpless state of 
 one on whom the net has fallen, and who is lying on the ground 
 vainly struggling in the meshes. 
 
 See also Ps. Ivii. 6, " They have prepared a net for my steps, 
 my soul is bowed down ; " and Ps. Ixvi. 11, " Thou broughtest us 
 into the net, thou laidest affliction iipon our loins." In the
 
 THE WILD BULL. 
 
 119 
 
 prophet Ezekiel are several passages which refer to the hunting 
 net, and make especial mention of the manner in which it falls 
 over its victim. One of these occurs in chap. xii. 13, " My 
 net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken iu my 
 snare." Again in chap. xix. 8, " Then the nations set against 
 him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over 
 him" In this passage a forcible allusion is made to the manner 
 
 WILtl BULL, OR ORYX. 
 
 " They lie at the head of all the streets, like a wild bull in a net." ISAIAH li. 51. 
 
 in which the wild animal is surrounded by the hunters, who 
 surround and gradually close in upon them, as they drive their 
 victims into the toils. The same combination of the hunters is 
 also referred to by the prophet Micah, vii. 2, " There is none 
 upright among men : they all lie in wait for blood ; they hunt 
 every man his brother with a net." 
 
 Accepting the theory that the To is one of the large antelopes 
 that inhabit, or used to inhabit, the Holy Land and its neigh-
 
 120 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 bourhood, we may safely conjecture that it may signify the 
 beautiful animal known as the ORYX (Oryx leucoryx), an animal 
 which has a tolerably wide range, and is even now found on the 
 borders of the Holy Land. It is a large and powerful antelope, 
 and is remarkable for its beautiful horns, which sometimes 
 exceed a yard in length, and sweep in a most graceful curve over 
 the back 
 
 Sharp as they are, and evidently formidable weapons, the 
 manner in which they are set on the head renders them appa- 
 rently unserviceable for combat. When, however, the Oiyx is 
 brought to bay, or wishes to fight, it stoops its head until the 
 nose is close to the ground, the points of the horns being thus 
 brought to the front. As the head is swung from side to side, 
 the curved horns sweep through a considerable space, and are so 
 formidable that even the lion is chary of attacking their owner. 
 Indeed, instances are known where the lion has been transfixed 
 and killed by the horns of the Oryx. Sometimes the animal 
 is not content with merely standing to repel the attacks of its 
 adversaries, but suddenly charges forward with astonishing rapi- 
 dity, and strikes upwards with its horns as it makes the leap. 
 
 But these horns, which can be used with such terrible effect 
 in battle, are worse than useless when the animal is hampered 
 in the net. In vain does the Oryx attempt its usual defence : 
 the curved horns get more and more entangled in the elastic 
 meshes, and become a source of weakness rather than strength. 
 We see now how singularly appropriate is the passage, " Thy 
 sons lie at the heads of all the streets, as a wild bull (or Oryx) 
 in a net," and how completely the force of the metaphor is lost 
 without a knowledge of the precise mode of fixing the nets, of 
 driving the animals into them, and of the manner in which they 
 render even the large and powerful animals helpless. 
 
 The height of the Oryx at the shoulder is between three and 
 four feet, and its colour is greyish white, mottled profusely with 
 black and brown in bold patches. It is plentiful in Northern 
 Africa, and, like many other antelopes, lives in herds, so that it 
 is peculiarly suited to that mode of hunting which consists in 
 surrounding a number of animals, and driving them into a trap 
 of some kind, whether a fenced enclosure, a pitfall, or a net. 
 
 There is, by the way, the term "snare," which is specially 
 used with especial reference to catching the foot as distinguished
 
 THE REEM, OR "UNICORN " OF SCRIPTURE. 121 
 
 from the net which enveloped the whole body. For example, 
 in Job xviii. 8, " He is cast into a net, he walketh on a snare," 
 where a bold distinction is drawn between the two and their 
 mode of action. And in ver. 10, " The snare is laid for him in 
 the ground." Though I would not state definitely that such is 
 the case, I believe that the snare which is here mentioned is one 
 which is still used in several parts of the world. 
 
 It is simply a hoop, to the inner edge of which are fastened 
 a number of elastic spikes, the points being directed towards the 
 centre. This is merely laid in the path which the animal will 
 take, and is tied by a short cord to a log of wood. As the deer 
 or antelope treads on the snare, the foot passes easily through 
 the elastic spikes, but, when the foot is raised, the spikes run 
 into the joint and hold the hoop upon the limb. Terrified by 
 the check and the sudden pang, the animal tries to run away, 
 but, by the united influence of sharp spikes and the heavy log, 
 it is soon forced to halt, and so becomes an easy prey to its 
 pursuers. 
 
 THE REftM, OR "UNICORN" OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 The Reem evidently known to the Jews Various theories concerning the Uni- 
 corn Supposed identity with the Indian Rhinoceros Passages of Scripture 
 alluding to the strength, violent and intractable temper of the Reem The 
 Reem a two-horned animal Its evident connection with the Ox tribe Its 
 presumed identity with the now extinct Urus Mr. Dawkins' treatise on the 
 Urus Enormous size and dangerous character of the Urus Rabbinical legend 
 of the Reem Identity of the Urus with the modern varieties of cattle The 
 Bull hunts of Nineveh. 
 
 THERE are many animals mentioned in the Scriptures which 
 cannot be identified with any certainty, partly because their 
 names occur only once or twice in the sacred writings, and 
 partly because, when they are mentioned, the context affords no 
 clue to their identity by giving any hint as to their appearance 
 or habits. In such cases, although the translators would have 
 done better if they had simply given the Hebrew word without 
 endeavouring to identify it with any known animal, they may 
 be excused for committing errors in their nomenclature. There
 
 122 BIBLE ANIMALS 
 
 is one animal, however, for which no such excuse can be found, 
 and this is the Reem of Scripture, translated as Unicorn in the 
 authorized version. 
 
 Now the word Eeem is mentioned seven times in the Old 
 Testament, and is found, not in one, but several books, showing 
 that it was an animal perfectly well known to those for whom 
 the sacred books were written. It is twice mentioned in the 
 Pentateuch, several times in the Psalms, once in the book of 
 Job, once by Isaiah, and reference is once made to it in the 
 historical books. In these various passages, abundant details 
 are given of its aspect and habits, so that there is very little 
 doubt as to the identity of the animal. 
 
 The Septuagint translates Reem by the word Monoceros, or 
 the One-horned, which has been transferred to the Vulgate by 
 the term Unicornis, a word having the same signification. 
 
 In an age when scientific investigation was utterly neglected, 
 such a translation would readily be accepted without cavil, and 
 there is no doubt that the generality of those who read the 
 passages in question accepted them as referring to the Unicorn 
 of heraldry with which we, as Englishmen, are so familiar. I may 
 perhaps mention briefly that such an animal is a physiological 
 impossibility, and that the Unicorn of the fables was a mere 
 compound of an antelope, a horse, and a narwhal. The tusks or 
 teeth of the narwhal were in former days exhibited as horns of 
 the Unicorn, and so precious were they that one of them was 
 laid up in the cathedral of St. Denis, and two in the treasury of 
 St. Mark's at Venice, all of which were exhibited in the year 
 1658 as veritable Unicorns' horns. 
 
 The physiological difficulty above mentioned seems to have 
 troubled the minds of -the old writers, who saw that an ivory 
 horn had no business to grow upon the junction of the two 
 bones of the skull, and yet felt themselves bound to acknowledge 
 that such an animal did really exist. They therefore put them- 
 selves to vast trouble in accounting for such a phenomenon, and, 
 in their determination to believe in the animal, invented theories 
 nearly as wonderful as the existence of the Unicorn itself. 
 
 One of these theories, arguing that the two horns may be as 
 easily fused together as the hoofs, is stated as follows. " Because 
 the middle is equally distant from both the extremes ; and the 
 hoof of this beast may be well said to be cloven and whole,
 
 THE REM, OR " UNICORN " OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 123 
 
 because the horn is of the substance of the hoof, and the hoof 
 of the substance of the horn, and therefore the horn is whole 
 and the hoof cloven ; for the cleaving either of the horn or of 
 
 ""u-tli from the defect of nature. ;md therefore God 
 
 P U1S 
 
 E^^&rfflfJsSSt 
 
 OiVl, * -"""U1Q 
 
 ^^v^^^Wber cheetah ,. 
 they have ever t 7 " 
 
 because there is 
 a whole and entire 
 by the help of horses, 
 t e horn of the Unicorn." 
 ^'niversal belief, that the 
 ; ' all illness and an anti- 
 so sensitive, that if a 
 . a thick moisture would 
 ' .ts were thrown into the 
 and bubble, and at 
 *ue forms the basis of an 
 n the subject, and, as the 
 (logical argument in 1658, 
 
 C(and, by the way, once 
 lied Monoceros," i.e. the 
 in the quaint and 
 discourse of the Uni- 
 there is not any virtue 
 bre the vulgar sort of infidel 
 ierb but such as they see in 
 as is in their own flocks, 
 in their own brains, or any 
 own nests, have never made 
 Unicorn, whereof there were 
 of the nobleness of his horn, 
 
 UrTRJWSi^^which distinction it appeareth 
 unto me that there is some secret enemy in the inward degenerate 
 nature of man, which continually blindeth the eyes of God His 
 people, from beholding and believing the greatness of God His 
 works. 
 
 " But to the purpose : that there is such a beast, the Scripture 
 itself witnesseth, for David thus speaketh in the 92d Psalm, Et 
 erigetur cornu meus tanquam Monocerotis. That is, ' My horn 
 shall be lifted up like the horn of a Unicorn.' Whereupon all 
 divines that ever wrote have not only collected that there is a
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS 
 
 is one animal, however, for which no such excuse can be found, 
 and this is the Reem of Scripture, translated as Unicorn in the 
 authorized version. 
 
 Now the word Reem is mentioned^vin^^g^^i the Old 
 
 Testament, <^^F*^ 
 
 that it was -f^ ^^JjS^ffSSBttT, 
 
 the sacred I 
 
 Pentateuch, 
 
 Job, once 
 
 historical 1 ,. 
 
 are given ( 
 
 doubt as to . 
 The SepJ 
 
 the One-hoi 
 
 the term Un 
 In an age 
 
 such a transl 
 
 there is no 
 
 passages in ql 
 
 of heraldry w 
 
 perhaps men 
 
 impossibility 
 
 compound of 
 
 teeth of the 
 
 the Unicorn, 
 laid up in th 
 St. Mark's at 
 1658 as verita 
 The physio 
 troubled the 
 horn had no 
 
 bones of the skull, and yet felt themselves bound to ackno^ 
 that such an animal did really exist. They therefore put {hem- 
 selves to vast trouble in accounting for such a phenomenon, and, 
 in their determination to believe in the animal, invented theories 
 nearly as wonderful as the existence of the Unicorn itself. 
 
 One of these theories, arguing that the two horns may be as 
 easily fused together as the hoofs, is stated as follows. " Because 
 the middle is equally distant from both the extremes ; and the 
 hoof of this beast may be well said to be cloven and whole, 

 
 THE REEM, OR " UNICORN " OF SCRIPTURE. 123 
 
 because the horn is of the substance of the hoof, and the hoof 
 of the substance of the horn, and therefore the horn is whole 
 and the hoof cloven ; for the cleaving either of the horn or of 
 the hoof cometh from the defect of nature, and therefore God 
 hath given to horses and asses whole hoofs, because there is 
 greatest use of their legs, but unto Unicorns a whole and entire 
 horn, 'that, as the ease of man is procured by the help of horses, 
 so the health of them is procured by the horn of the Unicorn." 
 
 This last sentence refers to the then universal belief, that the 
 horn of the Unicorn was a panacea for all illness and an anti- 
 dote to all poisons. It was thought to be so sensitive, that if a 
 poisoned cup were but brought near it a thick moisture would 
 exude from its surface, and if fragments were thrown into the 
 cup they would cause the liquid to swell and bubble, and at 
 last to boil over. This supposed virtue forms the basis of an 
 argument used by one of the writers on the subject, and, as the 
 passage affords a good example of theological argument in 1658, 
 it will be given entire. 
 
 After enumerating various animals (and, by the way, once 
 actually hitting upon the " fish called Monoceros," i.e. the 
 narwhal), the writer proceeds as follows, in the quaint and 
 nervous English of his time : " Now our discourse of the Uni- 
 corn is of none of these beasts, for there is not any virtue 
 attributed to their horns, and therefore the vulgar sort of infidel 
 people, which scarcely believe any herb but such as they see in 
 their own gardens, or any beast but such as is in their own flocks, 
 or any knowledge but such as is bred in their own brains, or any 
 birds which are not hatched in their own nests, have never made 
 question of these ; but of the true Unicorn, whereof there were 
 more proofs in the world, because of the nobleness of his horn, 
 they have ever been in doubt. By which distinction it appeareth 
 unto me that there is some secret enemy in the inward degenerate 
 nature of man, which continually blindeth the eyes of God His 
 people, from beholding and believing the greatness of God His 
 works. 
 
 " But to the purpose : that there is such a beast, the Scripture 
 itself witnesseth, for David thus speaketh in the 92d Psalm, Et 
 erigetur cornu meus tanquam Monocerotis. That is, ' My horn 
 shall be lifted up like the horn of a Unicorn.' Whereupon all 
 divines that ever wrote have not only collected that there is a
 
 124 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Unicorn, but also affirm the similitude to be betwixt the king- 
 dom of David and the horn of the Unicorn, that as the horn of 
 the Unicorn is wholesome to all beasts and creatures, so should 
 be the kingdom of David to the generation of Christ. 
 
 " And do we think that David would compare the vertue of 
 his kingdom and the powerful redemption of the world, unto a 
 thing that is not, or is uncertain, or is fantastical ? God forbid 
 that ever any man should so do despight to the Holy Ghost. 
 For this cause we read also in Suidas, that good men who wor- 
 ship God and follow His laws are compared to Unicorns, whose 
 greater parts, as their whole bodies, are unprofitable and untame- 
 able, yet their horn maketh them excellent ; so in good men, 
 although their fleshy parts be good for nothing, and fall down to 
 the earth, yet their grace and piety exalteth their souls to the 
 heavens." 
 
 In late years, after the true origin of the Unicorn's horn was 
 discovered, and the belief in its many virtues abandoned, the 
 Ree'm, or Monoceros, was almost unhesitatingly identified with 
 the rhinoceros of India, and for a long time this theory was the 
 accepted one. It is now, however, certain that the Ree"rn was 
 not the rhinoceros, and that it can be almost certainly identified 
 with an animal which, at the time when the passages in question 
 were written, was plentiful in Palestine, although, like the lion, 
 it is now extinct. 
 
 We will now take in their order the seven passages in which 
 the animal is mentioned, substituting the word Eeem for 
 Unicorn. 
 
 The first of these passages occurs in Numbers xxiii., where the 
 remarkable prophecies of Balaam are recorded. " The Lord his 
 God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. God 
 brought them out of Egypt, he hath as it were the strength of 
 Reem : " (ver. 21, 22). From this passage we gain one piece of 
 information, namely, that the Eeem was an exceptionally power- 
 ful animal. Indeed, it was evidently the strongest animal that 
 was known to the prophet and his hearers, or it would not have 
 been mentioned as a visible type of Divine power. 
 
 Next we come to Deut. xxxiii., wherein another prophecy is 
 revealed, namely, that of Moses, just before his death and mys- 
 terious burial. Speaking of Joseph and his tribe, the aged 
 prophet uses these words, "Let the blessing come upon the head
 
 THE REEM, OR " UNICORN " OF SCRIPTURE. 125 
 
 of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was sepa- 
 rated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling of his 
 bullock, and his horns are like the horns of Eeem : with them 
 he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth ; and 
 they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the 
 thousands of Manasseh" (ver. 16, 17). 
 
 In this passage we gather more information. In the first 
 place it is to be noticed that the Eeem is mentioned in connexion 
 with the domestic cattle, and that the name is used as one that 
 is familiar to the hearers. Next, as the marginal reading gives 
 the word, Eeem is used in the singular and not in the plural 
 number, so that the passage may be read, " his horns are like the 
 horns of a Unicorn." Thus we come to the important point 
 that the Ee^m was not a one-horned, but a two-horned animal. 
 
 It may here be remarked that the Eeem horns were the 
 emblem of the two tribes that sprung from Joseph, Ephraim 
 and Manasseh, himself being typified by the Eeem, and his two 
 powerful sons by the horns. 
 
 Next, in the Psalms, we find that the powerful, two-horned 
 Eeem was also a dangerous and violent animal. (See Psa. xxii. 
 19, 21.) 
 
 " Be not Thou far from me, Lord : my strength, haste Thee 
 to help me. 
 
 "Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power 
 (or the hand) of the dog. 
 
 " Save me from the lion's mouth : for Thou hast heard me 
 from the horns of Eeem." 
 
 In Ps. xcii. there is another allusion to the powerful horns of 
 the Ee^m. " For lo, Thine enemies, Lord, for lo, Thine enemies 
 shall perish ; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But 
 my horn shalt Thou exalt like the horn of Ee^m." 
 
 From these passages we gather the following important points. 
 First, the Eeem was an animal familiar to the people of Palestine, 
 as is evident from the manner in which its name is introduced 
 into the sacred writings ; secondly, it was the most powerful 
 animal known to the Israelites ; thirdly, it was a two-horned 
 animal; fourthly, it was a savage and dangerous beast; and 
 fifthly, it had some connexion with the domesticated cattle. 
 
 This last-mentioned point is brought out more strongly in the 
 remaining passages of Scripture. In Job, for example, a parallel
 
 126 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 is drawn between the wild and untameable Eeem and the beasts 
 of draught and burden. 
 
 In that magnificent series of passages in which the Lord 
 answers Job out of the whirlwind, and which indeed are a 
 worthy sequel to Elihu's impassioned discourse on the text that 
 " God is greater than man," the wild animals are mentioned in 
 evident contrast to the tame. First come the wild goats of the 
 rock ; then the wild ass, who " scorneth the multitude of the city, 
 neither regardeth the crying of the driver ; " and then the Eeem, 
 which is clearly contrasted with the tamed ox. 
 
 " Will Eeem be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib ? 
 Canst thou bind Eeem with his band in the furrow ? or will he 
 harrow the valleys after thee? Wilt thou trust him, because 
 his strength is great ? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him ? 
 Wilt thou believe him that he will bring home thy seed, and 
 gather it in thy barn ? " See chap, xxxix. 9 12. 
 
 Now in these passages, the principal duties of the domes- 
 ticated cattle are described the ploughing the furrow, the 
 drawing of the harrow, and the carrying home of the ripened 
 corn, for all which purposes the tameless spirit of Eeem renders 
 him useless, in spite of his vast strength. The prophet Isaiah 
 has a passage in which the Eeem is evidently classed with the 
 ox tribe. See chap, xxxiv. 6, 7. 
 
 " The sword of the Lord is filled with blood ; it is made fat 
 with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the 
 fat of the kidneys of rams : for the Lord hath a sacrifice in 
 Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And 
 Eeem shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the 
 bulls ; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust 
 made fat with fatness." 
 
 The last passage in which reference is made to this animal is 
 in Ps. xxix. 5, 6. 
 
 " The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars ; yea, the Lord 
 breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip 
 like a calf ; Lebanon and Sirion like a young Eeem." 
 
 On turning to the Jewish Bible we find that the word Eeem 
 is translated as buffalo, and there is no doubt that this rendering 
 is nearly the correct one, and at the present day naturalists are 
 nearly all agreed that the Eeem of the Old Testament must have 
 been the now extinct Urns. A smaller animal, the Bonassus or
 
 THE REEM, OK "UNICORN" OF SCRIPTURE. 127 
 
 Bison, also existed in Palestine, and even to the present day 
 continues to maintain itself in one or two spots, though it will 
 probably be as soon completely erased from the surface of the 
 earth as its gigantic congener. 
 
 That the Keem was one of the two animals is certain, and 
 that it was the larger is nearly as certain. The reason for 
 deciding upon the Urus is, that its horns w r ere of great size and 
 strength, and therefore agree with the description of the Reem ; 
 whereas those of the Bonassus, although powerful, are short, and 
 not conspicuous enough to deserve the notice which is taken 
 of them by the sacred writers. 
 
 Of the extinct variety we know but little. We do know, 
 however, that it was a huge and most formidable animal, as 
 is evident from the skulls and other bones which have been 
 discovered. 
 
 Hitherto there has been considerable difficulty in treating of 
 the ancient Urus, on account of the great confusion which existed 
 in the various synonyms that were given to the animal. The 
 tangled skein has, how r ever, been carefully unravelled by Mr. W. 
 Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.E.S., who has published an exceedingly 
 valuable paper on the subject in the Quarterly Journal of tlie 
 Geological Society, March 21, 1866. 
 
 After describing the general character of the Urus, he proceeds 
 to remark : " The synonyms of the Bos Urus are in a state of very 
 great confusion, arising from the fact that the two words denoting 
 two distinct species, the Urox and the Aurochs, are derived from 
 the same Sanscrit root, Ur, A ur, or Or, that signifies a forest, or 
 sandy waste. The root can be traced through many languages, 
 and still survives in the Greek 0/309 (a mountain), the Norwegian 
 Ore, the Icelandic Ure (the stony desert surrounding the base 
 of the mountains) ; and is preserved without change in the old 
 German Ur (a forest), and in Ur of the Chaldees. It appears 
 also in the Ural Mountains, and also in the canton of Uri, the 
 crest of which is an ox-head." It is worthy of mention that, in 
 the last-mentioned place, when new magistrates are elected, two 
 ancient and gigantic horns, remarkable for their double cur- 
 vature, are carried in solemn procession. 
 
 The presence of these horns affords a remarkable confirmation 
 to a well-known passage in Julius Caesar's familiar " Com- 
 mentaries." " The Uri are little inferior to elephants in size "
 
 128 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 (" magnitudine paullo infra elephantos") ; " but are bulls in their 
 nature, colour, and figure. Great is their strength, and great 
 their swiftness : nor do they spare man or beast when they have 
 caught sight of them. These, when trapped in pitfalls, the 
 hunters diligently kill. The youths, exercising themselves by 
 this sort of hunting, are hardened by the toil ; and those among 
 them who have killed most, bringing with them the horns as 
 testimonials, acquire great praise. But these Uri cannot be 
 habituated to man or made tractable, not even when young. 
 The great size of the horns, as well as the form and quality of 
 them, differ much from the horns of our oxen. These, when 
 carefully selected, they ring round the edge with silver, and use 
 them for drinking cups at their ample feasts." 
 
 The enormous size of the horns of an ox which was in all 
 probability the Urus is mentioned by another writer, who also 
 alludes to their use as drinking vessels. He states that some 
 of these horns were so large as to hold about four gallons, and 
 then proceeds to remark that their primitive use as drinking- 
 cups was the reason why Bacchus was represented as wearing 
 horns, and was sometimes worshipped under the form of a bull. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that the Sanscrit root Ur is retained 
 in the name of the enormous Indian ox, the Gaur, a term which 
 is formed from two words, namely, Gau, or Ghoo, a cow, and Ur, 
 so that the name signifies Wild Cow. 
 
 As to the size of the animal Urus, it is evident, by measure- 
 ment of certain remains, that it must have well deserved Caesar's 
 comparison with the elephant. A skull that is described by 
 Cuvier gave the following measurements. Width of skull 
 between the bases of the horn-cores (i.e. the bony projections on 
 which the hollow horns are set), rather mare than twelve inches 
 and an half. Circumference of the cores at the base, twelve 
 inches and nine-tenths. Length of the cores, twenty-seven 
 inches and nine-tenths ; and distances between their tips, thirty- 
 two inches and a half. 
 
 According to the proportions of the domesticated ox, these 
 measurements indicated that the animal was twelve feet in 
 length, and six feet and a half in height. Now, if the reader 
 will sketch out on a wall an ox of these dimensions, he will 
 appreciate the enormous dimensions of the ancient Urus, far 
 better than can be done by merely reading figures in a book.
 
 THE KE&M, OR " UNICORN " OF SCRIPTURE. 129 
 
 But this animal, gigantic as it was, is not the largest specimen 
 that has been discovered. A portion of an Urus skull was 
 discovered in the Avon, at Melksham, near Bath, the horn-cores 
 of which, as described by Mr. H. Woods, were seventeen inches 
 arid a half in circumference, thirty-six inches and a half in 
 length, and the distance from tip to tip was thirty-nine inches. 
 Taking the same proportions as those of the ordinary ox, the 
 author shows that the skull in question belonged to an animal 
 yery much larger than that which was described by Cuvier. In 
 another specimen the distance between the tips of the horn-cores 
 was forty-two inches, but their length only thirty-six. 
 
 Of course, the size of the horn-cores gives little indication of 
 the dimensions of the horns themselves, and the principal point 
 to be noticed is the shape of the core, which in some specimens, 
 though not in all, instead of presenting the regular double 
 curvature with which we are so familiar in our domestic oxen, 
 first curves outwards, then bends backwards or a little down- 
 wards and forwards. This peculiarity in the shape of the horns 
 is specially noted by Caesar, and we may therefore receive with 
 more security his account of their enormous size. 
 
 A curious rabbinical legend of the Reem is given in Lewy- 
 sohn's " Zoologie des Talmuds." When the ark was complete, 
 and all the beasts were commanded to enter, the Reem was 
 unable to do so, because it was too large to pass through the 
 door. Noah and his sons therefore were obliged to tie the 
 animal by a rope to the ark, and to tow it behind ; and, in order 
 to prevent it from being strangled, they tied the rope, not round 
 its neck, but to its horn. 
 
 The same writer very justly remarks that the Scriptural and 
 Talmudical accounts of the Reem have one decided distinction. 
 The Scripture speaks chiefly of its fierceness, its untameable 
 nature, its strength, and its swiftness, as its principal charac- 
 teristics, while the Talmud speaks almost exclusively of its size. 
 It was evidently the largest animal of which the writers had ever 
 heard, and, according to Oriental wont, they exaggerated it pre- 
 posterously. Whenever the Talmudical writers treat of animals 
 with which they are personally acquainted, they are simple, 
 straightforward, and accurate. But, as soon as they come to 
 animals unknown to them except by hearsay, they go off into 
 the wildest extravagances, such, for example, as asserting that 
 
 K
 
 130 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the leopard is a hybrid between the wild boar and the lioness. 
 The exaggerated statements concerning the Eeem show therefore 
 that the animal must have been extinct long before the time of 
 the writers. 
 
 The question now arises, What is the distinction between the 
 ancient Urus and our modern cattle ? The answer is simple 
 enough. The difference in the shape of the horn-cores is, as has 
 been shown, not characteristic of the animal in. general, but only 
 of certain individuals ; while other variations in the shape and 
 length of certain bones are of too little consequence to be 
 accepted as bases whereon to found a new genus or even species, 
 and we may therefore assume that the Urus of Csesar, the Eeem 
 of Scripture, was nothing more than a very large variety of the 
 ox, modified of course in aspect and habits by the locality in 
 which it lived. This assumption is strengthened by the fact 
 that Mr. Dawkins, in the treatise to which reference has already 
 been made, has "traced the gigantic Urus from the earliest 
 Pleistocene times through the pre-historic period at least as far 
 as the twelfth century after Christ." 
 
 The reader may remember that in Caesar's brief but graphic 
 account of the Urus, he mentions that it was hunted by those 
 who wished to distinguish themselves. Now, on many of the 
 sculptures of Nineveh, there are delineations of bull hunts, 
 which show, as Mr. Layard justly observes, that the wild bull 
 appears to have been considered scarcely less formidable and 
 noble game than the lion. The king himself is shown as 
 attacking it, while the warriors partake of the sport either 
 mounted or on foot. 
 
 The exact variety of the wild bull which is being chased is 
 not very recognisable. It certainly is not the ordinary domestic 
 animal, the shape approaching somewhat to that of the antelope. 
 The body is covered with marks which are evidently intended to 
 represent hair, though it does not follow that the hair need be 
 thick and shaggy like that of the bison tribe.
 
 THE BISON. 131 
 
 THE BISON. 
 
 The Bison Tribe and its distinguishing marks Its former existence in Palestine 
 Its general habits Origin of its name Its musky odour - Size and speed of 
 the Bison Its dangerous character when brought to bay Its defence against 
 the wolf Its untamoable disposition. 
 
 A FEW words are now needful respecting the second animal 
 which has been mentioned in -connexion with the Eeem ; namely ; 
 the Bison, or Bonassns. The Bisons are distinguishable from 
 ordinary cattle by the thick and heavy mane which covers the 
 neck and shoulders, and which is more conspicuous in the male 
 than in the female. The general coating of the body is also 
 rather different, being thick and woolly instead of lying closely 
 to the skin like that of the other oxen. The Bison certainly 
 inhabited Palestine, as its bones have been found in that 
 country. It has, however, been extinct in the Holy Land for 
 many years, and, not being an animal that is capable of with- 
 standing the encroachments of man, it has gradually died out 
 from the greater part of Europe and Asia, and is now to be 
 found only in a very limited locality, chiefly in a Lithuanian 
 forest, where it is strictly preserved, and in some parts of the 
 Caucasus. There it still preserves the habits which made its 
 ancient and gigantic relative so dangerous an animal. Unlike 
 the buffalo, which loves the low-lying and marshy lands, the 
 Bison prefers the high wooded localities, where it lives in small 
 troops. 
 
 Its name of Bison is a modification of the word Bisam, or 
 musk, which was given to it on account of the strong musky 
 odour of its flesh, which is especially powerful about the head 
 and neck. This odour is not so unpleasant as might be sup- 
 posed, and those who have had personal experience of the 
 animal say that it bears some resemblance to the perfume of 
 violets. It is developed most strongly in the adult bulls, the 
 
 K2
 
 132 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 cows and young male calves only possessing it in a slight 
 degree. 
 
 It is a tolerably large animal, being about six feet high at the 
 shoulder a stature nearly equivalent to that of the ordinary 
 Asiatic elephant ; and, in spite of its great bulk, is a fleet and 
 active animal, as indeed is generally the case with those oxen 
 
 BISON KILLING WOLF. 
 
 " Will the unicorn lie willing to serve theer " Jon xxxix. 9. 
 
 which inhabit elevated localities. Still, though it can run with 
 considerable speed, it is not able to keep up the pace for any 
 great distance, and at the end of a mile or two can be brought 
 to bay. 
 
 Like most animals, however large and powerful they may be, 
 it fears the presence of man, and, if it sees or scents a human 
 being, will try to slip quietly away ; but when it is baffled in 
 this attempt, and forced to fight, it becomes a fierce and dan- 
 gerous antagonist, charging with wonderful quickness, and using
 
 THE GAZELLE, OR ROE OF SCRIPTURE. 133 
 
 its short and powerful horns with great effect. A wounded 
 Bison, when fairly brought to bay, is perhaps as awkward an 
 opponent as can be found, and to kill it without the aid of fire- 
 arms is no easy matter. 
 
 Although the countries in which it lives are infested with 
 wolves, it seems to have no fear of them when in health ; and, 
 even when pressed by their winter's hunger, the wolves do not 
 venture to attack even a single Bison, much less a herd of them. 
 Like other wild cattle, it likes to dabble in muddy pools, and is 
 fond of harbouring in thickets near such localities; and those 
 who have to travel through the forest keep clear of such spots, 
 unless they desire to drive out the animal for the purpose of 
 killing it. 
 
 Like the extinct Aurochs, the Bison has never been domesti- 
 cated, and, although the calves have been captured while very 
 young, and attempts have been made to train them to harness, 
 their innate wildness of disposition has always baffled such 
 efforts. 
 
 THE GAZELLE, OR ROE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 The Gazelle identified with the Tsebi, i.e. the Roe or Roebuck of Scripture Various 
 passages relating to the Tsebi Its swiftness, its capabilities as a beast of 
 chase, its beauty, and the quality of its flesh The Tsebiyah rendered in Gree;c 
 as Tabitha, and translated as Dorcas, or Gazelle Different varieties of the 
 Gazelle How the Gazelle defends itself against wild beasts Chase of the 
 Gazelle The net, the battue, and the pitfall Coursing the Gazelle with grey- 
 hounds and falcons Mr. Chasseaud's account of a hunting party Gentleness 
 of the Gazelle. 
 
 WE now leave the Ox tribe, and come to the Antelopes, several 
 species of which are mentioned in the Scriptures. Four kinds 
 of antelope are found in or near the Holy Land, and there is 
 little doubt that all of them are mentioned in the sacred 
 volume. 
 
 The first that will be described is the well-known GAZELLE, 
 which is acknowledged to be the animal that is represented by 
 the word Tsebi, or Tsebiyah. The Jewish Bible accepts the
 
 134 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 same rendering. This word occurs many times, sometimes as 
 a metaphor, and sometimes representing some animal which 
 was lawful food, and which therefore "belonged to the true 
 ruminants. Moreover, its flesh was not only legally capable of 
 being eaten, but was held in such estimation that it was provided 
 for the table of Solomon himself, together with other animals 
 which will be described in their turn. 
 
 We will first take the passages where the word is used meta- 
 phorically, or as a poetical image. That it was exceedingly 
 swift of foot is evident from several instances in which the 
 animal is mentioned. For example, in 2 Sam. ii. 18, we are told 
 that Asahel, the brother of Joab, was " as light of foot as a wild 
 roe," or, as the passage may also be translated, " one of the roes 
 that is in the field." And in 1 Chron. xii. 8, we find the follow- 
 ing description of eleven warriors who attached themselves to 
 David: "Of the Gadites there separated themselves uiito 
 David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men 
 of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, 
 whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as 
 the roes upon the mountains." 
 
 That it was a beast of chase is as plainly to be gathered from 
 the sacred writings. See, for example, Prov. vi. 4, 5 : " Give 
 not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver 
 thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird 
 from the hand of the fowler." 
 
 The same imagery is employed by the prophet Isaiah, xiii. 
 13, 14:- 
 
 " Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall 
 remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and 
 in the day of His fierce anger. And it shall be as the chased 
 roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up : they shall every 
 man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own 
 land." 
 
 Having now learned that the Tsebi was very fleet of foot and 
 a beast of chase, we come to another series of passages, which 
 show that it was an animal of acknowledged beauty. In that 
 most remarkable poem, the Song of Solomon, or the "Song 
 of Songs," as it is more rightly named, there are repeated allu- 
 sions to the Tsebi. In some cases the name of the Roe is used 
 as a sort of adjuration " I charge thee by the roes ; " and in
 
 THE GAZELLE, OR EOE OF SCRIPTURE. 135 
 
 others the lover, whether man or woman, is compared to the 
 Roe. There is one consecutive series of passages in which the 
 word is repeatedly used. See Cant. ii. 7-9 : " I charge you, ye 
 daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the 
 field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. The 
 voice of my beloved ! behold, he cometh leaping upon the moun- 
 tains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or 
 a young hart." And in the last verse of the poem the same 
 image is repeated "Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like 
 to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices." 
 
 Allusion is made to the beauty of the Eoe, or Gazelle, in a 
 well-known name, Tabitha, which is, in fact, a slight corruption 
 of the Hebrew Tsebiyah, and is translated into Greek as Dorcas, 
 or Gazelle. " Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named 
 Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas (i.e. the Gazelle). 
 This woman was full of good works and alms deeds which 
 she did." 
 
 As to the flesh of the Gazelle, or Roe, it is mentioned in 
 Deut. xii. 15, xiv. 5, as one of the animals that affords lawful 
 food; and the same permission is reiterated in xv. 22, with 
 the proviso that the blood shall be poured out on the earth like 
 water. 
 
 Having now glanced at the various passages of Scripture 
 wherein the Gazelle is mentioned, we will proceed to the animal 
 itself, its appearance, locality, and general habits, in order to see 
 how they agree with the Scriptural allusions to the Tsebi. 
 
 As to its flesh, it is even now considered a great dainty, 
 although it is not at all agreeable to European taste, being hard, 
 dry, and without flavour. Still, as has been well remarked, 
 tastes differ as well as localities, and an article of food which is 
 a costly luxury in one land is utterly disdained in another, and 
 will hardly be eaten except by one who is absolutely dying of 
 starvation. 
 
 The Gazelle is very common in Palestine in the present day, 
 and, in the ancient times, must have been even more plentiful. 
 There are several varieties of it, which were once thought to be 
 distinct species, but are now acknowledged to be mere varieties, 
 all of which are referable to the single species Gazella Dorcas. 
 There is, for example, the Corinria, or Corine Antelope, which is 
 a rather boldly-spotted female ; the Kevella Antelope, in which
 
 136 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the horns are slightly flattened; the small variety called the 
 Ariel, or Cora ; the grey Kevel, which is a rather large variety ; 
 and the Long-horned Gazelle, which owes its name to a rather 
 large development of the horns. 
 
 Whatever variety may inhabit any given spot, they all have 
 the same habits. They are gregarious animals, associating 
 together in herds often of considerable size, and deriving from 
 
 THE CAZELLK, (dazdla DvrCOS) OR ROB OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 ' Behold, he eometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a 
 or a young hart." CANT. ii. 8, 9. 
 
 their numbers an element of strength which would otherwise be 
 wanting. Against mankind, numbers are of no avail ; but when 
 the agile though feeble GazeUe has to defend itself against the 
 predatory animals of its own land, it can only defend itself 
 by the concerted action of the whole herd. Should, for example, 
 the wolves prowl round a herd of Gazelles, after their treacherous
 
 THE GAZELLE, OR ROE OF SCRIPTURE. 137 
 
 wont, the Gazelles instantly assume a posture of self-defence. 
 They form themselves into a compact phalanx, all the males 
 coming to the front, and the strongest and boldest taking on 
 themselves the honourable duty of facing the foe. The does 
 and the young are kept within their ranks, and so formidable is 
 the array of sharp, menacing horns, that beasts as voracious as 
 the wolf, and far more powerful, have been known to retire 
 without attempting to charge. 
 
 As a rule, however, the Gazelle does not desire to resist, and 
 prefers its legs to its horns as a mode of insuring safety. So 
 fleet is the animal, that it seems to fly over the ground as if 
 propelled by volition alone, and its light, agile frame is so en- 
 during, that a fair chase has hardly any prospect of success. 
 Hunters, therefore, prefer a trap of some kind, if they chase 
 the animal merely for food or for the sake of its skin, and con- 
 trive to kill considerable numbers at once. Sometimes they 
 dig pitfalls, and drive the Gazelles into them by beating a large 
 tract of country, and gradually narrowing the circle. Sometimes 
 they use nets, such as have already been described, and some- 
 times they line the sides of a ravine with archers and spearmen, 
 and drive the herd of Gazelles through the treacherous defile. 
 
 These modes of slaughter are, however, condemned by the 
 true hunter, who looks upon those who use them much in the 
 same light as an English sportsman looks on a man who shoots 
 foxes. The greyhound- and the falcon are both employed in the 
 legitimate capture of the Gazelle, and in some cases both arc- 
 trained to work together. Hunting the Gazelle with the grey- 
 hound very much resembles coursing in our own country, and 
 chasing it with the hawk is exactly like the system of falconry 
 that was once so popular an English sport, and which even now 
 shows signs of revival. 
 
 It is, however, when the dog and the bird are trained to work 
 together that the spectacle becomes really novel and interesting 
 to an English spectator. 
 
 As soon as the Gazelles are fairly in view, the hunter unhoods 
 his hawk, and holds it up so that it may see the animals. The 
 bird fixes its eye on one Gazelle, and by that glance the animal's 
 doom is settled. The falcon darts after the Gazelles, followed by 
 the dog, who keeps his eye on the hawk, and holds himself in 
 readiness to attack the animal that his feathered ally may select.
 
 138 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Suddenly the falcon, which has been for some few seconds 
 hovering over the herd of Gazelles, makes a stoop upon the 
 selected victim, fastening its talons in its forehead, and, as it 
 tries to shake off its strange foe, flaps its wings into the Gazelle's 
 eyes so as to blind it. Consequently, the rapid course of the 
 antelope is arrested, so that the dog is able to come up and 
 secure the animal while it is struggling to escape from its 
 feathered enemy. Sometimes, though rarely, a young and in- 
 experienced hawk swoops down with such reckless force that it 
 misses the forehead of the Gazelle, and impales itself upon the 
 sharp horns, just as in England the falcon is apt to be spitted 
 on the bill of the heron. 
 
 The most sportsmanlike mode of hunting the Gazelle is to use 
 the falcon alone ; but for this sport a bird must possess excep- 
 tional strength, swiftness, and intelligence. A very spirited 
 account of such a chase is given by Mr. G. W. Chasseaud, in his 
 " Druses of the Lebanon :" 
 
 " Whilst reposing here, our old friend with the falcon informs 
 us that at a short distance from this spot is a khan called Nebbi 
 Youni, from a supposition that the prophet Jonah was here 
 landed by the whale ; but the old man is very indignant when 
 we identify the place with a fable, and declare to him that 
 similar sights are to be seen at Gaza and Scanderoon. But his 
 good humour is speedily recovered by reverting to the subject 
 of the exploits and cleverness of his falcon. This reminds him 
 that we have not much time to waste in idle talk, as the greater 
 heats will drive the gazelles from the plains to the mountain 
 retreats, and lose us the opportunity of enjoying the most 
 sportsmanlike amusement in Syria. Accordingly, bestriding our 
 animals again, we ford the river at that point where a bridge 
 once stood. 
 
 " We have barely proceeded twenty minutes before the keen 
 eye of the falconer has descried a herd of gazelles quietly grazing 
 in the distance. Immediately he reins in his horse, and enjoining 
 silence, instead of riding at them, as we might have felt inclined 
 to do, he skirts along the banks of the river, so as to cut off, if 
 possible, the retreat of these fleet animals where the banks are 
 narrowest, though very deep, but which would be cleared at a 
 single leap by the gazelles. Having successfully accomplished 
 this manoeuvre, he again removes the hood from the hawk, and
 
 THE GAZELLE, OE ROE OF SCRIPTURE. 139 
 
 indicates to us that precaution is no longer necessary. Accord- 
 ingly, first adding a few slugs to the charges in our barrels, we 
 balance our guns in an easy posture, and, giving the horses 
 their reins, set off at full gallop, arid with a loud hurrah, right 
 towards the already startled gazelles. 
 
 " The timid animals, at first paralysed by our appearance, 
 stand and gaze for a second terror-stricken at our approach ; but 
 their pause is only momentary ; they perceive iii an instant that 
 the retreat to their favourite haunts has been secured, and so 
 they dash wildly forward with all the fleetness of despair, 
 coursing over the plain with no fixed refuge in view, and nothing 
 but their fleetness to aid in their delivery. A stern chase is a 
 long chase, and so, doubtless, on the present occasion it would 
 prove with ourselves, for there is many and many a mile of 
 level country before us, and our horses, though swift of foot, 
 stand no chance in this respect with the gazelles. 
 
 " Now, however, the old man has watched for a good oppor- 
 tunity to display the prowess and skill of his falcon : he has 
 followed us only at a hand-gallop ; but the hawk, long inured to 
 such pastime, stretches forth its neck eagerly in the direction of 
 the flying prey, and being loosened from its pinions, sweeps up 
 into the air like a shot, and passes overhead with incredible 
 velocity. Five minutes more, a-nd the bird has outstripped even 
 the speed of the light-footed gazelle ; we see him through the 
 dust and haze that our own speed throws around us, hovering 
 but an instant over the terrified herd ; he has singled out his 
 prey, and, diving with unerring aim, fixes his iron talons into 
 the head of the terrified animal. 
 
 "This is the signal for the others to break up their orderly 
 retreat, and to speed over the plain in every direction. Some, 
 despite the danger that hovers on their track, make straight for 
 their old and familiar haunts, and passing within twenty yards 
 of where we ride, afford us an opportunity of displaying our 
 skill as amateur huntsmen on horseback ; nor does it require 
 but little nerve and dexterity to fix our aim whilst our horses 
 are tearing over the ground. However, the moment presents 
 itself, the loud report of barrel after barrel startles the unac- 
 customed inmates of that unfrequented waste ; one gazelle leaps 
 twice its own height into the air, and then rolls over, shot 
 through the heart ; another bounds on yet a dozen paces, but,
 
 140 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 wounded mortally, staggering, halts, and then falls to the 
 ground. 
 
 " This is no time for us to pull in and see what is the amount 
 of damage . done, for the falcon, heedless of all surrounding 
 incidents, clings firmly to the head of its terrified victim, nap- 
 ping its strong wings awhile before the poor brute's terrified 
 eyes, half blinding it and rendering its head dizzy ; till, after 
 tearing round and round with incredible speed, the poor creature 
 stops, panting for breath, and, overcome with excessive terror, 
 drops down fainting upon the earth. Now the air resounds 
 with the acclamations and hootings of the ruthless victors. 
 
 "The old man is wild in his transports of delight. More 
 certain of the prowess of his bird than ourselves, he has stopped 
 awhile to gather together the fruits of our booty, and, with these 
 suspended to his saddle bow, he canters up leisurely, shouting 
 lustily the while the praises of his infallible hawk ; then getting 
 down, and hoodwinking the bird again, he first of all takes the 
 precaution of fastening together the legs of the fallen gazelle, 
 and then he humanely blows up into its nostrils. Gradually 
 the natural brilliancy returns to the dimmed eyes of the gazelle, 
 then it struggles valiantly, but vainly, to disentangle itself from 
 its fetters. 
 
 " Pitying its efforts, the falconer throws a handkerchief over 
 its head, and, securing this prize, claims it as his own, declaring 
 that he will bear it home to his house in the mountains, where, 
 after a few weeks' kind treatment and care, it will become as 
 domesticated and affectionate as a spaniel. Meanwhile, Abou 
 Shein gathers together the fallen booty, and, tying them securely 
 with cords, fastens them behind his own saddle, declaring, with 
 a triumphant laugh, that we shall return that evening to the 
 city of Beyrout with such game as few sportsmen can boast of 
 having carried thither in one day." 
 
 The gentle nature of the Gazelle is as proverbial as its grace 
 and swiftness, and is well expressed in the large, soft, liquid eye, 
 which has formed from time immemorial the stock comparison 
 of Oriental poets when describing the eyes of beauty.
 
 THE PYGARG. OR AUDAX. 141 
 
 THE PYGARG, OR ADDAX. 
 
 The Dishon or Dyshon Signification of the word Pygarg Certainty that the 
 Dishon is an antelope, and that it must be one of a few species Former and 
 present range of the Addax Description of the Addax The Strepsiceros 
 of Pliny. 
 
 THERE is a species of animal mentioned onco in the Scrip- 
 tures Tinder the name of Dishon which the Jewish Bible leaves 
 untranslated, and merely gives as Dyshon, and which is rendered 
 in the Septuagint by Pugargos, or PYGARG, as one version gives 
 it. Now, the meaning of the word Pygarg is white-crouped, 
 and for that reason the Pygarg of the Scriptures is usually held 
 to be one of the white-crouped antelopes, of which several 
 species are known. Perhaps it may be one of them it may 
 possibly be neither, and it may probably refer to all of them. 
 
 But that an antelope of some kind is meant by the word 
 Dishon is evident enough, and it is also evident that the Dishon 
 must have been one of the antelopes which could be obtained 
 by the Jews. Now as the species of antelope which could have 
 furnished food for that nation are very few in number, it is clear 
 that, even if we do not hit upon the exact species, we may be 
 sure of selecting an animal that was closely allied to it. More- 
 over, as the nomenclature is exceedingly loose, it is probable 
 that more than one species might have been included in the 
 word Dishon. 
 
 Modern commentators have agreed that there is every pro- 
 bability that the Dishon of the Pentateuch was the antelope 
 known by the name of Addax. 
 
 This handsome antelope is a native of Northern Africa. It 
 has a very wide range, and, even at the present day, is found in 
 the vicinity of Palestine, so that it evidently was one of the 
 antelopes which could be killed by Jewish hunters. From its
 
 142 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 large size, and long twisted horns, it bears a strdng resemblance 
 to the Koodoo of Southern Africa. The horns, however, are not 
 so long, nor so boldly twisted, the curve being comparatively 
 slight, and not possessing the bold spiral shape which distin- 
 cfuishes those of the koodoo. 
 
 THE ADDAX, OR PYGARQ OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 " These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, . ... the pygarg, and the wild ox, 
 and the chamois." DEUT. xiv. 4, 5. 
 
 The ordinary height of the Addax is three feet seven or eight 
 inches, and the horns are almost exactly alike in the two sexes. 
 Their length, from the head to the tips, is rather more than two 
 feet. Its colour is mostly white, but a thick mane of dark black 
 hair falls from the throat, a patch of similar hair grows on the 
 forehead, and the back and shoulders are greyish brown. There 
 is no mane on the back of the neck, as is the case with the 
 koodoo. 
 
 The Addax is a sand-loving animal, as is shown by the wide 
 and spreading hoofs, which afford it a firm footing on the yielding
 
 THE FALLOW-DEER, OR BUBALE. 143 
 
 soil. In all probability, this is one of the animals which would 
 be taken, like the wild bull, in a net, being surrounded and 
 driven into the toils by a number of hunters. It is not, how- 
 ever, one of the gregarious species, and is not fouud in those 
 vast herds in which some of the antelopes love to assemble. 
 
 Some writers reject the Addax as the Dishon, and are inclined 
 to consider that the real representative of the word is to be 
 found in the Ariel or Isabella gazelles. Of these, however, we 
 have already treated, and enough has been said about them to 
 show that these gazelles are in all probability comprised under 
 the name Tsebi 
 
 It has been suggested, in contradiction to the opinion that 
 the Dishon is the Addax, that the word Strepsiceros, or Twisted 
 Horn, is given to it by Pliny, who also mentions that one of the 
 native names for the animal is Adas, or Akas, and that he dis- 
 tinguishes it from the Pygarg. Still, the weight of evidence is 
 so great in favour of the identity of the Dishon and the Pygarg, 
 that we may accept the interpretation with safety. 
 
 THE FALLOW-DEER, OR BUBALE. 
 
 The word Jachmur evidently represents a species of antelope Probability that the 
 Jachmur is identical with the Rubale, or Bekk'r-el-Wash Resemblance of the 
 animal to the ox tribe Its ox-like horns and mode of attack Its capability 
 of domestication Former and present range of the Bubale Its representation 
 on the monuments of ancient Egypt Delicacy of its flesh Size and general 
 appearance of the animal. 
 
 IT has already been mentioned that in the Old Testament 
 there occur the names of three or four animals, which clearly 
 belong to one or other of three or four antelopes. Only 
 one of these names now remains to be identified. This is 
 the Jachmur, or Yachmur, a word which has been rendered in 
 the Septuagint as Boubalos, and has been translated in our 
 Authorized Version as FALLOW DEER.
 
 144 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 We shall presently see that the Fallow Deer is to be identified 
 with another animal, and that the word Jachmur must find 
 another interpretation. If we follow the Septuagint, and call 
 it the BUBALE, we shall identify it with a well-known antelope, 
 called by the Arabs the " Bekk'r-el-Wash," and known to 
 zoologists as the BUB ALE (Acronotus lubalis). 
 
 This fine antelope would scarcely be recognised as such by 
 an unskilled observer, as in its general appearance it much more 
 resembles the ox tribe than the antelope. Indeed, the Arabic 
 title, " Bekk'r-el-Wash," or Wild Cow, shows how close must be 
 the resemblance to the oxen. The Arabs, and indeed all the 
 Orientals in whose countries it lives, believe it not to be an ante- 
 lope, but one of the oxen, and class it accordingly. 
 
 How much the appearance of the Bubale justifies them in 
 this opinion may be judged by reference to the figure on page 
 145. The horns are thick, short, and heavy, and are first 
 inclined forwards, and then rather suddenly bent backwards. 
 This formation of the horns causes the Bubale to use his weapons 
 after the manner of the bull, thereby increasing the resemblance 
 between them. When it attacks, the Bubale lowers its head to 
 the ground, and as soon as its antagonist is within reach, tosses 
 its head violently upwards, or swings it with a sidelong upward 
 blow. In either case, the sharp curved horns, impelled by the 
 powerful neck of the animal, and assisted by the weight of the 
 large head, become most formidable weapons. 
 
 It is said that in some places, where the Bubales have learned 
 to endure the presence of man, they will mix with his herds for 
 the sake of feeding with them, and by degrees become so accus- 
 tomed to the companionship of their domesticated friends, that 
 they live with the herd as if they had belonged to it all their 
 lives. This fact shows that the animal possesses a gentle dis- 
 position, and it is said to be as easily tamed as the gazelle 
 itself. 
 
 Even at the 1 present day the Bubale has a very wide range, 
 and formerly had in all probability a much wider. It is indi- 
 genous to Barbary, and has continued to spread itself over the 
 greater part of Northern Africa, including the borders of the 
 Sahara, the edges of the cultivated districts, and up the Nile 
 for no small distance. In former days it was evidently a tole- 
 rably common animal of chase in Upper Egypt, as there are
 
 THE FALLOW-DEER, OR BUBA.LE. 
 
 145 
 
 representations of it on the monuments, drawn with the quaint 
 truthfulness which distinguishes the monumental sculpture of 
 that period. 
 
 THE BUBALG, OR FALLOW DfcLR OF SCKIPTLKK. 
 
 " And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measure 
 of meal; ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep; beside hurts 
 and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl." I KINGS iv. 22, 23. 
 
 It is probable that in and about Palestine it was equally 
 common, so that there is good reason why it should be specially 
 named as one of the animals that were lawful food. Not only was 
 its flesh permitted to be eaten, but it was evidently considered 
 as a great dainty, inasmuch as the Jachmur is mentioned in 
 1 Kings iv. 23 as one of the animals which were brought to 
 the royal table. See the passage, quoted in full below the 
 illustration. 
 
 Even at the present day it is seen near the Red Sea ; and as 
 within the memory of man it had a much larger range than can 
 now be assigned to it, we may safely conjecture that it resided
 
 146 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 in Palestine in sufficient numbers to afford a constant supply of 
 food to the royal residence. 
 
 In size the Bubale is about equal to that of a heifer, and its 
 general colour is reddish brown. The head is long and narrow, 
 so that the heavy and deeply-ridged horns seem to stand out 
 with peculiar boldness. The shoulders are rather high, the neck 
 is very ox-like, and from the end of the tail hangs a tuft of long 
 black hair. It is a gregarious animal, and is found in herds, 
 though not of very great numbers. 
 
 The Bubale is closely allied to the hartebeest, the well-known 
 antelope of Southern Africa. 
 
 THE SHEER 
 
 Importance of Sheep in the Bible The Sheep the chief wealth of the pastoral 
 tribes Tenure of land Value of good pasture-landArab shepherds of the 
 present day Difference between the shepherds of Palestine and England 
 Wanderings of the flocks in search of food Value of the wells How the 
 Sheep are watered Duties of the shepherd The shepherd a kind of irregular 
 soldier His use of the sling Sheep following their shepherd Calling the 
 Shfep by name The shepherd usually a part owner of the flocks Structure 
 ot the sheepfolds The rock caverns of Palestine David's adventure with 
 Saul Penning of the Sheep by night Use of the dogs Sheep sometimes 
 brought up by hand How Sheep are fattened in the Lebanon district The two 
 breeds of Sheep in Palestine The broad-tailed Sheep, and its peculiarities 
 Reference to this peculiarity in the Bible The Talmudical writers, and their 
 directions to sheep-owners. 
 
 WE now come to a subject which will necessarily occupy us 
 for some little time. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no animal which occupies a larger space in 
 the Scriptures than the SHEEP. Whether in religious, civil, or 
 domestic life, \ve find that the Sheep is bound up with the 
 Jewish nation in a way that would seem almost incomprehen- 
 sible, did we not recall the light which the New Testament 
 throws upon the Old, and the many allusions to the coming 
 Messiah under the figure of the Lamb that taketh away the sins 
 of the world.
 
 THE SHEEP. 147 
 
 In treating of the Sheep, it will be perhaps advisable to 
 begin the account by taking the animal simply as one of those 
 creatures which have been domesticated from time immemorial, 
 dwelling slightly on those points on which the sheep-owners of 
 the old days differed from those of our own time. 
 
 In the first place, the tenure of land was and is still 
 entirely different from anything that can be found in our own 
 country. With us, the comparatively large amount of popula- 
 tion, placed on a comparatively small area of ground, prohibits 
 the mode of sheep-keeping as practised in the East, where the 
 pasture-lands are of vast extent, arid common to all who choose 
 to take their flocks to them. We have at present the Downs 
 and the Highlands as examples of such pasturage, but they are 
 of small extent when compared with the vast plains which are 
 used for this purpose in the East. 
 
 The only claim to the land seems, in the old times of the 
 Scriptures, to have lain in cultivation, or perhaps in the land 
 immediately surrounding a well. But any one appears to have 
 taken a piece of ground and cultivated it, or to have dug a well 
 wherever he chose, and thereby to have acquired a sort of right 
 to the soil The same custom prevails at the present day among 
 the cattle-breeding races of Southern Africa. The banks of 
 rivers, on account of their superior fertility, were considered as 
 the property of the chiefs who lived along their course, but the 
 inland soil was free to all 
 
 Had it not been for this freedom of the land, it would have 
 been impossible for the great men to have nourished the enor- 
 mous flocks and herds of which their wealth consisted ; but, on 
 account of the lack of ownership of the soil, a flock could be 
 moved to one district after another as fast as it exhausted the 
 herbage, the shepherds thus unconsciously imitating the habits 
 of the gregarious animals, which are always on the move from 
 one spot to another. 
 
 Pasturage being thus free to all, Sheep had a higher compara- 
 tive value than is the case with ourselves, who have to pay in 
 some way for their keep. There is a proverb in the Talmud 
 which may be curtly translated, " Land sell, sheep buy." 
 
 The value of a good pasture-ground for the flocks is so great, 
 that its possession is well worth a battle, the shepherds being 
 saved from a most weary and harassing life, and being moreover 
 
 L2
 
 748 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 fewer in number than is needed when the pasturage is scanty. 
 Sir S. Baker, in his woik on Abyssinia, makes some very inter- 
 esting remarks upon the Arab herdsmen, who are placed in 
 conditions very similar to those of the Israelitish shepherds in a 
 bad pasture-land. 
 
 '' The Arabs are creatures of necessity ; their nomadic life is 
 compulsory, as the existence of their flocks and herds depends 
 upon the pasturage. Thus, with the change of seasons they 
 must change their localities according to the presence of fodder 
 for their cattle. . . . The Arab cannot halt in one spot longer 
 than the pasturage will support his flocks. The object of his 
 life being fodder, he must wander in search of the ever-changing 
 supply. His wants must be few, as the constant change of en- 
 campment necessitates the transport of all his household goods ; 
 thus he reduces to a minimum his domestic furniture and 
 utensils. . . . 
 
 " This striking similarity to the descriptions of the Old Testa- 
 ment is exceedingly interesting to a traveller when residing 
 among these curious and original people. "With the Bible in 
 one's hand, and these unchanged tribes before the eyes, there is a 
 thrilling illustration of the sacred record ; the past becomes the 
 present, the veil of three thousand years is raised, and the living 
 picture is a witness to the exactness of the historical descrip- 
 tion. At the same time there is a light thrown upon many 
 obscure passages in the Old Testament by the experience of the 
 present customs and figures of speech of the Arabs, which are 
 precisely those that were practised at the periods described 
 
 " Should the present history of the country be written by an 
 Arab scribe, the style of the description would be precisely 
 that of the Old Testament. There is a fascination in the 
 unchangeable features of the Nile regions. There are the vast 
 pyramids that have defied time, the river upon which Moses was 
 cradled in infancy, the same sandy desert through which he led 
 his people, and the watering-places where their flocks were led 
 to drink. The wild and wandering Arabs, who thousands of 
 years ago dug out the wells in the wilderness, are represented by 
 their descendants, unchanged, who now draw water from the 
 deep wells of their forefathers, with the skins that have never 
 altered their fashion. 
 
 " The Arabs, gathering with their goats and sheep around the
 
 THE SHEEP. 149 
 
 wells to-day, recall the recollection of that distant time when 
 ' Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the 
 people of the east. And he looked, and behold a well in the 
 field, and lo ! there were three flocks of sheep lying by it,' &c. 
 The picture of that scene would be an illustration of Arab daily 
 life in the Nubian deserts, where the present is a mirror of the 
 past." 
 
 Owing to the great number of Sheep which they have to 
 tend, and the peculiar state of the country, the life of the shep- 
 herd in Palestine is even now very different from that of an 
 English shepherd, and in the days of the early Scriptures the 
 distinction was even more distinctly marked. 
 
 Sheep had to be tended much more carefully than we gene- 
 rally think. In the first place, a thoughtful shepherd had always 
 one idea before his mind, namely, the possibility of obtaining 
 sufficient water for his flocks. Even pasturage is less important 
 than water, and, however tempting a district might be, no shep- 
 herd would venture to take his charge there if he were not sure 
 of obtaining water. In a climate such as ours, this ever-pressing 
 anxiety respecting water can scarcely be appreciated, for in hot 
 climates not only is water scarce, but it is needed far more than 
 in a temperate and moist climate. Thirst does its work with 
 temble quickness, and there are instances recorded where men 
 have sat down and died of thirst in sight of the river which 
 they had not strength to reach. 
 
 In places therefore through which no stream runs, the wells 
 are the great centres of pasturage, around which are to be seen 
 vast flocks extending far in every direction. These wells are 
 kept carefully closed by their owners, and are only opened for 
 the use of those who are entitled to water their flocks at 
 them. 
 
 Noontide is the general time for watering the Sheep, and 
 towards that hour all the flocks may be seen converging towards 
 their respective wells, the shepherd at the head of each flock, and 
 the Sheep following him. See how forcible becomes the imagery 
 of David, the shepherd poet, " The Lord is my Shepherd ; I shall 
 not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures (or, in 
 pastures of tender grass) : He leadeth me beside the still waters " 
 Ps. xxiii. 1, 2). Here we have two of the principal duties of 
 the good shepherd brought prominently before us, namely, the
 
 150 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 guiding of the Sheep to green pastures and leading them to fresh 
 water. Very many references are made in the Scriptures to the 
 pasturage of sheep, both in a technical and a metaphorical sense ; 
 but as our space is limited, and these passages are very nume- 
 rous, only one or two of each will be taken. 
 
 In the story of Joseph, we find that when his father and 
 brothers were suffering from the famine, they seem to have cared 
 as much for their Sheep and cattle as for themselves, inasmuch as 
 among a pastoral people the flocks and herds constitute the only 
 wealth. Soj when Joseph at last discovered himself, and his 
 family were admitted to the favour of Pharaoh, the first request 
 which they made was for their flocks. " Pharaoh said unto his 
 brethren, What is your occupation ? And they said unto 
 Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our 
 fathers. 
 
 " They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land 
 are we come ; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks ; 
 for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan : now therefore, we 
 pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen." 
 
 This one incident, so slightly remarked in the sacred history, 
 gives a wonderfully clear notion of the sort of life led by Jacob 
 and his sons. Forming, according to custom, a small tribe of 
 their own, of which the father was the chief, they led a pastoral 
 life, taking their continually increasing herds and flocks from 
 place to place as they could find food for them. For example, at 
 i-he memorable time when the story of Joseph begins, he was 
 sent by his father to his brothers, who were feeding the flocks, 
 and he wandered about for some time, not knowing where to 
 find them. It may seem strange that he should be unable to 
 discover such very conspicuous objects as large flocks of sheep 
 and goats, but the fact is that they had been driven from one 
 pasture-land to another, and had travelled in search of food all 
 the way from Shechem to Dothan. 
 
 In 1 Chron. iv. 39, 40, we read of the still pastoral Israelites 
 that " they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east 
 side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. And they 
 found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, 
 and peaceable." 
 
 How it came to be quiet and peaceable is told in the context. 
 It was peaceable simply because the Israelites were attracted by .
 
 THE SHEEP. 151 
 
 the good pasturage, attacked the original inhabitants, and exter- 
 minated them so effectually that none were left to offer resistance 
 to the usurpers. And we find from this passage that the value 
 of good pasture-land where the Sheep could feed continually 
 without being forced to wander from one spot to another was 
 so considerable, that the owners of the flocks engaged in war, 
 and exposed their own lives, in order to obtain so valuable a 
 possession. 
 
 As to the figurative passages, they are far too numerous to be 
 quoted, and are found throughout the whole of the Old and New 
 Testaments. For example, see Psalm Ixxix. 13, " So we Thy 
 people and the sheep of Thy pasture will give Thee thanks for 
 ever." And again, " I will feed them upon the mountains of 
 Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the coun- 
 try. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high 
 mountains of Israel shall their fold be : there shall they lie in a 
 good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the moun- 
 tains of Israel" ^Ezek. xxxiv. 13, 14). 
 
 We will now look at one or two of the passages that mention 
 watering the Sheep a duty so imperative on an Oriental shep- 
 herd, and so needless to our own. 
 
 In the first place we find that most graphic narrative which 
 occurs in Gen xxix. to which a passing reference has already 
 been made. When Jacob was on his way from his parents to 
 the home of Laban in Padan-aram, he came upon the very well 
 which belonged to his uncle, and there saw three flocks of Sheep 
 lying around the well, waiting until the proper hour arrived. 
 According to custom, a large stone was laid over the well, so as 
 to perform the double office of keeping out the sand and dust, 
 and of guarding the precious water against those who had no 
 right to it. And when he saw his cousin Eachel arrive with 
 the flock of which she had the management, he, according to the 
 courtesy of the country and the time, rolled away the ponderous 
 barrier, and poured out water into the troughs for the Sheep 
 which Rachel tended. 
 
 About two hundred years afterwards, we find Moses per- 
 forming a similar act. When he was obliged to escape into 
 Midian on account of his fatal quarrel with a tyrannical 
 Egyptian, he sat down by a well, waiting for the time when the 
 stone might be rolled away, and the water be distributed. Now
 
 152 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 it happened that this well belonged to Jethro, the chief priest of 
 the country, whose wealth consisted principally of Sheep. He 
 entrusted his flock to the care of his seven daughters, who led 
 their Sheep to the well and drew water as usual into the troughs. 
 Presuming on their weakness, other shepherds came and tried 
 to drive them away, but were opposed by Moses, who drove 
 them away, and with his own hands watered the flock. 
 
 Now in both these examples we find that the men who 
 performed the courteous office of drawing the water and pouring 
 it into the sheep-troughs married afterwards the girl to whose 
 charge the flocks had been committed. This brings us to the 
 Oriental custom which has been preserved to the present day. 
 
 The wells at which the cattle are watered at noon-day are the 
 meeting-places of the tribe, and it is chiefly at the well that the 
 young men and women meet each other. As each successive 
 flock arrives at the well, the number of the people increases, 
 and while the sheep and goats lie patiently round the water, 
 waiting for the time when the last flock shall arrive, and the 
 stone be rolled off the mouth of the well, the gossip of the tribe 
 is discussed, and the young people have ample opportunity for 
 the pleasing business of courtship. 
 
 As to the passages in which the wells, rivers, brooks, water- 
 springs, are spoken of in a metaphorical sense, they are too 
 numerous to be quoted. 
 
 And here I may observe, that in reality the whole of Scripture 
 has its symbolical as well as its outward signification ; and that, 
 until we have learned to read the Bible strictly according to the 
 spirit, we cannot understand one-thousandth part of the mys- 
 teries which it conceals behind its veil of language ; nor can we 
 appreciate one-thousandth part of the treasures of wisdom which 
 lie hidden in its pages from those who have eyes and cannot 
 see, ears and cannot hear. 
 
 Another duty of the shepherd of ancient Palestine was to 
 guard his flock from depredators, whether man or beast. 
 Therefore the shepherd was forced to carry arms ; to act as a 
 sentry during the night; and, in fact, to be a sort of irregulai 
 soldier. A fully-armed shepherd had with him his bow, his 
 spear, and his sword, and not even a shepherd lad was without 
 his sling and the great quarter-staff which is even now universally 
 carried by the tribes along the Nile a staff as thick as a tnan't
 
 THE SHEEP. 153 
 
 wrist, and six or seven feet in length. He was skilled in the 
 use of all these weapons, especially in that of the sling. 
 
 In England, in these days, the sling is only considered as 
 a mere toy, whereas, before the introduction of fire-arms, it was 
 one of the most formidable weapons that could be wielded by 
 light troops. Hound and smooth stones weighing three or four 
 ounces were the usual projectiles, and, by dint of constant 
 practice from childhood, the slingers could aim with a marvellous 
 precision. Of this fact we have a notable instance in David, 
 who knew that the sling and the five stones in the hand of an 
 active youth unencumbered by armour, and wearing merely the 
 shepherd's simple tunic, were more than a match for all the 
 ponderous weapons of the gigantic Philistine. 
 
 It has sometimes been the fashion to attribute the successful 
 aim of David to a special miracle, whereas those who are 
 acquainted with ancient weapons know well that no miracle was 
 wrought, because none was needed ; a good slinger at that time 
 being as sure of his aim as a good rifleman of our days. 
 
 The sling was in constant requisition, being used both in 
 directing the Sheep and in repelling enemies : a stone skilfully 
 thrown in front of a straying Sheep being a well-understood 
 signal that the animal had better retrace its steps if it did not 
 want to feel the next stone on its back. 
 
 Passing his whole life with his flock, the shepherd was iden- 
 tified with his Sheep far more than is the case in this country. 
 He knew all his Sheep by sight, he called them all by their 
 names, and they all knew him and recognised his voice. He 
 did not drive them, but . he led them, walking in their front, 
 and they following him. Sometimes he would play with them, 
 pretending to run away while they pursued him, exactly as an 
 infant-school teacher plays with the children. 
 
 Consequently, they looked upoii him as their protector as 
 well as their feeder, and were sure to follow wherever he led 
 them. 
 
 We must all remember how David, who had passed all his 
 early years as a shepherd, speaks of God as the Shepherd of 
 Israel, and the people as Sheep ; never mentioning the Sheep as 
 being driven, but always as being led. " Thou leddest Thy 
 people like a flock, by the hands of Moses and Aaron " (Ps. 
 Ixxvii. 20) ; " The Lord is my Shepherd. ... He leadeth me
 
 154 
 
 RIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 beside the still waters " (Ps. xxiii. 1, 2) ; " Lead me in a plain 
 path, because of mine enemies" (Ps. xxvii. 11); together with 
 many other passages too numerous to be quoted. 
 
 Our Lord Himself makes a familiar use of the same image : 
 " He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 
 
 SHEEP FOLLOWING THEIR SHEPHERD. 
 
 ' // oalleih his own sheep by name, and leadeth then out." JOHN x. 3. 
 
 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, 
 and the sheep follow him : for they know his voice. And a 
 stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him : for they 
 know not the voice of strangers" (John x. 3 5). And again at 
 verse 26 : "Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I 
 said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and 
 they follow me."
 
 THE SHEI-ir. 155 
 
 Although the shepherds of our own country know their Sheep 
 by sight, and say that there is as much difference in the faces 
 of Sheep as of men, they have not, as a rule, attained the art of 
 teaching their Sheep to recognise their names. This custom, 
 however, is still retained, as may be seen from a well-known 
 passage in Hartley's " Researches in Greece and the Levant : " 
 
 " Having had my attention directed last night to the words in 
 John x. 3, I asked my man if it were usual in Greece to give 
 names to the sheep. He informed me that it was, and that 
 the sheep obeyed the shepherd when he called them by their 
 names. This morning I had an opportunity of verifying the 
 truth of this remark. Passing by a flock of sheep, I asked the 
 shepherd the same question which I had put to the servant, and 
 he gave me the same answer. I then bade him call one of his 
 sheep. He did so, and it instantly left its pasturage and its 
 companions, and ran up to the hands of the shepherd, with 
 signs of pleasure, and with a prompt obedience which I had never 
 before observed in any other animal. 
 
 " It is also true that in this country, ' a stranger will they not 
 follow, but will flee from him.' The shepherd told me that 
 many of his sheep were still wild, that they had not learned 
 their names, but that by teaching them they would all learn 
 them." 
 
 Generally, the shepherd was either the proprietor of the flock, 
 or had at all events a share in it, of which latter arrangement 
 we find a well-known example in the bargain which Jacob made 
 with Laban, all the white Sheep belonging to his father-in-law, 
 and all the dark and spotted Sheep being his wages as shepherd. 
 Such a man was far more likely to take care of the Sheep than 
 if he were merely a paid labourer ; especially in a country where 
 the life of a shepherd w r as a life of actual danger, and he might at 
 any time be obliged to fight against armed robbers, or to oppose 
 the wolf, the lion, or the bear. The combat of the shepherd 
 David with the last-mentioned animals has already been 
 noticed. 
 
 In allusion to the continual risks run by the Oriental shepherd, 
 our Lord makes use of the following well-known words : " The 
 thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy : 1 
 am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly. 
 I am the Good Shepherd : the good shepherd giveth his life for
 
 156 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the sheep. But he that is an hireling, .... whose own the 
 sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, 
 and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattered! the 
 sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth. 
 not for the sheep." 
 
 Owing to the continual moving of the Sheep, the shepherd 
 had very hard work during the lambing time, and was obliged 
 to carry in his arms the young lambs which were too feeble to 
 accompany their parents, and to keep close to him those Sheep 
 who were expected soon to become mothers. At that time of 
 year the shepherd might constantly be seen at the head of his 
 flock, carrying one or two lambs in his arms, accompanied by 
 their mothers. 
 
 In allusion to this fact Isaiah writes : " His reward is with 
 Him, and His work before Him. He shall feed His flock like 
 a shepherd ; He shall gather the lambs with His arms and carry 
 them in His bosom, and shall gently lead them that are with 
 young" (or, "that give suck," according to the marginal reading). 
 Here we have presented at once before us the good shepherd 
 who is no hireling, but owns the Sheep ; and who therefore has 
 " his reward with him, and his work before him ; " who bears 
 the tender lambs in his arms, or lays them in the folds of his 
 mantle, and so carries them in his bosom, and leads by his side 
 their yet feeble mothers. 
 
 Frequent mention is made of the folds in which the Sheep are 
 penned ; and as these folds differed and still differ materially 
 from those of our own land, we shall miss the force of several 
 passages of Scripture if we do not understand their form, and the 
 materials of which they were built. Our folds consist merely of 
 hurdles, moveable at pleasure, and so low that a man can easily 
 jump over them, and so fragile that he can easily pull them 
 down. Moreover, the Sheep are frequently enclosed within the 
 fold while they are at pasture. 
 
 If any one should entertain such an idea of the Oriental fold, 
 he would not see the force of the well-known passage in which 
 our Lord compares the Church to a sheepfold, and Himself to 
 the door. " He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, 
 but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a 
 robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of 
 the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his
 
 THE SHEEP. 
 "He makc-th me to lie down in green pastures." PSAI.M xxiii. 2.
 
 THE SHEEP. 157 
 
 voice. . . . All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers : 
 but the sheep did not hear them. I ana the door : by me if any 
 man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and 
 find pasture." 
 
 Had the fold here mentioned been a simple enclosure of 
 hurdles, such an image could not have been used. It is evident 
 that the fold to which allusion was made, and which was pro- 
 bably in sight at the time when Jesus was disputing with 
 the Pharisees, was a structure ef some pretensions; that it 
 had walls which a thief could only enter by climbing over 
 them not by " breaking through " them, as in the case of a 
 mud- walled private house ; and that it had a gate, which was 
 guarded by a watchman. 
 
 In fact, the fold was a solid and enduring building, made of 
 stone. Thus in Numbers xxxii. it is related that the tribes of 
 Reuben and Gad, who had great quantities of Sheep and other 
 cattle, asked for the eastward side of Jordan as a pasture- 
 ground, promising to go and fight for the people, but previously 
 to build fortified cities for their families, and folds for their 
 cattle, the folds being evidently, like the cities, buildings of an 
 enduring nature. 
 
 If the reader will refer to the upper left-hand corner of 
 the large illustration, he will see in the distance the fold into 
 which the sheep are gathered at nightfall, and will perceive 
 that it is a strong stone building, with walls of a considerable 
 height. In some places the folds are simply rock caverns, 
 partly natural and partly artificial, often enlarged by a stone 
 wall built outside it. It was the absence of these rock caverns 
 on the east side of Jordan that compelled the Eeubenites 
 and Gadites to build folds for themselves, whereas on the 
 opposite side places of refuge were comparatively abundant. 
 
 See, for example, the well-known history related in 1 Sam. 
 xxiii. xxiv. David and his miscellaneous band of warriors, 
 some six hundred in number, were driven out of the cities by 
 the fear of Saul, and were obliged to pass their time in the 
 wilderness, living in the " strong holds " (xxiii. 14, 19), which we 
 find immediately afterwards to be rock caves (ver. 25). These 
 caves were of large extent, being able to shelter these six 
 hundred warriors, and, on one memorable occasion, to conceal 
 them so completely as they stood along the sides, that Saul, who
 
 158 BIBLE ANIMALS 
 
 had just come out of the open air, was not able to discern them 
 in the dim light, and David even managed to approach him 
 unseen, and cut off a portion of his outer robe. 
 
 That this particular cave was a sheepfold we learn from 
 xxiv. 2-4 : " Then Saul took three thousand chosen men 
 out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the 
 rocks of the wild goats. And he came to the sheepcotes by 
 the way." Into these strongholds the Sheep are driven towards 
 nightfall, and, as the flocks converge towards their resting-place, 
 the bleatings of the sheep are almost deafening. 
 
 The shepherds as well as their flocks found shelter in these 
 caves, making them their resting-places while they were living 
 the strange, wild, pastoral life among the hills ; and at the 
 present day many of the smaller caves and " holes of the rock " 
 exhibit the vestiges of human habitation in the shape of straw, 
 hay, and other dried herbage, which has been used for beds, jusb 
 as we now find the rude couches of the coast-guard men in the 
 cliff caves of our shores. 
 
 The dogs which are attached to the sheepfolds were, as they 
 are now, the faithful servants of man, although, as has already 
 been related, they are not made the companions of man as i? 
 t}ie case with ourselves. Lean, gaunt, hungry, and treated with 
 but scant kindness, they are yet faithful guardians against the 
 attack of enemies. They do not, as do our sheepdogs, assist in 
 driving the flocks, because the Sheep are not driven, but led, but 
 they are invaluable as nocturnal sentries. Crouching together 
 outside the fold, in little knots of six or seven together, they 
 detect the approach of wild animals, and at the first sign of the 
 wolf or the jackal they bark out a defiance, and scare away the 
 invaders. It is strange that the old superstitious idea of their 
 uncleanness should have held its ground through so many tens 
 of centuries ; but, down to the present day, the shepherd of 
 Palestine, though making use of the dog as a guardian of his 
 flock, treats the animal with utter contempt, not to say cruelty, 
 beating and kicking the faithful creature on the least provoca- 
 tion, and scarcely giving it sufficient food to keep it alive. 
 
 Sometimes the Sheep are brought up by hand at home. 
 "House-lamb," as we call it, is even now common, and the 
 practice of house-feeding peculiar in the old Scriptural times. 
 
 We have an allusion to this custom in the well-known parable
 
 THE SHEEP. 159 
 
 of the prophet Nathan : " The poor man had nothing, save one 
 little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up : and it 
 grew up together with him, and with his children ; it did eat of 
 his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, 
 and was unto him as a daughter" (2 Sam. xii. 3). A further, 
 though less distinct, allusion is made to this practice in Isaiah 
 vii. 21 : " It shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall 
 nourish a young cow, and two sheep." 
 
 How the Sheep thus brought up by hand were fattened may 
 be conjectured from the following passage in Mr. D. Urquhart's 
 valuable work on the Lebanon : 
 
 " In the month of June, they buy from the shepherds, when 
 pasturage has become scarce and sheep are cheap, two or three 
 sheep ; these they feed by hand. After they have eaten up the 
 old grass and the provender about the doors, they get vine 
 leaves, and, after the silkworms have begun to spin, mulberry 
 leaves. They purchase them on trial, and the test is appetite. 
 If a sheep does not feed well, they return it after three days. 
 To increase their appetite they wash them twice a day, morning 
 and evening, a care they never bestow on their own bodies. 
 
 " If the sheep's appetite does not come up to their standard, 
 they use a little gentle violence, folding for them forced leaf-balls 
 and introducing them into their mouths. The mulberry has the 
 property of making them fat and tender. At the end of four 
 months the sheep they had bought at eighty piastres will sell 
 for one hundred and forty, or will realize one hundred and fifty. 
 
 " The sheep is killed, skinned, and hung up. The fat is then 
 removed ; the flesh is cut from the bones, and hung up in the 
 sun. Meanwhile, the fat has been put in a cauldron on the fire, 
 and as soon as it has come to boil, the meat is laid on. The 
 proportion of the fat to the lean is as four to ten, eight 'okes' 
 fat and twenty lean. A little salt is added, it is simmered for 
 an hour, and then placed in jars for the use of the family during 
 the year. 
 
 " The large joints are separated and used first, as not fit for 
 keeping long. The fat, with a portion of the lean, chopped fine, 
 is what serves for cooking the ' bourgoul,' and is called Dehcn. 
 The sheep are of the fat-tailed variety, and the tails are the 
 great delicacy." 
 
 This last sentence reminds us that there are two breeds of
 
 160 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Sheep in Palestine. One much resembles our ordinary English 
 Sheep, while the other is a very different animal, being to the 
 ordinary Sheep what the greyhound is to the rough terrier. It 
 is much taller on its legs, larger-boned, and long-nosed. Only 
 the rams have horns, and they are not twisted spirally like those 
 of our own Sheep, but come backwards, and then curl round so 
 that the point comes under the ear. The great peculiarity of 
 this Sheep is the tail, which is simply prodigious in point of size, 
 and is an enormous mass of fat. Indeed, the long-legged and 
 otherwise lean animal seems to concentrate all its fat in the tail, 
 which, as has been well observed, appears to abstract both flesh 
 and fat from the rest of the body. So great is this strange 
 development, that the tail alone will sometimes weigh one-fifth 
 as much as the entire animal A similar breed of Sheep is found 
 in Southern Africa and other parts of the world. In some places, 
 the tail grows to such an enormous size that, in order to keep 
 so valuable a part of the animal from injury, it is fastened to 
 a small board, supported by a couple of wheels, so that the Sheep 
 literally wheels its own tail in a cart. It has been thought by 
 some systematic naturalists that this variety is a distinct species, 
 and the broad-tailed breeds of Sheep have, in consequence, been 
 distinguished by several names. For example, the present 
 variety is called Ovis laticaudatus by several authors, Ovis 
 laticauda platyceros by another,. and Ovis cauda dbesa by another. 
 The broad-tailed Sheep of Tartary is called Ovis steatopyga. 
 Another author calls it Ovis macrocercus ; and the broad-tailed 
 Sheep of Southern Africa is called Ovis Capensis. Yet they 
 are in reality one and the same variety of the common domesti- 
 cated Sheep, differing in some particulars according to the con- 
 ditions in which they are placed, but having really no specific 
 distinction. It is, by the way, from the wool of the unborn 
 broad-tailed Sheep that the much-prized Astrachan fur is made. 
 
 The various Scriptural writers seem never to have noticed 
 the difference between the breeds of Sheep ; the names that are 
 employed denoting the different ages and sexes of the Sheep, 
 but having no reference to the breed. 
 
 For example, the word " Taleh" signifies a very young sucking 
 lamb, such as is mentioned in 1 Sam. vii. 9 : " And Samuel 
 took a sucking lamb (Taleh), and offered it for a burnt offering 
 wholly unto the Lord." The same word is used in Isa. Ixv. 25 :
 
 THE SHEEP. 161 
 
 "The wolf and the lamb (taleh) shall feed together;" the 
 force of this well-known passage being much increased by the 
 correct rendering of the word " taleh." The Jewish Bible renders 
 the word as " a lamb of milk." 
 
 The word " kebes," or " keves," (the e being pronounced 
 like the same letter in the word "seven") signifies a male lamb 
 of a year or so old, the feminine being " kebesah." When the 
 young lamb was weaned, and was sent to pasture, it was called 
 by another name, i.e. " kar," this word being evidently derived 
 from the Hebrew verb which signifies to skip. The adult ram 
 is signified by the word " ayil," or " ail," and the ewe by 
 " rakal." 
 
 Frequent reference to the fat of the tail is made in the 
 Authorized Version of the Scriptures, though in terms which 
 would not be understood did we not know that the Sheep 
 which is mentioned in those passages is the long-tailed 
 Sheep of Syria. See, for example, the history narrated in 
 Exod. xxix. 22, where special details are given as to the 
 ceremony by which Aaron and his sons were consecrated 
 to the priesthood. " Thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the 
 rninp, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above 
 the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them." 
 In the Jewish Bible the passage is given with much more 
 precision, " Thou shalt take of the ram the fat, and the fat tail," 
 &c. The same rendering is used in Lev. iii. 9 : " And he 
 shall offer of the sacrifice of the feast offering a fire offering 
 unto the Eternal ; the fat thereof, and the whole fat tail shall he 
 take off hard by the backbone ; and the fat that covereth the 
 inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards." 
 
 But though this particular breed is not very distinctly men- 
 tioned in the Bible, the Talmudical writers have many allusions 
 to it. In the Mischna these broad-tailed Sheep are not allowed 
 to leave their folds on the Sabbath-day, because by wheeling 
 their little tail-waggons behind them they would break the 
 Sabbath. The writers describe the tail very graphically, com- 
 paring its shape to that of a saddle, and saying that it is fat, 
 without bones, heavy and long, and looks as if the whole body 
 were continued beyond the hind-legs, and thence hung down in 
 place of a tail. 
 
 The Rabbinical writers treat rather fully of the Sheep, and 
 
 M
 
 162 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 give some very amusing advice respecting their management. 
 If the ewes cannot be fattened iii the ordinary manner, that end 
 may be achieved by tying up the udder so that the milk cannot 
 flow, and the elements which would have furnished milk are 
 forced to produce fat. If the weather should be chilly at the 
 shearing time, and there is danger of taking cold after the wool 
 is removed, the shepherd should dip a sponge in oil and tie it 
 on the forehead of the newly-shorn animal. Or, if he should 
 not have a sponge by him, a woollen rag will do as well. The 
 same potent remedy is also efficacious if the Sheep should be ill 
 in lambing time. 
 
 That the Sheep is liable to the attack of the gadfly, which 
 deposits its eggs in the nostrils of the unfortunate animal, 
 was as well known in the ancient as in modern times. It is 
 scarcely necessary to mention that the insect in question is 
 the ^Estrus ovis. Instinctively aware of the presence of this 
 insidious and dreaded enemy, which, though so apparently 
 insignificant, is as formidable a foe as any of the beasts of 
 prey, the Sheep display the greatest terror at the sharp, 
 menacing sound produced by the gadfly's wings as the insect 
 sweeps through the air towards its destination. They congre- 
 gate together, placing their heads almost in contact with each 
 other, snort and paw the ground in their terror, and use all means 
 in their power to prevent the fly from accomplishing its purpose. 
 
 When a gadfly succeeds in attaining its aim, it rapidly 
 deposits an egg or two in the nostril, and then leaves them. 
 The tiny eggs are soon hatched by the natural heat of the 
 animal, and the young larvee crawl up the nostril towards the 
 frontal sinus. There they remain until they are full-grown, when 
 they crawl through the nostrils, fall on the ground, burrow 
 therein, and in the earth undergo their changes into the pupal 
 and perfect stages. 
 
 It need hardly be said that an intelligent shepherd would 
 devote himself to the task of killing every gadfly which he 
 could find, and, as these insects are fond of basking on sunny 
 rocks or tree-trunks, this is no very difficult matter. 
 
 The Rabbinical writers, however, being totally ignorant of 
 practical entomology, do not seem to have recognised the insect 
 until it had reached its full larval growth. They say that the 
 rams manage to shake the grubs out of their nostrils by butting
 
 THE SHEEP. 163 
 
 at one another in mimic warfare, and that the ewes, which are 
 hornless, and are therefore incapable of relieving themselves 
 by such means, ought to be supplied with plants which will 
 make them sneeze, so that they may shake out the grubs by 
 the convulsive jerkings of the head caused by inhaling the 
 irritating substance. 
 
 The same writers also recommend that the rams should be 
 furnished with strong leathern collars. 
 
 When the flock is on the march, the rams always go in the 
 van, and, being instinctively afraid of their ancient enemy the 
 wolf, they continually raise their heads and look about them. 
 This line of conduct irritates the wolves, who attack the fore- 
 most rams and seize them by the throat. If, therefore, a piece 
 of stout leather be fastened round the ram's neck, the wolf is 
 baffled, and runs off in sullen despair. 
 
 Generally, the oldest ram is distinguished by a bell, and, when 
 the flock moves over the hilly slopes, the Sheep walk in file after 
 the leader, making narrow paths, which are very distinct from a 
 distance, but are scarcely perceptible when the foot of the 
 traveller is actually upon them. Prom this habit has arisen an 
 ancient proverb, "As the sheep after the sheep, so the daughter 
 after the mother," a saying which is another form of our OW.B. 
 familiar proverb, " What is bred in the bone will not come out 
 of the flesh." 
 
 WE now come to the Sheep considered with reference ' to its 
 uses. First and foremost the Sheep was, and still is, one of the 
 chief means of subsistence, being to the pastoral inhabitants of 
 Palestine what the oxen are to the pastoral inhabitants of 
 Southern Africa. 
 
 To ordinary persons the flesh of the Sheep was a seldom- 
 tasted luxury ; great men might eat it habitually, " faring 
 sumptuously every day," and we find that, among the glories of 
 Solomon's reign, the sacred chronicler has thought it worth while 
 to mention that part of the daily provision for his household 
 included one hundred Sheep. No particular pains seem to have 
 been taken about the cooking of the animal, which seems gene- 
 rally to have been boiled. As, however, in such a climate the 
 flesh could not be kept for the purpose of making it tender, as is 
 the case in this part of the world, it was cooked as soon as the 
 
 M 2
 
 16-i BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 animal was killed, the fibres not having time to settle into the 
 rigidity of death. 
 
 Generally, when ordinary people had the opportunity of 
 tasting the flesh of the Sheep, it was on the occasion of some 
 rejoicing, such, for example, as a marriage feast, or the advent of 
 a guest, for whom a lamb or a kid was slain and cooked on the 
 spot, a young male lamb being almost invariably chosen as less 
 injurious than the ewe to the future prospects of the flock. 
 Boasting over a fire was sometimes adopted, as was baking in an 
 oven sunk in the ground, a remarkable instance of which we 
 shall see when we come to the Jewish sacrifices. Boiling, 
 however, was the principal mode ; so much so, indeed, that the 
 Hebrew word which signifies boiling is used to signify any kind 
 of cooking, even when the meat was roasted. 
 
 The process of cooking and eating the Sheep was as follows. 
 
 The animal having been killed according to the legal form, the 
 skin was stripped off, and the body separated joint from joint, 
 the right shoulder being first removed. This, it will be remem- 
 bered, was the priest's portion ; see Lev. vii. 32 : " The right 
 shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the 
 sacrifices of your peace offerings." The whole of the flesh was 
 then separated from the bones, and chopped small, and even the 
 bones themselves broken up, so that the marrow might not 
 be lost. 
 
 A reference to this custom is found in Micah iii. 2, 3, " Who 
 pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their 
 bones ; who also eat the flesh of my people .... and they break 
 their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh 
 within the caldron." The reader will now understand more fully 
 the force of the prophecy, " He keepeth all His bones : not one of 
 them is broken " (Psa. xxxiv. '20). 
 
 The mixed mass of bones and flesh was then put into the 
 caldron, which was generally filled with water, but sometimes 
 with milk, as is the custom with the Bedouins of the present 
 clay, whose manners are in many respects identical with those 
 of the early Jews. It has been thought by some commentators 
 that the injunction not to " seethe a kid in his mother's milk " 
 (Deut. xiv. 21) referred to this custom. I believe, however, that 
 the expression " in his mother's milk " does not signify that the 
 flosh of the kid might not be boiled in its mother's milk, but
 
 THE SHEEP. 165 
 
 that a kid might not be taken which was still in its mother's 
 milk, i.e. unweaned. 
 
 Salt and spices were generally added to it ; see Ezek. xxiv. 10 : 
 " Heap on wood, kindle the tire, consume the flesh, and spice it 
 well." The surface was carefully skimmed, and, when the meat 
 was thoroughly cooked, it and the broth were served up sepa- 
 rately. The latter was used as a sort of sauce, into which un- 
 leavened bread was dipped. So in Judges vi. 19 we read that 
 when Gideon was visited by the angel, according to the hos- 
 pitable custom of the land, he " made ready a kid, and unlea- 
 vened cakes of an ephah of flour : the flesh he put in a basket, 
 and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him 
 under the oak, and presented it to him." 
 
 Valuable, however, as was the Sheep for this purpose, there 
 has always existed a great reluctance to kill the animal, the very 
 sight of the flocks being an intense gratification to a pastoral 
 Oriental. The principal part of the food supplied by the Sheep 
 was, and is still, the milk ; which afforded abundant food with- 
 out thinning the number of the flock. As all know who have 
 tasted it, the milk of the Sheep is peculiarly rich, and in the 
 East is valued much more highly than that of cattle. The 
 milk was seldom drunk in a fresh state, as is usually the case 
 with ourselves, but was suffered to become sour, curdled, and 
 semi-solid. 
 
 This custom exists at the present day, the curdled milk being 
 known by the name of " leben." It is worthy of notice that all 
 the Kaffir tribes of Southern Africa, who live almost entirely on 
 milk, also use it curdled, under the name of " amasi," and utterly 
 refuse to drink it in its fresh state, looking upon new milk much 
 as we should look upon unfermented ale. It is curdled by being 
 placed in a vessel together with some of the already curdled 
 milk, and the usual plan is to preserve for this special purpose a 
 vessel which is never wholly emptied, and which is found to 
 curdle the milk with great rapidity. 
 
 " Leben " is exceedingly nutritious, and especially adapted for 
 children, who, when accustomed to it, will very much prefer it 
 to the milk in a fresh state. Two separate words are used in 
 the Old Testament to distinguish fresh from curdled milk, the 
 former being called Chalab, and the latter Chemhah. 
 
 For butter (if we may accept the rendering of the word) the
 
 166 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 milk of the cow or the goat seems to have been preferred, 
 although that of the Sheep also furnishes it. This distinction is 
 drawn even in the earliest days of Jewish history, and in the 
 Song of Moses (Deut. xxxii. 13, 14) we find this passage, " He 
 made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty 
 rock ; butter of kine and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs." 
 
 There is, however, a little uncertainty about the word which 
 is translated as butter, and as this word is only used in a very 
 few passages, we will refer briefly to them. The first mention 
 of butter occurs in Gen. xviii. 8, where we are told that 
 Abraham "took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had 
 dressed, and set it before them." In this passage we find the 
 words " chemhah " and " chalah " are used, the former being trans- 
 lated in the Jewish Bible as " clotted cream." Abraham therefore 
 gave his angelic guests their choice of milk, both fresh and 
 curdled. In the passage from Deut. xxxii. 14, which has 
 already been mentioned, the same words are used, as they are 
 in the well-known passage in the history of Jael and Sisera 
 (Judges v. 25) : " He asked water, and she gave him milk 
 (chalab) ; she brought forth butter (chemhah) in a lordly dish." 
 
 Again, the butter which Shobi, Machir, and Barzillai brought 
 to David, together with honey, was the chemhah (2 Sam. xvii 
 29). In the familiar passage, " Butter and honey shall He eat" 
 (Isa. vii. 15), the same word is used ; and so it is in Job xx. 17, 
 " He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and 
 butter." 
 
 But in Prov. xxx. 33, " Surely the churning (mitz) of milk 
 (chalab) bringeth forth butter" (chemhah), we have a proof 
 that the chemhah, whatever it may be, is produced by the 
 churning or pressure of the fresh milk. As to the exact force of 
 the word " mitz " there is a little doubt, some persons translating 
 it as pressure, and others as agitating or shaking, a movement 
 which, when applied to milk, would be rightly translated as 
 churning. This latter interpretation is strengthened by the con- 
 text, " Surely the churning (mitz) of milk bringeth forth butter, 
 and the wringing (mitz) of the nose bringeth forth blood." 
 
 It is most probable that the chemhah may signify both clotted 
 cream and butter, just as many words in our language have two 
 or more significations. Some commentators have thought that 
 the ancient Jews were not acquainted with butter. Tins
 
 THE SHEEP. 107 
 
 theory, however, is scarcely tenable. Butter is used largely at 
 the present day, and is made after the simple fashion of the 
 East, by shaking the cream in a vessel, exactly as it is made 
 among the black tribes of Southern Africa and other parts of the 
 world. And, considering the unchanging character of institu- 
 tions in the East, we may assume as certain that the ancient 
 inhabitants of Palestine were, like their modern successors, 
 acquainted both with the clotted cream and true butter. 
 
 Moreover, two substances, butter and honey, which are men- 
 tioned in Samuel, in Job, and in Isaiah, as connected with each 
 other, are still eaten together in the East. 
 
 A reference to the milk of Sheep is to be found in the New 
 Testament : " Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the 
 fruit thereof ? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk 
 of the flock ? " (1 Cor. ix, 7). 
 
 In this country the milk of the Sheep is scarcely ever used, 
 but in Scotland, especially in the great Sheep-feeding districts, its 
 milk ds valued as it deserves, and is specially employed for the 
 manufacture of cheese. 
 
 The mention of cheese brings us to another branch of the 
 subject. Gesenius thinks that the chemhah mentioned in Prov. 
 xxx. must be a kind of cheese, on account of the word " mitz," 
 i.e. pressure. Thus the word " cheese " occurs three times in 
 the Authorized Version of the Bible, and in all these passages" 
 a different word is used. We will take them in their order. 
 The first mention occurs in 1 Sam. xvii. 17, 18, " And Jesse said 
 unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this 
 parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy 
 brethren ; and carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their 
 thousand." In this passage the word which is rendered " cheeses " 
 in the Authorized Version is " charitz," a term which is translated 
 in the Jewish Bible as " slices of cheeses," on account of the 
 etymology of the word, which is derived from a root signifying 
 slicing or cutting. 
 
 Another word is used in 2 Sam. xvii. 29, where, among the 
 provisions that Barzillai brought to David, is mentioned " cheese 
 of kine." The Hebrew word " shaphoth," which is translated as 
 cheese, derives its origin from a root signifying to scrape. 
 
 The third term translated as cheese is to be found in Job x. 1 0, 
 "Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and Qurdled me Hke
 
 168 BIBLE A.NIMA.LS. 
 
 cheese?" The word "gebinah," which is here translated as 
 " cheese " both in the Authorized Version and the Jewish Bible, 
 is derived from a root signifying to curdle. 
 
 Here, then, ,we have three passages, in each of which a 
 different word is mentioned, and yet these words have been 
 translated in a precisely similar manner, both in our own version 
 and in the Jewish Bible. The subject is so well summed up 
 by the Eev. W. L. Bevan, in Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible," 
 that we may insert here the passage : 
 
 "It is difficult to decide how far these terms correspond 
 with our notion of cheese, for they simply imply various degrees 
 of coagulation. It may be observed that cheese is not at the 
 present day common among the Bedouin Arabs, butter being 
 decidedly preferred. But there is a substance closely corre- 
 sponding to those mentioned in 1 Sam. xvii., 2 Sam. xvii., con- 
 sisting of coagulated buttermilk, which is dried until it becomes 
 quite hard, and is then ground. The Arabs eat it with butter. 
 (Burckhardt, ' Notes on the Bedouins,' i. 60.) 
 
 " In reference to this subject, it is noticeable that the ancients 
 seem generally to have used either butter or cheese, but not 
 both. Thus the Greeks had in reality but one expression for 
 the two ; for fiovrepov = /3ovs-rvp6<; (' cheese of kine '). The 
 Komans used cheese extensively, while all nomad tribes pre- 
 ferred butter. The distinction between cheese proper and 
 coagulated milk seems to be referred to in Pliny xi. 96." 
 
 The reader will observe that this opinion exactly coincides 
 with that which was expressed a few lines above, namely, that 
 the Hebrews used one word to express both butter and cheese. 
 The coagulated and dried buttermilk i.e. the " leben " of the 
 Bedouins, and the "amasi" of the Kaffir tribe may well be 
 the " shaphoth bakar," or " scrapings of the kine," as being 
 necessarily scraped off the stone or metal plate on which it 
 was dried. 
 
 WE now come to a portion of the Sheep scarcely less im- 
 portant than the flesh and the milk, i.e. the fleece, or wool. 
 
 In the ancient times nearly the whole of the clothing was 
 made of wool, especially the most valuable part of it, namely 
 the large mantle, or " haick," in which the whole person could 
 be folded, and which was the usual covering during sleep. The
 
 THE SHEEP. 169 
 
 wool, therefore, would be an article of great national value ; and 
 so we find that when the king of Moab paid his tribute in kind 
 to the king of Israel, it was carefully specified that the Sheep 
 should not be shorn. "And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep- 
 master, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand 
 lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool." 
 
 The wool of the Sheep of Palestine differed extremely in value ; 
 some kinds being course and rough, while others were long, 
 tine, and soft. 
 
 The wool was dressed in those times much as it is at pre- 
 sent, being carded and then spun with the spindle, the distaff 
 being apparently unused, and the wool simply drawn out by the 
 hand. The shape of the spindle was much like that of the well- 
 known flat, spinning-tops that come from Japan namely, a 
 disc through which passes an axle. A smart twirl given by the 
 fingers to the axle makes the disc revolve very rapidly, and its 
 weight causes the rotation to continue for a considerable time. 
 Spinning the wool was exclusively the task of the women, a 
 custom which prevailed in this country up to a very recent 
 time, and which still traditionally survives in the term "spinster," 
 and in the metaphorical use of the word "distaff" as synony- 
 mous with a woman's proper work. 
 
 Only a few passages occur in the Scriptures in which spinning 
 is mentioned. In Exod. xxxv. 25 we are told that, when the 
 people were preparing the materials for the Tabernacle, " all the 
 women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and 
 brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, 
 and of scarlet, and of fine linen." It is true that in Prov. 
 xxxi. 19 there is mention both of the distaff and spindle : " She 
 layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hand holds the distaff';" 
 but the word which is translated as " distaff" is more probably 
 the flat disc which gave to the spindle its whirling movement. 
 Buxtorf's "Hebrew Lexicon" favours this interpretation, trans- 
 lating the word as " verticulum, quasi fusi directorium," the 
 word being derived from a root signifying straight, or to keep 
 something else straight. 
 
 The only other reference to spinning is the well-known 
 passage, " Consider the lilies, how they grow ; they toil not, 
 neither do they spin : and yet I say unto you, That Solomon in 
 all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
 
 170 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 When spun into threads, the wool was woven in the simple 
 loom which has existed up to our own day, and which is 
 identical in its general principles throughout a very large 
 portion of the world. It consisted of a framework of wood, at 
 one end of which was placed the " beam " to which the warp 
 was attached ; and at the other end was the " pin " on which the 
 cloth was rolled as it was finished. 
 
 The reader may remember that when Delilah was cajoling 
 Samson to tell her the secret of his strength, he said, " If thou 
 weavest the seven locks of my head with the web." So, as he 
 slept, she interwove his long hair with the fabric which was on 
 her loom, and, to make sure, " fastened it with the pin," i. e. wove 
 it completely into the cloth which was rolled round the pin. 
 So firmly had she done so, that when he awoke he could not 
 disentangle his hair, but left the house with the whole of the 
 loom, the beam and the pin, and the web hanging to his head. 
 
 The threads of the warp were separated by slight rods, and 
 the woof was passed between them with a shuttle shaped 
 something like a sword, which answered the double purpose 
 of conducting the thread, and of striking it with the edge so as 
 to make it lie regularly in its place. 
 
 The loom may either have been upright or horizontal, but was 
 probably the former, the weaver standing at his work, beginning 
 at the top, and so weaving down. The seamless coat or tunic 
 of our Lord was thus made, being " woven from the top through- 
 out," like the Roman garments of a similar character, called 
 rectce, signifying that they were woven in an upright loom. 
 According to the Jewish traditions, the sacerdotal garments were 
 thus made in one piece. 
 
 Allusion is made to the speed with which the weaver throws 
 his shuttle in Job vii. 6, " My days are swifter than a weaver's 
 shuttle, and are passed without hope." "When the fabric was 
 finished, the weaver cut it away from the thrum, an operation 
 which is noticed in the following passage of Isa. xxxviii. 12, "Mine 
 age is departed, and is removed from me like a shepherd's tent : 
 I have cut off like a weaver my life : He will cut me off with 
 pining sickness." The latter sentence is translated in the Jewish 
 Bible " He will cut me off from the thrum," and the same render- 
 ing is in the marginal note of the Authorized Version.
 
 THE SHEEP. 171 
 
 The reader may remember a remarkable prohibition iu Deut. 
 xxii. 11, "Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as 
 woollen and linen together," a prohibition which was sufficiently 
 important to be repeated in Lev. xix. 19. Now the word which 
 is rendered as "divers sorts" in one passage and as "mingled" in 
 the other has been variously interpreted, some persons rendering 
 it as motley, some as spurious or counterfeit, and some as spotted 
 like a leopard. It is probable, however, that our Authorized 
 Version is the correct one, and that we may accept the exposi- 
 tion of Josephus on the subject. He states that such garments, 
 i.e. of linen warp and woollen woof, were intended wholly for 
 sacerdotal use, and were in consequence prohibited to the 
 laity. 
 
 Wool when taken from the Sheep was of various colours, 
 according to the animal from which it was shorn ; but the most 
 valuable was necessarily the white variety, which might either 
 be used without dyeing, or stained of any favourite hue. 
 Several allusions to the whiteness of such wool are made in 
 the Scriptures. See for example Ps. cxlvii. 16, "He giveth 
 snow like wool, and scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes." Also 
 Isa. i 18, " Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
 white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as 
 wool." In the prophet Daniel the Ancient of Days is described 
 as having "His garments as white as snow, and the hair of His 
 head like the pure wool." And in Rev. i. 14 the same 
 image is repeated, "His head and His hairs were white like 
 wool, as white as snow." 
 
 The reader will not fail to observe that in all these passages 
 wool and snow are mentioned as of equal whiteness. The 
 reference is probably made to the newly-carded wool, which is 
 peculiarly white and soft. 
 
 Wool was often dyed of various colours ; blue, purple, and 
 scarlet being those which were generally employed. The rams' 
 skins which formed part of the covering of the Tabernacle were 
 ordered to be dyed scarlet, partly on account of the significance 
 of the colour, and partly because none but the best and purest 
 fleeces would be chosen for so rare and costly a dye. How the 
 colour was produced we shall learn towards the end of the 
 volume. 
 
 As with us, sheep- shearing was always a time of great re-
 
 172 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 joicing and revelry, which seem often to have been carried beyond 
 the bounds of sobriety. Thus when Nabal had gathered together 
 his three thousand Sheep in Carmel, and held a shearing festival, 
 David sent to ask for sortie provisions for his band, and was 
 refused in accordance with the disposition of the man, who had 
 inflamed his naturally churlish nature with wine. " He held a 
 feast in his house, like the feast of a king : and Xabal's heart was 
 merry within him, for he was very drunken" (1 Sam. xxv. 36). 
 
 The same was probably the case when Laban was shearing his 
 Sheep (Gen. xxxi. 19). Otherwise it would scarcely have been 
 possible for Jacob to have gone away unknown to Laban, taking 
 with him his wives and children, his servants, his camels, and 
 his flocks, the rapid increase of which had excited the jealousy 
 of his uncle, and which were so numerous that, in fear of his 
 brother Esau, he divided them into two bands, and yet was able 
 to select from them a present to his brother, consisting in all of 
 nearly six hundred sheep, camels, oxen, goats, and asses. 
 
 Sometimes the shepherds and others who lived in pastoral 
 districts made themselves coats of the skins of the Sheep, with 
 the wool still adhering to it. The custom extends to the present 
 day, and even in many parts of Europe the sheep-skin dress of 
 the shepherds is a familiar sight to the traveller. The skin was 
 sometimes tanned and used as leather, but was considered as 
 inferior to that of the goat. Mr. Tristram conjectures that the 
 leathern " girdle " worn by St. John the Baptist was probably the 
 untanned sheep-skin coat which has been just mentioned. So 
 it is said of the early Christians, that " they wandered about in 
 sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented," 
 the sheep-skins in question being evidently the rude shepherd's 
 coats. 
 
 NEXT to the wool come the horns. 
 
 In our country we have done our best to produce a hornless 
 breed of Sheep, thinking the nutriment which produces the 
 horns can be better expended on the body and fleece, but in the 
 East the horns form an important commodity, and are valued in 
 proportion to their size. 
 
 The chief use of the ram's horn was as a vessel in which to 
 carry liquids, especially those which, like oil, were poured out in 
 small quantities. For this 'purpose a wooden plug was driven
 
 THE SHEEP. 173 
 
 tightly into the larger end, so as to close it completely, and 
 frequently covered, in addition, with raw hide, in order to hold 
 it firmly in its place, while the small part of the pointed end was 
 cut off, and the aperture closed with -a small stopper. The old 
 powder-horns which were formerly much used in England, and 
 which even now are employed in Palestine and many other 
 countries, were good examples of this form of vessel. 
 
 That the horn was the favourite vessel for carrying oil is seen 
 in many passages of the Scriptures. Eor example, when Saul 
 was to be superseded by David, Samuel was ordered to fill his 
 horn with oil and go to Jesse's house, 1 Sam. i. 39. The allusion 
 was evidently to a vessel whose ordinary use was the holding of 
 oil. Again, when David named Solomon his son (see 1 Kings 
 i. 39), " Zadok the priest took an horn ,of oil out of the Taber- 
 nacle, and anointed Solomon," the oil being that which was kept 
 in the Tabernacle for sacred purposes, and the ingredients of 
 which were so carefully chosen, for it was to be an " oil of holy 
 ointment, an ointment compounded after the art of the 
 apothecary (or perfumer), which shall be an holy anointing oil " 
 (Ex. xxx. 25), 
 
 The horn of the ram had also a national value, as from it were 
 made the sacred trumpets which played so important a part in 
 the history of the Jewish nation. There is no doubt that the 
 primitive trumpets were originally formed either from the horn 
 of an animal, such -as .the ox, the large-horned antelopes, the 
 sheep, arid the goat, >and that in process of time they were made 
 of metal, generally copper or silver, 
 
 Eeferences are frequently made in the Bible to these trumpets, 
 for which there were different names, probably on account of 
 their different forms. These names are, however, very loosely 
 rendered in our version, the same word being sometimes trans- 
 lated the " cornet," and sometimes the " trumpet." Putting aside, 
 however, these points of difference, we have chiefly to remark 
 the fact that trumpets made of rams' horns were ordered by the 
 Mosaic law to be sounded at certain times, and that their notes 
 formed an important part of the ritual. 
 
 Each jubilee year, for example, was ushered in by the blasts 
 of the sacred trumpets. " Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of 
 the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in 
 the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound through-
 
 174 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 out all your land " (Lev. xxv. 9). Then there was the festival 
 known as the Feast of Trumpets. " In the seventh month, on 
 the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation ; 
 ye shall do no servile work : it is a day of blowing the trumpets 
 unto you" (Numb. xxix. 1). 
 
 Perhaps the most prominent instance of the blowing of the 
 sacred trumpet may be found in the familiar passage in the book 
 of Joshua (ch. vi.) in which is described the fall of Jericho. " Ye 
 shall compass the city, all ye men of w r ar, and go about the city 
 once. This ye shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear before 
 the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns (or jubilee cornets) ; and the 
 seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests 
 shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, when 
 they make a long blast with the rams' horns, and when ye hear 
 the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great 
 shout ; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the 
 people shall ascend up every man straight before him." 
 
 Trumpets were also used as signals to the people. " Declare 
 ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem, and say, Blow ye the 
 trumpet in the land : cry, gather together and say, Assemble 
 yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities " (Jer. iv. 5). 
 And on that great and solemn day when the law was given 
 from Mount Sinai the signal to the people was the sound of the 
 trumpet (or cornet, as the word is translated in the margin). 
 " And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that 
 there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the 
 mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud ; so that 
 all the people that was in the camp trembled" (Exod. xix. 16). 
 
 The Hebrew word which is here translated as "trumpet" is 
 "shofar," which signifies also a horn, and is therefore very rightly 
 translated in the margin and in the Jewish Bible as " cornet." 
 What may have been the shape of the shofar is evident from 
 the fact that the same instrument is used even at the present 
 day in certain parts of the Jewish ritual. One of these trumpets 
 is now before me, and is shown in the accompanying illustration. 
 
 In length it measures eighteen inches, i.e. a cubit, and it is 
 formed entirely in one piece. As far as I can judge, it is made 
 from the left horn of the broad-tailed Sheep, which, as has already 
 been remarked, is not spiral, but flattish, curved backwards, and 
 forming nearly a circle, the point passing under the ear. This
 
 THE SHEEP 
 
 175 
 
 structure, added to the large size of the horn, adapts it well for 
 its purpose. In order to bring it to the proper shape, the horn 
 is softened by heat, and is then modelled into the very form 
 which was used by the Jewish priests who blew the trumpet 
 before the ark. 
 
 RAM'S HORN TRUMPET. 
 
 At the present day one such trumpet, at least, is found in 
 every Jewish community, and is kept by the man who has the 
 privilege of blowing it. On the New Year's festival and the 
 Day of Atonement the trumpet is used in the Jewish ritual, 
 and as the ceremonies connected with blowing it are extremely 
 interesting, they will be briefly described. 
 
 The trumpeter, who is not necessarily a priest, but may be 
 any pious man selected from the congregation, prepares himself 
 by bathing, and at the appointed time puts on the white shirt or 
 shroud in which Jews are buried. Before the trumpet is blown, 
 a prayer is said, containing many cabalistic names of angels and 
 malachim, or powers. These names may not be pronounced. 
 
 The Rabbi then stands, and gives out the names of the sacred 
 tones in their succession. By the kindness of Dr. Herman 
 Beigel, I have been enabled to hear the tones, and to put them 
 into musical notes, I believe for the first time since they 
 have been used. The tones are four in number, and are called 
 as follows : Tekeeah (the blowing), Shebarirn (the repeated 
 notes), Terooah (the note of joy), and Tekeeah-gedolah (the 
 lengthened blowing). It is not very easy exactly to express on 
 paper these ancient tones, but the following notes will give a 
 good idea of them. 
 
 Tekeeah. 
 
 Sheharim. 
 
 Terooah. 
 
 Tcl:ecah-gcd61ah.
 
 176 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 These tones are blown in three partitions, in the following 
 order : 
 
 PARTITION I. PARTITION II. 
 
 Tekeeah. Shcbarim. Tekeeah. Tekceah. Terooah. Tekeeah. 
 
 Tekeeah. Shebarim. Tekeeah. Tekeeah. Terooah. Tekeeah. 
 
 Tekeeah. Shebarim. Tekeeah. Tekeeah. Terooah. Tekeeah. 
 
 PARTITION III, 
 
 Tekeeah. Shebarim. Terooah, Tekeeah. 
 
 Tekeeah. Shebarim. Terooah. Tekeeah. 
 
 Tekeeah. Shebarim. Terooah. Tekeeah-gedolah. 
 
 Between each partition a pause is made, during which the 
 congregation join in a prayer which is full of cabalistic names 
 of the angels who have charge over the sacred tones. And, 
 according to a beautiful Hebrew tradition, when the trumpet is 
 blown with the proper rites, each tone is transformed into an 
 angel, who ascends to join his heavenly colleagues, and with 
 them forms a crown before the throne of God. So that, ever 
 since the Jewish ritual was established, every New Year's fes- 
 tival and Day of Atonement send forth their own angels, as 
 additional jewels to the heavenly crown. 
 
 These tones are the same all over the world, and have been 
 unchanged for countless generations, so that we may be nearly 
 certain that the blast before which the walls of Jericho fell were 
 the four sacred tones which have just been described. The 
 reader will perceive that all the tones are simply octaves, blown 
 with more or less rapidity, the short notes of Terooah being 
 taken as quickly as the trumpeter can blow them, and the con- 
 cluding note well swelled out, until "the voice of the cornet waxes 
 exceeding loud." Sometimes fifths are used instead of octaves. 
 
 The sounds of the shofar are very peculiar and harsh, quite 
 unlike the notes of any modern instrument. In spite, however, 
 of the wild and almost discordant harshness of the instrument, 
 and the abrupt and even startling character of the Shebarim 
 and Terooah, the sound of the shofar has a strangely solemn 
 effect, carrying back the mind of the hearer to the time when 
 the priests bore their rams'-horn trumpets before the ark, and 
 blew the same sacred blasts under the shadow of Sinai. 
 
 Dr. Beigel has made a most singular discovery concerning the 
 tones of the shofar. If the reader will blow them on a flute 
 in the exact order in which they stand, he will find that he is
 
 THE SHEEP. 177 
 
 playing a portion of the nightingale's song. This remarkable 
 fact has been communicated to the Chief Rabbi and other 
 Eabbim, who are unanimous in expressing their satisfaction at 
 it. We cannot, of course, venture to say whether the sacred 
 tones were in the first instance copied from the notes of a singing 
 bird, but it is not unlikely that, whether consciously or not, the 
 mind of the ancient composer might have been influenced by 
 tones which he had often heard, and which could be reproduced 
 in the limited compass of the ram's horn trumpet. 
 
 The old Kabbinical writers have a curious saying about the 
 ram: "The ram in life has one tone, in death seven." This 
 they explain in the following way. When the animal is living 
 the only sound which it can produce is the bleat, but when it is 
 dead it is made into musical instruments. 
 
 1. Of the horns are made trumpets. , 
 
 2. Of the leg-bones are made flutes. 
 
 3. Of the large intestines are made lute-strings. 
 4 Of the small intestines are made harp-strings. 
 
 5. Of the skin is made the drum-head. 
 
 6. Of the wool are made the pomegranates which hang be- 
 tween the golden bells of the High Priest's garment. 
 
 This latter sentence explains a passage in Exodus xxviii. 33, 
 which is not very easy of comprehension. When describing 
 the ephod of the High Priest, the sacred writer proceeds to say, 
 "And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates 
 of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem 
 thereof, and bells of gold between them round about." Both the 
 material and the use of the blue and purple and scarlet pome- 
 granates are here left uncertain, but this old Rabbinical saying 
 explains both. They were made of the dyed wool of the sheep, 
 and their use was to prevent the bells from clashing harshly 
 together, and to keep up a sort of gentle chime as the High 
 Priest went about his sacred duties. 
 
 It is very true that only six tones instead of seven are 
 enumerated, but we must not be too critical in dissecting an 
 aphorism. 
 
 WE now come to the important subject, the use of the Sheep 
 in sacrifice. 
 
 No animal was used so frequently for this purpose as the 
 
 N
 
 178 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Sheep, and in many passages of the Mosaic law are specified 
 the precise age as well as the sex of the Sheep which was to be 
 sacrificed in certain circumstances. Sometimes the Sheep was 
 sacrificed as an offering of thanksgiving, sometimes as an 
 expiation for sin, and sometimes as a redemption for some more 
 valuable animal. The young male lamb was the usual sacrifice ; 
 and almost the only sacrifice for which a Sheep might not be 
 offered was that of the two goats on the great Day of Atone- 
 ment. To mention all the passages in which the Sheep is 
 ordered for sacrifice would occupy too much of our space, and 
 we will therefore restrict ourselves to the one central rite of 
 the Jewish nation, the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb, the pre- 
 cursor of the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the 
 world. 
 
 Without examining in full the various ceremonies of the 
 Paschal sacrifice, we will glance over the salient points which 
 distinguish it from any other sacrifice. 
 
 The lamb must be a male, which is selected and examined 
 with the minutest care, that it may be free from all blemish, 
 and must be of the first year. It must be killed on the four- 
 teenth of the month Abib as the sun is setting, and the blood 
 must be sprinkled with hyssop. In the first or Egyptian Pass- 
 over the blood was sprinkled on the lintels and doorposts of 
 the houses, but afterwards on the altar. It must be roasted 
 with fire, and not boiled, after the usual custom in the East ; 
 not a bone must be broken. It must be eaten by the household 
 in haste, as if they were just starting on a journey, and if any 
 of it should be left, it must be consumed in the fire, and not 
 eaten on the following day. 
 
 Such are the chief points in connexion with the Paschal rite, 
 at once a sacrifice and a feast. The original directions not being 
 sufficiently minute to meet all the practical difficulties which 
 might hinder the correct performance of the rite, a vast number 
 of directions are given by the Eabbinical writers. In order, for 
 example, to guard against the destruction of any part of the 
 animal by careless cooking over a fire, or the possible fracture of 
 a bone by a sudden jet of flame, the Paschal lamb was rather 
 baked than roasted, being placed in an earthen oven from 
 which the ashes had been removed. In order to prevent it 
 from being burned or blackened against the sides of the oven,
 
 THE SHEEP. 179 
 
 (in which case it would be cooked with earthenware and not 
 with fire), it was transfixed with a wooden stake, made from the 
 pomegranate- tree, and a transverse spit was thrust through the 
 shoulders. These spits were made of wood, because a metal spit 
 would become heated in the oven, and would cause all the flesh 
 which it touched to be roasted with metal, and not with fire ; 
 and the wood of the pomegranate was chosen, because that 
 wood was supposed not to emit any sap when heated. If a 
 drop of water had fallen on the flesh, the law would have been 
 broken, as that part of the flesh would be considered as boiled, 
 and not roasted. 
 
 As to the eating of unleavened bread and bitter herbs with 
 the lamb, the custom does not bear on the present subject. 
 In shape the oven seems to have resembled a straw beehive, 
 having an opening at the side by which the fuel could be 
 removed and the lamb inserted. 
 
 It is most interesting to compare with the ancient Paschal 
 sacrifice the mode of conducting the Passover as still prac- 
 tised on Mount Gerizim by the Samaritans, who still " worship 
 in this mountain," as their fathers had done. The Samaritans, 
 a turbulent nation, or rather an aggregation of tribes who had 
 adopted their own modification of the Jewish religion, considered 
 Mount Gerizim as the most sacred spot on the earth, and made 
 it a principle of their faith to worship there. They hallowed 
 the mountain with various traditions, some perhaps true, others 
 clearly erroneous. They said that on the summit of Mount 
 Gerizim, and not on the comparatively little hill of Moriah, 
 Abraham's marvellous faith was so fearfully tested. They even 
 now point out the very spot on which it took place a small 
 smoothed plot of ground on the summit of the mountain, 
 remarkable for the contrast which its level plateau presents to 
 the rough, rugged sides of the mountain, broken by clefts and 
 strewn with great angular stones, as if a rocky mountain had 
 been blown to pieces and the fragments showered on Gerizim. 
 
 On Gerizim are the " twelve stones " of Joshua, placed by 
 him in commemoration of the passage of the Jordan. There 
 are the great, massive stones placed closely together in a row, 
 and apparently forming part of the rocky mountain itself. 
 
 On Gerizim are the seven steps made by Adam when he was 
 driven out of Paradise, and in Gerizim is the cave in which the 
 
 N2
 
 180 BIBLE AXIMALS. 
 
 Tabernacle was built. On Gerizim the Passover was celebrated 
 in the time of Christ, and on Gerizim it is celebrated still. The 
 Samaritans have often been prevented from doing so by the 
 Moslems, and even so late as 1842 the Mahometan Ulema 
 threatened to murder the whole of the little community, 
 under two hundred in number, on the ground that they had 
 no religion. 
 
 The Samaritans believe themselves to be children of Ephraim 
 and Manasseh, and that their present priest is lineally descended 
 from a branch of the tribe of Levi, and have accordingly a great 
 pride in their descent. They observe the ceremonial law with 
 exceeding care, and, even through the many years of persecution 
 to which they have been subjected, they have never failed to go 
 thrice in the year to the top of their holy mountain, repeating 
 parts of the Law as they ascend. A great loss has lately fallen 
 upon them. They had at one time a priesthood of the house 
 of Aaron, but the family gradually dwindled away, and at last 
 utterly perished. 
 
 The ceremony of the Passover has been described by several 
 persons, such as the late Consul Rogers and the Dean of West- 
 minster, the latter of whom has given a most striking and vivid 
 account of the rite in his " Lectures on the Jewish Church." 
 
 The place which is now employed in the celebration of this 
 rite is a level spot about two hundred yards from the summit of 
 the mountain, a place which is apparently selected on account 
 of its comparative quiet and seclusion. Dean Stanley thinks 
 that in former times, when the Samaritans were the masters of 
 the country, they celebrated the sacrifice on the sacred plateau 
 on the very summit of the mountain, so that the rite could be 
 seen for a vast distance on every side. Now, however, the less 
 conspicuous place is preferred. By the kindness of the Pales- 
 tine Exploration Society, I am enabled to present the reader 
 with a view of this sacred spot, taken from a photograph made 
 an hour or two before the time of sacrifice. The rough, rugged 
 character of the mountain is shown by this illustration, though 
 not so well as in several other photographs of Gerizim, in which 
 the entire surface seems to be loosely covered with stones like 
 those of which the low wall is built. Near the centre of the 
 illustration may be seen a pile of sticks and the tops of two 
 caldrons, on each of which a stone is laid to keep the cover from
 
 THE SHEEP. 
 
 181 
 
 being blown off by the wind. These sticks nearly fill a trench 
 in which the caldrons are sunk, and their use will be presently 
 seen on reading Dean Stanley's narrative. In the far distance 
 are the plains of Samaria, and the long-drawn shadows of the 
 priest and his nephew, and probable successor, show that the 
 time of sacrifice is rapidly approaching. 
 
 THE PLACE OF .SACRIFICE. 
 
 On the previous day the whole of the community had pitched 
 their tents on the mountain, and as the time of sunset approached 
 the women retired to the tents, and all the males, except those 
 who were unclean according to the provisions of the Mosaic law, 
 assembled near a long deep trench that had been dug in the 
 ground. The men are clothed in long white garments, and the 
 six young men who are selected as the actual sacrifices are
 
 182 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 dressed in white drawers and shirts. These youths are trained 
 to the duty, but whether they hold any sacred office could not 
 be ascertained. 
 
 Then, according to the narrative of Dean Stanley, " the priest, 
 ascending a large rough stone in front of the congregation, re- 
 cited in a loud chant or scream, in which the others joined, 
 prayers or praises chiefly turning on the glories of Abraham 
 and Isaac. Their attitude was that of all Orientals in prayer ; 
 standing, occasionally diversified by the stretching out of the 
 hands, and more rarely by kneeling or crouching, with their 
 knees wrapped in their clothes and bent to the ground, towards 
 the Holy Place on the summit of Gerizim. The priest recited 
 his prayers by h:,art ; the others had mostly books in Hebrew 
 and Arabic. 
 
 " Presently, suddenly there appeared amongst the worshippers 
 six sheep, driven up by the side of the youths before mentioned. 
 The unconscious innocence with which they wandered to and 
 fro amongst the bystanders, and the simplicity in aspect and 
 manner of the young men who tended them, more recalled a 
 pastoral scene in Arcadia, or one of those inimitable patriarchal 
 tableaux represented in the Ammergau Mystery, than a religious 
 ceremonial. 
 
 " The sun, meanwhile, which had hitherto burnished up the 
 Mediterranean in the distance, now sank very nearly to the 
 farthest western ridge overhanging the plain of Sharon. The 
 recitation became more vehement. The priest turned about, 
 facing his brethren, and the whole history of the Exodus from 
 the beginning of the plagues of Egypt was rapidly, almost 
 furiously, chanted. The sheep, still innocently playful, were 
 driven more closely together. 
 
 " The setting sun now touched the ridge. The youths burst 
 into a wild murmur of their own, drew forth their long bright 
 knives, and brandished them aloft. In a moment the sheep 
 were thrown on their backs, and the flashing knives rapidly 
 drawn across their throats. Then a few convulsive but silent 
 struggles 'as a sheep . . . dumb . . . that openeth not his mouth,' 
 and the six forms lay lifeless on the ground, the blood streaming 
 from them ; the one only Jewish sacrifice lingering in the world. 
 In the blood the young men dipped their fingers, and a small 
 spot was marked on the foreheads and noses of the children. A
 
 THE SHEEP. 183 
 
 few years ago the red stain was placed on all. But this had 
 now dwindled away into the present practice, preserved, we were 
 told, as a relic or emblem of the whole. Then, as if in con- 
 gratulation at the completion of the ceremony, they all kissed 
 each other, in the Oriental fashion, on each side of the head. 
 
 " The next process was that of the fleecing and roasting of the 
 slaughtered animals, for which the ancient temple furnished 
 such ample provisions. Two holes on the mountain side had 
 been dug; one at some distance, of considerable depth, the other, 
 close to the scene of the sacrifice, comparatively shallow. In 
 this latter cavity, after a short prayer, a fire was kindled, out of 
 the mass of dry heath, juniper, and briers, such as furnished the 
 materials for the conflagration in Jotham's parable, delivered not 
 far from this spot. 
 
 " Over the fire were placed two caldrons full of water. Whilst 
 the water boiled, the congregation again stood around, and (as if 
 for economy of time) continued the recitation of the Book of 
 Exodus, and bitter herbs were handed round wrapped in a strip 
 of unleavened bread ' with unleavened bread and bitter herbs 
 shall they eat it.' Then was chanted another short prayer ; after 
 which the six youths again appeared, poured the boiling water 
 over the sheep, and plucked off their fleeces. The right forelegs 
 of the sheep, with the entrails, were thrown aside and burnt. 
 The liver was carefully put back. Long poles were brought, on 
 which the animals were spitted ; near the bottom of each pole 
 was a transverse peg or stick, to prevent the body from slip- 
 ping off." 
 
 This cross-piece does not, however, penetrate the body, which 
 in most cases scarcely touches it, so that there is little or no 
 resemblance to a crucifixion. The writer lays especial stress on 
 this point, because the early Christians saw in the transverse spit 
 an emblem of the cross. In the Jewish Passover this emblem 
 would have been more appropriate, as in that ceremony the 
 cross-piece was passed through the shoulders, and the forefeet 
 tied to it. 
 
 The Sheep being now prepared, they were carried to the oven, 
 which on this occasion was a deep, circular pit, in which a fire 
 had been previously kindled. Into this the victims were care- 
 fully lowered, the stakes on which they were impaled guarding 
 their bodies from touching the sides of the oven, and the cross-
 
 184 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 piece at the end preventing them from slipping off the stake to 
 the bottom of the pit among the ashes. A hurdle was then laid 
 on the mouth of the pit, and wet earth was heaped upon it so as 
 to close it completely. The greater part of the community then 
 retired to rest. In about five hours, the Paschal moon being 
 high in the heavens, announcement was made that the feast was 
 about to begin. Then, to resume Dean Stanley's narrative, 
 
 " Suddenly the covering of the hole was torn off, and up rose 
 into the still moonlit sky a vast column of smoke and steam ; 
 recalling, with a shock of surprise, that, even by an accidental 
 coincidence, Eeginald Heber should have so well caught this 
 striking feature of so remote and unknown a ritual : 
 
 Smokes on Gerizim's mount Samaria's sacrifice.' 
 
 " Out of the pit were dragged successively the six sheep, on 
 their long spits, black from the oven. The outlines of their 
 heads, their ears, their legs, were still visible 'his head, with 
 his legs, and with the inward parts thereof.' They were hoisted 
 aloft, and then thrown on large square brown mats, previously 
 prepared for their reception, on which we were carefully pre- 
 vented from treading, as also from touching even the extremities 
 of the spit. 
 
 " The bodies thus wrapped in the mats were hurried down to 
 the trench where the sacrifice had taken place, and laid out upon 
 them in a line between two files of the Samaritans. Those who 
 had before been dressed in white robes still retained them, with 
 the addition now of shoes on their feet and staves in their hands, 
 and ropes round their waists ' thus shall ye eat it ; with your 
 loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand.' 
 The recitation of prayers or of the Pentateuch recommenced, and 
 continued till it suddenly terminated in their all sitting down on 
 their haunches, after the Arab fashion at meals, and beginning 
 to eat. This, too, is a deviation from the practice of only a few 
 years since, when they retained the Mosaic ritual of standing 
 whilst they ate. The actual feast was conducted in rapid silence, 
 as of men in hunger, as no doubt most of them were, and so as 
 soon to consume every portion of the blackened masses, which 
 they tore away piecemeal with their fingers ' ye shall eat in" 
 haste.' There was a general merriment, as of a hearty and 
 welcome meal.
 
 THE CHAMOIS. 185 
 
 " In ten minutes all was gone but a few remnants. To the 
 priest and to the women, who, all but two (probably his two 
 wives), remained in the tents, separate morsels were carried 
 round. The remnants were gathered into the mats, and put on a 
 wooden grate, or hurdle, over the hole where the water had been 
 originally boiled ; the fire was again lit, and a huge bonfire was 
 kindled. By its blaze, and by candles lighted for the purpose, 
 the ground was searched iu. every direction, as for the conse- 
 crated particles of sacramental elements ; and these fragments of 
 flesh and bone were thrown upon the burning mass ' ye shall 
 let nothing remain until the morning ; and that which remaineth 
 until the morning ye shall burn with fire;' 'there shall not 
 anything of the flesh which thou sacrificest the first day at even 
 remain all night until the morning ; ' ' thou shalt not carry forth 
 aught of the flesh abroad out of the house.' The flames blazed 
 up once more, and then gradually sank away. 
 
 " Perhaps in another century the fire on Mount Gerizim will 
 be the only relic left of this most interesting and ancient rite." 
 
 THE CHAMOIS. 
 
 The Zemer or Chamois only once mentioned in the Bible Signification of the 
 word Zemer Probability that the Zemer is the Aoudad Appearance of the 
 Aoudad Its strength and activity Fierce temper of the adult male Horns 
 of the Aoudad Their probable use as musical instruments Habits of the 
 Aondad The Mouflon probably classed with the Aoudad under the name of 
 Zemer Appearance and habits of the Mouflon. 
 
 AMONG the animals which may be used for food is mentioned 
 one which in our version is rendered Chamois. See Deut. xiv. 5, 
 a passage which has several times been quoted. 
 
 It is evident to any one acquainted with zoology that, what- 
 ever may be the Hebrew word, " Chamois " cannot be the correct 
 rendering, inasmuch as the real Chamois does not inhabit Pales- 
 tine, nor are there any proofs that it ever did so. We must, 
 therefore, look for some other animal.
 
 '180 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Then, the Hebrew word, which only occurs once in the Bible, 
 is Zamar, or Zemer, i.e. the leaper, and therefore an animal which 
 is conspicuous for its agility. Zoologists have now agreed in 
 the opinion that the Zamer of Deuteronomy is the handsome 
 wild sheep which we know under the name of Aoudad (Ammo- 
 tragus Tragelaplius). This splendid sheep is known by various 
 names. It is the Jaela of some authors, and the Bearded Sheep of 
 others. It is also called the Fichtall, or Lerwea ; and the French 
 zoologists describe it under the name of Mouflon a manchettes, 
 in allusion to the fringe of long hair that ornaments the fore 
 limbs. 
 
 The Aoudad is a large and powerful animal, exceedingly 
 active, and has the habits of the goat rather than of the sheep, 
 on which account it is reckoned among the goats by the Arabs 
 of the present day, and doubtless was similarly classed by the 
 ancient inhabitants of Palestine. The height of the adult 
 Aoudad is about three feet, and its general colour is pale dun, 
 relieved by the dark masses of long hair that fall from the neck 
 and the tufts of similar hair which decorate the knees of the 
 male. The female is also bearded and tufted, but the hair, 
 which in the male looks like the mane of the lion, in the female 
 is but slightly developed. 
 
 It is so powerful and active an animal, that an adult male 
 which lived for some time in the Zoological Gardens was much 
 dreaded by the keepers, not even the man who fed it liking to 
 enter the enclosure if he could help himself. The animal was 
 given to making unexpected charges, and would do so with 
 astonishing quickness, springing round and leaping at the object 
 of his hate with tremendous force, and with such rapidity that 
 even the experienced keeper, who knew all the ways of the 
 animals under his charge, had often some difficulty in slipping 
 behind the door, against which the horns of the Aoudad would 
 clatter as if they would break the door to pieces. So fond was 
 he of attacking something that he would often butt repeatedly 
 at the wooden side of the shed, hurling himself against it with 
 eager fury. 
 
 The horns of the Aoudad are about two feet in length, and are 
 of considerable diameter. They curve boldly and gracefully 
 backwards, their points diverging considerably from each other, 
 so that when the animal throws its head up, the points of the
 
 THE CHAMOIS.' 
 
 187 
 
 horns come on either side of the back. This divergence of the 
 horns has another object. They cover a considerable space, so 
 that when the animal makes its charge the object of its anger 
 has much more difficulty in escaping the blow than if the horns 
 were closer together. 
 
 THE AOUDAD CHASED. 
 
 Thtit are the bens'* which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat .... and the 
 chamois." DEUT. xiv. 4, 5. 
 
 Whether these horns were used as musical instruments is 
 doubtful, simply because we- are not absolutely sure that the 
 Zamar and the Aoudad are identical, however great may be the 
 probability. But inasmuch as the horn-trumpets were evidently 
 of various sizes, it is certain that the Jewish musicians would 
 never have neglected to take advantage of such magnificent 
 materials as they would obtain from the horns of this animal.
 
 188 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Perhaps the Chaldaic " keren " may have been the horn of the 
 A cm dad, or of the animal which will next be mentioned. 
 
 The Aoudad is wonderfully active, and even the young ones 
 bound to an astonishing height. I have seen the marks of their 
 hoofs eight feet from the ground. 
 
 In its wild state the Aoudad lives in little flocks or herds, 
 and prefers the high and rocky ground, over which it leaps with 
 a sure-footed agility .equal to that of the Chamois itself. These 
 flocks are chased by hunters, who try to get it upon the lowest 
 and least broken ground, where it is at a disadvantage, and 
 then run it down with their horses, as seen in the illustration 
 on page 187. 
 
 The Aoudad was formerly plentiful in Egypt, and even now 
 is found along the Atlas mountain-range. It is seen on the 
 Egyptian monuments, and, owing to its evident profusion, we 
 have every reason to conjecture that it was one of those animals 
 which were specially indicated as chewing the cud and cleaving 
 the hoof. 
 i 
 
 PEEHAPS the MOUFLON (Caprovis Musimori) may be the animal 
 which is meant by the Hebrew word Zamar, and it is not 
 unlikely that both animals may have been included in one 
 name. 
 
 This animal, which is nearly allied to the Aoudad, is also 
 very goatlike in general aspect. It is indeed to this resemblance 
 that the name Caprovis, or goat-sheep, has been given to it. The 
 name Ammotragus, which, as mentioned above, belongs to the 
 Aoudad, has a similar signification. 
 
 The horns of the Mouflon belong only to the male animal, 
 and are of enormous size, so that if trumpets of deep tone and 
 great power were needed, they could be obtained from the horns 
 of this animal. Those of the Aoudad are very large, and would 
 be well adapted for the same purpose, but they woiild not furnish 
 such instruments as the horns of the Mouflon, which are so 
 large that they seem almost unwieldy for an animal of twice 
 the Mouflon's size, and give visible proofs of the strength and 
 agility of an animal which can carry them so lightly and leap 
 about under their weight so easily as does the Mouflon. 
 
 At the present time the Moufion is only to be found in 
 Cyprus, Sardinia, and Corsica, but formerly it was known to
 
 THE GOAT. 189 
 
 inhabit many other parts of the earth, aiid was almost certainly 
 one of the many animals which then haunted the Lebanon, but 
 which have in later days been extirpated. 
 
 THE GOAT. 
 
 Value of the Goat Its use in furnishing food The male kid the usual animal of 
 slaughter Excellence of the flesh and deception of Isaac Milk of the Goat 
 An Oriental milking scene The hair of the goat, and the uses to which it is 
 put The Goat's skin used for leather The "bottle" of Scripture Mode of 
 making and repairing the bottles Ruse of the Gibeonites The " bottle in the 
 smoke " The sacks and the kneading troughs The Goat as used for sacrifice 
 General habits of the Goat Separation of the Goats from the sheep Per- 
 forming Goats Different breeds of Goats in Palestine. 
 
 WHETHER considered in reference to food, to clothing, or to 
 sacrifice, the GOAT was scarcely a less important animal than the 
 sheep. It was especially valuable in such a country as Pales- 
 tine, in which the soil and the climate vary so much according 
 to the locality. Upon the large fertile plains the sheep are bred 
 in vast flocks, the rich and succulent grass being exactly to their 
 taste ; while in the hilly and craggy districts the Goats abound, 
 and delight in browsing upon the scanty herbage that grows 
 upon the mountain-side. 
 
 For food the Goat was even more extensively used than the 
 sheep. The adult male was, of course, not eaten, being very 
 tough, and having an odour which would repel any but an 
 actually starving man. Neither were the females generally 
 eaten, as they were needed for the future increase of the flocks. 
 The younjr male kid formed the principal material of a feast, and 
 as soon as a stranger claimed the hospitality of a man in good 
 circumstances, the first thing that was done was to take a young 
 male kid and dress it for him. 
 
 For example, when the angel visited Gideon in the guise of a 
 stranger, Gideon " went in and made ready a kid, and unlea- 
 vened cakes of an ephah of flour," and brought them to his 
 guest (Judges vi. 19). And when Isaac was on his death-bed,
 
 190 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 and asked Esau to take his bow and arrows and hunt for 
 " venison," which was probably the flesh of one of the antelopes 
 which have already been mentioned, a ready substitute was 
 found in the two kids, from whose flesh Eebekah made the dish 
 for which he longed. The imposition might easily pass without 
 detection, because the flesh of the kid is peculiarly tender, and 
 can scarcely be distinguished from lamb, even when simply 
 roasted. Isaac, therefore, with his senses dulled by his great 
 age, was the less likely to discover the imposture, when the flesh 
 of the kids was stewed into " savoury meat such as he loved." 
 
 A curious illustration of the prevalence of kid's flesh as food 
 is given in the parable of the prodigal son, for whom his father 
 had killed the fatted calf. "And he answering said to his 
 father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed 
 I at any time thy commandment : and yet thou never gavest me 
 a kid, that I might make merry with my friends " (Luke xv. 29). 
 The force of the reproval cannot be properly understood unless we 
 are acquainted with the customs of the East. The kid was the 
 least valuable animal that could have been given, less valuable 
 than a lamb, and infinitely inferior to the fatted calf, which was 
 kept in wealthy households for some feast of more than ordinary 
 magnificence. 
 
 The kid was cooked exactly in the same manner as the sheep, 
 namely, by cutting to pieces and stewing in a caldron, the meat 
 and broth being served separately. See, for example, the case of 
 Gideon, to whom a reference has already been made. When he 
 brought the banquet to his guest, " the flesh he put in a basket, 
 and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under 
 the oak, and presented it. And the angel of God said unto him, 
 Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this 
 rock, and pour out the broth." 
 
 The same custom exists at the present day. When an Arab 
 chief receives a guest, a kid is immediately killed and given to 
 the women to be cooked in a separate tent, and the guest is 
 pressed to stay until it is ready, in the very words used by Gideon 
 three thousand years ago. " Depart not hence, I pray thee, until 
 I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before 
 thee." And the angelic guest answered him just as a modern 
 Arab traveller would answer his host, " I will tarry until thov 
 come again." For the refusal of proffered hospitality would be
 
 THE GOAT. 191 
 
 and still is considered to be, either a studied insult, or a proof 
 of bad manners, and no one with any claims to breeding would 
 commit such an action without Urgent cause and much apology. 
 
 Like the sheep, the Goat is extremely valuable as a milk- 
 producer, and at the present day the milk of the Goat is used 
 as largely as that of the sheep. " At Kasheiya, under Mount 
 Hermon," writes Mr. Tristram, " we saw some hundreds of 
 goats gathering for the night in the wide open market-place 
 beneath the castle. It was no easy matter to thread our way 
 among them, as they had no idea of moving for such belated in- 
 truders on their rest. All the she-goats of the neighbouring hills 
 are driven in every evening, and remain for their morning's 
 milking, after which they set forth on their day's excursion. 
 
 " Each house possesses several, and all know their owners. 
 The evening milking is a picturesque scene. Every street and 
 open space is filled with the goats ; and women, boys, and girls 
 are everywhere milking with their small pewter pots, while the 
 goats are anxiously awaiting their turn, or lying down to chew 
 the cud as soon as it is over. As no kids or he-goats are 
 admitted, the scene is veiy orderly, and there is none of the 
 deafening bleating which usually characterises large flocks. 
 
 " These mountain goats are a solemn set, and by the gravity of 
 their demeanour excite a suspicion that they have had no youth, 
 and never were kids. They need no herdsman to bring them 
 home in the evening, for, fully sensible of the danger of re- 
 maining unprotected, they hurry homewards of their own accord 
 as soon as the sun begins to decline." 
 
 LIKE the wool of the sheep, the hair of the Goat is used for 
 the manufacture of clothing ; and, as is the case with wool, its 
 quality differs according to the particular breed of the animal, 
 which assumes almost as many varieties as the sheep or the dog. 
 The hair of some varieties is thick and rough, and can only be 
 made into coarse cloths, while others, of which the mohair Goat 
 and Cashmere Goat are familiar examples, furnish a staple of 
 surpassing delicacy and fineness. It is most likely that the 
 covering and curtains of the Tabernacle mentioned in Exod. 
 xxvi. 7 were of the latter kind, as otherwise they would have 
 been out of character with the fine -linen, and blue and scarlet, 
 their golden clasps, and the profuse magnificence which distin-
 
 192 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 guished every part of the sacred building. Moreover, the hair 
 of the Goat is classed among the costly offerings which were 
 made when the Tabernacle was built. " And they came forth, 
 men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought 
 bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of 
 gold : and every man that offered offered an offering of gold 
 unto the Lord. And every man, with whom was found blue, 
 and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red 
 skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them " to be used in 
 the structure of that wonderful building, in which nothing 
 might be used except the finest and costliest that could be 
 procured. 
 
 One of the principal uses to which the goat-skin was applied 
 was the manufacture of leather, for which purpose it ^s still 
 ased, and is considered far better than that of the sheep. 
 Perhaps the most common form in which this leather is used 
 is the well-known water-vessel, or " bottle " of the Bible. 
 
 These so-called bottles are made from the entire skin of the 
 animal, which is prepared in slightly different methods according 
 to the locality in which the manufacture is carried on. In 
 Palestine they are soaked for some little time in the tanning 
 mixture, and are then filled with water, after the seams have 
 been pitched. In this state they are kept for some time, and 
 are kept exposed to the sun, covered entirely with the tanning 
 fluid, and filled up with water to supply the loss caused by 
 evaporation and leakage. 
 
 The hair is allowed to remain on the skins, because it acts as 
 a preservative against the rough usage to which they are subject 
 at the hard hands of the water-carriers. By degrees the hairy 
 covering wears off, first in patches, and then over the entire 
 surface, so that a new bottle can be recognised at a glance, and 
 any one who wished to sell an old bottle at the price of a new 
 one would be at once detected. 
 
 Vessels made in this rude manner are absolutely necessary in 
 the countries wherein they are used. Wooden or metal vessels 
 would be too heavy, and, besides, the slight though constant 
 evaporation that always takes place through the pores of the 
 leather .keeps down the temperature of the water, even under a 
 burning sun, the slight loss which is caused by the porousness of 
 the skin being more than counterbalanced by the coolness of the
 
 THE GOAT. 193 
 
 water. It is true that the goat-skin communicates to the liquid 
 a flavour far from pleasant, but in those countries the quality of 
 the water is of little consequence, provided that it is plentiful in 
 quantity, and tolerably cool. 
 
 Even in our own country, leathern drinking-cups are sometimes 
 used, and all who have taken any interest in antiquarian manners 
 are familiar with the " leather bottle " and the " black-jack," 
 the former only surviving in museums and as signs to public- 
 houses, though the latter has within the memory of the present 
 generation been in common use. Leathern bottles are still used 
 in the Turkish army, and I have in my collection one of these 
 water-bottles, which is practically the same article as the " bottle" 
 of Scripture, though it is of comparatively small size, and is 
 made with some attempt at elegance of form. 
 
 In all parts of the world where the skin is used for this 
 purpose the mode of manufacture is practically identical. An 
 account of the art of preparing the goat-skin as practised in 
 Abyssinia is given by Mr. C. Johnston, in his "Travels in 
 Southern Abyssinia : " 
 
 " To be of any value it must be taken off uncut, except around 
 the neck, and in those situations necessary to enable the butchers 
 to draw the legs out of the skin ; also, of course, where the first 
 incision is made to commence the process, and which is a circular 
 cut carried around both haunches, not many inches from and 
 having the tail for a centre. The hide is then stripped over the 
 thighs, and two smaller incisions being made round the middle 
 joint of the hind-legs enable them to be drawn out. 
 
 " A stick is now placed to extend these extremities, and by 
 this, for the convenience of the operators, the whole carcase is 
 suspended from the branch of a tree, and, by some easy pulls 
 around the body, the skin is gradually withdrawn over the fore- 
 legs, which are incised around the knees, to admit of their being 
 taken out ; after which, the head being removed, the whole busi- 
 ness concludes by the skin being pulled inside out over the 
 decollated neck. One of the parties now takes a rough stone 
 and well rubs the inside surface, to divest it of a few fibres of 
 the subcutaneous muscle which are inserted into the skin, and 
 after this operation it is laid aside until the next day ; the more 
 interesting business of attending to the meat calling for imme- 
 diate attention. 
 
 o
 
 T.IBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 " These entire skins are afterwards made into sacks by the 
 apertures around the neck and legs "being secured by a double 
 fold of the skin being sewed upon each other, by means of a 
 slender but very tough thong. These small seams are rendered 
 quite air-tight, and the larger orifice around the haunches being 
 gathered together by the hands, the yet raw skin is distended 
 with air ; and the orifice being then tied up, the swollen bag is 
 left in that state for a few days, until slight putrefaction has 
 commenced, when the application of the rough stone soon divests 
 its surface of the hair. After this has been effected, a deal of 
 labour, during at least one day, is required to soften the distended 
 skin by beating it with heavy sticks, or trampling upon it for 
 hours together, the labourer supporting himself by clinging to 
 the bough of a tree overhead, or holding on by the wall of the 
 house. 
 
 " In this manner, whilst the skin is drying, it is prevented 
 from getting stiff, and, still further to secure it from this evil 
 condition, it is frequently rubbed with small quantities of butter. 
 When it is supposed that there is no chance of the skin becoming 
 'hard and easily broken, the orifice is opened, the air escapes, and 
 a very soft, flaccid leather bag is produced, but which, for several 
 days after, affords an amusement to the owner, when otherwise 
 unemployed, by well rubbing it all over with his hands." 
 
 The reader will see that the two processes are practically 
 identical, the chief difference being that in one country the skins 
 are distended with water and in the other with air. 
 
 As these bottles are rather apt to be damaged by the thorns, 
 branches, rocks, and similar objects with which they come in 
 contact, and are much too valuable to be thrown away as useless, 
 their owners have discovered methods of patching and repairing 
 them, which enable them to be used for some time longer. 
 Patches of considerable size are sometimes inserted, if the rent 
 should be of importance, while the wound caused by a thorn is 
 mended by a simple and efficacious expedient. The skin is first 
 emptied, and a round flat piece of wood, or even a stone of 
 suitable shape, is put into it. The skin is then held with the 
 wounded part downwards, and the stone shaken about until it 
 comes exactly upon the hole. It is then grasped, the still wet 
 hide gathered tightly under it, so as to pucker up the skin,, and 
 a ligature is tied firmly round it. Perhaps some of my readers
 
 THE GOAT. 195 
 
 may have practised the same method of mending a punctured 
 football. 
 
 Allusion to this mode of mending the skin bottles is made in 
 Josh. ix. 4, 13. The Gibeonites " did work wilily, and went and 
 made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon 
 their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up ... and 
 said . . . these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new ; and, 
 behold, they be rent." 
 
 If these skin bottles be allowed to become dry, as is some- 
 times the case when they are hung up in the srnoky tents, they 
 shrivel up, and become rotten and weak, and are no longer 
 enabled to bear the pressure caused by the fermentation of new 
 wine. So, in Ps. cxix. 81 83 : " My soul fainteth for Thy sal- 
 vation : but I hope in Thy word. 
 
 " Mine eyes fail for Thy word, saying, When wilt Thou com- 
 fort me ? 
 
 " For I am become like a bottle in the smoke ; yet do I not 
 forget Thy statutes." 
 
 How forcible does not this image become, when we realize the 
 early life of the shepherd poet, his dwelling in tents wherein are 
 no windows nor chimneys, and in which the smoke rolls to and 
 fro until it settles in the form of soot upon the leathern bottles 
 and othei rude articles of furniture that are hung from the 
 poles ! 
 
 In the New Testament there is a well-known allusion to the 
 weakness of old bottles : " Neither do men put new wine into 
 old bottles, or the bottles break and the wine runneth out, and 
 the bottles perish ; but they put new wine into new bottles, and 
 both are preserved." It would be impossible to understand the 
 meaning of this passage unless we knew that the " bottles " in 
 question were not vessels of glass or earthenware, but merely 
 the partly-tanned skins of goats. 
 
 Another allusion to the use of the goat-skin is made in that 
 part of the Book of Joshua which has already been mentioned. 
 If the reader will refer to Josh. ix. 4, he will see that the 
 Gibeonites took with them not only old bottles, but old sacks. 
 Now, these sacks bore no resemblance to the hempen bags with 
 which we are so familiar, but were nothing more than the same 
 goat-skins that were employed in the manufacture of bottles, but 
 with the opening at the neck left open. They were, in fact, 
 
 o 2
 
 196 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 skin-bottles for holding solids instead of liquids. The sacks 
 which Joseph's brethren took with them, and in the mouths of 
 which they found their money, were simply goat-skin bags, made 
 as described. 
 
 Yet another use for the goat-skin. It is almost certain that 
 the " kneading-troughs " of the ancient Israelites were simply 
 circular pieces of goat-skin, which could be laid on the ground 
 when wanted, and rolled up and carried away when out of use. 
 Thus, the fact that " the people took their dough before it was 
 leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothing 
 upon their shoulders," need cause no surprise. 
 
 Nothing could be more in accordance with probability. The 
 women were all hard at work, preparing the bread for the expected 
 journey, when the terrified Pharaoh " called for Moses and Aaron 
 by night, and said, Eise up, and get you forth from among my 
 people, both ye and the children of Israel, and go, serve the 
 Lord, as ye have said. . . . And the Egyptians were urgent upon 
 the people that they might send them out of the land in haste ; 
 for they said, We be all dead men." 
 
 So the women, being disturbed at their work, and being driven 
 out of the country before they had leavened, much less baked, 
 their bread, had no alternative but to roll up the dough in the 
 leathern " kneading-troughs," tie them up in a bundle with their 
 spare clothing, and carry them on their shoulders ; whereas, if 
 we connect the kneading-troughs with the large heavy wooden 
 implements used in this country, we shall form an entirely 
 erroneous idea of the proceeding. As soon as they came to their 
 first halting-place at Succoth, they took the leathern kneading- 
 troughs out of their clothes, unrolled them, took the dough 
 which had not even been leavened, so unexpectedly had the order 
 for marching arrived, made it into flat cakes, and baked them 
 as they best could. The same kind of "kneading-trough" is 
 still in use in many parts of the world. 
 
 Stone as well as earthenware jars were also used by the 
 inhabitants of ancient Palestine ; but they were only employed 
 for the storage of wine in houses, whereas the bottles that were 
 used in carrying wine from one place to another were invariably 
 made of leather. Water also was stored in stone or earthenware 
 jars. See, for example, John ii. 6 : " And there were set there 
 six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the
 
 THE GOAT. 197 
 
 Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece." "Whereas, when 
 it was carried about, it was poured into bottles made of skin. 
 Such was probably the " bottle of water" that Abraham put 
 on Hagar's shoulder, when she was -driven away by the jealousy 
 of Sarah. Such was the " bottle of wine " that Hannah brought 
 as her offering when she dedicated Samuel to the service of God ; 
 and such was the " bottle of milk " that Jael opened for Sisera 
 when he came to her tent. Even oil is carried in these bottles, 
 which are certainly better adapted to the backs of mules, which 
 are the usual beasts of burden, than they would be if they were 
 made of glass or earthenware. 
 
 The Rabbinical writers have much to say upon the Goat ; but 
 as the greater part of their observations and directions are with- 
 out any general interest, only a few will be selected from them. 
 
 Knowing the great strength of the Goat of their own days, 
 they exaggerate the power of those which belonged to the 
 ancients. Job's he-goats, for example, are said to have been so 
 strong and fierce that they could conquer wolves, while some 
 were so powerful that they carried bears upon their horns. They 
 also were accustomed to climb rocks, dig up roots ; and bring 
 them down in their mouths. 
 
 The milk of the white Goat is useful medicinally for affections 
 of- the lungs, and the spleen of a female kid for diseases of the 
 spleen. But if Goats are allowed to drink of the water in which 
 blacksmiths cool their iron, the spleen gradually withers away, 
 and at last disappears altogether. If the owner should desire to 
 fatten a she-goat, he ought to tie up the udders so tightly that 
 the milk cannot come into them, and the nourishment is there- 
 fore converted into fat instead of milk. Also, he should take 
 care to keep his Goats away from the place where bread is being 
 made, as they are very fond of the unbaked dough, and always 
 die if they eat it. 
 
 IN sacrifices, the Goat was in nearly as much requisition as 
 the lamb, and in one namely, that which was celebrated on the 
 Great Day of Atonement the Goat was specially mentioned as 
 the only animal which could be sacrificed. The reader will, 
 perhaps, remember that for this peculiar sacrifice two Goats were 
 required, on which two lots were cast, one for the Lord, i. e. with 
 the word "Jehovah" upon it, and the other for the scapegoat,
 
 198 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 i.e. inscribed with the word " Azazel." The latter term is derived 
 from two Hebrew words, the former being " Az," which is the 
 general name for the Goat, and the second " azel," signifying "he 
 departed.'' The former, which belonged to Jehovah, was sacri- 
 ficed, and its blood sprinkled upon the mercy-seat and the altar of 
 incense ; and the Goat Azazel was led away into the wilderness, 
 bearing upon its head the sins of the people, and there let 
 loose. 
 
 THESE being the uses of the Goat, it may naturally be imagined 
 that the animal is one of extreme importance, and that it is 
 watched as carefully by its owners as the sheep. Indeed, both 
 sheep and Goats belong to the same master, and are tended by 
 the same shepherd, who exercises the same sway over them that 
 he does over the sheep. 
 
 They are, however, erratic animals, and, although they will 
 follow the shepherd wherever he may lead them, they will not 
 mix with the sheep. The latter will walk in a compact flock 
 along the valley, the shepherd leading the way, and the sheep 
 following him, led in their turn by the sound of the bell tied 
 round the neck of the master-ram of the flock. The Goats, 
 however, will not submit to walk in so quiet a manner, but pre- 
 fer to climb along the sides of the rocks that skirt the valleys, 
 skipping and jumping as they go, and seeming to take delight 
 in getting themselves into dangerous places, where a man could 
 not venture to set his foot. 
 
 In the evening, when the shepherds call their flocks to repose, 
 they often make use of the caverns which exist at some height 
 in the precipitous side of the hills, as being safe strongholds, 
 where the jackal and the hycena will not venture to attack them. 
 When such is the case, the shepherds take their station by the 
 mouth of the cave, and assist the sheep as they come sedately 
 up the narrow path that leads to the cavern. The Goats, how- 
 ever, need no assistance, but come scrambling along by paths 
 where no foot but a Goat's could tread, mostly descending from a 
 considerable height above the cave, and, as if in exultation at 
 their superior agility, j umping over the backs of the sheep as 
 they slowly file into the accustomed fold. 
 
 Friendly as 'they are, the Goats and sheep never mingle 
 together. There may be large flocks of them feeding in the same
 
 THE GOAT. 
 
 199 
 
 pasturage, but the Goats always take the highest spots on which 
 verdure grows, while the sheep graze quietly below. Goats are 
 specially fond of the tender shoots of trees, which they find in 
 plenty upon the mountain side ; and, according to Mr. Tristram, 
 
 GOATS ON THE MARCH. 
 
 " As a, shepherd div'uUth the sheep from the yoaU." MATT. xxv. 52. 
 
 by their continual browsing, they have extirpated many species 
 of trees which were once common on the hills of Palestine, and 
 which now can only be found in Lebanon on the east of the 
 Jordan. 
 
 Even when folded together in the same enclosure, the Goats 
 never mix with the sheep, but gather together by themselves, 
 and they instinctively take the same order. when assembled 
 round the wells at mid-day.
 
 200 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 This instinctive separation of the sheep and the goats naturally 
 recalls to our minds the well-known saying of our Lord that 
 " before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate 
 them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from 
 the goats : and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, and 
 the goats on His left." 
 
 The image thus used was one that was familiar to all the 
 hearers, who were accustomed daily to see the herds of sheep 
 and Goats under one shepherd, yet totally distinct from each other. 
 At feeding-time the Goats will be browsing in long lines on the 
 mountain sides, while the sheep are grazing in the plain or 
 valley ; at mid-day, when the flocks are gathered round the wells 
 to await the rolling away of the stone that guards the water, the 
 Goats assemble on one side and the sheep on the other. And 
 at night, when they are all gathered into one fold by one shep- 
 herd, they are still separated from each other. The same image 
 is employed by the prophet Ezekiel : " As for you, my flock, 
 thus said the Lord God, Behold I judge between cattle and 
 cattle, between rams and the he-goats/ 
 
 Generally, the leading Goat was distinguished by a bell as 
 well as the leading sheep, and in reference to this custom there 
 was an old proverb, " If the shepherd takes the lead, he blinds 
 the bell-goat," while another proverb is based upon the inferior 
 docility of the animal " If the shepherd be lame, the Goats 
 will run away." 
 
 Yet the Goat can be tamed very effectively, and can even be 
 taught to perform many tricks. "We saw just below us, on the 
 rudely-constructed ' parade,' a crowd of men and children, sur- 
 rounding a fantastically-dressed man exhibiting a Goat, which 
 had been tutored to perform some cunning trick. It stood with 
 its four feet close together on the top of a very long pole, and 
 allowed the man to lift it up and carry it round and round 
 within the circle ; then the Goat was perched on four sticks, and 
 again carried about. A little band of music pipes, drums, and 
 tambourines called together the people from all parts of the 
 town to witness this performance. 
 
 "The Goat danced and balanced himself obediently and per- 
 fectly, in very unnatural-looking positions, as if thoroughly 
 understanding the words and commands of his master. The 
 men who watched the actions of the Goat looked as grave and
 
 THE GOAT. 201 
 
 
 
 serious as if they were attending a philosophical or scientific 
 lecture." (" Domestic Life in Palestine," by Miss Rogers.) 
 
 Another feat is a favourite with the proprietors of trained 
 Goats. The man takes a stool and plants it carefully on the 
 ground, so as to be perfectly level, and then orders the Goat to 
 stand upon it. A piece of wood about six inches in length, and 
 shaped something like a dice-box, is then placed on the stool, 
 and the Goat manages to stand on it, all his sharp, hard hoofs 
 being pressed closely together on the tiny surface. The man 
 then takes another piece of wood and holds it to the Goat's feet. 
 The animal gently removes first one foot and then another, and, 
 by careful shifting of the feet, enables its master to place the 
 second piece of wood on the first. Successive additions are 
 made, until at the last the Goat is perched on the topmost of 
 some nine or ten pieces of wood balanced on each other, the 
 whole looking like a stout reed marked off with joints. 
 
 The stately steps and bold bearing of the old he-goat is 
 mentioned in the Proverbs : " There be three things which go 
 well, yea, four are comely in going : 
 
 " A lion, which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not 
 away for any ; 
 
 " A greyhound ; an he-goat also ; and a king, against whom 
 there is no rising up." (Prov. xxx. 29-31.) The word which is 
 here rendered as he-goat signifies literally the " Butter," and is 
 given to the animal on account of the mode in which it uses its 
 formidable horns. The word is not common in the Bible, but it 
 is used even at the present day among the Arabs. 
 
 Several herds of goats exist in Palestine, the most valuable of 
 which is the Mohair Goat, and the most common the Syrian 
 Goat. These, however dissimilar they may be in appearance, 
 are only varieties of the ordinary domestic animal, the former 
 being produced artificially by carefully selecting those specimens 
 for breeding which have the longest and finest hair. It was from 
 the hair of this breed that the costly fabrics used in the Taber- 
 nacle were woven, and it is probably to this breed that reference 
 is made in Solomon's Song, iv. J, 2: "Behold, thou art fair, 
 my love ; behold, thou art fair ; thou hast doves' eyes within thy 
 locks : thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from Mount 
 Gilead. 
 
 " Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which
 
 202 . BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 
 
 came up from the washing." In this passage the careful reader 
 will also note another reference to the habits of the Goats and 
 sheep, the hair being compared to the dark-haired Goats that 
 wander on the tops of the hills, while the teeth are compared to 
 sheep that are ranged in regular order below. The Mohair Goat 
 is known scientifically as Capra Angorensis. The same image is 
 used again in chap. vi. 5. 
 
 The second breed is that which is commonest throughout the 
 country. It is known by the name of the Syrian Goat, and is 
 remarkable for the enormous length of its ears, which sometimes 
 exceed a foot from root to tip. This variety has been described 
 as a separate species under the name of Capra Mambrica, or 
 C. Syriaca, but, like the Mohair Goat, and twenty-three other 
 so-called species, is simply a variety of the common Goat, Hircus 
 cegragus. 
 
 Eeference is made to the long ears of the Syrian Goat in 
 Amos iii. 12: "Thus saith the Lord: As the shepherd taketh 
 out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear ; so 
 shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria." 
 Such a scene, which was familiar to Amos, the shepherd as 
 well as the prophet, is represented in the illustration. In the 
 foreground is the goat on which the lion has sprung, and from 
 which one of the long ears has been torn away. Its companions 
 are gathering round it in sympathy, while its kid is trying to 
 discover the cause of its mother's uneasiness. In the background 
 is a group of armed shepherds, standing round the lion which 
 they have just killed, while one of them is holding up the torn 
 ear which he has taken out of the lion's mouth.
 
 THE GOAT. 
 As (In; .shepherd tnkcth out of the month of the lion a piece of an ear." AMOS iii p.'
 
 THE WILD GOAT. 
 
 Tho Azclim or Wild Goats of Scripture identical with the Beden or Arabian Ibex 
 Different names of the Beden Its appearance and general habits En-gedi, or 
 Goats' Fountain The Beden formerly very plentiful in Palestine, and now 
 tolerably common Its agility- Difficulty of catching or killing it How the 
 young are captured Flesh of 'the Bedeu Use of the horns at the present day 
 The Ako of Deuteronomy. 
 
 IN three passages of the Old Testament occurs a word, " Azelim," 
 which is variously translated in our Authorized Version. 
 
 It is first seen in 1 Sam. xxiv. 2, in which it is rendered as 
 " Wild Goats." " It was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is in 
 the wilderness of En-gedi [i.e. the Fountain of the Goat]. Then 
 Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went 
 to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats 
 (azelim)." The same word occurs in Job xxxix. 1 : " Knowest 
 thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth ? " 
 It is also found in Ps. civ. 18 : " The high hills are a refuge for 
 the wild goats." In all these passages it is rendered as " wild 
 goats." But, in Prov. v. 19, it is translated as roe: "Eejoice 
 with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and 
 pleasant roe (azelali)." The Jewish Bible follows the same 
 diverse renderings. 
 
 We now have to discover the animal which was signified by 
 the word Azel. According to its etymology, it is the Climber, 
 just as the adult he-goat is called the Butter. 
 
 That it was a climbing animal is evident from its name, and 
 that it loved to clamber among precipices is equally evident 
 from the repeated connexion of the word rock with the name of 
 the animal. We also see, from the passage in Job, that it is a 
 wild animal whose habits were not known. There is scarcely 
 any doubt that the Azel of the Old Testament is the ARABIAN 
 IBEX or BEDEN (Capra Nubiana). This animal is very closely 
 allied to the well-known Ibex of the Alps, or Steinbeck, but 
 may be distinguished from it by one or two slight differences,
 
 204 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 such as the black beard and the slighter make of the horns, 
 which moreover have three angles instead of four, as is the case 
 with the Alpine Ibex. 
 
 The Beden is known by several names. It is sometimes 
 called the Jaela, sometimes the Nubian Wild Goat, and is also 
 known as the Wild Goat of Sinai. The general colour of the 
 Beden is grey, becoming brownish in winter, and being whitish 
 grey beneath. The feet are spotted with black and white, and 
 the beard of the male is black, differing from that of the Alpine 
 Ibex, which is brown. The female is beardless. The lines along 
 the back and the sides of the tail are black, and there are three 
 streaks on each ear. 
 
 The Beden generally lives in little herds of eight or ten, and 
 is even now to be found in Palestine. At the strange, wild, 
 weird- looking En-gedi (A in Jiddy), or Fountain of the Goats, 
 the Beden is still to be seen. Mr. Tristram suggests that David 
 and his followers took up their residence at En-gedi for the sake 
 of the Wild Goats that were plentiful upon the spot, and which 
 would furnish food for himself and his hardy band of outlaws. 
 " In the neighbourhood of En-gedi," remarks this traveller, 
 " while encamped by the Dead Sea shore, we obtained several 
 fine specimens, and very interesting it was to find the graceful 
 creature by the very fountain to which it gave name. 
 
 " When clambering over the heights above Eu-gedi, I often, 
 by the help of my glass, saw the Ibex from a distance, and once, 
 when near Mar-saba, only a few miles from Jerusalem, started 
 one at a distance of four hundred yards. At the south end of 
 the Dead Sea they were common, and I have picked up a horn 
 both near Jericho on the hills and also on the hills of Moab on 
 the eastern side. At Jericho, too, I obtained a young one which 
 I hoped to rear, but which died after I had had it for ten days, 
 owing, I believe, to the milk with which it was fed being sour. 
 Further north and west we did not find it, though I have reason 
 to believe that a few linger on the mountains between Samaria 
 and the Jordan, and perhaps also on some of the spurs of 
 Lebanon. We found its teeth in the breccia of bone occurring in 
 the Lebanon, proving its former abundance there." 
 
 As the Beden was found so plentifully even in these days 
 when fire-arras have rendered many wild animals scarce and 
 wary, so that they will not show themselves within range of a
 
 THE WILD GOAT. 205 
 
 bullet, it is evident that in the time when David lived at En-gedi 
 and drank of the Goats' Fountain they were far more numerous, 
 and could afford nourishment to him and his soldiers. Travellers, 
 moreover, who do not happen to be experienced hunters, will 
 often fail in seeing the Beden, even in places where it is tolerably 
 plentiful. The colour of its coat resembles so nearly that of the 
 rocks, that an inexperienced eye would see nothing but bare 
 stones and sticks where a practised hunter would see numbers 
 of Beden, conspicuous by their beautifully curved horns. 
 
 The agility of the Beden is extraordinary. Loving the highest 
 and most craggy parts of the mountain ridge, it flings itself from 
 spot to spot with a recklessness that startles one who has not 
 been accustomed to the animal, and the "wonderful certainty of 
 its foot. It will, for example, dash at the face of a perpendicular 
 precipice that looks as smooth as a brick wall, for the purpose 
 of reaching a tiny ledge which is hardly perceptible, and which 
 is some fifteen feet or so above the spot whence the animal 
 sprang. Its eye, however, has marked certain little cracks and 
 projections on the face of the rock, and as the animal makes its 
 leap, it takes these little points of vantage in rapid succession, 
 just touching them as it passes upwards, and by the slight stroke 
 of its foot keeping up the original impulse of its leap. Similarly, 
 the Ibex comes sliding and leaping down precipitous sides of 
 the mountains, sometimes halting with all the four feet drawn 
 together, on a little projection scarcely larger than a penny, and 
 sometimes springing boldly over a wide crevasse, and alighting 
 with exact precision upon a projecting piece of rock that seems 
 scarcely large enough to sustain a rat comfortably. 
 
 The young of the Ibex are sometimes captured and tamed. 
 They are, however, difficult to rear, and give much more trouble 
 than the young gazelles when taken in a similar manner. The 
 natives can generally procure the kids at the proper time of 
 year, and sell them at a very cheap rate. They seldom, however, 
 can be reared, and even those who live in the country experience 
 the greatest difficulty in keeping the young Beden alive until 
 it attains maturity. 
 
 Were it not for the curious habits of the Beden, the young 
 could scarcely ever be obtained alive, as they are so agile that 
 they could easily leap away from their slow two-legged pursuers. 
 But the mother Ibex has a habit of leading a very independent
 
 206 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 life, wandering to considerable distances, and leaving her kid 
 snugly hidden in some rock-cleft. The hunters watch the 
 mother as she starts off in the morning, clamber up to the 
 spot where the kid is concealed, and secure it without difficulty. 
 The Arabs say that there are always two kids at a birth, but 
 
 AIIAUIAX IBEX, OR UEDKN' ; TIIK WILD GOAT OF SCRIPTUIiK. 
 
 The high hills are a, refuge for the. wild goats.'' PSALM exiv. IS. 
 
 there is considerable discrepancy of evidence on this point, 
 which, after all, is of very little importance. 
 
 The flesh of the Beden is really excellent. It is far superior 
 to that of the gazelle, which is comparatively dry and hard, and 
 it has been happily suggested that the Beden was the animal in 
 search of which Esau was sent to hunt with his quiver and his 
 bow, and which furnished the "savoury meat" which Isaac
 
 THE WILD GOAT. 207 
 
 loved. None but a true hunter can hope to secure the Beden, 
 and even all the knowledge, patience, and energy of the best 
 hunters are tried before they can kill their prey. It was there- 
 fore no matter of wonder that Isaac should be surprised when 
 he thought that he heard Esau return so soon from the hunting- 
 grounds. " How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my 
 son ? " 
 
 There are few animals more wary than the Beden, and even 
 the chamois ot the Alps does not exercise the finest qualities of 
 a hunter more than does the Beden of Palestine. It is gifted 
 with very keen eyes, which can discern the approach of an 
 enemy long before its grey coat and curved horns can be dis- 
 tinguished from the stones and gnarled boughs of the mountain 
 side. And, even if the enemy be not within range of the animal's 
 sight, its nostrils are so keen that it can detect a man by scent 
 alone at a considerable distance. Like all gregarious animals, 
 the Beden insures the safety of the flock by stationing sentries, 
 which are posted on places that command the whole surrounding 
 country, and to deceive the watchful senses of these wary 
 guardians tests all the qualities of the hunter. 
 
 The dawn of day is the time that is generally chosen for 
 approaching a herd* because the animals are then feeding, and 
 if the hunter can manage to approach them against the wind, he 
 may chance to come within range. Should however the wind 
 change its direction, he may quietly walk home again, for at the 
 first breath of the tainted gale the sentinels utter their shrill 
 whistle of alarm, and the whole party dash off with a speed that 
 renders pursuit useless. 
 
 The horns of the Beden are of very great size, and from their 
 bold curves, with the large rings and ridges which cover their 
 front, are remarkably handsome objects. In their own country 
 they are in great request as handles to knives, and even in 
 England they may be occasionally seen serving as handles 
 to carving-knives and forks. 
 
 As to the word Ako, which occurs in Deut. xiv. 5, together 
 with other animals, and is rendered as "Wild Goat," there is 
 so much doubt about the correct translation that I can do no- 
 more than mention that the Jewish Bible follows our authorized 
 edition in translating Ako as Wild Goat, but adds the doubtful 
 mark to the word.
 
 208 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE DEER. 
 
 The Hart and Hind of Scripture Species of Deer existing in Palestine Earliest 
 mention of the Hind The Hart classed among the clean animals Passages 
 alluding to its speed Care of the mother for her young, and her custom of 
 secreting it Tameable character of the Deer The Rabbinical writers and 
 their theories Shedding of the Deer's horns Its fabled mode of sleeping 
 The gall in the tail Curious traditions of the enmity between Deer and 
 serpents Virtues of a Deer-skin coat. 
 
 WE now come to the DEER which are mentioned in Scripture. 
 There are not many passages in which they are mentioned, and 
 one of them is rather doubtful, as we shall see when we come 
 to it. 
 
 There is no doubt that the two words HART and HIND (in the 
 Hebrew Ayzal and Ayzalali) represent Deer of some kind, and 
 the question is to find out what kind of Deer is signified by 
 these words. I think that we may safely determine that no 
 particular species is meant, but that under the word Ayzal are 
 comprehended any kinds of Deer that inhabit Palestine, and 
 were likely to be known to those to whom the earlier Scriptures 
 were addressed. That some kind of Deer was plentiful is evi- 
 dent from the references which are made to it, and specially by 
 the familiar word Ajala or Ayala, as it is pronounced, which 
 signifies the Deer-ground or pasture. But the attempt to dis- 
 criminate between one species and another is simply impossible, 
 and the more careful the search the more impracticable the task 
 appears. 
 
 As far as can be ascertained, at least two kinds of Deer inha- 
 bited Palestine in the earlier days of the Jewish history, one 
 belonging to the division which is known by its branched 
 horns, and the other to that in which the horns are flat or pal- 
 mated over the tips. Examples of both kinds are familiar to us 
 under the titles of the EED DEER and the FALLOW DEER, and it 
 is tolerably certain that both these animals were formerlv found
 
 THE DEKI5. 
 
 209 
 
 in Palestine, or that at all events the Deer which did exist there 
 were so closely allied to them as to be mere varieties occasioned 
 by the different conditions in which they were placed. 
 
 WE will now proceed to the various passages in which the 
 Hart and Hind are mentioned in the Bible. 
 
 FALIX>W-DEEK, OR HIND OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 " I charge you . . . by the hind* of the Held." CANT. ii. 7. 
 
 As might be expected, we come upon it among the number of 
 the beasts which divided the hoof and chewed the cud, and 
 were specially indicated as fit for food ; see Deut xii. 15 : 
 " Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, 
 .... the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roe- 
 buck, and as of the hart." 
 
 There is, however, an earlier mention of the word in Gen. 
 xlix. 21. It occurs in that splendid series of imagery in \vhich 
 
 p
 
 210 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Jacob blesses his sons, and prophesies their future, each image 
 serving ever afterwards as the emblem of the tribe : " Naphtali 
 is a hind let loose : he giveth goodly words ; "or, according to 
 the Jewish Bible, " Naphtali is a hind sent forth : he giveth 
 sayings of pleasantness." Now, such an image as this would 
 never have been used, had not the spectacle of the " hind let 
 loose" been perfectly familiar to the eyes both of the dying 
 patriarch and his hearers, and equally so with the lion, the ass, 
 the vine, the serpent, and other objects used emblematically in 
 the same prophetic poem. 
 
 The excellence of the Hart's flesh is shown by its occurrence 
 among the animals used for King Solomon's table ; see 1 Kings 
 iv. 23, a passage which has been quoted several times, and 
 therefore need only be mentioned. 
 
 Allusion is made to the speed and agility of the Deer in 
 several passages. See, for example, Isa. xxxv. 6 : " Then shall 
 the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb 
 sing." Again, in 2 Sam. xxii. 33, 34 : " God is my strength and 
 power : and He maketh my way perfect. 
 
 " He maketh my feet like hinds' feet : and setteth me upon 
 my high places." 
 
 Nearly four hundred years afterwards we find Habakkuk 
 using precisely the same image, evidently quoting David's Psalm 
 of Thanksgiving : " Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 1 will joy in 
 the God of my salvation. 
 
 " The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet 
 like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high 
 places." (iii. 18, 19.) 
 
 A passage of a similar character may be found in Solomon's 
 Song, ii. 8, 9 : " The voice of my beloved ! behold, he cometh 
 leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 
 
 " My beloved is like a roe or a young hart." 
 
 There is one passage in the Psalms which is familiar to us in 
 many ways, and not the least in that it has been chosen as the 
 text for so many well-known anthems. " As the hart panteth 
 after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, God. 
 
 " My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God : when shall I 
 come and appear before God? " (Ps. xlii. 1, 2.) 
 
 Beautiful as this passage is, it cannot be fully understood 
 without the context.
 
 THE DEER. 211 
 
 David wrote this psalm before he had risen to royal power, 
 and while he was fleeing from his enemies from place to place, 
 and seeking an uncertain shelter in the rock-caves. In verse 6 
 he enumerates some of the spots in which he has been forced to 
 reside, far away from the altar, the priests, and the sacrifice. 
 He has been hunted about from place to place by his enemies 
 as a stag is hunted by the hounds, and his very soul thirsted 
 for the distant Tabernacle, in which the Shekinah, the visible 
 presence of God, rested on the mercy-seat between the golden 
 cherubim. 
 
 Wild and unsettled as was the early life of David, this was 
 ever the reigning thought in his mind, and there is scarcely a 
 psalm that he wrote in which we do not find some allusion 
 to the visible presence of God among men. No matter what 
 might be the troubles through which he had to pass, even 
 though he trod the valley of the shadow of death, the thought 
 of his God was soothing as water to the hunted stag, and in 
 that thought he ever found repose. Through all his many trials 
 and adversities, through his deep remorse for his sins, through 
 his wounded paternal affections, through his success and pro- 
 sperity, that one thought is the ruling power. He begins his 
 career with it when he opposed Goliath : " Thou comest to me 
 with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield : but I come 
 to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies 
 of Israel." He closes his career with the same thought, and, in 
 the " last words " that are recorded, he charged his son to -keep 
 the commandments of the Lord, that he might do wisely all that 
 he did. 
 
 We now come to another point in the Deer's character ; 
 namely, the watchful care of the mother over her young. She 
 always retires to some secret place when she instinctively 
 knows that the birth is at hand, and she hides it from all eyes 
 until it is able to take care of itself. By some strange instinct, 
 the little one, almost as soon as it is born, is able to comprehend 
 the signals of its mother, and there is an instance, well known 
 to naturalists, where, a newly-born Deer, hardly an hour old, 
 crouched low to the earth in obedience to a light tap on its 
 shoulder from its mother's hoof. She, with the intense watch- 
 fulness of her kind, had seen a possible danger, and so warned 
 her young one to hide itself. 
 
 P2
 
 212 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 There is scarcely any animal so watchful as the female Deer. 
 as all hunters know by practical experience. It is comparatively 
 easy to deceive the stag who leads the herd, but to evade the 
 eyes and ears of the hinds is a very different business, and 
 taxes all the resources of a practised hunter. If they take such 
 care of the herd in general, it may be imagined that their 
 watchfulness would be multiplied tenfold when the object of 
 their anxiety is their own young. 
 
 It is in allusion to this well-known characteristic that a 
 passage in the Book of Job refers : " Knowest thou the time 
 when the wild goats of the rock bring forth ? or canst thou mark 
 when the hinds do calve?" (xxxix. 1.) A similar image is used 
 in Psa. xxix. 9. After enumerating the wonders that are done 
 by the voice of the Lord, the thunders and rain torrents, 
 the devastating tempests, the forked lightning, and the earth- 
 quake "that shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh," the Psalmist 
 proceeds : " The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, 
 and discovereth the forests," this being as mysterious to the 
 writer as the more conspicuous wonders which he had pre- 
 viously mentioned. 
 
 So familiar to the Hebrews was the watchful care which the 
 female Deer exercised over her young, that it forms the subject 
 of a powerful image in one of Jeremiah's mournful prophecies : 
 ' Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because 
 there was no grass." (xiv. 5.) To those who understand the habits 
 of the animal, this is a most telling and picturesque image. In 
 the first place, the Hind, a wild animal that could find food 
 where less active creatures would starve, was reduced to such 
 straits that she was obliged to remain in the fields at the time 
 when her young was born, instead of retiring to some sheltered 
 spot, according to her custom. And when it was born, instead 
 of nurturing it carefully, according to the natural maternal 
 instinct, she was forced from sheer hunger to abandon it in 
 order to find a sufficiency of food for herself. 
 
 That the Deer could be tamed, and its naturally affectionate 
 disposition cultivated, is evident from a passage in the Proverbs 
 (v. 18, 19) : " Let thy fountain be blessed : and rejoice with the 
 wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant 
 roe." 
 
 We might naturally expect that the Eabbinical writers would
 
 THE RED DEER. 
 'Canst them mark wlien the liin<ls do calve?" .Ion xxxix. 1.
 
 THE DEER. 213 
 
 have much to say on the subject of the Hart and Hind. Among 
 much that is irrelevant to the object of the present work there 
 are a few passages that deserve mention. Alluding to the 
 annual shedding of the Deer's horns, there is a proverb respect- 
 ing one who ventures his money too freely in trade, that " he has 
 hung it on the stag's horns," meaning thereby that he will never 
 see it again. It is remarkable that in Western Africa there is a 
 proverb of a similar character, the imprudent merchant being 
 told to look for his money in the place where Deer shed their 
 horns. 
 
 They firmly believed that goats and Deer associate freely 
 with each other, and that a mixed progeny was the result, but 
 some of them modify this statement by saying that this only 
 holds good with the smaller kinds ot Deer, i.e. the gazelles and 
 other antelopes. This absurd notion has evidently taken its 
 rise from the line of long bristly hair that decorates the throat 
 of the adult male, and which these unscientific writers took to 
 be derived from the beard of the goat. 
 
 On account of its watchfulness it was said always to sleep 
 with one eye open, " which is well known to be the case with 
 the hare." The ancient Jews used to catch it with nets, and then 
 domesticate it, feeding it principally with a plant which has 
 a very long and straight root, which was used by Joshua as a 
 wand of office when he pointed out to the Israelites the portion 
 of ground on which each tribe had to encamp. What the plant 
 might have been they cannot precisely ascertain, and the loose- 
 ness of their natural history may be imagined from the fact that 
 some consider the plant in question to be the ivy and others 
 the sugar-cane. 
 
 Some of the Deer, says these old writers, join the herds of 
 cattle, and even accompany them to their stalls for the night. 
 The reason of this gentleness of disposition seems to be found 
 in the position of the gall-bladder, which is said to be, not in 
 the liver, but near the tail. Jt is remarkable, by the way, that 
 Aristotle places it actually in the tail: "The Achaian harts 
 have their gall in their tails ; " while Pliny thinks that the gall 
 is placed in the ears. 
 
 The curious superstitions respecting the enmity between the 
 Deer and the serpent are of very old date, and have travelled 
 all over the world. They probably took their rise from the
 
 214 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 esoteric teachings which were hidden under the symbolism of 
 animal life, and were transmitted from country to country and 
 from age to age, after the manner of superstitions generally. 
 According to one form of the superstition, the Deer can draw 
 serpents out of their holes by breathing into them, and then 
 devour them ; while, according to another form, there is such 
 an enmity between the Deer and the serpent, that if even a 
 portion of the Deer's horns be burned, all snakes that come 
 within its influence are driven away. 
 
 Topsell, in referring to this subject, although he feels himself 
 bound to believe the tradition, accounts for it in his own quaint 
 fashion. "A Hart by his nose draweth a Serpent out of her 
 hole, and therefore the grammarians derived ElapJias, or Hart, 
 from elaunein tous opheis, that is, of driving away serpents. 
 
 " I cannot consent to the opinion of jElianus, that affirmeth 
 the Serpents to follow the breath of a Hart like some philter, or 
 amorous cup : for, seeing that all authors hold a hostility in 
 natures betwixt them, it is not probable that the Serpent 
 loveth the breath of a beast unto whose whole body he is an 
 enemy with a perpetual antipathy. And if any reply that the 
 warm breath of an Hart is acceptable to the cold Serpent, and 
 that therefore she follOweth it as a dog creepeth to the fire, or 
 as other beasts to the beams of the sun, I will not greatly gain- 
 say it, seeing by that means it is most clear that the breath doth 
 not by any secret force or vertue extract and draw her out of 
 the deii, but rather the concomitant quality of heat, which is not 
 from the secret fire in the bones of the Hart's throat (as Pliny 
 hath taught), but rather from her ordinary expiration, inspira- 
 tion, and respiration. For it cannot be, that seeing all the parts 
 of a Serpent are opposite to a Hart, that there should be any 
 love to that which killeth her. 
 
 " For my opinion, I think that the manner of the Hart's 
 drawing the Serpent out of her den is not, as jElianus and Pliny 
 affirmeth, by sending into the cave a warm breath, which 
 burneth and scorcheth the beast out of her den, but rather, when 
 the Hart hath found the Serpent's nest, she draweth the air by 
 secret and violent attraction out from the Serpent, who, to save 
 her life, followeth the air out of her den. As where a vessel is 
 broached or wrecked, the wine followeth the flying air ; and as 
 a cupping-glass draweth blood out of a scarified place of the
 
 THE DEEK. 215 
 
 body, so the Serpent is drawn unwillingly to follow her destroyer, 
 and not willingly, as jElianus afrirmeth. The Serpent being thus 
 drawn forth, addeth greater force to her poyson, whereupon the 
 proverbial admonition did arise, ' Beware thou meet not with a 
 Serpent drawn out of her hole by the breath of a Hart, for at 
 that time, by reason of her wrath, her poyson is more vehe- 
 ment.' After the self-same manner do the Sea-rams draw the 
 Sea-calves hid in the subterranean rocks, for by smelling they 
 prevent the air that should come into them for refrigeration." 
 
 In consequence of this antipathy, travellers were accustomed 
 to wear dresses made of deer-skin, because no serpent would 
 dare to bite any one who wore such armour. The timidity of 
 the Deer was attributed by these strange old authors to the 
 great size of its heart, in which they thought was a bone shaped 
 like a cross. 
 
 At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that in one 
 passage the word which is translated as "Hart" is rendered 
 differently in some versions. This passage occurs in Lam. i. 6 : 
 " And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed : 
 her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they 
 are gone without strength before the pursuer." In some editions 
 of the Hebrew Bible, the word Ayilim, i.e. "rams," is used 
 instead of Ayzalim, or " Harts," and this reading is followed both 
 by the Septuagint and the Vulgate. In two editions of the 
 Hebrew Bible, however, the word is Ayzalim ; and, as the Jewish 
 Bible retains that reading, we cannot do wrong in accepting it as 
 the correct one.
 
 216 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE CAMEL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The two species of Camel, and the mode of distinguishing them Value of thu 
 Camel in the East Camels mentioned as elements of wealth Uses of the 
 Camel The Jews forbidden to eat its flesh The milk of the Camel Thirst- 
 enduring capability The internal reservoir The hump, and its use to the 
 animal The Camel as a beast of draught and burden How the Camel is laden 
 Knowledge of its own powers Camels for riding Difficulty of sitting a 
 Camel A rough-paced steed Method of guiding the Camel The mesh'ab, 
 or Camel-stick of office The women's saddle Rachel's stratagem Ornaments 
 of the Camel The swift dromedary, Heirie, or Deloul Its ungainly aspect 
 Speed and endurance of the Deloul The Camel-posts of Bornu Camel- 
 drivers and their conduct The driver's song Young Camels and their 
 appearance The deserted Camel. 
 
 BEFORE treating of the Scriptural references to the Camel, it 
 will be as well to clear the ground by noticing that two distinct 
 species of Camel are known to zoologists ; namely, the common 
 Camel (Camelus dromedarius), which has one hump, and the 
 Bactrian Camel (Camelus Bactrianus), which has two of these 
 curious projections. There is a popular but erroneous idea that 
 the dromedary and the Camel are two distinct animals, the latter 
 being distinguished by its huge hump, whereas the fact is, that 
 the dromedary is simply a lighter and more valuable breed of 
 the one-humped Camel of Arabia, the two-humped Bactrian 
 Camel being altogether a different animal, inhabiting Central 
 Asia, Thibet, and China, 
 
 THE Camel is still one of the most valued animals that inhabit 
 Palestine, and in former times it played a part in Jewish history 
 scarcely inferior to that of the ox or sheep. We shall, there- 
 fore, devote some space to it. 
 
 In some parts of the land it even exceeded in value the 
 sheep, and was infinitely more useful than the goat. At the 
 very beginning of Jewish history we read of this animal, and it 
 is mentioned in the New Testament nearly two thousand years
 
 THE CAMEL. 217 
 
 after we meet with it in the Book of Genesis. The earliest 
 mention of the Camel occurs in Gen. xii. 16, where is related 
 the journey of Abram : " He had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, 
 and men-servants, and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels." 
 
 Belonging, as he did, to the nomad race which lives almost 
 wholly on the produce of their herds, Abram needed Camels, 
 not only for their milk, and, for all we know, for their flesh, but 
 for their extreme use as beasts of burden, without which he 
 could never have travelled over that wild and pathless land. 
 The whole of Abram's outer life was exactly that of a Bedouin 
 sheikh of the present day, in whom we find reproduced the 
 habits, the tone of thought, and the very verbiage of the ancient 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Many years afterwards, when the son of his old age was 
 desirous of marrying a wife of his own kindred, we find that he 
 sent his trusted servants with ten of his Camels to Mesopotamia, 
 and it was by the offering of water to these Camels, that Eebekah 
 was selected as Isaac's wife (see Gen. xxiv. 10, 19). In after 
 days, when Jacob was about to leave Laban, these animals are 
 mentioned as an important part of his wealth : " And the man 
 increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maid-servants, 
 and men-servants, and camels, and asses" (Gen. xxx. 43). 
 Then, in Exod. ix. 3, one of the severest plagues with which 
 Egypt was afflicted was the disease which fell upon the Camols 
 in common with the other cattle. 
 
 It is thought worthy of mention in the sacred narrative that 
 Job had three thousand, and afterwards six thousand Camels 
 (Job i. 3, and xlii. 12) ; that the Midianites and Amalekites 
 possessed "camels without number, as the sand by the sea- 
 side for multitude" (Judg. vii. 12); and that the Reubenites, 
 when making war against the Hagarites, took from them fifty 
 thousand camels exactly the very object of such wars in the 
 same land at the present time. 
 
 They were valuable enough to be sent as presents from one 
 potentate to another. For example, when Jacob went to meet 
 Esau, he gave as his present two hundred and twenty sheep, the 
 same number of goats, fifty oxen, thirty asses, and sixty camels, 
 i.e. thirty mothers, each with her calf. They were important 
 enough to be guarded by men of position. In 1 Chroii. xxvii. 30, 
 we find that the charge of David's Camels was confided to one
 
 218 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 of his officers, Obil the Ishmaelite, who, from his origin, might 
 be supposed to be skilful in the management of these animals. 
 Bochart, however, conjectures that the word Obil ought to be 
 read as Abal, i.e. the camel-keeper, and that the passage would 
 therefore read as follows : " Over the camels was an Ishmaelitish 
 camel-keeper." 
 
 WE will now proceed to the uses of the Camel, and first take 
 it in the light of food. 
 
 By the Mosaic law, the Camel was a forbidden animal, be- 
 cause it did not divide the hoof, although it chewed the cud. 
 Yet, although the Jews might not eat its flesh, they probably 
 used the milk for food, as they do at the present day. No 
 distinct Scriptural reference is made to the milk of the Camel ; 
 but, as the Jews of the present day are quite as fastidious as 
 their ancestors in keeping the Mosaic law, we are justified in 
 concluding that, although they would not eat the flesh of the 
 animal, they drank its milk. At the present time, the milk is 
 used, like that of the sheep, goat, and cow, both in a fresh and 
 curdled state, the latter being generally preferred to the former. 
 A kind of cheese is made from it, but is not much to the taste 
 of the European traveller, on account of the quantity of salt 
 which is put in it. Butter is churned in a very simple manner, 
 the fresh milk being poured into a skin bag, and the bag beaten 
 with a stick until the butter makes its appearance. 
 
 That it was really used in the patriarchal times is evident 
 by the passage which has already been mentioned, where Jacob 
 is related to have brought as a present to his brother Esau thirty 
 milch Camels, together with their young. So decided a stress 
 would certainly not have been laid upon the fact that the animals 
 were milch Camels unless the milk were intended for use. 
 
 Perhaps the use of the Camel's milk might be justified by 
 saying that the prohibition extended only to eating and not to 
 drinking, and that therefore the milk might be used though the 
 flesh was prohibited. 
 
 There was another mode in which the Camel might be used 
 by travellers to sustain life. 
 
 The reader is probably aware that, even in the burning climate 
 in which it dwells, the Camel is able to go for a long time with- 
 out drinking, not that it requires less liquid nourishment than
 
 THE CAMEL. 219 
 
 other animals, but that it is able, by means of its internal con- 
 struction, to imbibe at one draught a quantity of water which 
 will last for a considerable time. It is furnished with a series of 
 cells, into which the water runs as fast as it is drunk, and in which 
 it can be kept for some time without losing its life-preserving 
 qualities. As much as twenty gallons have been imbibed by a 
 Camel at one draught, and this amount will serve it for several 
 days, as it has the power of consuming by degrees the water 
 which it has drunk in a few minutes. 
 
 This curious power of the Camel has often proved to be the 
 salvation of its owner. It has often happened that, when 
 travellers have been passing over the desert, their supply of 
 water has been exhausted, partly by the travellers and partly by 
 the burning heat which causes it to evaporate through the pores 
 of the goat-skin bottle in which it was carried. Then the next 
 well, where they had intended to refill their skins and refresh 
 themselves, has proved dry, and the whole party seemed doomed 
 to die of thirst. 
 
 Under these circumstances, only one chance of escape is left 
 them. They kill a Camel, and from its stomach they procure 
 water enough to sustain life for a little longer, and perhaps to 
 enable them to reach a well or fountain in which water still 
 remains. The water which is thus obtained is unaltered, except 
 by a greenish hue, the result of mixing with the remains of 
 herbage in the cells. It is, of course, very disagreeable, but 
 those who are dying from thirst cannot afford to be fastidious, 
 and to them the water is a most delicious draught. 
 
 It is rather curious that, if any of the water which is taken 
 out of a dead Camel can be kept for a few days, both the green 
 hue and the unpleasant flavour disappear, and the water 
 becomes fresh, clear, and limpid. So wonderfully well do the 
 internal cells preserve the water, that after a Camel has been 
 dead for ten days and in that hot climate ten days after death 
 are equal to a month in England the water within it has been 
 quite pure and drinkable. 
 
 Many persons believe in the popular though erroneous idea 
 that the Camel does not require as much water as ordinary 
 animals. He will see, however, from the foregoing account that 
 it needs quite as much water as the horse or the ox, but that it 
 possesses the capability of taking in at one time as much as
 
 220 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 either of these animals would drink in several clays. So far 
 from being independent of water, there is no animal that requires 
 it more, or displays a stronger desire for it. A thirsty Camel 
 possesses the power of scenting water at a very great distance, 
 and, when it does so, its instincts conquer its education, and it 
 goes off at full speed towards the spot, wholly ignoring its rider 
 or driver. Many a desert spring has been discovered, and many 
 a life saved, by this wonderful instinct, the animal having 
 scented the distant water when its rider had lost all hope, and 
 was resigning himself to that terrible end, the death by thirst. 
 The sacred Zemzem fountain at Mecca was discovered by two 
 thirsty Camels. 
 
 Except by the Jews, the flesh of the Camel is eaten throughout 
 Palestine and the neighbouring countries, and is looked upon as 
 a. great luxury. The Arab, for example, can scarcely have a 
 greater treat than a Camel-feast, and looks forward to it in a state 
 of wonderful excitement. He is so impatient, that scarcely is 
 the animal dead before it is skinned, cut up, and the various 
 parts prepared for cooking. 
 
 To European palates the flesh of the Camel is rather un- 
 pleasant, being tough, stringy, and without much flavour. The 
 fatty hump is universally considered as the best part of the 
 animal, and is always offered to the chief among the guests, just 
 as the North American Indian offers the hump of the bison to 
 the most important man in the assembly. The heart and the 
 tongue, however, are always eatable, and, however old a Camel 
 may be, these parts can be cooked and eaten without fear. 
 
 The hump, or " bunch" as it is called in the Bible, has no 
 connexion with the spine, and is a supplementary growth, which 
 varies in size, not only in the species, but in the individual. It 
 is analogous to the hump upon the shoulders of the American 
 bison and the Indian zebra, and in the best-bred Camels it is the 
 smallest though the finest and most elastic. 
 
 This hump, by the way, affords one of the points by which the 
 value of the Camel is decided. When it is well fed and properly 
 cared for, the hump projects boldly, and is firm and elastic to 
 the touch. But if the Camel be ill, or if it be badly fed or over- 
 worked, the hump becomes soft and flaccid, and in bad cases 
 hangs down on one side like a thick flap of skin. Consequently, 
 the dealers in Camels always try to produce their animals in the
 
 THE CAMEL. 221 
 
 market with their humps well developed ; arid, if they find that 
 this important part does not look satisfactory, they use various 
 means to give it the required fulness, inflating it with air 
 being the most common. In fact, there is as much deception 
 among Camel-dealers in Palestine as with dog or pigeon fanciers 
 in England. 
 
 Here perhaps I may remark that the hump has given rise to 
 some strange but prevalent views respecting the Camel. Many 
 persons think that the dromedary has one hump and the Camel 
 two in fact, that they are two totally distinct animals. Now 
 the fact is that the Camel of Palestine is of one species only, 
 the dromedary being a lighter and swifter breed, and differing 
 from the ordinary Camel just as a hunter or racer differs from 
 a cart-horse. The two-humped Camel is a different, species 
 altogether, which will be briefly described at the end of the 
 present article. 
 
 THE Camel is also used as a beast of draught, and, as we find, 
 not only from the Scriptures, but from ancient monuments, was 
 employed to draw chariots and drag the plough. Thus in Isa, 
 xxi. 7 : " And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a 
 chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels." It is evident that in 
 this passage some chariots were drawn by Camels and some by 
 asses. It is, however, remarkable that in Kennard's " Eastern 
 Experiences, these two very useful animals are mentioned as 
 being yoked together : " We passed through a fertile country, 
 watching the fellaheen at their agricultural labours, and not a 
 little amused at sometimes remarking a very tall camel and a 
 very small donkey yoked together in double harness, dragging a 
 plough through the rich brown soil." Camels drawing chariots 
 are still to be seen in the Assyrian sculptures. In Palestine 
 at all events at the present time the Camel is seldom if ever 
 used as a beast of draught, being exclusively employed for bear- 
 ing burdens and carrying riders. 
 
 Taking it first as a beast of burden, we find several references 
 in different parts of the Scriptures For example, see 2 Kings 
 viii. 9 : "So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with 
 him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' 
 burden." Again, in 1 Chron. xii. 40 : " Moreover they that were 
 nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali,
 
 222 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 brought broad on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on 
 oxen." Another allusion to the same custom is made in Isaiah : 
 " They will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, 
 and their treasures upon the bunches (or humps) of camels." 
 
 The Camel can carry a considerable load, though not so much 
 as is generally fancied. A sort of a pack-saddle of a very 
 simple description is used, in order to keep the burden upon so 
 strangely-shaped an animal. A narrow bag about eight feet 
 long is made, and rather loosely stuffed with straw or similar 
 material. It is then doubled, and the ends firmly sewn together, 
 so as to form a great ring, which is placed over the hump, and 
 forms a tolerably flat surface. A wooden framework is tied on 
 the pack-saddle, and is kept in its place by a girth and a 
 crupper. The packages which the Camel is to carry are 
 fastened together by cords, and slung over the saddle. They are 
 only connected by those semi-knots called " hitches," so that, 
 when the Camel is to be unloaded, all that is needed is to pull 
 the lower end of the rope, and the packages fall on either side of 
 the animal. So quickly is the operation of loading performed, 
 that a couple of experienced men can load a Camel in very little 
 more than a minute. 
 
 As is the case with the horse in England, the Camels that are 
 used as beasts of burden are of a heavier, slower, and altogether 
 inferior breed to those which are employed to carry riders, and 
 all their accoutrements are of a ruder and meaner order, devoid 
 of the fantastic ornaments with which Oriental riders are fond 
 of decorating their favourite animals. 
 
 In the large illustration are represented two of the ordinary 
 Camels of burden, as they appear when laden with boughs for 
 the Feast of Tabernacles. The branches are those of the Hebrew 
 pine, and, as may be seen, the animals are so heavily laden with 
 them that their forms are quite hidden under their leafy 
 burdens. The weight which a Camel will carry varies much, 
 according to the strength of the individual, which has given rise 
 to the Oriental proverb, " As the camel, so the load." But an 
 animal of ordinary strength is supposed to be able to carry from 
 five to six hundred pounds for a short journey, and half as much 
 for a long one, a quantity which, as the reader will see, is not 
 so very great when the bulk of the animal is taken into consi- 
 deration. It is remarkable that the Camel knows its own
 
 CAMEL. 
 
 "They will carry their treasures upon the bunches of camels." ISA. xxx. 6.
 
 THE CAMEL. 223 
 
 powers, and instinctively refuses to move if its correct load 
 be exceeded. But, when it is properly loaded, it will carry its 
 burden for hours together at exactly the same pace, and without 
 seeming more fatigued than it was when it started. 
 
 The riding Camels are always of a better breed than those 
 which are used for burden, and may be divided into two classes ; 
 namely, those which are meant for ordinary purposes, and those 
 which are specially bred for st>eed and endurance. There is as 
 much difference between the ordinary riding Camel and the 
 swift Camel as there is between the road hack and the race- 
 horse. We will first begin with the description of the common 
 riding Camel and its accoutrements. 
 
 The saddle which is intended for a rider is very different from 
 the pack-saddle on which burdens are carried, and has a long 
 upright projection in front, to which the rider can hold if he 
 wishes it. 
 
 The art of riding the Camel is nearly as difficult of accom- 
 plishment as that of riding the horse, and the preliminary 
 operation of mounting is not the least difficult portion of it. Of 
 course, to mount a Camel while the animal is standing is im- 
 possible, and accordingly it is taught to kneel until the rider is 
 seated. Kneeling is a natural position with the Camel, which 
 is furnished with large callosities or warts on the legs and 
 breast, which act as cushions on which it may rest its great 
 weight without abrading the skin. These callosities are not 
 formed, as some have imagined, by the constant kneeling to 
 which the Camel is subjected, but are born with it, though of 
 course less developed than they are after they have been har- 
 dened by frequent pressure against the hot sand. 
 
 When the Camel kneels, it first drops on its knees, and then 
 on the joints of the hind legs. Next it drops on its breast, and 
 then again on the bent hind legs. In rising it reverses the pro- 
 cess, so that a novice is first pitched forward, then backward, 
 then forward, and then backward again, to the very great dis- 
 arrangement of his garments, and the probable loss of his seat 
 altogether. Then when the animal kneels he is in danger 
 of being thrown over its head by the first movement, and jerked 
 over its tail by the second ; but after a time he learns to keep 
 his seat mechanically. 
 
 As to the movement of the animal, it is at first almost as
 
 224 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 unpleasant as can be conceived, and has been described by several 
 travellers, some of whose accounts will be here given. First 
 conies Albert Smith, who declares that any one who wants to 
 practise Camel-riding in England can do so by taking a music- 
 stool, screwing it up as high as possible, putting it into a cart 
 without springs, sitting on the top of it cross-legged, and 
 having the cart driven at full speed transversely over a newly 
 ploughed field. 
 
 There is, however, as great a difference in the gait of Camels 
 as of horses, some animals having a quiet, regular, easy move- 
 ment, while others are rough and high-stepping, harassing their 
 riders grievously in the saddle. Even the smooth-going Camel 
 is, however, very trying at first, on account of its long swinging 
 strides, which are taken with the legs of each side alternately, 
 causing the body of the rider to swing backwards and forwards 
 as if he were rowing in a boat 
 
 Those who suffer from sea-sickness are generally attacked with 
 the same malady when they make their first attempts at Camel- 
 riding, while even those who are proof against this particular 
 form of discomfort soon begin to find that their backs are 
 aching, and that the pain becomes steadily worse. Change of 
 attitude is but little use, and the wretched traveller derives but 
 scant comfort from the advice of his guide, who tells him to 
 allow his body to swing freely, and that in a short time he will 
 become used to it. Some days, however, are generally consumed 
 before he succeeds in training his spine to the continual unac- 
 customed movement, and he finds that, when he wakes on 
 the morning that succeeds his first essay, his back is so stiff 
 that he can scarcely move without screaming with pain, and 
 that the prospect of mounting the Camel afresh is anything but 
 a pleasant one. 
 
 "I tried to sit erect without moving," writes Mr. Kennard, 
 when describing his experience of Camel-riding. " This proved 
 a relief for a few minutes, but, finding the effort too great to 
 continue long in this position, 1 attempted to recline with my 
 head resting upon my hand. This last manoeuvre I found would 
 not do, for the motion of the camel's hind legs was so utterly at 
 variance with the motion of his fore-legs that I was jerked up- 
 wards, and forwards, and sideways, and finally ended in nearly 
 rolling off altogether.
 
 THE CAMEL. 225 
 
 " Without going into the details of all that I suffered for the 
 next two or three days how that on several occasions I slid 
 from the camel's back to the ground, in despair of ever accus- 
 toming my half-dislocated joints to the ceaseless jerking and 
 swaying to and fro, and how that I often determined to trudge 
 on foot over the hot desert sand all the way to Jerusalem rather 
 than endure it longer I shall merely say that the day did at 
 last arrive when I descended from my camel, after many hours' 
 riding, in as happy and comfortable a state of mind as if I had 
 been lolling in the easiest of arm-chairs." 
 
 A very similar description of the transition from acute and 
 constant suffering to perfect ease is given by Albert Smith, who 
 states that more than once he has dozed on the back of his 
 Camel, in spite of the swaying backwards and forwards to 
 which his body was subjected. 
 
 If such be the discomfort of riding a smooth-going and good- 
 tempered Camel, it may be imagined that to ride a hard-going 
 and cross-grained animal must be a very severe trial to an inex- 
 perienced rider. A very amusing account of a ridp on such a 
 Camel, and of a fall from its back, is given by Mr. Hamilton in 
 his " Sinai, the Hedjaz, and Soudan : "- 
 
 " A dromedary I had obtained at Suk Abu Sin for my own 
 riding did not answer my expectations, or rather the saddle was 
 badly put on not an easy thing to do well, by the way and 
 one of my servants, who saw how out of patience I was at the 
 many times I had had to dismount to have it arranged, persuaded 
 me to try the one he was riding, the Sheik's present. I had my 
 large saddle transferred to his beast, and, nothing doubting, 
 mounted it. 
 
 " He had not only no nose-string, but was besides a vicious 
 brute, rising with a violent jerk before I was well in the saddle, 
 and anxious to gain the caravan, which was a little way ahead, 
 he set off at his roughest gallop. Carpets, kufieh, tarbush, all 
 went off in the jolting ; at every step I was thrown a foot into 
 the air, glad to come down again, bump, bump, on the saddle, by 
 dint of holding on to the front pommel with the left hand, while 
 the right was engaged with the bridle, which in the violence of 
 the exercise it was impossible to change to its proper hand. I 
 had almost reached the caravan, and had no doubt my hump- 
 backed Pegasus would relax his exertions, when a camel-driver,
 
 226 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 one of the sons of iniquity, seeing me come up at full speed, and 
 evidently quite run away with, took it into his head to come to 
 my assistance. 
 
 " I saw what he was at, and called out to him to get out of 
 the way, but instead of this he stuck himself straight before me, 
 stretching himself out like a St. Andrew's cross, with one hand 
 armed with a huge club, and making most diabolical grimaces. 
 Of course the camel was frightened, it was enough to frighten a 
 much more reasonable being ; so, wheeling quickly round, it upset 
 my unstable equilibrium. Down I came head foremost to the 
 ground, and when I looked up, my forehead streaming with 
 blood, the first thing I saw was my Arab with the camel, which 
 he seemed mightily pleased with himself for having so cleverly 
 captured, while the servant who had suggested the unlucky ex- 
 periment came ambling along on my easy-paced dromedary, and 
 consoled me by saying that he knew it was a runaway beast, 
 which there was no riding without a nose-string. 
 
 " I now began to study the way of keeping one's seat in such 
 an emergency. An Arab, when he gallops his dromedary with 
 one of these saddles, holds hard on M'ith the right hand to the 
 back part of the seat, not to the pommel, and grasps the bridle 
 tightly in the other. The movement of the camel in galloping 
 throws one violently forward, and without holding on, excepting 
 -on the naked back, when the rider sits behind the hump, it is 
 impossible to retain one's seat. I afterwards thought myself 
 lucky in not having studied this point sooner, as, from the greater 
 resistance I should have offered, my tumble, since it was fated I 
 should have one, would probably have been much more severe. 
 It is true I might also have escaped it, but in the chapter of 
 probabilities I always think a mishap the most probable." 
 
 It may be imagined that a fall from a Camel's back is not 
 a trifle, and, even if the unskilful rider be fortunate enough to 
 fall on soft 'sand instead of hard rock, he receives a tolerably 
 severe shock, and runs no little rik of breaking a limb. For 
 the average height of a Camel's back is rather more than six feet, 
 while some animals measure seven feet from the ground to the 
 top of the hump. Add to this a foot or two caused by the 
 saddle and its cushions, and a height is gained equal to that 
 of the ceiling of many rooms say, eighteen inches above the top 
 of an ordinary door.
 
 THE CAMEL. 227 
 
 This height, however, is of material advantage to the traveller. 
 In the first place it lifts him above the waves of heated air that 
 are continually rolling over the sand on which the burning rays 
 of the sun are poured throughout the day ; and in the second 
 place it brings him within reach of the slightest breeze that 
 . passes above the stratum of hot air, and which comes to the 
 traveller like the breath of life. Moreover, his elevated posi- 
 tion enables him to see for a very great distance, which is an 
 invaluable advantage in a land where every stranger may be 
 a robber, and is probably a murderer besides. 
 
 The best mode of avoiding a fall is to follow the Arab mode 
 of riding, namely, to pass one leg over the upright pommel, 
 which, as has been mentioned, is a mere wooden peg or stake, 
 and hitching the other leg over the dangling foot. Perhaps the 
 safest, though not the most comfortable, mode of sitting is by 
 crossing the legs in front, and merely grasping the pommel with 
 the hands. 
 
 Yet, fatiguing as is the seat on the Camel's back to the 
 beginner, it is less so than that on the horse's saddle, inasmuch 
 as in the latter case one position is preserved, while in the 
 former an infinite variety of seat is attainable when the rider 
 has fairly mastered the. art of riding. 
 
 The Camel is not held by the bit and bridle like the horse, 
 but by a rope tied like a halter round the muzzle, and having 
 a knot on the left or " near " side. This is held in the left hand, 
 and is used chiefly for the purpose of stopping the animal. The 
 Camel is guided partly by the voice of its rider, and partly by 
 a driving-stick, with which the neck is lightly touched on the 
 opposite side to that which its rider wishes it to take. A 
 pressure of the heel on the shoulder-bone tells it to quicken its 
 pace, and a little tap on the head followed by a touch on the 
 short ears are the signals for full speed. 
 
 There are three different kinds of stick with which the Camel 
 is driven; one of them, a mere almond branch with the bark, 
 and an oblique head, is the sceptre or emblem of sovereignty of 
 the Prince of Mecca. Mr. Hamilton suggests that this stick, 
 called the " mesJiab," is the original of the jackal-headed stick 
 with which so many of the Egyptian deities are represented ; 
 and that Aaron's rod that "brought forth buds, and bloomed 
 blossoms, and yielded almonds," was the mcsfi'ab, the almond- 
 
 Q2
 
 228 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 branch sceptre, the emblem of his almost regal rank and 
 authority. 
 
 The women mostly ride in a different manner from the men. 
 Sometimes they are hardy enough to sit the animal in the same 
 way as their husbands, but as a rule they are carried by the 
 animal rather than ride it, sitting in great basket-like appendages 
 which are slung on either side of the Camel. These constitute 
 the " furniture " which is mentioned in Gen. xxxi. 34. When 
 Jacob left the house of Laban, to lead an independent life, 
 Rachel stole her father's images, or " teraphirn," and carried them 
 away with her, true to her affectionate though deceptive nature, 
 which impelled her to incur the guilt of robbery for the sake of 
 enriching her husband with the cherished teraphim of her 
 father. From the most careful researches we learn that these 
 teraphim were used for divining the future, and that they were 
 made in the human form. That they were of considerable size 
 is evident from the fact that, when Saul was hunting after David, 
 his wife Michal contrived to convey him out of the house, and 
 for a time to conceal her fraud by putting an image (or teraph) 
 into the bed as a representative of her husband. Had not, 
 therefore, the camel-furniture been of considerable dimensions, 
 images of siich a size could not be hidden, but they could 
 well be stowed away in the great panniers, as long as their 
 mistress sat upon them, after the custom of Oriental travellers, 
 and declined to rise on the ready plea of indisposition. 
 
 This sort of carriage is still used for the women and children. 
 " The wife and child came by in the string of camels, the 
 former reclining in an immense circular box, stuffed and padded, 
 covered with red cotton, and dressed with yellow worsted orna- 
 ments. This family nest was mounted on a large camel. It 
 seemed a most commodious and well-arranged travelling carriage, 
 and very superior as a mode of camel-riding to that which our 
 Sitteen rejoiced in (i.e. riding upon a saddle). The Arab wife 
 could change her position at pleasure, and the child had room 
 to walk about and could not fall out, the sides of the box just 
 reaching to its shoulders. Various jugs and skins and articles 
 of domestic use hung suspended about it, and trappings of 
 fringe and finery ornamented it." 
 
 This last sentence brings us to another point which is several 
 times mentioned in the Bible ; namely, the ornaments with
 
 THE CAMEL. 229 
 
 which the proprietors of Camels are fond of bedizening their 
 favourite animals. 
 
 Their leathern collars are covered with cowrie shells sewn on 
 them in various fantastic patterns. Crescent-shaped ornaments 
 are made of shells sewn on red cloth, and hung so abundantly 
 upon the harness of the animal that they jingle at every step 
 which it takes. Sheiks and other men of rank often have 
 these ornaments made of silver, so that the cost of the entire 
 trappings is very great. Allusion is made to these costly orna- 
 ments in Judges viii. When Gideon warred against Succoth, 
 he captured the two chiefs or kings of Midian, Zebah and 
 Zalmunna, and, after putting them to death, he " took away the 
 ornaments that were on their camels' necks," or, as the 
 marginal translation has it, their "ornaments like the rnoon," 
 i.e. crescent-shaped ; this form having been retained unchanged 
 for three thousand years. (Judges viii. 21.) The value of such 
 ornaments is evident from the fact that they are mentioned so 
 conspicuously in Holy Writ ; and, as if to show that the Camel 
 trappings were of very considerable value, a further reference is 
 made to them in the following passage. After the battle, Gideon 
 made a request to his soldiers " that ye would give me every 
 man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, 
 because they were Ishmaelites.) 
 
 "And they answered, We will willingly give them. And 
 they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the 
 earrings of his prey. And the weight of the golden earrings that 
 he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold ; 
 beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on 
 the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their 
 camels' necks." Here we see that the ornaments to the Camels 
 were sufficiently costly to be classed with the golden jewellery 
 and the royal apparel that were worn by the kings of Midian. 
 
 WE now come to the Swift Camel, sometimes called the Heirie, 
 the Maharik, or the Deloul, the last of these terms being that 
 by which it will be mentioned in these pages. 
 
 The limbs of the Deloul are long and wiry, having not an 
 ounce of superfluous fat upon them, the shoulders are very broad, 
 and the hump, though firm and hard, is very small. 
 
 A thoroughbred Deloul, in good travelling condition, is not
 
 230 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 at all a pleasing animal to an ordinary eye, being a lank, gaunt, 
 and ungainly-looking creature, the very conformation which 
 insures its swiftness and endurance being that which detracts 
 from its beauty. An Arab of the desert, however, thinks a 
 sood Deloul one of the finest sights in the world. As the talk 
 
 O D 
 
 of the pastoral tribes is of sheep and oxen, so is the talk of the 
 nomads about Camels. It is a subject which is for ever on their 
 lips, and a true Bedouin may be seen to contemplate the beauties 
 of one of these favourite animals for hours at a time, if his 
 own, with the rapture of a possessor, or, if another's, with the 
 determination of stealing it when he can find an opportunity. 
 
 Instead of plodding along at the rate of three miles an hour, 
 which is the average speed of the common Camel, the Deloul 
 can cover, if lightly loaded, nine or ten miles an hour, and go on 
 at the same pace for a wonderful time, its long legs swinging, 
 and its body swaying, as if it were but an animated machine. 
 Delouls have been reported to have journeyed for nearly fifty 
 hours without a single stop for rest, during which time the 
 animals must have traversed nearly five hundred miles. Such 
 examples must, however, be exceptional, implying, as they do, 
 an amount of endurance on the part of the rider equal to that 
 of the animal ; and even a journey of half that distance is 
 scarcely possible to ordinary men on Delouls. 
 
 For the movements of the Deloul are very rough, and the 
 rider is obliged to prepare himself for a long journey by belting 
 himself tightly with two leathern bands, one just under the 
 arms, and the other round the pit of the stomach. Without 
 these precautions, the rider would be likely to suffer serious 
 injuries, and, even with them, the exercise is so severe, that an 
 Arab makes it a matter of special boast that he can ride a 
 Deloul for a whole day. 
 
 A courier belonging to the Sherif of Mecca told Mr. Hamilton 
 that he often went on the same dromedary from Mecca to Medina 
 in forty-eight hours, the distance being two hundred and forty 
 miles. And a thoroughbred Deloul will travel for seven or 
 eight weeks with only four or five days of rest. 
 
 Even at the present time, these Camels are used for the con- 
 veyance of special messages, and in the remarkable Bornu king- 
 dom a regular service of these animals is established, two couriers 
 always travelling in company, so that if one rider or Camel
 
 THE CAMEL. 231 
 
 should fail or be captured by the Arabs, who are always on the 
 alert for so valuable a prey, the other may post on and carry the 
 message to its destination. 
 
 The swift dromedary, or Deloul, is mentioned several times in 
 the Old Testament. One of them occurs in Isa. Ix. 6 : " The 
 multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian 
 
 THE CAMEL I'OHT. 
 
 and Ephah." In this passage a distinction is drawn between 
 the ordinary Camel and the swift dromedary, the former being 
 \he word " gainel," and the latter the word " beker," which is 
 again used in Jer. ii. 23 : " See thy way in the valley, know 
 what thou hast done : thou art a swift dromedary." 
 
 There is a passage in the Book of Esther which looks as if it 
 referred to the ordinary Camel and the swift dromedary, but
 
 232 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 there is considerable uncertainty about the proper rendering. 
 It runs as follows : <: And he wrote in king Ahasuerus' name, 
 and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters and 
 posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young 
 dromedaries." 
 
 The Jewish Bible, however, translates this passage as follows : 
 " And sent letters by the runners on the horses, and riders on 
 the racers, mules, and young mares." Now, the word rekesh, 
 which is translated as "racer," is rendered by Buxtorf as "a 
 swift horse or mule," and the word beni-rammachim, which 
 is translated as "young mares," literally signifies "those born 
 of mares." 
 
 The Camel-drivers behave towards their animals with the 
 curious inconsistency which forms so large a part of the Oriental 
 character. 
 
 Prizing them above nearly all earthly things, proud of them, 
 and loving them after their own fashion, the drivers will talk to 
 them, cheer them, and sing interminable songs for their benefit. 
 Towards the afternoon the singing generally begins, and it goes 
 on without cessation in a sort of monotonous hum, as Dr. Bonar 
 calls it. The same traveller calls attention to a passage in 
 Caussinus' " Polyhistor Symbolicus," in which the learned and 
 didactic author symbolizes the maxim that more can be done by 
 kindness than by blows. " The Camel is greatly taken with 
 music and melody. So much so, indeed, that if it halts through 
 weariness, the driver does not urge it with stripes and blows, 
 but soothes it by his songs." 
 
 Several travellers have mentioned these songs. See, for 
 example, Miss Rogers' account of some Bedouins : " Their songs 
 were already subdued to harmonize with their monotonous 
 swinging pace, and chimed softly and plaintively with the 
 tinkling of camel-bells, thus 
 
 " ' Dear unto me as the sight of mine eyes, 
 
 Art thou, my Camel ! 
 Precious to me as the health of my life, 
 
 Art thou, my Camel ! 
 Sweet to my ears is the sound 
 
 Of thy tinkling bells, my Camel ! 
 And sweet to thy listening ears 
 
 Is the sound of my evening song. ' 
 
 And so on, ad libitum."
 
 THE CAMKL. 233 
 
 Sometimes a female Camel gives birth to a colt on the journey. 
 In such a case, a brief pause is made, and then the train pro- 
 ceeds on its journey, the owner of the Camel carrying the young 
 one in his arms until the evening halt. He then gives it to its 
 mother, and on the following day it is able to follow her without 
 further assistance. The young Camels are almost pretty, their 
 hair being paler than that of the adult animal, and their limbs 
 more slender. 
 
 Although the young Camel is better-looking than its parents, 
 it is not one whit more playful. Unlike almost all other animals, 
 the Camel seems to have no idea of play, and even the young 
 Camel of a month or two old follows its mother with the same 
 steady, regular pace which she herself maintains. 
 
 In spite of all the kindness with which a driver treats his 
 Camels, he can at times be exceedingly cruel to them, persisting 
 in over-loading and over-driving them, and then, if a Camel fall 
 exhausted, removing its load, and distributing it among the 
 other Camels. As soon as this is done, he gives the signal to 
 proceed, and goes on his way, abandoning the wretched animal 
 to its fate i.e. to thirst and the vultures. He will not even 
 have the humanity to kill it, but simply leaves it on the ground, 
 muttering that it is " his fate ! " 
 
 THE CAMEL. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Camel and its master Occasional fury of the animal A boy killed by a 
 Camel- Another instance of an infuriated Camel Theory respecting the 
 Arab and his Camel Apparent stupidity of the Camel Its hatred of a load, 
 and mode of expressing its disapprobation Hiding a Camel tli rough the 
 streets A narrow escape Ceremony of weaning a young Camel The Camel's 
 favourite food Structure of the foot and adaptation to locality Difficulty 
 in provisioning Camel's hair and skin Sal-ammoniac and Desert fuel The 
 Camel and the needle's eye Straining at a gnat and swallowing a Camel. 
 
 WE now come to the general characteristics of the Camel. 
 
 The Camels know their master well, some of them being 
 much more affectionate than others. But they are liable to fits
 
 234 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 of strange fury, in which case even their own masters are not 
 safe from them. They are also of a revengeful nature, and have 
 an unpleasant faculty of treasuring up an injury until they can 
 find a time of repaying it. Signor Pierotti gives a curious 
 example of this trait of character. As he was going to the 
 Jordan, he found a dead Camel lying on the roadside, the head 
 nearly separated from the body. On inquiry he found that 
 the animal had a master who ill-treated it, and had several times 
 tried to bite him. One evening, after the Camels had been 
 unloaded, the drivers lay down to sleep as usual. 
 
 The Camel made its way to its master, and stamped on him 
 as he slept. The man uttered one startled cry, but had no time 
 for another. The infuriated Camel followed up its attack by 
 grasping his throat in its powerful jaws, and shaking him to 
 death. The whole scene passed so rapidly, that before the other 
 drivers could come to the man's assistance he was hanging dead 
 from the jaws of the Camel, who was shaking him as a dog 
 shakes a rat, and would not release its victim until its head 
 had been nearly severed from its body by sword-cuts. 
 
 A similar anecdote is told by Mr. Palgrave, in his " Central 
 and Eastern Arabia :" 
 
 " One passion alone he possesses, namely, revenge, of which 
 he gives many a hideous example ; while, in carrying it out, he 
 shows an unexpected degree of forethoughted malice, united mean- 
 while with all the cold stupidity of his usual character. One 
 instance of this 1 well remember it occurred hard by a small 
 town in the plain of Baalbec, where I was at the time residing. 
 
 " A lad of about fourteen had conducted a large camel, laden 
 with wood, from that very village to another at half an hour's 
 distance or so. As the animal loitered or turned out of the way, 
 its conductor struck it repeatedly, and harder than it seems to 
 have thought he had a right to do. But, not finding the occasion 
 favourable for taking immediate quits, it ' bided its time,' nor 
 was that time long in coming. 
 
 " A few days later, the same lad had to re-conduct the beast, 
 but unladen, to his own village. When they were about half 
 way on the road, and at some distance from any habitation, the 
 camel suddenly stopped, looked deliberately round in every 
 direction to assure itself that no one was in sight, and, finding 
 the road clear of passers-by, made a step forward, seized the
 
 THE CAMEL. 235 
 
 unlucky boy's head in its monstrous mouth, and, lifting him up 
 in the air, flung him down again on the earth, with the upper 
 part of his head completely torn off, and his brains scattered on 
 the ground. Having thus satisfied its revenge, the brute quietly 
 resumed its pace towards the village, as though nothing were 
 the matter, till some men, who had observed the whole, though 
 unfortunately at too great a distance to be able to afford timely 
 help, came up and killed it. 
 
 " Indeed, so marked is this unamiable propensity, that some 
 philosophers have ascribed the revengeful character of the Arabs 
 to the great share which the flesh and milk of the camel have 
 in their sustenance, and whiclj are supposed to communicate, to 
 those who partake of them over-largely, the moral or immoral 
 qualities of the animal to which they belonged. I do not feel 
 myself capable of pronouncing an opinion on so intricate a 
 question, but thus much I can say, that the camel and its 
 Bedouin master do afford so many and such divers points of 
 resemblance, that I do not think our Arab of Shomer far in the 
 wrong, when 1 once on a time heard him say, ' God created the 
 Bedouin for the camel, and the camel for the Bedouin.' " 
 
 The reader will observe that Mr. Palgrave in this anecdote 
 makes reference to the stupidity of the Camel. There is no 
 doubt that the Camel is by no means an intellectual animal ; but 
 it is very possible that its stupidity may in a great measure be 
 owing to the fact that no one has tried to cultivate its intellectual 
 powers. The preceding anecdotes show clearly that the Camel 
 must possess a strong memory, and be capable of exercising 
 considerable ingenuity. 
 
 Still it is not a clever animal. If its master should fall off 
 its back, it never dreams of stopping, as a well-trained horse 
 would do, but proceeds at the same plodding pace, leaving his 
 master to catch it if he can. Should it turn out of the way to 
 crop some green thorn-bush, it will go on in the same direction, 
 never thinking of turning back into the right road unless di- 
 rected by its rider. Should the Camel stray, " it is a thousand 
 to one that he will never find his way back to his accustomed 
 home or pasture, and the first man who picks him up will have 
 no particular shyness to get over ; . . . and the losing of his old 
 master and of his former cameline companions gives him no 
 regret, and occasions no endeavour to find them again."
 
 236 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 He has the strongest objection' to being laden at all, no matter 
 how light may be the burden, and expresses his disapprobation 
 by growling and groaning, and attempting to bite. So -habitual 
 is this conduct that if a kneeling Camel be only approached, and 
 a stone as large as a walnut laid on its back, it begins to remon- 
 strate in its usual manner, groaning as if it were crushed to the 
 earth with its load. 
 
 The Camel never makes way for any one, its instinct leading 
 it to plod onward in its direct course. What may have been its 
 habits in a state of nature no one can tell, for such a phenomenon 
 as a wild Camel has never been known in the memory of man. 
 There are wild oxen, wild goats, wild sheep, wild horses, and 
 wild asses, but there is no spot on the face of the earth where 
 the Camel is found except as the servant of man. Through 
 innate stupidity, according to Mr. Palgrave, it goes straight for- 
 wards in the direction to which its head happens to be pointed, 
 and is too foolish even to think of stopping unless it hears the 
 signal for halt. 
 
 As it passes through the narrow streets of an Oriental city, 
 laden with goods that project on either side, and nearly fill up 
 the thoroughfare, it causes singular inconvenience, forcing every 
 one who is in front of it to press himself closely to the wall, and 
 to make way for the enormous beast as it plods along. The 
 driver or rider generally gives notice by continually calling to 
 the pedestrians to get out of the way, but a laden Camel rarely 
 passes through a long street without having knocked down a 
 man or two, or driven before it a few riders on asses who cannot 
 pass between the Camel and the wall. 
 
 One source of danger to its rider is to be found in the low 
 archways which span so many of the streets. They are just 
 high enough to permit a laden Camel to pass under them, but are 
 so low that they leave no room for a rider. The natives, who 
 are accustomed to this style of architecture, are always ready for 
 an archway, and, when the rider sees an archway which will not 
 allow him to retain his seat, he slips to the ground, and remounts 
 on the other side of the obstacle. 
 
 Mr. Kennard had a very narrow escape with one of these arch- 
 ways. " I had passed beneath one or two in perfect safety, without 
 being obliged to do more than just bend my head forward, and 
 was in the act of conversing with one of my companions behind,
 
 THE CAMEL. 237 
 
 and was therefore in a happy state of ignorance as to what was 
 immediately before me, when the shouting and running together 
 of the people in the street on either side made me turn my head 
 quickly, but only just in time to feel my breath thrown back on 
 .my face against the keystone of a gateway, beneath which my 
 camel, with too much way on him to be stopped immediately, 
 had already commenced to pass. 
 
 " With a sort of feeling that it was all over with me, I threw 
 myself back as. far as I could, and was carried through in an 
 almost breathless state, my shirt-studs actually scraping along 
 against the stonework. On emerging again into the open 
 street, T could hardly realize my escape, for if there had been a 
 single projecting stone to stop my progress, the camel would 
 have struggled to get free, and my chest must have been 
 crushed in." 
 
 It will be seen from these instances that the charge of stu- 
 pidity is not an undeserved one. Still the animal has enough 
 intellect to receive all the education which it needs for the service 
 of man, and which it receives at a very early age. The ordinary 
 Camel of burden is merely taught to follow its conductor, to 
 obey the various words and gestures of command, and to endure 
 a load. The Deloul, however, is more carefully trained. It is 
 allowed to follow its mother for a whole year in perfect liberty. 
 Towards the expiration of that time the young animal is gradually 
 stinted in its supply of milk, and forced to browse for its nourish- 
 ment. On the anniversary of its birth, the young Deloul is 
 turned with its head towards Canopus, and its ears solemnly 
 boxed, its master saying at the same time, " Henceforth drinkest 
 thou no drop of milk." For this reason the newly- weaned 
 Camel is called Lathim, or the " ear-boxed." It is then pre- 
 vented from sucking by a simple though cruel experiment. A 
 wooden peg is sharpened at both ends, and one end thrust into 
 the young animal's nose. When it tries to suck, it pricks its 
 mother with the projecting end, and at the same time forces the 
 other end more deeply into the wound, so that the mother drives 
 away her offspring, and the young soon ceases to make the 
 attempt. 
 
 The food of the Camel is very simple, being, in fact, anything 
 that it can get. As it proceeds on its journey, it manages to 
 browse as it goes along, bending its long neck to the ground, and
 
 238 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 cropping the scanty herbage without a pause. Camels have 
 been known to travel for twenty successive days, passing over 
 some eight hundred miles of ground, without receiving any food 
 except that which they gathered for themselves by the way. 
 The favourite food of the Camel is a shrub called the ghada, 
 growing to six feet or so in height, and forming a feathery tuft 
 of innumerable little green twigs, very slender and flexible. It 
 is so fond of this shrub that a Camel can scarcely ever pass a 
 bush without turning aside to crop it; and even though it be 
 beaten severely for its misconduct, it will repeat the process at 
 the next, shrub that conies in sight. 
 
 It also feeds abundantly on the thorn-bushes which grow so' 
 plentifully in that part of the world ; and though the thorns are 
 an inch or two in length, very strong, and as sharp as needles, 
 the hard, horny palate of the animal enables it to devour them 
 with perfect ease. 
 
 There are several species of these thorn-shrubs, which are 
 scattered profusely over the ground, and are, in fact, the com- 
 monest growth of the place. After they die, being under the 
 fierce sun of that climate, they dry up so completely, that if 
 a light be set to them they blaze up in a moment, with a sharp 
 cracking sound and a roar of flame, and in a moment or two are 
 nothing but a heap of light ashes. No wonder was it that when 
 Moses saw the thorn-bush burning without being consumed he 
 was struck with awe at the miracle. These withered bushes 
 are the common fuel of the desert, giving out a fierce but brief 
 heat, and then suddenly sinking into ashes. " For as the 
 crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool " 
 (Eccl. vii. 6). 
 
 The dried and withered twigs of these bushes are also eaten 
 by the Camel, which seems to have a power of extracting nutri- 
 ment from every sort of vegetable substance. It has been fed 
 on charcoal, and, as has been happily remarked, could thrive on 
 the shavings of a carpenter's workshop. 
 
 Still, when food is plentiful, it is fed as regularly as can be 
 managed, and generally after a rather peculiar manner. " Our 
 guide," writes Mr. Hamilton, in the work which has already been 
 mentioned, " is an elderly man, the least uncouth of our camel- 
 drivers. He has three camels in the caravan, and it was amusing 
 to see his preparations for their evening's entertainment. The
 
 THE CAMEL. 239 
 
 table-cloth, a circular piece of leather, was duly spread on the 
 ground ; on this he poured the quantity of dourrah destined for 
 their meal, and calling his camels, they came and took each its 
 place at the feast. It is quaint to see how each in his turn eats, 
 so gravely and so quietly, stretching his long neck into the 
 middle of the heap, then raising his head to masticate each 
 mouthful ; all so slowly and with such gusto, that we could 
 swear it was a party of epicures sitting in judgment on one of 
 Vachette's chefs d'ceuvre." 
 
 The foregoing passages will show the reader how wonderfully 
 adapted is the constitution of the Camel for the country in which 
 it lives, and how indispensable it is to the inhabitants. It has 
 been called " the ship of the desert," for without the Camel the 
 desert would be as impassable as the sea without ships. No 
 water being found for several days' journey together, the animal 
 is able to carry within itself a supply of water which will last it 
 for several days, and, as no green thing grows far from the 
 presence of water, the Camel is able to feed upon the brief-lived 
 thorn-shrubs which have sprung up and died, and which, from 
 their hard and sharp prickles, are safe from every animal except 
 the hard-mouthed Camel. 
 
 But these advantages would be useless without another i.e. 
 the foot. The mixed stones and sand of the desert would ruin 
 the feet of almost any animal, and it is necessary that the Camel 
 should be furnished with a foot that cannot be split by heat like 
 the hoof of a horse, that is broad enough to prevent the creature 
 from sinking into the sand, and is tough enough to withstand 
 the action of the rough and burning soil. 
 
 Such a foot does the Camel possess. It consists of two long 
 toes resting upon a hard elastic cushion with a tough and horny 
 sole. This cushion is so soft that the tread of the huge animal 
 is as noiseless as that of a cat, and, owing to the division of the 
 toes, it spreads as the weight comes upon it, and thus gives 
 a firm footing on loose ground. The foot of the moose-deer has 
 a similar property, in order to enable the animal to walk upon 
 the snow. 
 
 In consequence of this structure, the Camel sinks less deeply 
 into the ground than any other animal ; but yet it does sink in 
 it, and dislikes a deep and loose sand, groaning at every step, 
 and being wearied by the exertion of dragging its hard foot out
 
 240 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 of the holes into which they sink. It is popularly thought that 
 hills are impracticable to the Camel ; but it is able to climb even 
 rocky ground from which a horse would recoil. Mr. Marsh, an 
 American traveller, was much surprised by seeing a caravan of 
 fifty camels pass over a long ascent in Arabia Petrsea. The rock 
 was as smooth as polished marble, and the angle was on an 
 average fifteen degrees ; but the whole caravan passed over it 
 without an accident. 
 
 The soil that a Camel most hates is a wet and muddy ground, 
 on which it is nearly sure to slip. If the reader will look at a 
 Camel from behind, he will see that the hinder legs are close 
 together until the ankle-joint, when they separate so widely that 
 the feet are set on the ground at a considerable distance from each 
 other. On dry ground this structure increases the stability of 
 the animal by increasing its base ; but on wet ground the effect 
 is singularly unpleasant. The soft, padded feet have no hold, 
 and slip sideways at every step, often with such violence as to 
 dislocate a joint and cause the death of the animal. When 
 such ground has to be traversed, the driver generally passes a 
 bandage round the hind legs just below the ankle-joint, so as to 
 prevent them from diverging too far. 
 
 It must be remarked, however, that the country in which the 
 animal lives is essentially a dry one, and that moist and muddy 
 ground is so exceptional that the generality of Camels never see 
 it in their lives. Camels do not object to mud an inch or two 
 deep, provided that there is firm ground below ; and they have 
 been seen to walk with confident safety over pavements covered 
 with mud and half-frozen snow. 
 
 The animals can ford rivers well enough, provided that the 
 bed be stony or gravelly ; -but they are bad swimmers, their 
 round bodies and long necks being scarcely balanced by their 
 legs, so that they are apt to roll over on their sides, and in such 
 a case they are sure to be drowned. When swimming is a 
 necessity, the head is generally tied to the stern of a boat, or 
 guided by the driver swimming in front, while another often 
 clings to the tail, so as to depress the rump and elevate the 
 head. It is rather curious that the Camels of the Sahara cannot 
 be safely entrusted to the water. They will swim the river 
 readily enough ; but they are apt to be seized with illness after- 
 wards, and to die in a few hours.
 
 THE CAMEL. 241 
 
 WE now come to some other uses of the Camel. 
 
 Its hair is of the greatest importance, as it is used for many 
 purposes. In this country, all that we know practically of the 
 Camel's hair is that it is employed in making brushes for 
 painters ; but in its own land the hair plays a really important 
 part. At the proper season it is removed from the animal, 
 usually by being pulled away in tufts, but sometimes by being 
 shorn like the wool of sheep, and it is then spun by the women 
 into strong thread. 
 
 From this thread are made sundry fabrics where strength is 
 required and coarseness is not an objection. The " black tents " 
 of the Bedouin Arabs, similar to those in which Abraham lived, 
 are made of Camel's hair, and so are the rugs, carpets, and cordage 
 used by the nomad tribes. Even mantles for rainy or cold 
 weather are made of Camel's hair, and it was in a dress of this 
 coarse and rough material that St. John the Baptist was clad. 
 The best part of the Camel's hair is that which grows in tufts 
 on the back and about the hump, the fibre being much longer 
 than that which covers tjie body. There is also a little very 
 fine under-wool which is carefully gathered, and, when a suffi- 
 cient quantity is procured, it is spun and woven into garments. 
 Shawls of this material are even now as valuable as those which 
 are made from the Cachmire goat. 
 
 The skin of the Camel is made into a sort of leather. It is 
 simply tanned by being pegged out in the sun and rubbed with 
 salt. 
 
 Sandals and leggings are made of this leather, and in some 
 places water-bottles are manufactured from it, the leather being 
 thicker and less porous than that of the goat, and therefore 
 wasting less of the water by evaporation. The bones are utilized, 
 being made into various articles of commerce. 
 
 So universally valuable is the Camel that even its dung is 
 important to its owners. Owing to the substances on which the 
 animal feeds, it consists of little but macerated fragments of aro- 
 matic shrubs. It is much used as poultices in case of bruises 
 or rheumatic pains, and is even applied with some success to 
 simple fractures. It is largely employed for fuel, and the desert 
 couriers use nothing else, their Camels being furnished with a 
 net, so that none of this useful substance shall be lost. For this 
 purpose it is carefully collected, mixed with bits of straw, and 
 
 K
 
 242 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 made into little rolls, which are dried in the sun, and can then 
 be laid by for any time until they are needed. 
 
 Mixed with clay and straw, it is most valuable as a kind of 
 mortar or cement with which the walls of huts are rendered 
 weather-proof, and the same material is used in the better-class 
 houses to make a sort of terrace on the flat roof. This must be 
 waterproof in order to withstand the wet of the rainy season, 
 and no material answers the purpose so well as that which has 
 been mentioned. So strangely hard and firm is this composition, 
 that stoves are made of it. These stoves are made like jars, and 
 have the faculty of resisting the power of the inclosed fire. Even 
 after it is burned it has its uses, the ashes being employed in the 
 manufacture of sal-ammoniac. 
 
 THEKE are two passages in the New Testament which mention 
 the. Camel in an allegorical sense. The first of these is the 
 proverbial saying of our Lord, " A rich man shall hardly enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven. Again I say unto you, It is easier 
 for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich 
 man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Matt. xix. 23, 24). 
 
 Now, this well-known but scarcely understood passage re- 
 quires some little dissection. If the reader will refer to the 
 context, he will see that this saying was spoken in allusion to 
 the young and wealthy man who desired to be one of the 
 disciples, but clung too tightly to his wealth to accept the only 
 conditions on which he could be received. His possessions were 
 a snare to him, as was proved by his refusal to part with them 
 at Christ's command. On his retiring, the expression was used, 
 "that a rich man shall hardly (or, with difficulty) enter the 
 kingdom of heaven," followed by the simile of the Camel and 
 the needle's eye. 
 
 Now, if we are to take this passage literally, we can but draw 
 one conclusion from it, that a rich man can no more enter 
 heaven than a camel pass through the eye of a needle, i.e. that 
 it is impossible for him to do so. Whereas, in the previous 
 sentence, Christ says not that it is impossible, but difficult 
 (Sucr/coXo)?) for him to do so. It is difficult for a man to use his 
 money for the service of God, the only purpose for which it was 
 given him, and the difficulty increases in proportion to its 
 amount. But wealth in itself is no more a bar to heaven than
 
 THE CAMEL. 
 
 243 
 
 intellect, health, strength, or any other gift, and, if it be rightly 
 used, is one of the most powerful tools that can be used in the 
 service of God. Our Lor"d did not condemn all wealthy men 
 alike. He knew many ; but there was only one whom He 
 advised to sell his possessions and give them to the poor as the 
 condition of being admitted among the disciples. 
 
 CAUEL GOING u:Rouon A "NEEDLE'S ETE." 
 
 It is ensltr for a tamtl to go through the eye of a needle, tluoifor a rick man to enter into tht 
 kingdom rj God." MATT. xix. 24. 
 
 We will now turn to the metaphor of the Camel and the 
 needle's eye. Of course it can be taken merely as a very bold 
 metaphor, but it may also be understood in a simpler sense, the 
 sense in which it was probably understood by those who heard 
 it. In Oriental cities, there are in the large gates small and 
 very low apertures called metaphorically " needle's-eyes," just 
 as we talk of certain windows as " bull's-eyes." These entrances 
 are too narrow for a Camel to pass through them in the ordinary 
 manner, or even if loaded. When a laden Camel has to pass 
 through one of these entrances, it kneels down, its load is 
 
 R2
 
 244 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 removed, and then it shuffles through on its knees. " Yesterday," 
 writes Lady Duff-Gordon from Cairo, "I saw a camel go through 
 the eye of a needle, i.e. the low-arched door of an enclosure. He 
 must kneel, and bow his head to creep through ; and thus the 
 rich man must humble himself." 
 
 There is another passage in which the Camel is used by our 
 Lord in a metaphorical sense. This is the well-known sentence : 
 " Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel " 
 (Matt, xxiii. 24). It is remarkable that an accidental misprint 
 has robbed this passage of its true force. The real translation 
 is : " which strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel." The 
 Greek word is 8*iAi&>, which signifies to filter thoroughly ; and 
 the allusion is made to the pharisaical custom of filtering liquids 
 before drinking them, lest by chance a gnat or some such insect 
 which was forbidden as food might be accidentally swallowed. 
 
 THE BACTRIAN CAMEL. 
 
 General description of the animal Its use in mountain roads Peculiar formation 
 of the foot Uses of a mixed breed Its power of enduring cold Used chiefly 
 as a beast of draught Unfitness for the plough The cart and mode of harness- 
 ing The load which it can draw Camel-skin ropes A Rabbinical legend. 
 
 THE second kind of Camel namely, the Bactrian species was 
 probably unknown to the Jews until a comparatively late portion 
 of their history. This species was employed by the Assyrians, 
 as we find by the sculptures upon the ruins, and if in no other 
 way the Jews would become acquainted with them through the 
 nation by whom they were conquered, and in whose laud they 
 abode for so long. 
 
 The Bactrian Camel is at once to be distinguished from that 
 which has already been described by the two humps and the 
 clumsier and sturdier form. Still the skeletons of the Bactrian 
 and Arabian species are so similar that none but a very skilful 
 anatomist can distinguish between them, and several learned
 
 THE BACTRIAN CAMEL. 245 
 
 zoologists have expressed an opinion, in which I entirely coin- 
 cide, that the Bactrian and Arabian Camels are but simple 
 varieties of one and the same species, not nearly so dissimilar 
 as the greyhound and the bulldog. 
 
 Unlike the one-humped Camel, the Bactrian species is quite at- 
 home in a cold climate, and walks over ice as easily as its con- 
 gener does over smooth stone. It is an admirable rock-climber, 
 and is said even to surpass the mule in the sureness of its tread. 
 This quality is probably occasioned by the peculiar structure of 
 the foot, which has an elongated toe projecting beyond the soft 
 pad, and forming a sort of claw. In the winter time the riders 
 much prefer them to horses, because their long legs enable them 
 to walk easily through snow, in which a horse could only plunge 
 helplessly, and would in all probability sink and perish. 
 
 A mixed breed of the one-humped and the Bactrian animals is 
 thought to be the best for hill work in winter time, and General 
 Harlan actually took two thousand of these animals in winter 
 time for a distance of three hundred and sixty miles over the 
 snowy tops of the Indian Caucasus ; and though the campaign 
 lasted for seven months, he only lost one Camel, and that 
 was accidentally killed. Owing to its use among the hills, the 
 Bactrian species is sometimes called the Mountain Camel. 
 
 It very much dislikes the commencement of spring, because 
 the warm mid-day sun slightly melts the surface of the snow, 
 and the frost of night converts it into a thin plate of ice. When 
 the Camel walks upon this semi-frozen snow, its feet plunge 
 into the soft substratum through the icy crust, against which its 
 legs are severely cut. The beginning of the winter is liable to 
 the same objection. 
 
 The mixed breed which has just been mentioned must be 
 procured from a male Bactrian and a female Arabian Camel. If 
 the parentage be reversed, the offspring is useless, being weak, 
 ill-tempered, and disobedient. 
 
 The Bactrian Camel is, as has been mentioned, tolerant of 
 cold, and is indeed so hardy an animal that it bears the severest 
 winters without seeming to suffer distress, and has been seen 
 quietly feeding when the thermometer has reached a tempera- 
 ture several degrees below zero. Sometimes, when the cold is 
 more than usually sharp, the owners sew a thick cloth round its 
 body, but even in such extreme cases the animal is left to find
 
 246 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 its own food as it best can. And, however severe the weather 
 may be, the Bactrian Camel never sleeps under a roof. 
 
 This Camel is sometimes employed as a beast of burden, but 
 its general use is for draught, It is not used for the plough, be- 
 cause it has an uncertain and jerking mode of pulling, and does 
 not possess the steady dragging movement which is obtained by 
 the use of the horse or ox. 
 
 7 
 
 
 BACTKIAN CAMEL 
 
 " He saw a chariot of cameU." ISAIAH xxi. 
 
 It is almost invariably harnessed to carts, and always in pairs. 
 The mode of yoking the animals is as simple as can well be 
 conceived. A pole runs between them from the front of the 
 vehicle, and the Camels are attached to it by means of a pole 
 which passes over their necks. Oxen were harnessed in a 
 similar manuer. It was probably one of these cars or chariots
 
 THE BACTRIAN CAMEL. 247 
 
 that was mentioned by Isaiah in his prophecy respecting 
 Assyria : " And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a 
 chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels " (Isa. xxi. 7). The cars 
 themselves are as simple as the mode of harnessing them, being 
 almost exactly like the ox carts which have already been 
 described. 
 
 The weight which can be drawn by a pair of these Camels is 
 really considerable. On a tolerably made road a good pair of 
 Camels are expected to draw from twenty-six to twenty-eight 
 hundred weight, and to continue their labours for twenty or 
 thirty successive days, traversing each day an average of thirty 
 miles. It is much slower than the Arabian Camel, seldom going 
 at more than two and a half miles per hour. If, however, the 
 vehicle to which a pair of Bactrians are harnessed were well 
 made, the wheels truly circular, and the axles kept greased so as 
 to diminish the friction, there is no doubt that the animals could 
 draw a still greater load to longer distances, and with less 
 trouble to themselves. As it is, the wheels are wretchedly 
 fitted, and their ungreased axles keep up a continual creaking 
 that is most painful to an unaccustomed ear, arid totally un- 
 heeded by the drivers. 
 
 The hair of the Bactrian Camel is long, coarse, and strong ; 
 and, like that of the Arabian animal, is made into rough cloth. 
 It is plucked off by hand in the summer time, when it naturally 
 becomes loose in readiness for its annual renewal, and the weight 
 of the entire crop of hair ought to be about ten pounds. The 
 skin is not much valued, and is seldom used for any purpose 
 except for making ropes, straps, and thongs, and is not thought 
 worth the trouble of tanning. The milk, like that of the 
 Arabian animal, is much used for food, but the quantity is very 
 trifling, barely two quarts per diern being procured from each 
 Camel. 
 
 There is but little that is generally interesting in the Rabbi- 
 nical writers on the Camel. They have one proverbial saying 
 upon the shortness of its ears. When any one makes a request 
 that is likely to be refused, they quote the instance of the 
 Camel, who, it seems, was dissatisfied with its appearance, and 
 asked for horns to match its long ears. The result of the re- 
 quest was, that it was deprived of its ears, and got no horns.
 
 248 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE HORSE. 
 
 The Hebrew words which signify the Horse The Horse introduced into Palestine 
 from Egypt Similarity of the war-horse of Scripture and the Arab horse of 
 the present day Characteristics of the Horse Courage and endurance of the 
 Horse Hardness of ks unshod hoofs Love of the Arab for his Horse Diffi- 
 culty of purchasing the animal The Horse prohibited to the Israelites 
 Solomon's disregard of the edict The war-chariot, its form and use Probable 
 construction of the iron chariot The cavalry Horse Lack of personal interest 
 in the animal. 
 
 SEVERAL Hebrew words are used by the various Scriptural 
 writers to signify the Horse, and, like our own terms of horse, 
 mare, pony, charger, &c., are used to express the different quali- 
 ties of the animal. The chief distinction of the Horse seemed 
 to lie in its use for riding or driving, the larger and heavier 
 animals being naturally required for drawing the weighty spring- 
 less chariots. The chariot horse was represented by the word 
 Sw, and the cavalry horse by the word Parash, and in several 
 passages both these words occur in bold contrast to each other. 
 See, for example, 1 Kings iv. 26, &c. 
 
 AMONG the many passages of Scripture in which the Horse is 
 mentioned, there are few which do not treat of it as an adjunct 
 of war, and therefore it is chiefly in that light that we must 
 regard it. 
 
 The Horse of the Scriptures was evidently a similar animal 
 to the Arab Horse of the present day, as we find not only from 
 internal evidence, but from the sculptures and paintings which 
 still remain to tell us of the vanished glories of Egypt and 
 Assyria. It is remarkable, by the way, that the first mention of 
 the Horse in the Scriptures alludes to it as an Egyptian animal. 
 During the terrible famine which Joseph had foretold, the 
 Egyptians and the inhabitants of neighbouring countries were 
 unable to find food for themselves or fodder for their cattle, and, 
 accordingly, they sold all their beasts for bread. " And they
 
 THE HORSE. 249 
 
 brought their cattle unto Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread 
 in exchange for horses and the flocks, and for the cattle of herds, 
 and for the asses, and he fed them with bread for all their cattle 
 for that year." 
 
 This particular breed of Horses is peculiarly fitted for the 
 purposes of war, and is much less apt for peaceful duties than 
 the heavier and more powerful breeds, which are found in dif- 
 ferent parts of the world. It is remarkable for the flexible 
 agility of its movements, which enable it to adapt itself to 
 every movement of the rider, whose intentions it seems to divine 
 by a sort of instinct, and who guides it not so much by the 
 bridle as by the pressure of the knees and the voice. Examples 
 of a similar mode of guidance may be seen on the well-known 
 frieze of the Parthenon, where, in the Procession of Horsemen, 
 the riders may be seen directing their steeds by touching the 
 side of the neck with one finger, thus showing their own skill 
 and the well-trained quality of the animals which they ride. 
 
 Its endurance is really wonderful, and a horse of the Koch- 
 lani breed will go through an amount of work which is almost 
 incredible. Even the trial by which a Horse is tested is so 
 severe, that any other animal would be either killed on the spot 
 or ruined for life. When a young mare is tried for the first 
 time, her owner rides her for some fifty or sixty miles at full 
 speed, always finishing by swimming her through a river. After 
 this trial she is expected to feed freely ; and should she refuse 
 her food, she is rejected as an animal unworthy of the name of 
 Kochlani. 
 
 Partly from native qualities, and partly from constant associa- 
 tion with mankind, the Arab Horse is a singularly intelligent 
 animal In Europe we scarcely give the Horse credit for the 
 sensitive intelligence with which it is endowed, and look upon 
 it rather as a machine for draught and carriage than a com- 
 panion to man. The Arab, however, lives with his horse, and 
 finds in it the docility and intelligence which we are accus- 
 tomed to associate with the dog rather than the Horse. It 
 will follow him about and come at his call. It will stand 
 for any length of time and await its rider without moving. 
 Should lie fall from its back, it will stop and stand patiently 
 by him until he can remount ; and there is a well-authenticated 
 instance of an Arab Horse whose master h.ul been wounded in
 
 250 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 battle, taking him up by Iiis clothes and carrying him away to a 
 place of safety. 
 
 Even in the very heat and turmoil of the combat, the true 
 Arab Horse seems to be in his true element, and fully deserves 
 the splendid eulogium in the Book of Job (xxxix. 19 25) : 
 " Hast thou given the horse strength ? hast thou clothed his 
 neck with thunder? 
 
 " Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper ? the glory 
 of his nostrils is terror. 
 
 " He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength : he 
 goeth on to meet the armed men. 
 
 " He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted ; neither turneth 
 he back from the sword. 
 
 " The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the 
 shield. 
 
 "He walketh the ground with fierceness and rage: neither 
 believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. 
 
 " He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha ; and he smelleth the 
 battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting." 
 
 In another passage an allusion is made to the courage of the 
 Horse, and its love for the battle. " I hearkened and heard, but 
 they spake not aright : no man repented him of his wickedness, 
 saying, What have I done ? Every one turned to his course, as 
 the horse rusheth into the battle." (Jer. viii. 6.) Even in the 
 mimic battle of the djereed the Horse seems to exult in the con- 
 flict as much as his rider, and wheels or halts almost without 
 the slightest intimation. 
 
 The hoofs of the Arab Horses are never shod, their owners 
 thinking that that act is not likely to improve nature, and even 
 among the burning sands and hard rocks the Horse treads with 
 unbroken hoof. In such a climate, indeed, an iron shoe would 
 be worse than useless, as it would only scorch the hoof by day, 
 and in consequence of the rapid change of temperature by day or 
 night, the continual expansion and contraction of the metal would 
 soon work the nails loose, and cause the shoe to fall off. 
 
 A tender-footed Horse would be of little value, and so we 
 often find in the Scriptures that the hardness of the hoof is 
 reckoned among one of the best qualities of a Horse. See, for 
 example, Isa. v. 28 : " Whose arrows are sharp, and all their 
 bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and
 
 WAR HORSE. 
 
 'lie saith among the trumpets, Ha, Ha; and he Rmelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains 
 and the shouting." JOB xxxix. 25.
 
 THE HORSE. 251 
 
 their wheels like a whirlwind." Again, in Micah iv. 13 : " Arise 
 and thresh, daughter of Zion : for I will make thine horn 
 iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass : and thou shalt beat in 
 pieces many people/' Allusion is here made to one mode of 
 threshing, in which a number of Horses were turned into the 
 threshing-floor, and driven about at random among the wheat, 
 instead of walking steadily like the oxen. 
 
 In Judges v. 22 there is a curious allusion to the hoofs of 
 the Horse. It occurs in the Psalm of Thanksgiving sung by 
 Deborah and Barak after the death of Sisera : " Then were the 
 horse-hoofs broken by the means of the prancings, the prancings 
 of their mighty ones." It is easy now to see that these words 
 infer a scornful allusion to the inferiority of the enemy's Horses, 
 inasmuch as the hoofs of the best Horses would be " counted as 
 flint," and would not be broken by the pranciugs. 
 
 Horses possessed of the qualities of courage, endurance, and 
 sureness of foot are naturally invaluable ; and even at the 
 present day the Arab warrior esteems above all things a Horse 
 of the purest breed, and, whether he buys or sells one, takes care 
 to have its genealogy made out and hung on the animal's neck. 
 
 As to the mare, scarcely any inducement is strong enough to 
 make an Arab part with it, even to a countryman, and the, sale 
 of the animal is hindered by a number of impediments which 
 in point of fact are almost prohibitory. Signor Pierotti. whose 
 long residence in Palestine has given him a deep insight into 
 the character of the people, speaks in the most glowing terms 
 of the pure Arab Horse, and of its inestimable value to its 
 owner. Of the difficulties with which the sale of the animal is 
 surrounded, he gives a very amusing account : 
 
 "After this enumeration of the merits of the horse, I will 
 describe the manner in which a sale is conducted, choosing the 
 case of the mare, as that is the more valuable animal. The price 
 varies with the purity of blood of the steed, and the fortunes of 
 its owner. When he is requested to fix a value, his first reply is, 
 ' It is yours, and belongs to you, I am your servant ; ' because, 
 perhaps, he does not think that the question is asked with 
 any real design of purchasing ; when the demand is repeated, he 
 either makes no answer or puts the question by ; at the third 
 demand he generally responds rudely with a sardonic smile, 
 which is not a pleasant thing to see, as it is a sign of anger ; and
 
 252 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 then says that he would sooner sell his family than his mare. 
 This remark is not meant as a mere jest ; for it is no uncommon 
 thing for a Bedawy to give his parents as hostages rather than 
 separate himself from his friend. 
 
 " If, however, owing to some misfortune, he determines on 
 selling his mare, it is very doubtful whether he or his parents 
 will allow her to leave their country without taking the pre- 
 caution to render her unfit for breeding. . 
 
 " There are many methods of arranging the sale, all of which 
 I should like to describe particularly ; however, I will confine 
 myself to a general statement. Before the purchaser enters upon 
 the question of the price to be paid, he must ascertain that the 
 parents, friends, and allies of the owners give their consent to 
 the sale, without which some difficulty or other may arise, or 
 perhaps the mare may be stolen from her new master. He must 
 also obtain an unquestionable warranty that she is fit for breed- 
 ing purposes, and that no other has a prior claim to any part of 
 her body. This last precaution may seem rather strange, but it 
 arises from the following custom. It sometimes happens that, 
 when a Bedawy is greatly in want of money, he raises it most 
 easily by selling a member of his horse ; so that very frequently 
 a horse belongs to a number of owners, one of whom has pur- 
 chased the right fore-leg, another the left, another the hind-leg, 
 or the tail, or an ear, or the like ; and the proprietors have each a 
 proportionate interest in the profits of its labour or sale. 
 
 " So also the offspring are sold in a similar manner ; some- 
 times only the first-born, sometimes the first three ; and then it 
 occasionally happens that two or three members of the foal are, 
 as it were, mortgaged. Consequently, any one who is ignorant 
 of this custom may find that, after he has paid the price of the 
 mare to her supposed owner, a third person arises who demands 
 to be paid the value of his part ; and, if the purchaser refuse to 
 comply, he may find himself in a very unpleasant situation, 
 without any possibility of obtaining help from the local govern- 
 ment. Whoever sells his mare entirely, without reserving to 
 himself one or two parts, must be on good terms with the confe- 
 derate chiefs in the neighbourhood, and must have obtained their 
 formal sanction, otherwise they would universally despise him, 
 and perhaps lie in wait to kill him, so that his only hope of 
 escape would be a disgt-acefu! Hight, just as if he had committed
 
 THE HORSE. 253 
 
 some great crime. It is an easier matter to purchase a stallion ; 
 but even in this case the above formalities must be observed. 
 
 "These remarks only apply to buying horses of the purest 
 blood ; those of inferior race are obtained without difficulty, and 
 at fair prices." 
 
 For some reason, perhaps the total severance of the Israelites 
 from the people among whom they had lived so long in cap- 
 tivity, the use of the Horse, or, at all events, the breeding of it, 
 was forbidden to the Israelites ; see Deut. xvi. 16. After 
 prophesying that the Israelites, when they had settled them- 
 selves in the Promised Land, would want a king, the inspired 
 writer next ordains that the new king must be chosen by 
 Divine command, and must belong to one of the twelve tribes. 
 He then proceeds as follows : " But he shall not multiply 
 horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to 
 the end that he should multiply horses : forasmuch as the Lord 
 hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that 
 way." 
 
 The foresight of this prophetical writer was afterwards shown 
 by the fact that many kings of Israel did send to Egypt for 
 Horses, Egypt being the chief source from which these animals 
 were obtained. And, judging from the monuments to which 
 reference has been made, the Horse of Egypt was precisely the 
 same animal as the Arab Horse of the present day, and was 
 probably obtained from nomad breeders. 
 
 In spite of the prohibitory edict, both David and Solomon 
 used Horses in battle, and the latter supplied himself largely 
 from Egypt, disregarding as utterly the interdict against plu- 
 rality of Horses as that against plurality of wives, which 
 immediately follows. 
 
 David seems to have been the first king who established a 
 force of chariots, and this he evidently did for the purpose of 
 action on the flat grounds of Palestine, where infantry were at a 
 great disadvantage when attacked by the dreaded chariots ; yet 
 he did not controvert the law by multiplying to himself Horses, 
 or even by importing them from Egypt ; arid when he had an 
 opportunity of adding to his army an enormous force of chariots, 
 he only employed as many as he thought were sufficient for his 
 purpose. After he defeated Hadadezer, and had taken from 
 him a thousand chariots with their Horses- together with seven
 
 254 BTBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 hundred cavalry, he houghed all the Horses except those which 
 were needed for one hundred chariots. 
 
 Solomon, however, was more lax, and systematically broke 
 the ancient law by multiplying Horses exceedingly, and sending 
 to Egypt for them. We learn from 1 Kings iv. 26 of the enor- 
 mous establishment which he kept up both for chariots and 
 cavalry. Besides those which were given to him as tribute, he 
 purchased both chariots and their Horses from Egypt and Syria, 
 the chariots being delivered at the rate of six hundred shekels 
 of silver, and the Horses for an hundred and fifty shekels. 
 
 Chariots were far more valued in battle than horsemen, pro- 
 bably because their weight made their onset irresistible against 
 infantry, who had no better weapons than bows and spears. 
 The slingers themselves could make little impression on the 
 chariots; and even if the driver, or the warrior who fought in 
 the chariot, or his attendant, happened to be killed, the weighty 
 machine, with its two Horses, still went on its destructive way. 
 
 Of their use in battle we find very early mention. For 
 example, in Exod. xiv. G it is mentioned that Pharaoh made ready 
 his chariot to pursue the Israelites ; and in a subsequent part 
 of the same chapter we find that six hundred of the Egyptian 
 chariot force accompanied their master in the pursuit, and that 
 the whole army was delayed because the loss of the chariot 
 wheels made them drive heavily. 
 
 Then in the familiar story of Si sera and Jael the vanquished 
 general is mentioned as alighting from his chariot, in which he 
 would be conspicuous, and taking night on foot ; and, after his 
 death, his mother is represented as awaiting his arrival, and 
 saying to the women of the household, " Why is his chariot so 
 long in coming ? Why tarry the wheels of his chariot ? " 
 
 During the war of conquest which Joshua led, the chariot 
 plays a somewhat important part. As long as the war was 
 carried on in the rugged mountainous parts of the land, no men- 
 tion of the chariot is made ; but when the battles had to be 
 fought on level ground, the enemy brought the dreaded chariots 
 to bear upon the Israelites. In spite of these adjuncts, Joshua 
 won the battles, and, unlike David, destroyed the whole of the 
 Horses and burned the chariots. 
 
 Many years afterwards, a still more dreadful weapon, the iron 
 chariot, was used against the Israelites by Jabiri. This ne\v
 
 THE HORSE. 255 
 
 instrument of war seems to have cowed the people completely ; 
 for we find that by means of his nine hundred chariots of iron 
 Jabin "mightily oppressed the children of Israel" for twenty 
 years. It has been well suggested that the possession of the 
 war chariot gave rise to the saying of Benhadad's councillors, 
 that the gods of Israel were gods of the hills, and so their army 
 had been defeated ; but that if the battle were fought in the 
 plain, where the chariots and Horses could act, they would be 
 victorious. 
 
 So dreaded were these weapons, even by those who were 
 familiar with them and were accustomed to use them, that when 
 the Syrians had besieged Samaria, and had nearly reduced it by 
 starvation, the fancied sound of a host of chariots and Horses 
 that they heard in the night caused them all to flee and evacuate 
 the camp, leaving their booty and all their property in the hands 
 of the Israelites. 
 
 Whether the Jews ever employed the terrible scythe chariots 
 is not quite certain, though it is probable that they may have 
 done so ; and this conjecture is strengthened by the fact that 
 they were employed against the Jews by Antiochus, who had 
 " footmen an hundred and ten thousand, and horsemen five 
 thousand and three hundred, and elephants two and twenty, and 
 three hundred chariots armed with hooks " (2 Mace. xiii. 2) . 
 Some commentators think that by the iron chariots mentioned 
 above were signified ordinary chariots armed with iron scythes 
 projecting from the sides. 
 
 By degrees the chariot came to be one of the recognised forces 
 in war, and we find it mentioned throughout the books of the 
 Scriptures, not only in its literal sense, but as a metaphor which 
 every one could understand. In the Psalms, for example, are 
 several allusions to the war-chariot. " He maketh wars to cease 
 unto the end of the earth ; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the 
 spear in sunder ; He burneth the chariot in the fire " (Ps. xlvi. 9). 
 Again : " At Thy rebuke, God of Jacob, both the chariot and 
 horse are cast into a dead sleep " (Ps. Ixxvi. 6). And : " Some 
 trust in chariots, and some, in horses : but we will remember the 
 name of the Lord our God " (Ps. xx. 7). Now, the force of these 
 passages cannot be properly appreciated unless we realize to 
 ourselves the dread in which the war-chariot was held by the 
 foot-soldiers. Even cavalry were much feared ; but the chariots
 
 256 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 were objects of almost superstitious fear, and the rushing sound 
 of their wheels, the noise of the Horses' hoofs, and the shaking 
 of the ground as the "prancing horses and jumping chariots'' 
 (Nab. iii. 2) thundered along, are repeatedly mentioned. 
 
 See, for example, Ezek. xxvi. 10 : " By reason of the abundance 
 of his horses their dust shall cover thee : thy walls shall shake 
 at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the 
 chariots." Also, Jer. xlvii. 3 : "At the noise of the stamping of 
 the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, 
 and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look 
 back to their children for feebleness of hands." See also Joel 
 ii. 4, 5 : " The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses ; 
 and as horsemen, so shall they run. 
 
 " Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall 
 they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the 
 stubble, as a strong people set in battle array." 
 
 In several passages the chariot and Horse are used in bold 
 imagery as expressions of Divine power : " The chariots of God 
 are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels : the Lord is 
 among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place " (Ps. Ixviii. 17). A 
 similar image is employed in Ps. civ. 3 : " Who rnaketh the 
 clouds His chariot : who walketh upon the wings of the wind." 
 In connexion with these passages, we cannot but call to mind 
 that wonderful day when the unseen power of the Almighty 
 was made manifest to the servant of Elisha, whose eyes were 
 suddenly opened, and he saw that the mountain was full of 
 Horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 
 
 The chariot and horses of lire by which Elijah was taken from 
 earth are also familiar to us, and in connexion with the passage 
 which describes that wonderful event, w r e may mention one 
 which occurs in the splendid prayer of Habakkuk (iii. 8) : " Was 
 the Lord displeased against the rivers ? 'was Thine anger against 
 the rivers ? was Thy wrath against the sea, that Thou didst ride 
 upon Thine horses and Thy chariots of salvation ? " 
 
 By degrees the chariot came to be used for peaceful purposes, 
 and was employed as our carriages of the present day, in carry- 
 ing persons of wealth. That this was the case in Egypt from 
 very early times is evident from Gen. xli. 43, in which we are 
 told that after Pharaoh had taken Joseph out of prison and 
 raised him to be next in rank to himself, the king caused him to
 
 THE HORSE. 257 
 
 ride in the second chariot which he had, and so to be pro- 
 claimed ruler over Egypt. Many years afterwards we find him 
 travelling in his chariot to the laud of Goshen, whither he 
 went to meet Jacob and to conduct him to the presence of 
 Pharaoh. 
 
 At first the chariot seems to have been too valuable to the 
 Israelites to have been used for any purpose except war, and it is 
 not until a comparatively late time that we find it employed as 
 a carriage, and even then it is only used by the noble and 
 wealthy. Absalom had such chariots, but it is evident that he 
 used them for purposes of state, and as appendages of his regal 
 rank. Chariots or carriages were, however, afterwards employed 
 by the Israelites as freely as by the Egyptians, from whom they 
 were originally procured ; and accordingly we find Rehoboam 
 mounting his chariot and fleeing to Jerusalem, Ahab riding in 
 his chariot from Samaria to Jezreel, with Elijah running before 
 him ; and in the New Testament we read of the chariot in 
 which sat the chief eunuch of Ethiopia whom Philip baptized 
 (Acts yiii. 28). 
 
 As to the precise form and character of these chariots, they are 
 made familiar to us by the sculptures and paintings of Egypt and 
 Assyria, from both of which countries the Jews procured the 
 vehicles. Differing very slightly in shape, the principle of the 
 chariot was the same ; and it strikes us with some surprise that 
 the Assyrians, the Egyptians, and the Jews, the three wealthiest 
 and most powerful nations of the world, should not have in- 
 vented a better carriage. They lavished the costliest materials and 
 the most artistic skill in decorating the chariots, but had no idea 
 of making them comfortable for the occupants. 
 
 They were nothing but semicircular boxes on wheels, and of 
 very small size. They were hung very low, so that the occu- 
 pants could step in and out without trouble, though they do not 
 seem to have had the sloping floor of the Greek or Roman 
 chariot. They had no springs, but, in order to render the jolting 
 of the carriage less disagreeable, the floor was made of a sort of 
 network of leathern ropes, very tightly stretched so as to be 
 elastic. The wheels were always two in number, and generally 
 had six spokes. 
 
 To the side of the chariot was attached the case which con- 
 tained the bow and quiver of arrows, and in the case of a rich 
 
 s
 
 258 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 man these bow-cases were covered with gold and silver, and 
 adorned with figures of lions and other animals. Should the 
 chariot be intended for two persons, two bow-cases were fastened 
 to it, the one crossing the other. The spear had also its tubular 
 case, in which it was kept upright, like the whip of a modern 
 carriage. 
 
 Two Horses were generally used with each chariot, though 
 three were sometimes employed. They were harnessed very 
 simply, having no traces, and being attached to the central pole 
 by a breast-band, a very slight saddle, and a loose girth. On 
 their heads were generally fixed ornaments, such as tufts of 
 feathers, and similar decorations, and tassels hung to the harness 
 served to drive away the flies. Eound the neck of each Horse 
 passed a strap, to the end of which was attached a bell. This 
 ornament is mentioned in Zech. xiv. 20 : " In that day shall 
 there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord " 
 i.e. the greeting of peace shall be on the bells of the animals 
 once used in war. 
 
 Sometimes the owner drove nis own chariot, even when going 
 into battle, but the usual plan was to have a driver, who managed 
 the Horses while the owner or occupant could fight with both 
 his hands at liberty. In case he drove his own Horse, the reins 
 passed round his waist, and the whip was' fastened to the wrist 
 by a thong, so that when the charioteer used the bovr, his prin- 
 cipal weapon, he could do so without danger of losing his whip. 
 
 Thus much for the use of the chariot in war ; we have now 
 the Horse as the animal ridden by the cavalry. 
 
 As was the case with the chariot, the war-horse was not 
 employed by the Jews until a comparatively late period of their 
 history. They had been familiarized with cavalry during their 
 long sojourn in Egypt, and in the course of *their war of conquest 
 had often suffered defeat from the horsemen of the enemy. But 
 we do not find any mention of a mounted force as forming 
 part of the Jewish army until the days of David, although 
 after that time the successive kings possessed large forces 
 of cavalry. 
 
 Many references to mounted soldiers are made by the prophets, 
 sometimes allegorically, sometimes metaphorically. See, for 
 example, Jer. vi. 23 : " They shall lay hold on bow and spear ; 
 they are cruel, and have no mercy ; their voice roareth like the
 
 THE I10KSK. 259 
 
 sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war 
 against thee, daughter of Zion." The same prophet has a 
 similar passage in chap. 1. 42, couched in almost precisely the 
 same words. And in chap. xlvi. 4, there is a further reference 
 to the cavalry, which is specially valuable as mentioning the 
 weapons used by them. The first call of the prophet is to the 
 infantry : " Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to 
 battle " (verse 3) ; and then follows the command to the cavalry, 
 " Harness the horses ; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth 
 with your helmets ; furbish the spears, and put on the brigan- 
 dines." The chief arms of the Jewish soldier were therefore 
 the cuirass, the helmet, and the lance, the weapons which in all 
 ages, and in all countries, have been found to be peculiarly 
 suitable to the horse-soldier. 
 
 BEING desirous of affording the reader a pictorial representa- 
 tion of the war and state chariots, I have selected Egypt as the 
 typical country of the former, and Assyria of the latter. Both 
 drawings have been executed with the greatest care in details, 
 every one of which, even to the harness of the Horses, the mode 
 of holding the reins, the form of the whip, and the offensive 
 and defensive armour, has been copied from the ancient records 
 of Egypt and Nineveh. 
 
 We will first take the war-chariot of Egypt. 
 
 This form has been selected as the type of the war-chariot, 
 because the earliest account of such a force mentions the war- 
 chariots of Egypt, and because, after the Israelites had adopted 
 chariots as an acknowledged part -of their army, the vehicles, as 
 well as the trained Horses, and probably their occupants, were 
 procured from Egypt. 
 
 The scene represents a battle between the imperial forces and 
 a revolted province, so that the reader may have the oppor- 
 tunity of seeing the various kinds of weapons and armour 
 which were in use in Egypt at the time of Joseph. In the 
 foreground is the chariot of the general, driven at headlong 
 speed, the Horses at full gallop, and the springless chariot leaping 
 off the ground as the Horses bound along. The royal rank of the 
 general in question is shown by the feather fan which denotes 
 his high birth, and which is fixed in a socket at the back of his 
 chariot, much as a coachman fixes his whip. The rank of the 
 
 s 2
 
 260 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 rider is further shown by the feather plumes on the heads of his 
 Horses. 
 
 By the side of the chariot are seen the quiver and bow- 
 case, the former being covered with decorations, and having 
 the figure of a recumbent lion along its sides. The simple 
 
 F-OYPTTAV WAR-CHARIOTS. 
 
 "Co-rif iip. ye hortes; and rage, ye chariots; and Jet the mighty itn fane forth." Jr.R. xlvi. 0. 
 " The nnist of a whip, one! the nnise of the rattling of the wheeit., and nf (he prancing horses, and 
 of the. jumping chariots." NAHUM iii. 2. 
 
 "Like the noise of chariots .... shall they leap." JOEL i:. 5 
 
 but effective harness of the Horses is especially worthy of 
 notice, as showing how the ancients knew, better than the 
 moderns, that to cover a Horse with a complicated apparatus 
 of straps and metal only deteriorates from the powers of the 
 animal, and that a Horse is more likely to behave well if he
 
 THE HORSE. 261 
 
 can see freely on all sides, than if all lateral vision be cut off by 
 the use of blinkers. 
 
 Just behind the general is the chariot of another officer, one 
 of whose Horses has been struck, and is lying struggling on the 
 ground. The general is hastily giving his orders as he dashes 
 past the fallen animal. On the ground are lying the bodies of 
 some slain enemies, and the Horses are snorting and shaking 
 their heads, significative of their unwillingness to trample on a 
 human being. By the side of the dead man are his shield, bow, 
 and quiver, and it is worthy of notice that the form of these 
 weapons, as depicted upon the ancient Egyptian monuments, is 
 identical with that which is still found among several half-savage 
 tribes of Africa. 
 
 In the background is seen the fight raging round the standards. 
 One chief has been killed, and while the infantry are pressing 
 round the body of the rebel leader and his banner on one side, 
 on the other the imperial chariots are thundering along to 
 support the attack, and are driving their enemies before them. 
 In the distance are seen the clouds of dust whirled into the air 
 by the hoofs and wheels, and circling in clouds by the eddies 
 caused by the fierce rush of the vehicles, thus illustrating the 
 passage in Jer. iv. 13 : " Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and 
 his chariots shall be as a whirlwind : his horses are swifter than 
 eagles. Woe unto us ! for we are spoiled." The reader will see, 
 by reference to the illustration, how wonderfully true and forcible 
 is this statement, the writer evidently having been an eye-witness 
 of the scene which he so powerfully depicts. 
 
 THE second scene is intentionally chosen as affording a strong 
 contrast to the former. Here, instead of the furious rush, the 
 galloping Horses, the chariots leaping off the ground, the 
 archers bending their bows, and all imbued with the fierce ardour 
 of battle, we have a scene of quiet grandeur, the Assyrian king 
 making a solemn progress in his chariot after a victory, accom- 
 panied by his attendants, and surrounded by his troops, in all 
 the placid splendour of Eastern state. 
 
 Chief object in the illustration stands the great king in his 
 chariot, wearing the regal crown, or mitre, and sheltered from 
 the sun by the umbrella, which in ancient Nineveh, as in more 
 modern times, was the emblem of royalty. By his side is his
 
 262 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 charioteer, evidently a man of high rank, holding the reins in a 
 business-like manner; and in front marches the shield-bearer. 
 In one of the sculptures from which this Illustration was com- 
 posed, the shield-bearer was clearly a man of rank, fat, fussy, 
 full of importance, and evidently a portrait of some well-known 
 individual. 
 
 ASSYllIAN CHARIOT OF STATE. 
 
 " Then shall there enter into the gates of this city, kings and princes sitting upon the throne cj 
 David, riding in chariots." JER. xvii. 25. 
 
 The Horses are harnessed with remarkable lightness, but they 
 bear the gorgeous trappings which befit the rank of the rider, 
 their heads being decorated with the curious successive plumes 
 with which the Assyrian princes distinguished their chariot 
 Horses, and the breast-straps being adorned with tassels, repeated 
 in successive rows like the plumes of the head.
 
 THE HOKSE. 263 
 
 The reader will probably notice the peculiar high action of the 
 Horses. This accomplishment seems to have been even more 
 valued among the ancients than by ourselves, and some of the 
 sculptures show the Horses with their knees almost touching 
 their noses. Of course the artist exaggerrated the effect that 
 he wanted to produce ; but the very fact of the exaggeration 
 shows the value that was set on a high and showy action in a 
 Horse that was attached to a chariot of state. The old Assyrian 
 sculptors knew the Horse well, and delineated it in a most 
 spirited and graphic style, though they treated it rather conven- 
 tionally. The variety of attitude is really wonderful, considering 
 that all the figures are profile views, as indeed seemed to have 
 been a law of the historical sculptures. 
 
 BEFOEE closing this account of the Horse, it may be as well 
 to remark the singular absence of detail in the Scriptural 
 accounts. Of the other domesticated animals many such 
 details are given, but of the Horse we hear but little, except in 
 connexion with war. There are few exceptions to this rule, and 
 even the oft-quoted passage in Job, which goes deeper into the 
 character of the Horse than any other portion of the Scriptures, 
 only considers the Horse as an auxiliary in battle. We miss the 
 personal interest in the animal which distinguishes the many 
 references to the ox, the sheep, and the goat; and it is 
 remarkable that even in the Book of Proverbs, which is so 
 rich in references to various animals, very little is said of the 
 Horse.
 
 264 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE ASS. 
 
 Importance of the Ass in the East Its general use for the saddle Hiding 
 the Ass not a mark of humility The triumphal entry White Asses 
 Character of the Scriptural Ass Saddling the Ass The Ass used in agricul- 
 ture The Ass's millstone The water-wheel and the plough Keniiniscences 
 of the Ass in the Scriptural narrative Its value as property The flesh of 
 the Ass The siege of Samaria and its horrors Various legends respecting the 
 Ass The impostor and his fate Samson aiid Balaam. 
 
 IN the Scriptures we read of two breeds of Ass, namely, the 
 Domesticated and the Wild Ass. As the former is the more 
 important of the two, we will give it precedence. 
 
 IN the East, the Ass has always played a much more 
 important part than among us Westerns, and on that account we 
 find it so frequently mentioned in the Bible. In the first place, 
 it is the universal saddle-animal of the East. Among us the 
 Ass has ceased to be regularly used for the purposes of the 
 saddle, and is only casually employed by holiday-makers and the 
 like. Some persons certainly ride it habitually, but they almost 
 invariably belong to the lower orders, and are content to ride 
 without a saddle, balancing themselves in some extraordinary 
 manner just over the animal's tail. In the East, however, it is 
 ridden by persons of the highest rank, and is decorated with 
 saddle and harness as rich as those of the horse. 
 
 In England we should be very much surprised to see a royal 
 prince, a judge, or a bishop travelling habitually on a donkey, 
 but in Palestine it is just the animal which would be considered 
 most appropriate for the purpose. For example, we find that 
 Abraham, an exceptionally wealthy man, and a chief of high 
 position, made use of the Ass for the saddle. It was on an Ass 
 that he travelled when he made his three days' journey from 
 Beersheba to Moriah, when he was called to prove his faith by 
 sacrificing Isaac (see Gen. xxii. 3).
 
 THE ASS. 265 
 
 Then in Judges x. 3, 4, we find that riding upon the Ass is 
 actually mentioned as a mark of high rank. " And after him 
 arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. 
 "And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they 
 had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair unto this day, 
 which are in the land of Gilead." So here we have the curious 
 fact, that the sacred historian thinks it worth while to mention 
 that great men, the sons of the chief man of Israel, each of them 
 being ruler over a city, rode upon Ass colts. In the same book, 
 xii. 13, 14, we have a similar record of Abdon, the judge who 
 preceded Samson. " After him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pira- 
 thonite, judged Israel. 
 
 " And he had forty sons and thirty nephews " (or grandsons 
 according to some translators) " that rode on threescore and ten 
 ass colts : and he judged Israel eight years." 
 
 Thus we see that, so far from the use of the Ass as a saddle- 
 animal being a mark of humility, it ought to be viewed in pre- 
 cisely the opposite light. In consequence of the very natural 
 habit of reading, according to Western ideas, the Scriptures, 
 which are books essentially Oriental in all their allusions and 
 tone of thought, many persons have entirely perverted the sense of 
 one very familiar passage, the prophecy of Zechariah concerning 
 the future Messiah. " Eejoice greatly, daughter of Zion ; shout, 
 O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy King cometh unto thee : 
 He is just, and having salvation ; lowly, and riding upon an ass, 
 and upon a colt the foal of an ass " (Zech. ix. 9). 
 
 Now this passage, as well as the one which describes its ful- 
 filment so many years afterwards, has often been seized upon as 
 a proof of the meekness and lowliness of our Saviour, in riding 
 upon so humble an animal when He made His entry into Jeru- 
 salem. The fact is, that there was no humility in the case, 
 neither was the act so understood by the people. He rode upon 
 an Ass as any prince or ruler would have done who was engaged 
 on a peaceful journey, the horse being reserved for war purposes. 
 He rode on the Ass, and not on the horse, because He was the 
 Prince of Peace and not of war, as indeed is shown very clearly 
 in the context. For, after writing the words which have just 
 been quoted, Zechariah proceeds as follows (ver. 10) : " And I 
 will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jeru- 
 salem, and the battle bow shall be cut off : and He shall speak
 
 266 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 peace unto the heathen : and His dominion shall be from sea 
 even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth." 
 
 Meek and lowly was He, as became the new character, 
 hitherto unknown to the warlike and restless Jews, a Prince, 
 not of war, as had been all other celebrated kings, but of peace. 
 Had He come as the Jews expected despite so many pro- 
 phecies their Messiah to come, as a great king and conqueror, 
 He might have ridden the war-horse, and been surrounded with 
 countless legions of armed men. But He came as the herald of 
 peace, and not of war; and, though meek and lowly, yet a 
 Prince, riding as became a prince, on an Ass coit which had 
 borne no inferior burden. 
 
 That the act was not considered as one of lowliness is evident 
 from the manner in which it was received by the people, 
 accepting Him as the Son of David, coming in the name of the 
 Highest, and greeting Him with the cry of " Hosanna ! " 
 (" Save us now,") quoted from verses 25, 26 of Ps. cxviii. : 
 " Save now, I beseech Thee, Lord : Lord, I beseech Thee, 
 send now prosperity." 
 
 "Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord." 
 
 The palnvbranehes which they strewed upon the road were 
 not chosen by the attendant crowd merely as a means of doing 
 honour to Him whom they acknowledged as the Son of David. 
 They were necessarily connected with the ciy of " Hosanna ! " 
 At the Feast of Tabernacles, it was customary for the people to 
 assemble with branches of palms and wallows in their hands, 
 and for one of the priests to recite the Great Hallel, i.e. Ps. cxiii. 
 and cxviii At certain intervals, the people responded with 
 the cry of " Hosauna ! " waving at the same time their palm- 
 branches. For the whole of the seven days through which the 
 feast lasted they repeated their Hosannas, always accompanying 
 the shout with the waving of palm-branches, and setting them 
 towards the altar as they went in procession round it. 
 
 Every child who could hold a palm-branch was expected to 
 take part in the solemnity, just as did the children on the occa- 
 sion of the triumphal entry. By degrees, the name of Hosanna 
 was transferred to the palm-branches themselves, as well as to 
 the feast, the last day being called the Great Hosanua. 
 
 The reader will now see the importance of this carrying of 
 palm-branches, accompanied with Hosannas, and that those who
 
 THE ASS. 267 
 
 used them in honour of Him whom they followed into Jerusalem 
 had no idea that He was acting any lowly part. 
 
 Again, the action of the disciples in putting their mantles on 
 the Ass, and setting their Master upon them, was one that 
 signified their acknowledgment of Him as their Prince ; and 
 the same idea was typified by the laying of the clothes upon 
 the road, together with the palm-branches.. Compare also the 
 passage in 2 Kings ix. 13. When Elisha sent the young prophet 
 to call Jehu from among the council, and to anoint him King of 
 Israel, the act of anointing was pei formed in a private chamber. 
 Jehu, scarcely realizing the import of the act, seemed to think 
 it a trick played upon him by some of his companions, the com- 
 manding officers of the army. When, however, they heard his 
 account of the interview with the prophet, they at once accepted 
 him as their king, and, as token thereof, " they hasted, and took 
 every man his garment, and put it under him at the top of the 
 stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king." 
 
 White Asses were selected for persons of high rank, especially 
 for those who exercised the office of judges. See Judges v. 10 : 
 " Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and 
 walk by the way." Such Asses are still in use for similar pur- 
 poses, and are bred expressly for the use of persons of rank. 
 They are larger, and are thought to be swifter, than the ordinary 
 breeds ; but they are by no means hardy animals, and are said 
 to be unsuitable for places near the sea-coast. 
 
 Both sexes used the Ass for riding, as they do now in the 
 East. See for example Judges i. 14, where we find that 
 Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, rode on an Ass when she went 
 to ask her father to give her some springs of water, in addition 
 to the land which he had previously given her as a dowry. 
 Later in the Scriptural history we read that Abigail, the wife of 
 the wealthy churl Nabal, rode to meet David on an Ass, when 
 she went to deprecate his anger against her husband (1 Sam. 
 xxv. 23). And, still later, the woman of Shunem, who acted so 
 hospitably towards Elisha, rode on an Ass to meet him when her 
 child had died from sunstroke in the field (see 2 Kings iv. 24). 
 
 Now all these women were of high rank, and certainly neither 
 of them would have considered that riding on an Ass was an act 
 of humility. We will cite them in succession, and begin with 
 Achsah. She was the daughter of one of the most illustrious of
 
 268 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the Israelites, a man of whom we read as being almost the equal 
 of Joshua, one of the illustrious two who were included in the 
 special exemption from the punishment of rebellion. Moreover, 
 Caleb was a man of enormous territorial possessions, as we find 
 from several passages in the Old Testament ; a man who was 
 able to give to his daughter not only a large amount of land as 
 a dowry, but also the wells or springs which multiplied its 
 value tenfold. 
 
 Next we come to the case of Abigail, the wife of Nabal, who 
 himself belonged to the family of Caleb, and probably owed his 
 wealth simply to the accident of his birth. It is related of 
 Nabal, that his "possessions were in Carmel, and the man was 
 very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand 
 goats." Yet his wife, who undoubtedly ruled her household as 
 a housewife should do, and who was thought worthy of becoming 
 David's wife after the death of her cowardly husband, rode on 
 an Ass when she went on a mission in which life and death were 
 involved. 
 
 And lastly, the woman of Shunem, who rode on an Ass to 
 meet Elisha, engaged in a mission in which the life of her only 
 child was involved, was a woman of great wealth (2 Kings iv. 8), 
 who was able not only to receive the prophet, but to build a 
 chamber, and furnish it for him. 
 
 Not to multiply examples, we see from these passages that 
 the Ass of the East was held in comparatively high estimation, 
 being used for the purposes of the saddle, just as would a high- 
 bred horse among ourselves. 
 
 Consequently, the Ass is really a different animal. In this 
 country he is repressed, and seldom has an opportunity for dis- 
 playing the intellectual powers which he possesses, and which 
 are of a much higher order than is generally imagined. It is 
 rather remarkable, that when we wish to speak slightingly of 
 intellect we liken the individual to an Ass or a goose, not 
 knowing that we have selected just the quadruped and the bird 
 which are least worthy of such a distinction. 
 
 Putting aside the bird, as being at present out of place, we 
 shall find that the Ass is one of the cleverest of our domesticated 
 animals. We are apt to speak of the horse with a sort of re- 
 verence, and of the Ass with contemptuous pity, not knowing 
 that, of the two animals, the Ass is by far the superior in point
 
 THE ASS. 
 
 269 
 
 of intellect. It has been well remarked by a keen observer of 
 nature, that if four or five horses are in a field, together with 
 one Ass, and there be an assailable point in the fence, the Ass 
 is sure to be the animal that discovers it, and leads the way 
 through it. 
 
 SYRIAN ASSES. 
 
 "A bridle for the ass." - PROV txvj. 
 
 Take even one of our own toil-worn animals, turned out in a 
 common to graze, and see the ingenuity which it displays w r hen 
 persecuted by the idle boys who generally frequent such places, 
 and who try to ride every beast that is within their reach. It 
 seems to divine at once the object of the boy as he steals up to 
 it, and he takes a pleasure in baffling him just as he fancies that 
 he has succeeded in his attempt.
 
 270 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Should the Ass be kindly treated, there is not an animal that 
 proves more docile, or even affectionate, Stripes and kicks it 
 resents, and sets it-self distinctly against them; and, being nothing 
 but a slave, it follows the slavish principle of doing no work that 
 it can possibly avoid. 
 
 Now, in the East the Ass takes so much higher rank than 
 our own animal, that its whole demeanour and gait are different 
 from those displayed by the generality of its brethren in England. 
 '' Why, the very slave of slaves," writes Mr. Lowth, in his " Wan- 
 derer in Arabia," " the crushed and grief-stricken, is so no more 
 in Egypt : the battered drudge has become the willing servant. 
 Is that active little fellow, who, with race-horse coat and full 
 flanks, moves under his rider with the light step and the action 
 of a pony is he the same animal as that starved and head- 
 bowed object of the North, subject for all pity and cruelty, and 
 clothed with rags and insult ? 
 
 " Look at him now. On he goes, rapid and free, with his 
 small head well up, and as gay as a crimson saddle and a bridle 
 of light chains and red leather can make him. It was a glad- 
 dening sight to see the unfortunate as a new animal in Egypt." 
 
 Hardy animal as is the Ass, it is not well adapted for tolerance 
 of cold, and seems to degenerate in size, strength, speed, and 
 spirit in proportion as the climate becomes colder. Whether it 
 might equal the horse in its endurance of cold provided that it 
 were as carefully treated, is perhaps a doubtful point ; but it is 
 a well-known fact that the horse does not necessarily degenerate 
 by moving towards a colder climate, though the Ass has always 
 been found to do so. 
 
 There is, of course, a variety in the treatment which the Ass 
 receives even in the East. Signer Pierotti, whose work on the 
 customs and traditions of Palestine has already been mentioned, 
 writes in very glowing terms of the animal. He states that he 
 formed a very high opinion of the Ass while he was in Egypt, 
 not only from its spirited aspect and its speed, but because it 
 was employed even by the Viceroy and the great Court officers, 
 who may be said to use Asses of more or less intelligence for 
 every occasion. He even goes so far as to say that, if all the 
 Asses were taken away from Egypt, not a man would be left. 
 
 The same traveller gives an admirable summary of the cha- 
 racter of the Ass, as it exists in Egypt and Palestine. " What,
 
 THE ASS. 271 
 
 then, are the characteristics of the ass ? Much the same as those 
 which adorn it in other parts of the East namely, it is useful for 
 riding and for carrying burdens ; it is sensible of kindness, and 
 shows gratitude ; it is very steady, and is larger, stronger, and 
 more tractable than its European congener; its pace is easy 
 and pleasant ; and it will shrink from no labour, if only its poor 
 daily feed of straw and barley is fairly given. 
 
 " If well and liberally supplied, it is capable of any enterprise, 
 and wears an altered and dignified mien, apparently forgetful of 
 its extraction, except when undeservedly beaten by its masters, 
 who, however, are not so much to be blamed, because, having 
 learned to live among sticks, thongs, and rods, they follow the 
 same system of education with their miserable dependants. 
 
 " The wealthy feed him well, deck him with fine harness and 
 silver trappings, and cover him, when his work is done, with 
 rich Persian carpets. The poor do the best they can for him, 
 steal for his benefit, give him a corner at their fireside, and in 
 cold weather sleep with him for more warmth. In Palestine, all 
 the rich men, whether monarchs or chiefs of villages, possess 
 a number of asses, keeping them with their flocks, like the 
 patriarchs of old. No one can travel in that country, and observe 
 how the ass is employed for all purposes, without being struck 
 with the exactness with which the Arabs retain the Hebrew 
 customs." 
 
 The result of this treatment is, that the Eastern Ass is an 
 enduring and tolerably swift animal, vying with the camel itself 
 in its powers of long-continued travel, its usual pace being a 
 sort of easy canter. On rough ground, or up an ascent, it is said 
 even to gain on the horse, probably because its little sharp hoofs 
 give it a firm footing where the larger hoof of the horse is liable 
 to slip. 
 
 The familiar term "saddling the Ass" requires some little 
 explanation. 
 
 The saddle is not in the least like the article which we know 
 by that name, but is very large and complicated in structure. 
 Over the animal's back is first spread a cloth, made of thick 
 woollen stuff, and folded several times. The saddle itself is a 
 very thick pad of straw, covered with carpet, and flat at the top, 
 instead of being rounded as is the case with our saddles. The 
 pommel is very high, and when the rider is seated on it, he is
 
 272 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 perched high above the back of the animal. Over the saddle is 
 thrown a cloth or carpet, always of bright colours, and varying 
 in costliness of material and ornament according to the wealth 
 of the possessor. It is mostly edged with a fringe and tassels. 
 
 The bridle is decorated, like that of the horse, with bells, 
 embroidery, tassels, shells, and other ornaments. An example 
 of the headstall worn by an Ass belonging to a wealthy man 
 may be seen in the illustration. 
 
 As we may see from 2 Kings iv. 24, the Ass was generally 
 guided by a driver who ran behind it, just as is the custom with 
 the hired Asses in this country. Owing to the unchanging 
 character of the East, there is no doubt that the " riders on 
 asses " of the Scriptures rode exactly after the mode which is 
 adopted at the present day. What that mode is, we may learn 
 from Mr. Bayard Taylor's amusing and vivid description of a 
 ride through the streets of Cairo : 
 
 " To see Cairo thoroughly, one must first accustom himself to 
 the ways of these long-eared cabs, without the use of which I 
 would advise no one to trust himself in the bazaars. Donkey- 
 riding is universal, and no one thinks of going beyond the Frank 
 quarters on foot. If he does, he must submit to be followed by 
 not less than six donkeys with their drivers. A friend of mine 
 who was attended by such a cavalcade for two hours, was obliged 
 to yield at last, and made no second attempt. When we first 
 appeared in the gateway of an hotel, equipped for an excursion, 
 the rush of men and animals was so great that we were forced 
 to retreat until our servant and the porter whipped us a path 
 through the yelling and braying mob. After one or two trials 
 I found an intelligent Arab boy named Kish, who for f.ve 
 piastres a day furnished strong and ambitious donkeys, which 
 he kept ready at the door from morning till night. The other 
 drivers respected Kish's privilege, and henceforth I had no 
 trouble. 
 
 " The donkeys are so small that my feet nearly touched the 
 ground, but there is no end to their strength and endurance. 
 Their gait, whether in pace or in gallop, is so easy and light 
 that fatigue is impossible. The drivers take great pride in 
 having high-cushioned red saddles, and in hanging bits of 
 jingling brass to the bridles. They keep their donkeys close 
 shorn, and frequently beautify them by painting them various
 
 THK ASS. 273 
 
 colours. The first animal I rode had legs barred like a zebra's, 
 and my friend's rejoiced in purple flanks and a yellow belly. The 
 drivers ran behind them with a short stick, punching them from 
 time to time, or giving them a sharp pinch on the rump. Very 
 few of them own their donkeys, and I understood their perti- 
 nacity when I learned that they frequently received a beating 
 on returning home empty-handed. 
 
 " The passage of the bazaars seems at first quite as hazardous 
 on donkey-back as on foot ; but it is the difference between 
 knocking somebody down and being knocked down yourself, 
 and one certainly prefers the former alternative. There is no 
 use in attempting to guide the donkey, for he won't be guided. 
 The driver shouts behind, and you are dashed at full speed into 
 a confusion of other donkeys, camels, horses, carts, water-carriers, 
 and footmen. Tn vain you cry out ' Bess ' (enough), ' Piacco' 
 and other desperate adjurations; the driver's only reply is : 'Let 
 the bridle hang loose ! ' You dodge your head under a camel-load 
 of planks ; your leg brushes the wheel of a dust-cart ; you strike 
 a fat Turk plump in the back ; you miraculously escape up- 
 setting a fruit-stand ; you scatter a company of spectral, white- 
 masked women ; and at last reach some more quiet street, with 
 the sensations of a man who has stormed a battery. 
 
 " At first this sort of riding made me very nervous, but pre- 
 sently I let the donkey go his own way, and took a curious 
 interest in seeing how near a chance I ran of striking or being 
 struck. Sometimes there seemed no hope of avoiding a violent 
 collision ; but, by a series of the most remarkable dodges, he 
 generally carried you through in safety. The cries of the driver 
 running behind gave me no little amusement. 'The hawadji 
 comes ! Take care on the right hand ! Take care on the left 
 hand ! man, take care ! maiden, take care ! boy, get out of 
 the way ! The hawadji comes ! ' Kish had strong lungs, and his 
 donkey would let nothing pass him; and so wherever we went we 
 contributed our full share to the universal noise and confusion." 
 
 This description explains several allusions which are made 
 in the Scriptures to treading down the enemies in the streets, 
 and to the chariots raging and jostling against each other in 
 the ways. 
 
 The Ass was used in the olden time for carrying burdens, as 
 it is at present, and, in all probability, carried them in the same 
 
 T.
 
 274 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 way. Sacks and bundles are tied firmly to the pack-saddle ; but 
 poles, planks, and objects of similar shape are tied in a sloping 
 direction on the side of the saddle, the longer ends trailing on 
 the ground, and the shorter projecting at either side of the 
 animal's head. The North American Indians carry the poles of 
 their huts, or wigwams, in precisely the same way, tying them 
 on either side of their horses, and making them into rude sledges, 
 upon which are fastened the skins that form the walls of their 
 huts. The same system of carriage is also found among the 
 Esquimaux, and the hunters of the extreme North, who harness 
 their dogs in precisely the same manner. The Ass, thus laden, 
 becomes a very unpleasant passenger through the narrow and 
 crowded streets of an Oriental city; and many an unwary tra- 
 veller has found reason to remember the description of Issachar 
 as the strong Ass between two burdens. 
 
 The Ass was also used for agriculture, arid was employed in 
 the plough, as we find from many passages. See for example, 
 " Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither 
 the feet of the ox and the ass " (Isa. xxxii. 20). Sowing beside 
 the waters is a custom that still prevails in all hot countries, 
 the margins of rivers being tilled, while outside this cultivated 
 belt there is nothing but desert ground. 
 
 The ox and the Ass were used in the first place for irrigation, 
 curning the machines by which water was lifted from the river, 
 and poured into the trenches which conveyed it to all parts of 
 the tilled land. If, as is nearly certain, the rude machinery of 
 the East is at the present day identical with those which were 
 used in the old Scriptural times, they were yoked to the machine 
 in rather an ingenious manner. The machine consists of an 
 upright pivot, and to it is attached the horizontal pole to which 
 the ox or Ass is harnessed. A machine exactly similar in prin- 
 ciple may be seen in almost any brick-field in England;, but the 
 ingenious part of the Eastern water-machine is the mode in 
 which the animal is made to believe that it is being driven by 
 its keeper, whereas the man in question might be at a distance, 
 or fast asleep. 
 
 The animal is first blindfolded, and then yoked to the end of the 
 horizontal bar. Fixed to the pivot, and rather in front of the bar, 
 is one end of a slight and elastic strip of wood. The projecting 
 end, being drawn forward and tied to the bridle of the animal,
 
 THE ASS. 275 
 
 keeps up a continual pull, and makes the blinded animal believe 
 that it is being drawn forward by the hand of a driver. Some 
 ingenious but lazy attendants have even invented a sort of self- 
 acting whip, i.e. a stick which is lifted and allowed to fall 
 on the animal's back by the action of the wheel once every 
 round. 
 
 The field being properly supplied with water, the Ass is used 
 for ploughing it. It is worthy of mention that at the present 
 day the prohibition against yoking an ox and an Ass together is 
 often disregarded. The practice, however, is not a judicious one, 
 as the slow and heavy ox does not act well with the lighter and 
 more active animal, and, moreover, is apt to butt at its com- 
 panion with its horns in order to stimulate it to do more than its 
 fair proportion of the work. 
 
 That the Ass was put to a similar use in turning the large 
 millstones may be seen from Matt, xviii. 6. In the Authorized 
 Version, the passage is rendered thus : " But whoso shall offend 
 one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for 
 him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he 
 were drowned in the depth of the sea." 
 
 Now if we turn to the Greek Testament we find that the 
 passage reads rather differently, a force being giving to it which 
 it does not possess in the translation : " But whosoever shall 
 scandalize [i.e. be a stumbling-block to] one of these little ones 
 that believe in Me, it were better for him that an ass's millstone 
 were hung about his neck, and he were sunk in the depth of the 
 sea." The chief force of this saying lies in the word which is 
 omitted in our translation. Our Lord specially selected the 
 Ass's millstone on account of its size and weight, in contradis- 
 tinction to the ordinary millstone, which was turned backwards 
 and forwards by the hands of women. 
 
 There is a custom now in Palestine which probably existed 
 in the days of the Scriptures, though 1 have not been able to find 
 any reference to it. Whenever an Ass is disobedient and strays 
 from its master, the man who captures the trespasser on his 
 grounds clips a piece out of its ear before he returns it to its 
 owner. Each time that the animal is caught on forbidden 
 grounds it receives a fresh clip of the ear. By looking at 
 the ears of an Ass, therefore, any one can tell whether it has 
 ever been a straggler ; and if so, he knows the number of times 
 
 T -2
 
 276 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 tha f it has strayed, by merely counting the clip-marks, which 
 always begin at the tip of the ear, and extend along the edges. 
 Any Ass, no matter how handsome it may be, that has many of 
 those clips, is always rejected by experienced travellers, as it is 
 sure to be a dull as well as a disobedient beast. 
 
 Signor Pierotti remarks that if the owners of the Asses were 
 treated similarly for similar offences, the greater number would 
 be marked as soon as they begin to walk, and of the adults there 
 would be scarcely one who had any ear on his head. 
 
 The Ass being so universally useful, we need not be surprised 
 at the prominence which it takes in the Scriptural narrative, and 
 the frequency with which its name occurs. The wealthy person- 
 ages of the olden time seemed to have esteemed the Ass as 
 highly as the camel, the ox, the sheep, or the goat. Abraham, 
 for example, is described as being a rich man, and possessing 
 " sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid- 
 servants, and she-asses, and camels" (Gen. xii. 16). In a succeed- 
 ing chapter (xxx. 43) the prosperity of Jacob is mentioned in 
 almost exactly the same terms. 
 
 So, before J.ob's trials came upon him, "his substance was 
 seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five 
 hundred yoke of oxen [i.e. 1,000], and five hundred she-asses, 
 and a very great household ; so that this man was the greatest 
 of all the men of the east" (Job i. 3). And after his trials, when 
 his wealth was restored to him twofold, the thousand she-asses 
 are mentioned as prominently as the thousand yoke of oxen. 
 
 That the care of the Asses was an honourable post we learn 
 from several passages. Take for example Gen. xxxvi. 24 : " And 
 these are the children of Zibeon ; both Ajah, and Anah : this 
 was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed 
 the asses of Zibeon his father." The charge of the Asses 
 was, as the reader must see, a post of sufficient honour and im- 
 portance to be trusted to the son of the owner. A similar case 
 is recorded in the well-known instance of Saul, whose father 
 had lost his herd of Asses, and who at once sent his son upon 
 the important mission of recovering them. And it was during 
 the fulfilment of this mission that he was anointed the first 
 king of Israel. 
 
 Later in the sacred history we find that when David consoli- 
 dated his power, and organized the affairs of his new kingdom,
 
 THE ASS. 27? 
 
 he divided the people in general, the army, the land, the pro- 
 duce, and the cattle, into departments, and appointed over each 
 department some eminent man whose name is carefully given. 
 After mentioning that the people and the army were divided 
 into "courses," and that certain officers were set over each 
 course, the sacred historian proceeds to state that one officer 
 was appointed as overseer of the treasury, another of the 
 granaries, another of the field-labourers, another over the vine- 
 yards, and so forth. He then mentions that even the cattle 
 were divided into their several departments, the care of the 
 hill-cattle being given to one man, and of the cattle of the 
 plain to another, of the camels to a third, and of the Asses to 
 a fourth. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to mention that the flesh of the Ass 
 was forbidden to the Jews, because the animal neither chewed 
 the cud nor divided the hoof. How repulsive to them must 
 have been the flesh of the Ass we may infer from the terrible 
 description of the siege of Samaria by Benhadad. The sacred 
 historian describes with painful fidelity the horrors of the 
 siege, and of the dreadful extremity to which the people were 
 reduced. No circumstance could be more terrible than the 
 quarrel between the two mothers, who had mutually agreed to 
 kill and eat their children, and yet on a par with that dread- 
 ful statement is mentioned the fact that even the flesh of the 
 Ass was eaten, and that an Ass's head cost eighty pieces of 
 silver. 
 
 Whether the milk of the she Ass were used or not is rather 
 a doubtful point, but, in all probability, the milk was considered 
 as lawful food, though the flesh might not be eaten. 
 
 As to the legends respecting the Ass, they are innumerable, 
 and I shall only mention one or two of them. 
 
 The first is an old Rabbinical legend respecting the Flood and 
 the admission of the creatures into the ark. It appears that no 
 being could enter the ark unless specially invited to do so by 
 Noah. Now when the Flood came, and overwhelmed the world, 
 the devil, who was at that time wandering upon the earth, saw 
 that he was about to be cut off from contact from mankind, and 
 that his dominion would be for ever gone. The ark being at 
 last completed, and the beasts called to enter it in their proper 
 order, the turn of the Ass came in due course.
 
 278 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Unfortunately for the welfare of mankind, the Ass was taken 
 with a fit of obstinacy, 'and refused to enter the vessel according 
 to orders. After wasting much time over the obstinate animal, 
 Noah at last lost patience, and struck the Ass sharply, crying at 
 the same time to it, " Enter, thou devil ! " Of course the invita- 
 tion was at once accepted, the devil entered the ark, and on the 
 subsiding of the water issued out to take his place in the newly 
 begun world. 
 
 SINCE the Christian era, many curious legends have sprung 
 up respecting the Ass. One of the most familiar of these 
 legends refers to the black stripe along the spine and the cross- 
 bar over the shoulder. This black cross is really believed by 
 many persons to have been given to the animal in consequence 
 of its connexion with our Lord. I need hardly tell the reader 
 that it is the remnant of the stripes which in the zebra cover 
 :.he animal from head to foot, which in the quagga cover the 
 head, body, and part of the limbs, and which in one species of 
 Wild Ass are not seen at all in the adult animal. 
 
 There is another Christian legend respecting the Ass of Pales- 
 tine, which is thought to owe its superiority in size, swiftness, 
 and strength to the fact that it helped to warm the infant Saviour 
 in the manger, that it carried Him and His mother into Egypt 
 and back again, and that it was used by the Lord himself and 
 His disciples. Any one who ventures to hint that the Ass of 
 Palestine owes its superiority over its European brother to the 
 warmer climate, is thought to be a heretic by the pious but 
 ignorant men who believe and disseminate such legends. 
 
 Signor Pierotti tells a story of a certain Russian monk who 
 happened to visit Palestine, and in the course of his travels 
 found the leg- bone of an Ass, which he took back with him and 
 publicly exhibited as part of the identical animal on which the 
 Virgin Mary and infant Saviour rode. (I need scarcely mention 
 that there is no mention in the Scriptures of the fact that the 
 Holy Family rode upon an Ass ; though such a mode of travel 
 was certainly the one which they would adopt.) For some 
 time, this deception drew for the impostor many gifts from the 
 superstitious but pious people, but the affair at last reached 
 the ears of his superiors, and he paid the deserved penalty of 
 his trickery.
 
 THE WILD A.SS. 271) 
 
 There are recorded in the Scriptures two remarkable circum- 
 stances connected with the Ass, which, -however, need but a lew 
 words. The first is the journey of Balaam from Pethor to Moah, 
 in the course of which there occurred that singular incident of 
 the Ass speaking in human language (see Numb. xxii. 21, 35). 
 The second is the well-known episode in the story of Samson, 
 where he is recorded as breaking the cords with which his 
 enemies had bound him, and killing a thousand Philistines with 
 the fresh jaw-bone of an Ass. 
 
 THE WILD ASS. 
 
 The Arod and Pere of Scripture Various allusions to the Wild Ass Its swiftness 
 and wildness The Wild Ass of Asia and Africa Knowledge of the animal 
 displayed by the sacred writers How the Wild Ass is hunted Excellence of 
 its flesh Sir R. K. Porter's meeting with a Wild Ass Origin of the domestic 
 Ass The Wild Asses of Quito. 
 
 THERE are several passages of Scripture in which the Wild Ass 
 is distinguished from the domesticated animal, and in all of 
 them there is some reference made to its swiftness, its intract- 
 able nature, and love of freedom. 
 
 In the Hebrew Scriptures there are two words which are 
 given in the Authorized Translation as Wild Ass, namely, Arorl 
 and Pere, and it is rather remarkable that both words occur in 
 the same passage. If the reader will refer to Job xxxix. 5, 
 he will see the following passage : " Who hath sent out the wild 
 ass (Pere) free ? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass 
 (Arod) ? " Now there are only two places in the whole Hebrew 
 Scriptures in which the word Arod occurs, and there are many 
 'doubts whether the word Arod is rightly translated. The first 
 is that which has just been quoted, and the second occurs in 
 Dan. v. 21 : " And he was driven from the sons of men ; and 
 his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with 
 the wild asses."
 
 280 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The Jewish Bible translates the word differently in the two 
 passages. That in Job it renders as follows : " Who hath sent 
 forth the wild ass free ? or who hath loosed the bands of the 
 untamed ? " In the other passage, however, it follows the 
 rendering of the Authorized Version, and gives the word as 
 " wild asses." It is thought by several scholars that the two 
 words refer to two different species of Wild Ass. It may be so, 
 but as the ancient writers had the loosest possible ideas regard- 
 ing distinction of species, and as, moreover, it is very doubtful 
 whether there be any real distinction of species at all, we may 
 allow the subject to rest, merely remembering that the rendering 
 of the Jewish Bible, " the untamed," is a correct translation 
 of the word Arod, though the particular animal to which it is 
 applied may be doubtful. 
 
 We will now pass to the word about which there is no doubt 
 whatever, namely, the Pere. This animal is clearly the species 
 which is scientifically known as Asinus hemippus. During the 
 summer time it has a distinct reddish tinge on the grey coat, 
 which disappears in the winter, and the cross streak is black. 
 There are several kinds of Wild Ass known to science, all of 
 which have different names. Some of our best zoologists, how- 
 ever, have come to the conclusion that they all really belong to 
 the same species, differing only in slight points of structure 
 which are insufficient to constitute separate species. 
 
 The habits of the Wild Ass are the same, whether it be the 
 Asiatic or the African animal, and a description of one will 
 answer equally well for the other. It is an astonishingly swift 
 animal, so that on the level ground even the best horse has 
 scarcely a chance of overtaking it. It is exceedingly wary, its 
 sight, hearing, and sense of scent being equally keen, so that to 
 approach it by craft is a most difficult task. 
 
 Like many other wild animals, it has a custom of ascending 
 hills or rising grounds, and thence surveying the country, and 
 even in the plains it will generally contrive to discover some 
 earth-mound or heap of sand from which it may act as sentinel 
 and give the alarm in case of danger. It is a gregarious animal, 
 always assembling in herds, varying from two or three to several 
 hundred in number, and has a habit of partial migration in 
 search of green food, traversing large tracts of country in its 
 passage.
 
 THE WILD ASS. 281 
 
 It has a curiously intractable disposition, and, even when 
 captured very young, can scarcely ever be brought to bear a 
 burden or draw a vehicle. Attempts have been often made to 
 domesticate the young that have been born in captivity, but 
 with very slight success, the wild nature of the animal con- 
 stantly breaking out, even when it appears to have become 
 moderately tractable. 
 
 Although the Wild Ass does not seem to have lived within the 
 limits of the Holy Land, it was common enough in the sur- 
 rounding country, and, from the frequent references made to it in 
 Scriptures, was well known to the ancient Jews. We will now 
 look at the various passages in which the Wild Ass is men- 
 tioned, and begin with the splendid description in Job xxxix. 
 5-8: 
 
 " Who hath sent out the wild ass free ? or who hath loosed 
 the bands of the wild ass ? 
 
 " Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren 
 lands (or salt places) his dwellings. 
 
 " He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he 
 the crying of the driver. 
 
 " The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he search eth 
 after every green thing." 
 
 Here we have the animal described with the minuteness and 
 truth of detail that can only be found in personal knowledge ; 
 its love of freedom, its avoidance of mankind, and its migration 
 in search of pasture. Another allusion to the pasture-seeking 
 habits of the animal is to be found in chapter vi. of the same 
 book, verse 5 : " Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass ? " or, 
 according to the version of the Jewish Bible, " over tender 
 grass ?" 
 
 The same author has several other allusions to the Wild Ass. 
 See, for example, chap. xi. 12 : " For vain man would be wise, 
 though man be born like a wild ass's colt." And in chap. xxiv. 5, 
 in speaking of the wicked and their doings, he uses the follow- 
 ing metaphor : " Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they 
 forth to their work ; rising betimes for a prey : the wilderness 
 yieldeth food for them and their children," or for the young, 
 as the passage may be more literally rendered. The same 
 migratory habit is also mentioned by the prophet Jeremiah 
 (chap. xiv. 6) : "And the wild asses did stand in the high '
 
 282 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 they snuffed up the wind iike dragons; their eyes did fail, 
 because there was no grass." There is another allusion to it in 
 Hosea viii. 9 : " For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass 
 alone by himself." 
 
 Even in the earliest times of Jewish history we find a refer- 
 ence to the peculiar nature of this animal. In Gen. xvi. 12 
 it is prophesied of Ishmael, that " he will be a wild man ; 
 his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand 
 against him ; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his 
 brethren." Now the real force of this passage is quite missed 
 in the Authorized Version, the correct rendering being given in 
 the Jewish Bible : " And he will be a wild ass (Pere) among 
 men ; his hand will be against all, and the hand of all against 
 him, and in the face of all his brethren he shall dwell." 
 
 Allusion is made to the speed of the animal in Jer. it. 24 : 
 " A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind 
 at her pleasure ; in her occasion who can turn her away ? all 
 they that seek her will not weary themselves ; in her month 
 they shall find her." The fondness of the Wild Ass for the 
 desert is mentioned by the prophet Isaiah. Foretelling the deso- 
 lation that was to come upon the land, he uses these words : 
 " Because the palaces shall be forsaken, the multitude of the 
 city shall be left ; the forts and towers shall be for dens (or 
 caves) for ever, and a joy of* wild asses, a pasture of flocks." 
 
 These various qualities of speed, wariness, and dread of man 
 cause the animal to be exceedingly prized by hunters, who find 
 their utmost skill taxed in approaching it. Men of the highest 
 rank give whole days to the hunt of the Wild Ass, and vie with 
 each other for the honour of inflicting the first wound on so 
 fleet an animal. With the exception of the Jews, the inha- 
 bitants of the countries where the Wild Ass lives eat its flesh, 
 and consider it as the greatest dainty which can be found. 
 
 A very vivid account of the appearance of the animal in its 
 wild state is given by Sir R Kerr Porter, who was allowed by 
 a Wild Ass to approach within a moderate distance, the animal 
 evidently seeing that he was not one of the people to whom it 
 was accustomed, and being curious enough to allow the stranger 
 to approach him. 
 
 "The sun was just rising over the summit of the eastern 
 mountains, when my greyhound started off in pursuit of an
 
 THE WILD ASS. 
 " As wild asses in the desert go they forth.'' JOB xxiv. 5.
 
 THE WILD ASS. 283 
 
 animal which, my Persians said, from the glimpse they had of 
 it, was an antelope. T instantly put spurs to my horse, and 
 with my attendants gave chase. After an unrelaxed gallop of 
 three miles, we came up with the dog, who was then within a 
 short stretch of the creature he pursued ; and to my surprise, 
 and at first vexation, I saw it to be an ass. 
 
 " Upon reflection, however, judging from its fleetness that it 
 must be a wild one, a creature little known in Europe, but which 
 the Persians prize above all other animals as an object of chase, 
 I determined to approach as near to it as the very swift Arab I 
 was on could carry me. But the single instant of checking my 
 horse to consider had given our game such a head of us that, 
 notwithstanding our speed, we could not recover our ground 
 on him. 
 
 "I, however, happened to be considerably before my com- 
 panions, when, at a certain distance, the animal in its turn made 
 a pause, and allowed me to approach within pistol-shot of him. 
 He then darted off again with the quickness of thought, capering, 
 kicking, and sporting in his flight, as if he were not blown in 
 the least, and the chase was his pastime. When my followers 
 of the country came up, they regretted that I had not shot the 
 creature when he was within my aim, telling me that his flesh 
 is one of the greatest delicacies in Persia. 
 
 " The prodigious swiftness and the peculiar manner in which 
 he fled across the plain coincided exactly with the description 
 that Xenophon gives of the same animal in Arabia. But above 
 all, it reminded me of the striking portrait drawn by the author 
 of the Book of Job. I was informed by the Melmander,- who 
 had been in the desert when making a pilgrimage to the shrine 
 of Ali, that the wild ass of Irak Arabi differs in nothing from 
 the one I had just seen. He had observed them often for a 
 short time in the possession of the Arabs, who told him the 
 creature was perfectly untameable. 
 
 " A few days after this discussion, we saw another of these 
 animals, and, pursuing it determinate! y, had the good fortune 
 to kiU it." 
 
 IT has been suggested by many zoologists that the Wild Ass 
 is the progenitor of the domesticated species. The origin of the 
 domesticated animal, however, is so very ancient, that we have
 
 284 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 no data whereon even a theory can be built. It is true that the 
 Wild and the Domesticated Ass are exactly similar in appear- 
 ance, and that an Asinus hemippus, or Wild Ass, looks so like an 
 Asiatic Asinus vulgaris, or Domesticated Ass, that by the eye 
 alone the two are hardly distinguishable from each other. But 
 with their appearance the resemblance ends, the domestic animal 
 being quiet, docile, and fond of man, while the wild animal is 
 savage, intractable, and has an invincible repugnance to human 
 beings. 
 
 This diversity of spirit in similar forms is very curious, and 
 is strongly exemplified by the semi-wild Asses of Quito. They 
 are the -descendants of the animals that were imported by the 
 Spaniards, and live in herds, just as do the horses. They com- 
 bine the habits of the Wild Ass with the disposition of the tame 
 animal. They are as swift of foot as the Wild Ass of Syria or 
 Africa, and have the same habit of frequenting lofty situations, 
 leaping about among rocks and ravines, which seem only fitted 
 for the wild goat, and into which no horse can follow them. 
 
 Nominally, they are private property, but practically they 
 may be taken by any one who chooses to capture them. The 
 lasso is employed for the purpose, and when the animals are 
 caught they bite, ami kick, and plunge, and behave exactly like 
 their wild relations of the Old World, giving their captors infinite 
 trouble in avoiding the teeth and hoofs which they wield so 
 skilfully. But, as soon as a load has once been bound on the 
 back of one of these furious creatures, the wild spirit dies 
 oat of it, the head droops, the gait becomes steady, and the 
 animal behaves as if it had led a domesticated life all its days.
 
 THE MULK. 285 
 
 THE MULE. 
 
 Ancient use of the Mules Various breeds of Mule Supposed date of its introduc- 
 tion into Palestine Mule-breeding forbidden to the Jews The Mule as 
 a saddle-animal Its use on occasions of state The king's Mule Mules 
 brought from Babylon after the captivity Obstinacy of the Mule The Mule 
 as a beast of burden The " Mule's burden " of earth Mules imported by the 
 Pho3nicians Legends respecting the Mule. 
 
 THERE are several references to the MULE in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, but it is remarkable that the animal is not mentioned at 
 all until the time of David, and that in the New Testament the 
 name does not occur at all. 
 
 The origin of the Mule is unknown, but that the mixed breed 
 between the horse and the ass has been employed in many 
 countries from very ancient times is a familiar fact. It is a very 
 strange circumstance that the offspring of these two animals 
 should be, for some purposes, far superior to either of the 
 parents, a well-bred Mule having the lightness, surefootedness, 
 and hardy endurance of the ass, together with the increased size 
 and muscular development of the horse. Thus it is peculiarly 
 adapted either for the saddle or for the conveyance of burdens 
 over a rough or desert country. 
 
 The Mules that are most generally serviceable are bred from 
 the male ass and the mare, those which have the horse as the 
 father and the ass as the mother being small, and comparatively 
 valueless. At the present day, Mules are largely employed in 
 Spain and the Spanish dependencies, and there are some breeds 
 which are of very great size and singular beauty, those of 
 Andalusia being especially celebrated. Tn the Andes, the Mule 
 has actually superseded the llama as a beast of burden. 
 
 Its appearance in the sacred narrative is quite sudden. In 
 Gen. xxxvi. 24, there is a passage which seems as if it referred 
 to the Mule : " This was that Anah that found the mules in the 
 wilderness." Now the word which is here rendered as Mules is
 
 286 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 " Yeniim," a word which is not found elsewhere in the Hebrew 
 Scriptures. The best Hebraists are agreed that, whatever in- 
 terpretation may be put upon the word, it cannot possibly have 
 the signification that is here assigned to it. Some translate 
 the word as " hot springs," while the editors of the Jewish Bible 
 
 KULES Of THE KAS1 
 
 " Be ye not ai> the horse and mule, which have no understanding." PSAI.M xxxii. 9. 
 
 prefer to leave it untranslated, thus signifying that they are not 
 satisfied with any rendering. 
 
 The word which is properly translated as Mule is " Pered ; " 
 and the first place where it occurs is 2 Sam. xiii. 29. Absalom 
 had taken advantage of a sheep-shearing feast to kill his brother 
 Amnon in revenge for the insult offered to Tamar: "And the 
 servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had coin-
 
 THE MULE. 287 
 
 manded. Then all the king's sons arose, and every man gat him 
 up upon his mule, and fled." It is evident from this passage 
 that the Mule must have been in use for a considerable time, 
 as the sacred writer mentions, as a matter of course, that the 
 king's sons had each his own riding mule. 
 
 Farther .on, chap, xviii. 9 records the event which led to 
 the death of Absalom by the hand of Joab. " And Absalom 
 met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, 
 and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and 
 his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between 
 the heaven and the earth ; and the mule that was under him 
 went away." 
 
 We see by these passages that the Mule was held in such 
 high estimation that it was used by the royal princes for the 
 saddle, and had indeed superseded the ass. In another passage 
 we shall find that the Mule was ridden by the king himself 
 when he travelled in state, and that to ride upon the king's 
 Mule was considered as equivalent to sitting upon the king's 
 throne. See, for example, 1 Kings i. in which there are several 
 passages illustrative of this curious fact. See first, ver. 33, in 
 which David gives to Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, 
 and Benaiah the captain of the hosts, instructions for bringing 
 his son Solomon to Gihon, and anointing him king in the stead 
 of his father : " Take with you the servants of your lord, and 
 cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring 
 him down to Gihon." 
 
 Then, in ver. 38, we are told that David's orders were obeyed, 
 that Solomon was set on the king's Mule, was anointed by 
 Zadok, and proclaimed as king to the people. In ver. 44 we 
 are told how Adonijah, who had attempted to usurp the throne, 
 and was at the very time holding a coronation feast, heard the 
 sound of the trumpets and the shouting in honour of Solomon, 
 and on inquiring was told that Solomon had been crowned king 
 by Zadok, recognised by Nathan, accepted by Benaiah, and had 
 ridden on the king's Mule. These tidings alarmed him, and 
 caused him to flee for protection to the altar. Now it is very 
 remarkable that in each of these three passages the fact that 
 Solomon rode upon the king's Mule is brought prominently 
 forward, and it was adduced to Adonijah as a proof that Solomon 
 had been made the new king of Israel.
 
 288 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 That the 1 Mule should have become so important an animal 
 seems most remarkable. In Levit. xix. 19 there is an express 
 injunction against the breeding of Mules, and it is unlikely, 
 therefore, that they were bred in Palestine. But, although the 
 Jews .were forbidden to breed Mules, they evidently thought 
 that the prohibition did not extend to the use of these animals, 
 and from the time of David we find that they were very largely 
 employed both for the saddle and as beasts of burden. In all 
 probability, the Mules were imported from Egypt and other 
 countries, and that such importation was one of the means for 
 furnishing Palestine with these animals we learn from 1 Kings 
 x. 24, 25, in which the sacred writer enumerates the various 
 tribute which \vas paid to Solomon : " All the earth sought to 
 Solomon, to hear the wisdom which God had put in his heart. 
 
 " And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, 
 and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, 
 horses, and mules, a rate year by year." The same fact is re- 
 corded in 2 Chron. ix. 24. 
 
 In the time of Isaiah the Mule was evidently in common use 
 as a riding animal for persons of distinction. See chap. Ixvi. 20 : 
 " And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the 
 Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in 
 litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy 
 mountain Jerusalem." Another allusion to the Mule as one of 
 the recognised domesticated animals is found in Zech. xiv. 15 : 
 " So shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, 
 and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, 
 as this plague." 
 
 The value of these animals may be inferred from the anxiety 
 of Ahab to preserve his Mules during the long drought that had 
 destroyed all the pasturage. " Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into 
 the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks : per- 
 adventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, 
 that we lose not all the beasts." 
 
 Now this Obadiah was a very great man. He was governor 
 of the king's palace, an office which has been compared to that 
 of our Lord High Chamberlain. He possessed such influence 
 that, although he was known to be a worshipper of Jehovah, and 
 to have saved a hundred prophets during Jezebel's persecution, 
 he retained his position, either because no one dared to inform
 
 THE MULE. 289 
 
 against him, or because he was too powerful to be attacked. Yet 
 to Obadiah was assigned the joint office of seeking for pasturage 
 for the Mules, the king himself sharing the task with his 
 chamberlain, thus showing the exceeding value which must 
 have been set on these appanages of royal state. 
 
 Their importance may be gathered from a passage in the Book 
 of Ezra, in which, after enumerating with curious minuteness 
 the number of the Jews who returned home from their Baby- 
 lonish captivity, the sacred chronicler proceeds to remark that 
 " their horses were seven hundred thirty and six ; their mules, 
 two hundred forty and five ; their camels, four hundred thirty 
 and five ^ their asses, six thousand seven hundred and twenty " 
 (Ezra ii. 66, 67). There is a parallel passage in Neh. vii. 68, 69. 
 
 Seeing that the Mule was in such constant use as a riding 
 animal, it is somewhat remarkable that we never find in the 
 Scripture any mention of the obstinate disposition which is 
 proverbially associated with the animal. There is only one 
 passage which can be thought even to bear upon such a subject, 
 and that is the familiar sentence from Ps. xxxii. 9 : " Be ye 
 not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding : 
 whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they 
 come near unto thee ; " and, as the reader w T ill see, no particular 
 obstinacy or frowardness is attributed to the Mule which is not 
 ascribed to the horse also. 
 
 Still, that the Mule was as obstinate and contentious an 
 animal in Palestine as it is in Europe is evident from the fact 
 that the Eastern mules of the present day are quite as trouble- 
 some as their European brethren. They are very apt to shy at 
 anything, or nothing at all ; they bite fiercely, and every now and 
 then they indulge in a violent kicking fit, flinging out their 
 heels with wonderful force and rapidity, and turning round and 
 round on their fore-feet so quickly that it is hardly possible to 
 approach them. There is scarcely a traveller in the Holy Land 
 who has not some story to tell about the Mule and its perverse 
 disposition ; but, as these anecdotes have but very slight bearing 
 on the subject of the Mule as mentioned in the Scriptures, they 
 will not be given in these pages. 
 
 That the Mule was employed as a beast of burden as well as 
 for riding, we gather from several passages in the Old Testa- 
 ment. See, for example, 1 Chron. xii. 40 : " Moreover they that 
 
 u
 
 290 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 were nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, 
 brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on 
 oxen." We have also the well-known passage in which is recorded 
 the reply of Naaman to Elisha after the latter had cured him of 
 his leprosy : " And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, 
 be given to thy servant two mules' biirden of earth ?" It does 
 not necessarily follow that two of Naaman's Mules were to be 
 laden with earth, but the probability is, that ISTaaman used the 
 term " a Mule's burden " to express a certain quantity, just as 
 we talk of a " load " of hay or gravel. 
 
 As Mules are animals of such value, we may feel some little 
 surprise that they were employed as beasts of burden. It is 
 possible, however, that a special and costly breed of large and 
 handsome Mules, like those of Andalusia, were reserved for 
 the saddle, and that the smaller and less showy animals were 
 employed in the carriage of burdens. 
 
 Before parting entirely with the Mule, it v/ill be well to 
 examine the only remaining passage in which the animal is 
 mentioned. It occurs in Ezek. xxvii. 14 : " They of the heuse 
 of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and 
 rnules." The chapter in which this passage occurs is a sustained 
 lamentation over Tyre, in which the writer first enumerates 
 the wealth and greatness of the city, and then bewails its down- 
 fall. Beginning with the words, "0 Tyrus, thou hast said, I am 
 of perfect beauty," the prophet proceeds to mention the various 
 details of its magnificence, the number and beauty of its ships 
 built with firs from Senir, having oars made of the oaks of 
 Bashan, masts of the cedars of Lebanon, benches of ivory, sails 
 of " fine linen with broidered work from Egypt," and coverings 
 of purple and scarlet from the isles of Elishah. The rowers 
 were from Zidon and Arvad, while Tyre itself furnished their 
 pilots or steersmen. 
 
 After a passing allusion to the magnificent army of Tyre, the 
 sacred writer proceeds to mention the extent of the merchandise 
 that was brought to this queen of ancient seaports : silver and 
 other metals were from Tarshish, slaves and brass from Meshech, 
 'ivory and ebony from Dedan, jewellery and fine linen from 
 Syria ; wheat, honey, and oil from Judsea ; wine and white wool 
 from Damascus, and so forth. And, among all these riches, are 
 prominently mentioned the horses and Mules from Togarmah.
 
 THE MULE. 291 
 
 Now, it has been settled by the best bibliographers that the 
 Togarmah of Ezekiel is Armenia, and so we have the fact that 
 the Phoenicians supplied themselves with Mules and horses by 
 importing them from Armenia instead of breeding those animals 
 themselves, just as Palestine imported its horses, and probably 
 its Mules also, from Egypt. 
 
 It is rather remarkable that the Arabs of Palestine very 
 seldom breed the Mule for themselves, but, like the ancient Jews, 
 import them from adjacent countries, mostly from the Lebanon 
 district. Those from Cyprus are, however, much valued, as they 
 are very strong, diligent, and steady, their pace being nearly 
 equal to that of the horse. Mules are seldom used for agricul- 
 tural purposes, though they are extensively employed for riding 
 and for carrying burdens, especially over rocky districts. 
 
 The Mule is not without its legend. One of the oddest of 
 these accounts for its obstinacy and its incapacity for breeding. 
 
 When the Holy Family was about to travel into Egypt, St. 
 Joseph chose a Mule to carry them. He was in the act of 
 saddling the animal, when it kicked him after the fashion oi 
 Mules. Angry with it for such misconduct, St. Joseph sub- 
 stituted an ass for the Mule, thus giving the former the honour 
 of conveying the family into Egypt, and laid a curse upon it 
 that it should never have parents nor descendants of its own 
 kind, and that it should be so disliked as never to be admitted 
 into its master's house, as is the case with the horse and other 
 domesticated animals. This is one of the multitudinous legends 
 which are told to the crowds of pilgrims who come annually to 
 see the miraculous kindling of the holy fire, and to visit the 
 tree on which Judas hanged himself.
 
 292 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 SWINE. 
 
 Ths Mosaic prohibition of the pig Hatred of Swine by Jews and Mahometans 
 A strange use of bacon The prodigal son -Resistance to the persecution of 
 Antiochus Swine hated by the early Egyptians Supposed connexion between 
 Swine and diseases of the skin Destruction of the herd of Swine The 
 locality of the event discovered Pigs bred for the monasteries The jewel of 
 gold in a Swine's snout The wild boar of the woods, and the beast of the 
 reeds The damage which it does to the vines General account of the wild 
 boar of Palestine Excellence of its flesh. 
 
 MANY are the animals which are specially mentioned in the 
 Mosaic law as unfit for food, beside those that come under the 
 general head of being unclean because they do not divide the 
 hoof and chew the cud. There is none, however, that excited 
 such abhorrence as the hog, or that was more utterly detested. 
 
 It is utterly impossible for a European, especially one of the 
 present day, to form even an idea of the utter horror and loath- 
 ing with which the hog was regarded by the ancient Jews. 
 Even at the present day, a zealous Jew or Mahometan looks 
 upon the hog, or anything that belongs to the hog, with an 
 abhorrence too deep for words. The older and stricter Jews felt 
 so deeply on this subject, that they would never even mention 
 the name of the hog, but always substituted for the objectionable 
 word the term " the abomination." 
 
 Several references are made in the Scriptures to the exceeding 
 disgust felt by the Jews towards the Swine. The portion of 
 the Mosaic law on which a Jew would ground his antipathy to 
 the flesh of Swine is that passage which occurs in Lev. xi. 7 : 
 "And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be cloven- 
 footed, yet he cheweth not the cud ; he is unclean to you." But 
 the very same paragraph, of which this passage forms the ter- 
 mination, treats of other unclean beasts, such as the coney (or 
 hyrax) and the hare, neither of which animals are held in such 
 abhorrence as the Swine.
 
 SWINE. 293 
 
 This enactment could not therefore have produced the sin- 
 gular feeling with which the Swine were regarded by the Jews, 
 and in all probability the antipathy was of far greater antiquity 
 than the time of Moses. 
 
 How hateful to the Jewish mind was the hog we may infer 
 from many passages, several of which occur in the Book of 
 Isaiah. See, for example, Ixv. 3, 4 : " A people that pro- 
 voketh me to anger continually to my face ; that sacrificeth in 
 gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick ; 
 
 "Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monu- 
 ments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things 
 is in their vessels." Here we have the people heaping one 
 abomination upon another the sacrifice to idols in the gardens, 
 the burning of incense upon a forbidden altar and with strange 
 fire, the living among the tombs, where none but madmen and 
 evil spirits were supposed to reside, and, as the culminating 
 point of iniquity, eating Swine's flesh, and drinking the broth 
 in which it was boiled. 
 
 In the next chapter, verse 3, we have another reference to the 
 Swine. Speaking of the wickedness of the people, and the 
 uselessness of their sacrifices, the prophet proceeds to say : " He 
 that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man ; he that sacrificeth a 
 lamb, as if he had cut off a dog's neck ; he that offereth an 
 oblation, as if he offered swine's blood." We see here how the 
 prophet proceeds from one image to another : the murder of a 
 man, the offering of a dog instead of a lamb, and the pouring 
 out of Swine's blood upon the altar instead of wine the last- 
 mentioned crime being evidently held as the worst of the three. 
 Another reference to the Swine occurs in the same chapter, 
 verse 17 : " They that sanctify themselves, and purify them- 
 selves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's 
 flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed 
 together, saith the Lord." 
 
 Not only did the Jews refuse to eat the flesh of the hog, but 
 they held in utter abomination everything that belonged to it. 
 and would have thought themselves polluted had they been even 
 touched with a hog's bristle. Even at the present day this feel- 
 ing has not diminished, and both by Jews and Mahometans the 
 hog is held in utter abhorrence. 
 
 Some recent travellers have made great use of this feeling.
 
 294 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Signer Pierotti,for example, during his long sojourn in Palestine, 
 found the flesh of the hog extremely beneficial to him. " How 
 often has the flesh of this animal supported rne, especially during 
 the earlier part of my stay in Palestine, before I had learned to 
 like the mutton and the goats' flesh ! I give the preference to 
 this meat because it has often saved me time by rendering a fire 
 unnecessary, and freed me from importunate, dirty, and unsavoury 
 guests, who used their hands for spoons, knives, and forks. 
 
 "A little piece of bacon laid conspicuously upon the cloth 
 that served me for a table was always my best friend. Without 
 this talisman I should never have freed myself from unwelcome 
 company, at least without breaking all the laws of hospitality 
 by not inviting the. chiefs of my escort or the guides to share my 
 meal ; a thing neither prudent nor safe in the open country. 
 Therefore, on the contrary, when thus provided I pressed them 
 with the utmost earnestness to eat with me, but of course never 
 succeeded in persuading them; and so dined in peace, keeping 
 on good terms with them, although they did call me behind my 
 back a ' dog of a Frank ' for eating pork. 
 
 " Besides, I had then no fear of my stores failing, as I always 
 took care to carry a stock large enough to supply the real wants 
 of my party. So a piece of bacon was more service to me than 
 a revolver, a rifle, or a sword ; and I recommend all travellers in 
 Palestine to carry bacon rather than arms, for the latter are often 
 stolen, the former is never." 
 
 Such being the feelings of the Jews, we may conceive the 
 abject degradation to which the Prodigal Son of the parable 
 must have descended, when he was compelled to become a 
 swine-herd for a living, and would have been glad even to have 
 eaten the very husks on which the Swine fed. These husks, by 
 the way, were evidently the pods of the locust-tree, or carob, of 
 which we shall have more to say in a future page. We have in 
 our language no words to express the depths of ignominy into 
 which this young man must have fallen, nor can we conceive 
 any office which in our estimation would be so degrading as 
 would be that of swine-herd to a Jew. 
 
 How deeply rooted was the abhorrence of the Swine's flesh 
 we can see from a passage in 2 Maccabees, in which is related a 
 series of insults offered to the religion of the Jews. The temple 
 at Jerusalem was to be called the Temple of Jupiter Olympus,
 
 SWINE. 295 
 
 and that on Gerizim was to be dedicated to Jupiter, the defender 
 of strangers. The altars were defiled by forbidden things, and the 
 celebration of the Sabbath, or of any Jewish ceremony, was 
 punishable with death. 
 
 Severe as were all these afflictions, there was one which the 
 Jews seem, from the stress laid upon it, to have felt more keenly 
 than any other. This was the compulsory eating of Swine's 
 flesh, an act which was so abhorrent to the Jews that in 
 attempting to enforce it, Antiochus found that he was foiled by 
 the passive resistance offered to him. The Jews had allowed 
 their temples to be dedicated to the worship of heathen deities, 
 they had submitted to the deprivation of their sacred rites, they 
 had even consented to walk in procession on the Feast of 
 Bacchus, carrying ivy like the rest of the worshippers in that 
 most licentious festival. It might be thought that any people 
 who submit to such degradation would suffer any similar in- 
 dignity. But even their forbearance had reached its limits, ant] 
 nothing could induce them to eat the flesh of Swine. 
 
 Several examples of the resistance offered by them are re- 
 corded in the book just mentioned. Eleazar, for example, a man 
 ninety years old, sternly refused to partake of the abominable 
 food. Some of the officials, in compassion for his great age, 
 advised him to take lawful meat with him and to exchange it for 
 the Swine's flesh. This he refused to do, saying that his age 
 was only a reason for particular care on his part, lest the young 
 should be led away by his example. His persecutors then 
 forced the meat into his mouth, but he rejected it, and died 
 under the lash. 
 
 Another example of similar, but far greater heroism, is given 
 by the same chronicler. A mother and her seven sons were 
 urged with blows to eat the forbidden food, and refused to do 
 so. Thinking that the mother would not be able to endure the 
 sight of her sons' sufferings, the officers took them in succession, 
 and inflicted a series of horrible tortures upon them, beginning 
 by cutting off their tongues, hands, and feet, and ending by 
 roasting them while still alive. Their mother, far from counsel- 
 ling her sons to yield, even though they were bribed by promises 
 of wealth and rank, only encouraged them to persevere, and, 
 when the last of her sons was dead, passed herself through the 
 same fiery trial
 
 296 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Even among the ancient Egyptians this repugnance to the 
 Swine prevailed, though there was a sort of Pariah caste among 
 them who bred the animal and ate its flesh. 
 
 This we learn from Herodotus ("Euterpe," xlvii.): " The 
 Egyptians consider the pig to be an impure animal, and if 
 therefore a man in passing near a pig should but touch it with 
 his clothes, he goes at once to the river and plunges into it. In 
 the next place, swine-herds, although they be native Egyptians, 
 are the only men who are not allowed to enter into any of their 
 temples, neither will any man give his daughter in marriage to 
 one of them, nor take a wife from among them, but the swine- 
 herds only marry among themselves. 
 
 " The Egyptians therefore do not think it right to sacrifice 
 swine to any other deities, but to the moon and Bacchus they 
 sacrifice them at the same time ; that is to say, at the same full 
 
 moon, and then they eat the flesh This sacrifice of pigs to 
 
 the moon is performed in the following manner. When the 
 sacrificer has killed the victims, he puts the tip of the tail, the 
 spleen, and the caul together, covers them with the fat found in 
 the belly of the animal, and then consumes it with fire. The 
 rest of the flesh they eat during the full moon in which 
 they offer the sacrifices, but on no other day would any man 
 ever taste it. The poor among them,, through want of money, 
 make pigs out of dough; and, after baking them, offer them 
 in sacrifice. 
 
 " On the eve of the festival of Bacchus, every one slays a pig 
 before his door, and then restores it to the swine-herd 'that sold 
 it, that he may carry it away. The rest of this festival to 
 Bacchus, except as regards the pigs, the Egyptians celebrate 
 much in the same manner as the Greeks do." 
 
 It has been conjectured, and with plausibility, that the pig 
 was prohibited by Moses on account of the unwholesomeness of 
 its flesh in a hot country, and that its almost universal repudia- 
 tion in such lands is a proof of its unfitness for food. In coun- 
 tries where diseases of the skin are so common, and where the 
 dreaded leprosy still maintains its hold, the flesh of the pig is 
 thought, whether rightly or wrongly, to increase the tendency to 
 such diseases, and on that account alone would be avoided. 
 
 It-has, however, been shown that the flesh of Swine can be 
 habitually consumed in hot countries without producing any
 
 SWINE. 297 
 
 evil results ; and, moreover, that the prohibition of Moses was 
 not confined to the Swine, but included many other animals 
 whose flesh is used without scruple by those very persons who 
 reject that of the pig. 
 
 Knowing the deep hatred of the Jews towards this animal, 
 we may naturally wonder how we come to hear of herds of 
 Swine kept in Jewish lands. 
 
 Of this custom there is a familiar example in the herd of 
 Swine that was drowned in the sea (Matt. viii. 28 34). It is 
 an open question whether those who possessed the Swine were 
 Jews of lax principles, who disregarded the Law for the sake 
 of gain, or whether they were Gentiles, who, of course, were not 
 bound by the Law. The former seems the likelier interpretation, 
 the destruction of the Swine being a fitting punishment for their 
 owners. It must be here remarked,that our Lord did not, as is 
 often said, destroy the Swine, neither did He send the devils into 
 them, so that the death of these animals cannot be reckoned as- 
 one of the divine miracles. Ejecting the evil spirits from the 
 maniacs was an exercise of His divine authority; the destruction 
 of the Swine was a manifestation of diabolical anger, permitted, 
 but not dictated. 
 
 The scene of so remarkable an- event is naturally of great 
 interest, especially as the statements of the Evangelists who 
 mention it do not precisely agree. This subject is so well treated 
 by Mr. Tristram in his " Land of Israel," that it must be given 
 in his own words : 
 
 " The field of the tombs at Gadara presents a vivid illus- 
 tration of the circumstances connected with the healing of the 
 demoniac in the country of the Gadarenes, or Gergesenes. With 
 one exception, all the concomitant events of the miracle are 
 exactly illustrated. We have beyond the city the field of tombs, 
 these tombs suited for the refuge of demoniac outcasts, occupied 
 as dwellings to the present day. We have a plain suited for the 
 feeding of swine, with its roots and acorns, and we have a steep 
 place hard by, of several hundred feet high, Kpripvov. But then, 
 it does not run down to the sea, but to the little river. This 
 objection is, I think, fatal to the identification of Uni Keis with 
 the scene of the miracle. 
 
 " St. Mark (v. 2) tells us that our Lord was met immediately 
 on His coming out of the ship. This place is three and a half
 
 298 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 hours distant from its shores. It is important also to observe 
 that St. Matthew (viii. 28) reads not Gadarenes, but Gergesenes, 
 and St. Luke states that the coast of the Gadarenes was over 
 against Galilee (viii. 26). I should feel thereupon disposed fully 
 to endorse the suggestion of Dr. Thomson, that St. Matthew, 
 writing for those intimately acquainted with the topography of 
 the country in detail, names the obscure and exact locality, 
 Gergesa ; while SS. Mark and Luke, writing for those at a dis- 
 tance, simply name the country of Gadara, as being a place of 
 importance, and the acknowledged capital of the district. This 
 is borne out by the statement of Josephus ('Bell. Jud.' 1, 
 VUL 35). 
 
 " Dr. Thomson visited, at the mouth of the Wady Semakh, 
 directly opposite Gennesaret, some ruins called by his guide 
 Kcrza, or Gerza, which he identifies with the Gergesa of St. 
 Matthew. The discovery is most interesting and important. 
 I visited the place myself from a boat, and observed the remains 
 of a valley and a khan ; but, unfortunately, I was not aware at 
 the time of the interest attaching to the place, and did not 
 ascertain, or at least note down, the name given to it by my 
 boatmen. 
 
 " The statement of Origen exactly bears out the discovery of 
 Dr. Thomson. After stating that Gadara was not the scene of 
 the miracle, for these was thence no steep place into the sea, he 
 states that Gergesa is an ancient city on the shores of the lake, 
 by which is a steep place which runs down to it. In one 
 important particular my memory corroborates the statement of 
 Dr. Thomson, viz. that while there is here no precipice running 
 sheer to the shore, but a narrow belt of land, the cliff behind is 
 steep, and the sea so narrow, that a herd of swine, rushing 
 frantically down, must certainly have been overwhelmed in the 
 sea before they could recover themselves. 
 
 " While the tombs at Gadara are peculiarly interesting and 
 remarkable, yet the whole region is so perforated everywhere by 
 rock-chambers of the dead that we may be quite certain that a 
 home for the demoniac will not be wanting whatever locality be 
 assigned for the events recorded by the Evangelists." 
 
 Although that part of the country is well suited for feeding 
 Swine, the animals are no longer kept. In the first place, there 
 is a grear, want of spirit in matters of commerce; and in the
 
 SWINE. 299 
 
 second, the country is so unsettled that the merchants would 
 probably be robbed. The woods, moreover, furnish nowadays 
 but a scanty supply of acorns, and those are eaten by the Arabs 
 instead of being given to pigs. 
 
 These animals are at the present day much neglected, because 
 the Mahometans and Jews may not eat the flesh, and the 
 Christians, as a rule, abstain from it, so that they may not hurt 
 the feelings of their neighbours. Pigs are however reared in the 
 various monasteries, and by the Arabs attached to them ; the 
 former eating the hog, and the latter only breeding it for sale. 
 Signor Pierotti states that the pigs become as part of the family, 
 who live and grow fat together with them. Though, he remarks, 
 they are not so intelligent as those that listened to St. Anthony 
 preaching in the Thehaid, they play with the children, under- 
 stand the language of their masters, and do not disdain to play 
 with the fowls, dogs, cats, asses, and horses, and are much more 
 nimble than their European brethren, although they are smaller 
 in size and not so spirited. 
 
 Although the pig was so detested by the Jews, they were 
 evidently well acquainted with it. St. Peter, for Q&ynple, in 
 his Second Epistle, chap. ii. 22, refers to the habit ofwallowing 
 in the mire, a custom which is common to all the pachyder- 
 matous animals, which, in spite of their thick hide, are very 
 sensitive to the attacks of flies, and cover themselves with mud 
 in order to defend themselves against their tiny but dreaded 
 enemies. 
 
 In connexion with the Swine, there is a passage in the 
 Proverbs which requires a slight comment. It occurs in chap. 
 xi. 22 : " As a jewel (or pendant) of gold in a swine's snout, so is a 
 fair woman which is without discretion." The sacred writer refers 
 here to the custom adopted by Oriental women of wearing a ring 
 in the nostril a custom which has existed to the present day, 
 and is familiar to all those who have travelled in the East. The 
 plan which is generally adopted is that of boring a hole through 
 the nostril, passing a ring through it, and, when the wound has 
 healed, hanging various jewels and other ornaments upon the 
 ring, so as to constitute the " pendant of gold " mentioned in 
 the proverb. 
 
 The image used by our Lord of casting pearls before Swine 
 needs no explanation.
 
 300 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 WE now come to the wild animal. Their is only one passage 
 in the Scriptures in which the WILD BOAR is definitely men- 
 tioned, and another in which a reference is made to it in a 
 paraphrase. 
 
 The former of these is the well-known verse of the Psalms : 
 " Why hast thou broken down her hedges, so that all they which 
 pass by the way do pluck her ? 
 
 " The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast 
 of the field doth devour it " (Ps. Ixxx. 12, 13). The second 
 passage is to be found in Ps. Ixviii. 30. In the Authorized 
 Version it is thus rendered : " Rebuke the company of spearmen, 
 the multitude of bulls, with the calves of the people." If the 
 reader will refer to the marginal translation (which, it must be 
 remarked, is of equal authority with the text), the passage runs 
 thus : " Rebuke the beasts of the reeds," &c. Now, this is 
 undoubtedly the correct rendering, and is accepted in the Jewish 
 Bible. 
 
 Having quoted these two passages, we will proceed to the 
 description and character of the animal. 
 
 In the former times, the Wild Boar was necessarily much 
 more plentiful than is the case in these days, owing to the 
 greater abundance of woods, many of which have disappeared 
 by degrees, and others been greatly thinned by the encroach- 
 ments of mankind. Woods and reed-beds are always the habi- 
 tations of the Wild Boar, which resides in these fastnesses, and 
 seems always to prefer the reed-bed to the wood, probably 
 because it can find plenty of mud, in which it wallows after the 
 fashion of its kind. There is no doubt whatever that the " beast 
 of the reeds " is simply a poetical phrase for the Wild Boar. 
 
 If there should be any cultivated ground in the neighbour- 
 hood, the Boar is sure to sally out and do enormous damage to 
 the crops. It is perhaps more dreaded in the vineyards than in 
 any other ground, as it not only devours the grapes, but tears 
 down and destroys the vines, trampling them under foot, and 
 destroying a hundredfold as much as it eats. 
 
 If the reader will refer again to Ps. Ixxx. he will see that the 
 Jewish nation is described under the image of a vine : "Thou 
 hast brought a vine out of Egypt : Thou hast cast out the 
 heathen and planted it," &c. Xo image of a destructive enemy 
 could therefore be more appropriate than that which is used.
 
 WILD BOAR OF PALESTINE. 
 'Tlie Boar out of tli- wood iloth waste it." Ps \x\x. 13.
 
 SWINE. 301 
 
 We have read of the little foxes that spoil the vines, but the 
 Wild Boar is a much more destructive enemy, breaking its way 
 through the fences, rooting up the ground, tearing down the vines 
 themselves, and treading them under its feet. A single party 
 of these animals will sometimes destroy an entire vineyard in 
 a single night. 
 
 We can well imagine the damage that would be done to a 
 vineyard even by the domesticated Swine, but the Wild Boar 
 is infinitely more destructive. It is of very great size, often 
 resembling a donkey rather than a boar, and is swift and active 
 beyond conception. The Wild Boar is scarcely recognisable as 
 the very near relation of the domestic species. It runs with 
 such speed, that a high-bred horse finds some difficulty in over- 
 taking it, while an indifferent steed would be left hopelessly 
 behind. Even on level ground the hunter has hard work to 
 overtake it ; and if it can get upon broken or hilly ground, no 
 horse can catch it. The Wild Boar can leap to a considerable 
 distance, and can wheel and turn when at full speed, with an 
 agility that makes it a singularly dangerous foe. Indeed, the 
 inhabitants of countries where the Wild Boar flourishes would 
 as soon face a lion as one of these animals, the stroke of whose 
 razor-like tusks is made with lightning swiftness, and which is 
 sufficient to rip up a horse, and cut a dog nearly asunder. 
 
 Although the Wild Boar is not as plentiful in Palestine as 
 used to be the case, it is still found in considerable numbers. 
 Whenever the inhabitants can contrive to cut off the retreat of 
 marauding parties among the crops, they turn out for a general 
 hunt, and kill as many as they can manage to slay. After one 
 of these hunts, the bodies are mostly exposed for sale, but, as the 
 demand for them is very small, they can be purchased at a very 
 cheap rate. Signor Pierotti bought one in the plains of Jericho 
 for five shillings. For the few who may eat the hog, this is a 
 fortunate circumstance, the flesh being very excellent, and as 
 superior to ordinary pork as is a pheasant to a barn-door fowl, 
 or venison to mutton
 
 302 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE ELEPHANT. 
 
 The Elephant indirectly mentioned in the Authorized Version Solomon's ivory 
 throne Ivory nsed in Egypt Horns of ivory The ivory palaces Beds of 
 ivory The Tyrian ships Ivory mentioned by Homer Vessels of. ivory 
 The Elephant as an engine of war Antiochus and his Elephants Oriental 
 exaggeration Self-devotion of Eleazar Attacking the Elephants, and their 
 gradiial abandonment in war The Talmiulical writers on the Elephant A 
 funeral and an omen. 
 
 EXCEPT indirectly, the Elephant is never mentioned in the 
 Authorized Version of the Canonical Scriptures, although fre- 
 quent references are made to ivory, the product of that animal. 
 
 The earliest mention of ivory in the Scriptures is to be found 
 in 1 Kings x. 18 : "Moreover the king (i.e. Solomon) made a 
 great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold." This 
 passage forms a portion of the description given by the sacred 
 historian of the glories of Solomon's palace, of which this cele- 
 brated throne, with the six steps and the twelve lions on the 
 steps, was the central and most magnificent object. It is named 
 together with the three hundred golden shields, the golden vessel 
 of the royal palace, and the wonderful arched viaduct crossing 
 the valley of the Tyropceon, " the ascent by which he went up 
 unto the house of the Lord," all of which glories so overcame 
 the Queen of Sheba that " there was no more spirit in her." 
 
 We see, therefore, that in the time of Solomon ivory was so 
 precious an article that it was named among the chief of the 
 wonders to be seen in the palace of Solomon, the wealthiest and 
 most magnificent monarch of sacred or profane history. 
 
 That it should not have been previously mentioned is very 
 singular. Five hundred years had elapsed since the Israelites 
 escaped from the power of Egypt, and during the whole of that 
 time, though gold and silver and precious stones and costly 
 raiment are repeatedly mentioned, we do not find a single pas- 
 sage in which anv allusion is made to ivorv. Had we not
 
 THE ELEPHANT. 303 
 
 known that ivoiy was largely used among the Egyptians, such 
 an omission would cause no surprise. But the researches of 
 modern travellers have brought to light many articles of ivory 
 that were in actual use in Egypt, and we therefore cannot but 
 wonder that a material so valued and so beautiful does not seem 
 to have been reckoned among the treasures which were brought 
 by the Israelites from the laud of their captivity, and which 
 were so abundant that the Tabernacle was entirely formed of 
 them. 
 
 In the various collections of Europe are many specimens of 
 ivory used by the ancient Egyptians, among the chief of which 
 may be mentioned an ivory box in the Louvre, having on its lid 
 the name of the dynasty in which it was carved, and the ivory- 
 tipped lynch-pins of the splendid war-chariot iu Florence, from 
 which the illustration on page 260 has been drawn. 
 
 The ivory used by the Egyptians was, of course, that of the 
 African Elephant ; and was obtained chiefly from Ethiopia, as 
 we find in Herodotus ("Thalia," 114) : " Where the meridian de- 
 clines towards the setting sun, the Ethiopian territory reaches, 
 being the extreme part of the habitable world. It produces 
 much gold, huge elephants, wild trees of all kinds, ebony, and 
 men of large stature, very handsome and long-lived." 
 
 Solomon may have procured from the same source part of the 
 ivory which he used so lavishly, but it is evident that he was 
 also supplied from India. In 1 Kings x. 22 we read : " For the 
 king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram : 
 once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, 
 and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks." The reader will 
 remark that an opinion has already beefi expressed that the 
 country whence these articles were brought must be India, and 
 this conjecture is strengthened by the Hebrew names given to 
 the apes, the peacocks, and the ivory, which are almost identical 
 with the words employed in the Cingalese language of the 
 present day. 
 
 The usual Hebrew word for ivory is sken, i.e. a tooth, the 
 Israelites being perfectly aware that it was the product of a 
 tooth, and not of a horn. It is true that in one passage the word 
 "horn" is used in connexion with the term "ivory," or "tooth," 
 in such a manner that a reader of the English Version might 
 imagine the sacred writers to think that ivory was obtained from
 
 304 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the horn of some animal. This passage occurs in the prophet 
 Ezekiel, xxvii. 15. Speaking of Tyre and her greatness, the 
 prophet uses the following terms : " The men of Dedan were thy 
 merchants ; many isles were the merchandise of thirie hand : 
 they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony." 
 
 If we refer to the Hebrew Bible, we shall find that the literal 
 translation of this passage runs as follows : " The men of Dedan 
 were thy traders; many maritime settlements were the mer- 
 chandise of thine hand : they offered thee as a price horns of 
 teeth and ebony." It is evident that the word kvrenoth, or 
 horns, is used to represent the horn-like shape of the Elephant's 
 tusk, as it appears when imported into the country, the use 
 of the term shen, or tooth, showing that the shape and not 
 material is to be implied by the term. 
 
 Now if the reader will look at a passage which has already 
 been quoted (1 Kings x. 22), he will see that the marginal read- 
 ing translates the word " ivory " as " elephants' teeth." This ren- 
 dering is undoubtedly the correct one. The Hebrew word is 
 shen-habbim, and there is little, if any, doubt that the term 
 habbim is rightly translated as "elephants." A similar word, 
 Habba, is found in the Assyrian inscriptions, and is thought by 
 Sir H. Eawlinson to have the same signification. 
 
 It will be as well to mention here a curious version of 
 Gen. 1. 1 , in which Joseph is said to have placed the body of his 
 father upon a bier of shin-daphin, or ivory. 
 
 After the passage in 1 Kings, ivory is repeatedly mentioned, 
 sometimes in allusion to its smoothness and whiteness, and 
 sometimes to its use as a luxurious appendage of the palace. 
 For its use in the former sense, we may take the well-known 
 passage in the Song of Solomon : " His hands are as gold rings 
 set with the beryl : his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with 
 sapphires" (Cant. v. 14). Also vii. 4, "Thy neck is as a tower 
 of ivory." 
 
 For its use in the second of these senses we may take several 
 passages. See, for example, Ps. xlv. 8 : " All thy garments 
 smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, 
 whereby they have made thee glad." It has been suggested 
 that the words " ivory palaces " may signify boxes or chests 
 inlaid with ivory, in which were deposited the royal garments, 
 together with perfumes. "Whether or not this be the case, it is
 
 THK ELEPHANT. 305 
 
 evident that the ivory is here mentioned as a costly adjunct of 
 royal luxury. 
 
 There are, however, passages in which ivory is distinctly 
 mentioned as forming part of the adornment of houses. For 
 example, see 1 Krhgs xxii. 39 : "Now the rest of the acts of 
 Ahal), and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, 
 are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings 
 of Israel ? " The " ivory house " could not, of course, be built 
 wholly of ivory, and it is evident that by the term is signified 
 a palace, the rooms of which were inlaid with ivory. Another 
 mention of such houses is made in Amos iii. 15 : " And I will 
 smite the winter house with the summer house ; and the houses 
 of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, 
 saith the Lord." 
 
 Chambers thus decorated are to be seen at the present jday, 
 and it is remarkable that ivory is still used, together with ebony, 
 in panelling the walls of rooms a combination which is men- 
 tioned in several of the passages which have already been 
 quoted. 
 
 The use of ivory as an article of luxury is also mentioned in 
 Amos vi. 4 : " Woe to them . . . that lie upon beds of ivory, 
 and stretch themselves upon their couches." And in Ezekiel 
 xxvii. 6, the overwhelming wealth and luxury of Tyre are 
 pictured by the costly materials of which the Assyrians built 
 their ships the planks of Senir fir, the masts of cedar, the 
 oars of Bashan oak, the sails of fine linen, and the very 
 benches on which the rowers sat, inlaid with ivory. How 
 accurate was the prophet in the details of his bodings, is 
 shown by the research of Mr. Layard, who found among the 
 buried ruins of Nineveh great quantities of ivory, some manu- 
 factured, and some in its original state as imported the uncut 
 tusks, or "horns of ivory," to which reference has already been 
 made. 
 
 The classical reader need scarcely be reminded of the parallel 
 between passages of Scripture and those of profane authors, 
 in which ivory is mentioned as a costly ornament. See, for 
 example, the Iliad, book v. 484 : 
 
 " From his numbed hands the iv'ry studded reins, 
 Dropped in the dust, arc trailed along the plains." 
 
 (Lines 712, 713, POPE'S Version.) 
 X
 
 306 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 In ancient Greece, as well as in Assyria, the beds of the 
 wealthy were adorned with ivory. Ulysses, for example (see 
 Odyssey, book xxi.), king as he was, made his own bridal bed 
 of hide thongs interlaced, and inlaid the posts with gold, ivory, 
 and silver. And, in the beginning of the same book, we find 
 that the key of the royal armoury was made of brass inlaid 
 with ivory. 
 
 There is only one passage in the New Testament in which 
 ivory is mentioned : " Arid the merchants of the earth shall 
 weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise 
 any more; the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious 
 
 stones, and all manner vessels of ivory." (Rev. xviii. 
 
 11,12.) 
 
 HAVING now examined the passages in which ivory is men- 
 tioned, we turn to those in which the Elephant itself is named. 
 These are only to be found in the Apocrypha, and in all of them 
 the Elephant is described as an engine of war. If the reader 
 will refer to the First Book of the Maccabees, he will find that 
 the Elephant is mentioned at the very commencement of the 
 book. " Now when the kingdom was established before An- 
 tiochus, he thought to reign over Egypt, that he might have the 
 dominion of two realms. 
 
 "Wherefore he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, 
 with chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great navy." 
 (i. 16, 17.) 
 
 Here we see that the Elephant was considered as a most potent; 
 engine of war, and, as we may perceive by the context, the King 
 of Egypt was so alarmed by the invading force, that he ran away, 
 and allowed Antiochus to take possession of the country. 
 
 After this, Antiochus Eupator marched against Jerusalem 
 with a vast army, which is thus described in detail : " The 
 number of his army was one hundred thousand footmen, and 
 twenty thousand horsemen, and two and thirty elephants exer- 
 cised in battle. 
 
 " And to the end that they might provoke the elephants to 
 fight, they showed them the blood of grapes and mulberries. 
 
 " Moreover, they divided the boasts among the armies, and 
 for every elephant they appointed a thousand men, armed with 
 coats of mail, and with helmets of l.rass on their heads; and,.
 
 THE ELEPHANT. 307 
 
 besides this, for every beast were ordained five hundred horse- 
 men of the best. 
 
 "These were ready at every occasion wheresoever the beast 
 was ; and whithersoever the beast went they went also, neither 
 departed they from him. 
 
 "And upon the beasts were there strong towers of wood, 
 which covered every one of them, and were girt fast unto them 
 with devices ; there were also upon every one two and thirty 
 strong men that fought upon them, beside the Indian that ruled 
 him. 
 
 " As for the remnant of the horsemen, they set them on this 
 side and that side at the two fronts of the host, giving them 
 signs what to do, and being harnessed all over amidst the 
 ranks." (1 Mace. vi. 30, &c.) 
 
 It is evident from this description that, in the opinion of the 
 writer, the Elephants formed the principal arms of the opposing 
 force, these animals being prominently mentioned, and the rest 
 of the army being reckoned as merely subsidiaries of the 
 terrible beasts. The thirty-two Elephants appear to have taken 
 such a hold of the narrator's mind, that he evidently looked upon 
 them in the same light that the ancient Jews regarded chariots 
 of war, or as at the present day savages regard artillery. 
 According to his ideas, the thirty-two Elephants constituted the 
 real army, the hundred thousand infantry and twenty thousand 
 cavalry being only in attendance upon these animals. 
 
 Taken as a whole, the description of the war Elephant is a 
 good one, though slightly exaggerated, and is evidently written 
 by an eye-witness. The mention of the native mahout, or 
 " Indian that guided him," is characteristic enough, as is tin; 
 account of the howdah, or wooden carriage on the back of tin] 
 animal. 
 
 The number of warriors, however, is evidently exaggerated, 
 though not to such an extent as the account of Julius Caesar's 
 Elephants, which are said to have carried on their backs sixty 
 soldiers, beside the wooden tower in which they fought. It is 
 evident that, in the first place,' no Elephant could carry a tower 
 large enough to hold so many fighting men, much less one 
 which would afford space for them to use their weapons. 
 
 A good account of the fighting Elephant is given by Topsel 
 (p. 157) : "There were certain officers and guides of the Ele- 
 
 x2
 
 308 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 phants, who were called Elephantarchm, who were the governors 
 of sixteen Elephants, and they which did institute and teach 
 them martial discipline were called Elepliantagogi. 
 
 " The Military Elephant did carry four persons on his bare 
 back, one fighting on the right hand, another righting on the 
 left hand, a third, which stood fighting backwards from the 
 Elephant's head, and a fourth in the middle of these, holding 
 the rains, and guiding the Beast to the discretion of the Soul- 
 diers, even as the Pilot in a ship guideth the stem, wherein 
 was required an equall knowledge and dexterity ; for when the 
 Indian which ruled them said, Strike here on the right hand, 
 or else on the left, or refrain and stand still, no reasonable man 
 could yield readier obedience." 
 
 This description is really a very accurate as well as spirited 
 one, and conveys a good idea of the fighting Elephant as it 
 appeared when brought into action. 
 
 Strangely enough, after giving this temperate and really 
 excellent account of the war Elephant, the writer seems to have 
 oeen unable to resist the fascination of his theme, and proceeds 
 to describe, with great truth and spirit, the mode of fighting 
 adopted by the animal, intermixed with a considerable amount 
 of the exaggeration from which the former part of his account 
 is free. 
 
 " They did fasten iron chains, first of all, upon the Elephant 
 that was to bear ten, fifteen, twenty, or thirty men, on either 
 side two panniers of iron bound underneath their belly, and 
 upon them the like panniers of wood, hollow, wherein they 
 placed their men at armes, and covered them over with small 
 boards (for the trunck of the Elephant was covered with a mail 
 for defence, and upon that a broadsword, two cubits long) ; this 
 (as also the wooden Castle, or pannier aforesaid) were fastened 
 first to the neck and then to the rump of the Elephant. 
 
 "Being thus armed, they entered the battel, and they shewed 
 anto the Beasts, to make them more fierce, wine, liquor made of 
 Bice, and white cloth, for at the sight of any of these his courage 
 and rage increaseth above all nfeasure. Then at the sound of 
 the Trumpet, he beginneth with teeth to strike, tear, beat, spoil, 
 take up into the air, cast down again, stamp upon men under 
 feet, overthrow with his trunck, and make way for his riders to 
 pierce with Spear, Shield, and Sword ; so that his horrible voice,
 
 THE. ELEPHANT. 309 
 
 his wonderful body, his terrible force, his admirable skill, his 
 ready and inestimable obedience, and his strange and seldom- 
 seen shape, produced in a main battel no mean accidents and 
 over turns." 
 
 In this account there is a curious mixture of truth and 
 exaggeration. As we have already seen, the number of soldiers 
 which the animal was supposed to carry is greatly exaggerated, 
 and it is rather amusing to note how the " towers " in which they 
 fought are modified into "panniers." Then the method by which 
 the animal is incited to the combat is partly true, and partly 
 false. Of course an Elephant is not angered by seeing a piece 
 of white cloth, or by looking at wine, or a liquor made of rice. 
 
 But that the wine, or the "liquor made of rice," i.e. arrack, 
 was administered to the Elephant before it was brought into the 
 battle-field, is likely enough. Elephants are wonderfully fond of 
 strong drink. They can be __ incited to perform any task within 
 their powers by a provision of arrack, and when stimulated by 
 a plentiful supply of their favourite drink they would be in 
 good fighting condition. 
 
 Next we find the writer describing the Elephant as being 
 furnished with a coating of mail armour on its proboscis, the 
 end of which was armed with a sword a yard in length. Now 
 any one who is acquainted with the Elephant will see at once 
 that such offensive and defensive armour would deprive the 
 animal of the full use of the proboscis, and would, therefore, 
 only weaken, and not strengthen, its use in battle. Accord- 
 ingly we find that the writer, when describing with perfect 
 accuracy the mode in which the Elephant fights, utterly omits 
 all mention of the sword and the mailed proboscis, and describes 
 the animal, not as striking or thrusting with the sword, but as 
 overthrowing with the trunk, taking up into the air, and casting 
 down again acts which could only be performed when the 
 proboscis was unencumbered by armour. The use of weapons 
 was left to the soldiers that fought upon its back, the principal 
 object of the huge animal being to trample its way through 
 the opposing ranks, and to make a way for the soldiers that 
 followed. 
 
 It may be easily imagined that, before soldiers become fami- 
 liarized with the appearance of the Elephant, they might be 
 pardoned for being panic-struck at the sight of -so strange an
 
 310 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 aiiimal. Not only was it formidable for its vast size, and for the 
 armed men which it carried, but for the obedience which it 
 rendered to its keeper, and the skill with which it wielded the 
 strange but powerful weapon with which Nature had armed it. 
 
 At first, the very approach of so terrible a foe struck con- 
 sternation into the soldiers, who knew of no mode by which 
 they could oppose the gigantic beast, which came on in its 
 swift, swinging pace, crushing its way by sheer weight through 
 the ranks, and striking right and left with its proboscis. Xo 
 other method of checking the Elephant, except by self-sacrifice, 
 could be found ; and in 1 Mace. vi. 43 46, we read how 
 Eleazar, the son of Mattathias, nobly devoted himself for his 
 country. 
 
 " Eleazar also, surnamed Sa varan, perceiving that one of the 
 beasts, armed with royal harness, was higher than all the rest, 
 and supposing that the king was upo.n him, 
 
 " Put himself in jeopardy, to the end he might deliver his 
 people, and get him a perpetual name. 
 
 " Whereupon he ran upon him courageously, through the 
 midst of the battle, slaying on the right hand and on the left, 
 so that they were divided from him on both sides. 
 
 " Which done, he crept under the elephant, and thrust him 
 under, and slew him ; whereupon the elephant fell down upon 
 him, and he died." 
 
 I may here mention that the surname of Savaran, or A varan, 
 as it ought to be called, signifies one who pierces an animal from 
 behind, and was given to him after his death, in honour of his 
 exploit. 
 
 At first, then, Elephants were the most formidable engines 
 of war that could be brought into the battle-field, and the very 
 sight of these huge beasts, towering above even the helmets 
 of the cavalry, disheartened the enemy so much that victory 
 became easy. 
 
 After a while, however, when time for reflection had been 
 allowed, the more intellectual among the soldiers began to think 
 that, after all, the Elephant was not a mere engine, but a living 
 animal, and, as such, subject to the infirmities of the lower 
 animals. So they invented scheme after scheme, by -which they 
 baffled the attacks of these once dreaded foes, and sometimes 
 even succeeded in driving them back among the ranks of their
 
 THE ELEPHANT. 311 
 
 own soldiery, so maddened with pain and anger, that they dealt 
 destruction among the soldiers for whom they were fighting, 
 and so broke up their order of battle that the foe easily over- 
 came them. 
 
 The vulnerable nature of the proboscis was soon discovered, and 
 soldiers were armed with very sharp swords, set on long handles, 
 with which they continally attacked the Elephants' trunks. 
 Others were mounted on swift horses, dashed past the Elephant, 
 and hurled their darts before the animal could strike them. 
 Others, again, were placed in chariots, and armed with very long 
 and sharply-pointed spears. Several of these chariots would 
 be driven simultaneously against an Elephant, and sometimes 
 succeeded in killing the animal. Slingers also were told off 
 for the express purpose of clearing the " castles," or howdahs, 
 of the soldiers who fought on the Elephants' backs, and their 
 especial object was the native mahout, who sat on the animal's 
 neck. 
 
 Sometimes they made way for the Elephant as it pressed 
 forward, and then closed round it, so as to make it the central 
 mark, on which converged a hail of javelins, arrows, and stones 
 on every side, until the huge animal sank beneath its many 
 wounds. By degrees, therefore, the Elephant was found to be 
 so uncertain an engine of war, that its use was gradually dis- 
 continued, and finally abandoned altogether. 
 
 THE Elephant which was employed in these wars was the 
 Indian species, Elephas Indicus, which is thought to be more 
 susceptible of education than the African Elephant. The latter, 
 however, has been tamed, and, in the days of Rome's greatest 
 splendour, was taught to perform a series of tricks that seem 
 almost incredible. As, however, the Indian species is that with 
 which we have here to do, I have selected it for the illus- 
 tration. 
 
 It may be at once distinguished from its African relative by 
 the comparatively small ears, those of the African Elephant 
 reaching above the back of the head, and drooping well below 
 the neck. The shape of the head, too, is different. In the 
 Indian species, only the males bear tusks, and even many of 
 them are unarmed. In the African species, however, both sexes 
 bear tusks, those of the male furnishing the best ivory, with its
 
 312 fJlBLK AXIMA.I.S. 
 
 peculiar creamy colour and beautiful graining, and those of the 
 female being smaller in size, and producing ivory of a much 
 inferior quality. 
 
 The Talmudical writers have not much to say abcfut the 
 Elephant, and what they do say is rather ludicrous than other- 
 wise. The proboscis, say they, gives the animal a very ugly 
 look, so that to dream of the trunk of an Elephant is a bad 
 omen. Indeed, it is so odd a substitute for a nose, that when 
 people look at it they say, " Praised be He who can thus 
 transform His creatures." 
 
 Largest and strongest of earth's inhabitants, the Elephant is 
 yet afraid of the smallest. The gnat attacks him. flies into the 
 open end of the proboscis, and sucks his blood at its ease. 
 
 It is rather remarkable that there is an ironical adage re- 
 specting the Elephant and the eye of the needle, exactly similar 
 to the familiar proverb of the camel and the needle's eye. 
 
 THE CONEY, OR HYRAX. 
 
 The Shaphau of Scripture, ana the correct meaning of the word Identification 
 of the Shaphan with the Syrian Hyrax Description of the animal Its feet, 
 teeth, and apparent rumination Passages in which the Coney is mentioned 
 Habits of the animal Its activity and wariness The South African Hyrax, 
 and its mode of life Difficulty of procuring it Similarity in appearance and 
 habits of the Syrian species Three species of Hyrax known to naturalists 
 The Talmudical writers on the Shaphan The jerboa and the rabbit A 
 curious speculation and a judicious compromise. 
 
 AMONG the many animals mentioned in the Bible, there is 
 one which is evidently of some importance in the Jewish code, 
 inasmuch as it is twice named in the Mosaic law. 
 
 That it was also familiar to the Jews is evident from other 
 references which are made to its habits. This animal is the 
 Shaphan of 'the Hebrew language, a word which has very 
 wrongly been translated in the Authorized Version as Coney, 
 i.e. Rabbit, the creature in question not being a rabbit, nor even 
 a rodent. No rabbit has ever been discovered in Palestine, and
 
 INDIAN KI.KPHANT. 
 "Thpy brought tliee 1'or a jiroscut horns of Ivory. " Ez. xxvii, l. ;
 
 THE CONEY. 
 
 313 
 
 naturalists have agreed that the true Coney or Rabbit has never 
 inhabited the Holy Land. There is no doubt that the Shaphan 
 of the Hebrew Scripture, and the Coney of the Vulgate, was the 
 SYRIAN HYIIAX (Hyrax Si/riacifs). This little animal is rather 
 larger than an ordinary rabbit, is not unlike it in appearance, 
 and has many of its habits. It is clothed with brown fur, it is 
 very active, it inhabits holes and clefts in rocks, and it has in 
 the front of its mouth long chisel-shaped teeth, very much like 
 those of the rabbit. Consequently, it was classed by naturalists 
 
 THE HYRAX. 
 
 Thr, Conitt are but a feefilefolk, yet make thry their hmiwt in the rneks." PROV. xxx 'Jt> 
 
 among the rodents for many years, under the name of Rock 
 Rabbit. Yet, as I have already mentioned, it is not even a 
 rodent, but belongs to the pachydermatous group of animals, and 
 occupies an intermediate place between the rhinoceros and the 
 hippppotanius. 
 
 If it be examined carefully, the rodent-like teeth will be seen 
 to resemble exactly the long curved tusks of the hippopotami!?.
 
 314 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 with their sharp aiid chisel-edged tips ; the little feet, on ;i 
 close inspection, are seen to be furnished with a set of tiny 
 hoofs just like those of the rhinoceros ; and there are many other 
 points in its structure which, to the eye of a naturalist, point 
 out its true place in nature. 
 
 In common with the rodents, and other animals which have 
 similarly-shaped teeth, the Hyrax, when at rest, is continually 
 working its jaws from side to side, a movement which it instinc- 
 tively performs, in order that the chiselled edges of the upper 
 and lower teeth may be preserved sharp by continually rubbing 
 against each other, and that they may not be suffered to grow 
 too long, and so to deprive the animal of the means whereby it 
 gains its food. But for this peculiar movement, which looks 
 very like the action of ruminating, the teeth would grow far 
 beyond the mouth, as they rapidly deposit dental material in 
 their bases in order to supply the waste caused at their tips by 
 the continual friction of the edges against each other. 
 
 It may seem strange that an animal which is classed with the 
 elephant, the rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus, all bare-skinned 
 animals, should be clothed with a furry coat. The reader may 
 perhaps remember that the Hyrax does not afford a solitary 
 instance of this structure, and that, although the elephants of 
 our day have only a few bristly hairs thinly scattered over the 
 body, those of former days were clad in a thick and treble coat 
 of fur and hair. 
 
 THERE are four passages of Scripture in which the CONEY is 
 mentioned two in which it is prohibited as food, and two in 
 which allusion is made to its manner of life. In order to 
 understand the subject better, we will take them in their order. 
 
 The first mention of the Coney occurs in Leviticus xi. 5, 
 among the list of clean and unclean animals : " The coney, 
 because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is 
 unclean unto you." The second is of a like nature, and is to be 
 found in Dent. xiv. 7 : " These ye shall not eat of them that 
 chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the 
 camel, and the hare, and the coney : for they chew the cud, but 
 divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you." 
 
 The remaining passages, which describe the habits of the 
 Coney, are as follow. The first alludes to the rock-loving
 
 THE CONEY. 315 
 
 habits of the animal : " The high hills are a refuge for the wild 
 goats, and the rocks for the conies." (Ps. civ. 18.) The second 
 makes a similar mention of the localities which the animal 
 frequents, and in addition speaks of its wariness, including it 
 among the " four things which are little upon the earth, but they 
 are exceedingly wise." The four are the ants, the locusts, the 
 spiders, and the Conies, which " are but a feeble folk, yet make 
 they their houses in the rocks." 
 
 We will take these passages in their order. 
 
 It has already been mentioned that the Hyrax, a true pachy- 
 derm, does not merely chew the cud, but that the peculiar and 
 constant movement of its jaws strongly resembles the act of 
 rumination. The Jews, ignorant as they were of scientific 
 zoology, would naturally set down the Hyrax as a ruminant, and 
 would have been likely to eat it, as its flesh is very good. It 
 must be remembered that two conditions were needful to render 
 an animal fit to be eaten by a Jew, the one that it must be a . 
 ruminant, and the second that it should have a divided hoof. 
 Granting, therefore, the presence of the former qualification, 
 Moses points out the absence of the latter, thereby prohibiting 
 the animal as effectually as if he had entered into a question of 
 comparative anatomy, and proved that the Hyrax was incapable 
 of rumination. 
 
 We now come to the habits of the animal. 
 
 As we may gather from the passages of Scripture which have 
 already been mentioned, the Hyrax inhabits rocky places, and 
 lives in the clefts that are always found in such localities. It is 
 an exceedingly active creature, leaping from rock to rock with 
 wonderful rapidity, its little sharp hoofs giving it a firm 
 hold of the hard and irregular surface of the stony ground. 
 Even in captivity it retains much of its activity, and fiies about 
 its cage with a rapidity that seems more suitable to a squirrel 
 than to an animal allied to the rhinoceros and hippopotamus. 
 
 There are several species perhaps only varieties of the 
 Hyrax, all of them identical in habits, and almost precisely 
 similar in appearance. The best known of these animals is that 
 which inhabits Southern Africa (Hyrax Capensis), and which is 
 familiar to the colonists by its name of Klip-das, or liock-rabbit. 
 In situations which suit it, the Hyrax is very plentiful, and is 
 much hunted by the natives, who esteeni its flesh very highly
 
 316 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Small and insignificant as it appears to be, even Europeans 
 think that to kill the Hyrax is a tolerable test of sportsmanship, 
 the wariness of the animal being so great that much hunter's 
 craft is required to approach it. 
 
 The following account of the Hyrax has been furnished to me 
 by Lt.-Col. A. "VV. Drayson, RA. : "In the Cape Colony, and over 
 a great portion of Southern Africa, this little creature is found. 
 It is never, as far as my experience goes, seen in great numbers, 
 as we find rabbits in England, though the caution of the animal 
 is such as to enable it to remain safe in districts from which 
 other animals are soon exterminated. 
 
 " As its name implies, it is found among rocks, in the crevices 
 and holes of which it finds a retreat. When a natural cavity is 
 not found, the klip-das scratches a hole in the ground under the 
 rocks, and burrows like a common rabbit. In size it is about 
 equal to a hare, though it is much shorter in the legs, and has 
 .ears more like those of a rat than a rabbit. Its skin is covered 
 with fur, thick and woolly, as though intended for a colder 
 climate than that in which it is usually found ; and, when seen 
 from a distance, it looks nearly black. 
 
 " The rock-rabbit is a very watchful creature, and usually 
 feeds on the summit of any piece of rock near its home, always 
 choosing one from which it can obtain a good view of the sur- 
 rounding country. When it sees an enemy approaching, it 
 sits rigidly on the rock and watches him without moving, so 
 that at a little distance it is almost impossible to distinguish 
 it from the rock on which it sits. When it does move, it darts 
 quickly out of sight, and disappears into its burrow with a 
 sudden leap. 
 
 " In consequence of its activity and cunning, the rock-rabbit 
 is seldom killed by white men ; and when a hunter does secure 
 one, it is generally by means of a long shot. The natives usually 
 watch near its burrow, or noiselessly stalk it. 
 
 " I once killed one of these animals by a very long shot 
 from a rifle, as it was sitting watching us from the top of a large 
 boulder, at a distance of a hundred and fifty yards or there- 
 abouts. The Dutch Boers who were with me were delighted at 
 the sight of it, as they said it was good eating ; and so it proved 
 to be, the flesh being somewhat like that of a hare, though in 
 our rough field-cookery we could not do justice to it."
 
 THE CONEY. 317 
 
 This short narrative excellently illustrates the character of the 
 animal, which is classed among the " four things which be ex- 
 ceeding wise." It is so crafty that no trap or snare ever set 
 has induced a Hyrax to enter it, and so wary that it is with 
 difficulty to be killed even with the aid of fire-arms. " No 
 animal," writes Mr. Tristram, " ever gave us so much trouble to 
 secure. . . . The only chance of securing one is to be concealed, 
 particularly abou-t sunset or before sunrise, on some overhanging 
 cliff, taking care not to let the shadow be cast below, and then 
 to wait until the little creatures cautiously peep forth from their 
 holes. They are sarki to be common by those who have not 
 looked for them, but are certainly not abundant in Palestine, 
 and few writers have ever had more than a single glimpse of one. 
 I had the good fortune to see one feeding in the gorge of the 
 Kedron, and then to watch it as it sat at the mouth of its hole, 
 ruminating, metaphorically if not literally, while waiting for 
 sunset." 
 
 Should the Hyrax manage to catch a glimpse of the enemy, it 
 utters a shrill cry or squeal, and darts at once to its hole an 
 action which is followed by all its companions as soon as they 
 hear the warning cry. It is a tolerably prolific animal, rearing 
 four or five young at a birth, and keeping them in a soft bed of 
 hay and fur, in which they are almost hidden. If surprised in 
 its hole and seized, the Hyrax will bite very sharply, its long 
 chisel-edged teeth inflicting severe wounds on the hand that 
 attempts to grasp it. But it is of a tolerably docile disposition, 
 and in a short time learns to know its owner, and to delight in 
 receiving his caresses. 
 
 Three species of Hyrax are known to naturalists. One is the 
 Klip-das, or liock-rabbit, of Southern Africa ; the second is the 
 Ashkoko of Abyssinia; and the third is the Syrian Hyrax, or 
 the Coney of the Bible. The two last species have often been 
 confounded together, but the Syrian animal may be known 
 by the oblong pale spot on the middle of its back. 
 
 The Talmudical writers were greatly perplexed about the 
 proper reading of the word Shaphan, some of them thinking it 
 to be a jerboa, and others considering it as the rabbit. Lewysolm 
 sums up the arguments after a rather curious fashion. Accord- 
 ing to him, the strongest argument against the translation of t he- 
 Biblical word Shaphan a.i "rabbit" is that the animal came from
 
 318 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Spain, and was probably unknown to the earlier Talmudists, 
 though the later writers might have known it. 
 
 Then, struck with the resemblance of the Hebrew word JEU? 
 (Sh'p'n) and Spain, he proceeds to discuss the probability of the 
 Shaphan deriving its name-from Spain, the country of its origin, 
 or of Spain being so called on account of the number of rabbits 
 which inhabited it. He comes at last to the conclusion that the 
 jerboa was probably the animal which was prohibited in the 
 Mosaic law ; but that, as the rabbit answered in every respect to 
 the Talmudical conditions, it may, for all practical purposes, be 
 accepted as the representative of the Shaphan of Scripture. 
 
 BEHEMOTH. 
 
 Literal translation of the word Behemoth Various theories respecting tho 
 identity of the animal The Hippopotamus known to the ancient Hebrews 
 Geographical range of the animal "He eateth grass like the ox" Ravages 
 of the Hippopotamus among the crops Structure of the mouth and teeth 
 The " sword or scythe " of the Hippopotamus Some strange theories - Haunts 
 of the Hippopotamus The Egyptian hunter A valuable painting Strength 
 of the Hippopotanras Rising of the Nile Modern hunters Wariness of the 
 Hippopotamus The pitfall and the drop-trap. 
 
 IN the concluding part of that wonderful poem which is so 
 familiar to us as the Book of Job, the Lord is represented as re- 
 proving the murmurs of Job, by showing that he could not even 
 understand the mysteries of the universe, much less the purposes 
 of the Creator. By presuming to bring a charge of injustice 
 against his Maker, he in fact inferred that the accuser was more 
 competent to govern the world than was the Creator, and thus 
 laid himself open to the unanswerable irony of the splendid 
 passages contained in chapters xl. xli., which show that man 
 cannot even rule the animals, his fellow- creatures, much less 
 control the destinies of the human race. 
 
 The passages with which we are at present concerned are to 
 be found at the end of the fortieth chapter, and contain a most
 
 BEHEMOTH. 
 
 powerful description of some animal which is called by the 
 name of Behemoth. Now this word only occurs once in the 
 whole of the Scriptures, i.e. in Job xl. 15: "Behold now 
 behemoth, which I made with thee," &c. Some commentators, 
 in consequence of the plural termination of the word, which 
 may be literally translated as " beasts," have thought that it was 
 a collective term for all the largest beasts of the world, such as 
 the elephant, the hippopotamus, the wild cattle, and their like. 
 Others have thought that the elephant was signified by the word 
 Behemoth ; and some later writers, acquainted with palaeon- 
 tology, have put forward a conjecture that the Behemoth must 
 have been some extinct pachydermatous animal, like the dino- 
 therium, in which might be combined many of the qualities of 
 the elephant and hippopotamus. 
 
 It is now, however, agreed by all Biblical scholars and natu- 
 ralists, that the hippopotamus, and no other animal, is the cren- 
 ture which was signified by the word Behemoth, and this inter- 
 pretation is followed in the Jewish Bible. 
 
 We will now take the whole of the passage, and afterwards 
 examine it by degrees, comparing the Authorized Version with 
 the Jewish Bible, and noting at the same time one or two vari- 
 ations in the rendering of certain phrases. The passage is given 
 as follows in the Jewish Bible, and may be compared with our 
 Authorized Version : 
 
 " Behold now the river-horse, which I have made with thee : 
 he eateth grass like an ox. 
 
 " Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his vigour is in the 
 muscles of his body. 
 
 " He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his thighs are 
 wrapped together. 
 
 " His bones are pipes of copper ; his bones are like bars 
 of iron. 
 
 " He is the chief of the ways of God : he that made him can 
 alone reach his sword. 
 
 " That the mountains should bring forth food for him, and all 
 the beasts of the field play there. 
 
 " He lieth under wild lotuses, in the covert of the reed, 
 and fens. 
 
 " Wild lotuses cover him with their shadow ; willows of the 
 brook compass him about.
 
 320 RIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 "Behold, should a river overflow, he hasteth not: he feels 
 secure should Jordan burst forth up to his mouth. 
 
 " He taketh it in with his eyes : his nose pierceth through 
 snares." 
 
 We will now take this description in detail, and see how far 
 it applies to the now familiar habits of the hippopotamus. A 
 little allowance must of course be made for poetical imagery, but 
 we shall find that in all important details the account of the 
 Behemoth agrees perfectly with the appearance and habits of 
 the hippopotamus. 
 
 In the first place, it is evident that we may dismiss from our 
 minds the idea that the Behemoth was an extinct pachyderm. 
 The whole tenor of the passage shows that it must have been 
 an animal then existing, and whose habits were familiar to Job 
 and his friends. Now the date of the Book of Job could not 
 have been earlier than about 1500 B.C., and in, consequence, 
 the ideas of a pakeozoic animal must be discarded. 
 
 We may also dismiss the elephant, inasmuch as it was most 
 unlikely that Job should have known anything about the 
 animal, and it is certain that he could not have attained the 
 familiarity with its appearance and habits which is inferred by 
 the context. Moreover, it cannot be said of the elephant that 
 " he eateth grass as an ox." The elephant feeds chiefly on the 
 leaves of trees, and when he does eat grass, he cannot do so 
 " like an ox," but plucks it with his proboscis, and then puts the 
 green tufts into his mouth. So characteristic a gesture as this 
 would never have passed unnoticed in a description so full of 
 detail. 
 
 That the hippopotamus was known to the ancient Hebrews is 
 certain. After their sojourn in Egypt they had necessarily 
 become familiarized with it ; and if, as most commentators be- 
 lieve, the date of the Book of Job be subsequent to the liberation 
 of the Israelites, there is no difficulty in assuming that Job and 
 his companions were well acquainted with the animal. Even if 
 the book be of an earlier date, it is still possible that the hippo- 
 potamus may, in those days, have lived in rivers where it is now 
 as much extinct as it is in England. Mr. Tristram remarks on 
 this point : " No hippopotamus is found in Asia, but there is no 
 reason for asserting that it may not ha^e had an eastern range as 
 far as Palestine, and wallowed in the Jordan ; for its bones are
 
 BEHEMOTH. 321 
 
 found in the debris of the rivers of Algeria, flowing into the 
 Mediterranean, when tradition is quite silent as to its former 
 existence. 
 
 " Several extinct species of hippopotamus have been found in 
 the later tertiary deposits, both of England and other countries 
 of Europe, embedded in gravel which contains shells of many 
 existing species of the locality, showing that the temperature 
 has not much changed, and that some of the fossil species were 
 natives of cold and temperate climes." 
 
 There is no doubt that the hippopotamus and the urus were 
 the two largest animals known to the Jews, and it is probably 
 on that account that the former received the name of Behemoth. 
 
 Assuming, therefore, that the Behemoth is identical with the 
 hippopotamus, we will proceed with the description. 
 
 The words " whom I made with thee " have been variously 
 translated. Some Hebraists render them as, " whom I made 
 near thee," i.e. near or in the country in which Job lived. 
 Others read the words, " like as thee," i. e. that the Behemoth 
 was the fellow-creature of Job. Others again understand them 
 as signifying that the man and the animal were contempora- 
 neous, and the passage should be read, " whom I made at the 
 same time with thee." Whichever interpretation we adopt, it is 
 evident that a parallel of some kind is drawn between the man 
 and the beast. 
 
 " He eateth grass' like the ox." The word which is here 
 rendered "grass" is translated in Numb. xi. 5 as "leeks." It 
 means, something that is green, and is probably used to signify 
 green herbage of any description. Now it is perfectly true of 
 the hippopotamus that it eats grass like an ox, or like cattle, as 
 the passage may be translated. In order to supply its huge 
 massive body with nourishment, it consumes vast quantities of 
 food, as indeed may be inferred from the structure of its mouth 
 and jaws. The mouth is enormously broad and shovel-shaped, 
 so as to take in a large quantity of food at once ; and the gape 
 is so wide, that when the animal opens its jaws to their full 
 extent it seems to split its head into two nearly equal portions. 
 This great mobility of jaw is assisted by the peculiar form of 
 the gape, which takes a sudden turn upwards, and reaches 
 almost to the eyes. 
 
 Just as the mouth is formed to contain a vast quantity of 
 
 Y
 
 322 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 food, so the jaws and teeth are made to procure it. From the 
 front of the lower jaw the incisor teeth project horizontally, no 
 longer performing the ordinary duties of teeth, but being modi- 
 fied into tusks, which are in all probability used as levers for 
 prising up the vegetables on which the animal lives. But the 
 most singular portion of the jaw is the mode in which the canine 
 teeth are modified so as to resemble the incisor teeth of rodents, 
 and to perform a similar office. 
 
 These teeth are very long, curved, and chisel-edged at their 
 tips, their shape being preserved by continual attrition, just as 
 has been mentioned of the hyrax. The material of the teeth is 
 peculiarly hard, so much so, indeed, that it is in great request for 
 artificial teeth, the " verniers " of philosophical instruments, and 
 similar purposes. Consequently, with these teeth the hippopo- 
 tamus can cut through the stems of thick and strong herbage as 
 with shears, and the strength of its jaws is so great that an 
 angered hippopotamus has been known to bite a man completely 
 in two, and to crush a canoe to fragments with a single move- 
 ment of its enormous jaws. 
 
 Keeping this description in our minds, we shall see how true 
 is the statement in verse 19. This passage is not adequately 
 rendered in the Authorized Version : the word which is translated 
 as " sword " also signifies a scythe, and evidently having that 
 meaning in the text. The passage is best translated thus : " His 
 Maker hath famished him with his scythe." 
 
 The havoc which such an animal can make among growing 
 crops may be easily imagined. It is fond of leaving the river, 
 and forcing its way into cultivated grounds, where it eats vast 
 quantities of green food, and destroys as much as it eats, by the 
 trampling of its heavy feet. Owing to the width of the animal, 
 the feet are placed very far apart, and the consequence is that 
 the hippopotamus makes a double path, the feet of each side 
 trampling down the herbage, and causing the track to look like 
 a double rut, with an elevated ridge between them. 
 
 Some little difficulty has been made respecting the passage in 
 verse 20, " Surely the mountains bring him forth food." Com- 
 mentators ignorant of the habits of the hippopotamus, and not 
 acquainted with the character of the country where it lives, have 
 thought that the animal only lived in the rivers, and merely 
 found its food along its banks, or at most upon the marshes at
 
 BEHEMOTH. 323 
 
 the river-side. The hippopotamus, say they, is not a dweller on 
 the mountains, but an inhabitant of the river, and therefore this 
 passage cannot rightly be applied to the animal. 
 
 Now, in the first place, the word Jiarim, which is translated as 
 " mountains " in the Authorized Version, is rendered as " hills " by 
 many Hebraists. Moreover, as we know from many passages of 
 Scripture, the word " mountain " is applied to any elevated spot, 
 without reference to its height. Such places are very common 
 along the banks of the Nile, and are employed for the culture of 
 vegetables, which would not grow properly upon the flat and 
 marshy lands around them. These spots are very attractive to 
 the hippopotamus, who likes a change of diet, and thus finds food 
 upon the mountains. In many parts of Egypt the river runs 
 through a mountainous country, so that the hills are within a 
 very short distance of the water, and are easily reached by the 
 hippopotamus. 
 
 The Talmudical writers exaggerated, after their custom, the 
 dimensions, voracity, and other attributes of the Behemoth. 
 They said that the animal devoured daily the herbage of a 
 thousand hills, but that, in order to prevent the devastation of 
 the world which such voracity would occasion, the herbage was 
 miraculously renewed every night. Only two of the Behemoth 
 were ever created, and, lest they should increase in numbers, 
 and destroy every green thing on the face of the earth, they 
 were made incapable of propagating their kind. There are other 
 legends of the Behemoth too puerile to be narrated. 
 
 We will now proceed to the next verse. After mentioning 
 that the Behemoth can eat grass like an ox, and finds its food 
 upon the hills, the sacred writer proceeds to show that in its 
 moments of repose it is an inhabitant of the rivers and marshy 
 ground : " He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the 
 reed, and fens. 
 
 " The shady trees cover him with their shadow ; the willows 
 of the brook compass him about." 
 
 Here I may remind the reader that the compound Hebrew word 
 which is rendered in the Authorized Version as " shady trees " is 
 translated by some persons as " wild lotuses" a rendering which 
 is followed by the editor of the Jewish Bible. Apparently, 
 however, the Authorized Version gives a more correct meaning 
 of the term. Judging from a well-known Egyptian painting, 
 
 y 2
 
 324 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 which represents a hunter in the act of harpooning the hippo- 
 potamus, the tall papyrus reeds are the plants that are signified 
 by this word, which occurs in no other place in the Scriptures. 
 
 Nothing can be more accurate than this description of the 
 habits of the animal. I have now before me a number of sketches 
 by Mr. T. Baines, representing various incidents in the life of the 
 hippopotamus ; and in one or two of them, the little islands that 
 stud the river, as well as the banks themselves, are thickly 
 clothed with reeds mixed with papyrus, the whole being exactly 
 similar to those which are represented in the conventional style 
 of Egyptian art. These spots are the favourite haunts of the 
 hippopotamus, which loves to lie under their shadow, its whole 
 body remaining concealed in the water, and only the eyes, ears, 
 and nostrils appearing above the surface. 
 
 As reference will be made to this painting when we come to 
 the Leviathan, it will be as well to describe it in detail. In 
 order that the reader should fully understand it, I have had it 
 translated, so to speak, from the conventional outline of Egyptian 
 art into perspective, exactly as has been done with the Assyrian 
 and Egyptian chariots. 
 
 In the foreground is seen the hunter, standing on a boat that 
 closely resembles the raft-boat which is still in use in several 
 parts of Africa. It is made of the very light wood called 
 ambatch, by cutting down the requisite number of trees, laying 
 them side by side so that their bases form the stern and their 
 points the bow of the extemporized boat. They are then firmly 
 lashed together, the pointed ends turned upwards, and the simple 
 vessel is complete, It is, in fact, nothing more than a raft of 
 triangular shape, but the wood is so buoyant that it answers 
 every purpose. 
 
 In his hand the hunter grasps the harpoon which he is about 
 to launch at the hippopotamus. This is evidently the same 
 weapon which is still employed for that purpose. It consists of 
 a long shaft, into the end of which a barbed iron point is loosely 
 inserted. To the iron point is attached one end of a rope, and 
 to the other end, which is held in the left hand of the harpooner, 
 a float of ambatch wood is fastened. 
 
 When the weapon is thrown, the furious struggles of the 
 wounded animal disengage the shaft of the harpoon, which is 
 regained by the hunter ; and as it dashes through the water,
 
 THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, OR BEHKMOTH OF SCRIPTURK. 
 
 " Rchnld now bfhcniotli. wliicli I made wjtli thcc." Ton xl. I.V
 
 BEHEMOTH. 
 
 325 
 
 throwing up spray as it goes, the ambatch float keeps the end of 
 the rope at the surface, so that it can be seen as soon as the 
 animal becomes quieter. Sometimes it dives to the bottom, and 
 remains there as long as its breath can hold out ; and when it 
 
 THK KUYPIIAN liUXTKl!. 
 
 " He lieth under the shady trees, in the. covtrt of the reed, anil fins.'' .Inu xl. -I. 
 (The attitude of the Hippopotamus is r-opied from the painting.) 
 
 comes up to breathe, it only pushes the nostrils out of the water 
 under the shadow of the reeds, so that but for the float it might 
 manage to escape. 
 
 In the meantime, guided by the float, the hunter follows the 
 course of the animal, and, as soon as it comes within reach of 
 his weapon, drives another spear into it, and so proceeds until 
 the animal dies from loss of blood. The modern hunters never
 
 326 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 throw a second harpoon unless the one already fixed gives way, 
 mainly employing a spear to inflict the last wounds. But if we 
 may judge from this painting, the Egyptian hunter attached a 
 new rope with every cast of his weapon, and, when the hippo- 
 potamus became weak from its wounds, gathered up the ropes 
 and came to close quarters. 
 
 In the bow of the boat is the hunter's assistant, armed with a 
 rope made lasso-wise into a noose, which he is throwing over 
 the head of the hippopotamus, whose attitude and expression 
 show evidently, in spite of the rudeness of the drawing, the 
 impotent anger of the weakened animal. 
 
 Behind the hippopotamus are the tall and dense reeds and 
 papyrus under the shelter of which the animal loves to lie, and 
 on the surface of the water float the beautiful white flowers of 
 the lotus. 
 
 In the Egyptian painting, the artist, in spite of the conven- 
 tionalities to which he was bound, has depicted the whole scene 
 with skill and spirit. The head and open mouth of the hippo- 
 potamus are remarkably fine, and show that the artist who drew 
 the animal must have seen it when half mad with pain, and 
 half dead from loss of blood. 
 
 The enormous strength of the hippopotamus is shown in 
 verses 16, 18, the last of which passages requires a little explana- 
 tion. Two different words are used here to express the bones of 
 the animal. The first is derived from a word signifying strength, 
 and means the " strong bones," i.e. those of the legs. These are 
 hollow, and are therefore aptly compared to tubes or pipes of 
 copper. The second term is thought by some Hebraists to refer 
 to the rib-bones, which are solid, and therefore are not likened 
 to tubes, but to bars of iron. 
 
 The 23d verse has been translated rather variously. The 
 Authorized Version can be seen by reference to a Bible, and 
 another translation, that of the Jewish Bible, is given on page 
 320. A third, and perhaps the best rendering of this passage is 
 given by the Rev. W. Drake, in Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible:" 
 " Lo, the river swelleth proudly against him, yet he is not 
 alarmed ; he is securely confident though a Jordan burst forth 
 against his mouth." 
 
 In all probability reference is here made to the annual rising 
 of the Nile, and the inundations which it causes. In some
 
 BEHEMOTH. 327 
 
 years, when it rises much above its usual height, the floods 
 become most disastrous. Whole villages are swept away, and 
 scarcely a vestige of the mud-built houses is left; the dead 
 bodies of human beings are seen intermixed with those of cattle, 
 and the whole country is one scene of desolation. Yet the 
 almost amphibious hippopotamus cares nothing for the floods, 
 as long as it can find food, and so, " though the river swelleth 
 proudly against him," he is not alarmed. 
 
 From the use of the word "Jordan " in the same verse, it might 
 be thought that the river of Palestine was intended. This, 
 however, is not the case. The word "Jordan "is simply used as a 
 poetical term for any river, and is derived from a Hebrew 
 word which signifies " descending quickly." 
 
 "We now come to the last verse of this noble description: "He 
 taketh it in with his eyes." These words have also been variously 
 rendered, some translating them as " He receiveth it (i.e. the 
 river) up to his eyes." But the translation which seems to suit 
 the context best is, " WTio will take him when in his sight ? His 
 nose pierceth through (i.e. detects) snares." Now, this faculty 
 of detecting snares is one of the chief characteristics of the 
 hippopotamus, when it lives near places inhabited by mankind, 
 who are always doing their best to destroy it. In the first 
 place, its body gives them an almost unlimited supply of flesh, 
 the fat is very highly valued for many purposes, the teeth are 
 sold to the ivory-dealers, and the hide is cut up into whips, or 
 khoorbashes. 
 
 There is now before me a khoorbash, purchased from a native 
 Egyptian who was beating a servant with it. The whip is 
 identical with that which was used by the ancient Egyptians in 
 urging the Israelites to their tasks, and the scene reminded the 
 traveller so forcibly of the old Scriptural times that he rescued 
 the unfortunate servant, and purchased the khoorbash, which is 
 now in my collection. 
 
 Not content with hunting the hippopotamus, the natives 
 contrive various traps, either pitfalls or drop-traps. The former 
 are simply pits dug in the path of the animal, covered with 
 sticks and reeds, and having at the bottom a sharp stake on 
 which the victim is impaled, and so effectually prevented from 
 escaping or damaging the pit by its struggles. 
 
 The drop-trap is a log of wood, weighted with stones, and
 
 328 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 having at one end an iron spike, which is sometimes poisoned. 
 The path which the animal takes is watched, a conveniently 
 overhanging branch is selected, and from that branch the cruel 
 spear is suspended, by a catch or trigger, exactly over the centre 
 of the path. There is no difficulty in finding the precise centre 
 
 HIPPOPOTAMUS AND TRAP. 
 
 'His nose pierceth through snares." Jon xl. "4. 
 
 of the path, owing to the peculiar gait of the animal, which 
 has already been described. One end of the trigger supports 
 the spear, and to the other is attached a rope, which is brought 
 across the path in such a way that when touched it relieves the 
 spear, which is driven deeply into the animal's back. If well 
 hung, the spear-blade divides the spine, and the wounded animal
 
 BEHEMOTH. 329 
 
 falls on the spot, but, even if it should miss a vital pait, the 
 poison soon does its fatal work. 
 
 In consequence of the continual persecution to which it is 
 subjected, the hippopotamus becomes exceedingly wary, and, 
 huge, clumsy, and blundering as it looks, is clever enough to 
 detect either pitfall or drop-trap that have not been contrived 
 with especial care. An old and experienced hippopotamus 
 becomes so wary that he will be suspicious even of a bent twig, 
 and, rather than venture across it, he will leave the path, force 
 for himself a roundabout passage, and return to the path beyond 
 the object that alarmed him. 
 
 Mr. T. Baines, to whose sketches I am indebted for the 
 illustration, told me that the hippopotamus is possessed of 
 much more intellect than might be expected from a creature 
 of so dull, clumsy, and unpromising aspect. Apathetic it 
 generally is, and, as long as it is left unmolested, does not 
 care to molest even the human beings that intrude upon its 
 repose. 
 
 It likes to lie in the shade of the reeds and rushes, and may 
 be seen floating in the water, with only the nostrils, the ryes, 
 and the ears above the surface, these organs being set in a line 
 along the head, evidently for the purpose of allowing the whole 
 body to be hidden under water while the three most important 
 senses are capable of acting. 
 
 A canoe-man who knows the habits of the hippopotamus will 
 fearlessly take his fragile vessel through a herd of the animals, 
 knowing that, if he only avoids contact with them, they will 
 not interfere with him. The only danger is, that a hippopotamus 
 may rise under the canoe, and strike itself against the boat, in 
 which case the animal is rather apt to consider the intruding 
 object as an enemy, and to attack it, sometimes crushing the 
 canoe between its teeth, and mostly upsetting it, and throwing 
 the crew into the water. In such a case, the men always dive 
 at once to the bottom of the river, and hold on to some weed or 
 rock as long as they can exist without breathing. The reason 
 for this proceeding is, that the hippopotamus always looks for 
 its enemy upon the surface of the water, and, if the men were 
 to swim to shore, they would be caught and killed before they 
 had swum many strokes. But, as it sees nothing but the 
 damaged canoe, its short-lived anger vanishes, and it sinks again
 
 330 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 into the river, leaving the men at liberty to regain and repair 
 their vessel. 
 
 There is one passage in the description of the Behemoth 
 which requires a few words of explanation : " He moveth his 
 tail like a cedar" (v. 17). 
 
 Several commentators have imagined that this expression 
 shows that the Behemoth must have been an animal which had 
 a very long and powerful tail, and have adduced the passage as a 
 proof that the crocodile was the animal that was signified by 
 the Behemoth. Others, again, have shifted the position of the 
 tail, and, by rendering it as the " proboscis," have identified the 
 Behemoth with the elephant. There is, however, no necessity 
 for straining the interpretation, the passage evidently signifying 
 that the member in question is stiff and inflexible as the cedar- 
 stem.
 
 BIRDS.
 
 THE 
 
 LAMMERGEIER, OR OSSIFRAGE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Difficulty of identifying the various birds mentioned in Scripture The vulture;; 
 of Palestine The Lammergeier, or Ossifrage of Scripture The Hebrew word 
 Peres, and its signification The Ossifrage, or Bone-breaker Appearance of the 
 Lammergeier Its flight and mode of feeding How the Lammergeier kills 
 snakes and tortoises, and breaks marrow-bones Mode of destroying the 
 chamois and mountain sheep Nest of the Lammergeier. 
 
 IT has already been mentioned that even the best Biblical 
 scholars have found very great difficulties in identifying several 
 of the animals which are named in Scripture. This difficulty is 
 greatly increased when we come to the BIRDS, and in many in- 
 stances it is absolutely impossible to identify the Hebrew word 
 with any precise species. In all probability, however, the 
 nomenclature of the birds is a very loose one, several species 
 being classed under the same title. 
 
 Even at the present day, the English language presents many 
 similar instances of poverty, as is well known to all zoologists. 
 Taking the birds as our first examples, how often do we not find 
 the same word used to signify many distinct species, and, again, 
 one species designated by several dissimilar words ? The word 
 Vulture, for example, is used to signify a great number of birds, 
 including the Lammergeier, the Condors, the Griffons, the Cara- 
 caras, and others ; while the term Eagle has scarcely a less wide 
 signification. Sometimes the name is applied in such a manner 
 as to mislead those who are not scientific ornithologists, and we 
 find such inappropriate titles as night-hawk, fern-owl, hedge- 
 sparrow, reed-wren, &c., the birds in question being neither 
 hawks, owls, sparrows, nor wrens. 
 
 Keeping this difficulty in mind, I shall mention all the species 
 which are likely to have been classed under a single title, giving 
 a general description of the whole, and a detailed account of the
 
 334 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 particular species which seems to answer most closely to the 
 Hebrew word. 
 
 FOLLOWING the arrangement which has been employed in this 
 work, I shall begin with the bird which has been placed by 
 zoologists at the head of its class, namely, the LAMMERGEIER, the 
 
 THE LAMMERGEIKR, OR OSSIFRAGE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 These are they of which ye shall not eat : the eagle, and the ossifragt. and the ospray. " DEIJT. xiv. 12 
 
 bird which may be safely identified with the Ossifrage of 
 Scripture. The Hebrew word is "Peres," a term which only 
 occurs twice when signifying a species of bird ; namely, in Lev. 
 xi. 13, and the parallel passage in Deut. xiv. 12. The first of 
 these passages runs as follows : " These ye shall have in abomi- 
 nation among the fowls ; they shall not be eaten, they are an
 
 THE LAMMERGEIER. 335 
 
 abomination : the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray." The 
 corresponding passage in Deuteronomy has precisely the same 
 signification, though rather differently worded : "These are they 
 of which ye shall not eat : the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the 
 ospray." 
 
 The reader will here notice that the sacred narrative gives no 
 account of the appearance or habits of the bird, but merely 
 classed it with the remainder of the predacious birds, all of 
 which are declared to be unfit for food. We must therefore look 
 for some assistance in the etymology of the word peres, which 
 signifies one who breaks anything. The same word occurs in 
 several other passages of Scripture. 
 
 For example, the word was much used by David iu comme- 
 morating any remarkable event. When David sent Uzzah and 
 Ahio to fetch the ark from Kirjath-jearim, the oxen which drew 
 tbe cart stumbled and shook the ark, so that it seemed likely to 
 fall. Uzzah, who walked by the side of the cart, while his 
 brother marched in front of the oxen, instinctively put out his 
 hand to uphold it, and fell dead by the side of the ark which he 
 had touched without authority. In order to commemorate this 
 event, David called the spot whereon it occurred Perez-Uzzah, 
 or the Breaking of Uzzah, " because the LORD had made a 
 breach upon Uzzah." (See 2 Sam. vi. 8.) 
 
 Reference to this event was afterwards made by David when 
 he brought the ark into Jerusalem. Having taken warning by 
 the solemn event which he had witnessed, he called together the 
 priests and Levites, to whom he gave the commission to bring 
 the ark with due honour, and " said unto them, Ye are the chief 
 of the fathers of the Levites : sanctify yourselves, both ye and 
 your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of 
 Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. 
 
 " For, because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God 
 made a breach (peres) upon us, for that we sought Him not in 
 due order" (1 Chron. xv. 12, 13). David again employed the 
 word to signify the breaking up or destruction of the Philis- 
 tines. "David smote them there, and said, The Lord hath 
 broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of 
 waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baal- 
 perazim " i.e. the Place of Breakings. The same word occurs 
 again in that dread message to Belshazzar, written by the hand
 
 336 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 upon the wall, " Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin," or pcrcs, the last 
 word signifying that the kingdom was broken up, and would be 
 given to other rulers. 
 
 The word peres, then, signifies a breaker; and the Latin 
 term Ossifraga, or Bone-breaker, is a very good translation of 
 the word. How it applies to the Lammergeier we shall pre- 
 sently see. 
 
 The Lammergeier belongs to the vultures, but has much more 
 the appearance of an eagle than a vulture, the neck being clothed 
 with feathers, instead of being naked or only covered with 
 down. It may at once be known by the tuft of long, hair-like 
 feathers which depends from the beak, and which has gained for 
 the bird the title of Bearded Vulture. The colour of the 
 plumage is a mixture of different browns and greys, tawny 
 below and beautifully pencilled above, a line of pure white run- 
 ning along the middle of each feather. When young it is nearly 
 black, and indeed has been treated as a separate species under 
 the name of Black Vulture. 
 
 It is one of the largest of the flying birds, its length often 
 exceeding four feet, and the expanse of its wings being rather 
 more than ten feet. In consequence of this great spread of 
 wing, it looks when flying like a much larger bird than it really 
 is, and its size has often been variously misstated. Its flight, as 
 may be imagined from the possession of such wings, is equally 
 grand and graceful, and it sweeps through the air with great 
 force, apparently unaccompanied by effort. 
 
 . The Lammergeier extends through a very large range of 
 country, and is found throughout many parts of Europe and 
 Asia. It is spread over the Holy Land, never congregating 
 in numbers, like ordinary vultures, but living in pairs, and 
 scarcely any ravine being uninhabited by at least one pair of 
 Lammergeiers. 
 
 The food of the Lammergeier is, like that of other vultures, 
 the flesh of dead animals, though it does not feed quite in the 
 same manner that they do. When the ordinary vultures have 
 found a carcase they tear it to pieces, and soon remove all the 
 flesh. This having been done, the Lammergeier comes to the 
 half-picked bones, eats the remaining flesh from them, and 
 finishes by breaking them and eating the marrow. That a bird 
 should be able to break a bone as thick and hard as the thigh-
 
 THE LXMMERGEIER. 337 
 
 bone of a horse or ox seems rather problematical, but the bird 
 achieves the feat in a simple and effectual manner. 
 
 Seizing the bone in its claws, it rises to an immense height in 
 the air, and then, balancing itself over some piece of rock, it lets 
 the bone fall, and sweeps after it with scarce less rapidity than 
 the bone falls. Should the bone be broken by the fall, the bird 
 picks the marrow out of the fragments ; and should it have 
 escaped fracture by reason of falling on a soft piece of ground 
 instead of a hard rock, the bird picks it up, and renews the pro- 
 cess until it has attained its object. It will be seen, therefore, 
 that the name of Ossifrage, or Bone -breaker, may very properly 
 be given to this bird. 
 
 Not only does it extract the marrow from bones in this 
 peculiar manner, but it procures other articles of food by em- 
 ploying precisely the same system. If it sees a tortoise, many 
 of which reptiles are found in the countries which it inhabits, it 
 does not waste time and trouble by trying to peck the shell 
 open, but carries its prey high in the air, drops it on the ground, 
 and so breaks its shell to pieces. Tortoises are often very hard- 
 shelled creatures, and the Lammergeier has been observed to 
 raise one of them and drop it six or seven times before the 
 stubborn armour would yield. Snakes, too, are killed in a 
 similar manner, being seized by the neck, and then dropped from 
 a height iipon rocks or hard ground. The reader may perhaps 
 be aware that the Hooded Crow of England breaks bones and 
 the shells of bivalve molluscs in a similar manner. 
 
 Mr. Tristram suggests, with much probability, that the 
 " eagle " which mistook the bald head of the poet ^Eschylus for 
 a white stone, and killed him by dropping a tortoise \ipon it, was 
 in all likelihood a Lammergeier, the bird being a denizen of the 
 same country, and the act of tortoise-dropping being its usual 
 mode of killing those reptiles. 
 
 We* now see why the Lammergeier is furnished with such 
 enormous wings, and so great a power of flight, these attributes 
 being needful in order to enable it to lift its prey to a sufficient 
 height. The air, as we all know, becomes more and more 
 attenuated in exact proportion to the height above the earth ; and 
 did not the bird possess such great powers of flight, it would 
 not be able to carry a heavy tortoise into the thinner strata of 
 air which are found at the height to which it soars. 
 
 z
 
 338 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The instinct of killing its prey by a fall is employed against 
 other animals besides snakes and tortoises, though exerted in a 
 somewhat different manner. The bird, as has already been 
 mentioned, lives among mountain ranges, and it may be seen 
 floating about them for hours together, watching each inch of 
 ground in search of prey. Should it see a goat or other inhabi- 
 tant of the rocks standing near a precipice, the Lammergeiei 
 sweeps rapidly upon it, and with a blow of its wing knocks 
 the animal off the rock into the valley beneath, where it lies 
 helplessly maimed, even if not killed by the fall. 
 
 Even hares and lambs are killed in this manner, and it is from 
 the havoc which the Lammergeier makes among the sheep that 
 it has obtained the name of Lammergeier, or Lamb-Vulture. So 
 swift and noiseless is the rush of the bird, that an animal which 
 has once been marked by its blood-red eye seldom escapes from 
 the swoop ; and even the Alpine hunters, who spend their lives 
 in pursuit of the chamois, have occasionally been put in great 
 jeopardy by the sudden attack of a Lammergeier, the bird having 
 mistaken their crouching forms for the chamois, and only turned 
 aside at the last moment. 
 
 The reason for employing so remarkable a mode of attack is to 
 be found in the structure of the feet, which, although belonging 
 to so large and powerful a bird, are comparatively feeble, and are 
 unable, like those of .the eagle, to grasp the living animal in a 
 deadly hold, and to drive the sharp talons into its vitals. They 
 are not well adapted for holding prey, the talons not possessing 
 the hook-like form or the sharp points which characterise those 
 of the eagle. The feet, by the way, are feathered down to the 
 toes. The beak, too, is weak when compared with the rest 
 of the body, and could not perform its work were not the 
 object which it tears previously shattered by the fall from a 
 height. 
 
 The nest of the Lammergeier is made of sticks and sods, and 
 is of enormous dimensions. It is almost always placed upon a 
 lofty cliff, and contains about a wagon-load or so of sticks 
 rudely interwoven, and supporting a nearly equal amount of sods 
 and moss. 
 
 An allied species lives in Northern Africa, where it is called 
 by a name which signifies Father Longbeard, in allusion to the 
 beard-like tufts of the bill.
 
 THE EGYPTIAN VULTURE. 339 
 
 THE EGYPTIAN VULTURE OR GIER-EAGLE. 
 
 The Racham or Gier-Eagle identified with the Egyptian Vulture Its appearance 
 on the Egyptian monuments Signification of the word Rdchdm Various 
 translations of the word The shape, size, and colour of the bird Its value aa 
 a scavenger, and its general habits The Egyptian Vultures and the griffons 
 Its fondness for the society of man Nest of the Egyptian Vulture. 
 
 IN the same list of unclean birds which has already been given, 
 we find the' name of a bird which we can identify without much 
 difficulty, although there has been some little controversy about 
 it. This is the so-called Gier-Eagle, which is named with the 
 cormorant and the pelican as one of the birds which the Jews 
 are forbidden to eat. The word which is translated as Gier-Eagle 
 is Racham, a name which is almost identical with the Arabic 
 name of the EGYPTIAN VULTURE, sometimes called Pharaoh's 
 Chicken, because it is so often sculptured on the ancient monu- 
 ments of Egypt. It is called by the Turks by a name which 
 signifies White Father, in allusion to the colour of its plumage. 
 
 Before proceeding to a description of the bird, we will examine 
 the other interpretations which have been given to the word 
 rdchdm. 
 
 In the first place, the word signifies " love," and is used in that 
 sense in many passages of Scripture. According to Buxtorf, the 
 bird in question is the merops or bee-eater, " a bird so called 
 from the love and pity which is shown to its parents, because it 
 nurtures them when hidden in the most lofty caves." Some of 
 the Talmndists take it to be the woodpecker. 
 
 Another rendering of the word which has received much 
 favour is, that the Eachani is the hyacinthine gallinule, or 
 sultana hen (Pophyrio veterum). This bird is allied to the 
 rails, and is remarkable for the great length of its toes, by 
 means of which it can walk on floating herbage as it lies on the 
 surface of the water. The colour of the bird is a rich aiid 
 variable blue, darker on the back and lighter on the throat and
 
 340 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 breast. It is on account of this purple hue that the bird has 
 received the name of Porpliyrio, or Purple Bird. It is spread 
 over many parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. 
 
 The reading of rdchdm asporphyrio is followed in the Sep- 
 tuagint, and the reading has been defended on the ground that 
 
 EGYPTIAN VULTURE, OR UlJiU-EAGLE. 
 
 "And the pelican, and the gier-cayle, and the cormorant." DMT. xiv. IT. 
 
 the bird must belong to the aquatic group, being placed between 
 the pelican and cormorant. The Jewish Bible follows our 
 version, but affixes the mark of doubt to the word. 
 
 Although some of the Talmudists render the word as wood- 
 pecker, others identify it with the Egyptian Vulture. In 
 Lewysohn's " Zoologie des Talmuds," there is a curious specula- 
 tion on this subject. This -bird, according to the authors whom
 
 THE EGYPTIAN VULTURE. 341 
 
 he quotes, is the Schirkrek, and derives its name from its 
 peculiar cry, which begins with a hiss (Schirk) and ends with 
 a shriek (liek). The bird utters its cry when the rising of the 
 Nile is expected, and so has earned the name of Piacham, or 
 Love, this word being frequently used in the Scriptures as a 
 metaphor for ram, dew, or any water that nourishes plants. 
 
 Without adopting the process of reasoning employed in this 
 case, we may safely accept the conclusion, and consider the 
 Racham as identical with the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron 
 percnvpteruSj'. 
 
 This bird is not a very large one, being about equal to a raven 
 in size, though its enormously long wings give it an appearance 
 of much greater size. Its colour is white, with the exception of 
 the quill feathers of the wings, which are dark-brown. The bill 
 and the naked face and legs are bright ochreous yellow. It does 
 not attain this white plumage until its third year, its colour 
 before reaching adult age being brown, with a grey neck and 
 dull yellow legs and face. 
 
 The Egyptian Vulture, although not large, is a really hand- 
 some bird, the bold contrast of pure white and dark brown 
 being very conspicuous when it is on the wdng. In this plumage 
 it has never been seen in England, but one or two examples are 
 known of the Egyptian Vulture being killed in England while 
 still in its dark-brown clothing. 
 
 It inhabits a very wide range of country, being found 
 throughout all the warmer parts of the Old World. Although 
 it is tolerably plentiful, it is never seen in great numbers, as is 
 the case with several of the vultures, but is always to be found 
 in pairs, the male and female never separating, and invariably 
 being seen close together. In fact, in places where it is common 
 it is hardly possible to travel more than a mile or two without 
 seeing a pair of Egyptian Vultures. Should more than two of 
 these birds be seen together, the spectator may be sure that they 
 have congregated over some food. It has been well suggested 
 that its Hebrew name of Racham, or Love, has been given to it 
 in consequence of this constant association of the male and 
 female. 
 
 The Egyptian Vulture is one of the best of scavengers, not 
 only devouring the carcases of dead animals, but feeding on 
 every kind of offal or garbage. Indeed, its teeth and claws are
 
 342 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 much too feeble to enable it to cope with the true vultures in 
 tearing up a large carcase, and in consequence it never really 
 associates with them, although it may be seen hovering near 
 them, and it never ventures to feed in their company, keeping 
 at a respectful distance while they feed, and, when they retire, 
 humbly making a meal on the scraps which they have left. 
 
 Mr. Tristram narrates an amusing instance of this trait of 
 character. " On a subsequent occasion, on the north side of 
 Hermon, we observed the griffons teaching a lesson of patience 
 to the inferior scavengers. A long row of Egyptian vultures 
 were sitting on some rocks, so intently watching a spot in a 
 corn-field that they took no notice of our approach. Creeping 
 cautiously near, we watched a score of griffons busily engaged 
 in turning over a dead horse, one side of which they had already 
 reduced to a skeleton. 
 
 " Their united efforts had just effected this, when we showed 
 ourselves, and they quickly retired. The inferior birds, who 
 dreaded us much less than them, at once darted to the repast, 
 and, utterly regardless of our presence within ten yards of them, 
 began to gorge. We had hardly retired two hundred yards, when 
 the griffons came down with a swoop, and the Egyptian vultures 
 and a pair or two of eagles hurriedly resumed their post of 
 observation ; while some black kites remained, and contrived by 
 their superior agility to filch a few morsels from their lordly 
 superiors." 
 
 So useful is this bird as a scavenger, that it is protected in all 
 parts of the East by the most stringent laws, so that a naturalist 
 who wishes for specimens has some difficulty in procuring the 
 bird, or even its egg. It wanders about the streets of the villages, 
 and may generally be found investigating the heaps of refuse 
 which are left to be cleared away by the animals and birds 
 which constitute the scavengers of the East. 
 
 It not only eats dead animal substances, but kills and devours 
 great quantities of rats, mice, lizards, and other pests that swarm 
 in hot countries. So tame is it, that it may even be observed, 
 like the gull and the rook of our own country, following the 
 ploughman as he turns up the ground, and examining the furrow 
 for the purpose of picking up the worms, grubs, and similar 
 creatures that are disturbed by the share. 
 
 Being thus protected and encouraged by man, there is good
 
 THE EGYPTIAN VULTURE. 343 
 
 reason why it should have learned in course of time to fear him 
 far less than its own kind. Indeed, it is so utterly fearless with 
 regard to human beings, that it habitually follows the caravans 
 as they pass from one town to another, for the sake of feeding 
 on the refuse food and other offal which is thrown aside on 
 the road. 
 
 Two articles of diet which certainly do not seem to fall within 
 the ordinary range of vulture's food are said to be consumed 
 by this bird. The first is the egg of the ostrich, the shell 
 of which is too hard to be broken by the feeble beak of the 
 Egyptian Vulture. The bird cannot, like the lammergeier, 
 carry the egg into the air and drop it on the ground, because its 
 feet are not large enough to grasp it, and only slip off its round 
 and polished surface. Therefore, instead of raising the egg into 
 the air and dropping it upon a stone, it carries a stone into the 
 air and drops it upon the egg. So at least say the natives of the 
 country which it inhabits, and there is no reason why we should 
 doubt the truth of the statement. 
 
 The other article of food is a sort of melon, very full of juice. 
 This melon is called " nara," and is devoured by various creatures, 
 such as lions, leopards, mice, ostriches, &c. and seems to serve 
 them instead of drink. 
 
 The nest of the Egyptian Vulture is made in some rocky 
 ledge, and the bird does not trouble itself about selecting a spot 
 inaccessible to man, knowing well that it will not be disturbed. 
 The nest is, like that of other vultures, a large and rude mass 
 of sticks, sods, bones, and similar materials, to which are added 
 any bits of rag, rope, skin, and other village refuse which it can 
 pick up as it traverses the streets. There are two, and occa- 
 sionally three, eggs, rather variously mottled with red. In 
 its breeding, as in its general life, it is not a gregarious bird, 
 never breeding in colonies, and, indeed, very seldom choosing 
 a spot for its nest near one which has already been selected 
 by another pair. 
 
 The illustration on page 340 represents part of the nest of 
 the Egyptian Vulture, in which the curious mixture of bones 
 and sticks is well shown. The parent birds are drawn in 
 two characteristic attitudes taken from life, and well exhibit 
 the feeble beak, the peculiar and intelligent, almost cunning 
 expression of the head, and the ruff of feathers which surrounds
 
 344 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the upper part of the neck. In the distance another bird is 
 drawn as it appears on the wing, in order to show the contrast 
 between the white plumage and the dark quill feathers of the 
 wings, the bird presenting a general appearance very similar to 
 that of the common English sea-gull 
 
 THE 
 
 GRIFFON VULTURE, OR EAGLE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 The Griffon Vulture identified with the Eagle of Scripture The word Nesher and 
 its signification Geographical range of the Griffon Its mode of flight and 
 sociable habits The featherless head and neck of the bird The Vulture 
 used as an image of strength, swiftness, and rapacity Its powers of sight 
 How Vultures assemble round a carcase Nesting-places of the Griffon 
 Mr. Tristram's description of the Griffon Rock-caves of the Wady Hamani 
 Care of the young, and teaching them to fly Strength of the Griffon Its 
 emblematical use in Egypt and Assyria The god Nisroch Noble aspect of 
 the Griffon Its longevity Various attitudes assumed by the bird. 
 
 WE now come to another word which will give us but little 
 trouble in identification. This is the word Nesher, which is 
 invariably translated in the Authorized Version of the Bible as 
 Eagle, but which was undoubtedly a different bird, and has 
 satisfactorily been identified with the GRIFFON VULTURE, or 
 Great Vulture (Gyps fulvus). The reasons for this conclusion 
 are so inextricably interwoven with the various passages in 
 which the bird is mentioned, that I shall not give them sepa- 
 rately, but simply allude to them in the course of the article. 
 
 In the first place, the name Nesher is derived, according to 
 many Hebraists, from a word which signifies the power of sight, 
 and is given to the bird in consequence of its piercing vision. 
 The Talmudical writers mention a curious proverb concerning 
 the sight of the Vulture, namely, that a Vulture in Babylon can 
 see a carcase in Palestine. Other scholars derive it from a word
 
 THE GRIFFON VULTURE. 345 
 
 which signifies its longevity, while others again believe that the 
 true derivation is to be found in a word which signifies ripping 
 tip or tearing with the beak. 
 
 THE Griffon Vulture is found throughout a large portion of 
 the Old World, inhabiting nearly all the warmer portions of this 
 hemisphere. The colour of the adult bird is a sort of yellowish 
 brown, diversified by the black quill feathers and the ruff of 
 white down that surrounds the neck. The head and neck are 
 without feathers, but are sparingly covered with very short down 
 of a similar character to that of the ruff. 
 
 It is really a large bird, being little short of five feet in total 
 length, and the expanse of wing measuring about eight feet. 
 
 The Griffon Vulture is very plentiful in Palestine, and, unlike 
 the lesser though equally useful Egyptian Vulture, congregates 
 together in great numbers, feeding, flying, and herding in 
 company. Large flocks of them may be seen daily, soaring high 
 in the air, and sweeping their graceful way in the grand curves 
 which distinguish the flight of the large birds of prey. They 
 are best to be seen in the early morning, being in the habit of 
 quitting their rocky homes at daybreak, and indulging in a flight 
 for two or three hours, after which they mostly return to the 
 rocks, and wait until evening, when they take another short 
 flight before retiring to rest. 
 
 Allusion is made in the Scriptures to the gregarious habits 
 of the Vultures : " Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the 
 eagles be gathered together" (Matt xxiv. 28). That the Vulture, 
 and not the eagle, is here signified, is evident from the fact that 
 the eagles do not congregate like the Vultures, never being seen 
 in greater numbers than two or three together, while the Vultures 
 assemble in hundreds. 
 
 The featherless head of the Vulture is mentioned in the Book 
 of Micah, chap. i. ver. 16 : " Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy 
 delicate children ; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle ; for they are 
 gone into captivity from thee." It is evident that in this 
 passage reference is made, not to the eagle, whose head is thickly 
 covered with feathers, but to the Vulture, whose head and neck 
 are but scantily sprinkled with white down. Some commenta- 
 tors, not aware that the word nesher should have been rendered 
 as " vulture," have explained the passage by saying that the
 
 340 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 prophet referred to the nioulting-time of the eagle ; but the 
 reader will see that such an explanation is at the best a forced 
 one, whereas the reference to the bald head of the Vulture is 
 both simple and natural. 
 
 The voracity of the Vulture, and its capacity for discovering 
 food, are both mentioned in Job xxxix. 27 30 : " Doth the 
 eagle (nesher) mount up at thy command, and make her nest 
 on high ? 
 
 " She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the 
 rock, and the strong place. 
 
 " From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar 
 off. 
 
 " Her young ones also suck up blood : and where the slain 
 are, there is she." 
 
 See also Hab. i. 6 8, in which the prophet speaks of the 
 Chaldeans, "that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march 
 through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling-places 
 that are not theirs. 
 
 " They are terrible and dreadful : . . . and their horsemen 
 shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from 
 far ; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat." 
 
 There is also a curious passage in the Book of Proverbs, chap. 
 xxx. ver. .17, which alludes to the carnivorous nature of the bird : 
 " The eye that mocketh ^,t his father, and despiseth to obey his 
 mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young 
 eagles shall eat it." 
 
 Allusion is made in several passages to the swiftness of the 
 Vulture, as well as its voracity. See, for example, a portion of 
 David's lamentation over the bodies of Saul and Jonathan, who, 
 according to the poet's metaphor, " were lovely and pleasant in 
 their lives, and in their death they were not divided ; they were 
 swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions." 
 
 The " bitter " people namely, the Chaldeans are again men- 
 tioned in a very similar manner by the prophet Jeremiah : " Our 
 persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heavens; they 
 pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the 
 wilderness " (Lara. iv. 19). 
 
 There is something peculiarly appropriate in employing the 
 Vulture as an image of strength and swiftness when applied to 
 warriors, the bird being an invariable attendant on the battle,
 
 THE GRIFFON VULTURE. 347 
 
 and flying to the field of death with marvellous swiftness. All 
 who had ever witnessed a battle were familiar with the presence 
 of the Vulture the scene of carnage, and the image which is 
 employed, would be one which commended itself at once to 
 those for whom it was intended. And, as the earlier history of 
 the Jewish nation is essentially of a warlike character, we 
 cannot wonder that so powerful and familiar an image should 
 have been repeatedly introduced into the sacred writings. 
 
 The wonderful powers of sight possessed by this bird are 
 mentioned in the passage from Job xxxix. which has already 
 been quoted. 
 
 Here it may be as well to say that, piercing as is the vision 
 of the Vulture, its visual powers have been much exaggerated. 
 It certainly does possess a vision of no ordinary capacity, which 
 is able to assume either a telescopic or a microscopic character, 
 by means of a complex and marvellous structure, which can 
 alter the whole shape of the organ at the will of the bird. 
 
 Not only can the eye be thus altered, but it changes instan- 
 taneously, so as to accommodate itself to the task which it is to 
 perform. A Vulture, for example, sees from a vast height the 
 body of a dead animal, and instantly swoops down upon it like 
 an arrow from a bow. In order to enable the bird to see so 
 distant an object, the eye has been exercising its telescopic 
 powers, and yet, in a second or two,.wken the Vulture is close 
 to its prey, the whole form of the eye must be changed, or 
 the bird would mistake its distance, and dash itself to pieces 
 on the ground. 
 
 To describe this beautiful piece of mechanism would be outside 
 the scope of the present work ; but the reader can find" it in 
 every good work on comparative anatomy, and is strongly 
 advised to make himself master of the means by which a result 
 so apparently impossible is secured. 
 
 By means of its powerful eyes, the Vulture can see to an 
 enormous distance, and with great clearness, but neither so far 
 nor so clearly as is popularly supposed. It is true that, as soon 
 as a carcase is discovered, it will be covered with Vultures, who 
 arrive from every side, looking at first like tiny specks in the air, 
 scarcely perceptible even to practised eyes, and all directing 
 their flight to the same point. " Where the carcase is, there 
 will the vultures be gathered together." Pmt, although they all
 
 348 BIBLE ANIVALS. 
 
 fly towards the same spot, it does not follow that they have all 
 seen the same object. The fact is, they see and understand each 
 others movements. 
 
 A single Vulture, for example, sees a dead or dying sheep, and 
 swoops down upon it. The other Vultures which are ilying 
 about in search of food, and from which the animal in question 
 may be concealed, know perfectly well that a Vulture soars high 
 in the air when searching for food, and only darts to the earth 
 when it has found a suitable prey. They immediately follow its 
 example, and in their turn are followed by other Vultures, which 
 can see their fellows from a distance, and know perfectly well 
 why they are all converging to one spot. 
 
 In this way all the Vultures of a neighbourhood will under- 
 stand, by a very intelligible telegraph, that a dead body of some 
 animal has been found, and, aided by their wonderful powers of 
 flight, will assemble over its body in an almost incredibly short 
 space of time. 
 
 The resting-place of the Griffon Vulture is always on some 
 lofty spot. The Arabian Vulture will build within easy reach, 
 the eagle prefers lofty situations, but nothing but the highest 
 and most inaccessible spots will satisfy the Vulture. To reach 
 the nest of this bird is therefore a very difficult task, only to 
 be attempted by experienced and intrepid cragsmen ; and, in 
 consequence, both the eggs and young of the Griffon Vulture 
 cannot be obtained except for a very high price. The birds are 
 fond of building in the rock-caves which are found in so many 
 parts of Palestine, and in some places they fill these places as 
 thickly as rooks fill a rookery. 
 
 The fondness of the Vulture for such localities is more than 
 once mentioned in Holy Writ. One of these passages, which 
 occurrs in Job xxxix. 29, has already been quoted, and another, 
 and equally forcible one, is to be found in the Book of the 
 Prophet Jeremiah : " Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and 
 the pride of thins heart, thou that dwellest in the clefts of 
 the rock, that holdest the height of the hill : though thou 
 shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle (nesher), I will 
 will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord" (Jer. 
 xlix. 16). 
 
 In Mr. Tristram's " Land of Israel," there is a very graphic 
 description of the Griffon's nests, and of the difficulty experi-
 
 THE GRIFFON VULTURE. 349 
 
 enced in reaching them. " A narrow gorge, with limestone cliffs 
 from five hundred to six hundred feet high, into which the sun 
 never penetrates, walls the rapid brook on each side so closely 
 that we often had to ride in the bed of the stream. The cliffs 
 are perforated with caves at all heights, wholly inaccessible to 
 man, the secure resting-place of hundreds of noble griffons, some 
 lammergeiers, lanner falcons, and several species of eagle. . . . 
 One day in the ravine well repaid us, though so terrific were 
 the precipices, that it was quite impossible to reach any of the 
 nests with which it swarmed. 
 
 " We were more successful in the Wady Hamam, the south- 
 west end of the plain, the entrance from Hattin and the Buttauf, 
 where we spent three days in exploration. The cliffs, though 
 reaching the height of fifteen hundred feet, rise like terraces, 
 with enormous masses of debris, and the wood is half a mile 
 wide. By the aid of Giacomo, who proved himself an expert 
 rope-climber, we reaped a good harvest of griffons' eggs, some 
 of the party being let down by ropes, while those above were 
 guided in working them by signals from others below in the 
 valley. It required the aid of a party of a dozen to capture 
 these nests. The idea of scaling the cliff with ropes was quite 
 new to some Arabs who were herding cattle above, and who 
 could not, excepting one little girl, be induced to render any 
 assistance. She proved herself most sensible and efficient in 
 telegraphing. 
 
 " While capturing the griffons' nests, we were re-enacting a 
 celebrated siege in Jewish history. Close to us, at the head of 
 the cliffs which form the limits of the celebrated Plain of 
 Hattin, were the ruins of Irbid, the ancient Arbela, marked 
 principally by the remains of a synagogue, of which some 
 marble shafts and fragments of entablature, like those of Tell 
 Hum, are still to be seen, and were afterwards visited by us. 
 
 " Hosea mentions the place apparently as a strong fortress : 
 ' All thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth- 
 arbel in the day of battle' (Hos. x. 14). Perhaps the prophet 
 here refers to the refuges in the rocks below. 
 
 " The long series of chambers and galleries in the face of the 
 precipice are called by the Arabs Kulat Ibn Maan, and are 
 very fully described by Josephus. These cliffs were the homes 
 of a set of bandits, who resided here with their families, and for
 
 350 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 years set the power of Herod the Great at defiance. At length, 
 when all other attempts at scaling the fortress had failed, he let 
 down soldiers at this very spot in boxes, by chains, who attacked 
 the robbers with long hooks, and succeeded in rooting them all 
 out. The exploit was familiar to us by an engraving of the 
 Penny Magazine of old, and little did we dream that we should 
 one day storm those very caves in a similar way ourselves. We 
 could not but regret that Herod had neglected to leave his 
 chains and grappling-irons for our use. 
 
 "The rock galleries, though now only tenanted by griffons, 
 are very complete and perfect, and beautifully built. Long 
 galleries wind backwards and forwards in the cliff side, their 
 walls being built with dressed stone, flush with the precipice, 
 and often opening into spacious chambers. Tier after tier rise 
 one after another with projecting windows, connected by narrow 
 staircases, carried sometimes upon arches, and in the upper 
 portions rarely broken away. In many of the upper chambers 
 to which we were let down, the dust of ages had accumulated, 
 undisturbed by any foot save that of the birds of the air ; and 
 here we rested during the heat of the day, with the plains and 
 lake set as in a frame before us. We obtained a full zoological 
 harvest, as in three days we captured fourteeen nests of 
 griffons." 
 
 Although these caverns and rocky passages are much more 
 accessible than most of the places whereon the Griffons build, 
 the natives never venture to enter them, being deterred not so 
 much by their height, as by their superstitious fears. The 
 Griffons instinctively found out that man never entered these 
 caverns, and so took possession of them. 
 
 As the young Griffons are brought up in these lofty and pre- 
 cipitous places, it is evident that their first flight must be a 
 dangerous experiment, requiring the aid of the parent birds. 
 At first the young are rather nervous at the task which lies 
 before them, and shrink from trusting themselves to the air. 
 The parents, however, encourage them to use their wings, take 
 short flights in order to set them an example, and, when they at 
 last venture from the nest, accompany and encourage them in 
 their first journey. 
 
 Even this habit has been noted by the sacred writers, and 
 been forcibly employed as an image of divine protection. See
 
 THE GRIFFON VULTURE 351 
 
 the Song of Moses, in which the aged leader, whose forty years' 
 work was at last finished, recapitulates the mercies vouchsafed 
 to the people of Israel, and exhorts them against the sin of 
 ingratitude : " For the Lord's portion is His people ; Jacob is the 
 lot of His inheritance. 
 
 " He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howlinf 
 
 O 
 
 wilderness ; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him 
 as the apple of His eye. 
 
 " As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, 
 spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her 
 wings ; 
 
 " So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange 
 god with him" (Deut. xxxii. 9 12). 
 
 The strength of flight of the Vulture is also noticed by the 
 sacred writers. See, for example, Exod. xix. 4 : "Ye have seen 
 what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' 
 (nesherim) wings, and brought you unto myself." 
 
 This passage had a peculiar force when addressed to the 
 Hebrews, the Vulture being one of the chief emblems of Egyp- 
 tian power, and its outspread wings continually recurring on the 
 grand monuments and temples with which they must have been 
 so familiar. 
 
 Strangely enough, in their second captivity, the Jews met 
 with the same emblem among the Assyrians. For example, 
 their god Nisroch, whom we find mentioned as specially wor- 
 shipped by Sennacherib, was a vulture-headed deity, bearing 
 not only the head of the bird, but also its wings. The vast 
 wings of the Vulture were by the Assyrians used as types of 
 Divine power, and were therefore added, not only to human 
 figures, but to those of beasts. The human-headed and vulture- 
 winged bulls of Nineveh, with which we are now so familiar, 
 are good examples of this peculiar imagery. 
 
 The name Nisroch, by the way, is evidently the same word as 
 nesher, and bears even closer resemblance to the Arabic niss'r. 
 This bird was also the war standard of Assyria, just as the eagle 
 is that of France, and the metaphors used by Habbakuk and 
 Jeremiah had therefore a doubly forcible sense. 
 
 "We find the same bird employed as a visible emblem of Divine 
 omnipresence and omniscience in the visions seen by Ezekiel 
 and St. John : " And every one had four faces ; the first face
 
 352 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a 
 man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of 
 an eagle" (Ezek. x. 14). Then, in the Eevelation, chap. iv. 
 ver. 6, 7, is the account of a vision of very similar character : 
 " In the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were 
 four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 
 
 " And the first beast was like a, lion, and the second was like 
 a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth 
 beast was like a flying eagle." 
 
 From these passages we shall see that the Griffon Vulture 
 was not held by the Scriptural writers in the contempt with 
 which we are apt to regard it. Not having any Vultures resi- 
 dent in our country, for the simple reason that there is not 
 enough carrion in the whole of England to feed a single Vulture 
 for a month, we have no practical knowledge of them, and are 
 apt to confound, under the common title of Vulture, birds of 
 most dissimilar aspect. Some of them, especially those which 
 inhabit the West Indies, are mean-looking, slouching, sneaking, 
 obscene birds, which, even when brought to this country, and 
 nourished on fresh meat, cannot be regarded without inspiring 
 a feeling of disgust. 
 
 But there are others which are really grand and noble birds, 
 which excite admiration instead of disgust, and one of the chief 
 among these is the Griffon Vulture. Scavenger though it be, it 
 is not disgusting in its habits, and may even be called a cleanly 
 bird. It is intelligent, after its way, and is quite as susceptible 
 of human teaching as the falcon or the cormorant. It is not 
 quarrelsome, and, even when feeding, does not try to drive away 
 its neighbour, but feeds alongside of him with perfect amity 
 and quiet. 
 
 In common with other birds of its order, the Griffon Vulture 
 is a very long-lived bird, and even this characteristic is noticed 
 in the well-known passage, " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and 
 forget not all His benefits : . . . . who satisfieth thy mouth with 
 good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's" 
 (Ps. ciii. 1, o). 
 
 This passage has often been absurdly misinterpreted by com- 
 mentators who have not appreciated the metaphorical style of 
 all Oriental poetry. Taking the passage in its exact literal sense, 
 and not knowing that reference is made to the Vulture and not
 
 THE VULTURE, OR EAGLE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 'Wheresoever the r-a rc:ise is, there will the eagles be gnthfred together." MATT. xxiv. 28.
 
 THE GRIFFON VULTURE. 353 
 
 to the eagle, they have taken for granted that the eagle had some 
 mode of renewing its youth, and, in fact, after becoming old, 
 went through some process by which it shook off the decrepitude 
 of old age, and became young again. Others, seeing that such an 
 interpretation was both strained and far-fetched, have thought 
 that reference was made to the annual moult of the eagle, which 
 they fancied to be of a very severe character, the whole of the 
 feathers being shed at once, so as to leave the bird naked and 
 helpless, and then being restored with added strength and 
 beauty. 
 
 It is evident, however, that no such interpretation is needed, 
 and that the Psalmist, when using the expression " renewing the 
 youth like an eagle's," only employed a metaphorical expression 
 significative of longevity. 
 
 If we recapitulate the various passages in which the Nesher 
 is mentioned in the Scriptures, we shall find that the sacred 
 writers were thoroughly acquainted with the bird, and that they 
 wrote of it with an occasional fulness and an invariable pre- 
 cision which shows how familiar they were with a bird at once 
 so plentiful and so conspicuous. 
 
 The illustration represents one of the rocky gorges so plentiful 
 in Palestine, inhabited by a number of Griffon Vultures. Some 
 of them are feeding upon the carcase of a dead animal, another 
 is upon her nest, and several Vultures, who have gorged them- 
 selves with food after their fashion, are sitting listlessly on the 
 rock, in some of the singular positions which this bird affects. 
 There is, perhaps, no bird which has a more curious set of 
 attitudes than the Griffon Vulture, or which exhibits so different 
 an aspect at various times. 
 
 In flight it is one of the most magnificent birds that can be 
 seen, and even when perched it often retains a certain look of 
 majesty and grandeur. Sometimes, however, especially when 
 basking in the sun, it assumes a series of attitudes which are 
 absolutely grotesque, and convert the noble-looking bird into a 
 positively ludicrous object. At one moment it will sit all 
 hunched up, its head sunk between its shoulders, and one wing 
 trailing behind it as if broken. At another it will bend its legs 
 and sit down on the ankle-joint, pushing its feet out in front, and 
 supporting itself by the stiff feathers of its tail. Often it will 
 crouch nearly flat on the ground, partly spread its wings, and 
 
 A A
 
 354 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 allow their tips to rest on the earth, and sometimes it will sup- 
 port nearly all the weight of its body on the wings, which rest, 
 in a half doubled state, on the ground. I have before me a great 
 number of sketches, taken in a single day, of the attitudes 
 assumed by one of these birds, every one of which is strikingly 
 different from the others, and transforms the whole shape of 
 the bird so much that it is scarcely recognisable as the same 
 individual. 
 
 THE EAGLE. 
 
 Signification of the word Asniyeh The Golden Eagle and its habits The Imperial 
 Eagle Its solitary mode of life The Short-toed Eagle Its domestic habits 
 and fondness for the society of man The Osprey, or Fishing Eagle Its mode 
 of catching fish Its distribution in Palestine. 
 
 As to the EAGLE, rightly so called, there is little doubt that it is 
 one of the many birds of prey that seem to have been classed 
 under the general title of Asniyeh the word which in the 
 Authorized Version of the Bible is rendered as Osprey. A 
 similar confusion is observable in the modern Arabic, one word, 
 ogab, being applied indiscriminately to all the Eagles and the 
 large falconidce. 
 
 The chief of the true Eagles, namely, the Golden Eagle 
 (A quila chrysaetos), is one of the inhabitants of Palestine, and 
 is seen frequently, though never in great numbers. Indeed, its 
 predacious habits unfit it for associating with its kind. Any 
 animal which lives chiefly, if not wholly, by the chase, requires 
 a large district in order to enable it to live, and thus twenty 
 or thirty eagles will be scattered over a district of twice the 
 number of miles. Like the lion among the mammalia, the 
 Eagle leads an almost solitary life, scarcely ever associating with 
 any of its kind except its mate and its young. 
 
 Although it lives principally by the chase, it has no objection 
 to carrion, and, as has already been mentioned on page 342, may 
 be seen feeding on a dead animal in company with the lesser
 
 THE EAGLE. 
 "Tiio:i X 'h thou shouUest make thy nsst as MJt as the ca-'e." JEK xlix Hi.
 
 THE EAGLE. 355 
 
 vultures, though it retires before the lordly griffon. Being so 
 thinly scattered, it would not be so conspicuous a bird as the 
 griffon, which is not only very much larger, but associates in 
 great numbers, and probably on that account no definite species 
 of Eagle seems to be mentioned in Holy Writ. 
 
 Four or live species of Eagle are known to inhabit Palestine. 
 There is, for example, the Imperial Eagle (Aquila mogilnik], 
 which may be distinguished from the Golden Eagle by a white 
 patch on the shoulders, and the long, lancet-shaped feathers of 
 the head and neck. These feathers are of a fawn colour, and 
 contrast beautifully with the deep black-brown of the back and 
 wings. It is not very often seen, being a bird that loves the 
 forest, and that does not care to leave the shelter of the trees. 
 It is tolerably common in Palestine. 
 
 Then there are several of the allied species, of which the best 
 example is perhaps the Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus), a 
 bird which is extremely plentiful in the Holy Land so plentiful 
 indeed that, as Mr. Tristram remarks, there are probably twice 
 as many of the Short-toed Eagles in Palestine as of all the other 
 species put together. The genus to which this bird belongs does 
 not take rank with the true Eagles, but is supposed by sys- 
 tematic naturalists to hold an intermediate place between the 
 true Eagles and the ospreys. 
 
 The Short-toed Eagle is seldom a carrion-eater, preferring to 
 kill its prey for itself. It feeds mostly on serpents and other 
 reptiles, and is especially fond of frogs. It is a large and some- 
 what heavily built bird, lightness and swiftness being far less 
 necessary than strength in taking the animals on which it feeds. 
 It is rather more than two feet in length, and is a decidedly 
 handsome bird, the back being dark brown, and the under parts 
 white, covered with crescent-shaped black spots. 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE OSPEEY. 
 
 The Osprey, or Fishing Eagle Its geographical range Mode of securing prey 
 Structure of its feet Its power of balancing itself in the air. 
 
 WE now come to the Osprey itself (Pandion haliaetus), which 
 was undoubtedly one of the birds grouped together under the 
 collective terra Asniyeh. This word -occurs only in the two 
 passages in Deut. xiv. and Lev. XL which have been several 
 times quoted already, and need not be mentioned again. 
 
 This fine bird is spread over a very large range of country, and 
 is found in the New World as well as the Old. In consequence 
 of its peculiar habits, it is often called the Fishing Eagle. 
 
 The Osprey is essentially a fish-eater. It seems very strange 
 that a predacious bird allied to the eagles, none of which birds 
 can swim, much less dive, should obtain its living from the 
 water. That the cormorant and other diving birds should do so 
 is no matter of surprise, inasmuch as they are able to pursue the 
 fish in their own element, and catch them by superior speed. 
 But any bird which cannot dive, and which yet lives on fish, is 
 " forced to content itself with those fish that come to the surface 
 of the water, a mode of obtaining a livelihood which does not 
 appear to have much chance of success. Yet the Osprey does on 
 a large scale what the kingfisher does on a small one, and con- 
 trives to find abundant food in the water. 
 
 Its method of taking prey is almost exactly like that which is 
 employed by the kingfisher. When it goes out in search of 
 food, it soars into the air, and floats in circles over the water, 
 watching every inch of it as narrowly as a kestrel watches a 
 stubble-field. No sooner does a fish rise ta.vard the surface to 
 take a fly, or to leap into the air for sport, than the Osprey darts 
 downwards, grasps the fish in its talons, drags the struggling 
 prey from the water, and with a scream of joy and triumph 
 bears it away to shore, where it can be devoured at leisure. 
 
 The bird never dives, neither does it seize the fish with its beak 
 like the kingfisher. It plunges but slightly into the water, as
 
 
 ^ -=---^=^r -- :--.-.-;.-. 
 
 THE OSPREY. 
 
 "These are they of which ye shall not eat; the eagle, am! the ossifrage, and the osprey." 
 
 DFfT. XJV. I''.
 
 THE KIIE. 357 
 
 otherwise it would not be able to use its strong wings and carry 
 off its prey. In order to enable the bird to seize the hard and 
 slippery body of the fish, it is furnished with long, very sharp, 
 and boldly-hooked talons, which force themselves into the sides 
 of the fish, and hold it as with grappling irons. 
 
 In order to enable it to hover over the water, and to watch the 
 surface carefully, it is possessed of wonderful powers of flight, 
 being able to balance itself in one spot without seeming to move 
 a wing, and having the singular facility of doing so even when a 
 tolerably strong breeze is blowing. It has even been observed 
 to maintain its place unmoved when a sharp squall swept over 
 the spot. 
 
 Although not very plentiful in Palestine, nor indeed in any 
 other country, it is seen throughout the whole of that country 
 where it can find a sufficiency of water. It prefers the sea- 
 shore and the rivers of the coast, and is said to avoid the Sea of 
 Galilee. 
 
 THE KITE, OR VULTURE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 The word Dayah and its signification Dayah a collective term for different 
 species of Kites The Common or Red Kite plentiful in Palestine Its piercing 
 sight and habit of soaring The Black Kite of Palestine and its habits The 
 Egyptian Kite The Raah or Glede of Scripture The Buzzards and their 
 habits The Peregrine Falcon an inhabitant of Central Palestine, and the 
 Lanner of the eastern parts of the country. 
 
 IN Lev. xi. 14 and Deut. xiv. 13, we find the Vulture among the 
 list of birds which the Jews were not permitted to eat. The 
 word which is translated as Vulture is dayah, and we find it 
 occurring again in Isaiah xxxiv. 15, "There shall the vultures 
 also be gathered, every one with her mate." There is no doubt, 
 however, that this translation of the word is an incorrect one, 
 and that it ought to be rendered as KITE. In Job xxviii. 7, there 
 is a similar word, ayah, which is also translated as Vulture, and 
 which is acknowledged to be not a Vulture, but one of the 
 Kites : " There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which 
 the vulture's eye hath not seen." Both these words are nearly
 
 358 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 identical with modern Arabic terms which are employed rather 
 loosely to signify several species of Kite, Buxtorf, in his 
 Hebrew Lexicon, gives the correct rendering, translating da yah as 
 Milvus, and the Vulgate in one or two places gives the same 
 translation, though in others it renders the word as Vulture. 
 
 Mr. Tristram, who has given much attention to this subject, 
 is inclined to refer the word ayah to the Common Kite (Milvus 
 
 THE KITE, OR VULTURE OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 ' There is a path which no fowl knnireth, anil which the vulture's eye hath not seen." 
 
 JOB xxviii. 7. 
 
 regalis), which was once so plentiful in this country, and is now 
 nearly extinct ; and dayali to the Black Kite (Milvus atra\ He 
 founds this distinction on the different habits of the two species, 
 the Common or Red Kite being thinly scattered, and being in the 
 habit of soaring into the air at very great heights, and the latter 
 being very plentiful and gregarious. 
 
 We will first take the Red Kite. 
 
 This bird is scattered all over Palestine, feeding chiefly on the 
 smaller birds, mice, reptiles, and fish. In the capture of fish the 
 Kite is almost as expert as the osprey, darting from a great
 
 THE KITE. 359 
 
 height into the water, and bearing off the fish in its claws. The 
 wings of this bird are very long and powerful, and bear it 
 through the air in a peculiarly graceful flight. It is indeed in 
 consequence of this flight that it has been called the Glede, the 
 word being derived from its gliding movements. 
 
 The sight of this bird is remarkably keen and piercing, and, 
 from the vast elevation to which it soars when in search of 
 food, it is able to survey the face of the country beneath, and to 
 detect the partridge, quail, chicken, or other creature that will 
 serve it for food. This piercing sight and habit of soaring 
 render the passage in Job peculiarly appropriate to this species 
 of Kite, though it does not express the habits of the other. 
 Should the Kite suspect danger when forced to leave its riest, it 
 escapes by darting rapidly into the air, and soaring at a vast 
 height above the trees among which its home is made. From 
 that elevation it can act as a sentinel, and will not come down 
 again until it is assured of safety. 
 
 OF the habits of the BLACK KITE (Milvus atra), Mr. Tris- 
 tram gives an admirable description. " The habits of the bird 
 bear out the allusion in Isa. xxxiv. 15, for it is, excepting 
 during the winter three months, so numerous everywhere in 
 Palestine as to be almost gregarious. It returns about the be- 
 ginning of March, and scatters itself over the whole country, 
 preferring especially the neighbourhood of valleys, where it is a 
 welcome and unmolested guest. It does not appear to attack 
 the poultry, among whom it may often be seen feeding on 
 garbage. It is very sociable, and the slaughter of a sheep at one 
 of the tents will soon attract a large party of black kites, which 
 swoop down regardless of man and guns, and enjoy a noisy 
 scramble for the refuse, chasing each other in a laughable 
 fashion, and sometimes enabling the wily raven to steal off with 
 the coveted morsel during their contentions, it is the butt of 
 all the smaller scavengers, and is evidently most unpopular with 
 the crows and daws, and even rollers, who enjoy the amuse- 
 ment of teasing it in their tumbling flight, which is a manoeuvre 
 most perplexing to the kite." 
 
 The same writer proceeds to mention that the Black Kite, 
 unlike the red species, is very careless about the position of its 
 nest, and never even attempts to conceal it, sometimes building
 
 360 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 it in a tree, sometimes on a rock-ledge, and sometimes in a bush 
 growing on the rocks. It seems indeed desirous of making the 
 nest as conspicuous as possible, and hangs it all over with bits 
 of cloth, strips of bark, wings of birds, and even the cast skins 
 of serpents. 
 
 Another species (Milvus JEgyptiacus) is sometimes called the 
 Black Kite from the dark hue of its plumage, but ought rather 
 to retain the title of Egyptian Kite. Unlike the black kite, 
 this bird is a great thief, and makes as much havoc among 
 poultry as the red kite. It is also a robber of other birds, and if 
 . it should happen to see a weaker bird with food, it is sure to 
 attack and rob it. Like the black kite, it is fond of the society 
 of man, and haunts the villages in great numbers, for the pur- 
 pose of eating the offal, which in Oriental towns is simply flung 
 into the streets to be devoured by the clogs, vultures, kites, and 
 other scavengers, without whom no village would be habitable 
 for a month. 
 
 WHETHER the word raak, which is translated as Glede in 
 Deut. xiv. 13, among the list of birds which may not be eaten, 
 is one of these species of Kite, or a bird of a different group, is a 
 very doubtful point. This is the only passage in which the 
 word occurs, and we have but small grounds for definitely iden- 
 tifying it with any one species. The Hebrew Bible retains the 
 word Glede, but affixes a mark of doubt to it, and several com- 
 mentators are of opinion that the word is a wrong reading of 
 dayah, which occurs in the parallel passage in Lev. xi. 14. The 
 reading of the Septuagint follows this interpretation, and renders 
 it as Vulture in both cases. Buxtorf translates the word raak 
 as Rook, but suggests that dayah is the correct reading. 
 
 Accepting, however, the word raak, we shall find that it is 
 derived from a root which signifies sight or vision, especially of 
 some particular object, so that a piercing sight would therefore 
 be the chief characteristic of the bird, which, as we know, is one 
 of the attributes of the Kites, together with other birds of prey, 
 so that it evidently must be classed among the group with which 
 w r e are now concerned. It has been suggested that, granting 
 the raah to be a species distinct from the dayah, it is a collective 
 term for the larger falcons and buzzards, several species of which 
 inhabit Palestine, and are not distinctly mentioned in the Bible.
 
 THE PEREGRINE FALCON. 
 
 361 
 
 Several species of buzzard inhabit the Holy Land, and there 
 is no particular reason why they should be mentioned except by 
 a collective name. Some of the buzzards are very large birds, 
 and though their wings are short when compared with those of 
 the vultures and eagles, the flight of the bird is both powerful 
 and graceful. It is not, however, remarkable for swiftness, and 
 
 THE PEREGRINE FALCON, OR OLEDE OF .SCRIPTURE. 
 
 "And the Glede, and the kite, and the vulture ofte.r his Itind." PEUT. xiv. 13. 
 
 never was employed, like the falcon, in catching other birds, 
 being reckoned as one of the useless and cowardly birds of 
 prey. In consonance with this opinion, to compare a man to a 
 buzzard was thought a most cutting insult. 
 
 As a general rule, it does not chase its prey like the eagles or 
 the large-winged falcons, but perches on a rock or tree, watches
 
 362 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 for some animal on which it can feed, pounces on it, and return -; 
 to its post, the whole movements being very like those of the 
 flycatcher. This sluggishness of disposition, and the soft and 
 almost owl-like plumage, have been the means of bringing the 
 bird into contempt among falconers. 
 
 As to the large falcons, which seem to be included in the term 
 raah, the chief of them is the Peregrine Falcon (Falco pere- 
 grinus), which is tolerably common in the Holy Land. In his 
 " Land of Israel," Mr. Tristram gives several notices of this bird, 
 from which we may take the following picture from a description 
 of a scene at Endor. "Dreary and desolate looked the plain, 
 though of exuberant fertility. Here and there might be seen 
 a small flock of sheep or herd of cattle, tended by three or 
 four mounted villagers, armed with their long firelocks, and 
 pistols and swords, on the watch against any small party of 
 marauding cattle-lifters. 
 
 " Griffon vultures were wheeling in circles far over the 
 rounded top of Tabor ; and here and there an eagle was soaring 
 beneath them in search of food, but at a most inconvenient dis- 
 tance from our guns. Hariers were sweeping more rapidly and 
 closely over the ground, where lambs appeared to be their only 
 prey ; and a noble peregrine falcon, which in Central Palestine 
 does not give place to the more eastern lanner, was perched on 
 an isolated rock, calmly surveying the scene, and permitting us 
 to approach and scrutinize him at our leisure." 
 
 The habit of perching on the rock, as mentioned above, is very 
 characteristic of the Peregrine Falcon, who loves the loftiest 
 and most craggy cliffs, and makes its nest in spots which can 
 only be reached by a bold and experienced climber. The nests 
 of this bird are never built in close proximity, the Peregrine 
 preferring to have its home at least a mile from the nest of any 
 other of its kinsfolk. Sometimes it makes a nest in lofty trees, 
 taking possession of the deserted home of some other bird ; but 
 it loves the cliff better than the tree, and seldom builds in the 
 latter when the former is attainable. 
 
 In the passage from the " Land of Israel " is mentioned the 
 LANNER FALCON (Falco lanarius), another of the larger falcons 
 to which the term raah may have been applied. 
 
 This bird is much larger than the Peregrine Falcon, and, in- 
 deed, is very little less than the great gerfalcon itself. It is one
 
 THE IANNER FALCON. 
 
 363 
 
 of the birds that were reckoned among the noble falcons ; and 
 the female, which is much larger and stronger than the male, 
 was employed for the purpose of chasing the kite, whose long 
 and powerful wings could not always save it from such a foe. 
 
 Although the Lanner has been frequently mentioned among 
 the British birds, and the name is therefore familiar to us, it is 
 
 m 
 
 not even a visitor of our island. The mistake has occurred by 
 an error in nomenclature, the young female Peregrine Falcon, 
 which is much larger and darker than the male bird, having 
 been erroneously called by the name of Lanner. 
 
 In the illustration, a pair of Lanner Falcons are depicted as 
 pursuing some of the rock-pigeons which abound in Palestine, 
 the attitudes of both birds being taken from life.
 
 364 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE HAWK. 
 
 The Netz or Hawk Number of species probably grouped under that name Rare 
 occurrence of the word The Sparrow-Hawk and its general habits Its place 
 of nesting The Kestrel, or Wind-hover Various names by which it is known 
 in England Its mode of feeding and curious flight The Hariers Probable 
 derivation of the name Species of Harier known to inhabit Palestine 
 Falconry apparently unknown to the ancient Jews. 
 
 THERE is no doubt that a considerable number of species are 
 grouped together under the single title Netz, or Hawk, a word 
 which is rightly enough translated. That a great number of 
 birds should have been thus confounded together is not sur- 
 prising, seeing that even in this country and at the present time, 
 the single word Hawk may signify any one of at least twelve 
 different species. The various falcons, the hariers, the kestrel, 
 the sparrow-hawk, and the hobbies, are one and all called 
 popularly by the name of Hawk, and it is therefore likely 
 that the Hebrew word Netz would signify as many species as 
 the English word Hawk. From them we will select one or two 
 of theprincipal species. 
 
 In the first place, the word is of very rare occurrence. We 
 only find it three times. It first occurs in Lev. xi. 16, in which 
 it is named, together with the eagle, the ossifrage, and many 
 other birds, as among the unclean creatures, to eat which was an 
 abomination. It is next found in the parallel passage in Deut. 
 xiv. 15, neither of which portions of Scripture need be quoted 
 at length. 
 
 That the word netz was used in its collective sense is very 
 evident from the addition which is made to it in both cases. 
 The Hawk, "after its kind," is forbidden, showing therefore 
 that several kinds or species of Hawk were meant. Indeed, any 
 specific detail would be quite needless, as the collective term 
 was quite a sufficient indication, and, having named the vultures, 
 eagles, and larger birds of prey, the simple word netz was con-
 
 THE HAWK. 365 
 
 sidered by the sacred writer as expressing the rest of the birds 
 of prey. 
 
 We find the word once more in that part of the Bible to which 
 we usually look for any reference to natural history. In Job 
 xxxix. 26, we have the words, "Doth the hawk fly by thy 
 wisdom, and turn [or stretch] her wings toward the south ? " 
 The precise signification of this passage is rather doubtful, but 
 it is generally considered to refer to the migration of several 
 of the Hawk tribe. That the bird in question was distinguished 
 for its power of flight is evident from the fact that the sacred 
 poet has selected that one attribute as the most characteristic 
 of the Netz. 
 
 Taking first the typical example of the Hawks, we find that 
 the SPAJIROW-HAWK (Accipiter nisus) is plentiful in Palestine, 
 finding abundant food in the smaller birds of the country. It 
 selects for its nest just the spots which are so plentiful in the 
 Holy Land, i.e. the crannies of rocks, and the tops of tall trees. 
 Sometimes it builds in deserted ruins, but its favourite spot 
 seems to be the lofty tree-top, and, in default of that, the rock- 
 crevice. It seldom builds a nest of its own, but takes possession 
 of that which has been made by some other bird. Some orni- 
 thologists think that it looks out for a convenient nest, say of 
 the crow or magpie, and then ejects the rightful owner. I am 
 inclined to think, however, that it mostly takes possession of a 
 nest that is already deserted, without running the risk of fighting 
 such enemies as a pair of angry magpies. This opinion is 
 strengthened by the fact that the bird resorts to the same nest 
 year after year. 
 
 It is a bold and dashing bird, though of no great size, and 
 when wild and free displays a courage which it seems to lose in 
 captivity. As is the case with so many of the birds, the female 
 is much larger than her mate, the latter weighing about six 
 ounces, and measuring about a foot in length, and the former 
 weighing above nine ounces, and measuring about fifteen inches 
 in length. 
 
 THE most plentiful of the smaller Hawks of Palestine is the 
 COMMON KESTKEL (Tinnunculus alaudariits). This is the same 
 species with which we are so familiar in England under the 
 names of Kestrel, Wind-hover, and Stanuel Hawk.
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 It derives its name of Wind-hover from its remarkable habit 
 of hovering, head to windward, over some spot for many minutes 
 together. This action is always performed at a moderate dis- 
 tance from the ground ; some naturalists saying that the Hawk in 
 question never hovers at an elevation exceeding forty feet, while 
 
 KKSTUtX. 
 
 " Doth the Hawk fly by thy wisdom? "Jon xxxix. 26. 
 
 others, myself included, have seen the bird hovering at a height 
 of twice as many yards. Generally,, however, it prefers a lower 
 distance, and. is able by employing this manoeuvre to survey a 
 tolerably large space beneath. As its food consists in a very 
 great measure of field-mice, the Kestrel is thus able by means 
 of its telescopic eyesight to see if a mouse rises from its hole ; 
 and if it should do so, the bird drops on it and secures it in its 
 claws. 
 
 Unlike the sparrow-hawk, the Kestrel is undoubtedly gre- 
 garious, and will build its nest in close proximity to the habita- 
 tions of other birds, a number of nests being often found within 
 a few yards of each other. Mr. Tristram remarks that he has 
 found its nest in the recesses of the caverns occupied by the
 
 THE HAWK. 3G7 
 
 griffon vultures, and that the Kestrel also builds close to the 
 eagles, and is the only bird which is permitted to do so. It also 
 builds in company with the jackdaw. 
 
 Several species of Kestrel are known, and of them at least 
 two inhabit the Holy Land, the second being a much smaller 
 bird than the Common Kestrel, and feeding almost entirely on 
 insects, which it catches with its claws, the common chafers 
 forming its usual prey. Great numbers of these birds live 
 together, and as they rather affect the society of mankind, they 
 are fond of building their nests in convenient crannies in the 
 mosques or churches. Independently of its smaller size, it may 
 be distinguished from the Common Kestrel by the whiteness of 
 its claws. 
 
 The illustration is drawn from a sketch taken from life. The 
 bird hovered so near a house, and remained so long in one place, 
 that the artist fixed a telescope and secured an exact sketch of 
 the bird in the peculiar attitude which it is so fond of assuming. 
 After a while, the Kestrel ascended to a higher elevation, and 
 then resumed its hovering, in the attitude which is shown in the 
 upper figure. In consequence of the great abundance of this 
 species in Palestine, and the peculiarly conspicuous mode of 
 balancing itself in the air while in search of prey, we may feel 
 sure that the sacred writers had it specially in their minds when 
 they used the collective term Netz. 
 
 The Kestrel has a very large geographical range, being 
 plentiful not only in England and Palestine, but in Northern 
 and Southern Europe, throughout the greater part of Asia, 
 in Siberia, and in portions of Africa. The bird, therefore, is 
 capable of endtiring both heat and cold, and, as is often the 
 case with those creatures that are useful to man, is a perfect 
 cosmopolitan. 
 
 It is easily trained, and, although in the old hawking days it 
 was considered a bird which a noble could not carry, it can be 
 trained to chase the smaller birds as successfully as the falcons 
 can be taught to pursue the heron. The name Tinnunculus is 
 supposed by some to have been given to the bird in allusion to 
 its peculiar cry, which is clear, shrill, and consists of a single 
 note several times repeated. 
 
 On page 361 the reader may see a representation of a pair of 
 HARIER HAWKS flying below the rock on which the peregrine
 
 368 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 falcon has perched, and engaged in pursuing one of the smaller 
 birds. 
 
 They have been introduced because several species of Harier 
 are to be found in Palestine, where they take, among the plains 
 and lowlands, the place which is occupied by the other hawks 
 and falcons among the rocks. 
 
 The name of Harier appears to be given to these birds on 
 account of their habit of regularly quartering the ground over 
 which they fly when in search of prey, just like hounds when 
 searching for hares. This bird is essentially a haunter of flat 
 and marshy lands, where it finds frogs, mice, lizards, on which 
 it usually feeds. It does not, however, confine itself to such 
 food, but will chase and kill most of the smaller birds, and 
 occasionally will catch even the leveret, the rabbit, the par- 
 tridge, and the curlew. 
 
 When it chases winged prey, it seldom seizes the bird in the 
 air, but almost invariably keeps above it, and gradually drives it 
 to the ground. It will be seen, therefore, that its flight is 
 mostly low, as suits the localities in which it lives, and it seldom 
 soars to any great height, except when it amuses itself by rising 
 and wheeling in circles together with its mate. This proceeding 
 generally takes place before nest-building. The usual flight is 
 a mixture of that of the kestrel and the falcon, the Harier 
 sometimes poising itself over some particular spot, and at others 
 shooting forwards through the air with motionless wings. 
 
 Unlike the falcons and most of the hawks, the Harier does 
 not as a rule perch on rocks, but prefers to sit very upright on 
 the ground, perching generally on a mole-hill, stone, or some 
 similar elevation. Even its nest is made on the ground, and is 
 composed of reeds, sedges, sticks, and similar matter, materials 
 that can be procured from marshy land. The nest is always 
 elevated a foot or so from the ground, and has occasionally been 
 found on the top of a mound more than a yard in height. It 
 is, however, conjectured that in such cases the mound is made 
 by one nest being built upon the remains of another. The 
 object of the elevated nest is probably to preserve the eggs in 
 case of a flood. 
 
 At least five species of Hariers are known to exist in the 
 Holy Land, two of which are among the British birds, namely, 
 the Marsh Harier (Circus ceruginosus}, sometimes called the Duck
 
 THE HAWK. 369 
 
 Hawk and the Moor Buzzard, and the Hen Harier (Circus 
 cyaneus), sometimes called the White Hawk, Dove Hawk, or Blue 
 Hawk, on account of the plumage of the male, which differs 
 greatly according to age ; and the Ring-tailed Hawk, on account 
 of the dark bars which appear on the tail of the female. All 
 the Hariers are remarkable for the circlet of feathers that sur- 
 rounds the eyes, and which resembles in a lesser degree the bold 
 feather-circle around the eye of the owl tribe. 
 
 BEFOKE taking leave of the Hawks, it is as well to notice the 
 entire absence in the Scriptures of any reference to falconry. 
 Now, seeing that the art of catching birds and animals by means 
 of Hawks is a favourite amusement among Orientals, as has 
 already been mentioned when treating of the gazelle (page 139), 
 and knowing the unchanging character of the East, we cannot 
 but think it remarkable that no reference should be made to this 
 sport in the Scriptures. 
 
 It is true that in Palestine itself there would be but little 
 scope for falconry, the rough hilly ground and abundance of 
 cultivated soil rendering such an amusement almost impossible. 
 Besides, the use of the falcon implies that of the horse, and, as 
 we have already seen, the horse was scarcely ever used except 
 for military purposes. 
 
 Had, therefore, the experience of the Israelites been confined 
 to Palestine, there would have been good reason for the silence 
 of the sacred writers on this subject. But when we remember 
 that the surrounding country is well adapted for falconry, that 
 the amusement is practised there at the present day, and that 
 the Israelites passed so many years as captives in other countries, 
 we can but wonder that the Hawks should never be mentioned 
 as aids to bird-catching. We find that other bird-catching 
 implements are freely mentioned and employed as familiar 
 symbols, such as the gin, the net, the snare, the trap, and so 
 forth ; but that there is not a single passage in which the Hawks 
 are mentioned as employed in falconry. 
 
 B B
 
 370 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE OWL. 
 
 The words which have been translated as Owl The Cos, or Little Owl Use made 
 of the Little Owl in bird-catching Habits of the bird The Barn, Screech, 
 or White Owl a native of Palestine The Yanshuph, or Egyptian Eagle Owl 
 Its food and nest The Lilith, or Night Monster Various interpretations of 
 the word The Kippoz probably identical with the Scops Owl, or Marouf. 
 
 IN various parts of the Old Testament there occur several 
 words which are translated as OWL in the Authorized Version, 
 and in most cases the rendering is acknowledged to be the 
 correct one, while in one or two instances there is a difference of 
 opinion on the subject. 
 
 In Lev. xi. 16, 17, we find the following birds reckoned among 
 those which are an abomination, and which might not be eaten 
 by the Israelites : " The owl, and the night-hawk, and the 
 cuckoo, and the hawk after his kind ; 
 
 "And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl." 
 Here, then, we have in close proximity the word Owl repeated 
 three times, and the same repetition occurs in the parallel 
 passage in Deut. xiv. Now the words which are here translated 
 as Owl are totally different words in the Hebrew, so that if we 
 leave them untranslated, the passages will run as follow : "And 
 the Bath-haya'anah, and the night-hawk, and the cuckoo, and 
 the hawk after his kind ; 
 
 " And the Cos, and the cormorant, and the Yanshuph." 
 Taking these words in order, we find in the first place that 
 the Jewish Bible accepts the translation of the words cos and 
 yanshilpJi, merely affixing to them the mark of doubt. But it 
 translates the word bath-hay a' anah as Ostrich, without adding 
 the doubtful mark. Now the same word occurs in several 
 other passages of Scripture, the first being in Job xxx. 29 : 
 " I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls." In the 
 marginal reading of the Authorized Version, which, as the reader 
 must bear in mind, is of equal value with the text, the rendering 
 is the same as that of the Jewish Bible, and in several other
 
 THE OWL. 371 
 
 passages the same reading is followed. We therefore accept the 
 word latli-haya'anah as the ostrich, and dismiss it from among 
 the owls. 
 
 COMING now to the other words, we find in the passages 
 already quoted the words cos and yansh/Aph. Both those words 
 occur in other parts of Scripture, and evidently are the names 
 of nocturnal birds that haunt ruins and lonely places. Taking 
 them in order, we find the word cos to occur again in Ps. cii. 6 : 
 " I am like a pelican of the wilderness : I am like an owl of the 
 desert." The Psalm in which this passage occurs is a penitential 
 prayer, in which the writer uses many of the metaphors em- 
 ployed by Job when lamenting his afflictions, and describes 
 himself as left alone among men. 
 
 The simile is equally just and feasible in this case, the Owl 
 being essentially a bird of night, and associated with solitude 
 and gloom. The particular species which is signified by the 
 word cos bears but very slightly on the subject, inasmuch as 
 in general habits all the true Owls are very similar in hiding by 
 day in their nests, and coming out at night to hunt for prey 
 their melancholy hoot, or startling shriek, breaking the silence 
 of the night. 
 
 Still it is necessary to identify, if we can, some species with 
 the word cos, and it is very likely that the Little Owl, or 
 Boomah of the Arabs (Athene Persica) , is the bird which is sig- 
 nified by the word cds. This species is probably identical with 
 the Little Night Owl of England (Athene noctua). Though rare 
 in England, it is very common in many parts of the Continent 
 where it is much valued by bird-catchers, who employ it as a 
 means of attracting small birds to their traps. They place it on 
 the top of a long pole, and carry it into the fields, where they 
 plant the pole in the ground. This Owl has a curious habit of 
 swaying its body backwards and forwards, and is sure to attract 
 the notice of all the small birds in the neighbourhood. It is 
 well known that the smaller birds have a peculiar hatred to the 
 Owl, and never can pass it without mobbing it, assembling in 
 great numbers, and so intent on their occupation that they seem 
 to be incapable of perceiving anything but the object of their 
 hatred. Even rooks, magpies, and hawks are taken by this 
 simple device. 
 
 un 2
 
 372 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Whether or not the Little Owl was used for this object by the 
 ancient inhabitants of Palestine is rather doubtful ; but as they 
 certainly did so employ decoy birds for the purpose of attracting 
 game, it is not unlikely that the Little Owl was found to serve 
 
 THE LI7"iLh OWI- 
 
 "I am Wee an owl of the desert." Ps. cii. 6. 
 
 as a decoy. We shall learn more about the system of decoy- 
 birds when we come to the partridge. 
 
 The Little Owl is to be found in almost every locality, caring 
 little whether it takes up its residence in cultivated grounds, in 
 villages, among deserted ruins, or in places where man has 
 never lived. As, however, it is protected by the natives, it 
 prefers the neighbourhood of villages, and may be seen quietly 
 perched in some favourite spot, not taking the trouble to move 
 unless it be approached closely. And to detect a perched Owl 
 is not at all an easy matter, as the bird has a way of selecting
 
 THE OWL. 373 
 
 some spot where the colours of its plumage harmonize so well 
 with the surrounding objects that the large eyes are often the 
 first indication of its presence. Many a time I have gone to 
 search after Owls, and only been made aware of them by the 
 sharp angry snap that they make when startled. 
 
 The name Athene, by the way, has been given to this .Owl 
 because it is the species selected by the Greeks as the emblem 
 of wisdom. 
 
 The common BARN OWL of England (Strix flammea) also 
 . inhabits Palestine, and if, as is likely to be the case, the word 
 cds is a collective term under which several species are grouped 
 together, the Barn or White Owl is likely to be one of them. 
 
 Like the Little Owl, it affects the neighbourhood of man, 
 though it may be found in ruins and similar localities. An old 
 ruined castle is sure to be tenanted by the Barn Owl, whose 
 nightly shrieks have so often terrified the belated wanderer, and 
 made him fancy that the place was haunted by disturbed spirits. 
 Such being the case in England, it is likely that in the East, 
 where popular superstition has peopled every well with its jinn 
 and every ruin with its spirit, the nocturnal cry of this bird, 
 which is often called the Screech Owl from its note, should be 
 exceedingly terrifying, and would impress itself on the minds of 
 sacred writers as a fit image of solitude, terror, and desolation. 
 
 The Screech Owl is scarcely less plentiful in Palestine than 
 the Little Owl, and, whether or not it be mentioned under a 
 separate name, is sure to be one of the birds to which allusion is 
 made in the Scriptures. 
 
 ANOTHER name now rises before us : this is the Yanshuph, 
 translated as the Great Owl, a word which occurs not only in 
 the prohibitory passages of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, but in 
 the Book of Isaiah. In that book, ch. xxxiv. ver. 10, 11, we find 
 the following passage : " From generation to generation it shall 
 lie waste ; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 
 
 " But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it ; the owl 
 (yansh'&pK) also and the raven shall dwell in it : and He shall 
 stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of 
 emptiness." The Jewish Bible follows the same reading. 
 
 It is most probable that the Great Owl or Yanshuph is the 
 EGYPTIAN EAGLE OWL (Bubo ascalaphus), a bird which is closely
 
 374 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 allied to the great Eagle Owl of Europe (Bulo maximus), and 
 the Virginian Eared Owl (Bulo Virginia/was] of America. This 
 fine bird measures some two feet in length, and looks much 
 larger than its real size, owing to the thick coating of feathers 
 which it wears in common with all true Owls, and the ear-like 
 feather tufts on the top of its head, which it can raise or depress 
 at pleasure. Its plumage is light tawny. 
 
 This bird has a special predilection for deserted places and 
 ruins, and may at the present time be seen on the very spots of 
 which the prophet spoke in his prediction. It is very plentiful 
 in Egypt, where the vast ruins are the only relics of a creed 
 long passed away or modified into other forms of religion, and 
 its presence only intensifies rather than diminishes the feeling 
 of loneliness that oppresses the traveller as he passes among the 
 ruins. 
 
 The. European Eagle Owl has all the habits of its Asiatic 
 congener. It dwells in places far from the neighbourhood of 
 man, and during the day is hidden in some deep and dark recess, 
 its enormous eyes not being able to endure the light of day. In 
 the evening it issues from its retreat, and begins its search after 
 prey, which consists of various birds, quadrupeds, reptiles, fish, 
 and even insects when it can find nothing better. 
 
 On account of its comparatively large dimensions, it is able 
 to overcome even the full-grown hare and rabbit, while the lamb 
 and the young fawn occasionally fall victims to its voracity. 
 It seems never to chase any creature on the wing, but floats 
 silently through the air, its soft and downy plumage deadening 
 the sound of its progress, and suddenly drops on the unsuspect- 
 ing prey while it is on the ground. 
 
 The nest of this Owl is made in the crevices of rocks, or in 
 ruins, and is a very large one, composed of sticks and twigs, 
 lined with a tolerably large heap of dried herbage, the parent 
 Owls returning to the same spot year after year. Should it not 
 be able to find either a rock or a ruin, it contents itself with a 
 hollow in the ground, and there lays its eggs, which are generally 
 two in number, though occasionally a third egg is found. The 
 Egyptian Eagle Owl does much the same thing, burrowing in 
 sand-banks, and retreating, if it fears danger, into the hollow 
 where its nest has been made. 
 
 In the large illustration the two last-mentioned species are
 
 THE OWL. o?5 
 
 given. The Egyptian Eagle Owl is seen with its back towards 
 the spectator, grasping in its talons a dead hare, and with par- 
 tufts erect is looking towards the Barn Owl, which is contem- 
 plating in mingled anger and fear the proceedings of the larger 
 bird. Near them is perched a raven, in order to carry out more 
 fully the prophetic words, "the owl also and the raven shall 
 dwell in it." 
 
 T\vo more passages yet remain in which the word Owl is 
 mentioned, and, curiously enough, both of them are found in the 
 Book of Isaiah, the poet-prophet, who seized with a poet's 
 intuition on the natural objects around him, and converted the 
 simplest and most familiar incidents into glowing imagery and 
 powerful metaphor. 
 
 If the reader will refer to Isaiah xxxiv. 13-15, he will find the 
 following passages, which are, in fact, a continuation of the pro- 
 phecy against Idumea, which has already been quoted. " And 
 thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the 
 fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and 
 a court for owls. 
 
 " The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild 
 beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the 
 screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place 
 of rest. 
 
 " There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, 
 and gather under her shadow." 
 
 It has been already mentioned that the word which is trans- 
 lated as Owl, in the first of these passages, is bath-hay a' anah, 
 which is generally considered to signify the ostrich. In verse 14 
 we come to a new word, namely, lilith. In the marginal reading 
 of the Authorized Version, this word is rendered as "night 
 monster," and the Jewish Bible takes nearly the same view of the 
 word by translating it as "a nocturnal one," evidently basing 
 this interpretation upon the derivation of the word. Several 
 Hebraists have thought that the word lilith merely represents 
 some mythological being, like the dread Lamia of the ancients, a 
 mixture of the material and spiritual too ethereal to be seen 
 by daylight, and. too gross to be above the requirements of human 
 food. The blood of mankind was the food of these fearful 
 beings, and, according to old ideas, they could only live among
 
 376 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ruins and desert places, where they concealed themselves during 
 the day at the bottoms of wells or the recesses of rock-caverns, 
 and stole out at night to seize on some unlucky wanderer, and 
 suck his blood as he slept. 
 
 The reader may remember that even our very imperfect ver- 
 sion of the "Arabian Nights" repeatedly alludes to this belief, 
 the evil spirit being almost invariably represented as dwelling in 
 ruins, rocky places, and the interiors of wells. 
 
 Although it is very possible that the prophet may have 
 referred to some of the mythological beings which were so 
 universally supposed to inhabit deserted spots, and thus to have 
 employed the word lilith as a term which he did not intend to 
 be taken otherwise than metaphorically, it is equally possible 
 that some nocturnal bird may have been meant, and in that case 
 the bird in question must almost certainly have been an Owl 
 of some kind. As to the particular species of Owl, that is a 
 question which cannot be satisfactorily answered, especially as 
 so many scholars find reason to doubt whether the word lilith 
 represents an Owl, or indeed any ordinary inhabitant of earth. 
 As, therefore, we have no data whereon to found a positive 
 opinion, the question will be allowed to remain an open one. 
 
 The last word which is translated as Owl is kippoz, and 
 occurs in ch. xxxiv. 15 : " There shall the great owl make her 
 nest." 
 
 Many Hebraists think that in this case the word Tcippoz is a 
 mere clerical error for Idppod, or hedgehog, and have translated 
 the passage accordingly. The Septuagint and the Vulgate follow 
 this reading ; Buxtorf, in his Hebrew Lexicon, translates Idppoz 
 as Thrush, deriving the name from the dipping character of its 
 flight. The Jewish Bible, following several other authorities, 
 renders the word as "arrow-snake," while several scholars 
 translate it as " darting serpent." This interpretation, however, 
 is .scarcely tenable, as the description of the Kippoz as making 
 its nest, laying its eggs, and gathering them under its shadow, 
 clearly points to a bird, and not a reptile. It is very true that 
 the boa or python snake has been seen to coil itself round a 
 heap of its eggs, but the sacred writer could hardly have had 
 many opportunities of seeing such an act, while the custom of a 
 bird gathering her young under the shadow of her wings must 
 have been perfectly familiar to him. There is, moreover, the
 
 THE XIGHT-HAAVK. 377 
 
 fact that the context speaks of the vultures, so that a bird of 
 some kind was evidently in the mind of the writer. Mr. Tristram 
 suggests that the JCippoz might be intended for the Scops Owl, 
 called Marouf by the Arabs, and which is very common about 
 ruins, caves, and the old walls of towns. Its note is well repre- 
 sented by the word kippo?. 
 
 " It is a migrant, returning to Palestine in spring. It is the 
 smallest owl in the country, being little more than seven inches 
 in length, with long ear-tufts, and its whole plumage most 
 delicately mottled and speckled with grey and light brown." 
 
 This species is very plentiful on the continent of Europe, 
 though it is rare in the British Isles. It feeds, as might be 
 presumed from its diminutive size, on mice, small reptiles, and 
 insects. Its scientific name, according to the nomenclature of 
 the British Museum, is Epbialles Scops. 
 
 THE NIGHT-HAWK. 
 
 Different interpretations of the word Tachmas Probability that it signifies the 
 Nightjar Various names of the bird Its remarkable jarring cry, and wheel- 
 ing flight Mode of feeding Boldness of the bird Deceptive appearance of 
 its size. 
 
 WE next come to the vexed question of the word Tachmas, 
 which is rendered in the Authorized Version as NIGHT-HAWK. 
 
 This word only occurs among the list of prohibited birds (see 
 Lev. xi. 16, and Deut. xiv. 15), and has caused great con- 
 troversies among commentators. Some Hebraists have thought 
 that the male ostrich was signified by tachmds, the word "batli- 
 haya' anah being supposed by them to signify the female ostrich. 
 It is hardly probable, however, that the sacred writer should 
 have mentioned separately the sexes of the same species, and 
 we must therefore look for some other interpretation. 
 
 Going to the opposite extreme of size, some scholars have 
 translated tachmds as Swallow. This again is not a very pro- 
 bable rendering, as the swallow would be too small a bird to be 
 specially named in the prohibitory list. The balance of pro-
 
 378 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 liability seems to lie between two interpretations, namely, that 
 which considers the word tachmds to signify the Night-hawk, 
 and that which translates it as Owl. For both of these inter- 
 pretations much is to be said, and it cannot be denied that of 
 the two the latter is perhaps the preferable. If so, the White 
 or Barn Owl is probably the particular species to which refer- 
 ence is made. 
 
 Still, many commentators think that the Night-hawk or 
 Nightjar is the bird which is signified by the word tachmds; 
 
 THE NIGHT-HAWK. 
 
 ' The owl, and the night-hawk, and the cuckoo." DEUT. xiv. 15. 
 
 and, as we have already treated of the owls, we will accept the 
 rendering of the Authorized Version. Moreover, the Jewish 
 Bible follows the same translation, and renders tachmds as 
 Night-hawk, but affixes the mark of doubt. 
 
 It is not unlikely that the Jews may have reckoned this bird 
 among the owls, just as is the case with the uneducated among 
 ourselves, who popularly speak of the Nightjar as the Fern Owl, 
 Churn Owl, or Jar OwL the two last names being given to
 
 THE NIGHT-HAWK. 379 
 
 it on account of its peculiar cry. There are few birds, indeed, 
 which have received a greater variety of popular names, for, 
 besides the Goatsucker and the five which have already been 
 mentioned, there are the Wheel-bird and Dor-hawk, the former 
 of these names having been given to the bird on account of its 
 wheeling round the trees while seeking for prey, and the latter 
 on account of the dor-beetles on which it largely feeds. 
 
 This curious variety of names is probably due to the very 
 conspicuous character of the Nightjar, its strange, jarring, weird- 
 like cry forcing itself on the ear of the least attentive, as it 
 breaks the silence of night. It hardly seems like the cry of 
 a bird, but rather resembles the sound of a pallet falling on 
 the cogs of a rapidly-working wheel. It begins in the dusk of 
 evening, the long, jarring note being rolled out almost inter- 
 minably, until the hearer wonders how the bird can have breath 
 enough for such a prolonged sound. The hearer may hold his 
 breath as long as he can, take a full inspiration, hold his breath 
 afresh, and repeat this process over and over again, and yet the 
 Nightjar continues to trill out its rapid notes without a moment's 
 cessation for breath, the sound now rising shrill and clear, and 
 now sinking as if the bird were far off, but never ceasing for an 
 instant. 
 
 This remarkable cry has caused the uneducated rustics to 
 look upon the bird with superstitious dread, every one knowing 
 its cry full well, though to many the bird is unknown except 
 by its voice. It is probable that, in the days when Moses wrote 
 the Law, so conspicuous a bird was well known to the Jews, 
 and we may therefore conjecture that it was one of those birds 
 which he would specially mention by name. 
 
 The general habits of the Nightjar are quite as remarkable as 
 its note. It feeds on the wing, chasing and capturing the various 
 moths, beetles, and other insects that fly abroad by night. It 
 may be seen wheeling round the branches of some tree, the oak 
 being a special favourite, sometimes circling round it, and some- 
 times rising high in the air, and the next moment skimming 
 along the ground. Suddenly it will disappear, and next moment 
 its long trilling cry is heard from among the branches of the 
 tree round which it has been flying. To see it while singing is 
 almost impossible, for it has a habit of sitting longitudinally on 
 the branch, and not across it, like most birds, so that the outline
 
 380 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 of its body cannot be distinguished from that of the bough on 
 which it is seated. As suddenly as it began, the sound ceases, 
 and simultaneously the bird may be seen wheeling again through 
 the air with its noiseless flight. 
 
 Being a very bold bird, and not much afraid of man, it allows 
 a careful observer to watch its movements clearly. I have often 
 stood close to the tree round which several Nightjars were 
 circling, and seen them chase their prey to the ground within a 
 yard or two of the spot on which I was standing. The flight of 
 the Nightjar is singularly graceful. Swift as the swallow itself, 
 it presents a command of wing that is really wonderful, gliding 
 through the air with consummate ease, wheeling and doubling 
 in pursuit of some active moth, whose white wings glitter 
 against the dark background, while the sober plumage of its 
 pursuer is scarcely visible, passing often within a few feet of the 
 spectator, and yet not a sound or a rustle will reach his ears. 
 Sometimes the bird is said to strike its wings together over its 
 back, so as to produce a sharp snapping sound, intended to 
 express anger at the presence of the intruder. I never, how- 
 ever, heard this sound, though I have watched the bird so 
 often. 
 
 Owing to the soft plumage with which it is clad, this bird, 
 like the owls, looks larger than really is the case. It is between 
 ten and eleven inches in length, with an expanse of wing of 
 twenty inches, and yet weighs rather less than three ounces. 
 T ts large mouth, like that of the swallow tribe, opens as far as 
 the eyes, and is furnished with a set of vibrissa or bristles, which 
 remind the observer of the "whale-bone" which is set on the 
 jaw of the Greenland whale. The scientific name of the bird is 
 Caprimulgus Europceus.
 
 THE SWALLOW. 381 
 
 THE SWALLOW. 
 
 Identification of the stoallef birds Oriental indifference to natural history Use 
 of collective terms The Swallow Signification of the word Deror The Bird 
 of Liberty Swallows and Swifts The Sunbirds and Bee-eaters Variety of 
 small birds found in Palestine The Swallows of Palestine Swallows pro- 
 tected by man in various countries Nesting of the Swallow The Rufous 
 Swallow and Martin The Sis or Swift Various species of Swift inhabiting 
 the Holy Land Talmudical notions of the Swift or Swallow The leper 
 and his offering The cooking pot and the sacrificial vessel Signification 
 of the word Tbippvr-deroY, 
 
 DIFFICULT as is the identification of the mammalia' mentioned 
 in the Bible, that of the birds is much more intricate. 
 
 Some of the larger birds can be identified with tolerable cer- 
 tainty, but when we come to the smaller and less conspicuous 
 species, we are at once lost in uncertainty, and at the best can 
 only offer conjectures. The fact is, the Jews of old had no 
 idea of discriminating between the smaller birds, unless they 
 happened to be tolerably conspicuous by plumage or by voice. 
 We need not be much surprised at this. The Orientals of 
 the present day do precisely the same thing, and not only 
 fail to discriminate between the smaller birds, but absolutely 
 have no names for them. 
 
 By them, the shrikes, the swallows, the starlings, the thrushes, 
 the larks, the warblers, and all the smaller birds, are called by 
 a common title, derived from the twittering sound of their 
 voices, only one of two of them having any distinctive titles. 
 They look upon the birds much as persons ignorant of ento- 
 mology look at a collection of moths. There is not much 
 difficulty in discriminating between the great hawk-moths, and 
 perhaps in giving a name to one of two of them which are 
 specially noticeable for any peculiarity of form or colour ; 
 but when they come to the "Rustics," the "Carpets," the 
 "Wainscots," and similar groups, they are utterly lost; and, 
 though they may be able to see the characteristic marks when
 
 382 BIBLE ANIMALS, 
 
 the moths are placed side by side, they are incapable of distin- 
 guishing them separately, and, to their uneducated eyes, twenty 
 or thirty species appear absolutely alike. 
 
 I believe that there is no country where a knowledge of prac- 
 tical natural history is so widely extended as in England, and 
 yet how few educated persons are there who, if taken along a 
 country lane, can name the commonest weed or insect, or dis- 
 tinguish between a sparrow, a linnet, a hedge-sparrow, and a 
 chaffinch. Nay, how many are there who, if challenged even to 
 repeat the names of twelve little birds, would be unable to do so 
 without some consideration, much less to know them if the birds 
 were placed before them. 
 
 Such being the case in this country, where the capability of 
 observation is more or less cultivated in every educated person, 
 we may well expect that a profound ignorance on the subject 
 should exist in countries where that faculty is absolutely 
 neglected as a matter of education. Moreover, in England we 
 have a comparatively limited list of birds, whereas in Palestine 
 are found nearly all those which are reckoned among British 
 birds, and many other species besides. Those which reside in 
 England reside also for the most part in Palestine, while the 
 greater part of the migratory birds pass, as we might expect, 
 into the Holy Land and the neighbouring countries. 
 
 If then we put together the two facts of an unobservant 
 people and a vastly extended fauna, we shall not wonder that 
 so many collective terms are used in the Scriptures, one word 
 often doing duty for twenty or thirty species. The only plan, 
 therefore, which can be adopted, is to mention generally the 
 birds which were probably grouped under one name, and to 
 describe briefly one or two of the most prominent. 
 
 It is, however, rather remarkable that the song of birds does 
 not appear to be noticed by the sacred writers. We might 
 expect that several of the prophets, especially Isaiah, the great 
 sacred poet, who drew so many of his images from natural 
 objects, would have found in the song of birds some metaphor 
 expressive of sweetness or joy. We might expect that in the 
 Book of Job, in which so many creatures are mentioned, the 
 singing of birds would be brought as prominently forward as 
 the neck clothed with thunder of the horse, the tameless free- 
 dom of the wild ass, the voracity of the vulture, and the swift-
 
 THE SWALLOW. 383 
 
 ness of the ostrich. We might expect the song of birds to he 
 mentioned by Amos, the herdman of Tekoa, who introduces 
 into his rugged poem the roar of the old lion and the wail of 
 the cub, the venom of the serpent hidden in the wattled wall of 
 the herdman's hut, and the ravages of the palmer-worm among 
 the olives. Above all, we might expect that in the Psalms there 
 would be many allusions to the notes of the various birds which 
 have formed such fruitful themes for the poets of later times. 
 There are, however, in the whole of the Scriptures but two 
 passages in which the song of birds is mentioned, and even in 
 these only a passing allusion is made. 
 
 One of them occurs in Psalm civ. 12: "By them (i.e. the 
 springs of water) shall the fowls of the heaven have their habi- 
 tation, which sing among the branches." This passage is perhaps 
 rendered more closely in the Jewish Bible : " Over them dwell 
 the fowls of the heaven ; they let their voices resound (or give 
 their voice) from between the foliage." 
 
 The other occurs in Eccles. xii. 4 : "And the doors shall be 
 shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and 
 he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters 
 of music shall be brought low." The word which is here trans- 
 lated as " bird," is that which is rendered in some places as 
 " sparrow," in others as " fowl," and in others as " bird." Even 
 in these passages, as the reader will have noticed, no marks of 
 appreciation are employed, and we hear nothing of the sweetness, 
 joyousness, or mournfulness of the bird's song. 
 
 WE will now proceed to the words which have been translated 
 as Swallow in the Authorized Version. 
 
 These are two in number, namely, deror and agar. Hebraists 
 are, however, agreed that the latter word has been wrongly 
 applied, the translators having interchanged the signification of 
 two contiguous words. 
 
 We will therefore first take the word deror. This word 
 signifies liberty, and is well applied to the Swallow, the bird of 
 freedom. It is remarkable, by the way, how some of the old 
 commentators have contrived to perplex themselves about a very 
 simple matter. One of them comments upon the bird as being 
 " so called, because it has the liberty of building in the houses 
 of mankind." Another takes a somewhat similar view of the
 
 384 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 case, but puts it in a catechetical form : " Why is the swallow 
 called the bird of liberty ? Because it lives both in the house 
 and in the field." It is scarcely necessary to point out to the 
 reader that the " liberty " to which allusion is made is the 
 liberty of flight, the bird coming and going at its appointed 
 times, and not being capable of domestication. 
 
 Several kinds of Swallow are known in Palestine, including 
 the true Swallows, the martins, and the swifts, and, as we shall 
 presently see, it is likely that one of these groups was distin- 
 guished by a separate name. Whether or not the word deror 
 included other birds beside the Swallows is rather doubtful, 
 though not at all unlikely ; and if so, it is probable that any 
 swift-winged insectivorous bird would be called by the name of 
 Deror, irrespective of its size or colour. 
 
 The bee-eaters, for example, are probably among the number 
 of the birds grouped together under the word deror, and we 
 may conjecttire that the same is the case with the sunbirds, 
 those bright-plumed little beings that take in the Old World the 
 place occupied by the humming-birds in the New, and often 
 mistaken for them by travellers who are not acquainted with 
 ornithology. One of these birds, the Nectarinia Osece, is de- 
 scribed by Mr. Tristram as " a tiny little creature of gorgeous 
 plumage, rivalling the humming-birds of America in the metallic 
 lustre of its feathers green and purple, with brilliant red and 
 orange plumes under its shoulders." 
 
 In order to account for the singular variety of animal life 
 which is to be found in Palestine, and especially the exceeding 
 diversity of species among the birds, we must remember that 
 Palestine is a sort of microcosm in itself, comprising within its 
 narrow boundaries the most opposite conditions of temperature, 
 climate, and soil. Some parts are rocky, barren, and moun- 
 tainous, chilly and cold at the top, and acting as channels 
 through which the winds blow almost continuously. The cliffs 
 are full of holes, rifts, and caverns, some natural, some artificial, 
 and some of a mixed kind, the original caverns having been 
 enlarged and improved by the hand of man. 
 
 As a contrast to this rough and ragged region, there lie close 
 at hand large fertile plains, affording pasturage for unnumbered 
 cattle, and of a tolerably equable temperature, so that the 
 animals which are pastured in it can find food throughout
 
 THE SWALLOW. 385 
 
 the year. Through the centre of Palestine rims the Jordan, fer- 
 tilizing its banks with perpetual verdure, and ending its course 
 in the sulphurous and bituminous waters of the Dead Sea, 
 under whose waves the ruins of the wicked cities are supposed 
 to lie. Westward we have the shore of the Mediterranean with 
 
 THt KUFUU8 SWALLOW AN1, GALILEAN SWlKr. 
 
 " The turtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe the time of their coming." JER. viii. 7. 
 
 its tideless waves of the salt sea, and on the eastward of the 
 mountain range that runs nearly parallel to the sea is the great 
 Lake of Tiberias, so large as to have earned the name of the Sea 
 of Galilee. 
 
 Under these favourable conditions, therefore, the number of 
 species which are found in Palestine is perhaps greater than can 
 be seen in any other part of the earth of the same dimensions, 
 
 c c
 
 386 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 and it seems probable that for this reason, among many others, 
 Palestine was selected to be the Holy Land. If, for example, 
 the Christian Church had been originated under the tropics, 
 those who lived in a cold climate could scarcely have understood 
 the language in which the Scriptures must necessarily have been 
 couched. Had it, on the contrary, taken its rise in the Arctic 
 regions, the inhabitants of the tropics and temperate regions 
 could not have comprehended the imagery in which the teachings 
 of Scripture must have been conveyed. But the small and 
 geographically insignificant Land of Palestine combines in itself 
 many of the characteristics which belong respectively to the 
 cold, the temperate, and the hot regions of the world, so that the 
 terms in which the sacred writings are couched are intelligible 
 to a very great proportion of the world's inhabitants. 
 
 This being the case, we naturally expect to find that several 
 species of the Swallow are inhabitants of Palestine, if indeed so 
 migratory a bird can be rightly said to be an inhabitant of any 
 one country. 
 
 The chief characteristic of the Swallow, the " bird of free- 
 dom," is that it cannot endure captivity, but is forced by instinct 
 to pass from one country to another for the purpose of preserving 
 itself in a tolerably equable temperature, moving northwards 
 as the spring ripens into summer, and southwards as autumn 
 begins to sink into winter. By some marvellous instinct it 
 traces its way over vast distances, passing over hundreds of 
 miles where nothing but the sea is beneath it, and yet at the 
 appointed season returning with unerring certainty to the spot 
 where it was hatched. How it is guided no one knows, but the 
 fact is certain, that Swallows, remarkable for some peculiarity 
 by which they could be at once identified, have been observed 
 to leave the country on their migration, and to return in the 
 following year to the identical nest whence they started. 
 
 The habits of the Swallow are much the same in Palestine as 
 they are in England. Its habit of making its nest among the 
 habitations of mankind is mentioned in a well-known passage 
 of the Psalms : " The sparrow hath found an house, and the 
 swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even 
 Thine altars, Lord of Hosts, my King and my God " (Ps. 
 Ixxxiv. 3). The Swallow seems in all countries to have enjoyed 
 the protection of man, and to have been suffered to build in
 
 THE SWALLOW. 387 
 
 peace under his roof. We find the same idea prevalent in the 
 New World as well as the Old, and it is rather curious that the 
 presence of the bird should so generally be thought to bring luck 
 to a house. 
 
 In some parts of our country, a farmer would not dare to kill 
 a Swallow or break down its nest, simply because he thinks 
 that if he did so his cows would fail to give their due supply 
 of milk. The connexion between the milking of a cow in the 
 field and the destruction of a Swallow's nest in the house is not 
 very easy to see, but nevertheless such is the belief. This idea 
 ranks with that which asserts the robin and the wren to be the 
 male and female of the same species, and to be under some 
 special divine protection. 
 
 Whatever may be the origin of this superstition, whether it 
 be derived from some forgotten source, or whether it be the 
 natural result of the confiding nature of the bird, the Swallow 
 enjoys at the present day the protection of man, and builds freely 
 iu his houses, and even his places of worship. The heathen 
 temples, the Mahometan mosques, and the Christian churches 
 are alike inhabited by the Swallow, who seems to know her 
 security, and often places her nest where a child might reach it. 
 
 The bird does not, however, restrict itself to the habitations 
 of man, though it prefers them ; and in those places where no 
 houses are to be found, and yet where insects are plentiful, it 
 takes possession of the clefts of rocks, and therein makes its 
 nest. Many instances are known where the Swallow has chosen 
 the most extraordinary places for its nest. It has been known 
 to build year after year on the frame of a picture, between the 
 handles of a pair of shears hung on the wall, on a lamp-bracket, 
 in a table-drawer, on a door-knocker, and similar strange 
 localities. 
 
 The swiftness of flight for which this bird is remarkable is 
 noticed by the sacred writers. " As the bird by wandering, as 
 the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come" 
 (Prov. xxvi. 2). This passage is given rather differently in the 
 Jewish Bible, though the general sense remains the same : 
 " As the bird is ready to flee, as the swallow to fly away ; so a 
 causeless execration, it shall not come." It is possible, however, 
 that this passage may allude rather to the migration than the 
 swiftness of the bird. 
 
 cc2
 
 388 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Several species of Swallow inhabit the Holy Land. There is, 
 for example, our common SWALLOW, which is one of the migratory 
 species, while another, the Oriental Swallow (Hirundo cahirica), 
 often remains in the warmer parts of the country throughout the 
 year. This bird may be distinguished by the chestnut hue of 
 the under parts. 
 
 Perhaps the most characteristic species is the EDFOUS or 
 RUSSET SWALLOW (Hirundo rvfula), a bird which is exceed- 
 ingly rare even in the warmer parts of Europe, but is plentiful 
 in Palestine. It may be easily known by the chestnut red of 
 the back just above the tail, in the spot where the white patch 
 occurs in our house martin. The under parts are differently 
 coloured from those of the common Swallow, being pink instead 
 of white. 
 
 Several Martins inhabit Palestine, among which are the two 
 species with which we are so familiar in England, namely, the 
 HOUSE MARTIN (Chelidon urbica) and the SAND MARTIN (Cotyle 
 riparia). At least two other species of Martin are known to 
 inhabit the Holy Land, but they do not call for any special notice. 
 
 BESIDES the word deror, which is acknowledged to signify 
 the Swallow, there is another word which, by a curious trans- 
 position, has been translated as " crane," whereas there is little 
 doubt that it signifies one of the Swallow tribe, and most pro- 
 bably represents the Swift. The word is sis, and occurs in 
 two passages. The first occurs in Isa. xxxviii. 13, 14, in the well- 
 known prayer of Hezekiah during his sickness : " From day 
 even to night wilt thou make an end of me. Like a crane [sis], 
 or a swallow, so did I chatter : I did mourn as a dove : mine 
 eyes fail with looking upward." The Jewish Bible reads the 
 words, " Like a chattering swallow," affixing the mark of doubt ; 
 while the Septuagint translates the word sis as " Chelidon," or 
 Swallow, and this is probably the correct rendering of the word. 
 
 Accepting this as the true interpretation, we find that the 
 word sis is very expressive of the perpetual chattering of the 
 Swift, whose sharp, shrill cries often betray its presence while 
 it is sailing in the air almost beyond the ken of human eyes. 
 There is a wailing, melancholy sound about the bird's cry which 
 makes Hezekiah's image exceedingly appropriate, and he could 
 hardly have selected a more forcible metaphor.
 
 THE SWIFT. 389 
 
 The second passage occurs in Jer. viii. 7 : " Yea, the stork in 
 the heaven knoweth her appointed times ; and the turtle, and 
 the crane [sis], and the swallow observe the time of their 
 coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord." 
 With regard to this passage, the Jewish Bible renders the word 
 sis as Swallow, though with the mark of doubt. 
 
 Allusion is here made to the migratory habits of the Swift, 
 There is, perhaps, no bird more conspicuous in this respect ; for 
 whereas the other migratory birds seem to straggle, as it were, 
 into the country, the Swifts arrive almost simultaneously, so 
 that on one day not a Swift will be seen, and on the next the air 
 is full of their dark, glancing forms. 
 
 Like the Swallow, the Swift haunts the neighbourhood of 
 man, and loves to build its simple nest in the roofs of houses. 
 Almost any hole will do for a Swift to build in, provided that it 
 be tolerably deep ; for the bird loves darkness for its nest, though 
 it is essentially in its habits a bird of light. 
 
 Perhaps the word " build " is scarcely the right one, inasmuch 
 as the nest is even more simple than that of the sand-martin. 
 This latter bird does indeed arrange with some regularity the 
 feathers which compose its nest, as may be seen by a beautiful 
 specimen obtained by Mr. Gould ; whereas the Swift merely 
 places together a quantity- of hay, straw, hair, feathers, and 
 similar materials, all of which are probably obtained from the 
 ruins of a sparrow's nest which had occupied the hole before 
 the S\vift took possession of it. 
 
 Several species of Swift inhabit Palestine. The common Swift 
 (Cypselus opus), with which we are so familiar, is very plentiful, 
 and so is the ALPINE SWIFT (Cypselus melba), a bird which is 
 rare in England, though it occasionally visits our shores. It is 
 much larger than the common Swift, and is brown above and 
 white below, instead of being dusky black, like the common 
 species. 
 
 The most characteristic species is, however, the GALILEAN 
 SWIFT (Cypselus affvnis). Of this kind, Mr. Tristram remarks 
 that it is "very like the house-martin in general appearance 
 and size. It resides all the year in the Jordan valley, where 
 alone it is found, living in large communities, and has a pleasing 
 note, a gentle and melodious wail, very different from the harsh 
 scream of the other swifts. Its nests are very peculiar, being
 
 390 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 composed generally of straw and feathers, agglutinated together 
 by the bird's saliva, like those of the edible swallow of Eastern 
 Asia. They are without any lining, attached to the under side 
 of an overhanging rock. It also sometimes takes possession of 
 the nest of the rufus swallow for its purposes. The Galilean 
 swift has a wide range, being found in India and Abyssinia." 
 
 It is possible that this may be the Sis mentioned by Hezekiah, 
 its soft wailing cry being used as the metaphor to express his 
 own complaining. 
 
 As might be expected, the Talmudical writers have much to 
 say on this bird. 
 
 For example, the offering which a leper made at the cleansing 
 of his infirmity might be the Tzippor-deror, the rather quaint 
 reason being that it was a bird with sharp scratching claws, and 
 was therefore very appropriately offered in connexion with a 
 disease of the skin. Here we have rather a complication of 
 terms, the word tzippor being used, as we shall presently see, to 
 signify the sparrow in particular, or any little bird in general. 
 The particular species, therefore, which is signified by the com- 
 bination of the two words tzippor-deror is rather obscure, and 
 the Talmudists themselves are rather uncertain about it. The 
 interpretation of this compound word seems, however, to have 
 been a difficulty, and the various renderings which have been 
 suggested seem at last to have varied between the wild pigeon, 
 or rock-dove, and the Swallow. An account of the various 
 arguments is given by Lewysohn in his " Zoologie des Talmuds," 
 page 206, and may be briefly epitomized, as follows, in favour 
 of the Swallow, or, as we shall soon see, the Swift. 
 
 The reader may perhaps be acquainted with the legend re- 
 specting the death of Titus, how a gnat made its way through 
 his nostril into his brain, and there grew and kept him in 
 constant torture until he died, when, according to some writers, 
 it had reached the size of a Tzippor-deror, and weighed two 
 selaim. Others enlarged upon this story, and said that it 
 grew as large as a wild pigeon, and weighed two pounds. 
 Now, as twenty-five selaim are equal to one pound, it follows 
 that the Tzippor-deror must have been very much less than 
 the wild pigeon, and that therefore the two birds could not have 
 been identical.
 
 THE SWIFT. 391 
 
 Another reason for believing the Tzippor-deror to be a much 
 smaller bird than the pigeon is found in a curious rule respecting 
 the eating of certain meats. The Jews were forbidden to eat 
 date-shells with the heathen, unless they were cooked in a vessel 
 with an opening so small that a Tzippor-deror could not have 
 been introduced into the pot. The reason of this curious proviso 
 was, that ..if any unclean flesh, such as that of the swine, or of 
 any animal which had been offered to idols, had been cooked in 
 that vessel, even the date-shells would become unclean. But, if 
 the mouth of the pot were too small for a Tzippor-deror to be 
 passed through it, such a vessel could not have been used in 
 cooking meat, and might" therefore be assumed to be clean. 
 Here, then, we have another proof of the small size of the 
 bird. With regard to this argument, I find myself perplexed 
 as to the " date- she! Is." Dates have no shells, and need no 
 cooking, while the stones are too hard and woody to be rendered 
 edible by any amount of cooking. Still, the word employed by 
 Lewysohn is " dattelschalen." 
 
 The leper's offering was not laid on the altar, but was sub- 
 mitted to a peculiar manipulation on the part of the priest. 
 Among other points of ritual, the blood had to be mixed with 
 a certain quantity of water, which it barely discoloured, staining 
 it of a very pale red. As the amount of water was the fourth 
 part of a "log," and is defined to be equal to the contents of 
 six hen's eggs, it was evident that the bird whose blood would 
 only discolour so small a volume of water must be a little one. 
 
 After giving all these details, the learned writer sums up his 
 arguments by saying that he believes the Tzippor-deror to be the 
 White Swallow, which is small, and has claws so sharp that by 
 means of them it can cling to the wall. Now this action is one 
 of the characteristics of the Swifts, who often cling to walls for 
 a time, and then resume their flight. They do so in preference 
 to sitting on the ground after the fashion of the Swallow, because 
 the great length of the wings causes the Swift to find some 
 little difficulty in rising from a level surface. After weighing 
 all the various arguments that have been urged on the subject, 
 we may conclude that the Tzippor-deror was the White, or 
 Alpine Swift, which has been already described on page 389.
 
 392 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE HOOPOE, OR LAPWING OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 The "Dukiphath" of Scripture Various interpretations of the word The 
 Hoopoe Its beauty and ill reputation The unpleasant odour of its nest 
 Food of the Hoopoe Its beautiful nest, and remarkable gestures A curious 
 legend of Solomon and the Hoopoe. 
 
 IN the two parallel chapters, Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv., there occurs 
 the name of a bird which is translated in the Authorized Version, 
 Lapwing : " And the stork, the heron after her kind, the lapwing, 
 and the bat." 
 
 The Hebrew word is dukiphath, and various interpretations 
 have been proposed for it, some taking it to be the common 
 domestic fowl, others the cock-of-the- woods, or capercailzie, 
 while others have preferred to translate it as Hoopoe. The 
 Jewish Bible retains the word lapwing, but adds the mark of 
 doubt. Commentators are, however, agreed that of all these 
 interpretations, that which renders the word as HOOPOE ( Upupa 
 epops) is the best. 
 
 There would be no particular object in the prohibition of such 
 a bird as the lapwing, or any of its kin, while there would be 
 very good reasons for the same injunction with regard to the 
 Hoopoe. 
 
 In spite of the beauty of the bird, it has always had rather an 
 ill reputation, and, whether in Europe or Asia, its presence 
 seems to be regarded by the ignorant with a kind of super- 
 stitious aversion. This universal distaste for the Hoopoe is 
 probably occasioned by an exceedingly pungent and 'disagree- 
 able odour which fills the nest of the bird, and which infects 
 for a considerable time the hand which is employed to take 
 the eggs. 
 
 The nest is, moreover, well calculated for retaining any un- 
 pleasant smell, being generally made in the hollow of a tree, and 
 having therefore but little of that thorough ventilation which is 
 found in nearly all nests which are built on boughs arid sprays.
 
 THE HOOPOE. 
 
 393 
 
 The odour in question proceeds from a substance secreted from 
 the tail-glands of the Hoopoe, and is not due, as was long 
 supposed, to the food which was brought to the nest. 
 
 There was good reason for supposing that this evil odour was 
 caused by the food, inasmuch as the Hoopoe is in the habit of 
 raking about in very unsavoury places in search of insects. But 
 
 THE. HOOfOE 
 
 it does not therefore follow that the insects which it finds are 
 possessed of an evil smell. On the contrary, some of the worst- 
 smelling insects notably the lace- wing fly and many of the 
 flower-haunting hemiptera are invariably found upon the leaves 
 of trees and the petals of flowers ; while others which, like many 
 of the scarab beetles, haunt the most repulsive substances, are in 
 themselves bright, and clean, and sweet.
 
 394 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The food of the Hoopoe consists almost entirely of insects. 
 They have been said to feed on earth-worms ; but this notion 
 seems to be a mistaken one, as in captivity they will not touch 
 an earth-worm so long as they can procure an insect. Beetles of 
 various kinds seem to be their favourite food, and when the 
 beetles are tolerably large say, for example, as large as the 
 common cockchafer and dor-beetle the bird beats them into a 
 soft mass before it attempts to eat them. Smaller beetles are 
 swallowed without any ceremony. The various boring insects 
 which make their home in decaying wood are favourite articles 
 of diet with the Hoopoe, which digs them out of the soft wood 
 with its long curved beak. 
 
 It has already been mentioned that the nest is usually made 
 in the hollow of a tree. In many parts of the country however, 
 hollow trees cannot be found, and in that case the Hoopoe resorts 
 to clefts in the rock, or even to holes in old ruins. 
 
 The bird is a peculiarly conspicuous one, not only on account 
 of its boldly-barred plumage and its beautiful crest, but by its 
 cry and its gestures. It has a way of elevating and depressing- 
 its crest, and bobbing its head up and down, in a manner which 
 could not fail to attract the attention even of the most incurious, 
 the whole aspect and expression of the bird varying with the 
 raising and depressing of the crest. 
 
 Eespecting this crest there is a curious old legend. As is the 
 case with most of the Oriental legends, it introduces the name of 
 King Solomon, who, according to Oriental notions, was a mighty 
 wizard rather than a wise king, and by means of his seal, on 
 which was engraven the mystic symbol of Divinity, held sway 
 over the birds, the beasts, the elements, and even over the Jinns 
 and Afreets, i.e. the good and evil spirits, which are too ethereal 
 for the material world and too gross for the spiritual, and there- 
 fore hold the middle place between them. 
 
 On one of his journeys across the desert, Solomon w r as perish- 
 ing from the heat of the sun, when the Hoopoes came to his aid, 
 and flew in a dense mass over his head, thus forming a shelter 
 from the fiery sunbeams. Grateful for this assistance, the 
 monarch told the Hoopoes to ask for a boon, and it should be 
 granted to them. The birds, after consulting together, agreed to 
 ask that from that time every Hoopoe should wear a crown 
 of gold like Solomon himself. The request was immediately
 
 THE SPARROW. 395 
 
 granted, and each Hoopoe found itself adorned with a royal 
 crown. At first, while their honours were new, great was the 
 joy of the birds, "who paused at every little puddle of water to 
 contemplate themselves, bowing their heads over the watery 
 mirror so as to display the crown to the best advantage. 
 
 Soon, however, they found cause to repent of their ambition. 
 The golden crown became heavy and wearisome to them, and, 
 besides, the wealth bestowed on the birds rendered them the 
 prey of every fowler. The unfortunate Hoopoes were per- 
 secuted in all directions for the sake of their golden crowns, 
 which they could neither take off nor conceal. 
 
 At last, the few survivors presented themselves before Solo- 
 mon, and begged him to rescind his fatal gift, which he did by 
 substituting a crest of feathers for the crown of gold. The 
 Hoopoe, however, never forgets its former grandeur, and is 
 always bowing and bending itself as it used to do when con- 
 templating its golden crown in the water. 
 
 THE SPARROW. 
 
 Signification of the word Tzippor The bird used for the leper's sacrifice The 
 Sparrow upon the house-top Architecture of the East Proclamation from 
 the house-tops The Blue Thrush, its appearance and habits Little birds 
 exposed for sale in the market. The two Sparrows sold for a farthing Bird- 
 catching The net, the snare, and the trap The Sparrow that builds her nest 
 in the Temple The Tree-Sparrow Various Sparrows that inhabit Palestine 
 Birds kept in cages. 
 
 WE have already discussed the signification of the compound 
 word tzippor-deror, and will now take the word tzippor alone. 
 
 Like many other Hebrew terms, the word is evidently used in 
 a collective sense, signifying any small bird that is not specially 
 designated. In several portions of Scripture it is translated as 
 Sparrow, and to that word we will at present restrict ourselves.
 
 396 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Much difficulty has been found in identifying the bird which 
 is signified by this word, the various allusions not agreeing with 
 each other. For example, in the marginal reading in Lev. xiv. 4 
 it is employed as a bird of sacrifice. When a leper had found 
 that his disease had passed away, he was ordered to present 
 himself before the priest, who would examine him, and decide 
 whether the leprosy had really passed away or not. If he found 
 that the man was right, a series of symbolic ceremonies had to 
 be performed before the former leper could be restored to his 
 place in the congregation. 
 
 These ceremonies lasted for eight days, and the first of them 
 was the sacrificing of the Sparrow. " Then shall the priest com- 
 mand to take for him that shall be cleansed two birds [tzipporim 
 or sparrows] alive and clean, and cedar- wood, and scarlet, and 
 hyssop." One of these birds was to be sacrificed over running 
 water, and the other to be set free, this sacrifice being analogous 
 to that of the scape-goat. 
 
 We see in this passage that the bird in question, whatever it 
 might be, must be one of those birds which were considered as 
 clean and fit for food. Indeed, the very use of the word " clean " 
 shows that the leper was not restricted to any particular species. 
 Had this been the case, there would have been no necessity for 
 stipidating that the Tzipporim must belong to the list of clean 
 birds i.e. those which were permitted as food to the Israelites. 
 Had any definite species been intended, there would have been 
 no necessity for mentioning the word " clean " in connexion with 
 the bird. 
 
 In the remaining ceremonies no such word is needed. There 
 is no stipulation that the lamb to be sacrificed should be clean, 
 or, in case the leper should be a poor man, that the doves which 
 he offers should be clean. That the lamb should be without 
 blemish is especially mentioned, because it would not be right to 
 offer a maimed or diseased animal he who presented himself 
 before the Lord might not offer a sacrifice which cost him nothing, 
 and therefore was no true sacrifice. But the lamb and the dove 
 were known to be " clean " animals, so it was useless to use the 
 word in connexion with them. If, therefore, the words " clean 
 birds" (tzipporim) be mentioned, it is evident that the leper 
 might select any of the Tzipporim, provided that it be one of 
 the species that was acknowledged to be clean.
 
 THE SPARROW. 39? 
 
 Here, then, we have an example that the Sparrow might be a 
 bird of sacrifice. We will now pass to Ps. cii. 5-7, in which 
 we find that the word is used as an emblem of solitude and 
 misery : " By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones 
 cleave to my skin. 
 
 " I am like a pelican of the wilderness : I am like an owl of 
 the desert. 
 
 " I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house-top." 
 
 The word which is here translated as " Sparrow " is tzippor, 
 the same which is rendered as "bird" in Lev. xiv. 4. The 
 Hebrew Bible more consistently uses the collective term " bird " 
 in both instances, and renders the passage as, " I watch, and am 
 as a lonely bird upon a roof." 
 
 Now, any one who knows the habits of the Sparrow is per- 
 fectly aware that it is a peculiarly sociable bird. It is quarrel- 
 some enough with its fellows, and always ready to fight for a 
 stray grain or morsel of food ; but it is exceedingly gregarious, 
 assembling together in little parties, enlivening the air with its 
 merry though unmusical twitterings. 
 
 This cosmopolitan bird is plentiful in the coast towns of 
 Palestine, where it haunts the habitations of men with the same 
 dauntless confidence which it displays in England. It is often 
 seen upon roofs or house-tops, but is no more apt to sit alone in 
 Palestine than it is in England. On the contrary, the Sparrows 
 collect in great numbers on the house-tops, attracted by the 
 abundant supply of food whic-h it finds there. This requires 
 some little explanation. 
 
 The house-tops of the East, instead of being gabled and tiled as 
 among ourselves, to allow the rain to run off, are quite flat, and 
 serve as terraces or promenades in the evening, or even for 
 sleeping-places; and from the house-tops proclamations were 
 made. See, for example, 1 Sam. ix. 25 : " And when they were 
 come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed 
 with Saul upon the top of the house " this being the ordinary 
 place which would be chosen for a conversation. In order to 
 keep out the heat of the mid-day sun, tents were sometimes 
 pitched upon these flat house-tops. (See 2 Sam. xvi. 22.) Re- 
 ference to the use of the house-tops as places for conversation 
 are made in the New Testament. See, for example, Matt. x. 27 : 
 " What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light ; and what
 
 398 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops." Another 
 passage of a similar nature occurs in Luke xii. 3 : " Therefore 
 whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the 
 light, and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall 
 be proclaimed on the house-tops." 
 
 These roofs, instead of being built with sloping rafters like 
 those to which we are accustomed in this country, are made 
 with great beams of wood laid horizontally, and crossed by 
 planks, poles, and brushwood packed tightly together. As this 
 roof would not keep out the rain, it is covered with a thick layer 
 of clay mixed with straw, and beaten down as hard as possible. 
 This covering has constantly to be renewed, as, even in the best 
 made roofs, the heavy rains are sure to wash away some portion 
 of the clay covering, which has to be patched up with a fresh 
 supply of earth. A stone roller is generally kept on the roof of 
 each house for the purpose of making a flat and even surface. 
 
 The earth which is used for this purpose is brought from the 
 uncultivated ground, and is full of various seeds. As soon as the 
 rains fall, these seeds spring up, and afford food to the Sparrows 
 and other little birds, who assemble in thousands on the house- 
 tops, and then peck away just as they do in our own streets and 
 farm-yards. 
 
 It is now evident that the " sparrow alone and melancholy 
 upon the house-tops" cannot be the lively, gregarious Sparrow 
 which assembles in such numbers on these favourite feeding- 
 places. We must therefore look for some other bird, and 
 naturalists are now agreed that we may accept the BLUE THRUSH 
 (Petrocossyphus cyaneus) as the particular Tzippor, or small bird, 
 which sits alone on the house-tops. The colour of this bird is 
 a dark blue, whence it derives its popular name. Its habits 
 exactly correspond with the idea of solitude arid melancholy. 
 The Blue Thrushes never assemble in flocks, and it is very rare 
 to see more than a pair together. It is fond of sitting on the 
 tops of houses, uttering its note, which, however agreeable to 
 itself, is monotonous and melancholy to a human ear. 
 
 In connexion with the passage already quoted, " What ye 
 hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops," I will take 
 the opportunity of explaining the passage itself, which scarcely 
 seems relevant to the occasion unless we understand its bearings. 
 The context shows that our Lord was speaking of the new doc-
 
 THE SPARROW. 
 
 399 
 
 trines which He had come to teach, and the duty of spreading 
 them, and alludes to a mode of religious teaching which was 
 then in vogue. 
 
 The long captivity of the Jews in Babylon had caused the 
 Hebrew language to be disused among the common people, who 
 had learned the Chaldaic language from their captors. After 
 their return to Palestine, the custom of publicly reading the 
 
 THE BLUE TnnUBH, OB SPABUOW OF 8OIUPTURK. 
 
 "I am at a sparrow alone upon the house-tops." Ps. cii. 7. 
 
 Scriptures was found to be positively useless, the generality of 
 the people being ignorant of the Hebrew language. 
 
 Accordingly, the following modification was adopted. The 
 roll of the Scriptures was brought out as usual, and the sacred 
 words read, or rather chanted. After each passage was read, a 
 doctor of the law whispered its meaning into the ear of a Tar- 
 gumista or interpreter, who repeated to the people in the Chal- 
 daic language the explanation which the doctor had whispered 
 in Hebrew. The reader will now see how appropriate is the 
 metaphor, the whispering in the ear and subsequent proclama- 
 tion being the customary mode of imparting religious instruction.
 
 400 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 If the reader will now turn to Matt. x. 29, he will fiid that 
 the word " sparrow " is used in a passage which has become very 
 familiar to us. " Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and 
 one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 
 
 " But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 
 
 " Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many 
 sparrows." The same sentences are given by St. Luke (xii. 6), in 
 almost the same words. 
 
 Now the word which is translated as " Sparrow " is stroutkion, 
 a collective word, signifying a bird of any kind. Without the 
 addition of some epithet, it was generally used to signify any 
 kind of small bird, though it is occasionally employed to signify 
 even so large a creature as an eagle, provided that the bird had 
 been mentioned beforehand. Conjoined with the word " great," 
 it signifies the ostrich ; and when used in connexion with a word 
 significative of running, it is employed as a general term for all 
 cursorial birds. 
 
 In the passages above quoted it is used alone, and evidently 
 signifies any kind of little bird, whether it be a sparrow or not. 
 Allusion is made by our Lord to a custom, which has survived 
 to the present day, of exposing for sale in the markets the bodies 
 of little birds. They are stripped of their feathers, and spitted 
 together in rows, just as are larks in this country, and always 
 have a large sale. Various birds are sold in this manner, little 
 if any distinction being made between them, save perhaps in 
 respect of size, the larger species commanding a higher price 
 than the small birds. In fact, they are arranged exactly after 
 the manner in which the Orientals sell their " kabobs," i.e. little 
 pieces of meat pierced by wooden skewers. 
 
 It is evident that to supply such a market it is necessary that 
 the birds should be of a tolerably gregarious nature, so that a 
 considerable number can be caught at a time. Nets were 
 employed for this purpose, and we may safely infer that the 
 forms of the nets and the methods of using them were identical 
 with those which are employed in the same country at the 
 present day. 
 
 It is rather curious that the mode of bird-catching which is 
 'familiar to us under the name of bat-fowling is employed in the 
 East. The fowlers supply themselves with a large net supported 
 on two sticks, and, taking a lantern with them fastened to the
 
 THE SPARROW. 401 
 
 top of a pole, they sally out at night to the places where the 
 small birds sleep. 
 
 Raising the net on its sticks, they lift it to the requisite 
 height, and hold the lantern exactly opposite to it, so as to place 
 the net between the birds and the lantern. The roosting-places 
 are then beaten with sticks or pelted with stones, so as to 
 awaken the sleeping birds. Startled by the sudden noise, they 
 dash from their roosts, instinctively make towards the light, and 
 so fall into the net. Bird-catching with nets is several time? 
 mentioned in the Old Testament, but in the New the net is onl} 
 alluded to as used for taking fish. 
 
 Beside the net, several other modes of bird-catching were used 
 by the ancient Jews, just as is the case at the present day. 
 Boys, for example, who catch birds for their own consumption, 
 and not for the market, can do so by means of various traps, 
 most of which are made on the principle of the noose, or snare. 
 Sometimes a great number of hair-nooses are set in places to 
 which the birds are decoyed, so that in hopping about many of 
 them are sure to become entangled in the snares. Sometimes 
 the noose is ingeniously suspended in a narrow passage which 
 the birds are likely to traverse, and sometimes a simple fall-trap 
 is employed. 
 
 To these nooses many allusions are made in the Scriptures. 
 See, for example, Ps. cxxiv. 7 : " Our soul is escaped as a bird 
 (tzippvr) out of the snare of the fowlers : the snare is broken, 
 and we are escaped." Also Prov. vii. 23 : " He goeth after her 
 straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter ... as a bird 
 hasteneth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life." 
 There is one passage in Ecclesiastes, where both the fishing-net 
 and the snare are mentioned in connexion with each other : 
 " For man knoweth not his time : as the fishes that are taken 
 in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare ; so 
 are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth 
 suddenly upon them " (ix. 12). 
 
 Allusion is also made to the snare by the prophet Amos in 
 one of the passages where his rough, homely diction rises by 
 successive steps into sublimity : " Can a bird fall in a snare upon 
 the earth, where no gin is for him \ -shall one take up a snare 
 from the earth, and have taken nothing at all ? " (iii. 5.) 
 
 So common was the use of the snare that it was frequently 
 
 D D
 
 402 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 used as a familiar image by the sacred writers. " How long 
 shall this man be a snare to us ? " said Pharaoh's servants of 
 Moses, through whom the waters of the sacred river had been 
 polluted, and various other plagues had come upon the Egyptians. 
 Idols are called snares in many parts of the Scriptures, and so 
 is the society of the wicked. A forcible use of this image was 
 made by Saul when he found that his daughter Michal loved 
 David : " And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a 
 snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against 
 him " (1 Sam. xviii. 21). His device, or snare, not only failed, 
 but, as we learn in the succeeding chapter, verses 11 16, David 
 was " delivered from the snare of the fowler," by the very means 
 which had been employed for entrapping him. 
 
 WE now pass to another division of the subject. In Ps. Ixxxiv. 
 1-3, we come upon a passage in which the Sparrow is again 
 mentioned : " How amiable are Thy tabernacles, Lord of hosts ! 
 
 " My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the 
 Lord ; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 
 
 " Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a 
 nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Thine altars, 
 Lord of hosts, my King, and my God." 
 
 It is evident that we have in this passage a different bird 
 from the Sparrow that silteth alone upon the house-tops ; and 
 though the same word, tzippor, is used in both cases, it is clear 
 that whereas the former bird was mentioned as an emblem of 
 sorrow, solitude, and sadness, the latter is brought forward as an 
 image of joy and happiness. " Blessed are they," proceeds the 
 Psalmist, '' that dwell in Thy house : they will be still praising 
 Thee. . . . For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. I 
 had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to 
 dwell in the tents of wickedness/' 
 
 According to Mr. Tristram, this is probably one of the species 
 to which allusion is made by the Psalmist. While inspecting 
 the ruins in the neighbourhood of the Temple, he came upon an 
 old wall. " Near this gate I climbed on to the top of the wall, 
 and walked along for some time, enjoying the fine view at the 
 gorge of the Kedron. with its harvest crop of little white tombs. 
 In a chink I discovered a sparrow's nest (Passer cisalpinus, var.) 
 of a species so closely allied to our own that it is difficult
 
 THE SPARROW. 
 
 403 
 
 to distinguish it, one of the very kind of which the Psalmist 
 sung. . . . The swallows had departed for the winter, but the 
 sparrow has remained pertinaciously through all the sieges and 
 changes of Jerusalem." 
 
 The same traveller thinks that the TREE SPARROW (Passer 
 montanus') may be the species to which the sacred writer refers, 
 
 THE TREE-SPARROW, OR SPARROW OP SCRIPTURE. 
 
 " Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, whfre she ~<nay lay her young." Ps. Ixxxiv. 3 
 
 as it is even now very plentiful about the neighbourhood of the 
 Temple. In all probability we may accept both these birds as 
 representatives of the Sparrow which found a home in the 
 Temple. The swallow is separately mentioned, possibly because 
 its migratory habits rendered it a peculiarly conspicuous bird ; 
 but it is probable that many species of birds might make their 
 nests in a place where they felt themselves secure from dis- 
 turbance, and that all these birds would be mentioned under the 
 collective and convenient term of Tzipporim. 
 
 As we are engaged upon the word Sparrow, it may be men- 
 tioned that several species of Sparrow inhabit Palestine. There 
 
 DD 2
 
 404 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 is, for example, the common House Sparrow, with which we are 
 so familiar. Then, as has just been described, there is the Tree 
 Sparrow a bird which is very common in some parts of England, 
 and never seen in others. 
 
 Beside these, there is the MARSH SPARROW, or SPANISH 
 SPARROW (Passer salicarius), which haunts the banks of the 
 Jordan, and is found there in countless myriads. Mr. Tristram 
 mentions that it builds so plentifully in the thorn-bushes of the 
 Jordan valley, that he has seen the branches borne -down by the 
 weight of the nests. The same writer, in remarking upon the 
 difficulty, not to say impossibility, of defining the precise bird 
 which was signified by a Hebrew word, says that, exclusive of 
 the crow tribe, the swifts, cuckoos, rollers, kingfishers, &c., 
 nearly one hundred and fifty species of passerine birds are known 
 to inhabit the Holy Land, any or all of which may be signified 
 by the word tzippor. 
 
 In curious contrast to the generally unobservant nature of the 
 Oriental, and to the almost entire absence in Scripture of any 
 allusion to the song of birds, we find that not only do the 
 Orientals of the present day keep singing-birds in cages, but 
 that the custom was in all probability prevalent during the days 
 when the various Scriptural books were written. Any of my 
 readers who are familiar as they ought to be with that store- 
 house of Oriental manners, the " Arabian Nights," will remember 
 several allusions to birds kept in cages, some for their song, 
 some for their beauty of plumage, and some for their powers of 
 talking. The same custom is continued at the present day ; and 
 not only in Palestine, but in other Eastern countries, birds may 
 be seen in cages hung outside the houses. 
 
 In two passages of the Scriptures the word " cage " is men- 
 tioned, but in one case the word evidently has another meaning, 
 and in the other the signification is open to doubt. 
 
 The first of these passages occurs in Jer. v. 27 : "For among 
 my people are found wicked men : they lay wait, as he that 
 setteth snares ; they set a trap, they catch men. 
 
 " As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit." 
 
 There is but little doubt that the word which is rendered here 
 
 as " cage " really signifies a trap, probably one of the basket-traps 
 
 which are still employed in the East in bird-catching. One 
 
 marginal reading gives the word as " coop." The whole of the
 
 THE CUCKOO. 405 
 
 context, 'however, shows that reference is made, not to keeping 
 birds in cages, but to capturing them in traps, to which the 
 houses of the wicked are compared. 
 
 The second mention of the word " cage " occurs in the Kevela- 
 lation, where the sacred writer compares Babylon with " a cage 
 of every unclean bird." The word in this case signifies " prison," 
 and we cannot definitely say that it represents a cage such as we 
 understand by the word. There is, however, a passage in the Book 
 of Job (xli. 5) which unmistakeably alludes to the custom of 
 domesticating birds. Speaking of the leviathan and its strength, 
 the sacred writer uses the following metaphor : " Wilt thou 
 play with him as with a bird, or wilt thou bind him for 
 thy maidens?" 
 
 THE CUCKOO. 
 
 The Cuckoo only twice mentioned in Scripture Difficulty of identifying the 
 Shachaph The common species, and the Great Spotted Cuckoo Deposit- 
 ing the egg Conjectures respecting the Shachaph Etymology of the word 
 The various gulls, and other sea-birds. 
 
 ONLY in two instances is the word CUCKOO found in the Author- 
 ized Version of the Bible, and as they occur in parallel passages 
 they are practically reduced to one. In Lev. xi. 16 we find it 
 mentioned among the birds that might not be eaten, and the 
 same prohibition is repeated in Deut. xiv. 15, the Jews being 
 ordered to hold the bird in abomination. 
 
 The Hebrew word is shacliaph (the vowels to be pronounced 
 as in " mat "), but as to the precise bird which is signified we can 
 but conjecture. The etymology of the word gives us but little 
 assistance. Shachaph is derived from a root that signifies lean- 
 ness or slenderness ; but it is not very easy to base an inter- 
 pretation on such grounds. In the Jewish Bible the word is 
 rendered as " Cuckoo," but with the addition of the doubtful 
 mark.
 
 406 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 It is possible that the bird may be the Shachaph of the 
 Pentateuch, for several species of Cuckoo are known to inhabit 
 the Holy Land. One of them is the species with which we are 
 so familiar in this country by .sound, if not by sight, and which 
 possesses in Palestine the same habits as in England. It is 
 rather remarkable, by the way, that the Arabic name for the bird 
 is exactly the same as ours, the peculiar cry having supplied the 
 name. Its habit of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds 
 is well known, together with the curious fact, that although so 
 large a bird, measuring more than a foot in length, its egg is not 
 larger than that of the little birds, such as the hedge-sparrow, 
 robin, or redstart. 
 
 Besides this species, another Cuckoo inhabits Palestine, and 
 
 THE GREAT SPOTTED CCCKOO. 
 
 " And the owl, and the night-hawk, and the cvckoo, and the hawk after his kind." LEV. xi. 16 ; 
 
 DEUT. xiv. 15. 
 
 is much more common. This is the GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO 
 (Oxylophus glandarius). The birds belonging to this genus have 
 been separated from the other Cuckoos because the feathers on 
 the head are formed into a bold crest, in some species, such as
 
 THE CUCKOO. 407 
 
 Le Vaillant's Cuckoo, reminding the observer of the crest of the 
 cockatoo. This fine bird measures nearly sixteen inches in 
 length, and can be distinguished, not only by the crested head 
 but by the reddish grey of the throat and chest, and the white 
 tips of the wing and tail feathers. 
 
 This species lays its eggs in the nests of comparatively large 
 birds, such as the rooks, crows, and magpies ; and it is a remark- 
 able fact, that just as the egg of the English Cuckoo is very small, 
 so afl to suit the nests of the little birds in which it is placed, 
 that of the Great Spotted Cuckoo is as large as the average rook's 
 egg, so as to be in proportion to the nests of the larger birds. 
 
 MANY commentators believe that by the word shachaph was 
 signified some species of sea-gull, or at all events some marine 
 bird. As such birds live on fish, they would necessarily come 
 into the class of unclean birds, and there is on that account 
 some probability that the suggestion is a correct one. 
 
 Dr. Lewysohn has a very elaborate disquisition on the subject ; 
 in which he decides that the creature was one of the sea-birds, and 
 derives its name of Shachaph, or " attenuated," from the meagre- 
 ness of its proportions. Of the various sea-birds, he selects the 
 petrel as the species which he thinks to have been signified by 
 the word. This bird, as he says, is a very lean one, having many 
 feathers, but very little flesh, so that its limbs are no larger than 
 olives, and no one could make a meal of it. This last remark. 
 however, tends to diminish rather than to establish his theory, 
 as, if the bird could not be eaten, there would have been no 
 object in prohibiting the Jews from eating it. 
 
 He further proceeds to observe that the bird is unable to 
 scratch, and may therefore be given to a child as a playfellow, 
 and that it is capable of being domesticated and living in a cage. 
 There is, however, no argument here, and the theory is not a 
 tenable one. 
 
 Mr. Tristram, with far more probability, suggests that if the 
 bird be not one of the Cuckoos, and be really a sea-bird, it may 
 be one of the shearwaters which live in such numbers on the 
 sea-shore of Palestine. He mentions especially two species, the 
 Great Shearwater (Puffinus dnereus) and the Manx Shearwater 
 (Puffiniis anglorum), both of which are extremely plentiful on 
 the coast, .skimming continually over the water, and being at the
 
 408 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 present clay regarded by the Mahometans with superstitions 
 awe, being thought to be the -ever-restless souls of the con- 
 demned, who are doomed to fly backwards and forwards con- 
 tinually until the end of the world, clad in sombre plumage, and 
 never permitted to rest. 
 
 Besides the shearwater, many species of gull inhabit the same 
 coast, and it is not at all unlikely that the word shachaph was 
 used in a collective sense, as we have seen to be the case with 
 tzippor, and signified any of the marine birds, without aiming at 
 distinction of species. 
 
 THE DOVE. 
 
 Parallel between the lamb and the Dove Derivation of the Hebrew word 
 Yondh The Dove and the olive branch Abram's sacrifice, and its acceptance 
 The sacrifice according to the law of Moses The Dove-sellers of the 
 Temple Talmudical zoology The story of Ilisch The Dove and the raven 
 The Dove a type of Israel The Beni-yonah, or Sons of Pigeons Home- 
 finding instinct of the pigeon The Oriental Dove-cotes Voice of the 
 Dove Its strength of wing The Dove's dung of Samaria Various pigeons 
 of Palestine The Rock-Dove and its multitudes The Dove and the Griffon 
 The Turtle-Doves of Palestine, and their appearance and habits. 
 
 IN giving the Scriptural history of the Doves and Pigeons, we 
 shall find ourselves rather perplexed in compressing the needful 
 information into a reasonable space. There is no bird which 
 plays a more important part, both in the Old and the New 
 Testaments, or which is employed so largely in metaphor and 
 symbol. 
 
 The Doves and Pigeons were to the birds what were the sheep 
 and lambs to the animals, and, like them, derived their chief 
 interest from their use in sacrifice. Both the lamb and the 
 young pigeon being emblems of innocence, both were used on 
 similar occasions, the latter being in many instances permitted 
 when the former were too expensive for the means of the offerer. 
 As to the rendering of the Hebrew words which have been 
 translated as Pigeon, Dove, and Turtle Dove, there has never
 
 THE DOVE. 409 
 
 been any discussion. The Hebrew word yondh has always been 
 acknowledged to signify the Dove or Pigeon, and the word tor 
 to signify the Turtle Dove. Generally, the two words are used 
 in combination, so that tor-yondh signifies the Turtle Dove. 
 
 Though tire interpretation of the word yondh is universally 
 accepted, there is a little difficulty about its derivation, and its 
 signification apart from the bird. Some have thought that it is 
 derived from a root signifying warmth, in allusion to the warmth 
 of its affection, the Dove having from time immemorial been 
 selected as the type of conjugal love. Others, among whom is 
 Buxtorf, derive it from a word which signifies oppression, because 
 the gentle nature of the Dove, together with its inability to 
 defend itself, cause it to be oppressed, not only by man, but by 
 many rapacious birds. 
 
 THE first passage in which we hear of the Dove occurs in the 
 earlier part of Genesis. Indeed, the Dove and the raven are the 
 first two creatures that are mentioned by any definite names, 
 the word nachosh, which is translated as "serpent" in Gen. iii. 1, 
 being a collective word signifying any kind of serpent, whether 
 venomous or otherwise, and not used for the purpose of desig- 
 nating any particular species. 
 
 Turning to Gen. viii. 8, we come to the first mention of the 
 Dove. The whole passage is too familiar to need quoting, and 
 it is only needful to say that the Dove was sent out of the ark 
 in order that Noah might learn whether the floods had subsided, 
 and that, after she had returned once, he sent her out again 
 seven days afterwards, and that she returned, bearing an olive- 
 branch (or leaf, in the Jewish Bible). Seven days afterwards he 
 sent the Dove for the third time, but she had found rest on the 
 earth, and returned no more. 
 
 It is not within the province of this work to treat, except in 
 the most superficial manner, of the metaphorical signification of 
 the Scriptures. I shall, therefore, allude but very slightly to the 
 metaphorical sense of the passages which record the exit from 
 the ark and the sacrifice of Noah. Suffice it to say that, putting 
 entirely aside all metaphor, the characters of the raven and the 
 Dove are well contrasted. The one went out, and, though the 
 trees were at that time- submerged, it trusted in its .strong wings, 
 and hovered above the watery expanse until the Hood had &ub-
 
 410 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 sided. The Dove, on the contrary, fond of the society of man, 
 and having none of the wild, predatorial habits which distinguish 
 the raven, twice returned to its place of refuge, before it was 
 finally able to find a resting-place for its foot. 
 
 After this, we hear nothing of the Dove until the time of 
 Abraham, some four hundred years afterwards, when the cove- 
 nant was made between the Lord and Abram, when " he believed 
 in the Lord, and it was counted to him for righteousness." In 
 order to ratify this covenant he was ordered to offer a sacrifice, 
 which consisted of a young heifer, a she-goat, a ram, a turtle- 
 dove, and a young dove or pigeon. The larger animals were 
 severed in two, but the birds were not divided, and between the 
 portions of the sacrifice there passed a lamp of fire as a symbol 
 of the Divine presence. 
 
 In after days, when the promise that the seed of Abrain 
 should be as the stars of heaven for multitude had been amply 
 fulfilled, together with the prophecy that they should be 
 "strangers in a land that was not theirs," and should be in 
 slavery and under oppression for many years, the Dove was 
 specially mentioned in the new law as one of the creatures that 
 were to be sacrificed on certain defined occasions. 
 
 Even the particular mode of offering the Dove was strictly 
 defined. See Lev. i. 14 17: "If the burnt sacrifice for his 
 offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering 
 of turtle-doves, or of young pigeons. 
 
 " And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off 
 his head, and burn it on the altar ; and the blood thereof shall 
 be wrung out at the side of the altar. 
 
 " And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast 
 it beside the altar, on the east part, by the place of the ashes. 
 
 " And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not 
 divide it asunder : and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, 
 upon the wood that is upon the fire." 
 
 Here we have a repetition not only of the sacrifice of Abram, 
 but of the mode in which it was offered, care being taken that 
 the body of the bird should not be divided. There is a slight, 
 though not very' important variation in one or two portions of 
 this passage. For example, the wringing off the head of the 
 bird is, literally, pinching off, and had to be done with the 
 thumb nail ; and the passage which is by some translators ren-
 
 THE DOVE. 411 
 
 dered as the crop and the feathers, is by others translated as the 
 crop and its contents a reading which seems to be more con- 
 sonant with the usual ceremonial of sacrifice than the other. 
 
 As a general rule, the pigeon was only sanctioned as a sacri- 
 ficial animal in case one of more value could not be afforded ; 
 and so much care was taken in this respect, that with the 
 exception of the two " sparrows " (tzipporim) that were enjoined 
 as part of the sacrifice by which the cleansed leper was received 
 back among the people (Lev. xiv. 4), no bird might be offered 
 in sacrifice unless it belonged to the tribe of pigeons. 
 
 It was in consequence of the poverty of the family that the 
 Virgin Mary brought two young pigeons when she came to 
 present her new-born Son in the Temple. For those who were 
 able to afford it, the required sacrifice was a lamb of the first 
 year for a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon or Turtle Dove for 
 a sin-offering. But " if she be not able to bring a lamb, then 
 she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, the one for 
 the burnt-offering and the other for a sin-offering." The extra- 
 ordinary value which all Israelites set upon the first-born son is 
 well known, both parents even changing their own names, and 
 being called respectively the father and mother of Elias, or 
 Joseph, as the case may be. If the parents who had thus 
 attained the summit of their wishes possessed a lamb, or could 
 have obtained one, they would most certainly have offered it in 
 the fulness of their joy, particularly when, as in the case of 
 Mary, there was such cause for rejoicing; and the fact that they 
 were forced to substitute a second pigeon for the lamb is a proof 
 of their extreme poverty. 
 
 While the Israelites were comparatively a small and compact 
 nation, dwelling around their tabernacle, the worshippers could 
 easily offer their sacrifices, bringing them from their homes 
 to the altar. But in process of time, when the nation had 
 become a large and scattered one, its members residing at great 
 distances, and only coming to the Temple once or twice in the 
 year to offer their sacrifices, they would have found that for even 
 the poor to carry their pigeons with them would have greatly 
 increased the trouble, and in many cases have been almost 
 impossible. 
 
 For the sake of convenience, therefore, a number of dealers 
 established themselves in the outer courts of the Temple, for
 
 412 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the purpose of selling Doves to those who came to sacrifice. 
 Sheep and oxen were also sold for the same purpose, and, a* 
 offerings of money could only be made in the Jewish coinage, 
 money-changers established themselves for the purpose of ex- 
 changing foreign money brought from a distance for the legal 
 Jewish shekel. That these people exceeded their object, and 
 endeavoured to overreach the foreign Jews who were ignorant of 
 the comparative value of money and goods, is evident from the 
 fact of their expulsion by our Lord, and the epithets which were 
 applied to them. 
 
 As the Dove played so important a part in the Jewish worship, 
 the Talmudical writers have investigated the subject with a 
 curious minuteness. 
 
 In the first place, they discuss the reasons for its selection as 
 the bird of sacrifice, and always endeavour to represent it as 
 contrasted with the raven all birds of the raven kind, i. e. the 
 rooks, crows, magpies, and the like, being set down as cunning, 
 deceptive, and thieving ; while all the pigeon kind are mild, 
 true, and loving. There is a curious story which illustrates this 
 idea. A certain man named Ilisch, who understood the language 
 of birds, was " once upon a time " in captivity, when he heard 
 the cry of a raven, which called out to him, " Ilisch ! Ilisch ! 
 flee ! flee ! " But Ilisch said within himself, " I believe not this 
 lying bird." But next came a Dove, which said the same words. 
 Then said Ilisch, " I believe this bird, because Israel is compared 
 to a dove." 
 
 Here this Ilisch, whoever he may be, referred to the Talmu- 
 dical writers on the subject of the Dove, which they delighted 
 to compare with Israel in a variety of ways, some of them being 
 very obscure and rather far-fetched. For example, of all birds 
 the Dove is the most persecuted, being gentle, meek, and unable 
 to resist. She cannot fight with her beak or her claws, and has 
 only her wings, with which she will flee away if she is able, or 
 if not, will fight with them. Now, as the wings are to the Dove, 
 so is the law to Israel. 
 
 The wings are the strength of the Dove. Upheld by them 
 she can fly for many hours, so that the birds of prey which are 
 pursuing her cannot take her. Then comes a strange notion of 
 the Dove's flight. When other birds are tired, they sit down 
 and fold their wings to rest. But the tired Dove never ceases
 
 THE DOVE. 413 
 
 her flight ; but when one wing is fatigued, she allows it to rest, 
 and continues her flight with the other. So is it with Israel, 
 who, though persecuted by the Gentiles, and deprived of half 
 her strength, cannot be entirely crushed, but still survives and 
 asserts herself. 
 
 One reason that is given for the gentle disposition of the 
 Dove is that the bird has no gall, the gall being considered by 
 the naturalists of old as the source and fountain of contention, 
 the bitterness of the gall being supposed to infuse itself into the 
 spirit. Probably on account of this anatomical peculiarity, the 
 Dove was considered as the very pattern for married people, and 
 the emblem of chastity, as it lives in the strictest monogamy, 
 never desiring another mate. Unfortunately for these writers, 
 the Raven, which is always mentioned by them in strong con- 
 trast with the Dove, is quite as remarkable for its attachment to 
 its mate and young, and for the strictness of its monogamy, the 
 same pair, when once mated, residing together for the whole of 
 their lives. 
 
 Even the age of the Dove was made a matter of consideration 
 by the Talmudists, so that in great measure the original bene- 
 volence of the Law was cramped by the restrictions which were 
 laid upon it. As we are told by St. Paul, in Heb. ix., even 
 under the old dispensation, without shedding of blood there was 
 no remission of sins, and he who desired to obtain that remission 
 was obliged to shed the blood of the sacrifice. Now, in order 
 that poverty should be no restriction to the attainment of the 
 greatest spiritual privileges, it was ordained that young pigeons 
 or Turtle Doves might be substituted for the more costly animals. 
 
 These birds cost but very little. The peasant might take 
 them from the dove-cote, which was the appendage of most 
 households, and he who was too poor even to have a dove-cote 
 of his own might go to the rocky side of the ravines, and take 
 as many young as he pleased from the myriad nests which are 
 placed in the clefts. Thus, at any time of the year, the poorest 
 man or woman could obtain the means of sacrifice. 
 
 But the restrictive genius which was so sternly rebuked by 
 our Lord soon made itself felt. All these birds, in order to be 
 fit for sacrifice, must be Beni-yonah, i.e. Sons of Doves. The 
 definition of this term is rather interesting, as it affords an 
 excellent example of the hair-splitting character of these inter-
 
 414 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 preters of the Law. According to them, a pigeon could only be 
 ranked among the Beui-yonah for a short period of its life, and, 
 if it were too young or too old, it might not be offered as a 
 sacrifice. 
 
 The test of proper age lay in the feathers. If the bird were so 
 young that the feathers could be pulled out without drawing- 
 blood, it was considered as being below age. If, on the contrary, 
 blood followed the feathers, but the plumage of the neck ex- 
 hibited a 'metallic lustre, it was reckoned as having passed the 
 age of Beni-yonah. It might be a father, and not the son, of 
 pigeons. When these feathers are visible, the bird changes its 
 name, and is called Tor a word which will be presently 
 explained. 
 
 According to some of these old writers, the Dove was con- 
 sidered as having a superiority over other birds in the instinctive 
 certainty with which it finds its way from one place to another. 
 At the present time, our familiarity with the variety of pigeon 
 known as the Carrier has taught us that the eye is the real 
 means employed by the pigeon for the direction of its flight. 
 Those who fly pigeons for long distances always take them 
 several times over the same ground, carrying them to an in- 
 creasing distance at every journey, so that the birds shall be 
 able to note certain objects which serve them as landmarks. 
 
 Bees and wasps have recourse to a similar plan. When a 
 young wasp leaves its nest for the first time, it does not fly away 
 at once, but hovers in front of the entrance for some time, getting 
 farther and farther away from the nest until it has learned the 
 aspect of surrounding objects. The pigeon acts in precisely the 
 same manner, and so completely does it depend upon eyesight 
 that, if a heavy fog should come on, the best-trained pigeon will 
 lose its way. 
 
 The old writers, however, made up their minds that the pigeon 
 found its way by scent, which sense alone, according to their 
 ideas, could guide it across the sea. They were not aware of the 
 power possessed by birds of making their eyes telescopic at will, 
 or of the enormous increase of range which the sight obtains by 
 elevation. A pigeon at the elevation of several hundred yards 
 can see to an astonishing distance, and there is no need of 
 imagining one sense to receive a peculiar development when the 
 ordinary powers of another are sufficient to obtain the object.
 
 THE DOVE. 415 
 
 That dove-cotes were in use among the earlier Jews is well 
 knt>wn. An allusion to the custom of keeping pigeons in cotes 
 is seen in Isa. lx. 8 : " Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as 
 the doves to their windows ? " or, as the Jewish Bible translates 
 the passage, " as the doves to their apertures ? " In this passage 
 the sacred writer utters a prophecy concerning the coming of the 
 world to the Messiah, the Gentiles flocking to Him as the clouds 
 of pigeons fly homeward to their cotes. 
 
 The practice of pigeon-keeping has survived to the present 
 day, the houses of wealthy men being furnished with separate 
 pigeon-houses, built up of a number of earthen jars, and roofed 
 over. Eaeh jar is the habitation of a pair of pigeons, and the 
 whole principle of this dove-cote is exactly the same as that 
 which was employed by the late Mr. Waterton in erecting the 
 starling-houses in his garden and grounds. Poorer people, who 
 cannot afford to build a separate house for the pigeons, set up 
 jars for them in their own houses, the pigeons gaining access to 
 their nests through the door. 
 
 The Talmudical writers have even their regulations respecting 
 the keeping of tame pigeons. No one was allowed to do so who 
 had not a sufficiency of ground around his house to supply food 
 for them. According to their regulations, the pigeon-house must 
 not be within fifty paces of cultivated ground belonging to any 
 one except the owner of the pigeons. The reason for this pro- 
 hibition was, that as the pigeon was known to be an exceedingly 
 voracious bird, it should not feed at the expense of a neighbour. 
 It was conventionally supposed to feed by choice in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of the house, and, when it had filled its crop, to be 
 unwilling to fly farther than was absolutely necessary. 
 
 Being so familiar with this bird, it was to be expected that 
 the writers of the Scriptures would make many references to it, 
 The plaintive, monotonous cooing of the pigeon is several times 
 mentioned. For example : " And Huzzab shall be led away 
 captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as 
 with the voice of doves, taboring upon their breasts " (Nah. ii. 7). 
 The Jewish Bible gives this passage in another and certainly a 
 more forcible manner: "And Huzzab shall be uncovered and 
 brought up, and her maids shall sigh as the voice of doves, 
 drumming upon their breasts." Here the prophet alludos to the 
 ancient custom of beating the breast as a sign of sorrow (a
 
 416 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 custom that survived even in this country until a very recent 
 date), accompanied with the moanings of distress. 
 
 The prophet Isaiah makes use of a similar metaphor : " I 
 did mourn as a dove : mine eyes fail with looking upward " 
 (xxxviii. 14). Also in chap. lix. 11 : " We roar all like bears, 
 and mourn sore like doves " 
 
 THK. HOCK DOvr.. 
 
 ' my dove, that art in the clefts nf the r.u/Vj. 1 ' CANT. ii. 14. 
 
 The beauty of the bird is mentioned in many passages, several 
 of which occur in the Song of Solomon. " Behold, thou art fair, 
 my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast dove's eyes" (i. 15). 
 " His eyes are the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed 
 with milk, and fitly set" (v. 12). And in several other places 
 the beloved is spoken of as a Dove, as in the following passage : 
 " My dove, my undetiled, is but one ; she is the only one of her 
 mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her " (vi. 9). 
 
 Allusion is made to the peculiar metallic gleam of the Dove's 
 plumage in a well-known passage of the Psalms : " Though ye 
 have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove
 
 THE DOVE. 417 
 
 covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold" (Ps. 
 Ixviii. 13). 
 
 The strong flight of the Dove is also mentioned by the Psalmist 
 in an equally familiar passage : " And I said, Oh that I had wings 
 like a dove ! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, 
 then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness " 
 (Ps. Iv. 6, 7). It is scarcely necessary to advert to the well- 
 known passages in which reference is made to the gentleness of 
 the Dove. 
 
 That the pigeons which are not domesticated live in the rocks 
 was known to the Scripture writers, who make several references 
 to the fact. 
 
 See, for example : " ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, 
 and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her 
 nest in the sides of the hole's mouth " (Jer. xlviii. 28). See also 
 Ezek. vii. 16 : " But they that escape of them shall escape, and 
 shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them 
 mourning, every one for his iniquity." 
 
 This is an especially graphic image. The deep valleys that 
 run between the mountain ranges are literally crowded with 
 pigeons who have made their nests in the cavities. Several of 
 these are so well known that they go by the name of " Valleys 
 of Pigeons." 
 
 In the Song of Solomon (ii..!4) is another reference to the 
 rock-loving propensities of the Dove : " my dove, that art 
 in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, 
 let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice." The 
 Jewish 'Bible gives a slightly different rendering, translating the 
 word which is given as " stairs " in the Authorized Version as 
 "cliffs." 
 
 That the Dovet were caught in nets is evident from a passage 
 in Hosea (vii. 11, 12) : " Ephraim also is like a silly clove with- 
 out heart : they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. 
 
 " "When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them ; I 
 will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven ; I will chastise 
 them, as their congregation hath heard." 
 
 There is one passage in the Old Testament about which great 
 controversy has taken place. It occurs in 2 Kings vi. 25. When 
 Ben-hadad besieged Samaria, and tried to reduce it by starvation, 
 the famine was so great in the city that " an ass's head was sold 
 
 E E
 
 418 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 tor fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of 
 dove's dung for five pieces of silver." 
 
 Objection has been taken to this passage on the score of the 
 exceeding repulsiveness of the food. This objection, however, 
 cannot hold good ; for, although such diet must have been most 
 repulsive, it could not have been more so than the flesh of the 
 ass, an animal which was strictly forbidden as food, and held as 
 unclean. Moreover, as we see in verse 29 that parents actually 
 ate the flesh of their own children, it is evident that the mere 
 repulsiveness of the food cannot be taken as an objection. 
 
 A far stronger objection is to be found in the fact that even all 
 the dove-cotes of Samaria could not furnish a sufficient quantity 
 for food, especially as the Doves themselves must have been 
 killed and eaten long before the people were driven to such an 
 extremity as to eat the flesh of their own children. It is far 
 more probable that the " dove's-dung " was the name of a vege- 
 table of some kind. We find a similar nomenclature in the 
 popular names of many of our own plants, such as oxlip, cowslip, 
 horse-tail, hart's-tongue. mouse-ear, maidenhair, and the like. 
 
 WE now come to the various species of Pigeons which inhabit 
 Palestine. 
 
 In the Holy Land are found all the species of Pigeons which 
 inhabit England, together with one or two others. First, there 
 is the Rock Pigeon, or Blue Rock Dove (Columba liiria), which 
 is acknowledged to be the origin of our domestic breeds of 
 Pigeons, with all their infinite variety of colour and plumage. 
 This species, though plentiful in Palestine, is not spread over the 
 whole of the land, but lives chiefly on the coast and in the higher 
 parts of the country. In these places it multiplies in amazing 
 numbers, its increase being almost wholly unchecked by man, 
 on account of the inaccessible cliffs in which it lays its eggs 
 and nurtures its young,' its only enemies being a few of the birds 
 and beasts of prey, which can exercise but a trifling influence 
 on these prolific birds. 
 
 In other parts of the country the Egyptian Rock Dove (Columba 
 Schimperi) takes the place of the more northern species. It is a 
 little smaller than our own Rock Dove, and has not the whitish 
 plumage on the lower part of the back. This species is quite as 
 numerous as the other, and builds in similar places. Mr. Tris-
 
 THE DOVE. 419 
 
 tram, while visiting the Wady (or Valley) Seimun, which lies 
 near the Lake of Gennesavet, witnessed an amusing example of 
 the vast number of these Pigeons. 
 
 " No description can give an adequate idea of the myriads of 
 rock pigeons. In absolute clouds they dashed to and fro in the 
 ravine, whirling round with a rush and a whirr that could be felt 
 like a gust of wind. It was amusing to watch them upset the 
 dignity and the equilibrium of the majestic griffon as they swept 
 past him. This enormous bird, quietly sailing along, was quite 
 turned on his back by the sudden rush of wings and wind." 
 
 The writer of this description has been too modest. It is 
 impossible to convey a better idea of the vast multitude of birds 
 than has been given by this anecdote. We are all familiar with 
 the clatter of Pigeons' wings as they dart from their resting- 
 place, and can well imagine how great must have been the 
 multitude of birds that would fairly turn the powerful griffon- 
 vulture on its back. This description may be advantageously 
 compared with the passage in Isa. Ix. 8 : " Who are these that fly 
 as a cloud ? " the sacred writej* well knowing the force of his 
 image when addressed to those who were familiar with the habits 
 of the bird, whether it was the semi-domesticated House Pigeon 
 or the wild liock Dove. The Ring Dove (Columba palumbus) and 
 the Stock Dove (Columba ccnas) are also found in Palestine. 
 
 These birds are taken in nets, into which they are decoyed by 
 a very effective though cruel device. 
 
 When one of these birds is trapped or snared, it is seized by 
 its capturers, who spare its life for the sake of using it as a decoy. 
 They blind it by sewing its eyelids together, and then fasten it 
 to a perch among trees. The miserable bird utters plaintive 
 cries, and continually flaps its wings, thus attracting others of 
 its kind, who settle on the surrounding branches and are easily 
 taken, their whole attention being occupied by the cries of their 
 distressed companion. 
 
 We now come to the Turtle Doves, several of which inhabit 
 the Holy Land ; but, as they are similar in habits, we will 
 confine ourselves to the comnjon species (Turtur auritus), with 
 which we are so familiar in this country. The Hebrew word 
 which is translated as Turtle, is tdr, a term which is usually 
 employed in connexion with the word yondh, or Dove, thus, tor- 
 ydndh. The name is evidently derived from the note of the bird. 
 
 2
 
 420 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The reader may remember that on page 414, a curious tradition . 
 has been mentioned respecting the word tor; namely, that 
 it represented the age, and not the species of a Dove. There 
 is but little doubt, however, that the word really does represent 
 a species, and that the Turtle Dove is the bird signified by the 
 word t6r. For example, its migratory habits are noticed in the 
 sacred writings. See the following passage in the Song of 
 Solomon. 
 
 THE TCRTr.E 1KIVE. 
 
 " The voice of the turtle is heard in our land.'' CANT. ii. 12.; 
 
 " Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone ; the 
 flowers appear on the earth ; the time of the singing of birds is 
 come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land " (Cant. 
 ii. 11, 12). The prophet Jeremial* also refers to the migration of 
 this bird : " Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed 
 times ; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe 
 the time of their coming ; but my people know not the judgment 
 of the Lord " (viii. 7).
 
 POULTRY. 42 1 
 
 Beside this species, there is the Collared Turtle Dove (Turlur 
 risorius), one variety of which is known in England as the 
 Barbary Dove. It is a large species, measuring more than a foot 
 in length. Another species is the Palm Turtle (Turtur Senega- 
 lensis), so called from its habit of nesting on palm-trees, when it 
 is obliged to build at a distance from the habitations of man. Jt 
 is a gregarious bird, several nests being generally found on one 
 tree, and even, when it cannot find a, palm, it will build among 
 the thorns in multitudes. Like the common Dove, it is fond of 
 the society of man, and is sure to make its nest among human 
 habitations, secure in its knowledge that it will not be disturbed. 
 
 It is rather a small bird, being barely ten inches in length, 
 and having no " collar " on the neck, like the two preceding 
 species. 
 
 POULTKY. 
 
 Poultry plentiful in Palestine at the present day The Domestic Fowl unknown 
 in the early times of Israel The eating and gathering of eggs References to 
 Poultry in the New Testament The egg and the scorpion The fatted fowl of 
 Solomon The hen brooding over her eggs Poultry prohibited within Jeru- 
 salem The cock-crowing. 
 
 AT the present day, poultry are plentiful both in Palestine and 
 Syria, and that they were bred in the time of the Apostles is 
 evident from one or two references which are made by our Lord. 
 How long the Domestic Fowl had been known to the Jews is 
 extremely uncertain, and we have very little to guide us in 
 our search. 
 
 That it was unknown to the Jews during the earlier period 
 of their history is evident from the utter silence of the Old 
 Testament on the subject. A bird so conspicuous and so plen- 
 tiful would certainly have been mentioned in the Law of Moses 
 had it been known to the Israelites ; but, in all its minute and 
 detailed provisions, the Law is silent on the subject. 
 
 Neither the bird itself nor its eggs are mentioned, although 
 there are a few references to eggs, without signifying the bird
 
 422 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 which laid them. The humane provision in Deut. xxii. 6, 7, refers 
 not to a domesticated, but to a wild bird : " If a bird's nest 
 chance to be before thee in any tree, or on the ground, whether 
 they be young ones, or eggs, and the dams sitting upon the 
 young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the 
 young : but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the 
 young to thee ; that it may be well with thee, that thou mayest 
 prolong thy days." 
 
 That eggs were used for food, is seen from Job vi. 6 : " Can 
 that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt ? or is there any 
 taste in the white of an egg ? " So in Isa. lix. 5 : " They hatch 
 cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web : he that eateth of 
 their eggs dieth." 
 
 There is another passage in the same book which refers to the 
 gathering of eggs as mentioned in Deut. xxii. " And my hand 
 hath found as a nest the riches of the people : and as one 
 gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth " (Isa. 
 x. 14). The well-known passage in Luke xi. 11, 12, however, 
 evidently refers to the ordinary hen's egg, which was used then 
 for food just as is the case at the present day : " If a son shall 
 ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a 
 stone ? or if he ask a fish, will lie for a fish give him a serpent ? 
 
 " Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? " 
 
 There is but one passage in the Old Testament which has ever 
 been conjectured to refer to the Domestic Fowl. It occurs in 
 1 Kings iv. 22, 23, among the list of the daily provision of 
 Solomon's household : " And Solomon's provision for one day 
 was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of 
 meal, 
 
 " Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an 
 hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and 
 fatted fowl." 
 
 Now the word which is here rendered as " fatted fowl " is in 
 the Hebrew, larberim. Judging by the etymology of the word, 
 which is derived from a root that signifies whiteness, or purity, 
 it has been thought that the correct rendering would be " fattened 
 white " (birds). Some Hebraists have conjectured that the white 
 birds in question were geese, this term including various white 
 birds, -swans among the number. 
 
 Many persons think that the fatted fowl mentioned in the
 
 POULTRY. 
 
 423 
 
 above-quoted passage were really Domestic Fowl, which Solomon 
 had introduced into Palestine, together with various other birds 
 aud animals, by means of his fleet. There may be truth in this 
 conjecture, but, as there can be no certainty, we will pass from 
 the Old Testament to the New. 
 
 THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 
 
 'As a hen doth gather her brood utuler her wrings." LCKE xiii. S4. 
 
 We are all familiar with the passages in which the Domestic 
 Fowl is mentioned in the New Testament. There is, for example, 
 that touching image employed by our Lord when lamenting over 
 Jerusalem : " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the 
 prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee ; how often 
 would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth 
 gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not ! " The
 
 424 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 reference is evidently made to the Domesticated Fowl, which in 
 the time of our Lord was largely bred in the Holy Land. 
 
 Some writers have taken objection to this statement in con- 
 sequence of a Rabbinical law which prohibited poultry from 
 being kept within the walls of Jerusalem, lest in their search 
 for food they should scratch up any impurity which had been 
 buried, and so defile the holy city. But it must be remembered 
 that in the time of Christ Jerusalem belonged practically to the 
 Romans, who held it with a garrison, and who, together with 
 other foreigners, would not trouble themselves about any such 
 prohibition, which would seem to them, as it does to us, exceed- 
 ingly puerile, not to say unjustifiable. Whether the Jews obeyed 
 or disregarded the prohibition, it is evident that it would have 
 been binding on the Jews alone, and that all Gentiles were 
 exempt from it. Some commentators have even thought that 
 the Domestic Fowl was not known in Palestine until imported 
 by the Romans. 
 
 That the bird was common in the days of our Lord is evident 
 from the reference to the " cock-crowing " as a measure of time. 
 
 Even on this subject there has been much controversy, some 
 persons thinking that the words are to be understood in their 
 literal sense, and others that^they are merely metaphorical, and 
 refer to the divisions of time under the Romans, which were 
 marked by the blowing of trumpets, conventionally termed 
 cock-crowings. There is, however, no necessity to search for a 
 metaphorical meaning when the literal interpretation is clear 
 and intelligible. At the present day, as in all probability in 
 the time of our Lord, the crowing of the cocks is employed as a 
 means of reckoning time during the night, the birds crowing at 
 certain hours with almost mechanical regularity.
 
 THE PEACOCK. 425 
 
 THE PEACOCK. 
 
 The foix'igu curiosities imported by Solomon The word Tucciyim and its various 
 interpretations Identity of the word with the Cingalese name of the Peacock 
 Reasons why the Peacock should have been brought to Solomon Its sub- 
 sequent neglect and extirpation. 
 
 AMONG the many foreign objects which were imported by 
 Solomon into Palestine, we find that the Peacock is specially 
 mentioned. (See a passage which has already been mentioned 
 in connexion with ivory and apes.) The sacred historian, after 
 mentioning the ivory throne, the golden shields and targets. 
 that all the vessels in Solomon's house were of gold, and that 
 silver was so common as to be of no account, proceeds to give 
 the reason for this profuse magnificence. " For the king had at 
 sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram : once in three 
 years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, 
 and apes, and peacocks " (1 Kings x. 22). 
 
 The word which is here translated as Peacock is in the 
 Hebrew tuccii/im, and has been rendered in various modes. 
 The Jewish Bible accepts the same translation as our own, and 
 does not even affix the mark of doubt. Some Hebraists have 
 rendered the word as " parrots," while others have tried to 
 identify the Tucciyim with guinea-fowls. 
 
 In the identification of any animal, much must necessarily 
 depend on the country in which it is found. Now, if the reader 
 will refer to page 2 of this work, he will see that India and 
 Ceylon are identified as the land visited by Solomon's ships. 
 In the latter island are found all the three valuables which are 
 mentioned in the above-quoted passage, and it is remarkable 
 that the Cingalese name for the Peacock is so similar to the 
 Hebrew word, that we have every reason to believe that the 
 word tucciyim or tuyeyim, is in reality a Hebraic form of the 
 Cingalese tokei. A. similar resemblance of name occurs in 
 the Hebrew and Cingalese terms for ape and elephant.
 
 426 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 That this magnificent bird should have been one of those 
 creatures that were imported by Solomon is almost certain. 
 It would be imported for the same reason as the apes ; 
 namely, for the purpose of adding to the glories of Solomon's 
 house, and no bird could have been selected which would have 
 a more magnificent effect than the Peacock. Moreover, although 
 unknown in Palestine, it is extremely plentiful in its native 
 land, inhabiting the jungle by thousands, and, by a curious 
 coincidence, being invariably most plentiful in those spots which 
 are most frequented by tigers. In many parts of the country, 
 great numbers of Peacocks frequent the temples, and live 
 amicably with the sacred monkeys, passing their lives in abso- 
 lute security, protected by the sanctity of the place. 
 
 Their numbers, therefore, would render them easily accessible 
 to Solomon's envoys, who would purchase them at a cheap rate 
 from the native dealers, while their surpassing beauty would 
 render them sure of a sale on their arrival in Jerusalem. 
 Indeed, their beauty made so great an impression that they are 
 separately mentioned by the sacred chronicler, the Peacock and 
 the ape being the only two animals that are thought worthy of 
 enumeration. 
 
 It seems that after Solomon's death the breed of Peafowl was 
 not kept up, owing in all probability to the troubles which beset 
 the throne after that magnificent monarch died. 
 
 THE PARTRIDGE. 
 
 The word Korc and its signification The Partridge upon the mountains David's 
 simile The. Desert Partridge and its habits Hunting the Partridge with 
 sticks Eggs of the Partridge A disputed reading, and probable signification 
 of the passage Egg-hunting in Palestine The various species of Partridge 
 The Francolin and the Sand-grouse. 
 
 THERE is a bird mentioned in the Old Testament, whijh, although 
 its name is only given twice, is a very interesting bird to all 
 students of the Scriptures, both passages giving an insight into
 
 THE PAUTKIDGE. 427 
 
 the manners and customs of the scarcely changing East. This 
 is the bird called in the Hebrew Kore, a word which has been 
 generally accepted as signifying some kind of Partridge. Then; 
 is no doubt that, like most other Hebrew names of animated 
 beings, the word is a collective one, signifying a considerable 
 number of species. 
 
 The first passage occurs in 1 Sam. xxvL 20. When David was 
 being pursued by Saul, and had been forced to escape from the 
 city and hide himself in the rocky valleys, he compared himself 
 to the Partridge, which frequented exactly the same places : 
 " The king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one 
 doth hunt a partridge upon the mountains." 
 
 The appositeness of this simile is perfect. The bird to which 
 David alluded was in all probability the Desert Partridge 
 (Ammoperdix Heyii), a species which especially haunts rocky 
 and desert places, and even at the present day is exceedingly 
 plentiful about the Cave of Adullam. The males, when they 
 think themselves unobserved, are fond of challenging, or 
 calling to each other in a loud ringing note, a peculiarity 
 that has earned for the bird the Hebrew name of Kore, or 
 " the caller." 
 
 It is a very active bird, not taking to flight if it can escape 
 by means of its legs, and, when pursued or disturbed, running 
 with great swiftness to some rocky cleft in which it may hide; 
 itself, taking care to interpose, as it runs, stones or other 
 obstacles between, itself and the object of its alarm. Thus, 
 then, it will be seen how close was the parallel between this 
 bird and David, who was forced, like the Partridge, to seek for 
 refuge in the rocky caves. 
 
 But the parallel becomes even closer when we come to examine 
 the full meaning of the passage. The Partridge is at the present 
 day hunted on the mountains exactly as was the case in the 
 time of David. The usual hunters are boys, who provide them- 
 selves with a supply of stout sticks about eighteen inches in 
 length, and, armed with these, they chase the birds, hurling the 
 sticks one after the other along the ground, so as to strike the 
 Partridge as it runs. Generally, several hunters chase the same 
 bird, some of them throwing the sticks along the ground, while 
 others hurl them just above the bird, so that if it should take to 
 flight, it may be struck as it rises into the air. By pertinaciously
 
 428 
 
 BIRLK ANIMALS. 
 
 chasing an individual bird, the hunters tire it, aud contrive to 
 come so close that they are certain to strike it. 
 
 Eude as this mode of bird-hunting may seem, it is still em- 
 ployed in some parts of England, and is effective even against 
 birds far more active on the wing than the Partridge. I have 
 
 w 
 
 THE GREEK PARIR1W5E. 
 
 ''A partridge upon the mountains." 1 SAM. xxvi. 20. 
 
 seen snipe killed in the New Forest by being hunted down with 
 sticks. Squirrels are chased and killed in a similar manner, 
 except that the "bolts," or the sticks for squirrel-hunting, are 
 weighted with lead at one end. 
 
 The reader will now see how perfect is the image. Driven 
 from the city, David was forced to wander, together with the
 
 THE PARTRIDGE. 429 
 
 Desert Partridge, upon the hill- sides, and, like that bird, his 
 final refuge is the rock. Then came the hunters and pursued 
 him, driving him from place to place, as the boys hunt the 
 Partridge, until he was weary of his life, and exclaimed in his 
 despair, " I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul." 
 
 The second passage in which the word kore is found occurs in 
 Jer. xvii. 11: "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth 
 them not ; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave 
 them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool." 
 The marginal reading of this passage gives the sense in a slightly 
 different form, and commences the verse as follows : " As the 
 partridge gathereth (young) which she hath not brought forth, 
 so he," &c. The Jewish Bible gives the whole passage rather 
 differently from both these readings : " A partridge hatching 
 what it hath not laid (or borne), is he that getteth (or maketh) 
 riches, and not by right (or judgment) : he shall leave them in 
 the midst (or half) of his days, and at his end shall be base." 
 
 Taking all these readings, and comparing them with the 
 original, with each other, and with the context, we can have but 
 little doubt that reference is made by the prophet to the number 
 of unborn, i.e. unhatched, eggs on which the Partridge sits, but 
 which are so often taken from her before they can be hatched. 
 Just as hunting the Partridge is an acknowledged sport among 
 the inhabitants of the uncultivated parts of Palestine, so is 
 searching for the eggs of the bird a regular business at the 
 proper time of year. 
 
 The Partridges of Palestine are, like those of our own land, 
 exceedingly prolific birds, laying a wonderful number of eggs, 
 more than twenty being sometimes found in a single nest. 
 These eggs are used for food, and the consumption of them is 
 very great, so that many a Partridge has been deprived of her 
 expected family : she has sat upon eggs, and hatched them not. 
 
 OF these birds several species inhabit Palestine. There is, for 
 example, the Desert Partridge, which has already been mentioned. 
 It is beautifully, though not brilliantly, coloured, and may be 
 known by the white spot behind the eye, the purple and chestnut 
 streaks on the sides, and the orange bill and legs. These, however, 
 soon lose their colour after death. 
 
 Then there is the Greek Partridge (Gaccdbis saxatilis), which
 
 430 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 is even more plentiful than the preceding species, and is more 
 widely spread. It is a large bird of its kind, being much larger 
 than our English species, and may be known by its size, the 
 dark red legs and beak, and the bold bars on the sides. 
 
 Mr. Tristram suggests, with much probability, that the 
 "Francolin, or Black Partridge of India, and the Sand-Grouse, 
 may be included among the number of the birds which are 
 included under the common name of Kore. The latter bird is 
 extremely plentiful in Palestine, and, in all probability, was 
 classed by the unobservant Jews with the true Partridge. 
 
 THE QUAIL. 
 
 Signification of the word Scldv Various passages in which the word is men- 
 tioned The locust, the stork, and the sand-grouse Spreading the birds 
 around the camp Migration of the Quail Drying the Quails for food Modes 
 of catching the Quail in the East The Quail-hunters of Northern Africa 
 Quarrelsome nature of the bird Quail-fighting in the East How the Quails 
 were brought to the Israelites. 
 
 IN one or two parts of the Old Testament is found a word 
 which has been translated in the Authorized Version of the 
 Bible as QUAIL. 
 
 The word is seldv, and in every case where it is mentioned it 
 is used with reference to the same occurrence ; namely, the pro- 
 viding of flesh-meat in the wilderness, where the people could 
 find no food. As the passages remarkably bear upon each other, 
 it will be advisable to quote them in the order in which they 
 come. 
 
 The first mention of the Sclav occurs in Exod. xvi. Only a 
 few days after the Israelites had passed the Eed Sea, they began 
 to complain of the desert land into which Moses had led them, 
 and openly said that they wished they had never left the land 
 of their slavery, where they had plenty to eat. According to 
 Jlis custom, pitying their narrow-minded and short-sighted folly,
 
 THE QUAIL. 
 
 4:51 
 
 the natural result of the long servitude to which they had been 
 subject, the Lord promised to send both bread and flesh-meat. 
 
 " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 
 
 " I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel : 
 speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the 
 
 THE tiUAIL. 
 
 " The pcnpU aslced, and He brought quails.'' PSALM cv. 40. 
 
 morning ye shall be filled with bread ; and ye shall know that I 
 am the Lord your God. 
 
 "And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and 
 covered the camp" (ver. 11-13). 
 
 The next passage records a similar circumstance, which 
 occurred about a year afterwards, when the Israelites were tired
 
 432 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 of eating nothing but the manna, and again wished themselves 
 back in Egypt. " And there went forth a wind from the Lord, 
 and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, 
 as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's 
 journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were 
 two cubits high upon the face of the earth. 
 
 " And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, 
 and all the next day, and they gathered the quails : he that 
 gathered least gathered ten homers ; and they spread them 
 all abroad for themselves round about the camp " (Numb. 
 xi. 31, 32). 
 
 The last passage in which Quails are mentioned occurs in the 
 Psalms. In Ps. cv. are enumerated the various wonders done 
 on behalf of the Israelites, and among them is specially men- 
 tioned this gift of the Quails and manna. " The people asked, 
 and He brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of 
 heaven " (ver. 40). 
 
 We now have to ask ourselves what the word seldv really 
 means. Some commentators have thought that it signified a 
 species of locust, insects which travel in vast multitudes, and 
 are always carried with the wind, thus agreeing with the state- 
 ment that the Selavim were brought by the wind. Others have 
 imagined that the Selavim w r ere flying-fish, blown on shore as 
 they rose from the sea after their fashion. Putting aside other 
 reasons against these interpretations, the Psalms contain a 
 passage which effectually contradicts them, and proves that the 
 Selav was a bird of some kind. 
 
 " He had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the 
 doors of heaven, 
 
 " And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had 
 given them of the corn of heaven. 
 
 " Man did eat angels' food : He sent them meat to the full. 
 
 " He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven ; and by His 
 power He brought in the south wind. 
 
 " He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls 
 like as the sand of the sea" (Ps. Ixxviii. 23 27). 
 
 From this passage it is evident that the Selavim which were 
 sent together with the manna were birds of some kind " fowls 
 of wing," according to the literal sense of the Hebrew ; so that 
 the theory that they were insects or fish must be dismissed as
 
 THE QUAIL. 433 
 
 untenable. The question now remains, with what species of 
 bird are we to identify the Selav ? 
 
 Respecting this question, there has been great discussion, 
 chiefly arising from the fact that the various commentators 
 endeavoured to show that the Selav was not the Quail, but some 
 other bird. Some, for example, take it to be the white stork, 
 which is very plentiful in Palestine, and sometimes flies in such 
 numbers that the sky is darkened as the winged host passes by. 
 They base this supposition on the stature of the bird, which is 
 so tall that it stands about " two cubits high upon the face of 
 the earth." So it does, but this is a very insufficient reason for 
 translating the word seldv as " stork." 
 
 In the first place, the words " as it were two cubits high upon 
 the face of the earth " certainly do not refer to the stature of 
 the individual birds. They are popularly taken to signify that 
 the earth was covered with the bodies of the Selavim to the 
 depth of three feet. 
 
 This, however, can hardly have been the fact, as in that case 
 they would have utterly overwhelmed the whole camp, and 
 crushed the tents by their weight. Moreover, there would 
 have been no need of gathering them up, as they would have 
 lain so thickly on the ground that the only trouble would have 
 been to make a passage through them. It is not very easy 
 to force a passage through snow a yard in depth, while to do 
 so through the same depth of birds would have been almost 
 impossible. 
 
 Neither could the Israelites have " spread them all abroad 
 for themselves round about the camp." If the Selavim lay to 
 the depth of a yard " as it were a day's journey on this side, 
 and a day's journey on the other side of the camp," i.e. some 
 eight or ten miles all round it, there would have been no space 
 whereon the birds could have been spread. The sentence in 
 question has a totally different signification, and refers to the 
 height from the ground at which the birds fly. Taken in this 
 sense, the whole passage falls into harmony, whereas in any 
 other it involves a difficulty. 
 
 If the ordinary interpretation of seldv by " Quail " be accepted, 
 the description is exactly correct. The Quails fly in vast flocks, 
 and, being weak-winged birds, never fly against the direction of 
 the wind. They will wait for days until the wind blows in the 
 
 F F
 
 434 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 required direction, and will then take wing in countless multi- 
 tudes ; so that in an hour or two a spot on which not a Quail 
 could be seen is covered with them. 
 
 On account of their short wings, they never rise to any great 
 height, even when crossing the sea, while on land they fly at a 
 very low elevation, merely skimming over the ground, barely a 
 yard or " two cubits high upon the face of the earth." We may 
 now see how needless it is to attribute the two cubits to the 
 stature of the bird, or to the depth at which they lay on the 
 ground. 
 
 There are other reasons why the Sel&v could not be any 
 species of stork. In the first place, all the stork tribe are in- 
 cluded among the list of unclean birds, and it is not likely that 
 the Almighty would have neutralized His own edicts by pro- 
 viding food which the Israelites were forbidden to eat. In the 
 next place, even had the flesh of the stork been lawful, 'it is of 
 so unpleasant a nature that the people could not have eaten it. 
 For similar reasons we may dismiss the theories which consider 
 the Sclav to be a goose or water-fowl of any kind. 
 
 Some persons have thought that the sand-grouse is the Selav. 
 In the first place, the flesh of this bird is hard, tasteless, and dis- 
 liked by those who have tried it ; so that the Israelites would 
 not have been tempted to eat it. In the next, it is a strong- 
 winged and swift-footed bird, and would not have satisfied the 
 required conditions. It flies high in the air, instead of merely 
 skimming over the ground, and when it alights is fresh and 
 active, and cannot easily be caught. The Quail, on the con- 
 trary, after it has flown for any distance, is so completely 
 tired out that when it alights it crouches to the earth, and will 
 allow itself to be picked up by hand. It has even been trodden 
 to death under a horse's feet. 
 
 Moreover, the flesh of the Quail is peculiarly excellent, and 
 would be a great temptation to men who had passed so long a 
 time without eating animal food. Another corroboration of the 
 identity of the Quail and the Selav is to be found in the mode 
 in which the flesh is prepared at the present day. As soon as 
 the birds have arrived, they are captured in vast multitudes, on 
 account of their weariness. Many are consumed at once, but 
 great numbers are preserved for future use by being split and 
 laid out to dry in the sun, precisely as the Israelites are said to
 
 THE QUAIL. 435 
 
 have spread out the Selavim " all abroad for themselves round 
 about the camp." 
 
 It is rather remarkable that the Arabs of the present day use 
 a word almost exactly resembling seldv to represent the Quail. 
 The word is saliva, given by one of the older writers on the 
 subject as selaw. 
 
 Accepting, therefore, the Selav and Quail to be identical, we 
 may 'proceed to the description of the bird. 
 
 It is small, plump, and round-bodied, with the head set 
 closely on the shoulders. Owing to this peculiarity of form, it 
 has its Arab name, which signifies plumpness or fatness. The 
 wings are. pressed closely to the body, and the tail is pointed, 
 very short, and directed downwards, so that it almost appears to 
 be absent, and the bird seems to be even more plump than 
 really is the case. 
 
 Several modes of capturing these birds are still practised in 
 the East, and were probably employed, not only on the two 
 occasions mentioned in Exodus and Numbers, but on many 
 others of which the Scriptural narrative takes no notice. One 
 very simple plan is, for the hunters to select a spot on which the 
 birds are assembled, and to ride or walk round them in a large 
 circle, or rather in a constantly diminishing spiral. The birds 
 are by this process driven closer and closer together, until at the 
 last they are packed in such masses that a net can be thrown 
 over them, and a great number captured in it. 
 
 Sometimes a party of hunters unite to take the Quails, and 
 employ a similar manoeuvre, except that, instead of merely 
 walking round the Quails, they approach simultaneously from 
 opposite points, and then circle round them until the birds are 
 supposed to be sufficiently packed. At a given signal they all 
 converge upon the terrified birds, and take them by thousands 
 at a time. 
 
 In Northern Africa these birds are captured in a very similar 
 fashion. As soon as notice is given that a flight of Quails has 
 settled, all the men of the village turn out with their great 
 burnouses or cloaks. Making choice of some spot as a centre, 
 where a quantity of brushwood grows or is laid down, the men 
 surround it on all sides, and move slowly towards it, spreading 
 their cloaks in their outstretched hands, and flapping them like 
 the wings of huge birds. Indeed, when a man is seen from a 
 
 F F 2
 
 436 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 little distance performing this act. he looks more like a huge bat 
 than a human being. 
 
 As the men gradually converge upon the brushwood, the 
 Quails naturally run towards it for shelter, and at last they all 
 creep under the treacherous shade. Still holding their out- 
 spread cloaks in their extended hands, the hunters suddenly run 
 to the brushwood, fling their cloaks over it, and so enclose the 
 birds in a trap from which they cannot escape. Much care is 
 required in this method of hunting, lest the birds should take to 
 flight, and so escape. The circle is therefore made of very great 
 size, and the men who compose it advance so slowly that the 
 Quails prefer to use their legs rather than their wings, and do 
 not think of flight until their enemies are so close upon them 
 that their safest course appears to be to take refuge in the 
 brushwood. 
 
 Boys catch the Quails in various traps and springes, the most 
 ingenious of which is a kind of trap, the door of which over- 
 balances itself by the weight of the bird. 
 
 By reason of the colour of the Quail, and its inveterate habit 
 of keeping close to the ground, it easily escapes observation, and 
 even the most practised eye can scarcely distinguish a single 
 bird, though there may be hundreds within a very small compass. 
 Fortunately for the hunters, and unfortunately for itself, it 
 betrays itself by its shrill whistling note, which it frequently 
 emits, and which is so peculiar that it will at once direct the 
 hunter to his prey. 
 
 This note is at the same time the call of the male to the 
 female and a challenge to its own sex. Like all the birds of its 
 group, the Quail is very combative, and generally fights a battle 
 for the possession of each of its many mates. It is not gifted 
 with such weapons of offence as some of its kinsfolk, but it is none 
 the less quarrelsome, and fights in its own way as desperately as 
 the game-cock of our own country. 
 
 Indeed, in the East, it is used for exactly the same purpose as 
 the game-cock. Battles between birds and beasts, not to say 
 men, are the common amusement with Oriental potentates, and, 
 when they are tired of watching the combats of the larger 
 animals, they have Quail-fights in their own chambers. The 
 birds are selected for this purpose, and are intentionally fur- 
 nished with stimulating food, so as to render them even more
 
 - THE QUAIL. 437 
 
 quarrelsome than they would be by nature. Partridges are 
 employed for the same cruel purpose ; and as both these birds 
 are easily obtained, and are very pugnacious, they are especially 
 suited for the sport. 
 
 Two passages occur in the Scriptures which exactly explain 
 the mode in which the Quails were sent to the Israelites. The 
 first is in Ps. Ixxviii. 26. The Psalmist mentions that the Lord 
 "caused an east wind to blow in the heaven, and by His power 
 He brought in the south wind." Here, on examining the geo- 
 graphical position of the Israelites, we see exactly how the 
 south-east wind would bring the Quails. 
 
 The Israelites had just passed the Eed Sea, and had begun to 
 experience a foretaste of the privations which they were to expect 
 in the desert through which they had to pass. Passing north- 
 wards in their usual migrations, the birds would come to the 
 coast of the Red Sea, and there would wait until a favourable 
 wind enabled them to cross the water. The south-east wind 
 afforded them just the very assistance which they needed, and 
 they would naturally take advantage of it. 
 
 It is remarkable how closely the Scriptural narrative agrees 
 with the habits of the Quail, the various passages, when com- 
 pared together, precisely coinciding with the character of the 
 bird. In Exod. xvi. 13 it is mentioned that "at even the 
 quails came up and covered the camp." Nocturnal flight is one 
 of the characteristics of the Quail. "When possible, they in- 
 variably fly by night, and in this manner escape many of the 
 foes which would make great havoc among their helpless columns 
 if they were to fly by day. 
 
 The identity of the Sel&v with the common Quail is now seen 
 to be established. In the first place, we have the name still 
 surviving in the Arabic language. Next, the various details of 
 the Scriptural narrative point so conclusively to the bird, that 
 even if we were to put aside the etymological corroboration, we 
 could have but little doubt on the subject. There is not a detail 
 which is not correct. The gregarious instinct of the bird, which 
 induces it to congregate in vast numbers ; its habit of migration ; 
 its inability to fly against the wind, and the necessity for it to 
 await a favourable breeze ; its practice of flying by night, and its 
 custom of merely skimming over the surface of the ground ; the 
 ease with which it is captured ; the mode of preserving by
 
 438 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 drying in the sun, and the proverbial delicacy of its flesh, are 
 characteristics which all unite in the Quail. 
 
 BEFORE closing our account of the Quail, it will be as well to 
 devote a short space to the nature of the mode by which the 
 Israelites were twice fed. Commentators who were unacquainted 
 with the natural history of the bird have represented the whole 
 occurrence as a miraculous one, and have classed it with the 
 division of the Red Sea and of the Jordan, with the various 
 plagues by which Pharaoh was induced to release the Israelites, 
 and with many other events which we are accustomed to call 
 miracles. 
 
 In reality, there is scarcely anything of a miraculous character 
 about the event, and none seems to have been claimed for it. 
 The Quails were not created at the moment expressly for the 
 purpose of supplying the people with food, nor were they even 
 brought from any great distance. They were merely assisted in 
 the business on which they were engaged, namely, their migra- 
 tion or customary travel from south to north, and waiting on the 
 opposite side of the narrow sea for a south-east wind. That 
 such a wind should blow was no miracle. The Quails expected 
 it to blow, and without it they could not have crossed the sea. 
 That it was made to blow earlier than might have been the case 
 is likely enough, but that is the extent of the miraculous cha- 
 racter of the event. Taking the word in its ordinary sense, no 
 miracle was wrought, simply because none was wanted. Granting 
 to the fullest extent that He who arranged the course of the 
 world can alter His arrangements as easily as He made them, 
 we cannot but see that in this case no alteration was iieederl, 
 and that, in consequence, none was made.
 
 THE RAVEN. 439 
 
 THE RAVEN. 
 
 Signification of the word Oreb The Raven tribe plentiful in Palestine The 
 Raven and the Dove Elijah and the Ravens Various explanations of the 
 circumstance Feeding the young Ravens Luis of Grenada's sermon The 
 white Raven of ancient times An old legend Reference to the blackness 
 of the Raven's plumage Desert-loving habits of the Raven Its mode of 
 attacking the eye Notions of the old commentators Ceremonial use of the 
 Raven Return of the Ravens Cunning of the bird Nesting-places of the 
 Raven The magpie and its character The starling Its introduction into 
 Palestine The Rabbi perplexed Solution of the difficulty. 
 
 IT is more than probable that, while the Hebrew word oreb 
 primarily signifies the bird which is so familiar to us under the 
 name of RAVEN, it was also used by the Jews in a much looser 
 sense, and served to designate any of the Corvidae, or Crow tribe, 
 such as the raven itself, the crow, the rook, the jackdaw, and 
 the like. We will first take the word in its restricted sense, and 
 then devote a brief space to its more extended signification. 
 
 As might be expected from the cosmopolitan nature of the 
 Raven, it is very plentiful in Palestine, and even at the present 
 time is apparently as firmly established as it was in the days 
 when the various Scriptural books were written. 
 
 There are few birds which are more distinctly mentioned in 
 the Holy Scriptures than the Raven, though the passages in 
 which its name occurs are comparatively few. It is the first bird 
 which is mentioned in the Scriptures, its name occurring in 
 Gen. viii. 7 : " And it came to pass at the end of forty days, 
 that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made ; 
 
 ' And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, 
 until the waters were dried up from off the earth." 
 
 Here we have, at the very outset, a characteristic account of 
 the bird. It left the ark, and flew to and fro, evidently for the 
 purpose of seeking food. The dove, which immediately followed 
 the Raven, acted in a different manner. She flew from the ark 
 in search of food, and, finding none, was forced to return again.
 
 440 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The Raven, on the contrary, would find plenty of food in the 
 bodies of the various animals that had been drowned, and were 
 floating on the surface of the waters, and, therefore, needed not 
 to enter again into the ark. The context shows that it made the 
 ark a resting-place, and that it " went forth to and fro," or, as 
 
 THE RAVEN. 
 
 " Whu )jrovideth fur th< raven his fuoJf " JOB xxxviii. 41. 
 
 the Hebrew Bible renders the passage, " in going and returning," 
 until the waters had subsided. Here, then, is boldly drawn the 
 distinction between the two birds, the carrion-eater and the 
 feeder on vegetable substances a distinction to which allusion 
 has already been made in the history of the dove. 
 
 Passing over the declaration in Lev. xi. 15 and Deut. xiv. 14, 
 that every Eaven (i.e. the Raven and all its tribe) is unclean, we
 
 THE RAVEN. 441 
 
 come to the next historical mention of the bird. This occurs in 
 1 Kings xvii. When Elijah had excited the anger of Ahab by 
 prophesying three years of drought, he was divinely ordered to 
 take refuge by the brook Cherith, one of the tributaries of the 
 Jordan. " And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook ; 
 and I have commanded the ravens [orebim] to feed thee there. 
 
 " So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord : 
 for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before 
 Jordan. 
 
 "And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morn- 
 ing, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the 
 brook." 
 
 In this passage we have a history of a purely miraculous 
 character. It is not one that can be explained away. Some 
 have tried to do so by saying that the banished prophet found 
 the nests of the Ravens, and took from them daily a supply of 
 food for his sustenance. The repetition of the words " bread 
 and flesh " shows that the sacred writer had no intention of 
 signifying a mere casual finding of food which the Havens 
 brought for their young, but that the prophet was furnished -with 
 a constant and regular supply of bread and meat twice in the 
 day. It is a statement which, if it be not accepted as the 
 account of a miracle., must be rejected altogether. 
 
 I may here mention that an explanation of the passage has 
 been offered by some commentators, who render the word 
 orebim as "Arabs," and so arrive at the conclusion that the 
 prophet was fed in his retirement by the Arab tribes which 
 came to the^brook for water. Others have thought that the 
 Orebim were the inhabitants of a village called Orbo, near the 
 Cherith. There is, however, no need of any such explanations. 
 The account of the prophet's flight to the Cherith and of the 
 daily supply of food which he received has been accepted as a 
 simple statement of facts by all Jewish writers, and there is no 
 alternative but either to accept it in the same sense or to 
 reject it. 
 
 This part of the subject naturally leads to certain passages in 
 which the feeding of the young Eavens is mentioned. See, for 
 example, Job xxxviii. 41 : " Who provideth for the raven his 
 food ? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack 
 of meat." This passage is rendered rather differently and more
 
 442 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 forcibly in the Jewish Bible. "Who provideth for the raven 
 his food, when his young ones cry unto God, and wander for 
 lack of meat? :> A passage of similar import occurs in Ps. 
 cxlvii. 9 : " He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young 
 ravens which cry." An evident reference is made to these 
 passages in Luke xii. 24 : " Consider the ravens : for they neither 
 sow nor reap ; which neither have storehouse nor barn ; and God 
 feedeth them : how much more are ye better than the fowls ? " 
 
 In all these cases reference is made to a curious idea which 
 prevailed respecting the Raven. It was thought that the Raven 
 was a cruel parent, and that after the eggs were hatched it 
 cared nothing -for the young until they were full fledged. As, 
 moreover, the bird was thought to be peculiarly late in attaining 
 its plumage, the young Ravens must all die of hunger, were 
 they not fed in some remarkable manner. This subject is 
 treated at some length by Luis of Grenada in his Sermons. As 
 the passage in question is a very curious one, I give both the 
 original and a translation. For the latter I am indebted to the 
 Rev. C. J. Smith, author of " Synonyms and Antonyms," who 
 has preserved, with much success, the quaint structure of the 
 language. 
 
 " Dominica XIV. post Pent. Coucio 1 : 
 
 " Nisi haec enim omnia maguam iiobis admirationis materiam 
 divinseque providentiae notitiam pireberent, uequaquam Dominus 
 inter cetera sapientiae et providentiae suas argumenta hoc etiam 
 commemoraret, cum ad Job ait : ' Quis praeparat corvo escam 
 suam, quando pulli ejus clamant ad Deum vagantes eo quod 
 non habeant cibos?' 1 Et in Psal. : 'Qui dat jumentis escani 
 ipsorum et pullis corvorum invocautibus eum.' - 
 
 " Cur auteni hoc in loco pullorum corvi praeeipue meniiuerit, 
 in causa est, quod in his miro inodo siugularis provideutife cura 
 elucet. Ait enim interpres quidam corvorum pullos eum im- 
 plumes adhuc suut, candorem pras se ferre : ideoque a pareu- 
 tibus ut nothos negligi, quod eorum non referant colorem. Quo 
 tempore divina providentia, quse nusquam dormit, eos ad se 
 clamantes alit. Vermiculos eiiiin quosdani in nidulo nasci 
 constituit, quorum esu sustentantur donee nono tandem die 
 nascentibus plumis parent um colorem referant, atque ita demurn 
 ab illis nutriantur. 
 
 : Job x.Tiviii. ' Fa.
 
 THE RAVEN. 443 
 
 " Cum igitur divina providentia nulla in re neque aniinalculis 
 istis etiam si a patribus deserantur desit, quanta ilia diffidentia 
 est, quse solis hominibus earn deesse profitetur ? Si homo inter 
 onines inferioris hujus mundi creaturas nobilissirnum et puleher- 
 rimum animal est, si solus ipse Dei imagine insignitus, si ipse 
 hujus magnae familige princeps ac dominus est, si ejus obsequio 
 cuncta militant, si omnia rerum conditor subiecit pedibus ejus 
 oves et boves universas, insuper et pecora campi, &c. qui fieri 
 potest ut cum hujus mundi moderator Dns nullimi neque ani- 
 malculum neque vermiculum a providentise suse cura excludat, 
 sed omnibus abunde omnia suppeditat, pium homiuem (cujus 
 obsequio cuncta destinavit) fame et inedia confici patiatur. Si 
 pater aliquis filii sui familiam, servos, ancillas, et jumenta dili- 
 genter curaret, illisque necessaria abunde provideret, quomodo 
 filium fame perire sineret, cujus familiam tanta cura fovet et 
 alit ? Quis enim hoc in animum inducere possit ? Htec ijitur 
 altera ratio est qua celestis Magister diffidentiam nostram curare, 
 et spem alere atque fulcire studet." 
 
 " Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sermon 1 : 
 
 "For if it were not that all these things afford to us great 
 matter of admiration and demonstration of the providence of 
 God, it were in vain that the Lord, among other tokens of His 
 wisdom and providence, had selected this also, when He saith 
 in Job : 'Who provide! h for the raven his food ? when his young 
 ones cry unto God, wandering for lack of meat.' And in the 
 Psalms : ' Who giveth their own food to the cattle, and to the 
 young ravens that call upon Him.' 
 
 "Now that in this place He hath been mainly mindful of the 
 ravens' young, is partly for this cause, that marvellously in 
 them the singular care of Providence doth show forth. For a 
 certain annotator saith, that the young ravens while as yet they 
 are unfledged do appear of whiteness, and therefore are neglected 
 of their parents as if they were bastards, seeing that they 
 resemble not their colour. At which time Divine Providence, 
 who nowhere sleepeth, doth feed them who call upon Himself. 
 For He causeth certain vermicles (small worms) to be bred in 
 the little nest, by eating of which they are sustained, until at 
 length on the ninth day, the feathers beginning to grow, they 
 resemble the colour of their parents, and so come to be nourished 
 by them.
 
 444 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 " Seeing then that Divine Providence is never wanting in any 
 matter, not even to these little creatures, though they be deserted 
 of their parents, how great is that distrust which averreth that it 
 is wanting unto men alone ! If man be among all the creatures of 
 this lower world the noblest and the fairest of things ; if he alone 
 be made illustrious by God's image ; if he himself be of this great 
 family the leader and lord ; if in obedience to him all tilings 
 serve ; if the Constructor of all things hath put under his feet 
 ' all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field ; ' how shall 
 it be that when the Lord, the Ruler of this world, shutteth out 
 none, neither insect nor worm, from the care of His providence, 
 but supplieth abundantly all things for all, He should suffer the 
 righteous man, for whose service He hath appointed all things, 
 to perish of hunger and lack of food ? 
 
 " If it be that every father would diligently care for his son's 
 household, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and cattle, and 
 provide them abundantly with all things needful, how should 
 He suffer His sons to perish whose families He cherisheth and 
 feedeth with so great care ? Who, indeed, could harbour such 
 a thought ? This then is another consideration whereby the 
 heavenly Master seeks to cure our distrust, and to feed and stay 
 our hope." 
 
 Some of the old writers improved on this legend by saying 
 that the worms crawled into the mouths of the young Ravens, 
 so that the birds had not even the trouble of picking them up. 
 
 Some of the ancient Jewish writers had an idea that the 
 Raven was originally a white bird, and that its colour was 
 changed by way of punishment for its evil disposition and 
 deceitful conduct. A similar idea was held by the old mytho- 
 logical writers. They said that the Raven was formerly the 
 favourite bird of Apollo, and that it was celebrated for its sweet 
 song and snowy white plumage. Part of its duty was to bring 
 water for its master from the fountain Hippocrene. 
 
 One day, instead of doing its duty, the bird amused itself in 
 the garden, and at last fell asleep. Fearful when it awoke that 
 it should be punished for its carelessness, the cunning Raven 
 snatched up a snake, killed it, and brought it to Apollo, saying 
 that the serpent had disputed the passage to the fountain, and 
 that, after a long fight, it had just been killed. Apollo, angry 
 with the bird for having told a lie, drove it from his presence,
 
 THE RAVEN. 445 
 
 and as it fled its musical voice turned into a harsh croak, and 
 its white plumage became black. 
 
 " ' Liar ! ' exclaimed the god, 
 The Python-killer, as from his keen eye 
 The lightning darted, ' Me wouldst thou deceive 
 With such a wretched tale ! Hence, hence ! begone! 
 Black as thy falsehood fly through shuddering air, 
 A bird of lonely night ! Dumb be thy voice 
 Of sweetest melody : henceforth thy cry 
 Tell but of woes and horrors, a wild shriek 
 Of darkness and dismay.' " 
 
 Knight's Quarterly Magazine 
 
 Reference to the blackness of the Eaven's plumage is made in 
 the Song of Solomon. " My beloved is white and ruddy, the 
 chiefest among ten thousand. 
 
 " His beard is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy and 
 black as a Raven." (Cant. v. 10, 11.) A similar expression is 
 common among ourselves. 
 
 On account of its mode of life, the Raven cannot exist in a 
 wild state in cultivated ground. Hence it has disappeared from 
 the greater part of England, and is seldom to be seen except 
 on wide moors or in large forests. Cultivated ground affords it 
 scarcely any food, and it is therefore a bird of the wilderness 
 rather than of the towns. 
 
 Like all feeders on carrion, it is wonderfully quick in detecting 
 a dead or dying animal, and rivals the vulture itself in the 
 sharpness of its vision. If any one who is passing over a part 
 of the country where Ravens still survive, should wish to see 
 one of the birds, he has only to lie flat on the ground, and 
 keep his eyes nearly shut, so as only to see through the lashes. 
 Should there be a Raven within many miles, it is sure to dis- 
 cover the apparently dead body, and to alight at no great 
 distance, walking round and round, with its peculiar sidelong 
 gait, and, if it be not checked in time, will make a dash at the 
 eye of the prostrate individual, and probably blind him for life. 
 
 This habit of pecking at the eye is inherent in all the crow 
 tribe, probably because they know instinctively that if the animal 
 will allow its eye to be pecked out it must be dead ; and if it 
 should still possess life, it would be blinded for the moment, so 
 as to allow its assailant to escape. The Scriptures note this 
 custom of the Raven, as we see in Prov. xxx. 17 : " The eye that
 
 446 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his mother, the 
 ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall 
 eat it." 
 
 The desert-loving habit of the Raven is noticed in Isa. xxxiv. 
 11:" The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it ; the owl 
 also and the raven shall dwell in it : and He shall stretch out 
 upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness." 
 
 WE will now pass to the notices of the Raven as given by 
 the writers and commentators of the Talmud. 
 
 Being an unclean bird, and one of ill omen, it was not per- 
 mitted to perch on the roof of the Temple. According to some 
 writers, it was kept off by means of scarecrows, and according 
 to others, by long and sharp iron spikes set so closely together 
 that there was no room for the bird to pass between them. The 
 latter is by far the more probable account, as the Raven is much 
 too cunning a bird to be deceived by a scarecrow for any length 
 of time. It might be alarmed at the first sight of a strange 
 object, but in a very short time it would hold all scarecrows in 
 supreme contempt. 
 
 Its carrion-eating propensities were well known to the ancient 
 writers, who must have had many opportunities of seeing the 
 Raven unite with the vultures in consuming the bodies, not only 
 of dead animals, but of warriors killed in battle. So fond was 
 the Raven of this food that, according to those writers, the very 
 smell of human blood attracted the bird ; and, if a man acci- 
 dentally cut himself, or if he were bled for some illness, the 
 odour of the blood would bring round the spot all the Ravens 
 of the place. 
 
 The punctuality with which the Raven, in common with all 
 its kin, returns to its roosting-place, was also familiar to the 
 Talmudists, who made rather an ingenious use of this habit. 
 The ceremonial law of the Jews required the greatest" care in 
 observing certain hours, and it was especially necessary to know 
 the precise time which marked the separation of one day from 
 another. This was ascertained easily enough as long as the day 
 was clear, but in case of a dull, murky day, when the course of 
 the sun could not be traced, some other plan was needed. 
 
 In the olden times, no artificial means of measuring time were 
 known, and the devout Jew was consequently fearful lest he
 
 THE RAVEN. 447 
 
 might unwittingly break the law by doing on one day an act 
 which . ought to have been done on another. A convenient 
 method for ascertaining the time was, however, employed, and, 
 as soon as the Havens, rooks, and similar birds were seen 
 returning to their homes, the sun was supposed to be setting. 
 
 This habit of returning regularly at the same time is men- 
 tioned by Mr. Tristram in his " Land of Israel : " 
 
 " Of all the birds of Jerusalem, the raven is decidedly the 
 most characteristic and conspicuous. It is present everywhere 
 to eye and ear, and the odours that float around remind us of 
 its use. On the evening of our arrival we were perplexed by 
 a call-note, quite new to us, mingling with the old familiar 
 croak, and soon ascertained that there must be a second species 
 of raven along with the common Corni-s corax. This was the 
 African species (Corvus umbrinus, Hed.), the ashy-necked raven, 
 a little smaller than the world-wide raven, and here more. 
 abundant in individuals. 
 
 " Beside these, the rook (Corvus agricola, Trist.), the common 
 grey, or hooded crow (Corvus cornice, L.), and the jackdaw 
 (Corvus monedula, L.), roost by hundreds in the sanctuary. We 
 used to watch them in long lines passing over our tents every 
 morning at daybreak, and returning in the evening, the rooks in 
 solid phalanx leading the way, and the ravens in loose order 
 bringing up the rear, generally far out of shot. Before retiring 
 for the night, popular assemblies of the most uproarious cha- 
 racter were held together in the trees of the Kedron and Mount 
 Olivet, and not until sunset did they withdraw in silence, 
 mingled indiscriminately, to their roosting-places on the walls. 
 
 "My companions were very anxious to obtain specimens of 
 these Jerusalem birds, which could only be approached as they 
 settled for the night ; but we were warned by the Consul that 
 shooting them so close to the mosque might be deemed a sacrilege 
 by the Moslems, and provoke an attack by the guardians of the 
 Haram and the boys of the neighbourhood. They finally deter- 
 mined, nevertheless, to run the risk ; and stationing themselves 
 just before sunset in convenient hiding-places near the walls, at 
 a given signal they fired simultaneously, and, hastily gathering 
 up the spoils, had retreated out of reach, and were hurrying to 
 the tents before an alarm could be raised. The discharge of ten 
 barrels had obtained fourteen specimens, comprising five species.
 
 448 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 "The same manoeuvre was repeated with equal success on 
 another evening ; but on the third occasion the ravens had 
 learned wisdom by experience, and, sweeping round Siloam, 
 chose another route to their dormitory." 
 
 Those who have tried to come within gunshot of a Raven, 
 even in this country, can appreciate this anecdote, and can 
 understand how the Raven would ever afterwards keep clear 
 of a spot where the flash and smoke of fire-arms had twice 
 appeared. 
 
 An anecdote which authenticates this cautious turn of mind 
 in the Raven is given in Mr. Thompson's work on the " Natural 
 History of Ireland." There was a large yard in which the 
 sparrows used to congregate, and it was a custom of the owner 
 to lay a train of corn for the sparrows to eat, and then to rake 
 the whole line with a discharge from a gun concealed in an 
 outhouse. A tame Raven lived about the premises, and as soou 
 as it saw any one carrying a gun towards the fatal outhouse, it 
 became much alarmed, and hurried off to hide itself. As soon 
 as the gun was fired, out came the Raven from its place of con- 
 cealment, pounced on one of the dead sparrows, carried it off 
 and ate it in its private haunt. 
 
 The nest to which the Raven returns with such punctuality 
 is placed in some spot where it is safe from ordinary intruders. 
 The tops of lofty trees are favoured localities for the nest, and 
 so are old towers, the interior of caves, and clefts in lofty pre- 
 cipices. The nest is large and clumsy, and the 'bird, trusting in 
 the inaccessible character of the locality, troubles itself very 
 little about concealment. The Raven is a peculiarly domestic 
 bird, and a pattern of conjugal affection. It pairs for life, and 
 both male and female take their share of sitting on the eggs and 
 nurturing the young. 
 
 THE old writers of whom mention has been made admitted 
 that all the Corvidse were signified by the word oreb. Some- 
 times they drew a distinction between them, but, as a rule, the 
 word orel might mean any of those birds, from a Raven to 
 a starling. 
 
 The MAGPIE is one of those birds which is separately men- 
 tioned. Like the Raven, it wa-s thought to be harsh and cruel 
 to its young, so that whenever a man behaved badly to his
 
 THE KAVEN. 449 
 
 children, either by neglect or by absolute cruelty, he was called 
 a Magpie-man by way of derision. Similarly, a man of a morose 
 or evil disposition was termed a Eaven-hearted man. As, how- 
 ever, the Magpie is not entirely black, but has some white in its 
 plumage, it was held to be rather a better bird than the Raven. 
 Moreover, it is fond of haunting the habitations of men, so that 
 it was held to be of a softer nature than the Raven, which 
 always kept itself as far from mankind as possible. 
 
 Lastly, we come to the Starling, which, as I have already 
 mentioned, is considered as one of the Raven tribe, and is ranked 
 under the name of Oreb. The old writers had no very great 
 opinion of this bird, which they considered as exceptionally 
 quarrelsome, probably on account of its shrill, harsh cry. They 
 had a curious proverb, " Two Starlings cannot sleep in one bed," 
 by which they meant that two quarrelsome people ought not to 
 associate together. 
 
 There is a rather curious legend respecting the introduction 
 of the Starling into Palestine. 
 
 Many years ago, a strange bird appeared in Jerusalem. It 
 was caught, and brought before a celebrated Rabbi for exami- 
 nation, in order that he might decide whether it belonged to the 
 clean or the unclean birds. After examining it, he could not 
 make up his mind to either side of the question, and left the 
 disputed point to be settled in a different way. 
 
 He ordered the bird to be placed on the roof of a house, and 
 to be carefully watched, in order that the birds which associated 
 with it might be noticed. For some time no birds of any kind 
 would recognise the stranger, until at last there came a Raven 
 from Egypt, which claimed acquaintance with it. In conse- 
 quence of this, the Starling was ever afterwards classed with the 
 Raven, and considered as an unclean bird. The Egyptian Raven 
 which is here mentioned is described as being a very small bird, 
 scarcely larger, indeed, than the Starling itself.
 
 450 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE OSTRICH. 
 
 Hebrew words designating the Ostrich Description of the bird in the Book of Job 
 Ancient use of Ostrich plumes Supposed heedlessne.ss of eggs and young 
 Mode of depositing the eggs Hatching them in the sand Natural enemies 
 of the Ostrich Anecdote of Ostriches and their young Alleged stupidity of 
 the Ostrich Methods of hunting and snaring the bird The Ostrich in 
 domestication Speed of the Ostrich The flesh of the bird prohibited to the 
 Jews Ostrich eggs and their uses Food of the Ostrich Mode of drinking 
 Cry of the Ostrich, and reference made to it in Micah. 
 
 THERE is rather a peculiarity about the manner in which this 
 bird is mentioned in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures, 
 and, unless we go to the original Hebrew, we shall be greatly 
 misled. In that version the Ostrich is mentioned only three 
 times, but in the Hebrew it occurs eight times. If the reader 
 will refer to page 370, he will see that the Hebrew word bath- 
 haya'nah, which is translated in the Authorized Version as " owl," 
 ought really to be rendered as "Ostrich." Taking this to be the 
 case, we find that there are several passages in the Scriptures 
 in which the word has been used in the wrong sense, and that 
 in those places, instead of rendering the word as " owl," we 
 ought to read it as " Ostrich." 
 
 The first mention of this bird occurs in Lev. xi. 16, and the 
 parallel passage of Deut. xiv., in which the Ostrich is reckoned 
 among the unclean birds, without any notice being given of its 
 appearance or habits. 
 
 In the Book of Job, however, we have the Ostrich mentioned 
 with that preciseness and fulness of description which is so 
 often the case when the writer of that wonderful poem treats 
 of living creatures. 
 
 ** Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks ? or wiugs 
 and feathers unto the ostrich ? 
 
 " Who leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in 
 the dust,
 
 THE OSTRICH. 451 
 
 " And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the 
 wild beast may break them. 
 
 " She is hardened against her young ones, as though they 
 were not hers : her labour is in vain without fear ; 
 
 " Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath He 
 imparted to her understanding. 
 
 "What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the 
 horse and his rider." (Job xxxix. 13 19.) 
 
 There is rather a peculiarity in the translation of this passage, 
 wherein the word which has been translated as " peacock " is 
 now allowed to be properly rendered as "Ostrich," while the 
 word which is translated as "Ostrich " ought to have been given 
 as " feathers." The marginal translation gives the last words of 
 ver. 13 in a rather different manner, and renders it thus : 
 " Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks, or the feathers 
 of the stork and ostrich ? " The Hebrew Bible renders the next 
 verses as follows : 
 
 " She would yet leave her eggs on the earth, and warm them 
 in dust ; and forget that the foot may crush them, or that the 
 beast of the field may break them. 
 
 " She is hardened against her young ones, for those not hers ; 
 being careless, her labour is in vain." 
 
 In the same Book, chap, xxx., is another passage wherein this 
 bird is mentioned. " I went mourning without the sun : I stood 
 up, and I cried in the congregation. 
 
 " I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls," or 
 Ostriches, in the marginal and correct reading. The Jewish 
 Bible also translates the word as Ostriches, but the word which 
 the .Authorized Version renders as "dragons" it translates as 
 "jackals." Of this point we shall have something to say on a 
 future page. A somewhat similar passage occurs in Isa. xliii. 
 20 : " The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and 
 the owls" (Ostriches in marginal reading), "because I give 
 waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink 
 to My people, My chosen." The Jewish Bible retains the same 
 reading, except that the word " dragons " is given with the mark 
 of doubt. 
 
 Accepting, therefore, the rendering of the Hebrew as Ostriches, 
 let us see how far the passages of Scripture agree with the 
 appearance and habits of the bird, 
 
 G o 2
 
 452 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Here I may observe that, although in the Scriptures frequent 
 allusions are made to the habits of animals, we are not to look 
 for scientific exactness to the Scriptures. Among much that is 
 strictly and completely true, there are occasional errors, to which 
 a most needless attention has been drawn by a certain school of 
 critics, who point to them as invalidating the truth of Scripture 
 in general The real fact is, that they have no bearing whatever 
 on the truth or falsehood of the Scriptural teachings. 
 
 The Scriptures were written at various times, for instruc- 
 tion in spiritual and not in temporal rnatters, and were never 
 intended for scientific treatises on astronomy, mathematics, 
 zoology, or any such branch of knowledge. The references 
 which are made to the last-mentioned subject are in no case of 
 a scientific nature, but are always employed by way of metaphor 
 or simile, as the reader must have seen in the previous pages. No 
 point of doctrine is taught by them, and none depends on them. 
 
 The Spirit which conveyed religious instruction to the people 
 could only use the means that existed, and could no more employ 
 the scientific knowledge of the present time than use as meta- 
 phors the dress, arms, and inventions of the present day. The 
 Scriptures were written in Eastern lands for Orientals by 
 Orientals, and were consequently adapted to Oriental ideas ; and 
 it would be as absurd to look for scientific zoology in the writings 
 of an ancient Oriental, as for descriptions of the printing 
 press, the steam-engine, the photographic camera, or the electric 
 telegraph. 
 
 So^ when we remember that only a few years ago the real 
 history of the Ostrich was unknown to those who had made 
 zoology the study of their lives, we cannot wonder that it was 
 also unknown to those who lived many centuries ago, and who 
 had not the least idea of zoology, or any kindred science. 
 
 Still, even with these drawbacks, it is wonderful how accurate 
 in many instances were the writers of the Scriptures, and the 
 more so when we remember the character of the Oriental mind, 
 with its love of metaphor, its disregard of arithmetical pre- 
 cision, and its poetical style of thought. 
 
 We will now take the passage in Job xxxix. In ver. 13 
 reference is made to the wings and feathers of the Ostrich. If 
 the reader will refer to page 260, he will see that the feathers of 
 the Ostrich were formerly used as the emblem of rank. In this
 
 THE OSTRICH. 453 
 
 case, they are shown as fastened to the heads of the horses, and 
 also in the form of a plume, fixed to the end of a staff, and 
 appended to a chariot, as emblematical of the princely rank of 
 the occupier. In the ancient Egyptian monuments these Ostrich 
 plumes are repeatedly shown, and in every case denote very high 
 rank. These plumes were therefore held in high estimation at 
 the time in which the Book of Job was written, and it is 
 evidently in allusion to this fact that the sacred writer has 
 mentioned so prominently the white plumes of the Ostrich. 
 
 Passing the next portion of the description, we find that the 
 Ostrich is mentioned as a bird that is careless of its eggs, and 
 leaves them " in the earth, and warrneth them in the dust, and 
 forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast 
 may break them." 
 
 Now it is true that the Ostrich is often known to take the 
 greatest care of its eggs, the male collecting and sitting on 
 them, and watching them with loving assiduity, and by some 
 persons this fact has been brought forward as a proof that the 
 writer of the Book of Job was mistaken in his statements. A 
 further acquaintance with the habits of the bird tells us, how- 
 ever, that in those parts of the world which were known to the 
 writer of that book the Ostrich does behave in precisely the 
 manner which is described by the sacred writer. 
 
 Several females lay their eggs in the same nest, if the title of 
 nest can be rightly applied to a mere hollow scooped in the 
 sand, and, at least during the daytime, when the sun is shining, 
 they simply cover the eggs with sand, so as to conceal them from 
 ordinary enemies, and leave them to be hatched by the warm 
 sunbeams. They are buried to the depth of about a foot, so 
 that they receive the benefit of a tolerably equable warmth. So 
 much, then, for the assertion that the Ostrich leaves her eggs 
 " in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust." 
 
 We next come to the statement that she forgets that " the foot 
 may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them." It is 
 evident from the preceding description that eggs which are 
 buried a foot deep in the sand could not be crushed by the foot, 
 even were they of a fragile character, instead of being defended 
 by a shell as* thick, and nearly as hard, as an ordinary earthen- 
 ware plate. Neither would the wild. beast be likely to discover 
 much less to break them.
 
 454 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 A more intimate acquaintance with the history of the Ostrich 
 shows that, even in this particular, the sacred writer was per- 
 fectly correct. Besides the eggs which are intended to be 
 hatched, and which are hidden beneath the sand to be hatched, 
 
 ." - -^ -?="..' -- ";->'- . -v -- 
 
 OSTRICH AND NEST. 
 
 Who lenveth her eggs in the earth, and tcarmelh them in the rfitst." JOB xxxix. 14. 
 
 a number of supplementary eggs are laid which are not meant 
 to be hatched, and are evidently intended as food for the young 
 until they are able to forage for themselves. These are left 
 carelessly on the surface of the ground, and may easily be 
 crushed by the hoof of a horse, if not by the foot of man. We 
 meet, however, with another statement, namely, that they may 
 be broken by the wild beasts. Here we have reference to 
 another fact in the history of the Ostrich. The scattered eggs,
 
 THE OSTRICH. 455 
 
 to which allusion is made, are often eaten, not only by beasts, 
 but also by birds of prey ; the former breaking the shells by 
 knocking them against each other, and the latter by picking up 
 large stones in their claws, rising above the eggs, and dropping 
 the stones on them. The bird would like to seize the egg, rise 
 with it in the air, and drop it on a stone, as mentioned on page 
 337, but the round, smooth surface of the egg defies the grasp of 
 talons, and, instead of dropping the egg upon a stone, it is 
 obliged to drop a stone upon the egg. 
 
 Up to the present point, therefore, the writer of the Book of 
 Job is shown to be perfectly correct in his statements. We 
 will now proceed to verse 16 : " She is hardened against her 
 young ones, as though they were not hers." Now in the Jewish 
 Bible the passage is rendered rather differently : " She is har- 
 dened against her young ones, for those not hers ; " and, as we 
 shall presently see, the reading perfectly agrees with the character 
 of the Ostrich. 
 
 There has long existed a belief that the Ostrich, contrary to 
 the character of all other birds, is careless of her young, neglects 
 them, and is even cruel to them. That this notion was shared 
 by the writer of the Book of Job is evident from the preceding 
 passage. It also prevailed for at least a thousand years after 
 the Book of Job was written. See Lam. iv. 3 : " Even the sea 
 monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young 
 ones : the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the 
 ostriches in the wilderness." 
 
 It is' probable that this idea respecting the cruelty of the 
 Ostrich towards its young is derived from the fact that if a flock 
 of Ostriches be chased, and among them there be some very 
 young birds, the latter are left behind by their parents, and fall 
 a prey to the hunters. But, in reality, the Ostrich has no choice 
 in the matter. The wide sandy desert affords no place of con- 
 cealment in which it might hide its young. Nature has not 
 furnished it with weapons by means of which it can tight for 
 them ; and consequently it is forced to use the only means of 
 escape by which it can avoid sacrificing its own life, as well as 
 the lives of the young. 
 
 It does not, however, leave the young until it has tried, by all 
 means in its power, to save them. For example, it sometimes 
 has recourse to the manoeuvre with which we are so familiar iu
 
 456 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the case of the lapwing, and pretends to be wounded or lamed, 
 in order to draw the attention of its pursuers, while its young 
 escape in another direction. An instance of this practice is 
 given by Mr. Andersson in his " Lake Ngami." " When we had 
 proceeded little more than half the distance, and in a part of the 
 plain entirely destitute of vegetation, we discovered a male and 
 female ostrich, with a brood of young ones, about the size of 
 ordinary barn-door fowls. We forthwith dismounted from our 
 oxen, and gave chase, which proved of no ordinary interest. 
 
 " The moment the parent birds became aware of our intention, 
 they set off at full speed the female leading the way, and the 
 cock, though at some little distance, bringing up the rear of the 
 family party. It was very touching to observe the anxiety the 
 birds evinced for the safety of their progeny. Finding that we 
 were quickly gaining upon them, the male at once slackened his 
 pace and diverged somewhat from his course ; but, seeing that we 
 were not to be diverted from our purpose, he again increased his 
 speed, and, with wings drooping so as almost to touch the ground, 
 lie hovered round us, now in wide circles, and then decreasing 
 the circumference until he came almost within pistol-shot, when 
 he abruptly threw himself on the ground, and struggled despe- 
 rately to regain his legs, as it appeared, like a bird that has been 
 badly wounded. 
 
 " Having previously fired at him, I really thought he was dis- 
 abled, and made quickly towards him. But this was only a 
 ruse on his part, for, on my nearer approach, he slowly rose, and 
 began to run in a different direction to that of the female, who 
 by this time was considerably ahead with her charge." Nor is 
 this a solitary instance of the care which the Ostrich will take of 
 her young. Thunberg mentions that on one occasion, when he 
 happened to ride near a place where an Ostrich was sitting on 
 the eggs, the bird jumped up and pursued him, evidently with 
 the object of distracting his attention from the eggs. When he 
 faced her, she retreated ; but as soon as he turned his horse, she 
 pursued him afresh. 
 
 The care of the mother for the young is perhaps less needed 
 with the Ostrich than with most birds. The young are able to 
 run with such speed that ordinary animals are not able to over- 
 take them, and, besides, they are protected by their colour as 
 long as they are comparatively helpless. Their downy plumage
 
 THE OSTRICH. 457 
 
 harmonizes completely with the sandy and stony ground, even 
 when they run, and when they crouch to the earth, as is their 
 manner when alarmed, even the most practised eye can scarcely 
 see them. Mr. Andersson, an experienced hunter, states that 
 when the Ostrich chicks were crouching almost under his feet, 
 he had the greatest difficulty in distinguishing their forms. 
 
 Owing to the great number of the eggs that are laid, the young 
 are often very numerous, between thirty and forty chicks some- 
 times belonging to one brood. In the Ostrich chase which has 
 already been described, the brood were eighteen in number, and 
 so great was their speed that, in spite of their youth and diminu- 
 tive size, Mr. Andersson only succeeded in capturing nine of 
 them after an hour's severe chase. 
 
 We find, therefore, that we must acquit the Ostrich of neglect- 
 ing its young, much more of cruelty towards them ; and we will 
 now turn to the next charge against the bird, that of stupidity. 
 
 In one sense, the bird certainly may be considered stupid. 
 Like nearly all wild creatures which live on large plains, it 
 always runs against the wind, so as to perceive by scent if any 
 enemies are approaching. Its nostrils are very sensitive, and 
 can detect a human being at a very great distance. So fastidious 
 is it in this respect, that no hunter who knows his business ever 
 attempts to approach the Ostrich except from leeward. If a 
 nest is found, and the discoverer wishes the birds to continue 
 laying in it, he approaches on the leeward side, and rakes out 
 the eggs with a long stick. 
 
 The little Bosjesman, who kills so many of these birds with 
 his tiny bow and arrow, makes use of this instinct when he goes 
 to shoot the Ostrich, disguised in a skin of one of the birds. 
 Should an Ostrich attack him, as is sometimes the case, he only 
 shifts his position to windward, so as to allow the birds to catch 
 the scent of a human being, when they instantly make off in 
 terror. 
 
 When, therefore, the Ostriches are alarmed, they always run 
 to windward, instinctively knowing that, if an enemy should 
 approach in that direction, their powers of scent will inform 
 them of the danger. Being aware of this habit, the hunters 
 manage so that while one of them goes round by a long detour 
 to frighten the game, the others are in waiting at a considerable 
 distance to windward, but well on one side, so that no indication
 
 458 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 of their presence may reach the sensitive nostrils of the birds. 
 As soon as the concealed hunters see the Ostriches fairly settled 
 down to their course, they dash off at right angles to the line 
 which the birds are taking, and in this way come near enough 
 to use their weapons. The antelopes of the same country have 
 a similar instinct, and are hunted in precisely the same manner. 
 
 Thus, then, in one sense the Ostrich may be considered as 
 open to the charge of stupidity, inasmuch as it pursues a course 
 which can be anticipated by enemies who would otherwise be 
 unable to overtake it. But it must be remembered that instinct 
 cannot be expected to prove a match for reason, and that, 
 although its human enemies are able to overreach it, no others 
 can do so, the instinct of running against the wind serving to 
 guard it from any foe which it is likely to meet in the desert. 
 
 When captured alive and tamed, it certainly displays no par- 
 ticular amount of intellect. The Arabs often keep tame Ostriches 
 about their tents, the birds being as much accustomed to their 
 quarters as the horses. In all probability they did so in ancient 
 times, and the author of the Book of Job was likely to be 
 familiar with tame Ostriches, as well as with the wild bird. 
 
 Stupidity is probably attributed to the tame bird in conse- 
 quence of the habit possessed by the Ostrich of picking up and 
 eating substances which cannot be used as food. For example, 
 it will eat knives, bits of bone or metal, and has even been 
 known to swallow bullets hot from the mould. On dissecting 
 the digestive organs of an Ostrich, I have found a large quantity 
 of stones, pieces of brick, and scraps of wood. These articles 
 are, however, not intended to serve as food, but simply to aid 
 digestion, and the bird eats them just as domestic fowls pick up 
 gravel, and smaller birds grains of sand. In swallowing them, 
 therefore, the Ostrich does not display any stupidity, but merely 
 obeys a natural instinct. 
 
 Lastly, we come to the speed of the Ostrich : " What time 
 she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his 
 rider." 
 
 This statement is literally true. When the Ostrich puts forth 
 its full speed, there is no horse that can catch it in a fair chase. 
 It may be killed by the ruse which has already been described, 
 but an adult Ostrich can run away from the swiftest horse. 
 When it runs at full speed, it moves its long legs with astonishing
 
 THE OSTRICH. 450 
 
 rapidity, covering at each stride an average of twenty-four 
 feet, a fact from which its rate of speed may be deduced. In 
 consequence of this width of stride, and the small impression 
 made in the sand by the two-toed foot, the track of a running 
 Ostrich is very obscure. Perhaps no better proof of the swift- 
 ness of the bird can be given than the extreme value set upon 
 it by the Arabs. Although they are bred to the desert as much 
 as the Ostrich itself, and are mounted on horses whose swiftness 
 and endurance are proverbial, they set a very high value on the 
 Ostrich, and to have captured one of these birds establishes an 
 Arab's fame as a hunter. 
 
 Sometimes the Arabs employ the plan of cutting across the 
 course of the bird, but at others they pursue it in fair chase, 
 training their horses and themselves specially for the occasion. 
 They furnish themselves with a supply of water, and then start 
 in pursuit of the first flock of Ostriches they find. They take 
 care not to alarm the birds, lest they should put out their full 
 speed and run away out of sight, but just keep sufficiently near 
 to force the birds to be continually on the move. They will 
 sometimes continue this chase for several days, not allowing 
 their game time to eat or rest, until at last it is so tired that it 
 yields itself an easy prey. 
 
 In Southern Africa, snares are used for taking the Ostrich. 
 They are in fact ordinary springes, but of strength suitable to the 
 size of the bird. The cord is made fast to a sapling, which is 
 bent down by main strength, and the other end is then formed 
 into a noose and fastened down with a trigger. Sometimes the 
 bird is enticed towards the snare by means of a bait, and some- 
 times it is driven over it by the huntsmen. In either case, as 
 soon as the Ostrich puts its foot within the fatal noose, the 
 'trigger is loosed, the sapling is released, and, with a violent jerk, 
 the Ostrich is caught by the leg and suspended in the air. 
 
 Why the flesh of the Ostrich should have been prohibited to 
 the Jews is rather a mystery. It is much valued by most 
 natives, though some of the Arab tribes still adhere to the 
 Jewish prohibition, and those Europeans who have tried it pro- 
 nounce it to be excellent when the bird is young and tender, but 
 to be unpleasantly tough when it is old. Mr. Andersson says 
 that its flesh resembles that of the zebra, and mentions that the 
 fat and blood are in great request, being mixed together by
 
 460 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 cutting the throat of the bird, passing a ligature round the neck 
 just below the incision, and then shaking and dragging the bird 
 about for some time. Nearly twenty pounds of this substance 
 are obtained from a single Ostrich. 
 
 The ancient Romans valued exceedingly the flesh of this bird. 
 We are told that Heliogabalus once had a dish served at his 
 table containing six hundred Ostrich brains, and that anothei 
 emperor ate a whole Ostrich at a meal. As an adult Ostrich 
 weighs some twenty-five stone, we may presume that the bird in 
 question was a young one. 
 
 The eggs are most valuable articles of food, both on account of 
 their excellent flavour and their enormous size. It is calculated 
 that one Ostrich egg contains as much as twenty-five ordinary 
 hen's eggs. Cooking the Ostrich egg is easily performed. A 
 hole is made in the upper part of the egg, and the lower end is 
 set on the fire. A forked stick is then introduced into the egg, 
 and twirled between the hands, so as to beat up the whole of 
 the interior. Europeans usually add pepper and salt, and 
 say that this simple mode of cooking produces an excellent 
 omelette. 
 
 The ordinary food of the Ostrich consists of the seeds, buds, 
 and tops of various plants. It seems strange, however, that in 
 the deserts, where there is so little vegetation, the bird should be 
 able to procure sufficient food to maintain its enormous body. 
 Each of the specimens which are kept at the Zoological Gardens 
 eats on an average a pint of barley, the same quantity of oats, 
 four pounds' weight of cabbage, and half a gallon of chaff, 
 beside the buns, bread, and other articles of food which are 
 given to them by visitors. 
 
 Although the Ostrich, like many other inhabitants of the 
 desert, can live for a long time without water, yet it is forced to 
 drink, and like the camel, which it resembles in so many of its 
 ways, drinks enormously, taking in the water by a succession 
 of gulps. When the weather has been exceptionally hot, the 
 Ostrich visits the water-springs daily, and is so occupied in 
 quenching its thirst that it will allow the hunter to come within 
 a very short distance. It appears, indeed, to be almost intoxi- 
 cated with its draught, and, even when it does take the alarm, it 
 only retreats step by step, instead of scudding off with its 
 usually rapid strides.
 
 THE OSTRICH. 461 
 
 The camel-like appearance of the Ostrich has already been 
 mentioned. In the Arabic language the Ostrich is called by a 
 name which signifies camel-bird, and many of the people have 
 an idea that it was originally a cross between a bird and a 
 camel. 
 
 The cry of the Ostrich is a deep bellow, which, according to- 
 travellers in Southern Africa, so resembles the roar of the lion 
 that even the practised ears of the natives can scarcely distin- 
 guish the roar of the animal from the cry of the bird. The re- 
 semblance is increased by the fact that both the lion and Ostrich 
 utter their cry by night. It is evidently to this cry that the 
 prophet Micah alludes : " Therefore I will wail and howl, I 
 will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the 
 dragons, and mourning as the owls " (Ostriches in marginal read- 
 ing). The cry of the variety of Ostrich which inhabits Northern 
 Africa is said to bear more resemblance to the lowing of an ox 
 than the roar of the lion ; but as the bird is smaller than its 
 southern relative, the difference is probably accounted for. 
 
 It has been mentioned that the Ostrich has no weapons 
 wherewith to fight for its young ; still, though it be destitute of 
 actual weapons, such as the spur of the gamecock or the beak 
 and talons of the eagle, it is not entirely defenceless. Its long 
 and powerful legs can be employed as weapons, and it can kick 
 with such force that a man would go down. before the blow, and 
 probably, if struck on the leg or arm, have the limb broken. 
 The blow is never delivered backward, as is the kick of the 
 horse, but forward, like that of the kangaroo. The natives of 
 the countries where it resides say that it is able to kill by its kick 
 the jackal that comes to steal its eggs, and that even the hyaena 
 and the leopard are repelled by the gigantic bird.
 
 462 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE BITTERN. 
 
 Signification of the word Kippod The Bittern and its general appearance The 
 bird of solitude Difficulty of detecting the Bittern in its haunts Mudie's 
 description of the Bittern and its home The strange cry of the bird Super- 
 stitions connected with it The Night- raven^Nest of the Bittern Scarcity 
 of the bird at the presentday Food of the Bittern The bird formerly brought 
 to table. 
 
 IN the account of the hedgehog, page 80, it has been mentioned 
 that the Hebrew word Kippod, which has been rendered in the 
 Authorized Version as " Bittern," is in all probability the Syrian 
 hedgehog, and that the Jewish Bible accepts that rendering 
 without even affixing the mark of doubt to the word. As, 
 however, some writers on the subject still adhere to the more 
 familiar rendering, a short account will be given of the Bittern 
 (Botauris stellaris). 
 
 The Bittern belongs to the same family as the herons, the 
 cranes, and the storks, and has many of the habits common to 
 them all. It is, however, essentially a bird of solitude, hating 
 the vicinity of man, and living in the most retired spots of 
 marshy ground. As it sits among the reeds and rushes, though 
 it is a large bird, it is scarcely visible even to a practised eye, its 
 mottled plumage harmonizing with surrounding objects in such a 
 way that the feathers of the bird can scarcely be distinguished 
 from the sticks, stones, and grass tufts among which it sits. The 
 ground colour of the plumage is dark buff, upon which are 
 sprinkled mottlings and streaks of black, chestnut, grey, and 
 brown. These mottled marks harmonize with the stones and 
 tufts of withered grass, while the longitudinal dashes of buff 
 and black on the neck and breast correspond with the sticks and 
 reeds. 
 
 In a similar manner the tiger, though so large an animal, can 
 lie in a very small covert of reeds without being detected, its 
 striped fur corresponding with the reeds themselves and the 
 shadows thrown by them ; and the leopard can remain hidden
 
 THE EITTERX. 463 
 
 among the boughs of a tree, its spotted coat harmonizing with 
 the broken light and shade of the foliage. 
 
 The following powerful description of the Bittern's home is 
 given by Mudie : " It is a bird of rude nature, where the land 
 knows no character save that which the untrained working of 
 the elements impresses upon it ; so that when any locality is in 
 
 T/IK BllTfll*. 
 
 "I will alto make it a possuticnfor the bittern, and pools/or water." ISA ,\iv ?". 
 
 the course of being won to usefulness, the bittern is the first to 
 depart, and when any one is abandoned, it is the last to return. 
 ' The bittern shall dwell there ' is the final curse, and implies 
 that the place is to become uninhabited and uninhabitable. It 
 hears not the whistle of the ploughman, nor the sound of the 
 mattock ; and the tinkle of the sheep-bell, or the lowing of the 
 ox (although the latter bears so much resemblance to its own
 
 464 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 hollow and dismal voice, that it has given foundation to the 
 name), is a signal for it to be gone. 
 
 " Extensive and dingy pools if moderately upland, so much 
 the better which lie in the hollows, catching, like so many 
 traps, the lighter and more fertile mould which the rains wash 
 and the winds blow from the naked heights around, and con- 
 verting it into harsh and dingy vegetation, and the pasture of 
 those loathsome things which wriggle in the ooze, or crawl and 
 swim in the putrid and mantling waters, are the habitation of 
 the bittern. 
 
 "Places which scatter blight and mildew over every herb 
 which is more delicate than a sedge, a carex, or a rush, and 
 consume every wooded plant that is taller than the sapless and 
 tasteless cranberry or the weeping upland willow ; which shed 
 murrain over the quadrupeds, chills which eat the flesh off their 
 bones, and which, if man ventures there, consume him by putrid 
 fever in the hot and dry season, and shake him to pieces with 
 ague when the weather is cold and humid. 
 
 " Places from which the heath and the lichen stand aloof, and 
 where even the raven, lover of disease, and battener upon all 
 that expires miserably and exhausted, comes rarely and with 
 more than wonted caution, lest that death which he comes to 
 seal and riot upon in others should unawares come upon him- 
 self. The raven loves carrion on the dry and unpoisoning moor, 
 scents it from afar, and- hastens to it upon his best and boldest 
 wing ; but ' the reek o' the rotten fen ' is loathsome to the sense 
 of even the raven, and it is hunger's last pinch ere he come nigh 
 to the chosen habitation, the only loved abode, of the bittern." 
 
 Secure in its retreat, the Bittern keeps its place even if a 
 sportsman should pass by the spot on which it crouches. It 
 will not be tempted to leave its retreat by noise, or even by stone 
 throwing, for it knows instinctively that the quaking bogland 
 which it selects as its home is unsafe for the step of man. 
 
 The very cry of the Bittern adds to this atmosphere of deso- 
 lation. By day the bird is silent, but after the sun has gone 
 down it utters its strange wild cry, a sound which exactly suits 
 the localities in which it loves to make its habitation. During 
 part of the year it only emits a sharp, harsh cry as it rises on 
 the wing, but during the breeding season it utters the cry by 
 which it summons its mate, one of the strangest love-calls that
 
 THE BITTERN. 465 
 
 can be imagined. It is something between the neighing of a 
 horse, the bellow of a bull, and a shriek of savage laughter. It 
 is very loud and deep, so that it seems to shake the loose and 
 marshy ground. There was formerly an idea that, when the 
 Bittern uttered this booming cry, it thrust its bill into the soft 
 ground, and so caused it to shake. In reality, the cry is uttered 
 on the wing, the bird wheeling in a spiral flight, and modulating 
 its voice in accordance with the curves which it describes in 
 the air. This strange sound is only uttered by the male bird. 
 
 In every country inhabited by the Bittern we find that its 
 deep sepulchral cry, booming out through the darkness, and 
 heard at an immense distance, has been dreaded as the prophecy 
 of some evil to come. In some parts both of England and Ire- 
 land it is known as the Night-raven, and under that title is held 
 in the greatest fear. Allusion is made to this belief in the well- 
 known passage from Middleton's " Witch " : 
 
 " At the Night-raven's dismal voice, 
 "When others tremble, we rejoice ; 
 And nimbly, nimbly, dance we still 
 To the echoes of a hollow hill." 
 
 Under the same title Goldsmith writes of it in his " Animated 
 Nature." " I remember, in the place where I was a boy, with 
 what terror the bird's note affected the whole village, they 
 considered it as the presage of some sad eve-nt, and generally 
 found or made one to succeed it. I do not speak ludicrously, 
 but if any person in the neighbourhood died, they supposed it 
 could not be otherwise, for the night-raven had foretold it ; but 
 if nobody happened to die, the death of a cow or a sheep gave 
 completion of the prophecy." 
 
 In some parts of England the Bittern is known by the odd 
 title of Butter-bump, a fact which was mentioned in the Zoolo- 
 gist many years ago : 
 
 " There'll either be rain, or else summat waur, 
 When Butter-bump sings upo' Potterie car." 
 
 About Fermanagh, in Ireland, the Bittern is called Bog-bluiter, 
 i.e. Bog-bleater, just as the snipe is termed the Heath er-bluiter. 
 
 Like most of the long-legged wading birds, the Bittern is able 
 to change its shape, and apparently to alter its size, in an asto- 
 nishing manner. When it is walking over the ground, with 
 
 H H
 
 466 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 head erect and eye glanced vigilantly at surrounding objects, it 
 looks a large, bold, vigorous, and active bird. Next minute it- 
 will sink its head in its shoulders, so that the long beak seems to 
 project from them, and the neck totally disappears, the feathers 
 enveloping each other as perfectly and smoothly as if it never 
 had had a neck. In this attitude it will stand for an hour at a 
 time on one leg, with the other drawn close to its body, looking 
 as dull, inert, and sluggish a bird as can well be imagined, and 
 reduced apparently to one half of its former size. The Bittern 
 is represented in one of its extraordinary attitudes on the plate 
 which illustrates the cormorant. 
 
 The nest of the Bittern is placed on the ground, and near th'e 
 water, though the bird always takes care to build it on an 
 elevated spot which will not be flooded if the water should rise 
 by reason of a severe rain. There is, however, but little reason 
 for the Bittern to fear a flood, as at the time of year which is 
 chosen, for nest-building the floods are generally out, and the 
 water higher than is likely to be the case for the. rest of the 
 year. The materials of the nest are found in marshes, and 
 consist of leaves, reeds, and rushes. 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing account, that if the word 
 Kippod be translated as " Bittern," the imagery connected with 
 it holds good, and that no more powerful figure could be 
 imagined for the desolation of Babylon than the prophecy, " I 
 will make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water" 
 (Isa. xiv. 23). 
 
 Though once plentiful in England, the Bittern is now very 
 scarce, and there are few who have seen it in its native haunts. 
 Formerly, when swamps and marshes abounded, the Bittern 
 abounded in proportion, but drainage and cultivation and rail- 
 ways have fairly driven the Bittern out of the country, and in a 
 few years it will be as completely extinct in England as the 
 bustard or the eagle. Even the great marshes of Essex are being 
 reclaimed and rendered unfit for the occupation of the bird ; and, 
 from the upper part of the house where this account is written. 
 I can see with the aid of the telescope cornfields, and pasture- 
 lands, and barns, and ricks, and roads, diversifying the wide 
 expanses which were once covered with brackish water at every 
 flow of the tide, and at the ebb only left as quagmires through 
 which the foot of man could not pass, and on which grew the
 
 THE CORMORANT. 
 "But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it." ISA xxxiv. 11
 
 THE BITTEKN. 46? 
 
 rough and scanty herbage that flourishes under conditions that 
 would kill almost any other vegetation. * 
 
 No longer can the Bittern find a home there. Deep ditches 
 intersect each other at short intervals, into which the moisture 
 of the really rich soil is drained, and the water that once stood 
 in stagnant pools which the Bittern loved is conducted into 
 them, and discharged into the river at the ebb tide. By the 
 abstraction of the moisture, the whole country has been. lowered 
 more than a foot, and, together with the stagnant pools, the 
 Bittern has vanished never more to return. And here it may 
 be mentioned that, although the Bittern inhabits none but deso- 
 late places, it only selects those which contain capabilities of 
 cultivation. So, if the boom of the Bittern be heard, it may be 
 accepted as deciding two things firstly, that the ground is 
 utterly deserted by man, and uncultivated ; and secondly, that 
 it ought to be occupied by him, and brought into cultivation. 
 
 At the present day, the Bittern is very plentiful in the swampy 
 grounds which edge the Tigris, just as it used to be in the 
 marshes which border the Thames. Should the time come when 
 London will have passed away as completely as the great cities 
 of old, and the banks of the Thames lie as desolate as those of 
 the Tigris, the Bittern will reassume its . sway, and its deep 
 booming note will again be heard through the stillness of night. 
 
 As if to add to the general effect of its character, it is essen- 
 tially a solitary bird, and in this characteristic entirely unlike its 
 relatives the heron and the stork, which are peculiarly sociable, 
 and love to gather themselves together in multitudes. But the 
 Bittern is never found except alone, or at the most accompanied 
 for a time by its mate and one or two young ones. 
 
 The localities in which it resides are sufficient evidence of 
 the nature of its food. Frogs appear to be its favourite diet, but 
 it also feeds on various fish, insects, molluscs, worms, and similar 
 creatures. Dull and apathetic as it appears to be, it can display 
 sufficient energy to capture tolerably large fish. Though the 
 Bittern is only about two feet in total length, one of these birds 
 was killed, in the stomach of which were found one perfect rudd 
 eight inches in length and two in depth, together with the re- 
 mains of another fish, of a full-grown frog, and of an aquatic 
 insect. In another instance, a Bittern had contrived to swallow 
 an eel as long as itself; while in many eases the remains of live 
 
 H II 2
 
 468 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 or six full-grown frogs have been found in the interior of the 
 bird, some just swallowed, and others in various stages of 
 digestion. 
 
 In former times the Bittern was used as food in England, and 
 was considered one of the delicacies of a rich man's table. 
 Partly on account of its scarcity, and partly on account of a 
 popular prejudice, it is never eaten at the present day, and those 
 few specimens which are occasionally exposed for sale are merely 
 purchased for the sake of their plumage. The flesh of the 
 Bittern justifies the predilection which was formerly exhibited 
 for it, as it is tender, well-flavoured, and fat. 
 
 THE HERON. 
 
 The Heron mentioned as an unclean bird The Heron used for food in England, 
 and considered as a delicacy Sociable character of the bird, and its mode of 
 feeding Its enormous appetite How the Heron fights Ancient falconry 
 Nesting of the Heron The papyrus marshes and their dangers Description of 
 the papyrus Vessels of bulrushes The Egret and its beautiful plumage 
 Uses of the train feathers. 
 
 THE name of the Heron is only mentioned twice in the Scrip- 
 tures namely, in the two parallel passages of Lev. xi. 19 and 
 Deut. xiv. 18 ; in both of which places the Heron is ranked 
 among the unclean birds that might not be eaten. 
 
 In some of the cases where beasts or birds are prohibited as 
 food, the prohibition seems scarcely needed. To us of the 
 present day this seems to be the case with the Heron, as it 
 is never brought to table. The reason for this disuse of the 
 Heron as food is not that it is unfit for the table, but that it 
 has become so scarce by the spread of cultivation and house- 
 building, that it has been gradually abandoned as a practically 
 unattainable article of diet. The flesh of the Heron, like that 
 of the bittern, is remarkably excellent, and in the former days, 
 when it was comparatively plentiful, and falconry was the ordi- 
 nary amusement of the rich, the Heron formed a very important 
 dish at every great banquet.
 
 THE HERON. 
 
 460 
 
 The bird, however, must be eaten when young. A gentleman 
 who liked to try experiments for himself in the matter of food, 
 found that, if young Herons were properly cooked, they formed 
 a most excellent dish, equal, in his opinion, to grouse. Wishin^ 
 
 THK HURON 
 
 ' These are they which ye shall hftre in abomination among the fuwls 
 her kind." DEUT. xi. 13, 19. 
 
 the stork, the heron afttr 
 
 to have his own judgment confirmed by that of others, he 
 had several of them trussed and dressed like wild geese, and 
 served up at table under that name. The guests approved 
 greatly of the bird, and compared it to hare, the resemblance 
 being further increased by the dark colour of the flesh. There 
 was not the slightest fishy flavour about the bird. This, how- 
 ever, is apt to be found in the older birds, but can be removed
 
 470 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 by burying them in the earth for several days, just as is done 
 with the solan goose and one or two other sea-birds. 
 
 Several species of Heron inhabit Palestine, of which the 
 common Heron (Ardea cinerea), with which we are so familiar 
 in England, is perhaps the most plentiful ; and it is to this bird 
 that the prohibition chiefly extends. But there were several 
 other species of the bird, as is implied by the language of the 
 law, which prohibited the Heron " after her kind." The Egrets 
 are probably included in this category ; and, if the word kippod be 
 really the hedgehog, it is tolerably certain that the bittern was 
 included under the general term Anaphah, which is given in the 
 Authorized Version as Heron. The Jewish Bible follows the 
 same reading, but affixes the mark of doubt to the word. 
 
 The abundance of birds belonging to the Heron tribe is well 
 shown by some of the paintings and carvings on Egyptian 
 monuments, in which various species of Herons and other 
 water-birds are depicted as living among the papyrus reeds, 
 exactly the locality in which they are most plentiful at the 
 present day. 
 
 Unlike the bittern, the Heron is a most sociable bird, and 
 loves not only to live, but even to feed, in company with others 
 of its own species. In Mr. Waterton's grounds, near Walton, 
 I have watched the Herons feeding in close proximity to each 
 other. The birds were fond of wading stealthily along the edge 
 of the lake until they came to a suitable spot, where they would 
 stand immersed in the water up to the thighs, waiting patiently 
 for their prey. They stood as still as if they were carved out 
 of wood, the ripples of the lake reflected on their plumage as 
 the breeze ruffled the surface of the water. Suddenly there 
 would be a quick dive of the beak, either among the reeds or in 
 the water, and each stroke signified that the Heron had caught 
 its prey. 
 
 Frogs and small fishes are the usual food of the Heron, though 
 it often grapples with larger prey, having been seen to capture 
 an eel of considerable size in its beak. Under such circum- 
 stances it leaves the water, with the fish in its mouth, and beats 
 it violently against a stone so as to kill it. Now and then the 
 bird is vanquished in the struggle by the fish, several instances 
 being known in which an eel, in its endeavours to escape, has
 
 THE HERON. 471 
 
 twisted itself so tightly round the neck of the bird that both 
 have been found lying dead on the shore. 
 
 In one such case the Heron's beak had struck through the 
 eyes of the eel, so that the bird could not disengage itself. In 
 another the Heron had tried to swallow an eel which was 
 much too large for it, and had been nearly choked by its 
 meal. The eel must necessarily have been a very large one, 
 as the Heron has a wonderful capacity for devouring fish. Even 
 when quite young, it can swallow a fish as large as a herring, 
 and when it is full grown it will eat four or five large herrings 
 at a meal. 
 
 Now when we remember that an Englishman of average 
 appetite finds one herring to form a very sufficient breakfast, 
 we can easily imagine what must be the digestive power of a 
 bird which, though very inferior to man in point of bulk, can 
 eat four times as much at a meal. Even though the fish be 
 mucli larger in diameter than the neck of the bird, the Heron 
 can swallow it as easily as a small snake swallows a large 
 frog. The neck merely seems to expand as if it were made of 
 Indiarubber, the fish slips down, and the bird is ready for 
 another. 
 
 Generally the Herons feed after sunset, but I have frequently 
 seen them busily engaged in catching their prey in full day- 
 light, when the sunbeams were playing in the water so as to 
 produce the beautiful rippling effect on the Heron's plumage 
 which has already been mentioned. 
 
 The Heron does not restrict itself to fishes or reptiles, but, 
 like the bittern, feeds on almost any kind of aquatic animal 
 which comes within its reach. When it lives near tidal rivers, 
 it feeds largely on the shrimps, prawns, green crabs, and 
 various other Crustacea; and when it lives far inland, it still 
 makes prey of the fresh-water shrimps, the water-beetles, and 
 the boat-flies, and similar aquatic creatures. In fact, it acts 
 much after the fashion of the lions, tigers, and leopards, 
 which put up with locusts and beetles when they can find no 
 larger prey. 
 
 The long beak of the Heron is not merely an instrument by 
 which it can obtain food, but is also a weapon of considerable 
 power. When attacked, it aims a blow at the eye of its oppo- 
 nent, and makes the stroke with such rapidity that the foe is
 
 472 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 generally blinded before perceiving the danger. When domes- 
 ticated, it has been known to keep possession of the enclosure in 
 which it lived, and soon to drive away dogs by the power of its 
 beak. When it is young, it is quite helpless, its veiy long leg.-; 
 being unable to support its body, which is entirely bare of 
 plumage, and has a very unprepossessing appearance. 
 
 The flight of the Heron is very powerful, its wings being very 
 large in proportion to its slender body. Sometimes the bird 
 takes to ascending in a spiral line, and then the flight is as 
 beautiful as it is strong. When chased by the falcon it mostly 
 ascends in this manner, each of the two birds trying to rise 
 above the other. 
 
 The nest of the Heron is always made on the top of some 
 lofty tree, whenever the bird builds in places where trees can be 
 found ; and as the bird is an eminently sociable one, a single 
 nest is very seldom found, the Heron being as fond of society as 
 the rook. In England the heronries are invariably found in 
 clumps of trees, the nests of the birds being quite close 
 together. In some parts of Palestine, however, where trees are 
 very scarce, the Heron is obliged to choose some other locality for 
 its nest, and in that case prefers the great thickets of papyrus 
 reeds which are found in the marshes, and which are even more 
 inaccessible than the tops of trees. 
 
 One of these marshes is well described by Mr. Tristram in his 
 " Land of Israel." " The whole marsh is marked in the map as 
 impassable ; and most truly it is so. I never anywhere have met 
 with a swamp so vast and utterly impenetrable. First there is 
 an ordinary bog, which takes one up to one's knees in water ; 
 then, after half a mile, a belt of deeper swamp, where the yellow 
 water lily (Nuphar luted} flourishes ; then a belt of tall reeds ; 
 the open water covered with white water-lily (Nymphcea alba) ; 
 and beyond again an impenetrable wilderness of papyrus 
 (Papyrus antiguorum], in the beautiful forest of which Dr. 
 Thomson has not recognised the celebrated material of Egypt, 
 though he has well described it under its Arabic name, ' babeer ' 
 (" Land and Book," 259). 
 
 " The papyrus extends right across to the east side. A false 
 step off its roots will take the intruder over head in suffocating 
 peat-rnud. We spent a long time in attempting to effect an 
 entrance, and at last gave it up, satisfied that the marsh birds
 
 THE HERON. 473 
 
 were not to be had. In fact, the whole is simply a floating bog of 
 several miles square ; a very thin crust of vegetation covers an 
 unknown depth of water ; and, if the explorer breaks through 
 this, suffocation is imminent. Some of the Arabs, who were 
 tilling the plain for cotton, assured us that even a wild boar 
 never got through it. We shot two bitterns, but in endeavouring 
 to retrieve them I slipped from the root on which I was stand- 
 ing, and was drawn down in a moment, only saving myself from 
 drowning by my gun, which had providentially caught across a 
 papyrus stem." 
 
 It may here be mentioned that the bulrush of Scripture is 
 undoubtedly the papyrus. The ark or basket of bulrushes, lined 
 with slime and pitch, in which Moses was laid' was made of 
 the papyrus, which at the present day is used for the manufac- 
 ture of baskets, mats, sandals, and for the thatching of houses. 
 Many tribes which inhabit the banks of the Nile make simple 
 boats, or rather rafts, of the papyrus, which they cut and tie in 
 bundles ; and it is worthy of notice that the Australian native 
 makes a reed boat in almost exactly the same manner. 
 
 Compare Is. xviii. 1, 2 : " Woe to the land shadowing with 
 wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. 
 
 "That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of 
 bulrushes." Did we not know that vessels are actually made ( >f 
 bulrushes at the present day, a custom which has survived from 
 very ancient times, we might find a difficulty in understanding 
 this passage, while the meaning is intelligible enough when it is 
 viewed by the light of the knowledge that the Ethiopian of the 
 present day takes gold, and ivory, and other merchandise down 
 the Nile in his boat of papyrus (or bulrush) reeds tied together. 
 
 The papyrus runs from ten to fifteen or sixteen feet in height, 
 so that the Herons are at no loss for suitable spots whereon to 
 place their nests. The name " papyrus," from which our word 
 " paper " is derived, is nothing more than a Latinized form of the 
 old Arabic name " babeer." It is never found except in muddy 
 and swampy places such as those which have already been 
 mentioned. Thus we have in Job viii. 11 a reference to this 
 quality of the papyrus : " Can the rush grow up without mire ? 
 can the flag grow without water ? " 
 
 THE Egrets, which are probably included under the generic 
 title of Anfiphah, are birds of passage, and at the proper season
 
 4-74 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 are plentiful in Palestine. These pretty birds much resemble 
 the heron in general form, and in general habits both birds are 
 very much alike, haunting the marshes and edges of lakes and 
 streams, and feeding upon the frogs and other inhabitants of the 
 water. In countries where rice is cultivated, the Egret may 
 generally be seen in the artificial swamps in which that plant is 
 sown. The colour of the Egret is pure white, with the exception 
 of the train. This consists of a great number of long slender 
 feathers of a delicate straw colour. Like those which form the 
 train of the peacock, they fall over the feathers of the tail, and 
 entirely conceal them. The train of the Egret is highly valued 
 in the East, brushes being made of them wherewith flies can be 
 driven away, or delicate articles dusted. As the bird is a very 
 shy and wary one, these feathers cannot be easily procured, 
 especially as they do not make their appearance until the bird 
 has reached its third year, and had time to learn the signs of 
 approaching danger. The Egret is rather larger than the heron, 
 a full-grown specimen measuring about four feet in length, 
 whereas the heron is scarcely more than a yard in total length 
 The train-feathers of the Egret add, however, to the apparent size 
 of the bird. 
 
 THE CRANE. 
 
 Various passages in which the Crane is mentioned Its migratory habits, and loud 
 voice Geographical range of the Crane The bird once plentiful in the fen 
 districts of England Its favourite roosting-places- Size of the Crane, and 
 measurement of the wings The Crane once used as food Plumes of the Crane 
 and their use Structure of the vocal organs Nest and eggs of the Crane. 
 
 IN the description of the dove and the swallow two passages 
 have been quoted in which the name of the CRANE is men- 
 tioned, one referring to its voice, and the other to its migratory 
 instinct. . The first passage occurs in Isa. xxxviii. 14 : " Like a 
 crane or swallow, so did I chatter ;" and the other in Jer. viii. 7 : 
 " The turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of 
 their coming."
 
 THE CRANE. 
 
 475 
 
 It is rather remarkable that in both these cases the word 
 " Crane " is used in connexion with the swallow, or rather the 
 swift, and that in both instances the names of the birds should 
 have been interchanged. If we refer to the original of these 
 
 THK Cf.ANE. 
 
 " Like a crane ... todidl chatter."- I**, xxxvili. 14. 
 
 passages, we shall find that the former of them would run 
 thus, " Like a sis or an agur" and the latter thus, " The turtle 
 arid the sis and the agur." That in these passages the interpre- 
 tation of the words sis and agur have been interchanged has 
 already been' mentioned, and, as the former has been described 
 under the name of swallow or swift, we shall now treat of the 
 latter under the title of Crane.
 
 476 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The species here mentioned is the common Crane (Grus 
 cinerea), a bird which has a very wide range, and has occasion- 
 ally made its appearance in one or two parts of Great Britain. 
 In Ireland it is thought to be common, but in that country the 
 word Crane is simply a popular misnomer for the heron. As 
 is the case with many wild birds, especially those of the 
 larger kinds, the Crane appears to have been a much more 
 frequent visitor of our shores than can be the case in the 
 present day, w 7 hen the laud is thickly populated, and not a 
 strange bird can show itself without running the risk of being 
 shot. 
 
 As might be imagined, the Cranes favoured the great fen- 
 districts of England, especially those of Cambridgeshire and 
 Lincolnshire, where it used to be found in large flocks. That 
 in those days it bred in England is evident from Acts of Parlia- 
 ment in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., in which 
 reigns the taking of a Crane's egg was punished with a fine 
 of twenty pence, in those days a considerable sum, being 
 nearly four times the average daily wages of a working man. 
 A small flock of Cranes was seen in Zetland in 1807, but at 
 the present time drainage, cultivation, and house-building have 
 as effectually extirpated the gregarious Crane as the solitary 
 bittern. 
 
 The Crane performs its annual migrations in company, vast 
 flocks of many thousand individuals passing like great clouds at 
 an immense height, whence their trumpet-like cry is audible for 
 a great distance round, and attracts the ear if not the eye to 
 them. Thus we have at a glance both the characteristics to 
 which reference is made in the Scriptures, namely, the noisy cry 
 and the habit of migration. 
 
 It is a very gregarious bird, associating with its comrades in 
 flocks, just as do the starlings and rooks of our own country, 
 and, like these birds, has favourite roosting-places in which it 
 passes the night. When evening approaches, the Cranes may 
 be seen in large flocks passing to their roosting-places, and, on 
 account of their great size, having a very strange effect. A fair- 
 sized Crane will measure seven feet across the expanded wings, 
 so that even a solitary bird has a very imposing effect when 
 flying, while that of a large flock of Cranes on the wing is 
 simply magnificent.
 
 THE CRANE. 477 
 
 The spots which the Crane selects for its roosting-places are 
 generally of the same character. Being in some respects a wary 
 bird, though it is curiously indifferent in others, it will not roost 
 in any place near bushes, rocks, or other spots which might 
 serve to conceal an enemy. The locality most favoured by the 
 Crane is a large, smooth, sloping bank, far from any spot wherein 
 an enemy may be concealed. The birds keep a careful watch 
 during the night, and it is impossible for any foe to approach 
 them without being discovered. The Crane is noisy on the wing, 
 and, whether it be soaring high over head on its long migratory 
 journeys, or be merely flying at dusk to its roosting-place, it 
 continually utters its loud, clangorous cry. 
 
 The food of the Crane is much like that of the heron, but in 
 addition to the frogs, fish, worms, and insects, it eats vegetable 
 substances. Sometimes it is apt to get- into cultivated grounds, 
 and then does much damage to the crops, pecking up the 
 ground with its long beak, partly for the sake of the worms, 
 grubs, and other creatures, and partly for the sake of the 
 sprouting seeds. 
 
 Although by reason of its scarcity the Crane has been 
 abandoned as food, its flesh is really excellent, and in former 
 days was valued very highly, and was looked upon much in the 
 same light as grouse or blackcock by ourselves at the present 
 day. The two facts, that it was once comparatively plentiful and 
 that it was highly valued for the table, are shown by an old 
 record of the banquet following the enthronization of an Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, at which two hundred and four Cranes 
 were served at table. Even in those days the bird was a very 
 valuable one, the average cost exceeding three shillings, so that 
 none but the wealthy could indulge in such a luxury. 
 
 Like the egret, the Crane is remarkable for the flowing- 
 plumes of the back, which fall over the tail feathers, and form 
 a train. These feathers are much used as plumes, both for 
 purposes of dress and as brushes or flappers wherewith to drive 
 off the flies. By reason of this conformation, some systematic 
 zoologists have thought that it has some affinity to the ostrich, 
 the rhcea, and similar birds, and that the resemblance is 
 strengthened by the structure of the digestive organs, which 
 are suited to vegetable as well as animal substances, the 
 stomach being strong and muscular.
 
 478 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The peculiar voice of the Crane, which it is so fond of 
 using, and to which reference is made in the Scriptures, is 
 caused by a peculiar structure of the windpipe, which is exceed- 
 ingly long, and, instead of going straight to the lungs, under- 
 goes several convolutions about the breast-bone, and then 
 proceeds to the lungs. 
 
 The Crane makes its nest on low ground, generally among 
 osiers or reeds, and it lays only two eggs, pale olive in colour, 
 dashed profusely with black and brown streaks. 
 
 THE STORK. 
 
 Signification of the Hebrew word Chasidah Various passages in which it is 
 mentioned The Chasidah therefore a large, wide-winged, migratory bird Its 
 identification with the Stork Derivation of its Hebrew name The Stork 
 always protected Uses of the tail Its mode of quartering the ground in 
 search of food Migratory habits .of the Stork Nesting of the bird, and its 
 favourite localities The fir-trees of Palestine Love of the Stork for its young. 
 
 IN the Old Testament there are several passages wherein is 
 mentioned the word Chasidah. We will take these passages in 
 their order. In the first place, we find that the Chasidali is 
 enumerated in Lev. xi. 19 among the unclean creatures : " And 
 the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the 
 bat." The parallel passage in Deut. xiv. 18 has precisely the 
 same words. Next we have the passage in Job xxxix. 13 : 
 " Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks ? or the 
 feathers of the chasidah and ostrich ? " (marginal reading.) Next 
 we come to Ps. civ. 16, 17 ' " The trees of the Lord are full of 
 sap ; the cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted. 
 
 " Where the birds make their nests : as for the chasidah, the 
 fir-trees are her house." 
 
 Passing to the prophets, we find that Jeremiah uses the same 
 word (viii. 7) : " Yea, the chasidah in the heaven knoweth her 
 appointed times ; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow 
 observe the time of their coming ; but my people know not the 
 judgment of the Lord."
 
 THE STOEK. 479 
 
 The last mention of the word occurs in Zech. v. 9 : " Then 
 lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out 
 two women, and the wind was in their wings ; (for they had 
 wings like the wings of a chasidah ;) and they lifted up the 
 ephali between the earth and the heaven." 
 
 We learn from these passages that, in the first place, the 
 Chasidah was certainly a bird, as it is mentioned in connexion 
 with other birds, and is said to have wings and feathers. Our 
 next business is to find out what particular bird is meant by the 
 Chasidah. It is evident from the passage in Jeremiah that it is 
 a migratory bird ; from that in the Psalms, that it builds its nest 
 upon a fir-tree ; &n d from those in Job and Zechariah, that it is a 
 large-winged bird. These details very much narrow the question, 
 which is still 'further limited by the fact that we have already 
 identified the crane and the heron. 
 
 The Authorized Version invariably renders the word Ghasidah 
 as " Stork," and is undoubtedly right ; though the Septuagint has 
 no less than four different translations, reading it as " heron " in 
 one place, "pelican " in another, " hoopoe " in another, and in the 
 fourth instance leaving the word untranslated, but Grsecized into 
 the form of asida. It would have been better if the last-men- 
 tioned plan had been followed throughout. 
 
 There is, however, no doubt that the Authorized Version is 
 perfectly correct; and it is followed by the Jewish Bible, in 
 which no mark of doubt is affixed to the word. 
 
 In Buxtorf 's Lexicon -there is a curious derivation of the word. 
 He says that the word Cfiasidah is derived from chased, a word 
 that signifies benevolence. This word is used in many familiar 
 passages ; such as, " unworthy of all the benefits," " according to 
 the multitude of Thy mercies," " exercising pity" and so forth. 
 
 According to some writers, the name was given to the Stork 
 because it was supposed to be a bird remarkable for its filial 
 piety ; " for the storks in their turn support their parents in 
 their old age : they allow them to rest their necks on their bodies 
 during migration, and, if the elders are tired, the young ones 
 take them on their backs." According to others, the name is 
 given to the Stork because it exercises kindness towards its 
 companions in bringing them food ; but in all cases the deriva- 
 tion of the word is acknowledged to be the same. 
 
 Partly in consequence of this idea, which is a very old uud
 
 480 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 almost universal one, and partly on account of the great services 
 rendered by the bird in clearing the ground of snakes, insects, 
 and garbage, the Stork has always been protected through the 
 East, as it is to the present day in several parts of Europe. The 
 slaughter of a Stork, or even the destruction of its eggs, would 
 be punished with a heavy fine ; and in consequence of the 
 immunity which it enjoys, it loves to haunt the habitations 
 of mankind. 
 
 In many of the Continental towns, where sanitary regulations 
 are not enforced, the Stork serves the purpose of a scavenger, 
 and may be seen walking about the market-place, waiting for 
 the offal of fish, fowls, and the like, which are simply thrown on 
 the ground for the Storks to eat. In Eastern lands the Stork 
 enjoys similar privileges, and we may infer that the bird was 
 perfectly familiar both to the writers of the various Scriptural 
 books in which it was mentioned, and to the people for whom 
 these books were intended. 
 
 When they settle upon a tract of ground, the Storks divide it 
 among themselves in a manner that seems to have a sort of 
 system in it, spreading themselves over it with wonderful regu- 
 larity, each bird appearing to take possession of a definite amount 
 of ground. By this mode of proceeding, the ground is rapidly 
 cleared of all vermin ; the Storks examining their allotted space 
 with the keenest scrutiny, and devouring every reptile, mouse, 
 worm, grub, or insect that they can find on it. Sometimes they 
 will spread themselves in this manner over a vast extent of 
 country, arriving suddenly, remaining for several months, and 
 departing without giving any sign of their intention to move. 
 
 The wings of the Stork, which are mentioned in Holy Writ, 
 are very conspicuous, and are well calculated to strike an imagi- 
 native mind. The general colour of the bird is white, while the 
 quill feathers of the wings are black ; so that the effect of the 
 spread wings is very striking, an adult bird measuring about 
 seven feet across, when flying. As the body, large though it 
 may be, is comparatively light when compared with the extent 
 of wing, the flight is both lofty and sustained, the bird flying a 
 very great height, and, when migrating, is literally the " stork in 
 the heavens." 
 
 Next we come to the migratory habits of the Stork. 
 
 Like the swallow, the Stork resorts year after year to the same
 
 THE STORK. 481 
 
 spots ; and when it has once fixed on a locality for its nest, that 
 place will be assuredly taken as regularly as the breeding-season 
 comes round. The same pair are sure to return to their well- 
 known home, notwithstanding the vast distances over which 
 they pass, and the many lands in which they sojourn. Should 
 one of the pair die, the other finds a mate in a very short time, 
 and thus the same home is kept up by successive generations of 
 Storks, much as among men one ancestral mansion is inhabited 
 by a series of members of the same family. 
 
 So well is this known, that when a pair of Storks have made 
 their nest in a human habitation their return is always ex- 
 pected, and when they arrive the absentees are welcomed on all 
 sides. In many countries breeding-places are specially provided 
 for the Storks ; and when one of them is occupied for the first 
 time, the owner of the house looks upon it as a fortunate omen. 
 
 The localities chosen by the Stork for its nest vaiy according 
 to the surrounding conditions. The foundation which a Stork 
 requires is a firm platform, the more elevated the better, but the 
 bird seems to care little whether this platform be on rocks. 
 buildings, or trees. If, for example, it builds its nest in craggy 
 places, far from the habitations of man, it selects some flat ledge 
 for the purpose, preferring those that are at the extreme tops of 
 the rocks. The summit of a natural pinnacle is a favourite spot 
 with the Stork. 
 
 In many cases the Stork breeds among old ruins, and under 
 such circumstances it is fond of building its nest on the tops of 
 pillars or towers, the summits of arches, and similar localities. 
 When it takes up its abode among mankind, it generally selects 
 the breeding-places which have been built for it by those who 
 know its taste, but it frequently chooses the top of a chimney, 
 or some such locality. 
 
 Sometimes, however, it is obliged to build in spots where it 
 can find neither rocks nor buildings, and in such cases it builds 
 on trees, and, like the heron, is sociable in its nesting, a whole 
 community residing in a clump of trees. It is not very par- 
 ticular about the kind of tree, provided that it be tolerably tall, 
 and strong enough to bear the weight of its enormous nest ; and 
 the reader will at once see that the fir-trees are peculiarly fitted 
 to be the houses for the Stork. 
 
 As is the case with so many zoological words, botanical names 
 
 I i
 
 482 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 seem to be frequently used in a collective sense by the scriptural 
 writers, several species being signified by a single name. Thus 
 the word which is in some cases translated as "fir," is in some 
 rendered as " pine-tree," in others as " juniper," and in others as 
 "cypress." In the present case it is undoubtedly translated 
 rightly, though in the Jewish Bible it is rendered as " cypress : " 
 " The trees of the Eternal satisfy themselves, the cedars of 
 Lebanon which He hath planted ; where birds make their 
 nests : as for the stork, cypresses are its house." 
 
 The particular species of fir-tree to which the Psalmist alludes 
 is probably the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), which comes 
 next to the great cedars of Lebanon in point of size. It was 
 this tree that furnished the timber and planks for Solomon's 
 temple and palace, a timber which was evidently held in the 
 greatest estimation. This tree fulfils all the conditions which a 
 Stork would require in nest-building. It is lofty, and its boughs 
 are sufficiently horizontal to form a platform for the nest, and 
 strong enough to sustain it. On account of its value, and the 
 reckless manner in which it has been cut down without new 
 plantations being formed, the Aleppo pine has vanished from 
 many parts of Palestine wherein it was formerly common, and 
 would afford a dwelling-place for the Stork. 
 
 There are, however, several other species of fir which are 
 common in various parts of the country, each species flourishing 
 in .the soil best suited to it, so that the Stork would never be at a 
 loss to find a nesting-place in a country which furnished so many 
 trees suitable to its purposes. 
 
 As may be expected from the localities chosen by the Stork 
 for its breeding-place, its nest is very large and heavy. It is 
 constructed with very little skill, and is scarcely more than a 
 huge quantity of sticks, reeds, and similar substances, heaped 
 together, and having in the middle a slight depression in which 
 the eggs are laid. These eggs are usually three, or perhaps four 
 in number, and now and then a fifth is seen, and are of a very 
 pale buff or cream colour. 
 
 As is the case with the heron, the young of the Stork are 
 quite helpless when hatched, and are most ungainly little beings, 
 with their long legs doubled under them, unable to sustain their 
 round and almost naked bodies, while their large beaks are ever 
 gaping for food. Those of my readers who have had young
 
 THE STORK.
 
 THE STORK. 483 
 
 birds of any kind must have noticed the extremely grotesque 
 appearance which they possess when they hold up their heads 
 an* cry for food, with their bills open to an almost incredible 
 extent. In such birds as the Stork, the heron, and others of the 
 tribe, the grotesque appearance is exaggerated in proportion to 
 the length and gape of the bill. 
 
 The Stork is noted for being a peculiarly kind and loving- 
 parent to its young, in that point fully deserving the derivation 
 of its Hebrew name, though its love manifests itself towards 
 the young, and not towards the parent. 
 
 The Rev. H. B. Tristram mentions from personal experience an 
 instance of the watchful care exercised by the Stork over its 
 young. " The writer was once in camp near an old ruined 
 tower in the plains of Zana, south of the Atlas, where a pair of 
 storks had their nest. The four young might often be seen from 
 a little distance, surveying the prospect from their lonely height, 
 but whenever any of the human party happened to stroll near 
 the tower, one of the old storks, invisible before, would instantly 
 appear, and, lighting on the nest, put its feet gently on the necks 
 of all the young, so as to hold them down out of sight till the 
 stranger had passed, snapping its bill meanwhile, and assuming a 
 grotesque air of indifference, as unconscious of there being any- 
 thing under its charge." (Smith's " Diet. Bible," vol. iii. p. 1384.) 
 
 The snapping noise which is here mentioned is the only sound 
 produced by the Stork, which is an absolutely silent bird, as far 
 as voice is concerned. 
 
 THERE is another species of Stork found in Palestine, to which 
 the fir-trees are especially a home. This is the Black Stork 
 (Ciconia nigra], which in some parts of the country is even more 
 plentiful than its white relative, which it resembles in almost 
 every particular, except that it has a dark head and back, the 
 feathers being glossed with purple and green like those of the 
 magpie. This species, which is undoubtedly included in the 
 Hebrew word chasidah, always makes its nest on trees whenever 
 it can find them, and in some of the more densely wooded parts 
 of Palestine is in consequence plentiful, placing its nest in the 
 deepest parts of the frffests. When it cannot obtain trees, it will 
 build its nest on rocky ledges. It lays two or three eggs of it 
 greenish white colour. 
 
 HiJ
 
 484 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Like the preceding species, the Black Stork is easily domes- 
 ticated. Colonel Montague kept one which was very tame, and 
 would follow its keeper like a dog. Its tameness enabled* its 
 proceedings to be closely watched, and its mode of feeding was 
 thereby investigated. It was fond of examining the rank grass 
 and mud for food, and while doing so always kept its bill a little 
 open, so as to pounce down at once on any insect or reptile that 
 it might disturb. 
 
 Eels were its favourite food, and it was such an adept at 
 catching them that it was never seen to miss one, no matter how 
 small or quick it might be. As soon as it had caught one of 
 these active fish, it went to some dry place, and then disabled 
 its prey by shaking and beating it against the ground before 
 swallowing it, whereas many birds that feed on fish swallow 
 their prey as soon as it is caught. The Stork was never seen to 
 swim as the heron sometimes does, but it would wade as long as 
 it could place its feet on the bed of the stream, and would strain 
 its head and the whole of its neck under water in searching 
 for fish. 
 
 It was of a mild and peaceable disposition, and, even if 
 angered, did not attempt to bite or strike with its beak, but 
 only denoted its displeasure by blowing the air sharply from its 
 lungs, and nodding its head repeatedly. After the manner of 
 Storks, it always chose an elevated spot on which to repose, 
 and took its rest standing on one leg, with its head so sunk 
 among the feathers of its shoulders that scarcely any part of it 
 was visible, the hinder part of the head resting on the back, and 
 the bill lying on the fore-part of the neck. 
 
 Though the bird is so capable of domestication, it does not of 
 its own accord haunt the dwellings of men, like the White 
 Stork, but avoids the neighbourhood of houses, and lives in the 
 most retired places it can find. It may generally be seen in 
 marshy grounds, spending the greater part of its time in pro- 
 curing food, or in going to and from its nest while engaged in 
 the task of feeding its young.
 
 THE SWAN. 485 
 
 THE SWAN. 
 
 Signification of the word Tinshemeth The Gallimile and the Ibis Appear- 
 ance and habits of the Hyacinthine Gallmule A strange use for the bird 
 The White or Sacred Ibis The bird mentioned by Herodotus The Glossy 
 Ibis, or Black Ibis Veneration with which the bird was regarded. 
 
 IN the two parallel chapters of Lev. xi. 18 and Deut. xiv. 10, 
 the Hebrew word tinshemeth is found, and evidently signifies 
 some kind of bird which was forbidden as food. After stating 
 
 O 
 
 (Lev. xi. 13) that " these are they which ye shall have in abomi- 
 nation among the fowls ; they shall not be eaten, they are an 
 abomination," the sacred lawgiver proceeds to enumerate a 
 number of birds, nearly all of which have already been de- 
 scribed. Among them occurs the name of tinshemeth, between 
 the great owl and the pelican. 
 
 What was the precise species of bird which was signified by 
 this name it is impossible to say, but there is no doubt that it 
 could not have been the Swan, according to the rendering of the 
 Authorized Version. The Swan is far too rare a bird in Pales- 
 tine to have been specially mentioned in the law of Moses, and 
 in all probability it was totally unknown to the generality of the 
 Israelites. Even had it been known to them, and tolerably 
 common, there seems to be no reason why it should have been 
 reckoned among the list of unclean birds. 
 
 On turning to the Hebrew Bible, we find that the word is left 
 untranslated, and simply given in its Hebrew form, thereby 
 signifying that the translators could form no opinion whatever of 
 the proper rendering of the word. The Septuagint translates the 
 Tinshemeth as the Porphyrio or Ibis, and the Vulgate follows the 
 same rendering. Later naturalists have agreed that the Septua- 
 gint and Vulgate have the far more probable reading ; and, as 
 two birds are there mentioned, they will be both described.
 
 486 
 
 BEBLF. AJS'IMALS. 
 
 THE first is the Porphyrio, by which we may understand the 
 HYACINTHINE GALLINULE (Porphyrio vderuiri). All the birds of 
 this group are remarkable for the enormous length of their toes, 
 by means of which they are enabled to walk upon the loose 
 
 IBIS A:JD O.M.I.IN-UI.K (SWAN OK 
 
 herbage that floats on tlio surface of the water as firmly as if 
 they were treading on land. Their feet are also used, like those 
 of the parrots, in conveying food to the mouth. We have in 
 England a very familiar example of the Gallinules in the common 
 water-hen, or moor-lien, the toes of which are of great propor- 
 tionate length, though not so long as those of the Purple Galli- 
 nule, which almost rivals in this respect the jacamis of South
 
 THE SWAN. 487 
 
 
 
 America and China. The water-rail, and corncrake or land-rail, 
 are also allied to the Gallinules. 
 
 The Hyacinthine Gallinule derives its name from its colour, 
 which is a rich and variable blue, taking a turquoise hue on the 
 head, neck, throat, and breast, and deep indigo on the back. 
 The large bill and the legs are red. Like many other birds, 
 however, it varies much in colour according to age. 
 
 It has a very wide geographical range, being found in many 
 parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and is common in the marshy 
 districts of Palestine, where its rich blue plumage and its large 
 size, equalling that of a duck, render it very conspicuous. The 
 large and powerful bill of this bird betokens the nature of its 
 food, which consists almost entirely of hard vegetable sub- 
 stances, the seeds of aquatic herbage forming a large portion of 
 its diet. When it searches for food on the seashore, it eats the 
 marine vegetation, mixing with this diet other articles of an 
 animal nature, such as molluscs and small reptiles. 
 
 Though apparently a clumsy bird, it moves with wonderful 
 speed, running not only swiftly but gracefully, its large feet 
 being no hindrance to the rapidity of its movements. It is 
 mostly found in shallow marshes, where the construction of its 
 feet enables it to traverse both the soft muddy ground and the 
 patches of firm earth with equal ease. Its wings, however, are 
 by no means equal to its legs either in power or activity ; and, 
 like most of the rail tribe, it never takes to the air unless abso- 
 lutely obliged to do so. 
 
 The nest of the Hyacinthine Gallinule is made on the sedge- 
 patches which dot the marshes, much like that of the coot. The 
 nest, too, resembles that of the coot, being composed of reeds, 
 sedges, and other aquatic plants. The eggs are three or four in 
 number, white in colour, and nearly spherical in form. 
 
 The ancients were well acquainted with the Hyacinthine 
 Gallinule, and were in the habit of keeping it tamed in their 
 houses, in which case it was prized by the men and hated by 
 the women. There was a popular idea about the bird that it 
 always detected any infidelity on the part of the female sex, and 
 that when the master of the house carne home the bird ac- 
 quainted him with the crime by making gestures as if it wished 
 to strangle itself. 
 
 There are several species of Gallinule, but that which has just
 
 488 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 been described is the most conspicuous, and therefore, if either 
 of the Gallinules be the Tinshemeth of the Jewish lawgiver, 
 we may safely conclude that the Hyacinthine Gallinule is the 
 species. 
 
 As, however, the Ibis has an equal claim to the title of Tin- 
 shemeth, we will devote a few lines to a description of the bird. 
 The particular species which would be signified by the word 
 tinshemeth would undoubtedly be the WHITE or SACRED IBIS 
 (Ibis religiosd), a bird which derives its name of Sacred from 
 the reverence with which it was held by the ancient Egyptians, 
 and the frequency with which its figure occurs in the monu- 
 mental sculptures. It was also thought worthy of being em- 
 balmed, and many mummies of the Ibis have been found in the 
 old Egyptian burial-places, having been preserved for some three 
 thousand years. 
 
 In his account of the various animals which were accounted 
 sacred by the Egyptians, Herodotus mentions the Ibis, mixing up 
 a considerable amount of truth with a few errors, and a good 
 deal of superstition. Having heard of the relics of some winged 
 serpents near the city of Buto, he went to see them. " When I 
 arrived there I saw bones and spines of serpents, in such quan- 
 tities as it would be impossible to describe : there were heaps of 
 these spinal bones, some large, some smaller, and some still less, 
 and there were great numbers of them. 
 
 "The place in which these spinal bones lie scattered is of the 
 following description : It is a narrow pass between two moun- 
 tains into a spacious plain ; this plain is contiguous to the plain 
 of Egypt. It is reported that, at the beginning of spring, winged 
 serpents fly from Arabia towards Egypt ; but that the ibises, a 
 sort of bird, meet them at the pass, and do not allow the 
 serpents to go by, but kill them. Eor this service the Arabians 
 say that the ibis is highly reverenced by the Egyptians, and the 
 Egyptians acknowledge that they reverence these birds for this 
 reason. 
 
 " The ibis is of the following description. It is all over a deep 
 black, it has the legs of a crane, its beak is much curved, and it 
 is about the size of a crex. Such is the form of the black ones 
 that fight with the serpents. But those that are commonly con- 
 versant among men (for there are two species) are bare oil the
 
 THE SWAN. 489 
 
 head and the whole neck ; have white plumage, except on the 
 head, the throat, and the tips of the wings and extremity of the 
 tail. In all these parts that I have mentioned they are of a 
 deep black ; in their legs and back they are like the other kind." 
 (Herod. "Euterpe,"' 75, 76, Gary's translation.) 
 
 Putting aside the mention of the winged serpents, of which 
 he only learned by hearsay, we find that Herodotus has given a 
 very fair account of two species of Ibis, namely, the GLOSSY 
 or GEEEN IBIS (Ibis falcinelhis], and the White or Sacred Ibis, 
 whose scientific names have already been given. 
 
 The Glossy Ibis has been known to come as far as the British 
 shores, but it requires a much warmer climate than that of 
 England in order to pass its life in a state of health. It has, 
 however, a large geographical range, being found both in 
 Northern Africa and Southern America. It derives its popular 
 name from the rich glossy plumage, which shines with a me- 
 tallic or rather a silken lustre that is singularly beautiful in life, 
 and is with great difficulty preserved in stuffed specimens. 
 
 The principal hue of the bird is very deep green, but it is so 
 " shot " with reflections of rich purple, blue, and gold, that it 
 alters its hue with every change of light. At a little distance 
 the deep green plumage looks quite black, as does that of the 
 magpie, and on this account it has been called by Herodotus the 
 Black Ibis. 
 
 This species is popularly called Abou Menzel, or Father 
 Sickle-bill, on account of its slender curved beak, and in some 
 places goes by the name of Abou Hannes, or Father John, 
 because it makes its appearance upon or about St. John's Day. 
 From all appearance, it does not feed upon snakes, seeming to 
 restrict itself to molluscs and similar food ; and, on account of 
 this discrepancy with the account given by Herodotus, many 
 writers have doubted whether it could really be the bird meant 
 by that historian and traveller. But we must remember that, 
 though he saw both the black and the white Ibis, he did not see 
 either of them eat snakes ; and as those who told him of their 
 serpent-devouring habits stated at the same time that the snakes 
 had wings like those of the bat, we may summarily dismiss 
 their account from the argument. 
 
 The White Ibis, however, is the bird which was most highly 
 venerated by the Egyptians, and probably for that very reason
 
 490 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 was placed among the list of prohibited birds in the ancient 
 law. It is about as large as an ordinary hen, and, as its name 
 imports, has the greater part of its plumage white, the ends of 
 the wing-feathers and the coverts being black, with violet reflec- 
 tions. The long neck is black and bare, and has a most curious 
 aspect, looking as if it were made of an old black kid glove, 
 very much crumpled, but still retaining its gloss. 
 
 The reason for the extreme veneration with which the bird 
 was regarded by the ancient Egyptians seems rather obscure. 
 It is probable, however, that the partial migration of the bird 
 was connected in their minds with the rise of the Nile, a river 
 as sacred to the old Egyptians as the Ganges to the modern 
 Hindoo. As soon as the water begins to rise, the Ibis makes its 
 appearance, sometimes alone, and sometimes in small troops. It 
 haunts the banks of the river, and marshy places in general, 
 diligently searching for food by the aid of its long bill. It can 
 fly well and strongly, and it utters at intervals a rather loud cry, 
 dipping its head at every utterance. Specimens of these birds 
 can be seen at the Zoological Gardens. 
 
 THE CORMORANT. 
 
 The word Shdldk and its signification The Greek Catarrhactes Habits of the 
 Cormorant The bird trained to catch fish Mode of securing its prey Nests 
 and eggs of the Cormorant Nesting in fir-trees Flesh of the bird. 
 
 ALTHOUGH in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures the word 
 Cormorant occurs three times, there is no doubt that in two of 
 the passages the Hebrew word ought to have been rendered as 
 Pelican, as we shall see when we come presently to the descrip- 
 tion of that bird. 
 
 In the two parallel passages, Lev. xi. 17 and Deut. xiv. 17, 
 a creature called the Shalak is mentioned in the list of prohibited 
 meats. That the Shalak must be a bird is evident from the 
 context, and we are therefore only left to discover what sort of 
 bird it may be. On looking at the etymology of the word we
 
 THE CORMORANT. 491 
 
 find that it is derived from a root which signifies hurling or 
 casting down, and we may therefore presume that the bird is one 
 which plunges or sweeps do\vn upon its prey. 
 
 All Hebraists have agreed that it is one of the sea-birds, and 
 this view of the case seems to be taken in the Septuagint, where 
 the word is rendered by Catarrhactes, a term that has the 
 same derivation in Greek as the Shalak in Hebrew. It is 
 indeed the same word from which we form our term " cataract," 
 to express the manner in which the water plunges or is hurled 
 down from a height. 
 
 In consequence of this derivation, several writers have 
 thought that the Shalak might be the Solan goose, or gannet, a 
 bird which lives on fish, and always takes its prey by darting 
 down upon it from a height. This bird, however, although it 
 certainly answers completely to the sense of the word shdldk, is 
 not common enough on the shores of Palestine to be specially 
 mentioned among the unclean birds. Other writers, seeing this 
 difficulty, have thought that the Shalak might be one of the 
 terns, or sea-swallows, forgetful of the fact that these are not 
 plunging birds, although exceedingly swift of flight. 
 
 Weighing, however, the opinions of the various Hebraists and 
 naturalists, we may safely determine that the word shdldk has 
 been rightly translated in the Authorized Version. The Hebrew 
 Bible gives the same reading, and does not affix the mark of 
 doubt to the word, though there are very few of the long list of 
 animals in Lev. xi. and. Deut. xiv. which are not either distin- 
 guished by the mark of doubt, or, like the Tinshemeth, are left 
 untranslated. 
 
 The Cormorant belongs to the family of the pelicans, the re- 
 lationship between them being evident to the most unpractised 
 eye; and the whole structure of the bird shows its admirable 
 adaptation for the life which it leads. 
 
 Its long beak enables it to seize even a large fish, while the 
 hook at the end prevents the slippery prey from escaping. The 
 long snake-like neck gives the bird the power of darting its 
 beak with great rapidity, and at the same time allows it to seize 
 prey immediately to the right or left of its course. Its strong, 
 closely-feathered wings enable it to fly with tolerable speed, while 
 at the same time they can be closed so tightly to the body that 
 they do not hinder the progress of the bird through the water ;
 
 492 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 while the tail serves equally when spread to direct its course 
 through the air, and when partially or entirely closed to act as a 
 rudder in the water. Lastly, its short powerful legs, with their 
 broadly-webbed feet, act as paddles, by which the bird urges 
 itself through the water with such wonderful speed that it can 
 overtake and secure the fishes even in their own element. Be- 
 sides these outward characteristics, we find that the bird is able 
 to make a very long stay under water, the lungs being adapted so 
 as to contain a wonderful amount of air. 
 
 The method of catching prey which is practised by the Cor- 
 morant is familiar to us from the fact that the Cormorant has 
 been trained to play the same part in the water as the falcon in 
 the air,, and has been taught to catch fish, arid bring them ashore 
 for its master. So adroit are they, that if one of them should 
 catch a fish which is too heavy for it another bird will come to 
 its assistance, and the two together will bring the struggling 
 prey to land. Trained birds of this description have been em- 
 ployed in China from time immemorial, and in later years they 
 have been re-introduced into England, where they have often 
 exhibited their really wonderful powers. 
 
 In the days of Charles I. these birds were kept in training, 
 and there was attached to the Court a professed official, called 
 the King's Master of the Cormorants. These birds were usually 
 caught and trained in Holland, and thence exported to England. 
 The disturbed state of the country during the civil wars, added 
 to the sport-destroying character of the Puritans, seems to have 
 caused the sport to be abandoned in this country, and it is only 
 within the last few years that they have been again employed. 
 In order to prevent it from swallowing the fish which it takes, 
 each bird has a ring or ligature passed round its neck. 
 
 The Cormorant is a most voracious bird, swallowing a con- 
 siderable weight of fish at a meal, and digesting them so rapidly 
 that it is soon ready for another supply. Although it is essen- 
 tially a marine bird, hunger often takes it inland, especially to 
 places where are lakes or large rivers. Mr. Water-ton mentions, 
 in his " Essays 011 Natural History," that the Cormorants often 
 visited the lake at Walton Hall, and that they soon became so 
 familiar and fearless, that after catching and eating their prey 
 they would sit on the terrace and preen their feathers under the 
 windows of the drawing-room.
 
 THE CORMORANT. 493 
 
 The lake is by no means a large one, and it is probable that 
 the birds were attracted by the absolute security which was felt 
 by every winged creature within the domain. " His skill in 
 diving," writes Mr. Waterton, " is most admirable, and his suc- 
 cess beyond belief. You may know him at a distance, among a 
 thousand water-fowl, by his upright neck, by his body being 
 apparently half immersed in the water, and by his being per- 
 petually in motion when not on land. 
 
 " While the ducks and teal and widgeons are stationary on the 
 pool, the cormorant is seen swimming to and fro, as if in quest 
 of something. First raising his body nearly perpendicular, down 
 he plunges into the deep, and, after staying there a considerable 
 time, he is sure to bring up a fish, which he invariably swallows 
 head foremost. Sometimes half an hour elapses before he can 
 manage to accommodate a large eel quietly in his stomach. 
 
 " You see him straining violently with repeated efforts to gulp 
 it ; and when you fancy that the slippery mouthful is success- 
 fully disposed of, all on a sudden the eel retrogrades upwards 
 from its dismal sepulchre, struggling violently to escape. The 
 cormorant swallows it again, and up again it comes, and shows 
 its tail a foot or more out of its destroyer's mouth. At length, 
 worn out with ineffectual writhings and slidings, the eel is 
 gulped down into the cormorant's stomach for the last time, 
 there to meet its dreaded and inevitable fate." 
 
 Mr. Fortune gives a somewhat similar account of the feeding 
 of tame Cormorants in China. The birds preferred eels to all 
 other food, and, in spite of the difficulty in swallowing the 
 slippery and active creature, would not touch another fish as 
 long as an eel was left. The bird is so completely at home in the 
 water that it does not need, like the heron and other aquatic birds, 
 to bring its prey ashore in order to swallow it, but can eat fish 
 in the water as well as catch them. It always seizes the fish 
 crosswise, and is therefore obliged to turn it before it can swallow 
 the prey with the head downwards. Sometimes it contrives to 
 turn the fish while still under water, but, if it should fail in so 
 doing, it brings its prey to the surface, and shifts it about in its 
 bill, making a series of little snatches at it until the head is in 
 the right direction. When it seizes a very large fish, the bird 
 shakes its prey just as a dog shakes a rat, and so disables it. It 
 is said to eat its own weight of fish in a single day.
 
 494 BIBLE ANIMALS 
 
 Sometimes, when it has been very successful or exceptionally 
 hungry, it loads itself with food to such an extent that it be- 
 comes almost insensible during the process of digestion, and, 
 although naturally a keen-eyed and wary bird, allows itself to 
 be captured by hand. 
 
 The nest of the Cormorant is always upon a rocky ledge, and 
 generally on a spot which is inaccessible except by practised 
 climbers furnished with ropes, poles, hooks, and other appur- 
 tenances. Mr. Waterton mentions that when he descended the 
 Kaiucliff, a precipice some four hundred feet in height, he saw 
 numbers of the nests and eggs, but could not get at them except 
 by swinging himself boldly off the face of the cliff, so as to be 
 brought by the return swing into the recesses chosen by the 
 birds. 
 
 The nests are mostly placed in close proximity to each other, 
 and are made of sticks and seaweeds, and, as is usual with such 
 nests, are very inartificially constructed. The eggs are of a 
 greenish white on the outside, and green on the inside. When 
 found in the nest, they are covered with a sort of chalky crust, 
 so that the true colour is not perceptible until the crust is 
 scraped off. Two to four eggs are generally laid in, or rather on, 
 each nest. As may be imagined from the character of the birds' 
 food, the odour of the nesting-place is most horrible. 
 
 Sometimes, when rocks cannot be found, the Cormorant is 
 obliged to select other spots for its nest. It is mentioned in the 
 " Proceedings of the Zoological Society," that upon an island in 
 the midst of a large lake there were a number of Scotch fir- 
 trees, upon the branches of which were about eighty nests of 
 the Cormorant. 
 
 The flesh of the Cormorant is very seldom eaten, as it has a 
 fishy flavour which is far from agreeable. To eat an old Cor- 
 morant is indeed almost impossible, but the young birds may be 
 rendered edible by taking them as soon as killed, skinning them, 
 removing the whole of the interior, wrapping them in cloths, 
 and burying them for some time in the ground. 
 
 From the account of this bird, the reader will see that it may 
 well be the Shalak of the Old Testament. Owing to its size and 
 its peculiar habits, it is a very conspicuous bird, and therefore 
 likely to be selected by name by the ancient lawgiver. And 
 although its flesh is not very agreeable, it can be eaten ; and, as
 
 THE PELICAN. 495 
 
 has been shown, can be rendered tolerably palatable by a very 
 simple process. The iiesh of the Solan goose is deprived in a 
 similar manner of its naturally rank and fishy flavour. 
 
 THE PELICAN. 
 
 The Pelican of the wilderness Attitudes of the bird Its love of solitude 
 Derivation of the Hebrew word Fantastic interpretation Mode of feeding 
 the young Fables regarding the Pelican Breeding-places of the bird The 
 object of its wide wings and large pouch Colour of the Pelican. 
 
 ON page 490 it has been mentioned that in two passages of 
 Scripture, the word which is translated in the Authorized Ver- 
 sion as Cormorant, ought to have been rendered as PELICAN. 
 These, however, are not the first passages in which we meet with 
 the word kaath. The name occurs in the two parallel passages 
 of Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv. among the list of birds which 
 are proscribed as food. Passing over them, we next come to 
 Ps. cii. 6. In this passage, the sacred writer is lamenting his 
 misery : " By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones 
 cleave to my skin. 
 
 " I am like a pelican of the wilderness : I am like an owl of 
 the desert." 
 
 In these sentences, we see that the Kaath was a bird of 
 solitude that was to be found in the "wilderness," i.e. far from 
 the habitations of man. This is one of the characteristics of the 
 Pelican, which loves not the neighbourhood of human beings, 
 and is fond of resorting to broad, uncultivated lands, where it 
 will not be disturbed. 
 
 In them it makes its nest and hatches its young, and to them 
 it retires after feeding, in order to digest in quiet the ample meal 
 which it has made. Mr. Tristram well suggests that the metaphor 
 of the Psalmist may allude to the habit common to the Pelican 
 and its kin, of sitting motionless for hours after it has gorged 
 itself with food, its head sunk on its shoulders, and its bill 
 resting on its breast.
 
 496 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 This is but one of the singular, and often grotesque, attitudes 
 in which the Pelican is in the habit of indulging. 
 
 There are before me a number of sketches made of the 
 Pelicans at the Zoological Gardens, and in no two cases does 
 one attitude in the least resemble another. In one sketch the 
 
 " / am like a pelican in the wilderness." Ps. cii. d. 
 
 bird is sitting in the attitude which has just been described. In 
 another it is walking, or rather staggering, along, with its head 
 on one side, and its beak so closed that hardly a vestige of its 
 enormous pouch can be seen. Another sketch shows the same 
 bird as it appeared when angry with a companion, and scolding 
 its foe in impotent rage ; while another shows it basking in the
 
 THE PELICAN. 497 
 
 sun, with its magnificent wings spread and shaking in the warm 
 beams, and its pouch hanging in folds from its chin. 
 
 One of the most curious of these sketches shows the bird 
 squatting on the ground, with its head drawn back as far as 
 possible, and sunk so far among the feathers of the back and 
 shoulders that only a portion of the head itself can be seen, 
 while the long beak is hidden, except an inch or two of the end. 
 In this attitude it might easily be mistaken at a little distance 
 for an oval white stone. 
 
 The derivation of the Hebrew word kaath is a very curious 
 one. It is taken from a verb signifying "to vomit," and this 
 derivation has been explained in different ways. 
 
 The early writers, who were comparatively ignorant of natural 
 history, thought that the Pelican lived chiefly on molluscs, and 
 that, after digesting the animals, it rejected their shells, just as 
 the owl and the hawk reject the bones, fur, and feathers of their 
 prey. They thought that the Pelican was a bird of a hot tem- 
 perament, and that the molluscs were quickly digested by the 
 heat of the stomach : " conchas enim, calore ventris coctas, rursus 
 evomit, ut testis. rejectis, esculenta seligat." 
 
 At the present day, however, knowing as we do the habits of 
 the Pelican, we find that, although the reasons just given are 
 faulty, and that the Pelican lives essentially on fish, and not on 
 molluscs, the derivation of the word is really a good one, and 
 that those who gave the bird the name of Kaath, or the vomiter, 
 were well acquainted with its habits. 
 
 The bird certainly does eat molluscs, but the principal part 
 of its diet is composed of fish, which it catches dexterously by 
 a sort of sidelong snatch of its enormous bill. The skin under 
 the lower part of the beak is so modified that it can form, when 
 distended, an enormous pouch, capable of holding a great quan- 
 tity of fish, though, as long as it is not wanted, the pouch is so 
 contracted into longitudinal folds as to be scarcely perceptible. 
 When it has filled the pouch, it usually retires from the water, 
 and flies to a retired spot, often many miles inland, where it 
 can sit and digest at its ease the enormous meal which it has 
 made. 
 
 As it often chooses its breeding-places in similar spots, far 
 from the water, it has to carry the food with which it nourishes 
 its young for many miles. For this purpose it is furnished, not 
 
 X K
 
 498 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 only with the pouch which has been just mentioned, but with 
 long, wide, and very powerful wings, often measuring from twelve 
 to thirteen feet from tip to tip. No one, on looking at a Pelican 
 as it waddles about or sits at rest, would imagine the gigantic 
 dimensions of the wings, which seem, as the bird spreads them, 
 to have almost as unlimited a power of expansion as the pouch. 
 
 In these two points the true Pelicans present a strong contrast 
 to the cormorants, though birds closely allied. The cormorant 
 has its home close by the sea, and therefore needs not to carry 
 its food for any distance. Consequently, it needs no pouch, 
 and has none. Neither does it require the great expanse of 
 wing which is needful for the Pelican, that has to carry such 
 a weight of fish through the air. Accordingly, the wings, though 
 strong enough to enable the bird to carry for a short distance 
 a single fish of somewhat large size, are comparatively short and 
 closely feathered, and the flight of the cormorant possesses 
 neither the grace nor the power which distinguishes that of the 
 Pelican. 
 
 When the Pelican feeds its young, it does so by pressing its 
 beak against its breast, so as to force out of it the enclosed fish. 
 Now the tip of the beak is armed, like that of the cormorant, 
 with a sharply-curved hook, only, in the case of the Pelican, the 
 hook is of a bright scarlet colour, looking, when the bird presses 
 the beak against the white feathers of the breast, like a large 
 drop of blood. Hence arose the curious legend respecting the 
 Pelican, which represented it as feeding its young with its own 
 blood, and tearing open its breast with its hooked bill. We find 
 that this legend is exemplified by the oft-recurring symbol of the 
 " Pelican feeding its young " in ecclesiastical art, as an emblem 
 of Divine love. 
 
 This is one of the many instances in which the inventive, 
 poetical, inaccurate Oriental mind has seized some peculiarity of 
 form, and based upon it a whole series of fabulous legends. As 
 long as they restricted themselves to the appearance and habits 
 of the animals with which they were familiarly acquainted, the 
 old writers were curiously full, exact, and precise in their details. 
 But as soon as they came to any creature of whose mode of life 
 they were entirely or partially ignorant, they allowed their 
 inventive faculties full scope, and put forward as zoological facts 
 statements which were the mere creation of their own fancy.
 
 THE PELICAN. 499 
 
 We have already seen several examples of this propensity, and 
 shall find more as we proceed with the zoology of the Scriptures. 
 
 The fabulous legends of the Pelican are too numerous to be 
 even mentioned, but there is one which deserves notice, because 
 it is made the basis of an old Persian fable. 
 
 The writer of the legend evidently had some partial knowledge 
 of the bird. He knew that it had a large pouch which could 
 hold fish and water ; that it had large and powerful wings ; and 
 that it was in the habit of flying far inland, either for the purpose 
 of digesting its food or nourishing its young. Knowing that the 
 Pelican is in the habit of choosing solitary spots in which it may 
 bring up its young in safety, but not knowing the precise mode 
 of its nesting, the writer in question has trusted to his imagi- 
 nation, and put forward his theories as facts. 
 
 Knowing that the bird dwells in " the wilderness/' he has 
 assumed that the wilderness in question is a sandy, arid desert, 
 far from water, and consequently from vegetation. Such being 
 the case, the nurture of the Pelican's young is evidently a diffi- 
 cult question. Being aquatic birds, the young must needs require 
 water for drink and bathing, as well as fish for food ; and, though 
 a supply of both these necessaries could be brought in the ample 
 pouches of the parents, they would be wasted unless some mode 
 of storing were employed. 
 
 Accordingly, the parent birds were said to make their nest 
 in a hollow tree, and to line it with clay, or to build it altogether 
 of clay, so as to leave a deep basin. This basin the parent birds 
 were said to use as a sort of store-pond, bringing home supplies 
 of fish and water in their pouches, and pouring them into the 
 pond. The wild beasts who lived in the desert were said to be 
 acquainted with these nests, and to resort to them daily in order 
 to quench their thirst, repaying their entertainers by protecting 
 their homes. 
 
 In real fact, the Pelican mostly breeds near water, and is fond 
 of selecting little rocky islands where it cannot be approached 
 without danger. The nest is made on the ground, and is fornu-d 
 in a most inartificial manner of reeds and grass, the general mass 
 of the nest being made of the reeds, and the lining being formed 
 of grass. The eggs are white, of nearly the same shape at both 
 ends, and are from two to five in number. On an average, 
 however, each nest will contain about two eggs. 
 
 K K 2
 
 500 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The parent birds are very energetic in defence of their eggs or 
 young, and, according to Le Vaillaut, when approached they are 
 "like furious harpies let loose against us, and their cries ren- 
 dered us almost deaf. They often flew so near us that they 
 flapped their wings in our faces, and, though we fired our pieces 
 repeatedly, we were not able to frighten them." When the well- 
 known naturalist Sonnerat tried to drive a female Pelican 
 from her nest, she appeared not to be frightened, but angry. 
 She would not move from her nest, and when he tried to 
 push her off, she struck at him with her long bill and uttered 
 cries of rage. 
 
 In order to aid the bird in carrying the heavy weights with 
 which it loads itself, the whole skeleton is permeated with air, 
 and is exceedingly light. Beside this, the whole cellular system 
 of the bird is honeycombed with air-cells, so that the bulk of 
 the bird can be greatly increased, while its weight remains 
 practically unaltered, and the Pelican becomes a sort of living 
 balloon. 
 
 The habit of conveying its food inland before eating it is so 
 characteristic of the Pelican that other birds take advantage of 
 it. In some countries there is a large hawk which robs the 
 Pelican, just as the bald-headed eagle of America robs the 
 osprey. Knowing instinctively that when a Pelican is flying 
 inland slowly and heavily and with a distended pouch it is 
 carrying a supply of food to its home, the hawk dashes at it, 
 and frightens it so that the poor bird opens its beak, and gives 
 up to the assailant the fish which it was bearing homewards. 
 
 It is evident that the wings which are needed for supporting 
 such weights, and wtiich, as we have seen, exceed twelve feet in 
 length from tip to tip, would be useless in the water, and would 
 hinder rather than aid the bird if it attempted to dive as the 
 close-winged cormorant does. Accordingly, we find that the 
 Pelican is not a diver, and, instead of chasing its finny prey 
 under water, after the manner of the cormorant, it contents 
 itself with scooping up in its beak the fishes which come to the 
 surface of the water. The very buoyancy of its body would 
 prevent it from diving as does the cormorant, and, although it 
 often plunges into the water so fairly as to be for a moment 
 submerged, it almost immediately rites, and pursues its course 
 on the surface of the water, and not beneath it. Like the
 
 THE PELICAN. 501 
 
 cormorant, the Pelican can perch on trees, though it does not 
 select such spots for its roosting-places, and prefers rocks to 
 branches. In one case, however, when some young Pelicans 
 had been captured and tied to a stake, their mother used to 
 bring them food during the day, and at night was accustomed 
 to roost in the branches of a tree above them. 
 
 One of the two passages to which allusion has already been 
 made in which the word Tcaath has been wrongly translated, 
 occurs in Isa. xxxiv. 10, 11 : "From generation to generation 
 it shall lie waste ; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 
 
 " But the cormorant [Pelican in margin] and the bittern 
 shall possess it ; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it :. 
 and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion and the 
 stones of emptiness." 
 
 These words form part of a prophecy concerning Idumaea, or 
 Edom, in which the desolation that is to come upon the land 
 is painted in the most vivid colours. The streams are to be 
 turned into pitch, and the dust into brimstone; thorns are to 
 come up in the palaces, and nettles and brambles in the for- 
 tresses, and the land is to be washed with blood. And so 
 great is to be the desolation of the land, that even the Pelican, 
 which keeps itself far from the habitations of men, is to 
 possess it 
 
 A similar figure is employed by the prophet Zephaniah, when 
 writing of the utter destruction of Nineveh, that "rejoicing 
 city, that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there 
 is no more beside me." In chap. ii. ver. 13, 14, the prophet 
 writes as follows : " He will stretch out His hand against the 
 north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a deso- 
 lation, and dry like a wilderness. 
 
 "And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts 
 of the nations ; both the cormorant [Pelican] and bittern shall 
 lodge in the upper lintels of it, their voices shall sing in the 
 windows ; desolation shall be in the threshold : for Ho shall 
 overcome the cedar work." 
 
 In both these passages the Jewish Bible renders the word 
 kaatli as Pelican. For a further explanation of them the reader 
 is referred to the article on the hedgehog. 
 
 It will be now seen that, accepting the Kaath to be the 
 Pelican, the imagery of the scriptural writers is as accurate as
 
 502 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ii is forcible. Though under some circumstances a thoroughly 
 social bird, it is yet fond of retiring to the most solitary spots 
 in order to consume at peace the prey that it has captured ; 
 and, as it sits motionless and alone for hours, more like a white 
 stone than, a bird, it may well be accepted as a type of solitude 
 and desolation. 
 
 The colour of the common Pelican is white, with a very slight 
 pinky tinge, which is most conspicuous in the breeding season. 
 The feathers of the crest are yellow, and the quill feathers of 
 the wings are jetty black, contrasting well with the white 
 plumage of the body. The pouch is yellow, and the upper 
 part of the beak bluish grey, with a red line running across 
 the middle, and a bright red hook at the tip. This plumage 
 belongs only to the adult bird, that of the young being ashen 
 grey, and four or five years are required before the bird puts on 
 its full beauty. There is no difference in the appearance of the 
 sexes. The illustration on page 496 represents a fine old male 
 Crested Pelican (Pelecanus cristatv^). The general colour is 
 greyish white, with a slight yellowish tint on the breast. The 
 pouch is bright orange, and the crest is formed of curling 
 feathers.
 
 REPTILES.
 
 THE TORTOISE. 
 
 Reptiles in general Looseness of the term " creeping things " The Tzab of the 
 Scriptures, translated as Tortoise Flesh and eggs of the Tortoise Its slow 
 movements Hibernation dependent on temperature The Water-Tortoises 
 Their food and voracity Their eggs Their odour terrifying the horses The 
 Dhultb lizard and its legends Its armed tail, and the use made of it Its food, 
 and localities which it prefers. 
 
 WE now come to a different class of animated beings. We have 
 already found that the sacred writers were very loose in their 
 nomenclature of the mammalia and birds, and we may therefore 
 expect to find that even greater uncertainty prevails with regard 
 to the EEPTILES. It is evident that the sacred writers classed 
 together the " creeping things " of the earth, without troubling 
 themselves about zoological accuracy, and that by them a lizard, 
 a centipede, and a caterpillar would have been alike classed as 
 belonging to the " creeping things." For example, we learn in 
 Deut. xiv. 19 that "every creeping thing that rlieth" is un- 
 clean. On referring to Levit. xi. 21, we find that the same prohi- 
 bition is repeated, but with an addition that shows that the 
 sacred writer is treating of insects under the head of "creeping 
 things." " Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping tiling 
 that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to 
 leap withal upon the earth ; 
 
 "Even these of them may ye eat; the locust after his kind, 
 and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, 
 and the grasshopper after his kind. 
 
 "But all other flying creeping things which have four feet 
 shall be an abomination unto you." 
 
 As to the particular species signified by these different insects, 
 the reader is referred to that portion of the work which treats of 
 entomology ; and it is sufficient to observe that in this passage 
 the term " creeping things " is employed to designate insects.
 
 506 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 If we pass to verse 42 of the same chapter, we find that 
 among the "creeping things" the centipedes, millepedes, and 
 very probably the caterpillars, are ranked. " Whatsoever hath 
 more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, 
 them ye shall not eat, for they are an abomination. 
 
 "Ye shall not make yourselves [or, your souls] abominable 
 with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make 
 yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled 
 thereby." 
 
 Again, in Ps. civ. 24, 25, different orders of animals are 
 classed under the name of creeping things : " Lord, how 
 manifold are Thy works ! in wisdom hast Thou made them all : 
 the earth is full of Thy riches. 
 
 " So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping 
 innumerable, both small and great beasts." In this passage it 
 is probable that the sacred writer classed together all the inha- 
 bitants of the sea that creep and that do not swim with fins, and 
 that under this term are first comprised the marine turtles, and 
 perhaps snakes. Indeed, from verses 1.0 and 11 of Levit. xi. it is 
 almost certain that marine and aquatic reptiles are signified: 
 " All that have not fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, 
 of all that move in the waters, and of every living thing which 
 is in the waters', they shall be an abomination unto you : 
 
 "They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall 
 not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in 
 abomination." 
 
 This prohibition also includes the whole of the molluscs, and 
 the marine worms, or annelids. 
 
 We will take these creatures in their order, and begin with 
 those which are classed as Eeptiles by the zoologists of the 
 present day, and which are distinguished by having a bony 
 skeleton, breathing by means of lungs and not of gills, having a 
 heart with two auricles and one ventricle, and the skin bjsing 
 covered with horny plates or scales. The first in order are 
 those which are covered with plates, and which are known as 
 the Chelarians, including the Tortoises and Turtles. 
 
 IN Levit. xi. 29, there occurs among the list of unclean 
 beasts a word which is translated in the Authorized Version as 
 " tortoise." The word is Tzdb, and is rendered in the Hebrew
 
 THE TORTOISE. 
 
 507 
 
 Bible as " lizard," but with the mark of doubt affixed to it. As 
 the correct translation of the word is very dubious, we shall 
 examine it in both these senses. 
 
 The common Tortoise (Textudo Grceca) is very common in 
 Palestine, and is so plentiful that it would certainly have been 
 
 THE DiirnB AND Tonfoisr. 
 
 1 These alto $hall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth . Me 
 weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after hi kind. " LEVIT. xi. 29. 
 
 used by the Israelites as food, had it not been prohibited by 
 law. At the present day it is cooked and eaten by the inha- 
 bitants of the country who are not Jews, and its eggs are in as 
 great request as those of the fowl. 
 
 These eggs are hard, nearly spherical, thick-shelled, and 
 covered with minute punctures, giving them a roughness like
 
 508 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 that of a file. In captivity the Tortoise is very careless about 
 the mode in which they are deposited, and 1 have seen a large 
 yard almost covered with eggs laid by Tortoises and abandoned. 
 The white or albumen of the egg is so stiff' and gelatinous that 
 to empty one of them without breaking the shell is a difficult 
 task, and the yolk is very dark, and ' covered with minute spots 
 of black. When fresh the eggs are as good as those of the fowl, 
 and many persons even think them better ; the only drawback 
 being that their small size and thick shell cause considerable 
 trouble in eating them. 
 
 The flesh of the Tortoise is eaten, not only by human beings, 
 but by biwls, such as the lammergeier. In order to get at the 
 flesh of the Tortoise, they carry it high in the air and drop it on 
 the ground _so as to break the shell to pieces, should the reptile 
 fall on a stone or rock. If, as is not often the case in such a 
 rocky land as that of Palestine, it should fall on a soft spot, the 
 bird picks it up, soars aloft, and drops it again. 
 
 The Tortoises have no teeth, but yet are able to crop the 
 herbage with perfect ease. In lien of teeth the edges of the 
 jaws are sharp-edged and very hard, so that they cut anything 
 that comes between them like a pair of shears. Leaves that are 
 pulpy and crisp are bitten through at once, but those that are 
 thin, tough, and fibrous are rather torn than bitten, the Tortoise 
 placing its feet upon them, and dragging them to pieces with its 
 jaws. The carnivorous Tortoises have a similar habit, as we shall 
 presently see. 
 
 This is the species from whose deliberate and slow movements 
 the familiar metaphor of " slow as a Tortoise " was derived, and 
 it is this species which is the hero of the popular fable of the 
 " Hare and the Tortoise." Many of the reptiles are very slow 
 in some things and astonishingly quick in others. Some of the 
 lizards, for example, will at one time remain motionless for 
 many hours together, or creep about with a slow and snail-like 
 progress, while at others they dart from spot to spot with such 
 rapidity that the eye can scarcely follow their movements. This 
 however is not the case with the Tortoise, which is always slow, 
 and, but for the defensive armour in which it is encased, would 
 long ago have been extirpated. 
 
 During the whole of the summer months it may be seen 
 crawling deliberately among the herbage, eating in the same
 
 THE TORTOISE. 509 
 
 deliberate style which characterises all its movements, and occa- 
 sionally resting in the same spot for many hours together, 
 apparently enjoying the warm beams of the sunshine. 
 
 As winter approaches, it slowly scrapes a deep hole in the 
 ground, and buries itself until the following spring awakes it 
 once more to active life. The depth of its burrow depends on 
 the severity of the winter, for, as the cold increases, the Tortoise 
 sinks itself more deeply into the earth. 
 
 MENTION has been made of a species of Tortoise that inhabits 
 the water. This is the CASPIAN EMYS (Emys caspica), a small 
 species, measuring about six inches in length. It belongs to the 
 large family of the Terrapins, several of which are so well known 
 in America, and has a long, retractile neck, very sharp jaws, and 
 webbed feet, and a well-developed tail. 
 
 The body is flattish, and the colour is olive, with lines of 
 yellow edged with black, and the head is marked with longi- 
 tudinal streaks of bright yellow. After the death of the creature 
 these yellow streaks fade away gradually, and at last become 
 nearly black. The skin of the head is thin, but very hard. In 
 general appearance it is not unlike the chicken Tortoise of 
 America, a species which is often brought to England and kept 
 in captivity, on account of its hardy nature and the little trouble 
 which is needed for keeping it in health. 
 
 I have kept specimens of the Caspian Emys for some time. 
 and found them to be more interesting animals than they at first 
 promised to be. They were active, swimming with considerable 
 speed, and snatching quickly at anything which they fancied 
 might be food. 
 
 They were exceedingly voracious, consuming daily a quantity 
 of meat apparently disproportioned to their size, and eating it in 
 a manner that strongly reminded me of the mole when engaged 
 on a piece of meat or the body of a bird or mouse. The Tortoise 
 would plant its fore-paws firmly at each side of the meat, seize 
 a mouthful in its jaws, and, by retracting its head violently, 
 would tear away the piece which it had grasped. 
 
 They are most destructive among fish, and are apt to rise 
 quietly underneath a fish as it basks near the surface of the 
 water, grasp it beneath with its sharp-edged jaws, and tear away 
 the piece, leaving the fish to die. It is rather remarkable that
 
 510 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the Lepidosiren, or mud-fish of the Gambia, destroys fish in a 
 precisely similar manner, though, as its jaws are much sharper 
 than those of the Emys, it does not need the aid of fore-paws in 
 biting out its mouthful of flesh. 
 
 Like the land Tortoise, it is one of the hibernators, and during 
 the winter months buries itself deeply in the earth, choosing 
 for this purpose the soft, muddy bed or bank of the pond in 
 which it lives. Its eggs are white, and hard-shelled, but are 
 more oval than those of the land Tortoise, and both ends are 
 nearly alike. In fact, its egg might well be mistaken for that 
 of a small pigeon. The shell has a porcelain-like look, and is 
 very liable to crack, so that the resemblance is increased. 
 
 There is one drawback to these reptiles when kept as pets. 
 They give out a very unpleasant odour, which is disagreeable to 
 human nostrils, but is absolutely terrifying to many animals. 
 The monkey tribe have the strongest objection to these aquatic 
 Tortoises. I once held one of them towards a very tame 
 chimpanzee, much to his discomfiture. He muttered and re- 
 monstrated, and retreated as far as he could, pushing out his 
 lips in a funnel-like form, and showing his repugnance to the 
 reptile in a manner that could not be mistaken. 
 
 Horses seem to be driven almost frantic with terror, not only 
 by the sight, but by the odour of these Tortoises. In Southern 
 Africa there are Tortoises closely allied to the Caspian Emys, 
 and having the same power of frightening horses. In " Land 
 and Water" for February 22d, 1869, there is an account of an 
 adventure with one of those Tortoises, called in the catalogue 
 of the British Museum the Reddish Pelamedusa. It is of an 
 olive colour, and, when adult, there is a slight depression on 
 either side of the vertebral line. 
 
 " Some very awkward accidents have occurred to parties from 
 the terror caused by the fresh-water turtle (Pelamediisa subrufci). 
 Carts have been smashed to fragments, riders thrown, and the 
 utmost confusion caused by them. It is their smell, and it is 
 certainly very disagreeable. 
 
 " My first acquaintance with the fact was in this wise. I 
 was out shooting with two young ladies who had volunteered 
 as markers ; and, as you know, all our shooting is done from 
 horseback. I had jumped off for a shot at some francolins 
 near a knill, or water-hole, and, after picking up my birds, was
 
 THE TORTOISE. 51 J 
 
 coining round the knill to windward of the horses. In my path 
 scrambled a turtle. I called out to my young friends, and told 
 them of my find, on which one of them, in a hasty voice, said, 
 ' Oh, please, Mr. L., don't touch it ; you will frighten the 
 horses !' 
 
 " Of course I laughed at the idea, and picked up the reptile, 
 which instantly emitted its pungent odour its means of de- 
 fence. Though a long way off, the moment the horses caught 
 the scent, away they flew, showing terror in every action. The 
 girls, luckily splendid riders, tugged in vain at the reins ; away 
 they went over the Veldt, leaving me in mortal fear that the 
 yawning 'aard-vark' holes (Orycteropus capensis) would break 
 their necks. My own horse, which I had hitched to a bush, 
 tore away his bridle, and with the ends streaming in the wind 
 and the stirrups clashing about him, sped off home at full 
 gallop, and was only recovered after a severe chase by my 
 gallant young Amazons, who, after a race of some miles, succeeded 
 in checking their affrighted steeds and in securing my runaway. 
 But for some hours after, if I ventured to windward, there were 
 wild-looking eyes and cocked ears the smell of the reptile 
 clung to me." 
 
 Should any of my readers keep any of those water Tortoises, 
 they will do well to supply them plentifully with food, to give 
 them_a,n elevated rocky perch on which they can scramble, 
 and on which they will sit for hours so motionless that at a 
 little distance they can scarcely be distinguished from the stone 
 on which they rest. They should also be weighed at regular 
 intervals, as decrease of weight is a sure sign that something is 
 wrong, and, as a general rule, is an almost certain precursor 
 of death. 
 
 This little reptile is not without its legends. According to 
 the old writers on natural history, it is of exceeding use to vine- 
 growers in the season when there is excess of rain or hail. 
 Whenever the owner of a vineyard sees a black cloud approach- 
 ing, all he has to do is, to take one of these Tortoises, lay it on 
 its back, and carry it round the vineyard. He must then go 
 into the middle of the ground and lay the reptile on the earth, 
 still on its back ; and the effect of this proceeding would be that 
 the cloud would pass aside from a place so well protected. 
 
 "But," proceeds the narrator, not wishing to be responsible
 
 512 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 for the statement, " such diabolical and foolish observations 
 were not so muche to be remembered in this place, were it not 
 for their sillinesse, that by knowing them men might learn the 
 weaknesse of human wisdom when it erreth from the fountain of 
 all science and true knowledge (which is Divinity), and the 
 most approved assertions of nature. And so I will say no more 
 in this place of the sweet-water tortoise." 
 
 THE DHUBB. 
 
 WE now come to the second animal, which may probably be 
 the Tzab of the Old Testament. 
 
 This creature is one of the lizards, and is a very odd-looking 
 creature. It is certainly not so attractive in appearance that 
 the Jews might be supposed to desire it as food ; but it often 
 happens that, as is the case with the turtle and iguana, from 
 the most ungainly, in the latter animal even repulsive, forms are 
 produced the most delicate meats. 
 
 The DHUBB, or EGYPTIAN MASTIGURE, as the lizard is indiffer- 
 ently called, grows to a considerable size, measuring when adult 
 three feet in length. Its colour is green, variegated with brown, 
 and is slightly changeable, though not to the extent that dis- 
 tinguishes the chameleon. The chief peculiarity of this lizard 
 consists in its tail, which is covered with a series of whorls or 
 circles of long, sharply-pointed, hard-edged scales. The very 
 appearance of this tail suggests its use as a weapon of defence, 
 and it is said that even the dreaded cerastes is conquered by it, 
 when the lizard and the snake happen to find themselves 
 occupants of the same hole. 
 
 The ancients had a very amusing notion respecting the use of 
 the spiny tail possessed by the Dhubb and its kin. They had 
 an idea that, comparatively small though it was, it fed upon 
 cattle, and that it was able to take them from the herd and 
 drive them to its home. For this purpose, when it had selected 
 an ox, it jumped on its back, and by the pricking of its sharp 
 claws drove the animal to gallop in hope of ridding himself of 
 his tormentor. In order to guide him in the direction of its 
 home, it made use of its tail, lashing the ox "to make him go 
 with his rider to the place of his most fit execution, free from
 
 THE DHUBB. 513 
 
 all rescue of his herdsman, or pastor, or the annoyance of pas- 
 sengers, where, in most crnel and savage manner, he teareth the 
 limbs and parts one from another till he be devoured." 
 
 This very absurd account is headed by an illustration, which, 
 though bad in drawing and rude in execution, is yet so bold and 
 truthful that there is no doubt that it was sketched from the 
 living animal. 
 
 As it haunts sandy downs, rocky spots, and similar localities, 
 it is well adapted for the Holy Land, which is the home of a 
 vast number of reptiles, especially of those belonging to the 
 lizards. In the summer time they have the full enjoyment of 
 the hot sunbeams, in which they delight, and which seem to 
 rouse these cold-b'looded creatures to action, while they deprive 
 the higher animals of all spirit and energy. In the winter time 
 these very spots afford localities wherein the lizards can hibernate 
 until the following spring, and in such a case they furnish the 
 reptiles with secure hiding-places. 
 
 Although the Dhubb does not destroy and tear to pieces oxen 
 and other cattle, it is yet a rather bloodthirsty reptile, and will 
 kill and devour birds as large as the domestic fowl. Usually, 
 however, its food consists of beetles and other insects, which it 
 takes deliberately. 
 
 Whether or not the Dhubb be the same reptile as the Tzab of 
 the Old Testament, the resemblance between the Hebrew and 
 Arabic words is very remarkable. 
 
 LL
 
 514 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE LEVIATHAN OR CROCODILE. 
 
 Signification of the word Leviathan Description in the Book of Job Structure 
 and general habits of the Crocodile The throat-valve and its use Position 
 of the nostrils Worship of the Crocodile The reptile known in the Holy 
 Land Two legends respecting its presence there Mode of taking prey 
 Cunning of the Crocodile The baboons and the Crocodile Speed of the 
 reptile Eggs and young of the Crocodile, and their enemies Curious story 
 of the ichneumon and ibis Modes of capturing the Crocodile Analysis of 
 Job's description The Crocodile also signified by the word Tannin. Aaron's 
 rod changed into a Tannin Various passages in which the word occurs Use 
 of the word by the prophet Jeremiah. 
 
 THE word Leviathan is used in a rather loose manner in the Old 
 Testament, in some places representing a mammalian of the sea, 
 and in others signifying a reptile inhabiting the rivers. As in 
 the most important of these passages the Crocodile is evidently 
 signified, we will accept that rendering, and consider the Croco- 
 dile as being the Leviathan of Scripture. The Jewish Bible 
 accepts the word Crocodile, and does not add the mark of doubt. 
 
 The fullest account of the Leviathan occurs in Job xli.. the 
 whole of which chapter is given to the description of the terrible 
 reptile. As the translation of the Jewish Bible differs in some 
 points from that of the Authorized Version, I shall here give 
 the former, so that the reader may be able to compare them with 
 each other. 
 
 " Canst thou draw out a crocodile with a hook, or his tongue 
 with a cord which thou lettest down ? 
 
 " Canst thou put a reed into his nose, or bore his jaw through 
 with a thorn ? 
 
 " Will he make many supplications unto thee ? will he speak 
 soft words unto thee ? 
 
 " Will he make a covenant with thee ? wilt thou take him as 
 a servant for ever ? 
 
 " Wilt thou play with him as with a bird, or wilt thou bind 
 him for thy maidens ? 
 
 " Shall the companions make a banquet of him ? shall they 
 part him among the merchants ?
 
 THE CROCODILE. 515 
 
 " Canst thon fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with 
 fish -spears? 
 
 " Lay thine hand upon him, thou wilt no more remember the 
 battle. 
 
 " Behold, the hope of him is in vain ; shall not one be cast 
 down at the sight of him ? 
 
 " None is so fierce that dare stir him up ; who then is able to 
 stand before Me ? 
 
 "Who hath forestalled Me that I should repay him? whatsoever 
 is under the whole heaven is Mine. 
 
 " I will not be silent of his parts, nor of the matter of his 
 power, nor of his comely proportion. 
 
 " Who can uncover the face of his garment ? who would enter 
 the double row in his jaw ? 
 
 " Who can open the doors of his face ? his teeth are terrible 
 round about. 
 
 " The strength of his shields are his pride, shut up together 
 as with a close seal. 
 
 "One is so near to another that no air can come between 
 them. 
 
 " They are joined one to another, they stick together that they 
 cannot be sundered. 
 
 " His snortings make light to shine, and his eyes are like tho 
 eyelids of the morning dawn. 
 
 " Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or 
 caldron. 
 
 " His breath kindleth live coals, and a flame goeth out of his 
 mouth. 
 
 " In his neck abideth strength, and before him danceth terror. 
 
 " The flakes of his flesh are joined together, they are firm in 
 themselves ; yea, as hard as nether millstone. 
 
 " When he raiseth himself up, the mighty are afraid ; by 
 reason of breakings they lose themselves. 
 
 " The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold : the 
 spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. 
 
 " He esteemeth iron as straw, and copper as rotten wood. 
 
 " The arrow cannot make him flee : sling-stones are turned 
 with him into stubble. 
 
 " Clubs are counted as stubble ; he laugheth at the shaking of 
 a spear. 
 
 L L 2
 
 516 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 " His under parts are like sharp points of potsherd ; he 
 speaketh sharp points upon the mire. 
 
 " He maketh the deep to boil like a pot ; he maketh the sea 
 like a pot of ointment. 
 
 " He maketh a path to shine after him ; one would think the 
 deep to be hoary. 
 
 " Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. 
 
 " He beholdeth all high things ; he is a king over all the 
 children of pride." 
 
 This splendid description points as clearly to the Crocodile 
 as the description of the Behemoth which immediately precedes 
 it does to the hippopotamus, and it is tolerably evident that the 
 sacred poet who wrote these passages must have been personally 
 acquainted with both the Crocodile and the hippopotamus. In 
 both descriptions there are a few exaggerations, or rather, poetical 
 licences. For example, the bones of the hippopotamus are said 
 to be iron and copper, and the Crocodile is said to kindle live 
 coals with his breath. These, however, are but the natural 
 imagery of an Oriental poet, and, considering the subject, we 
 may rather wonder that the writer has not introduced even more 
 fanciful metaphors. 
 
 BEFORE proceeding with the Biblical portion of the history of 
 this formidable reptile, I will mention a few points connected 
 with the Crocodile and its kin. There are several species of 
 Crocodile in different parts of the world, ten species at least 
 being known to science. Some inhabit India, some tropical 
 America, some Asia, and some Africa, so that the genus is 
 represented in nearly all the warmer parts of the world. 
 
 They are all known by the formation of the teeth, the lower 
 canines fitting each into a notch on the side of the upper jaw. 
 The feet are webbed to the tips, and though the reptile mostly 
 propels itself through the water by means of its tail, it can also 
 paddle itself gently along by means of its feet. The teeth are 
 all made for snatching and tearing, but not for masticating, the 
 Crocodile swallowing its prey entire when possible ; and when 
 the animal is too large to be eaten entire, the reptile tears it to 
 pieces, and swallows the fragments without attempting to mas- 
 ticate them. 
 
 In order to enable it to open its mouth undor water, the back
 
 THE CROCODILE. 517 
 
 of its throat is furnished with a very simple but beautiful con- 
 trivance, whereby the water is received on a membranous valve, 
 and, in proportion to its pressure, closes the orifice of the throat. 
 As the Crocodiles mostly seize their prey in their open jaws and 
 hold it under water until devoured, it is evident that without 
 such a structure as has been described the Crocodile would be 
 as likely to drown itself as its prey. But the throat-valve 
 enables it to keep its mouth open while the water is effectually 
 prevented from running down its throat, and the nostrils, placed 
 at the end of the snout, enable it to breathe at its ease, while 
 the unfortunate animal which it has captured is being drowned 
 beneath the surface of the water. 
 
 This position of the nostrils serves another purpose, and 
 enables the Crocodile to breathe while the whole of its body is 
 under the water, and only an inch or two of the very end of the 
 snout is above the surface. As, moreover, the Crocodile, as is 
 the case with most reptiles, is able to exist for a considerable 
 time without breathing, it only needs to protrude its nostrils for 
 a few moments, and can then sink entirely beneath the water. 
 In this way the reptile is able to conceal itself in case it should 
 suspect danger ; and as, in such instances, it dives under the 
 herbage of the river, and merely thrusts its nose into the air 
 among the reeds and rushes, it is evident that, in spite of its 
 enormous size, it baffles the observation of almost every foe. 
 
 The Crocodile is one of the many animals to which divine 
 honours were paid by the Egyptians. This we learn from several 
 sources. Herodotus, for example, in " Euterpe," chapter 69, writes 
 as follows : " Those who dwell about Thebes and Lake Mceris, 
 consider them to be very sacred ; and they each of them train 
 up a Crocodile, which is taught to be quite tame ; and they put 
 crystal and gold ear-rings into their ears, and bracelets on their 
 fore-paws ; and they give them appointed and sacred food, and 
 treat them as well as possible while alive, and when dead, they 
 embalm them, and bury them in sacred vaults. 
 
 " But the people who dwell about the city of Elephantine eat 
 them, not considering them as sacred." 
 
 The reasons for this worship are several. At the root of them 
 all lies the tendency of man to respect that which he fears 
 rather than that which he loves ; and the nearer the man 
 approaches the savage state, the more is this feeling developed.
 
 518 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 By this tendency his worship is regulated, and it will be found 
 that when man is sufficiently advanced to be capable of worship 
 at all, his reverence is invariably paid to the object which has 
 the greatest terrors for him. The Crocodile, therefore, being the 
 animal that was most dreaded by the ancient Egyptians, was 
 accepted as the natural type of divinity. 
 
 By degrees, though the worship of the Crocodile was retained, 
 the worshippers thought themselves obliged to. find reasons for 
 their veneration, and some of them said that they considered the 
 Crocodile a type of divinity because it had no tongue, and was 
 therefore an emblem of divine power, which requires no tongue 
 wherewith to speak. " For by a mute and silent way it ascendeth, 
 and bringeth all things mortal to a vocal justice, which speaketh 
 in action, though not in voyce, even as all that is in the Croco- 
 dile is action and not voyce." 
 
 Some said that they reverenced the Crocodile because it laid 
 threescore eggs and lived threescore years, this being the span of 
 human life. Others, and these give by far the best reason, say 
 that divine honours are paid to the Crocodile because the time 
 of laying the eggs and hatching the young foreshows the annual 
 rising of the Nile, on which depends the prosperity of the whole 
 country. Still there is no doubt that, whatever explanations 
 may have been offered by the advocates of Crocodile worship, 
 the true reason for it was nothing but the terror inspired by the 
 animal. 
 
 to the accuracy of the description in the Book of Job, 
 which is evidently written by one who was personally acquainted 
 with the Crocodile, it is thought by many commentators that the 
 writer must have been acquainted with the Nile, in which river 
 both the Crocodile and hippopotamus are found at the present day. 
 It is possible, however, that the hippopotamus and the Croco- 
 dile have had at one time a much wider range than they at 
 present enjoy. Even within the memory of man the hippo- 
 potamus has been driven further and further up the Nile by 
 the encroachments of man. It has long been said that even at the 
 present day the Crocodile exists in Palestine in the river which 
 is called " Nhar Zurka," which flows from Samaria through the 
 plains of Sharon. Several of the older writers have mentioned 
 its existence in this river, and, since this work was commenced,
 
 THE CROCODILE. 519 
 
 the long- vexed question has been set at rest ; a Crocodile, eight 
 feet in length, having been captured in the Nhar Zurka. 
 
 In her " Domestic Life in Palestine," Miss Rogers gives an old 
 legend by which the people account for the presence of Crocodiles 
 in this river. Many ages ago there dwelt upon the bank of the 
 river an old man and Bis two sons, the elder of whom was idle 
 and profligate, while the younger was industrious and virtuous. 
 
 The father died, and left them each an equal share of his 
 wealth the flocks and herds which fed on the rich banks of 
 the river. In process of time, the elder brother wasted all his 
 property by riotous living and neglect, while the younger brother 
 had greatly increased his flocks and herds, and had become a 
 wealthy man. The elder, being jealous of his brother's prosperity, 
 sought in his mind how to do him an injury. Accordingly, he 
 travelled to Egypt, brought some young Crocodiles thence, and 
 turned them into the river, hoping that they would destroy his 
 brother's flocks as they came to drink. 
 
 Some time afterwards, he went down to the river, and, as he 
 had been accustomed to do, descended to the water to wash, 
 when the Crocodiles seized him, dragged him into the water, and 
 devoured him. 
 
 This is one legend. Another states that many years ago a 
 colony of Egyptians had settled on the bank of the Nhar Zurka, 
 and that they, being worshippers of the Crocodile, brought some 
 of the young from the Nile and established them in the river, 
 which thenceforward bore the name of Nhar Zurka, or the 
 Crocodile Ptiver. The reader will doubtless have noticed that 
 in both these legends the Crocodile is said to be an importation 
 from the Nile, and is not held to be indigenous to the river. 
 
 Allusion is made in the former of these two legends to the 
 mode in which the Crocodile seizes its prey. It does not attack 
 it openly, neither, as some have said, does it go on shore for that 
 purpose. It watches to see whether any animal comes to drink, 
 and then, sinking beneath the surface of the water, dives rapidly, 
 rises unexpectedly beneath the unsuspecting victim, seizes it 
 with a sudden snap of its huge jaws, and drags it beneath the 
 water. Should the intended prey be too far from the water to 
 be reached by the mouth, or so large that it may offer a suc- 
 cessful resistance, the Crocodile strikes it a tremendous blow 
 with its tail, and knocks it into the water. The dwellers on the
 
 520 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Nile bank say that a large Crocodile will with a single blow of 
 its tail break all the four legs of an ox or a horse. 
 
 These cunning reptiles even contrive to catch birds as they 
 come for water. On the banks of the Nile the smaller birds 
 drink in a very peculiar manner. They settle in numbers on 
 the flexible branches that overhang the stream, and when, by 
 their weight, the branch bends downwards, they dip their beaks 
 in the water. The Crocodile sees afar off a branch thus loaded, 
 swims as near as possible, and then dives until it can see the 
 birds immediately above it, when it rises suddenly, and with a 
 snap of its jaws secures a whole mouthful of the unsuspecting 
 birds. 
 
 Sir S. Baker, in his travels on the Nile, gave much attention 
 to the Crocodile, and has collected a great amount of interesting 
 information about the reptile, much of which is peculiarly 
 valuable, inasmuch as it illustrates the Scriptural notices of 
 the creature. He states that it is a very crafty animal, and that 
 its usual mode of attack is by first showing itself, then swim- 
 ming slowly away to a considerable distance, so as to make its 
 intended victim think that danger is over, and then returning 
 under water. It is by means of this manoeuvre that it captures 
 the little birds. It first makes a dash at them, open-mouthed, 
 causing them to take to flight in terror. It then sails slowly 
 away as if it were so baffled that it did not intend to renew the 
 attack. When it is at a considerable distance, the birds think 
 that their enemy has departed, and return to the branch, which 
 they crowd more than ever, and in a minute or two several dozen 
 of them are engulfed in the mouth of the Crocodile, which has 
 swiftly dived under them. 
 
 On one occasion, Sir S. Baker was walking near the edge of 
 the river, when he heard a great shrieking of women on the 
 opposite bank. It turned out that a number of women had 
 been filling their " gerbas " (water-skins), when one of them was 
 suddenly attacked by a large Crocodile. She sprang back, and 
 the reptile, mistaking the filled gerba for a woman, seized it, and 
 gave the owner time to escape. It then dashed at the rest of 
 the women, but only succeeded in seizing another gerba. 
 
 A short time previously a Crocodile, thought by the natives 
 to be the same individual, had seized a woman and carried her 
 off; and another had made an attack on a man in a very curious
 
 THE CROCODILE, THE LEVIATHAN OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 "Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears." Jon xli. 7.
 
 THE CROCODILE. 521 
 
 manner. A number of meii were swimming across the river, 
 supported, after their custom, on gerbas inflated with air, when 
 one of them felt himself seized by the leg by a Crocodile, which 
 tried to drag him under water. He, however, retained his hold 
 on the skin, and his companions also grasped his arms and hair 
 with one hand, while with the other they struck with their 
 spears at the Crocodile. At last they succeeded in driving the 
 reptile away, and got their unfortunate companion to land, where 
 they found that the whole of the flesh was stripped from the 
 leg from the knee downwards. The poor man died shortly 
 afterwards. 
 
 These crafty reptiles also try to catch the baboons by lying 
 in wait for them at their drinking places ; but the baboons are 
 generally more than a match for the Crocodile in point of 
 cunning and quickness of sight. Sir S. Baker witnessed an 
 amusing example of such an attempt and its failure. 
 
 " The large tamarind-trees on the opposite bank are generally 
 full of the dog-faced baboons (Cynoccphalm) at their drinking 
 hour. I watched a large Crocodile creep slily out of the water 
 and lie in waiting among the rocks at the usual drinking place 
 before they arrived, but the baboons were too wide awake to be 
 taken in so easily. 
 
 " A young fellow was the first to discover the enemy. He 
 had accompanied several wise and experienced old hands to 
 the extremity of a bough that at a considerable height over- 
 hung the river ; from this post they had a bird's eye view, 
 and reconnoitred before one of the numerous party descended 
 to drink. The sharp eyes of the young one at once detected 
 the Crocodile, who matched in colour so well with the rocks 
 that most probably a man would not have noticed it until 
 too late. 
 
 " At once the young one commenced shaking the bough and 
 screaming with all his might, to attract the attention of the 
 Crocodile and to induce it to move. In this he was immediately 
 joined by the whole party, who yelled in chorus, while the large 
 old males bellowed defiance, and descended to the lowest branches 
 within eight or ten feet of the Crocodile. It was of no use 
 the pretender never stirred, and I watched it until dark. It 
 remained still in the same place, waiting for some unfortunate 
 baboon whose thirst might provoke his fate, but not one was
 
 522 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 sufficiently foolish, although the perpendicular bank prevented 
 them from drinking except at that particular spot." 
 
 It may be imagined that if the Crocodile were to depend 
 entirely for its food upon the animals that it catches on the bank 
 or in the river, it would run a risk of starv- ~ rr . The fact is, that 
 its principal food consists of fish, which it can ' ase in the water. 
 The great speed at which the Crocodile darts tu. jugh the water 
 is not owing to its webbed feet, but to its powerful tail, which 
 is swept from side to side, and thus propels the reptile after 
 the manner of a man " sculling " a boat with a single oar in 
 the stern. The whales and the fishes have a similar mode of 
 propulsion. 
 
 On land, the tail is the Crocodile's most formidable weapon. 
 It is one mass of muscle and sinew, and the force of its lateral 
 stroke is terrible, sweeping away every living thing that it may 
 meet. Fortunately for its antagonists, the Crocodile can turn 
 but very slowly, so that, although it can scramble along at a 
 much faster pace than its appearance indicates, there is no great 
 difficulty in escaping, provided that the sweep of its tail be 
 avoided. As the Crocodile of the Nile attains when adult a 
 length of thirty feet, one moiety of which is taken up by the 
 tail, it may easily be imagined that the power of this weapon 
 can scarcely be exaggerated. 
 
 As if to add to the terrors of the animal, its head, back, and 
 tail are shielded by a series of horny scales, which are set so 
 closely together that the sharpest spear can seldom find its way 
 through them, and even the rifle ball glances off, if it strikes 
 them obliquely. Like many other reptiles, the Crocodile is 
 hatched from eggs which are laid on shore and vivified by the 
 warmth of the sun. 
 
 These eggs are exceedingly small when compared with the 
 gigantic lizard which deposited them, scarcely equalling in 
 dimensions those of the goose. There is now before me an egg 
 of the cayman of South America, a fresh- water lizard but little 
 smaller than the Crocodile of the Nile, and this is barely equal 
 in size to an ordinary hen's egg. It is longer in proportion to 
 its width, but the contents of the two eggs would be as nearly 
 as possible of the same bulk. On the exterior it is very rough, 
 having a granulated appearance, not unlike that of dried shark- 
 skin, and the shell is exceedingly thin and brittle. The lining
 
 THE CKOCODILE. 523 
 
 membrane, however, is singularly thick and tough, so that the 
 egg is tolerably well defended against fracture. 
 
 When first hatched, the young Crocodile is scarcely larger 
 than a common newt, but it attains most formidable dimensions 
 in a very short time. Twenty or thirty eggs are laid in one 
 spot, and, were they not destroyed by sundry enemies, the 
 Crocodiles would destroy every living creature in the rivers. 
 Fortunately, the eggs and young have many enemies, chiefly 
 among which is the well-known ichneumon, which discovers the 
 place where the eggs are laid and destroys them, and eats any 
 young Crocodiles that it can catch before they succeed in making 
 their way to the water. 
 
 The old writers were aware of the services rendered by the 
 ichneumon, but, after their wont, exaggerated them by additions 
 of their own, saying that the ichneumon enters into the mouth 
 of the Crocodile as it lies asleep, and eats its way through the 
 body, " putting the Crocodile to exquisite and intolerable torment, 
 while the Crocodile tumbleth to and fro, sighing and weeping, 
 now in the depth of water, now on -the land, never resting till 
 strength of nature faileth. For the incessant gnawing of the 
 ichneumon so provoketh her to seek her rest in the unrest of 
 every part, herb, element, throws, throbs, rollings, but all in 
 vain, for the enemy within her breatheth through her breath, 
 and sporteth herself in the consumption of those vital parts 
 which waste and wear away by yielding to unpacificable teeth, 
 one after another, till she that crept in by stealth at the mouth, 
 like a puny thief, comes out at the belly like a conqueror, 
 through a passage opened by her own labour and industry." 
 
 The author has in the long passage, a part of which is here 
 quoted,- mentioned that the ichneumon takes its opportunity of 
 entering the jaws of the Crocodile as it lies with its mouth open 
 against the beams of the sun. It is very true that the Crocodile 
 does sleep with its mouth open ; and, in all probability, the 
 older observers, knowing that the ichneumon did really destroy 
 the eggs and young of the Crocodile, only added a little ampli- 
 fication, and made up their minds that it also destroyed UK; 
 parents. The same writer who has lately been quoted ranks tli<> 
 ibis among the enemies of the Crocodile, and says that the bird 
 affects the reptile with such terror that, if but an ibis's feather 
 be laid .on its back, the Crocodile becomes rigid and unable to
 
 524 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 move. The Arabs of the present time say that the water- 
 tortoises are enemies to the eggs, scratching them out of the 
 sand and eating them. 
 
 WE will now pass to the description of the Crocodile in the 
 Book of Job. 
 
 In the beginning of that description, Job is asked in irony 
 whether he can draw out Leviathan with a hook, or bore his 
 jaw with a thorn. This is probably in allusion, not so much to 
 the size and strength of the Crocodile, as to its cunning. At 
 the present time the Arabs of the Nile assert that to catch a 
 Crocodile with a hook is impossible. Mr. Lowth suggested to 
 his boatmen that, if a large hook were baited with meat, a 
 Crocodile might be caught. Yusef eagerly denied the possi- 
 bility of such a capture : " Him too clever crocodile looking 
 out of his eye so " (making a squint) " he see everything like 
 one man, as crocodile like man people thinking him was one 
 man long time, very long time." 
 
 According to Herodotus, however, the Egyptians did take the 
 Crocodile with a hook, which they first baited with a small pig, 
 and let into the river, and then beat another pig so as to make 
 it scream. The Crocodile, hearing the cries of the pig, swims to 
 seize its prey, and swallows the baited hook instead of the 
 living pig. As soon as it is caught, the hunters draw it on 
 shore, and when it tries to attack them, they throw sand into its 
 eyes so as to blind it. It is remarkable that the Arab hunters 
 of the Nile still employ sand as their best defensive weapon 
 when they have harpooned a hippopotamus and dragged it to 
 the bank. The animal, finding that it cannot retreat, charges 
 into the men, who repel it by throwing sand into its eyes. 
 
 The expression " boring his jaw with a thorn" probably refers 
 to the fishermen's universal custom of stringing together the 
 captured fish by a twig passed through the mouth. In the 
 late Mr. Waterton's " Wanderings " there is an account of the 
 method employed by the natives in catching the cayman, which 
 is the Crocodile of tropical America. A steel hook was tried 
 and found useless, but one of the natives made in a short time 
 an ingenious hook, composed of four sharpened wooden spikes, 
 with which he succeeded in catching the reptile, thus literally 
 boring its jaw with a thorn.
 
 TIIK CROCODILE. 525 
 
 Allusion is made to the impenetrable character of the scale in 
 verses 7, 15, 16, 17, and from verses 26 to 30. Verse 8 is given 
 better in the Jewish Bible than in the Authorized Version. 
 " Lay thine hand upon him, thou wilt no more remember the 
 battle." The same may be said of verse 22, which is thus ren- 
 dered in the Authorized Version : " In his neck remaineth 
 strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him." The mar- 
 ginal reading gives the last verse as " sorrow rejoiceth." Neither 
 of these expressions is very intelligible, but the rendering of 
 the Jewish Bible is not only clear, but forcible. " In his neck 
 abideth strength, and before him danceth terror." 
 
 In verse 13 the marginal translation is nearly the correct 
 one: "Who can come to him within his double bridle?" and 
 the Jewish Bible gives the real meaning of the passage, showing 
 that allusion is made to the double rows of teeth in both jaws, 
 those of the upper interlacing into those of the lower. " Who 
 would enter the double (row) in his jaw ?" this reading being 
 carried out by the following verse : " Who can open the doors 
 of his face ? his teeth are terrible round about " (Jewish 
 Bible). 
 
 The quick sight of the Crocodile is mentioned in verse 18, his 
 eyelids being compared to the " eyes of the morning," this meta- 
 phor being further illustrated by the hieroglyphs, wherein the 
 eye of the Crocodile is employed as the emblem of day-dawn. 
 The impossibility of domesticating this terrible reptile is shown 
 in verses 4 and 5 : " Will he make many supplications unto 
 thee ? Will he speak soft words unto thee ? 
 
 " Wilt thou play with him as with a bird ? or wilt thou bind 
 him for thy maidens ?" 
 
 Allusion is evidently made to the disagreeable nature of its 
 flesh, which is penetrated with a strong musky odour, in verse 6 : 
 " Shall the companions make a banquet of him ? Shall they 
 part him among the merchants?" 
 
 And lastly, the foam raised by the lashing of the Crocodile's 
 mighty tail, and the wake that is left behind it as it urges itself 
 through the water, are mentioned in verses 31 and 32. 
 
 IT is not unlikely that the word Leviathan also signified any 
 of the larger inhabitants of the waters, whether marine or 
 reptile, and that a whale or a Crocodile would be equally called
 
 526 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 by that name. In this sense we must interpret the well-known 
 passage, Ps. civ. 24 26 : 
 
 " Lord, how manifold are Thy works ! in wisdom hast Thou 
 made them all : the earth is full of Thy riches. 
 
 "So is this great and wide sea" (i.e. the Mediterranean), 
 " wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great 
 beasts. 
 
 " There go the ships : there is that Leviathan, whom Thou 
 hast made to play therein." In this passage the writer points 
 to some large inhabitant of the Mediterranean, or the Great 
 Sea, as it is called in Scripture, to distinguish it from the Sea of 
 Galilee, and the only creature which would answer to the allu- 
 sion must be one of the larger cetacean. 
 
 WE also find that the Crocodile must be signified by the 
 Hebrew word tannin, which occurs in several parts of Scripture, 
 and which is sometimes translated as " dragon," and sometimes as 
 " serpent," and sometimes as " whale." For example, in Exod. viL 
 10, we find the well-known passage which relates the changing of 
 Aaron's rod into a Tannin, or serpent, as the Authorized Version 
 translates it. The Jewish Bible, however, simply renders the 
 word as " huge creature." Next, we come to Deut. xxxii. 33 : 
 " Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of 
 asps." This passage is rendered in the Jewish Bible as " Their 
 wine is the fury of huge creatures, and the cruel venom [or head] 
 of asps." 
 
 The same word occurs in Job vii. 12 : " Am I a sea, or a 
 whale [tannin], that thou settest a watch over me ?"" We also 
 find it in Jer. ix. 11 : " And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a 
 den of dragons [tannin] ; " and the same image is repeated in 
 x. 22 : " Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great 
 commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah 
 desolate, and a den of dragons." The same prophet again 
 repeats the word in xiv. 6 : " The wild asses did stand in the 
 high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons." 
 
 There is nothing in any of these passages which would give 
 any clue as to the creature that was signified by the word 
 tannin, but we obtain a clue to it in Ezek. xxix. 2 5 : " Son of 
 man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy 
 against him, and against all Egypt :
 
 THK CROCODILE. 527 
 
 " Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am 
 against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth 
 in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine 
 own, and I have made it for myself. 
 
 " But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish 
 of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales ; and I will bring thee up 
 out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers 
 shall stick unto thy scales. 
 
 " And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and 
 all the fish of thy rivers : thou shalt fall upon the open fields ; 
 thou shalt not be brought together nor gathered : I have given 
 thee for meat to the beasts of the field, and to the fowls of the 
 heaven." 
 
 See also xxxii. 2, 3 : " Son of man, take up a lamentation 
 for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a 
 young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale [tannin'] in 
 the seas ; and thou earnest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst 
 the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers. 
 
 " Thus saith the Lord God, I will therefore spread out my net 
 over thee with a company of many people ; and they shall 
 bring thee up in my net." 
 
 There is a peculiar significance in the comparison of Pharaoh 
 to the Crocodile. It is the master and terror of the Nile, of 
 whom all animals stand in fear. It is ravenous, crafty, fierce, 
 and relentless, keen-eyed to espy prey, and swift to devour it. 
 Yet, in spite of all these evil qualities, the Egyptians venerated 
 it, pampered it, hung it with costly jewels, and paid divine 
 honours to it, exactly as they considered their despotic sovereign 
 as a demigod during his life, and honoured him with an apo- 
 theosis after his death. 
 
 Like the Crocodile, secure in his scaly armour, Pharaoh 
 thought himself invincible, but, though man could not conquer 
 him, God could do so. Man could not " put a hook into his 
 nose, or bore his jaws through with a thorn " (Job xli. 2) ; but 
 the Lord could " put hooks in his jaws, and bring him up out of 
 the midst of his rivers, and give him for meat to the beasts of 
 the field and the fowls of the heaven." 
 
 Taking also the Tannin of Exod. vii. to be the Crocodile, we 
 see how appropriate were all the circumstances. The miracle 
 was performed in the presence of Pharaoh, who is afterwards
 
 528 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 spoken of under the emblem of the "dragon (tannin) that 
 lieth in the midst of the river." The rod of the future high 
 priest of the Lord was changed into the Crocodile, which was 
 worshipped by the Egyptian priests and magicians ; and when 
 they imitated the miracle, Aaron's rod swallowed up those of 
 the heathen in token that the Lord would destroy idolatry. 
 
 It is worthy of mention here that, although in the Authorized 
 Version of the Scriptures, the rods of both Moses and Aaron 
 are mentioned as having been changed into serpents, the words 
 which are translated as serpents are different. The rod of 
 Aaron, the priest, was turned into a Tannin, i.e. Crocodile ; that 
 of Moses, the lawgiver, into a Nachash or serpent. 
 
 There is one passage which seems to imply'that the word 
 tannin may signify a cetacean. It occurs in Lam. iv. 3 : " Even 
 the sea-monsters [tannin] draw out the breast, they give suck to 
 their young ones." If the sacred writers were aware that the 
 cetaceans were mammals and guckled their young, and that the 
 Crocodile left its offspring to find food for themselves, there 
 would be no doubt on the subject. But it is not at all likely 
 that the Prophet Jeremiah, his soul torn by the crimes of his 
 country and the calamities which he foresaw, persecuted by his 
 own people, his life endangered by the forebodings that he was 
 compelled to utter, imprisoned, exiled, and at last dying in 
 a strange land, would have been versed in natural history, or 
 would have troubled himself to inquire as to the manner in 
 which the young of the Crocodile were fed. The sense of the 
 passage is plain enough, and contains a rebuke to the people in 
 that they neglect their children, and were worse than the ferocious 
 inhabitants of the water, as we shall see on reading the whole 
 of the passage : " Even the sea-monster draws out the breast ; 
 they give suck to their young ones : the daughter of my people 
 is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 
 
 " The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his 
 mouth for thirst ; the young children ask bread, and no man 
 breaketh it unto them."
 
 THE LETAAH OR LIZARD. 
 
 Difficulty of identifying the Letaah Probability that it is a collective and not a 
 specific term Various Lizards of Palestine The Green or Jersey Lizard The 
 Cyprins, its appearance and habits The Glass Snake or Scheltopusic Trans- 
 lation of the word chomet Probability that it signifies the Skiuk Medicinal 
 uses of the Lizard The Seps tribe The common Cicigna, and the popular 
 belief concerning its habits The Sphfeuops and its shallow tunnel. 
 
 IN Leviticus xi. 30, the word LIZARD is used as the rendering of 
 the Hebrew word letddh (pronounced as L'ta"h-ah). There are 
 one or two difficulties about the word, but, without going into 
 the question of etymology, which is beside the object of this 
 work, it will be sufficient to state that the best authorities accept 
 the rendering, and that in the Jewish Bible the word Lizard is 
 retained, but with the mark of doubt appended to it. 
 
 In all probability, the sacred lawgiver employs the word 
 letddh as a general term ; so that, although he prohibits certain 
 Lizards by name, as having been used for food by the various 
 nations with whom the Israelites were necessarily brought in 
 contact during their captivity, their wanderings, and their final 
 conquest of Palestine, he implies that the whole of the Lizard 
 tribe are to be considered as unfit to be eaten by the chosen 
 people. 
 
 We shall presently examine some of those which are pro- 
 hibited by name, and it will be sufficient in the present case to 
 glance at the Lizard tribes of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. 
 
 These lands absolutely swarm with Lizards. Even in our own 
 country, Lizards are far more common than is generally known. 
 I have caused the greatest surprise in an agricultural county 
 by catching and showing to the field-labourers the common 
 Scaly Lizard (Zootoca vivipara). The little reptile was exceed- 
 ingly plentiful, and yet not one of the labourers, nor even their 
 employers, had se^n it. 
 
 M M
 
 530 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 In warmer parts of the earth, the Lizards are so numerous and 
 so comparatively large that they force themselves upon the 
 notice. For example, the well-known GREEN or JERSEY LIZARD 
 (Lacerta viridis) is exceedingly plentiful, and may be seen darting 
 among the leaves in search of prey, after the erratic manner of 
 Lizards generally, which will remain absolutely motionless for 
 
 THE CYPRIUS, OK LIZARD OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 ' And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole."Lvvn. xi. 30. 
 
 hours together, then whisk about so rapidly that the eye can 
 scarcely follow their movements, and subside into quiescence as 
 suddenly as they started from it. 
 
 In many parts of the world, especially in France, where the 
 terror inspired by nearly all reptiles is really ludicrous, this 
 beautiful and harmless creature is feared as if it were a venomous 
 serpent, and, to judge from experience, I doubt whether a cobra 
 or a rattlesnake would excite more horror than a Green Lizard. 
 
 A VERY common species of Lizard, and therefore likely to be 
 one o'f those which are grouped under the common name of Letaah,
 
 THE LIZARD. 531 
 
 is the CYPEIUS (Plestiodon auratum). This handsome Lizard is 
 golden-yellow in colour, beautifully spotted with orange and 
 scarlet, and may be distinguished, even when the colours have 
 fled after death, by the curiously formed ears, which are strongly 
 toothed in front. It is very plentiful in Palestine, and, like 
 others of its kin, avoids cultivated tracts, and is generally found 
 on rocky and sandy soil which cannot be tilled. It is active, 
 and, if alarmed, hides itself quickly in the sand or under stones. 
 
 It belongs to the great family of the Skinks, many of which, 
 like the familiar blind-worm of our own country, are without 
 external legs, and, though true Lizards, progress in a snake-like 
 manner, and are generally mistaken for snakes. One of these is 
 the GLASS SNAKE or SCHELTOPUSIC (Pseudopus pallasii), which 
 has two veiy tiny hind legs, but which is altogether so snake- 
 like that it is considered by the natives to be really a serpent. 
 They may well be excused for their error, as the only external 
 indications of limbs are a pair of slightly-projecting scales at the 
 place where the hind legs would be in a fully-developed Lizard. 
 
 Though tolerably plentiful, the Scheltopusic is not very often 
 seen, as it is timid and wary, and, when it suspects danger, glides 
 away silently into some place of safety. When adult, the colour 
 of this Lizard is usually chestnut, profusely mottled with black 
 or deep brown, the edge of each scale being of the darker colour. 
 It feeds upon insects and small reptiles, and has been known to 
 devour a nest full of young birds. 
 
 IN Levit. xi. 30 is a Hebrew word, cJwmet, which is given in 
 the Authorized Version as SNAIL. There is, however, no doubt 
 that the word is wrongly translated, and that by it some species 
 of Lizard is signified. The Jewish Bible follows the Authorized 
 Version, but affixes the mark of doubt to the word. There is 
 another word, shdblul, which undoubtedly does signify the snail, 
 and will be mentioned in its proper place. 
 
 It is most probable that the word chorrict includes, among 
 other Lizards, many of the smaller Skinks which inhabit Pales- 
 tine. Among them we may take as an example the COMMON 
 SKINK (Scincus officinalis), a reptile which derives its specific 
 name from the fact that it was formerly used in medicine, 
 together with mummy, and the other disgusting ingredients 
 'which formed the greater part of the old Pharmacopoeia. 
 
 KM 2
 
 532 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Even at the present day, it is used for similar purposes in the 
 East, and is in consequence captured for the use of physicians, 
 the body being simply dried in the sun, and then sent to market 
 for sale. It is principally employed for the cure of sunstroke, 
 nettle-rash, sand-blindness, or fever, and both patient and physi- 
 cian have the greatest confidence in its powers. It is said by 
 some European physicians that the flesh of the Skink really 
 does possess medicinal powers, and that it has fallen into dis- 
 repute chiefly because those powers have been exaggerated. In 
 former days, the head and feet were thought to possess the 
 greatest efficacy, and were valued accordingly. 
 
 Like all its tribe, the Skink loves sandy localities, the soil 
 exactly suiting its peculiar habits. Although tolerably active, it 
 does not run so fast or so far as many other Lizards, and, when 
 alarmed, it has a peculiar faculty for sinking itself almost instan- 
 taneously under the sand, much after the fashion of the shore- 
 crabs of our own country. Indeed, it is even more expeditious 
 than the crab, which occupies some little time in burrowing 
 under the wet and yielding sand, whereas the Skink slips 
 beneath the dry and comparatively hard sand with such rapidity' 
 that it seems rather to be diving into a nearly excavated burrow 
 than to be scooping a hollow for itself. 
 
 The sand is therefore a place of safety to the Skink, which 
 does not, like the crab, content itself with merely burying its 
 body just below the surface, but continues to burrow, sinking 
 itself in a few seconds to the depth of nearly a yard. 
 
 The length of the Skink is about eight inches, and its very 
 variable colour is generally yellowish brown, crossed with several 
 dark bands. Several specimens, however, are spotted instead of 
 banded with brown, while some are banded with white, and 
 others are spotted with white. In all, however, the under- 
 surface is silver grey. 
 
 IT has been thought by several zoologists, that several of the 
 Lizards belonging to the SEPS family may be included in the 
 general term of Chomet. 
 
 This theory is strengthened by the fact that those of the 
 Sepsidae which have no visible feet, and which, after the custom 
 of such Lizards, burrow in the sand, are even at the present day 
 eaten by Arabs, under the convenient title of Sand-fishes.
 
 THE LIZARD. 533 
 
 Several species of the Sepsidce inhabit Egypt, Palestine, and 
 Syria, and of these we will take two as examples. 
 
 The first is the COMMON SEPS or CICIGNA (Seps tridactylis], a 
 nearly legless Lizard, having a very long and snake-like body, 
 and four legs, so small and feeble as to be of scarcely any use 
 in locomotion. 
 
 It bears some resemblance to the blindworm of England, 
 feeds on much the same diet, and has similar habits. It is per- 
 fectly harmless, its teeth being too small, and its jaws too feeble, 
 to hurt any creature larger than those on which it feeds ; but, 
 like the blindworm, it is much dreaded by the ignorant, who 
 believe that it steals upon horses and other cattle by night, and 
 bites them as they sleep. 
 
 Like other Lizards of its kind, it is one of the sand-lovers, 
 burying itself when it suspects danger. 
 
 THE second example of the Sepsidse is one that has its cliief 
 home in Egypt. This is the CAPISTEATED SPH^XOPS (Splicenops 
 sepsoides). This reptile is also a burrower, but does not sink so 
 deeply into the sand as those Lizards which have just been 
 noticed. Indeed, it scarcely burrows deeply enough to cover it, 
 so that with the foot the sand may be scraped off, and the 
 reptile discovered. 
 
 Sometimes it has recourse to a substitute for a tunnel, and 
 will crawl along the deep rut made by a cart-wheel rather than 
 take the trouble of excavating a passage for itself. In conse- 
 quence of this peculiarity, it may generally be found in any 
 ridged ground, such as that which is employed in the cultivation 
 of rice and other grain, and, as it prefers to follow the course of 
 the ridges rather than leave them, it may be taken without 
 much trouble. It is perfectly harmless, and, although when 
 taken it struggles violently to escape, it never employs its teeth 
 on the hand that holds it. The colour of the Sphsenops is pale 
 brown, diversified with a black stripe on either side of the 
 muzzle, and a longitudinal series of black dots along the body. 
 The tail is conical and pointed.
 
 534 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE CHAMELEON, MONITOR, AND GECKO. 
 
 Translation of the word Koack Signification of the word, aiid its applicability to 
 the Chameleon Power of the reptile's grasp The prehensile tail Demeanour 
 of the Chameleon on the ground The independent eyes Its frequent change 
 of colour Mode of taking prey Strange notions respecting the Chameleon 
 The Monitor, or Land Crocodile Its habits and use to mankind The Nilotic 
 Monitor, and its habit of destroying the eggs and young of the Crocodile 
 The Gecko or Ferret of Scripture. 
 
 IN Levit. xi. 30 there occurs a word which has caused great 
 trouble to commentators. The word is koack (pronounced as a 
 dissyllable thus, ko-ach). Primarily, it signifies power and 
 strength, but in this passage it signifies the name of some 
 creature which is included in the list of unclean beasts. There 
 is very little doubt that it signifies some species of lizard, and 
 in the Authorized Version it is rendered as CHAMELEON. The 
 Jewish Bible accepts the same translation, but appends to it the 
 mark of doubt. 
 
 There are two lizards to which the term may possibly be 
 applied namely, the Chameleon and the Monitor ; and, as the 
 Authorized Version of the Scriptures accepts the former inter- 
 pretation, we will first describe the Chameleon. 
 
 THIS reptile is very plentiful in the Holy Land, as well as in 
 Egypt, so that the Israelites would be perfectly familiar with it, 
 both during their captivity and after their escape. It is but a 
 small reptile, and the reader may well ask why a name denoting 
 strength should be given to it. I think that we may find the 
 reason for its name in the extraordinary power of its grasp, as it 
 is able, by means of its peculiarly-formed feet and prehensile tail, 
 to grasp the branches so tightly that it can scarcely be removed 
 without damage. 
 
 I once saw six or seven Chameleons huddled up together, all 
 having clasped each other's legs and tails so firmly that they
 
 TUB CHAMELEON, 
 
 535 
 
 formed a bundle that might be rolled along the ground without 
 being broken up. In order to show the extraordinary power of 
 the Chameleon's grasp, I have had a figure drawn from a sketch 
 
 GECKO AXl> iHAJin.IIOX. 
 
 ' And tlte ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole."-LEVit. xi. 30. 
 
 taken by myself from a specimen which I kept for several 
 months. 
 
 When the Chameleon wished to pass from one branch to 
 another, it used to hold firmly to the branch by the tail and one 
 hind-foot, and stretch out its body nearly horizontally, feeling 
 about with the other three feet, as if in search of a convenient 
 resting-place. In this curious attitude it would remain for a 
 considerable time, apparently suffering no inconvenience, though
 
 536 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 even the spider-monkey would have been unable to maintain 
 sueli an attitude for half the length of time. 
 
 The strength of the grasp is really astonishing when con- 
 trasted with the size of the reptile, as any one will find who 
 allows the Chameleon to grasp his finger, or who tries to detach 
 it from the branch to which it is clinging. The feet are most 
 curiously made. They are furnished with five toes, which are 
 arranged like those of parrots and other climbing birds, so as to 
 close upon each other like the tlramb and finger of a human 
 hand. They are armed with little yellow claws, slightly curved 
 and very sharp, and when they grasp the skin of the hand they 
 give it an unpleasantly sharp pinch. 
 
 The tail is as prehensile as that of the spider-monkey, to 
 which the Chameleon bears a curious resemblance in some of 
 its attitudes, though nothing can be more different than the 
 volatile, inquisitive, restless disposition of the spider- monkey 
 and the staid, sober demeanour of the Chameleon. The reptile 
 has the power of guiding the tail to any object as correctly as if 
 there were an eye at the end of the tail. When it has been 
 travelling over the branches of trees, I have often seen it direct 
 its tail to a projecting bud, and grasp' it as firmly as if the bud 
 had been before and not behind it. 
 
 Sometimes, when it rests on a branch, it allows the tail to 
 hang down as a sort of balance, the tip coiling and uncoiling 
 unceasingly. But, as soon as the reptile wishes to move, the 
 tail is tightened to the branch, and at onee coiled round it. 
 There really seems to be almost a separate vitality and con- 
 sciousness on the part of the tail, which glides round an object 
 as if it were acting with entire independence of its owner. 
 
 On the ground the Chameleon fares but poorly. Its walk is 
 absolutely ludicrous, and an experienced person might easily 
 fail to identify a Chameleon when walking with the same 
 animal on a branch. It certainly scrambles along at a toler- 
 able rate, but it is absurdly awkward, its legs sprawling 
 widely on either side, and its feet grasping futilely at every 
 step. The tail, which is usually so lithe and nimble, is then 
 held stiffly from the body, with a slight curve upwards. 
 
 The eyes are strange objects, projecting far from the head, 
 and each acting quite independently of the other, so that one 
 eye may often be directed forwards, and the other backwards.
 
 THE CHAMELEON. 537 
 
 The eyeballs are covered with a thick wrinkled skin, except a 
 small aperture at the tip, which can be opened and closed like 
 our own eyelids. 
 
 The changing colour of the Chameleon has been long known, 
 though there are many mistaken ideas concerning it. 
 
 The reptile does not necessarily assume the colour of any 
 object on which it is placed, but sometimes takes a totally 
 different colour. Thus, if my Chameleon happened to come 
 upon any scarlet substance, the colour immediately became 
 black, covered with innumerable circular spots of light yellow. 
 The change was so instantaneous that, as it crawled on the 
 scarlet cloth, the colour would alter, and .the fore-part of the 
 body would be covered with yellow spots, while the hinder 
 parts retained their dull black. Scarlet always annoyed the 
 Chameleon, and it tried to escape whenever it found itself 
 near any substance of the obnoxious hue. 
 
 The normal colour was undoubtedly black, with a slight tinge 
 of grey. But in a short time the whole creature would become 
 a vivid verdigris green, and, while the spectator was watching it, 
 the legs would become banded with rings of bright yellow, and 
 spots and streaks of the same colour would appear on the head 
 and body. 
 
 When it was excited either by anger or by expectation as, 
 for example, when it heard a large fly buzzing near it the 
 colours were singularly beautiful, almost exactly resembling in 
 hue and arrangement those of the jaguar. Of all the colours, 
 green seemed generally to predominate, but the creature would 
 pass so rapidly from one colour to another that it was scarcely 
 possible to follow the various gradations of hue. 
 
 Some persons have imagined that the variation of colour 
 depends on the wants and passions of the animal This is not 
 the case. The change is often caused by mental emotion, but is 
 not dependent on it ; and I believe that the animal has no 
 control whatever over its colour. The best proof of this assertion 
 may be found in the fact that my own Chameleon changed 
 colour several times after its death ; and, indeed, as long as 
 I had the 'dead body before me, changes of hue were taking 
 place. 
 
 The food of the Chameleon consists of insects, mostly flies, 
 which it catches by means of its tongue, which can be protruded
 
 538 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 to an astonishing distance. The tongue is nearly cylindrical, 
 and is furnished at the tip with a slight cavity, which is filled 
 with a very glutinous secretion. When the Chameleon sees a 
 fly or other insect, it gently protrudes the tongue once or twice, 
 as if taking aim, like a billiard-player with his cue, and then, 
 with a moderately smart stroke, carries off the insect on the 
 glutinous tip of the tongue. The force with which the Chameleon 
 strikes is really -wonderful. My own specimen used to look for 
 flies from my hand, and at first I was as much surprised with 
 the force of the blow struck by the tongue as I was with the 
 grasping power.of the feet. 
 
 Among the wild legends with which the earlier naturalists 
 adorned their accounts of all animals with which they were not 
 personally familiar, those of the Chameleon are not the least 
 curious. " Themselves," writes Topsel, an author of the sixteenth 
 century, " are very gentle, never exasperated but when they are 
 about wilde fig-trees. 
 
 " They have for their enemies the serpent, the crow, and the 
 hawk. When the hungry serpent doth assault them, they 
 defend themselves in this manner, as Alexander Mindius writeth. 
 They take in their mouths a broad and strong stalk, under pro- 
 tection of which, as under a buckler, they defend themselves 
 against their enemy the serpent, by reason that the stalk is 
 broader than the serpent can gripe in his mouth, and the other 
 parts of the chamaeleon so firm and hard as the serpent cannot 
 hurt them : he laboureth but in vain to get a prey, so long as 
 the stalk is in the chamseleon's mouth. 
 
 " But if the charnaeleon at any time see a serpent taking the 
 air, and sunning himself under some green tree, he climbeth up 
 into that tree, and setteth himself directly over the serpent ; then 
 out of his mouth he casteth a thread, like a spider, at the end of 
 which hangeth a drop of poyson as bright as any pearl ; by this 
 string he letteth down the poyson upon the serpent, which, 
 lighting upon it, killeth it immediately. 
 
 " And Scaliger reporteth a greater wonder than this in the 
 description of the chamseleon ; for he saith, if the boughs of the 
 tree so grow as the perpendicular line cannot fall directly upon 
 the serpent, then he so correcteth and guideth it with his fore- 
 feet that it falleth upon the serpent within the mark of a hair's 
 breadth.
 
 THE MONITOR. 539 
 
 " The raven and the crow are also at variance with the cha- 
 mseleon, and so great is the adverse nature betwixt these twain, 
 that if the crow eat of the chamseleon being slain by him, he 
 dyeth for it except he recover his life by a bay-leaf, even as the 
 elephant, after he hath devoured a chamseleon, saveth his life by 
 eating of the wilde olive-tree. 
 
 " But the greatest wonder of all is the hostility which Pliny 
 reporteth to be betwixt the chamseleon and the hawk. For he 
 writeth that when a hawk flyeth over a chamseleou, she hath 
 no power to resist the chamseleon, but falleth down before it, 
 yeelding both her life and her limbs to be devoured by it, and 
 thus that devourer that liveth upon the prey and blood of others 
 hath no power to save her own life from this little beast." 
 
 It may here be remarked that the frog was said to save itself 
 from the water-ducks by seizing a stick crosswise in its mouth, 
 so that when the duck came to seize its prey, the stick came 
 across the angles of the jaws, and prevented the frog from being 
 swallowed. 
 
 So much for the Chameleon. We will now take the NILOTIC 
 MONITOR (Hydrosaurus niloticus) and the LAND MONITOR (Psam- 
 mosaurus scincus), the other reptiles which have been conjectured 
 to be the real representatives of the Koach. 
 
 These lizards attain to some size, the former sometimes mea- 
 suring six feet in length, and the latter but a foot or so less. Of 
 the two, the Land Monitor, being the more common, both in 
 Palestine and Egypt, has perhaps the best claim to be considered 
 as the Koach of Scripture. It is sometimes called the Land 
 Crocodile. It is a carnivorous animal, feeding upon other rep- 
 tiles and the smaller mammalia, and is very fond of the eggs of 
 the crocodile, which it destroys in great numbers, and is in con- 
 sequence much venerated by the inhabitants of the country 
 about the Nile. 
 
 The theory that this reptile may be the Koach of Leviticus is 
 strengthened by the fact that even at the present day it is 
 cooked and eaten by the natives, whereas the chameleon is so 
 small and bony that scarcely any one would take the trouble of 
 cooking it. 
 
 The Nilotic Monitor shares the same habit of devouring 
 crocodiles' eggs, and consequently shares the respect of those
 
 540 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 who are endangered by the crocodile. It even eats the young 
 crocodiles after they are hatched, chasing them through the 
 water, and capturing them by means of its superior swiftness. 
 It may be distinguished from the Land Monitor by the elevated 
 keel which runs along the whole of the spine from the neck to 
 the very end of the long tail. The general colour of the Nilotic 
 Monitor is olive-grey, mottled with black. On the back of the 
 neck are a series of curved bands of a whitish yellow. 
 
 IT is mentioned on page 69, that the word andJcak, which is 
 translated as " ferret " in Levit. xi. 30, is certainly a lizard, and in 
 all probability is one of the Geckos. I have therefore introduced 
 into the same illustration on page 535 the commonest species of 
 Gecko found in Palestine. The reader will observe the flat, fan- 
 like expansions at the ends of the toes, by which it is able to 
 adhere to flat surfaces. 
 
 SERPENTS. 
 
 Serpents in general Signification of the Hebrew word NacJiash Various passages 
 in which the Nachash is mentioned The fiery Serpents of the wilderness 
 Explanation of the words "flying " and " fiery " as applied to Serpents Haunts 
 of the Serpent The Cobra, or Asp of Scripture Meaning of the word Pdlwn 
 The deaf Adder that stoppeth her ear Serpent-charming in the East Prin- 
 ciple on which the charmers work Sluggishness of the Serpent nature 
 Ceremony of initiation into Serpent-charming Theories respecting the deaf 
 Adder Luis of Grenada's sermon The Cerastes, or Horned Serpent Appear- 
 ance and habits of the reptile The " Adder in the path." 
 
 As we have seen that so much looseness of nomenclature pre- 
 vailed among the Hebrews even with regard to the mammalia, 
 birds, and lizards, we can but expect that the names of the 
 Serpents will be equally difficult to identify. 
 
 No less than seven names are employed in the Old Testament 
 to denote some species of Serpent ; but there are only two which 
 can be identified with any certainty, four others being left to
 
 SERPENTS. 541 
 
 mere conjecture, and one being clearly a word which, like our 
 snake or serpent, is a word not restricted to any particular 
 species, but signifying Serpents in general. This word is ndckdsh 
 (pronounced nah-kahsh). It is unfortunate that the word is so 
 variously translated in different passages of Scripture, and we 
 cannot do better than to follow it through the Old Testament, so 
 as to bring all the passages under our glance. 
 
 The first mention of the Nachash occurs in Gen. iii., in the 
 well-known passage where the Serpent is said to be more subtle 
 than all the beasts of the field, the wisdom or subtlety of the 
 Serpent having evidently an allegorical and not a categorical 
 signification. We find the same symbolism employed in the 
 New Testament, the disciples of our Lord being told to be " wise 
 as serpents, and harmless as doves." 
 
 Allusion is made to the gliding movement of the Serpent tribe 
 in Prov. xxx. 19. On this part of the subject little need be said, 
 except that the movements of the Serpent are owing to the 
 mobility of the ribs, which are pushed forward in succession and 
 drawn back again, so as to catch against any inequality of the 
 ground. This power is increased by the structure of the scales. 
 Those of the upper part of the body, which are not used for 
 locomotion, are shaped something like the scales of a fish ; but 
 those of the lower part of the body, which come in contact with 
 the ground, are broad belts, each overlapping the other, and each 
 connected with one pair of ribs. 
 
 When, therefore, the Serpent pushes forward the ribs, the 
 edges of the scaly belts will catch against the slightest pro- 
 jection, and are able to give a very powerful impetus to the 
 body. It is scarcely possible to drag a snake backwards over 
 rough ground ; while on a smooth surface, such as glass, the 
 Serpent would be totally unable to proceed. Tliis, however, was 
 not likely to have been studied by the ancient Hebrews, who 
 were among the most unobservant of mankind with regard to 
 details of natural history : it is, therefore, no wonder that the 
 gliding of the Serpent should strike the writer of the proverb in 
 question as a mystery which he could not explain. 
 
 The poisonous nature of some of the Serpents is mentioned in 
 several passages of Scripture ; and it will be seen that the ancient 
 Hebrews, like many modern Europeans, believed that the poison 
 lay in the forked tongue. See, for example, Ps. Iviii. 4 : " Their
 
 542 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 poison is like the poison of a serpent" (ndchdsh}. Also Prov. 
 xxiii. 32, in which the sacred writer says of wine that it brings 
 woe, sorrow, contentions, wounds without cause, redness of eyes, 
 and that " at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like 
 an adder." 
 
 COBRA AND CERASTES, THE ASP AND ADDEli OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 ' They are like the deaf asp (marginal translation) that stoppeth her ear, which wiW not hearken to 
 
 the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely." P.s. Iviii. 4, 5. 
 " Dan thaU be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path.!'GEy. xlix. 17. 
 
 The idea that the poison of the Serpent lies in the tongue is 
 seen in several passages of Scripture. " They have sharpened 
 their tongues 'like a serpent ; adders' poison is under their lips " 
 (Ps. cxl. 3). Also in Job xx. 16, the sacred writer says of the 
 hypocrite, that " he shall suck the poison of asps : the viper's 
 tongue shall slay him."
 
 SERPENTS. 543 
 
 As to the fiery Serpents of the wilderness, it is scarcely needful 
 to mention that the epithet of " fiery " does not signify that the 
 Serpents in question produced real fire from their mouths, but 
 that allusion is made to the power and virulence of their poison, 
 and to the pain caused by their bite. We ourselves naturally 
 employ a similar metaphor, and speak of a " burning pain," of 
 a " fiery trial," of " hot anger," and the like. 
 
 The epithet of " flying " which is applied to these Serpents is 
 explained by the earlier commentators as having reference to a 
 Serpent which they called the Dart Snake, and which they 
 believed to lie in wait for men and to spring at them from a 
 distance. They thought that this snake hid itself either in 
 hollows of the ground or in trees, and sprang through the air for 
 thirty feet upon any man or beast that happened to pass by. 
 
 " And surely if it be lawful to conjecture what kinds of 
 Serpents those were which in the Scripture were called Fiery 
 Serpents, and did sting the Israelites to death in the Wildernesse, 
 until the Brazen Serpent was erected for their cure ; among all 
 the Serpents in the world, that kind of death and pain can be 
 ascribed to none more properly than to these Cafezati, or Ked- 
 dart Serpents. 
 
 " For first, the Wildernesse, which was the place wherein they 
 annoyed the people, doth very well agree to their habitation. 
 Secondly, the Fiery Serpents are so called by figure, not that they 
 are fiery, but, as all Writers do agree, either because they were 
 red like fire ; or else because the pain which they inflicted did 
 burn like fire, or rather for both these causes together, which are 
 joyntly and severally found in these Eed Serpents. And therefore 
 I will conclude for my opinion, that these Serpents (as the 
 highest poyson in nature) were sent by God to afflict the sinning 
 Israelites, whose poyson was uncurable, except by Divine 
 miracle." 
 
 The places in which the Serpent is accustomed to lie are 
 mentioned in various portions of the Old Testament. The habit 
 of lying in hedges is mentioned in Ecclesiastes. " He that 
 diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, 
 a serpent shall bite him" (Eccles. x. 8). The Prophet Amos 
 alludes to its custom of haunting the walls of houses (see v. 
 18, 19) : " The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. 
 " As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him ; or
 
 54-4 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a 
 serpent bit him." This passage refers also to the ordinary 
 architecture of the East, the walls of common houses, such as 
 those with which a herdman like Amos would be most familiar, 
 being little more than hurdles covered with mud. Such walls 
 would soon fall into disrepair, and would be full of holes, in 
 which spiders, centipedes, lizards, and serpents hide themselves. 
 
 WE will now take the various species of Serpents mentioned 
 in the Bible, as nearly as they can be identified. 
 
 Of one species there is no doubt whatever. This is the COBRA 
 (Naja haje), a serpent which is evidently signified by the Hebrew 
 word pethen. 
 
 There* are several passages in which this word occurs, nearly 
 all of which contain some allusion to its poisonous nature, and 
 one of them mentioning a characteristic which settles its identity 
 beyond doubt. 
 
 In the very beginning of the Scriptural books we find a 
 reference to the Pethen. The first occurs in Deut. xxxii. 33 : 
 " Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of 
 Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are 
 bitter : 
 
 " Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of 
 asps" (pethenini). 
 
 Next we come to the passage in Job xx. 14 16 : "Yet his 
 meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps (petlunim*) 
 within him. 
 
 " He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them 
 up again : God shall cast them out of hio belly. 
 
 " He shall suck the poison of asps (pethenini) : the viper's 
 (epheJi) tongue shall slay him." 
 
 These passages clearly indicate the venomous nature of the 
 Pethen, and there is another which occurs in Isaiah, in which the 
 same quality is inferred though not directly stated. It occurs 
 in chap, xi., which is devoted to a prophecy of the spiritual reign 
 of the Messiah, and in which is found that allusion to Himself 
 which our Lord quoted in the Temple (see ver. 2). The passage 
 with which we have now to do occurs in verse 8: "And the 
 sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp (petheti), and the 
 weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den."
 
 SERPENTS. 545 
 
 We may also find a passage in the Psalms, in which the Pethen 
 is classed with the lion as being equally to be dreaded by the 
 traveller. " Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder (pethen], 
 the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet." 
 
 All these passages agree in one point, namely, that the Pethen 
 is a creature the bite of which is exceedingly venomous, but 
 there is nothing in them to assist us in identifying it. The 
 Pethen may be, as far as these passages are concerned, any kind 
 of venomous Serpent. But there is just one allusion to the 
 Pethen which enables us to decide at once as to its identity. It 
 occurs in Ps. Iviii. 3 5 : " The wicked are estranged from the 
 womb : they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. 
 
 " Their poison is like the poison of a serpent : they are like the 
 deaf adder (pethen) that stoppeth her ear ; 
 
 " Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming 
 never so wisely." The last verse is rendered rather differently 
 in the Jewish Bible : " Which will not hearken to the voice of 
 whisperers, the cunning master of charms." 
 
 Here we have a clue to the identification of the Pethen. It is 
 evidently a Serpent that was accustomed to be subjected to the 
 action of charmers ; and as we find that in the olden times and 
 at the present day the cobra, a most venomous Serpent, was and 
 is tamed by professional charmers, there is no doubt that the 
 Egyptian cobra is the Pethen of Scripture. I say the Egyptian 
 cobra, because there is a closely allied species, the cobra of 
 India (Naja tripudians), which very much resembles the Naja 
 haje, and which is also tamed by serpent-charmers. A passing 
 allusion to this custom in taming Serpents is made by St. James 
 in his General Epistle, chap. iii. 7 : " For every kind of beasts, 
 and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, 
 and hath been tamed by mankind : 
 
 " But the tongue can no man tame ; it is an unruly evil, full 
 of deadly poison." 
 
 How the serpent-charmers perform their feats is not very 
 intelligible. That they handle the most venomous Serpents with 
 perfect impunity is evident enough, and it is also clear that they 
 are able to produce certain effects upon the Serpents by means 
 of musical (or unmusical) sounds. But these two items are 
 entirely distinct, and one does not depend upon the other. 
 
 In the first place, the handling of venomous snakes has been 
 
 N N
 
 546 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 performed by Englishmen without the least recourse to any 
 arts except that of acquaintance with the habits of Serpents. 
 The late Mr. Waterton, for example, would take up a rattlesnake 
 in his bare hand without feeling the least uneasy as to the 
 behaviour of his prisoner. He once took twenty-seven rattle- 
 snakes out of a box, carried them into another room, put them 
 into a large glass case, and afterwards replaced them in the 
 box. He described to me the manner in which he did it, using 
 my wrist as the representative of the Serpent. 
 
 The nature of all Serpents is rather peculiar, and is probably 
 owing to the mode in which the blood circulates. They are 
 extremely unwilling to move, except when urged by the wants of 
 nature, and will lie -coiled up for many hours together when 
 not pressed by hunger. Consequently, when touched, their 
 feeling is evidently like that of a drowsy man, who only tries 
 to shake off the object which may rouse him, and composes 
 himself afresh to sleep. 
 
 A quick and sudden movement would, however, alarm the 
 reptile, which would strike in self-defence, and, sluggish as are 
 its general movements, its stroke is delivered with such light- 
 ning rapidity that it would be sure to inflict its fatal wound 
 before it was seized. If, therefore, Mr. Waterton saw a Serpent 
 which he desired to catch, he would creep very quietly up to it, 
 and with a gentle, slow movement place his fingers round its 
 neck just behind the head. If it happened to be coiled up in 
 such a manner that he could not get at its neck, he had only to 
 touch it gently until it moved sufficiently for his purpose. 
 
 When he had once placed his hand on the Serpent, it was 
 in his power. He would then grasp it very lightly indeed, 
 and raise it gently from the ground, trusting that the reptile 
 would be more inclined to be carried quietly than to summon 
 up sufficient energy to bite. Even if it had tried to use its 
 fangs, it could not have done so as long as its captor's fingers 
 were round its neck. 
 
 As a rule, a great amount of provocation is needed before a 
 venomous Serpent will use its teeth. One of my friends, when 
 a boy, caught a viper, mistaking it for a common snake. He 
 tied it round his neck, coiled it on his wrist by way of a bracelet, 
 and so took it home, playing many similar tricks with it as he 
 went. After arrival in the house, he produced the viper for the
 
 SERPENTS. 547 
 
 amusement of his brothers and sisters, and, after repeating his 
 performances, tried to tie the snake in a double knot. This, 
 however, was enough to provoke the most pacific of creatures, 
 and in consequence he received a bite on his finger. 
 
 There is no doubt that the snake-charmers trust chiefly to 
 this sluggish nature of the reptile, but they certainly go through 
 some ceremonies by which they believe themselves to be ren- 
 dered impervious to snake-bites. They will coil the cobra round 
 their naked bodies, they will irritate the reptile until it is in a 
 state of fury; they will even allow it to bite them, and yet be 
 none the worse for the wound. Then, as if to. show that the 
 venomous teeth have not been abstracted, as is possibly sup- 
 posed to be the case, they will make the cobra bite a fowl, 
 which speedily dies from the effects of the poison. 
 
 Even if the fangs were extracted, the Serpents would lose 
 little of their venomous power. These reptiles are furnished 
 with a whole series of fangs in different stages of development, 
 so that when the one in use is broken or shed in the course of 
 nature, another comes forward and fills its place. There is now 
 before me a row of four fangs, which I took from the right 
 upper jawbone of a viper caught in the New Forest. 
 
 In her interesting " Letters from Egypt," Lady Duff-Gordon 
 gives an amusing account of the manner in which she was 
 formally initiated into the mysteries of snake-charming, and 
 made ever afterwards impervious to the bite of venomous 
 Serpents : 
 
 " At K6ni Omboo, we met with a Eifaee darweesh with his 
 basket of tame snakes. After a little talk, he proposed to 
 initiate me : and so we sat down and held hands like people 
 marrying. Omar [her attendant] sat behind me, and repeated 
 the words as my 'wakeel.' Then the 'Eifaee twisted a cobra 
 round our joined hands, and requested me to spit on it ; he did 
 the same, and I was pronounced safe and enveloped in snakes. 
 My sailors groaned, and Omar shuddered as the snakes put out 
 their tongues; the darweesh and I smiled at each other like 
 Eoman augurs." 
 
 She believed that the snakes were toothless ; and perhaps on 
 this occasion they may have been so. Extracting the teeth of 
 the Serpent is an easy business in experienced hands, and is 
 conducted in two ways. Those snake-charmers who are con- 
 
 NN 2
 
 548 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 fident of their own powers merely grasp the reptile by the neck, 
 force open its jaws with a piece of stick, and break off the fangs, 
 which are but loosely attached to the jaw. Those who are not 
 so sure of themselves irritate the snake, and offer it a piece of 
 cloth., generally the corner of their mantle, to bite. The snake 
 darts at it, and, as it seizes the garment, the man gives the cloth 
 a sudden jerk, and so tears away the fangs. 
 
 Still, although some of the performers employ mutilated 
 snakes, there is no doubt that others do not trouble themselves 
 to remove the fangs of the Serpents, but handle with impunity 
 the cobra or the cerastes with all its venomous apparatus in 
 good order. 
 
 We now come to the second branch of the subject, namely, 
 the influence of sound upon the cobra and other Serpents. The 
 charmers are always provided with musical instruments, of 
 which a sort of flute with a loud shrill sound is the one which 
 is mostly used in the performances. Having ascertained, from 
 slight marks which their practised eyes easily discover, that 
 a Serpent is hidden in some crevice, the charmer plays upon his 
 flute, and in a short time the snake is sure to make its 
 appearance. 
 
 As soon as it is fairly out, the man seizes it by the end of the 
 tail, and holds it up in the air at arm's length. In this position 
 it is helpless, having no leverage, and merely wriggles about in 
 fruitless struggles to escape. Having allowed it to exhaust its 
 strength by its efforts, the man lowers it into a basket, where it 
 is only too glad to find a refuge, and closes the lid. After a 
 while, he raises the lid and begins to play the flute. 
 
 The Serpent tries to glide out of the basket, but, as soon as it 
 does so, the lid is shut down again, and in a very short time the 
 reptile finds that escape is impossible, and, as long as it hears 
 the sound of the flute, only raises its head in the air, supporting 
 itself on the lower portion of its tail, and continues to wave 
 its head from side to side as long as it hears the sound of the 
 music. 
 
 The rapidity with which a cobra learns this lesson is extra- 
 ordinary, the charmers being as willing to show their mastery 
 over newly-caught Serpents as over those which have been 
 long in their possession. Some persons have thought that 
 all the snakes caught by the professional charmers are tame
 
 SERPENTS. 549 
 
 reptiles, which have been previously placed in the hole by the 
 men, and which have been deprived of their fangs. Careful 
 investigations, however, have proved that the snake is really 
 attracted by the shrill notes of the flute, and that the charmers 
 handle with unconcern the snakes which are in full possession 
 of their fangs and poison-glands. 
 
 The allusion to the " deaf adder, which stoppeth her ears." 
 needs a little explanation. Some species of Serpent are more 
 susceptible to sound than others, the cobra being the most 
 sensitive of all the tribe. Any of these which are comparatively 
 insensible to the charmer's efforts may be considered as " deaf 
 adders." But there has been from time immemorial a belief 
 in the East that some individual Serpents are very obstinate and 
 self-willed, refusing to hear the shrill sound of the flute, or the 
 magic song of the charmer, and pressing one ear into the dust, 
 while they stop the other with the tail. 
 
 Louis of Grenada, one of whose quaint sermons has already 
 been quoted, alludes in another discourse to this curious belief, 
 in which it is evident that he fully concurred. 
 
 " Dominica XI. post Pent. Concio 1 : 
 
 " ' Furor illis secundum similitudinem serpentis sicut aspidis 
 et obturantis aures suas ; quae non exaudit vocem incantantium, 
 et venefici incautantis sapienter.' 
 
 " Vulgo enirn ferunt aspidern cum incantatur ne lethali veneno 
 homines inficiat, alteram aureni terrae affigere, alteram vero cauda 
 in earn iminissa obstruere ut ita demum veneni vis intus latentis 
 illeesa maneat. 
 
 "Ad hoc igitur modum cum sapiens incantator, hoc est, 
 divini verbi concionator obstinatos homines ad sanitatem per- 
 ducere et lethale venenum peccati, quod in eoruni mentibus 
 residet delere contendit ; illi contra (deemone id operante) sic 
 aures suas huic divinee incantation! claudnut ut nihil prorsus 
 eorum quae dicuntur advertant." 
 
 " Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Sermon 1 : 
 " Their fury is after the likeness of the serprnt, as the asp 
 which even stoppeth her ears which heedeth not the voice of 
 the charmers ; even of the wizard which charmetli wisely.' 
 " For they say commonly, the asp while she is charmed, so
 
 550 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 that she poisoneth not men with her deadly venom, layeth one 
 of her ears to the ground and stoppeth the other by thereinto 
 putting her tail, that so the strength of the poison which lurketh 
 within may abide unhurt. 
 
 " After this manner, therefore, when the wise charmer that 
 is, the preacher of the Word of God striveth to lead obstinate 
 men to health, and to destroy the deadly poison of sin which 
 dwelleth in their minds, they, on the other hand (the devil 
 bringing this to pass), do so shut their ears to this divine 
 charming that they heed nothing at all of these things which 
 are said." 
 
 In order to show how widely this idea of the snake stopping 
 its ears is spread, I insert the following extract from a com- 
 mentary on the Psalms by Richard Eolle (Hermit) of Hampole. 
 It is taken from the MS. in Eton College Library, No. 10, date 
 1450. R. Rolle died just a hundred years before his commentary 
 was translated into the Northern dialect. 
 
 " ' Furor illis secdrn similitudine spentis : sicut aspidus surde 
 et obturantis aures suas.' IF Wodnes til ]>ase after ]>e lyken- 
 ying of nedder : als of snake doumbe and stoppand hir erres. 
 1T Rightly calles he J>ai wode for )>ai haue na witt to se 
 whider pai ga for pai louke paire eghen and rennes til ]>e fire 
 J>aire wodnes es domested J>at will not be tned als of ]>e 
 snake ]>at festes pe tane ere till ]>e erther and )>e tofer stopis with 
 hi? tayle swa ]>ai do ]>at here noght godes worde pai stoppe 
 pair erres with lufe of erthely thyng fat fai delite fai one 
 and with faire tayle fat es with aide synes }>at ]>ai will noght 
 amende." 
 
 It may be as well to remark, before passing to another of the 
 Serpents, that snakes have no external ears, and that therefore 
 the notion of the serpent stopping its ears is zoologically a 
 simple absurdity. 
 
 THE CERASTES, OR SHEPHIPHON OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 THE word shephipkon, which evidently signifies some species 
 of snake, only occurs once in the Scriptures, but fortunately 
 that single passage contains an allusion to the habits of the 
 serpent which makes identification nearly certain. The passage
 
 THE CERASTES. foi 
 
 in question occurs in Gen. xlix. 17, and forms part of the 
 prophecy of Jacob respecting his children : " Dan shall be a 
 serpent by the way, an adder in the path, thatbiteth the horse's 
 heels, so that his rider shall fall backward." 
 
 Putting aside the deeper meaning of this prophecy, there 
 is here an evident allusion to the habits of the CERASTES, 
 or HORNED VIPER, a species of venomous serpent, which is 
 plentiful in Northern Africa, and is found also in Palestine 
 and Syria. It is a very conspicuous reptile, and is easily 
 recognised by the two horn-like projections over the eyes. The 
 name Cerastes, or horned, has been given to it on account of 
 these projections. 
 
 This snake has a custom of lying half buried in the sand, 
 awaiting the approach of some animal on which it can feed. 
 Its usual diet consists of the jerboas and other small mammalia, 
 and as they are exceedingly active, while the Cerastes is slow 
 and sluggish, its only chance of obtaining food is to lie in wait. 
 It will always take advantage of any small depression, such as 
 the print of a camel's foot, and, as it finds many of these 
 depressions in the line of the caravans, it is literally " a serpent 
 by the way, an adder in the path." 
 
 According to the accounts of travellers, the Cerastes is much 
 more irritable than the cobra, and is very apt to strike at any 
 object which may disturb it. Therefore, whenever a horseman 
 passes along the usual route, his steed is very likely to disturb a 
 Cerastes lying in the path, and to be liable to the attack of the 
 irritated reptile. Horses are instinctively aware of the presence 
 of the snake, and mostly perceive it in time to avoid its stroke. 
 Its small dimensions, the snake rarely exceeding two feet in 
 length, enable it to conceal itself in a very small hollow, and its 
 brownish-white colour, diversified with darker spots, caiises it to 
 harmonize so thoroughly with the loose sand in which it lies 
 buried, that, even when it is pointed out, an unpractised eye 
 does not readily perceive it. 
 
 Even the cobra is scarcely so dreaded as this little snake, 
 whose bite is so deadly, and whose habits are such as to cause 
 travellers considerable risk of being bitten.
 
 552 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE VIPER, OR EPHEH. 
 
 Passages iu which the word Epheh occurs El-effah The Sand Viper, or Toxicoa 
 Its appearance and habits The Acshub Adder's poison The Spuugh- 
 Slange The Cockatrice, or Tsepha The Yellow Viper Ancient ideas con- 
 cerning the Cockatrice Power of its venom. 
 
 WE now come to the species of snake which cannot be iden- 
 tified with any certainty, and will lirst take the word epkeh, 
 which is curiously like to the Greek ophis. From the context 
 of the three passages in which it occurs, it is evidently a specific, 
 and not a collective name, but we are left in much doubt as to 
 the precise species which is intended by it. The first of those 
 passages occurs in Job xx. 16 : " The viper's (epheh} tongue shall 
 slay him." The second is found in Isa. xxx. 6 : " The burden of 
 the beasts of the south : into the land of trouble and anguish, 
 from whence come the young and old lion, the viper (epheh) and 
 fiery flying serpent." The last of these passages occurs in 
 ch. lix. 5 of the same book : " That which is crushed breaketh 
 out into a viper" (epheh). 
 
 The reader will see that in neither of those passages have we 
 the least intimation as to the particular species which is signified 
 by the word epheh, and the only collateral evidence which we 
 have on the subject fails exactly in the most important point. 
 We are told by Shaw that in Northern Africa there is a small 
 snake, the most poisonous of its tribe, which is called by the 
 name of El-effah, a word which is absolutely identical Avith the 
 Epheh of the Old Testament. But, as he does not identify the 
 effali, except by saying that it rarely exceeds a foot in length, we 
 gain little by its discovery. 
 
 Mr. Tristram believes that he has identified the Epheh of the 
 Old Testament with the Sand- Viper, or Toxicoa. (Echis arenicola). 
 This reptile, though very small, and scarcely exceeding a foot in 
 length, is a dangerous one, though its bite is not so deadly as
 
 THE VIPER. 
 
 553 
 
 that of the cobra or cerastes. It is variable in colour, but has 
 angular white streaks on its body, and a row of whitish spots 
 along the back. The top of the head is dark, and variegated 
 with arrow-shaped white marks. 
 
 The Toxicoa is very plentiful in Northern Africa, Palestine, 
 Syria, and the neighbouring countries, and, as it is exceedingly 
 
 THE TOXICOA. _ (Supposed to be the viper of Scripture.) 
 " The viper's tongue skill slay him." JOB xx. 16. 
 
 active, is held in some dread by the natives. The Toxicoa is 
 closely allied to the dreaded Horatta-pam snake of India (Echis 
 carinata). 
 
 The old Hebraists can make nothing of the word, but it is not 
 unlikely that a further and fuller investigation of the ophiology of 
 Northern Africa may succeed where mere scholarship, unallied 
 with zoological knowledge, has failed. 
 
 THE next word is acshnb (pronounced ak-shoob). It only 
 occurs in one passage, namely Ps. cxl. 3: "They have sharpened 
 their tongues like a serpent (nachask) ; adder's (acshti.1) poison
 
 554 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 is under their lips." The precise species represented by this word 
 is unknown. Buxtorf, however, explains the word as the Spitter, 
 " illud genus quod venenum procul exspuit." Now, if we 
 accept this derivation, we must take the word acshub as a syno- 
 nym for pethen. We have already identified the Pethen with 
 the Naja haje, a snake which has the power of expelling the 
 poison to some distance, when it is out of reach of its enemy. 
 Whether the snake really intends to eject the poison, or whether 
 it is merely flung from the hollow fangs by the force of the 
 suddenly-checked stroke, is uncertain. That the Haje cobra can 
 expel its poison is an acknowledged fact, and the Dutch colonists 
 of the Cape have been so familiarly acquainted with this habit, 
 that they have called this reptile by the name of Spuugh-Slange, 
 or Spitting Snake, a name which, if we accept Buxtorf 's etymo- 
 logy, is precisely equivalent to the word acshub. 
 
 ANOTHER name of a poisonous snake occurs several times in 
 the Old Testament. The word is tsepJia, or tsiphoni, and it is 
 sometimes translated as Adder, and sometimes as Cockatrice. The 
 word is rendered as Adder in Prov. xxiii. 32, where it is said that 
 wine " biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." Even 
 in this case, however, the word is rendered as Cockatrice in the 
 marginal translation. 
 
 It is found, three times in the Book of Isaiah. Ch. xi. 8 : " The 
 weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den." Also, 
 ch. xiv. 29 : " Eejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod 
 of him that smote thee is broken : for out of the serpent's 
 (nachasJi) nest shall come forth a cockatrice (tsepha), and his fruit 
 shall be a fiery flying serpent." The same word occurs again 
 in ch. lix. 5: "They hatch cockatrice' eggs." In the prophet 
 Jeremiah we again find the word : " For, behold, I will send 
 serpents, cockatrices among you, which will not be charmed, and 
 they shall bite you, saith the Lord." 
 
 This last passage gives us a little, but not much, assistance in 
 identifying the Tsepha. We learn by it that the Tsepha was 
 one of the serpents that were not subject to charmers, and so we 
 are able to say that it was neither the cobra, which we have 
 identified with the Pethen of Scripture, nor the Cerastes or 
 Horned Snake, which has been shown to be the Shephiphon. 
 Our evidence is therefore only of a negative character, and the
 
 THE ADDER. 555 
 
 only positive evidence is that which may be inferred from the 
 passage in Isa. xiv. 29, where the Tsepha is evidently thought to 
 be more venomous than the ordinary serpent or Nachash. 
 
 Mr. Tristram suggests that the Tsepha of Scripture may pos- 
 sibly be the Yellow Viper (Ddboia xanthicci), which is one of 
 the largest and most venomous of the poisonous serpents which 
 ai'e found in Palestine, and which is the more dangerous on 
 account of its nocturnal habits. This snake is one of the 
 Katukas, and is closely allied to the dreaded Tic-polonga of 
 Ceylon, a serpent which is so deadly, and so given to infesting 
 houses, that one of the judges was actually driven out of his 
 official residence by it. 
 
 As to the old ideas respecting the origin of the Cockatrice, a 
 very few words will suffice for them. This serpent was thought 
 to be produced from an egg laid by a cock and hatched by a 
 viper. " For they say," writes Topsel, " that when a cock groweth 
 old, he layeth a certain egge without any shell, in stead whereof 
 it is covered with a very thick skin, which is able to withstand 
 the greatest force of an easie blow or fall. They say moreover 
 that this Egge is laid only in the summer time, about the begin- 
 ning of Dog days, being not so long as a Hen's Egge, but round 
 and orbicular. Sometimes of a dirty, sometimes of a boxy, and 
 sometimes of yellowish muddy colour, which Egge, afterwards 
 sat upon by a Snake or a Toad, bringeth forth the Cockatrice, 
 being half a foot in length, the hinder part like a Snake, the 
 former part like a Cock, because of a treble combe on his 
 forehead. 
 
 "But the vulgar opinion of Europe is, that the Egge is 
 nourished by a Toad, and not by a Snake ; howbeit in better 
 experience it found that the Cock doth sit on that Egge himself: 
 whereof Serianus Semnius in his twelfth book of the Hidden 
 Animals of Nature hath this discourse, in the fourth chapter 
 thereof. 'There happened,' saith he, 'within our memory, in 
 the city of Pirizsea, that there were two old Cocks which had 
 laid Egges, and the common people (because of opinion that 
 those Egges would engender Cockatrices) laboured by all mcanes 
 possible to keep the same Cocks from sitting on those Eggus, but 
 they could not with clubs and staves drive them from the Egges, 
 until they were forced to break the Egges in sunder, and strangle 
 the Cocks."
 
 556 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 In this curious history it is easy to see the origin of the notion 
 respecting the birth of the Cockatrice. It is well known that 
 hens, after they have reached an advanced age, assume much of 
 the plumage and voice of the male bird. Still, that one of them 
 should occasionally lay an egg is no great matter of wonder, and, 
 as the egg would be naturally deposited in a retired and sheltered 
 spot, such as would be the favoured haunts of the warmth-loving 
 snake, the ignorant public might easily put together a legend 
 which, absurd in itself, is yet founded on facts. The small 
 shell-less egg, so often laid by poultry, is familiar to every one 
 who has kept fowls. 
 
 Around this reptile a wonderful variety of legends have been 
 accumulated. The Cockatrice was said to kill by its very look, 
 " because the beams of the Cockatrice's eyes do corrupt the 
 visible spirit of a man, which visible spirit corrupted all the 
 other spirits coming from the brain and life of the heart, are 
 thereby corrupted, and so the man dyeth." 
 
 The subtle poison of the Cockatrice infected everything near 
 it, so that a man who killed a Cockatrice with a spear fell dead 
 himself, by reason of the poison darting up the shaft of the spear 
 and passing into his hand. Any living thing near which the 
 Cockatrice passed was instantly slain by the fiery heat of its 
 venom, which was exhaled not only from its mouth, but its sides. 
 For the old writers, whose statements are here summarized, con- 
 trived to jumble together a number of miscellaneous facts in 
 natural history, and so to produce a most extraordinary series of 
 legends. We have already seen the real origin of the legend 
 respecting the egg from-which the Cockatrice was supposed to 
 spring, and we may here see that some one of these old writers 
 has in his mind some uncertain floating idea of the respira- 
 tory orifices of the lamprey, and has engrafted them on the 
 Cockatrice. 
 
 " To conclude," writes Topsel, " this poyson infecteth the air, 
 and the air so infected killeth all living things, and likewise all 
 green things, fruits, and plants of the earth : it burneth up the 
 grasse whereupon it goeth or creepeth, and the fowls of the air 
 fall down dead when they come near his den or lodging. Some- 
 times he biteth a Man or a Beast, and by that wound the bloud 
 turneth into choler, and so the whole body becometh yellow as 
 gold, presently killing all who touch it or come near it."
 
 THE FROG. 557 
 
 1 should not have given even this limited space to such puerile 
 legends, but for the fact that such stories as these were fully 
 believed in the days when the Authorized Version of the Bible 
 was translated. The ludicrous tales which have been occasion- 
 ally mentioned formed the staple of zoological knowledge, and 
 an untravelled Englishman had no possible means of learning 
 the history of foreign animals, except from such books which 
 have been quoted, and which were in those days the standard 
 works on Natural History. The translators of the Bible believed 
 most heartily in the mysterious and baleful reptile, and, as 
 they saw that the Tsepha of Scripture was an exceptionally 
 venomous serpent, they naturally rendered it by the word 
 Cockatrice. 
 
 THE FROG. 
 
 The Frog only mentioned in the Old Testament as connected with the plagues of 
 Egypt The severity of this plague explained The Frog detestable to the 
 Egyptians The Edible Frog and its numbers Description of the species. 
 
 PLENTIFUL as is the FROG throughout Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, 
 it is very remarkable that in the whole of the canonical books 
 of the Old Testament the word is only mentioned thrice, and 
 each case in connexion with the same event. 
 
 In Exod. viii. we find that the second of the plagues which 
 visited Egypt came out of the Nile, the sacred river, in the form 
 of innumerable Frogs. The reader will probably remark, on 
 perusing the consecutive account of these plagues, that the two 
 first plagues were connected with that river, and that they were 
 foreshadowed by the transformation of Aaron's rod. 
 
 When Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh to ask him 
 to let the people go, Pharaoh demanded a miracle from them, as 
 had been foretold. Following the divine command, Aaron threw 
 down his rod, which was transformed into a crocodile the most 
 sacred inhabitant of the sacred river a river which was to the 
 Egyptians what the Ganges is to the Hindoos.
 
 558 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Next, as was most appropriate, came a transformation wrought 
 on the river by means of the same rod which had been trans- 
 formed into a crocodile, the whole of the fresh-water throughout 
 the land being turned into blood, and the fish dying and polluting 
 the venerated river with their putrefying bodies. In Egypt, a 
 partially rainless country, such a calamity as this was doubly 
 terrible, as it at the same time desecrated the object of their 
 worship, and menaced them with perishing by thirst. 
 
 r-i 
 
 THR FROG (Kaita esculenta). 
 ' And the river shall liriiuj forth frogs abundantly." EXOD. viii. 3. 
 
 The next plague had also its origin in the river, but extended 
 far beyond the limits of its banks. The frogs, being unable to 
 return to the contaminated stream wherein they had lived, spread 
 themselves in all directions, so as to fulfil the words of the pre- 
 diction : " If thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all 
 thy borders with frogs : 
 
 " And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall 
 go up and come into thine house, and into thy bed-chamber, and
 
 THE FROG. 559 
 
 upon thy bee), and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy 
 people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs '' 
 (or dough). 
 
 Supposing that such a plague was to come upon us at the 
 present day, we should consider it to be a terrible annoyance, 
 yet scarcely worthy of the name of plague, and certainly not to 
 be classed with the turning of a river into blood, with the hail 
 and lightning that destroyed the crops and cattle, and with the 
 simultaneous death of the first-born. But the Egyptians suffered 
 most keenly from the infliction. They were a singularly fasti- 
 dious people, and abhorred the contact of anything that they 
 held to be unclean. We may well realize, therefore, the effect 
 of a visitation of Frogs, which rendered their houses unclean by 
 entering them, and themselves unclean by leaping upon them ; 
 which deprived them of rest by getting on their beds, and of 
 food by crawling into their ovens and upon the dough in the 
 kneading-troughs. 
 
 And, as if to make the visitation still worse, when the plague 
 was removed, the Frogs died in the places into which they had 
 intruded, so that the Egyptians were obliged to clear their houses 
 of the dead carcases, and to pile them up in heaps, to be dried 
 by the sun or eaten by birds and other scavengers of the East. 
 
 As to the species of Frog which thus invaded the houses of 
 the Egyptians, there is no doubt whatever. It can be but the 
 GREEN, or EDIBLE FROG (Rana esculenta}, which is so well known 
 for the delicacy of its flesh. This is believed to be the only 
 aquatic Frog of Egypt, and therefore must be the species which 
 came out of the river into the houses. 
 
 Both in Egypt and Palestine it exists in veiy great numbers, 
 swarming in every marshy place, and inhabiting the pools in 
 such numbers that the water can scarcely be seen for the Frogs. 
 Thus the multitudes of the Frogs which invaded the Egyptians 
 was no matter of wonder, the only miraculous element being 
 that the reptiles were simultaneously directed to the houses, and 
 their simultaneous death when the plague was taken away. 
 
 It has, however, been suggested that, at the time of year at 
 which the event occurred, the young Frogs were in the tadpole 
 stage of existence, and therefore would not be able to pass over 
 land. But, even granting that to be the case, it does not follow 
 that the adult Frogs were not numerous enough to produce the
 
 560 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 visitation, and it seems likely that those who were not yet 
 developed were left to reproduce the race after the full-grown 
 Frogs had perished. 
 
 The Green Frog is larger than our common English species, 
 and is prettily coloured, the back being green, spotted with black, 
 and having three black stripes upon it. The under parts are 
 yellowish. At night it keeps up a continued and very loud 
 croaking, so that a pond in which a number of these Frogs are 
 kept is quite destructive of sleep to any one who is not used to 
 the noise. 
 
 Frogs are also mentioned in Eev. xvi. 13 : "And I saw three 
 unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, 
 and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the 
 false prophet." With the exception of this passage, which is a 
 purely symbolical one, there is no mention of Frogs in the New 
 Testament. It is rather remarkable that the Toad, which might 
 be thought to afford an excellent symbol for various forms of 
 evil, is entirely ignored, both in the Old and New Testaments. 
 Probably the Frogs and Toads were all classed together under 
 the same title.
 
 FISHES.
 
 FISHES. 
 
 Impossibility of distinguishing the different species of Fishes The fishermen 
 Apostles Fish used for food The miracle of the loaves and Fishes The Fish 
 broiled on the coals Clean and unclean Fishes The scientific writings of 
 Solomon The Sheat-fish, or Silurus The Eel and the Mursena The Long- 
 headed Barbel Fish-ponds and preserves The Fish-ponds of Heshbon The 
 Sucking-fish The Lump-sucker The Tunny The Coryphene. 
 
 WE now come to the FISHKS, a class of animals which are 
 repeatedly mentioned both in the Old and New Testaments, but 
 only in general terms, no one species being described so as to 
 give the slightest indication of its identity. 
 
 This is the more remarkable because, although the Jews were, 
 like all Orientals, utterly unobservant of those characteristics by 
 which the various species are distinguished from each other, we 
 might expect that St. Peter and other of the fisher Apostles would 
 have given the names of some of the Fish which they were in 
 the habit of catching, and by the sale of which they gained 
 their living. 
 
 It is true that the Jews, as a nation, would not distinguish 
 between the various species of Fishes, except, perhaps, by com- 
 parative size. But professional fishermen would be sure to dis- 
 tinguish one species from another, if only for the fact that they 
 would sell the best-flavoured Fish at the highest price. 
 
 We might have expected, for example, that the Apostles and 
 disciples who were present when the miraculous draught of Fishes 
 took place would have mentioned the technical names by which 
 they were accustomed to distinguish the different degrees of the 
 saleable and unsaleable kinds. 
 
 Or we might have expected that on the occasion when St. Peter 
 cast his line and hook into the sea, and drew out a Fish holding 
 the tribute-money in his mouth, we might have learned the par- 
 ticular species of Fish which was thus captured. We ourselves 
 would assuredly have done so. It would not have been thought 
 sufficient merely to say that a Fish was caught with money iu 
 
 o 2
 
 564 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 its mouth, but it would have been considered necessary to men- 
 tion the particular fish as well as the particular coin. 
 
 But it must be remembered that the whole tone of thought 
 differs in Orientals and Europeans, and that the exactness re- 
 quired by the one has no place in the mind of the other. The 
 whob of the Scriptural narratives are essentially Oriental in 
 their character, bringing out the salient points in strong relief, 
 but entirely regardless of minute detail. 
 
 WE find from many passages both in the Old and New Testa- 
 ments that Fish were largely used as food by the Israelites, both 
 when captives in Egypt and after their arrival in the Promised 
 Land. Take, for example, Numb. xi. 4, 5 : " And the children of 
 Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat ? 
 
 " We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely." 
 Then, in the Old Testament, although we do not find many such 
 categorical statements, there are many passages which allude to 
 professional fishermen, showing that there was a demand for the 
 Fish which they caught, sufficient to yield them a maintenance. 
 
 In the New Testament, however, there are several passages in 
 which the Fishes are distinctly mentioned as articles of food. 
 Take, for example, the well-known miracle of multiplying the 
 loaves and the Fishes, and the scarcely less familiar passage in 
 John xxi 9 : " As soon then as they were come to land, they 
 saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 
 
 " Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have 
 now caught. 
 
 " Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great 
 fishes, an hundred and fifty and three : and for all there were so 
 many, yet was not the net broken. 
 
 " Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the 
 disciples durst ask Him, Who art Thou ? knowing that it was 
 the Lord. 
 
 " Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and 
 fish likewise." 
 
 We find in all these examples that bread and Fish were eaten 
 together. Indeed, Fish was eaten with bread just as we eat 
 cheese or butter ; and St. John, in his account of the multiplica- 
 tion of the loaves and Fishes, does not use the word " fish," but 
 another word which rather signifies sauce, and was generally
 
 FISHES. 565 
 
 employed to designate the little Fish that were salted down and 
 dried in the sunbeams for future use. 
 
 As to the various species whicli were used for different pur- 
 poses, we know really nothing, the Jews merely dividing their 
 Fish into clean and unclean. 
 
 Still, we find that Solomon treated of Fishes as well as of other 
 portions of the creation. " And he spake of trees, from the cedar 
 tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out 
 of the wall : he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping 
 things, and of fishes." (1 Kings iv. 33.) 
 
 Now it is evidently impossible that Solomon could have 
 treated of Fishes without distinguishing between their various 
 species. Comparatively young as he was, he had received such 
 a measure of divine inspiration, that " there came of all people 
 to know the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, 
 which had heard of his wisdom." 
 
 Yet, although some of his poetical and instructive writings 
 have survived to our time, the whole of his works on natural 
 history have so completely perished, that they have not even 
 introduced into the language the names of the various creatures 
 of which he wrote. So, in spite of all his labours, there is not a 
 single word in the Hebrew language, as now known, by which 
 one species of Fish can be distinguished from another, as to the 
 distinction between the clean and unclean Fishes. 
 
 According to Levit. xi. the qualification for food lay simply in 
 the possession of fins and scales. " These shall ye eat of all that 
 are in the waters : whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, 
 in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. 
 
 "And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and 
 in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living 
 thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination 
 unto you : 
 
 " They shall be even an abomination unto you ; ye shall not 
 eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomina- 
 tion " (ver. 9 11). There is a similar prohibition in Deut. xiv. 9. 
 
 Some of the species to which this prohibition would extend 
 are evident enough. There are, for example, the Sheat-fishes, 
 which have the body naked, and which are therefore taken out 
 of the list of permitted Fishes. The Sheat-fishes inhabit rivers 
 in many parts of the world, and often grow to a veiy consider-
 
 566 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 able size. They may be at once recognised by their peculiar 
 shape, and by the long, fleshy tentacles "that hang from the 
 mouth. The object of these tentacles is rather dubious, but as 
 the fish have been seen to direct them at will to various objects, 
 it is likely that they may answer as organs of touch. 
 
 1. If CfURffA (Moieena helena). -. LOXI;-HKAI>KI> BARBEL (Barbua longicups). 
 
 3. SHKAT-risn (Silimis niacmcanthus). 
 
 " All that have not fins and scales . . . shall be an abomination unto you." Lovit. \\. 10. 
 
 As might be conjectured from its general appearance, it is one 
 of the Fishes that love muddy banks, in which it is fond of 
 burrowing so deeply that, although the river may swarin with 
 Sheat-fishes, a practised eye is required to see them. 
 
 As far as the Sheat-fishes are concerned, there is little need 
 for the prohibition, inasmuch as the flesh is not at all agreeable 
 in flavour, and is difficult of digestion, being very fat and gelati-
 
 FISHES. 567 
 
 uons. The swimming-bladder of the Sheat-fish is used in SOIIIH 
 countries for making a kind of isinglass, similar in character to 
 that of the sturgeon, but of coarser quality. 
 
 The lowermost figure in the illustration on page 566 represents 
 a species'which is exceedingly plentiful in the Sea of Galilee. 
 
 On account of the mode in which their body is covered, the 
 whole of the sharks and rays are excluded from the list of per- 
 mitted Fish, as, although they have fins, they have no scales, their 
 place being taken by shields varying greatly in size. The same 
 rule excludes the whole of the lamprey tribe, although the excel- 
 lence of their flesh is well known. 
 
 Moreover, the Jews almost universally declare that the 
 Muraena and Eel tribe are also unclean, because, although it has 
 been proved that these Fishes really possess scales as well as fins, 
 and are therefore legally permissible, the scales are hidden under 
 a slimy covering, and are so minute as to be practically absent. 
 
 The uppermost figure in the illustration represents the cele- 
 brated Mursena, one of the fishes of the Mediterranean, in which 
 sea it is tolerably plentiful. In the days of the old Roman 
 empire, the Mursena was very highly valued for the table. The 
 wealthier citizens built ponds in which the Mursenae were kept 
 alive until they were wanted. This Fish sometimes reaches four 
 feet in length. 
 
 The rest of the Fishes which are shown in the three illus- 
 trations belong to the class of clean Fish, and were permitted as 
 food. The figure of the Fish between the Murseua and Sheat-fish 
 is the Long-headed Barbel, so called from its curious form. 
 
 The Barbels are closely allied to the 'carps, and are easily 
 known by the barbs or beards which hang from their lips. 
 Like the sheat-fishes, the Barbels are fond of grubbing in the mud, 
 for the purpose of getting at the worms, grubs, and larvae of 
 aquatic insects that are always to be found in -such places. The 
 Barbels are rather long in proportion to their depth, a peculiarity 
 which, owing to the length of the head, is rather exaggerated in 
 this species. 
 
 The Long-headed Barbel is extremely common in Palestine, and 
 may be taken with the very simplest kind of net. Indeed, in 
 some places, the fish are so numerous that a common sack 
 answers nearly as well as a net. 
 
 It has been mentioned that the ancient Romans were in the
 
 568 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 habit of forming ponds in which the Muraenae were kept, and it is 
 evident, from several passages of Scripture, that the Jews were 
 accustomed to preserve fish in a similar manner, though they 
 would not restrict their tanks or ponds to one species. 
 
 Allusion is made to this custom in the Song of Solomon : 
 " Thy neck is as a tower of ivory ; thine eyes like the fish-pools 
 in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim." The Hebrew Bible 
 renders the passage in a slightly different manner, not specifying 
 the particular kind of pool. " Thine eyes are as the pools in 
 Heshbon by a gate of great concourse." 
 
 Buxtorf, however, in his Hebrew Lexicon, translates the word 
 as " piscina," i. e. fish-pond. Now among the ruins of Heshbon 
 may still be seen the remains of a large tank, which in all pro- 
 bability was one of the " fish-pools " which are mentioned by the 
 sacred writer. 
 
 If we accept the rendering of the Authorized Version, it is 
 shown that tanks or ponds were employed for this purpose, by 
 a passage which occurs in the prophecy of Isaiah : " The fishers 
 also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks 
 shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall 
 languish. 
 
 " Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave 
 networks, shall be confounded. 
 
 " And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that 
 make sluices and ponds for fish" (xix. 8 10). 
 
 This passage, however, is rendered rather variously. The 
 marginal translation of verse 10 substitutes the word " founda- 
 tions " for " purposes," and the words " living things " for 
 " fish." The Jewish Bible takes an entirely different view of 
 the passage, and renders it as follows : " The fishers also shall 
 groan, and all that cast angle into the river shall mourn, am 5 
 they that spread nets upon the waters shall be languid. 
 
 " Moreover, they that work in combed flax and they that weave 
 networks shall be confounded. 
 
 " And the props thereof shall be crushed ; all working for 
 wages are void of soul." 
 
 However, the mark of doubt is affixed to this last phrase, and 
 it cannot be denied that the rendering of the Authorized Version 
 is at all events more consistent than that of the Jewish Bible. 
 In the former, we first find the fishers taking their prey with the
 
 FISHES. 
 
 569 
 
 hook and line, then with different kinds of nets, and lastly 
 placing the fish thus captured in sluices and ponds until they 
 are wanted for consumption. 
 
 l_ 
 
 KISHKS OF THK MKDITERKA.NT.AN. 
 
 1. SUCKING-FISH (Echcneis remora). 2. TUNNY (Thynmw thynnus) 
 
 3. COKYPHEXE (Coryph;ena hippnris). 
 
 " 'Iliese shall ye eat of all that arc in the waters." LEVIT. xi. 9. 
 
 The accompanying illustration represents Fishes of the Medi- 
 terranean Sea, and it is probable that one of them may be 
 identified, though the passage in which it is mentioned is only 
 an inferential one. In the prophecy against Pharaoh, king of 
 Egypt, the prophet Ezekiel writes as follows : " I will put hooks 
 in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto 
 thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy
 
 570 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales " 
 (xxix. 4). 
 
 Reference is here made 1 to some inhabitant of the waters that 
 has the power of adhesion, and two suggestions have been made 
 respecting the precise signification of the passage. Some com- 
 mentators think that the " Fishes " here mentioned are the 
 Cuttles, which, although they are not Fishes at all, but belong 
 to the molluscs, are called Fishes after the loose nomenclature 
 of the Hebrew language, just as, even in our stricter and more 
 copious language, we speak of the same creature as the Cuttle- 
 fish, and use the word " shell-fish" to denote both molluscs and 
 Crustacea. 
 
 Others believe that the prophet made allusion to the Sucking- 
 fish, which has the dorsal fins developed into a most curious 
 apparatus of adhesion, by means of which it can fasten itself at 
 will to any smooth object, and hold so tightly to it that it can 
 scarcely be torn away without injury. 
 
 The common Sucking-fish (Echeneis remora") is shown in the 
 upper part of the illustration. 
 
 There are, however, other fish which have powers of adhesion 
 which, although not so remarkable as those of the Sucking-fish, 
 are yet very strong. There is, for example, the well-known 
 Lump-sucker, or Lump-fish, which has the ventral fins modi- 
 fied into a sucker so powerful that, when one of these fishes has 
 been put into a pail of water, it has attached itself so firmly to 
 the bottom of the vessel that when lifted by the tail it raised 
 the pail, together with several gallons of water. 
 
 The Gobies, again, have their ventral fins united and modified 
 into a single sucker, by means of which the fish is able to secure 
 itself to a stone, rock, or indeed any tolerably smooth surface. 
 These fishes are popularly known as Bull-routs. 
 
 The centre of the illustration is occupied by another of the 
 Mediterranean fishes. This is the well-known Tunny (Thynnus 
 thynnus], which furnishes food to the inhabitants of the coasts 
 of this inland sea, and indeed constitutes one of their principal 
 sources of wealth. This fine fish is on an average four or 
 five feet in length, and sometimes attains the length of six or 
 seven feet. 
 
 The flesh of the Tunny is excellent, and the fish is so conspi- 
 cuous, that the silence of the Scriptures concerning its existence
 
 FISHES. 57 1 
 
 shows the utter indifference to specific accuracy that prevailed 
 among the various writers. 
 
 The other figure represents the Coryphene (Coryphce-na Jiip- 
 puris), popularly, though very wrongly, called the Dolphin, and 
 celebrated, under that name, for the beautiful colours which fly 
 over the surface of the body as it dies. 
 
 The flesh of the Coryphene is excellent, and in the times of 
 classic Rome the epicures were accustomed to keep these fish 
 alive, and at the beginning of a feast to lay them before the 
 guests, so that they might, in the first place, witness the magni- 
 ficent colours of the dying fish, and, in the second place, might 
 be assured that when it was cooked it was perfectly fresh. Even 
 during life, the Coryphene is a most lovely fish, and those who 
 have witnessed it playing round a ship, or dashing off in chase 
 of a shoal of flying-fishes, can scarcely find words to express 
 their admiration of its beauty. 
 
 FISHES. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Various modes of capturing Fish The hook and line -Military use of the hook- 
 Putting a hook in the jaws The fishing spear -Different kinds of net -The 
 casting-net Prevalence of this form Technical words among fishermen- 
 Fishing by night The draught of Fishes The real force of the miracle 
 Selecting the Fish The Fish-gate and Fish-market - Fish killed by a draught 
 Fishing in the Dead Sea Dagon, the fish-god of Philistina, Assyria, and 
 Siam Various Fishes of Egypt and Palestine. 
 
 As to the various methods of capturing Fish, we will first take 
 the simplest plan, that of the hook and line, as is mentioned in 
 the passage quoted above from Ezekiel. Sundiy other references 
 are made to angling, both in the Old and New Testaments. 
 See, for example, the well-known passage respecting the levia- 
 than, in Job xli. 1, 2 : " Canst thou draw out leviathan with an 
 hook ? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down ? 
 
 "Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw 
 through with a thorn ? "
 
 572 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 It is thought that the last clause of this passage refers, not to 
 the actual capture of the Fish, but to the mode in which they 
 were kept in the tanks, each being secured by a ring or hook 
 and line, so that it might be taken when wanted. 
 
 On referring to the New Testament, we find that the fisher 
 Apostles used both the hook and the net. See Matt. xvii. 27 : 
 " Go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish 
 that first cometh up." Now this passage explains one or two 
 points. 
 
 In the first place, it is one among others which shows that, 
 although the Apostles gave up all to follow Christ, they did not 
 throw away their means of livelihood, as some seem to fancy, 
 nor exist ever afterwards on the earnings of others. On the 
 contrary, they retained their fisher equipment, whether boats, 
 nets, or hooks ; and here we find St. Peter, after the way of 
 fishermen, carrying about with him the more portable imple- 
 ments of his craft. 
 
 Next, the phrase " casting " the hook into the sea is exactly 
 expressive of the mode in which angling is conducted in the sea 
 and large pieces of water, such as the Lake of Galilee. The 
 fisherman does not require a rod, but takes his line, which has 
 a weight just above the hook, coils it on his left arm in lasso 
 fashion, baits the hook, and then, with a peculiar swing, throws 
 it into the water as far as it will reach. The hook is allowed to 
 sink for a short time, and is then drawn towards the shore in 
 a series of jerks, in order to attract the Fish, so that, although the 
 fisherman does not employ a rod, he manages his line very much 
 as does an angler of our own day when " spinning " for pike 
 or trout. 
 
 Sometimes the fisherman has a number of lines to manage, 
 and in this case he acts in a slightly different manner. After 
 throwing out the loaded hook, as above mentioned, he takes a 
 short stick, notched at one end, and pointed at the other, thrusts 
 the sharp end into the ground at the margin of the water, and 
 hitches the line on the notch. 
 
 He then proceeds to do the same with all his lines in suc- 
 cession, and when he has flung the last hook into the water, he 
 sits down on a heap of leaves and grass which he has gathered 
 together, and watches the lines to see if either of them is moved 
 in the peculiar jerking manner which is characteristic of a
 
 FISHES. 573 
 
 " bite." After a while, he hauls them in successively, removes 
 the Fish that may have been caught, and throws the lines into 
 the water afresh. 
 
 This mode of fishing is mentioned in Habakkuk i. 15 : "They 
 take up all of them with the angle." 
 
 There are one or two passages which seem to refer to the 
 custom of angling, though they really bear on a different subject- 
 One of these is to be found in Ezek. xxxviii. : " And I will 
 turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring 
 thee forth and all thine army, horses and horsemen." There is 
 another passage of a similar character in Amos iv. 2 : " The 
 Lord God hath sworn by His holiness, that, lo, the days shall 
 come upon you, that He will take you away with hooks, and 
 your posterity with fish-hooks." 
 
 The word which is here translated as "hook" may more 
 properly be rendered as " ring," and the prophet alludes to the 
 cruel custom then prevalent of passing a sharpened hook through 
 the nose or cheek of a prisoner taken in war, twisting it into 
 a ring, tying a cord to it, and so leading him just as a bull is led 
 by the ring in the nose. 
 
 There are several references in the Scriptures to the hook used 
 for this cruel purpose. See 2 Kings xix. 28 : " Because thy 
 rage against Me and thy tumult is come up into Mine ears, 
 therefore I will put My hook in thy nose, and My bridle in thy 
 lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou 
 earnest." 
 
 The reader will perceive how much more forcible is this 
 passage when understood rightly than when the word " hook " 
 is taken as signifying a mere fish-hook, the sum of it being that 
 the Assyrians should be made captives and slaves, and driven 
 back to the country whence they came. The passage in Ezek. 
 xxix. 4 must be taken in the same sense : " But 1 will put 
 hooks in thy jaws." 
 
 That the spear was used in the old Scriptural times as it 
 is at the present is shown from several passages of Holy Writ. 
 See, for example, Job xli. 7 : " Canst thou fill his skin with 
 barbed irons? or his head with fish-spears?" as also in the 
 same chapter, "The sword of him that layeth at him cannot 
 hold : the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. 
 
 " He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
 
 574 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 " The arrow cannot make him flee : sling-stones are turned 
 with him into stubble. 
 
 " Darts are counted as stubble : he laugheth at the shaking of 
 a spear" (ver. 2629). 
 
 Fishing with the spear is much used in the smaller tributary 
 streams of the Jordan, and the weapon, instead of being many- 
 pointed and barbed in trident fashion, has but one point, and is 
 without barbs. With these spears the people contrive to catch 
 a considerable variety of Fish. 
 
 We now come to the practice of catching Fish by the net, a 
 custom to which the various Scriptural writers frequently refer, 
 sometimes in course of historical narrative, and sometimes by 
 way of allegory or metaphor. The reader will remember that 
 the net was also used on land for the purpose of catching wild 
 animals, and that many of the allusions to the net which occur 
 in the Old Testament refer to the land and not to the water. 
 
 The commonest kind of net, which was used in the olden 
 times as it is now, was the casting-net. This kind of net is 
 circular, and is loaded all round its edge with weights, and sus- 
 pended by the middle to a cord. When the fisherman throws 
 this net, he gathers it up in folds in his arms, and, with a pecu- 
 liar swing of the arms, only to be learned by long practice, 
 flings it so that it spreads out and falls in its circular form upon 
 the surface of the water. It rapidly sinks to the bottom, the 
 loaded circumference causing it to assume a cup-like form, 
 enclosing within its meshes all the Fish that happen to be 
 under it as it falls. When it has reached the bottom, the 
 fisherman cautiously hauls in the rope, so that the loaded edges 
 gradually approach each other, and by their own weight cling 
 together and prevent the Fish from escaping as the net is slowly 
 drawn ashore. 
 
 This kind of net is found, with certain modifications, in 
 nearly all parts of the world. The Chinese are perhaps supreme 
 in their management of it, They have a net of extraordinary 
 size, and cast it by flinging it over their backs, the huge circle 
 spreading itself out in the most perfect manner as it falls on the 
 water. 
 
 At the present day, when the fishermen use this net they 
 wade into the sea as far as they can, and then cast it. In 
 consequence of this custom, the fishermen are always naked
 
 FISHES. 575 
 
 while engaged in their work, wearing nothing but a thick cap in 
 order to save themselves from sun-stroke. It is probable that 
 on the memorable occasion mentioned by St. John, in chap, xxi., 
 all the fishermen were absolutely, and not relatively naked 
 i.e. that they wore no clothes at all, not even the ordinary 
 tunic. 
 
 That a great variety of nets was used by the ancient Jews is 
 evident from the fact that there are no less than ten words to 
 signify different kinds of net. At the present day we have 
 very great difficulty in deciding upon the exact interpretation 
 of these technical terms, especially as in very few cases arc 
 we assisted either by the context or by the etymology of tin- 
 words. It is the same in all trades or pursuits, and we can 
 easily understand how our own names of drag-net, seine, trawl, 
 and keer-drag would perplex any commentator who happened 
 to live some two thousand years after English had ceased to be 
 a living language. 
 
 Four or five of the Hebrew words give no clue whatever, 
 being simply derived from a root that signifies weaving, and 
 that therefore merely indicates the fact that the articles in 
 question are nets. Some of them are derived from a \vonl 
 which signifies lying in wait, and another from a word which 
 signifies catching or seizing. 
 
 The translators who rendered the Hebrew into the familiar 
 form of the Septuagint either were unable to distinguish be- 
 tween the various Hebrew terms, or did not think that any 
 discrimination was needed, inasmuch as they sometimes ivndei 
 the same Hebrew word by several Greek equivalents, and some- 
 times use the same Greek word to express several Hebrew 
 terms. 
 
 When we come to the New Testament, we find a certain 
 feeling of relief, because the three words used to signify 
 different kinds of nets are easily understood. 
 
 There is, for example, the ampUUestron (a^iftXijcrpov), which 
 is undoubtedly a casting net, as is signified by the etymology 
 of the word, which is derived from two Greek words signifying 
 to cast around. This word is used by Herodotus in a sort ol 
 parable related by Cyrus to the lonians and ^Eolians, who had 
 refused to revolt from Croesus when Cyrus asked them to do so ; 
 but, when they found he wae sure to be their master, they sent
 
 576 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 an embassy to ask to be admitted among his subjects on the 
 same terms which they had enjoyed when under the rule of 
 Crcesus. 
 
 When the embassy came before Cyrus, he only answered 
 them with a parable : " A piper, seeing some fishes in the sea, 
 began to pipe, expecting that they would come ashore ; but, 
 finding his hopes disappointed, he took a casting-net, and 
 enclosed a great number of fishes, and drew them out. When 
 he saw them leaping about, he said to the fishes, ' Cease your 
 dancing, since when I piped you would not come out and 
 dance. " 
 
 The reader will doubtless have noticed the singular analogy 
 between this parable and the saying of our Lord, " I have 
 piped to you, and ye have not danced." 
 
 This is the net that is mentioned in Matt. iv. 18 : " And 
 Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon 
 called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net (amphi- 
 blestron) into the sea." 
 
 The second word, diktuon (IKTVOV), is derived from another 
 word signifying to throw ; so that if we use the expression 
 " casting-net " for the word amphiblestron, and " throwing- 
 net" for the word diktuon, we shall be tolerably accurate. 
 Practically both words are used for the same net, as we find 
 by proceeding further with the sacred narration. 
 
 After mentioning that the future Apostles were casting a net 
 (amphiblestron), St. Matthew proceeds as follows : " And He said 
 unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. 
 
 " And they straightway left their nets (diktud), and followed 
 Him " (ver. 1 9, 20). In the following verse, where James and 
 John are mentioned as being occupied in mending their nets 
 after the wont of all practical fishermen, the word which is 
 translated as " nets " is diktua. 
 
 If we turn to John xxi. we find the same word employed. 
 
 After the Resurrection, the fisher Apostles were pursuing their 
 craft by night, as is still the custom, and had caught nothing a 
 very serious loss to them. Then at daybreak they saw their 
 risen Lord standing on the seashore, and, as was several times 
 the case after the Eesurrection, did not recognise Him. He then 
 told them to cast the net (diktuon) over the right hand of the 
 boat, and as soon as that was done the net was filled with Fishes,
 
 FISTTRS. 57 7 
 
 Now the knowledge of the real meaning of the word diktv.c 
 gives to this passage a signification which it would not other- 
 wise possess. 
 
 In ver. 11, St. John (who was one of the actors in the 
 scene, and who therefore writes with the precision of an eye- 
 witness) states that the number of large Fishes was a hundred 
 and fifty-three, and yet the net was not broken. Knowing that 
 the casting-net is comparatively small, we now see that a 
 hundred and fifty-three large Fishes would completely fill a net 
 which could be cast by one man, and that the miraculous 
 element was twofold. 
 
 Firstly, the complete filling of the net with large Fishes, 
 whereas six or seven small Fishes are the usual complement of a 
 casting-net ; and, secondly, the fact that the net which was held 
 merely by a single rope in the middle, and which retained its 
 contents simply by the weight of the leads round its margin, did 
 not give way, and allow the enclosed Fish to escape. 
 
 Indeed, the very fact that a casting-net took such a multitude 
 of Fishes at once opened the eyes of St. John, who exclaimed 
 to his fellow Apostles, " It is the Lord." St. Peter, with the 
 impetuous zeal of his nature, acknowledged the truth of the 
 exclamation, and, too impatient to wait until the boats could 
 land, girt 'his fisher's tunic upon him, leaped into the sea, and 
 swam ashore. 
 
 The third Greek word which is translated as "net" is sagent 
 '(aa^rjvri], a word which still survives in our term "Seine." 
 
 The Sagene, or seine-net, was made in lengths, any number of 
 which could be joined together, so as to enclose a large space of 
 water. The upper edge was kept at the surface of the water by 
 floats, and the lower edge sunk by weights. 
 
 This net was always taken to sea in vessels, and when 
 " shot " the various lengths were joined together, and the net 
 extended in a line, with a boat at each end. The boats then 
 gradually approached each other, so as to bring the net into a 
 semicircle, and finally met, enclosing thereby a vast number of 
 Fishes in their meshen walls. The water was then beaten, so as 
 to frighten the Fishes and drive them into the meshes, and the 
 net was then either taken ashore, or lifted by degrees on board 
 the boats, and the Fish removed from it. 
 
 As in a net of this kind Fishes of all sorts are enclosed, the 
 
 P P
 
 578 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 contents are carefully examined, and those which are unfit for 
 eating are thrown away. Even at the present day much care is 
 taken in the selection, but in the ancient times the fishermen 
 were still more cautious, every Fish having to be separately 
 examined in order that the presence both of fins and scales 
 might be assured before the captors could send it to the market. 
 
 It is to this custom that Christ alludes in the well-known 
 parable of the net : " Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto 
 a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind ; 
 
 " Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, 
 and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away." 
 Compare also Habakkuk i. 14 17. 
 
 THE important part taken by Fish in the earlier scriptural days 
 is shown by the fact that in Jerusalem there was not only a 
 fish-market, but that the gate which opened upon that market 
 was called the Fish-gate. See 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14 : " Now after 
 this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side 
 of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish- 
 gate." 
 
 Afterwards, when Nehemiah obtained permission from Arta- 
 xerxes to rebuild the burnt and broken-down walls of Jerusalem, 
 he restored the Fish-gate as it had been before : " But the fish- 
 gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams 
 thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the 
 bars thereof" (Neh. iii. 3). 
 
 About ten years afterwards, when the city had been rebuilt 
 and repeopled, the fish-market was again established, the dealers 
 being chiefly men of Tyre, who took advantage of the neglect of 
 the law which had been the result of the captivity among 
 idolaters, and sold their goods on the Sabbath day : " There dwelt 
 men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of 
 ware, and sold on the Sabbath unto the children of Judah, and 
 in Jerusalem " (N"eh. xiii. 16). 
 
 It is evident that the Fish which these traders brought must 
 have been dried and salted, or otherwise they would not have 
 borne the journey to Jerusalem from Tyre. Dried Fish were, 
 according to Herodotus, largely used in Egypt, and it is probable 
 that the Jews learned the art of drying and salting Fish for 
 future vise during their captivity in that land.
 
 FISHES. 579 
 
 THERE are one or two passages in the Scriptures which relate 
 to Fish, though in a less direct manner than those which have 
 been quoted. One of them refers to the times of drought which 
 occasionally visit Palestine, and which always bring with them 
 terrible privations, and sometimes cause actual famine. See, for 
 example, Isa. 1. 2 : " Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I 
 make the rivers a wilderness : their fish stinketh, because there 
 is no water, and dieth for thirst." These words exactly express 
 the condition of the country after a long drought. The springs 
 are gradually exhausted from the absence of rain, the large rivers 
 sink lower and lower in their beds, and the little streams and 
 tributaries dry up altogether, leaving their inhabitants to perish 
 for want of water. 
 
 By way of contrast to this passage, we will take another, 
 which speaks, not of death, but of life. It occurs in Ezek. 
 xlvii. 10, and forms part of the vision in which the future of 
 the Church was foretold : 
 
 " And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth, 
 which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live : 
 and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these 
 waters shall come thither : for they shall be healed ; and every- 
 thing shall live whither the river cometh. 
 
 " And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon 
 it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim ; they shall be a place lo 
 spread forth nets ; their fish shall be according to their kinds, 
 as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many." 
 
 Now this is one of the many passages which might be 
 passed over lightly, because its general signification is so evi- 
 dent, and yet which requires to be understood before its full 
 force can be comprehended. Both these places, En-gedi and 
 En-eglaim, are on the shores of the Dead Sea, in which no 
 creature can live. Thousands of small Fishes are daily carried 
 into the Dead Sea from the Jordan, and as soon as the fresh 
 water of the river mingles with the poisonous waves of the 
 Dead Sea the Fishes die. Putting aside as foreign to the pur- 
 pose of this work the metaphorical signification of the passage, 
 we find that the prophet foretold a complete regeneration of the 
 waters, so that, instead of destroying every creature that entered 
 them, the Fishes should multiply so that fishermen should ply 
 their trade from one part of the Dead Sea to another. 
 
 p P 2
 
 580 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Again, in Hosea iv-. 3, where the destruction of Fish is men- 
 tioned among the plagues that would follow the continual 
 disobedience of the Israelites : " Because there is no truth, nor 
 mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land, .... 
 
 " Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth 
 therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with 
 the fowls of heaven : yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be 
 taken away." 
 
 LASTLY, we come to the religious, or rather superstitious, 
 part played by Fish in the ancient times. That the Egyptians 
 employed Fish as material symbols of Divine attributes we learn 
 from secular writers, such as Herodotus and Strabo. 
 
 The Jews, who seem to have had an irrepressible tendency to 
 idolatry, and to have adopted the idols of every people with 
 whom they came in contact, resuscitated the Fish-worship of 
 Egypt as soon as they found themselves among the Philistines. 
 We might naturally imagine that as the Israelites were bitterly 
 opposed to their persistent enemy, who trod them under foot 
 and crushed every attempt at rebellion for more than three 
 hundred years, they would repudiate the worship as well as the 
 rule of their conquerors. But, on the contrary, they adopted the 
 worship of Dagon, the Fish-god, who was the principal deity 
 of the Philistines, and erected temples in his honour. 
 
 Their tendency to this Fish-worship is. specially noticed in the 
 commandment that they were not to worship " the likeness of 
 anything that creepeth on the ground" (i.e. serpent- worship), 
 "the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the 
 earth" (Deut. iv. 18). 
 
 We learn from 1 Sam. v. 4 the form of this idol : " When 
 they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was 
 fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord ; 
 and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were 
 cut off upon the threshold ; only the stump of Dagon was left 
 to him." 
 
 If the reader will refer to this passage, he will see that the 
 latter part is rendered in the marginal reading as "the fishy 
 part was left to him." The Jewish Bible has nearly the same 
 reading, " only a fish-stump had remained of him." 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that Dagon had the head, body, and
 
 PISHES. 581 
 
 arms of a man, and that the figure terminated in a Fish's tail. 
 In fact, there is little doubt that to the various figures of this 
 deity is owing the wide-spread belief in mermen. We find the 
 same image among the Assyrians, who not only represented the 
 god as half man and half fish, but who dressed his priest in a 
 garment representing the skin of a Fish, with the head worn us 
 a helmet, and the rest of the skin flowing down the back. 
 
 We find precisely the same worship at the present day in 
 Siam, where Dagon has exactly the same form as among the 
 Philistines of old. There is now before me a photograph of 
 a great temple at Ayutia, the entrance to which is guarded by 
 two huge images of the Fish-god. They are about sixty feet in 
 height, and have both legs and feet like man, but in addition 
 the lower part of the body is modified into the tail of a Fish, 
 which, in common with the whole of the body, is covered with 
 gilded scales. 
 
 It is conjectured that the Fish was chosen as an emblem of 
 fecundity, on account of the wonderful fertility of the Fish tribes. 
 That the Israelites were familiarly acquainted with this fact is 
 shown by a passage in the benediction of Jacob. In speaking 
 of Joseph, he uses these words : " The Angel which redeemed 
 me from all evil, bless the lads ; and let my name be named on 
 them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac ; and let 
 them grow into a multitude" ( " as fishes do increase," marg. 
 trans.) "in the midst of the earth" (Gen. xlviii. 16). 
 
 IN order that the reader may see examples of the typical Fish 
 which are to be found in Egypt and Palestine, 1 have added 
 three more species, which are represented in the following 
 illustration. 
 
 The uppermost figure represents the NILE PKKCH (Lates 
 Niloticus). This Fish is plentiful in the Nile, and in the 
 mouths of many Asiatic rivers. It is brown above, silvery 
 white below, and may be distinguished by the armed gill- 
 covers, and the three strong spines of the anal fin. The 
 tongue is smooth. 
 
 Immediately below the Nile Perch is the STAR-GAZEK (Uran- 
 oscopus sealer}. 
 
 This Fish is found in the Mediterranean, and derives its name 
 from the singular mode in which the eyes ore set in the head,
 
 582 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 so that it looks upwards instead of sideways. It is one of the 
 mud-lovers, a fact which accounts for the peculiar position of 
 the eyes. It is said to feed after the fashion of the fishing- 
 frog i.e. by burying itself in the mud and attracting other Fishes 
 
 FISH OF F.WVPT AWJ PALKSTINE. 
 
 1. Nius PERCH. 2. SURMUU.KT. 3. STAK HAZES. 
 
 " W remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely." N'L'MB. xi. 5. 
 
 by a worm-like appendage of its mouth, and pouncing on them 
 before they are aware of their danger. 
 
 This is not a pretty Fish, and as it is very spiny, is not 
 pleasant to the grasp, but its flesh is very good, and it is much 
 valued by those who can obtain it. 
 
 The last Fish to be noticed is the SURMULLET (Mullus Sur- 
 muletus], a Fish that is equally remarkable for the beauty of its 
 colours and the excellence of its flesh.
 
 IN VEETEB HATES.
 
 MOLLUSCS. 
 
 The purple of Scripture Various Molluscs from which it ia obtained The 
 common Dog- Whelk of England The sac containing the purple dye Curios 
 change of colour Mode of obtaining the dye The Tyrian purple The kinj- 
 of the Ethiopians and the purple robe The professional purple dyers- 
 Various words expressive of different shades of purple Care taken to keep the 
 preparation of the dye secret. 
 
 LEAVING the higher forms of animal life, we now pass to the 
 Invertebrated Animals which are mentioned in Scripture. 
 
 As may be inferred from the extreme looseness of nomen- 
 clature which prevails among the higher animals, the species 
 which can be identified are comparatively few, and of them but 
 a very few details are given in the Scriptures. 
 
 Taking them in their zoological order, we will begin with the 
 MOLLUSCS. 
 
 WE are all familiar with the value which was set by the 
 ancients upon the peculiar dye which may be called by the 
 name of Imperial Purple. In the first place, it was exceedingly 
 costly, not only for its richness of hue, but from the great 
 difficulty with which a sufficient quantity could be procured fen- 
 staining a dress. Purple was exclusively a royal colour, which 
 might not be worn by a subject. Among the ancient Komans. 
 during the times of the Ctesars, any one who ventured to appear 
 in a dress of purple would do so at the peril of his life. In 
 the consular days of Koine, the dress of the consuls was white, 
 striped with purple ; but the Caesars advanced another step in 
 luxury, and dyed the whole toga of tin's costly hue. 
 
 The colour of the dye is scarcely what we understand by the 
 term " purple," i.e. a mixture of blue and red. It has but very 
 little blue in it, and has been compared by the ancients to 
 the colour of mnvlv-clotted blood. It is obtained from several
 
 586 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Molluscs belonging to the great Whelk family, the chief of which 
 is the Murex brandaris. Another species is Murex trunculus, 
 another is Purpura hcemastoma, and we have a fourth on our 
 own coast, the common Dog- Whelk, or Dog-Periwinkle (Pur- 
 pura lapillus}. 
 
 The shell is shaped something like that of a whelk, but is 
 very smooth and porcelain-like, and is generally white, orna- 
 mented with several coloured bands. It is, however, one of the 
 most variable of shells, differing not only in colour but in form. 
 It always inhabits the belt of the shore between tide-marks, and 
 preys upon other Molluscs, such as the. mussel and periwinkle, 
 literally licking them to pieces with its long riband tongue: 
 
 This tongue is beset with rows of hooked teeth, exactly like 
 the shark-tooth weapons of the Samoan and Mangaian Islanders, 
 and with it the creature is enabled to bore through the shells of 
 mussels and similar Molluscs, and to eat the enclosed animal. 
 It is very destructive to periwinkles, thrusting its tongue through 
 the mouth of the shell, piercing easily the operculum by which 
 the entrance is closed, and gradually scooping out the unfor- 
 tunate inmate. 
 
 Even the bivalves, which can shut themselves up between 
 two shells, fare no better, the tongue of the Dog-Whelk rasping 
 a hole in the hard shell in eight-and-forty hours. 
 
 Any. of rny readers who desire to obtain a very fair specimen 
 of the old imperial purple can do so without difficulty. 
 
 Let him go down to the sea-shore, and collect a number of 
 Dog-Whelks a task of no difficulty, as a bushel may be obtained 
 in a very short time. Let him provide himself with a piece of 
 perfectly clean linen, or pure white woollen fabric, and a pair of 
 fine scissors or a sharp knife. 
 
 In order to procure the animal, the shell must be broken with 
 a sharp blow of a small hammer, and the receptacle of the 
 colouring matter can then be seen behind the head, and recog- 
 nised by its lighter hue. 
 
 When it is opened, a creamy sort of matter exudes. It is 
 'yellowish, and gives no promise of its future richness of hue. 
 There is only one drop of this matter in each animal, and it is 
 about sufficient in quantity to stain a piece of linen the size of a 
 sixpence. 
 
 The best mode of seeing the full beauty of the purple is to
 
 MOLLUSCS. 537 
 
 take a number of the Molluscs, and to stain as large a surface as 
 possible. The piece of linen should then be exposed to the rays 
 of the sun, when it will go through a most curious series of 
 colours. The yellow begins to turn green, and, after a while, the 
 stained portions of the linen will be entirely green, the yellow 
 having been vanquished by the blue. By degrees the blue pre- 
 dominates more and more over the yellow, until the linen is no 
 more green, but blue. Then, just as the yellow yielded to the 
 blue, the blue yields to red, and becomes first violet, then purple, 
 and lastly assumes the blood-red hue of royalty. 
 
 The colour is very permanent, and, instead of fading by time, 
 seems rather to brighten. Some two hundred years ago there 
 was an established trade in this dye in Ireland ; but it has long 
 ago been crushed by the cheaper, though less permanent, dyes 
 which have since been invented. 
 
 In some cases the ancients appear not to have troubled them- 
 selves with the complicated operation of taking the animal out 
 of the shell, opening the receptacle, and squeezing the contents 
 on the fabric to be dyed, but simply crushed the whole of the 
 Mollusc, so as to set the colouring matter free, and steeped the 
 cloth in the pulp. Tyre was one of the most celebrated spots 
 for this manufacture, the " Tyrian dye " being celebrated for its 
 richness. Heaps of broken shells remain to the present day as 
 memorials of the long-perished manufacture. 
 
 The value which the ancients set upon this dye is shown by 
 many passages in various books. Among others we may refer 
 to Herodotus. 
 
 Cambyses, it appears, had a design to make war upon three 
 nations, the Ammonians, the Carthaginians, and the Ethiopians. 
 He determined to invade the first by land, and the second by 
 sea ; but, being ignorant of the best method of reaching the Ethi- 
 opians, he dispatched messengers to them, nominally as ambas- 
 sadors, but practically as spies. He sent to the King of Ethiopia 
 valuable presents namely, a purple mantle, a golden necklace 
 and bracelet, an elaborate box of perfumed ointment, and a 
 cask of palm-wine, these evidently being considered a proof of 
 imperial magnificence. 
 
 The Ethiopian king ridiculed the jewels, praised the wine, 
 and asked curiously concerning the dye with which the purple 
 mantle was stained. On being told the mode of preparation, he
 
 588 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 refused to believe the visitors, and, referring to the changing 
 hues of the mantle and to the perfume of the ointment, he 
 showed his appreciation of their real character by saying that 
 the goods were deceptive, and so were the bearers. 
 
 This curious narrative occurs in the third book, chaps. 19 22. 
 
 The same historian has in another place a passing allusion 
 to the trade of catching the purple-producing whelks. In his 
 fourth book, chap. 151, he mentions a man who was a purple- 
 dyer by trade, the word signifying equally one who procures the 
 Molluscs as one who dyes the threads of which the purple fabrics 
 are woven. 
 
 The dye-producing power is .not restricted to the whelks, but 
 is shared by other Molluscs. For example, the Diadem Stair- 
 case Shell (Scalaria diadema) secretes a substance which pro- 
 duces a purple hue, and the Gerithium telescopium produces a 
 dye which retains its green hue, instead of passing into blue 
 and red. 
 
 The Hebrew word aryaman, which signifies the regal purple, 
 occurs several times in Scripture, and takes a slightly different 
 form according to the Chaldaic or Hebraic idiom. 
 
 For example, we find it in Exod. xxv. 4 : " This is the offering 
 which ye shall take of them : gold, and silver, and brass, 
 
 " And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen," &c. &c. 
 
 It occurs again in 2 Chron. ii. 7 : " Send me now therefore a 
 man cunning to work in gold, and in .silver, and in brass, and in 
 iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue." These words are 
 repeated in ver. 14. 
 
 A very important use of this word is found in Dan. v. 7 : 
 "And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, 
 Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpreta- 
 tion thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet " (" purple " in margin), 
 " and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third 
 ruler in the kingdom." Here we find that the dye in question 
 was a regal one, that the wearing it was a matter of sumptuary 
 law, and that the fact of being allowed to wear it was a sign 
 that the wearer was of the very highest rank. 
 
 The Jewish Bible invariably translates the word as "red- 
 purple." 
 
 That the preparers of the precious purple colour took care to 
 preserve their art a secret, is evident from the writings of the
 
 THE SNAIL. 589 
 
 Talmndists, who had the very vaguest ideas respecting the dye. 
 They knew that it was obtained from a marine Mollusc, but 
 thought that the creature only made its appearance once in 
 seventy years, and that this scarcity was the cause of its 
 costliness. They said that the dye obtained from one sea was 
 blackish, evidently referring to the ink of the cuttle ; that 
 when it was obtained from another it was violet, and that the 
 Phoenician waters alone produced the true red-purple hue. 
 
 They accounted for its colour by saying that the animal took 
 the colour of the sea which it inhabited : the sea was like the 
 sky which it reflected, the sky was like the throne of God, and 
 the throne of God was like the sapphire. Therefore, the dye 
 was like the sapphire. It is not impossible even that the dyers 
 exhibited specimens of the Violet Snail, or Janthina, which is 
 of a rich blue colour, and which would readily be accepted as 
 the source of the Tyrian dye. 
 
 THE SNATL. 
 
 The Snail which melteth Rendering of the Jewish Bible Theory respecting tho 
 track of the Snail The Hebrew word Shablul Various Snails of Palestine. 
 
 THERE is a very remarkable and not very intelligible passage 
 in Ps. Iviii. 8 : " As a snail which melteth, let every one of them 
 pass away." The Jewish Bible renders the passage in a WHY 
 which explains the idea which evidently prevailed at the time 
 when the Psalms were composed : " As a snail let him melt as 
 he passeth on." 
 
 The ancients had an idea that the slimy track made by a 
 Snail as it crawled along was subtracted from the substance of 
 its body, and that in consequence the farther it crept, the smaller 
 it became, until at last it wasted entirely away. The com- 
 mentators on the Talmud took this view of the case. 
 Hebrew word shablul, which undoubtedly does signify n Snail 
 of some kind, is thus explained : " The Shablul is a creeping
 
 590 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 thing : when it comes out of its shell, saliva pours from itself, 
 until it becomes liquid, and so dies." 
 
 Other explanations of this passage have been offered, but 
 there is no doubt that the view taken by these commentators is 
 the correct one, and that the Psalmist, when he wrote the 
 terrible series of denunciations in which the passage in question 
 occurs, had in his mind the popular belief regarding the gradual 
 wasting away of the Snail as it " passeth on." 
 
 It is needless to say that no particular species of Snail is 
 mentioned, and almost as needless to state that in Palestine 
 there are many species of Snails, to any or all of which these 
 words are equally applicable. 
 
 THE ONYCHA. 
 
 Ingredients of the sacred inceuse The Onyx, or Onycha Derivation of the 
 word The Arabic Dofr The Doofu of Abyssinia Odour of the perfume. 
 
 IN Exod. xxx, 34 there occurs a remarkable word, shecheleth, 
 which is used to describe one of the ingredients of the incense 
 to be used in Divine worship. The Jewish Bible renders the 
 word rightly, " onycha," while Buxtorf renders it by " onyx," a 
 word which is likely to mislead the reader, and to cause him to 
 believe it to be a mineral, and not an animal substance. 
 
 The Onycha is the operculum of one of the Strombi or Wing- 
 shells, and derives its name from the resemblance which it 
 bears in those shells to a nail or claw. The Greek word onyx 
 primarily signifies a nail, and is indeed the origin of our own 
 word. Secondarily, it is used to denote a precious stone, partly 
 because the white bands of the sardonyx bear some resemblance 
 to the white semi-lunar marks at the base of human nails. In 
 consequence of the resemblance of the operculum to a claw or 
 nail, the Arabs call the Wing-shell " Dofr-el-afrit," or Afrit's 
 (i.e. demon's) claw. 
 
 The opercuhira of the Wing-shells has a sharp and powerful 
 scent when burned, and, when mixed with substances more
 
 THE ONYCHA 591 
 
 fragrant but less powerful, it has the effect of adding to their 
 potency if not to their fragrance. 
 
 A remarkable corroboration of this rendering occurs in Mr. 
 Mansfield Parkyns's valuable " Life in Abyssinia." Tri the 
 Appendix to vol. i. in which the commerce of Abyssinia and 
 the Eed Sea is described, the following entry occurs : " October 5, 
 1848. Sailed for Suakim in a native boat. Cargo : muslins, 
 marawdi, Surat tobacco, sandal-wood, and doofu. This article 
 is the operculum or horny substance with which some species 
 of shell-fish are furnished to protect the mouth of their shells. 
 These in some parts of Nubia are used for perfume, being burnt 
 with sandal-wood." 
 
 Here we have one or two points worthy of notice. In the 
 first place, it is evident that the Doofu of the Abyssinians is 
 identical with the Dofr of the Arabs. In the second place we 
 find that it is not used alone as a perfume, but is burned 
 together with the fragrant sandal-wood. Lastly, we find that 
 the materials of the incense which were ordained for the special 
 use of the Jewish worship were derived from North-Eastern 
 Africa, and were in all probability familiar to the Jews from 
 their long residence in Egypt. 
 
 The opercula of all the Strombida possess this powerful, 
 though not very fragrant odour, which has been compared to 
 that of spices, or castoreum, and probably acts the part which is 
 played in many modern perfumes by materials which in them- 
 selves possess an odour the reverse of fragrant. 
 
 The mineral onyx is represented by a different Hebrew word, 
 namely, shoham.
 
 692 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE PEAKL. 
 
 The Pearl of Scripture Wisdom compared to Pearl Different renderings of the 
 Hebrew word Opinions of the Talmudists Structure of Pearls The Pearls of 
 the marine and aquatic mussels Pearl-fisheries of the Conway Metaphorical 
 uses of the Pearl The Pearl of great price Casting Pearls before swine An 
 ancient proverb. 
 
 THERE is only one passage in the Old Testament in which can 
 be found the word which is translated as PEARL, and it is certain 
 that the word in question may have another interpretation. 
 
 The word in question is gabish, and occurs in Job xxviii. 18. 
 Treating of wisdom, in that magnificent passage beginning, " But 
 where shall Wisdom be found, and where is the place of under- 
 standing ? " the sacred writer uses these words, " No mention 
 shall be made of coral, or of pearls : for the price of wisdom is 
 above rubies." This is the only passage in the Bible which 
 contains the word in its simple form, but there are two others 
 in which it is found with the addition of the syllable el, con- 
 nected with the word abne, or stone. In this form, it is trans- 
 lated in the Authorized Version as " hailstones." 
 
 See Ezek. xiii. 11 : "Say unto. them which daub it with un- 
 tempered morter, that it shall fall : there shall be an overflowing 
 shower; and ye, great Hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy 
 wind shall rend it." Also xxxviii. 22 : " And I will plead 
 against him with pestilence and with blood ; and I will rain 
 upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that 
 are with him, an overflowing rain, and great Hailstones, fire, and 
 brimstone." 
 
 The Jewish Bible accepts the rendering of " hailstones " in 
 both these passages, but affixes the mark of doubt to the word, 
 vhereas in Job xxviii. 18 it translates the word gabish as 
 " pearls" without using any mark of doubt. In Buxtorf's Hebrew 
 Lexicon, the word is translated as " Unio, Margarita pretiosa." 
 It is not, however, difficult to see that the word gabish may
 
 THE PEARL. 593 
 
 primarily signify either ice or Pearl, and that the one may have 
 been used metaphorically for the other. 
 
 The Talmudical writers had much to say on the subject of 
 Pearls, but, before proceeding to their curious disquisitions, it 
 will be as well to describe briefly the Pearl and its origin. 
 
 We are all familiar with the shining inner coating or " nacre " 
 possessed by many bivalve molluscs, such as the common mussels 
 and oysters. This coating is sometimes found upon extraneous 
 substances deposited on the " mantle " of the animal, and then 
 takes the name of " Pearl." Sometimes these are found in the 
 common oyster. 
 
 For example, I have before me some Pearls about as large 
 as No. 5 shot, that I took out of a single plateful of oysters. 
 They are dull in colour and irregular in form, but they are per- 
 fect Pearls. 
 
 Then the common edible mussel frequently contains Pearls, 
 which, however, are almost invariably small, and compara- 
 tively valueless. It is mentioned by Pliny that Julius Caesar 
 obtained in Britain a sufficient number of Pearls to cover a 
 breastplate, which he dedicated to Venus, and hung in her 
 temple. It is evident from Pliny's account that the Pearls 
 in question were small and comparatively valueless, and it 
 has been shrewdly suggested that Caesar only presented them 
 to the goddess because the Roman ladies would not have 
 worn them. 
 
 These Pearls were in all probability obtained from the common 
 edible mussel which grows so abundantly on our coasts, and not, 
 as has been generally thought, from the river Pearl-mussel, 
 which really produces Pearls of considerable value. The cele- 
 brated pearl-fishers of the Conway employ the edible mussel, 
 and sell the Pearls at a certain price per ounce. 
 
 The scientific name of the river Pearl-shell is Unio marga- 
 ritiferus, which is found in best condition in rapid mountain 
 streams. It is plentiful in many of the Irish rivers, from which 
 Pearls of considerable value have been procured. One of these 
 Pearls, seen by Sir K. Redding set in a necklace, was purchased 
 for thirty pounds by the owner, who had refused nearly three 
 times the sum for it. 
 
 Perhaps the most celebrated Pearl-mussel is that of the 
 Chinese, Dipsas plicatus. This species attains a considerable 
 
 QQ
 
 594 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 size, a specimen in my possession being seven inches in length 
 and five in width. 
 
 The Chinese make a singular use of this mussel. They string 
 a number of globular pellets, and introduce them between the 
 
 PEARL OYSTER. 
 
 "And the tirelve gates were tivelve pearls." REV. xxu 21. 
 
 valves of the mussel, so that in course of time the creature 
 deposits a coating of pearly substance upon them, and forms a 
 very good imitation of real Pearls. They also stamp little 
 images, popularly called josses, out of metal, and force the animal 
 to cover them with nacre in a similar manner. Six such josses 
 are in my specimen. Frequently, however, these incorrigible 
 imitators actually counterfeit the sham pearls, merely taking 
 the josses and pellets, laying them in shells from which the 
 animal has been removed, and washing them with a solution
 
 THE PEARL. 595 
 
 which, when dry, looks so like nacre that it cannot be distin- 
 guished from that substance without much difficulty 
 
 The best Pearls are those which are procured from the well- 
 known PEARL OYSTER (Meleagrina margaritifera), which is found 
 in several parts of the world, and which constitutes the prin- 
 cipal source of wealth to the localities where it most abounds. 
 
 THE Talmudical commentators wrote rather copiously about 
 the Pearl, respecting the nature of which they were somewhat 
 perplexed, as it was a gem and yet not a mineral They thought 
 that it lay at the bottom of the sea, under flat, slab-like stones 
 some of which had Pearls beneath them, but the greater part 
 were without them. In consequence of the difficulty of diving 
 and the precariousness of the search, a number of proverbs 
 were current. For example, a person who persevered in some 
 fruitless search was said to be a diver who brorfght up stones 
 without Pearls. If one person laboured and another took the 
 credit, it was said that the one would not have found the Pearl 
 if the other had not brought up the stone. 
 
 In consequence of the labour and research required for seek- 
 ing wisdom, it was proverbially likened to a Pearl, and in this 
 sense we must understand the warning of our Lord, not to cast 
 Pearls before swine. The " pearl of great price " is another form 
 of the same metaphor. 
 
 This metaphor holds good in almost all Oriental languages. 
 
 There is also a proverb which bears a curious resemblance to 
 the well-known " painting the lily and gilding refined gold :" 
 " Whoso praises a priceless pearl undervalues it." 
 
 QQ 2
 
 596 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 Insects Beetles not mentioned in Scripture The Locust Various species of the 
 insect, and different words used to signify it The Arbeh of Scripture, and its 
 derivation The two migratory Locusts at rest and on the wing The Locust 
 swarms Gordon Cumming's account Progress of the insect hosts- -Vain 
 attempts to check them Tossed up and do\vu as a Locust Effect of the winds 
 on the insect The east and the west winds Locusts used for food Ancient 
 and modern travellers The food of St. John. 
 
 CONSIDERING the vast variety of insects which are found in 
 Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, it is somewhat remarkable that so 
 few should be mentioned by name. Not one single coleopteran 
 is mentioned ; for, although the Hebrew word chargol, which 
 occurs in Lev. xi. 21, 22, is rendered in the Authorized Version 
 as " beetle," the context shows that it could not have been a 
 coleopterous insect at all, but must have belonged to the locusts. 
 We will therefore pass to the insect next in order 
 
 THE LOCUST. 
 
 OF the LOCUSTS there are several -species in Palestine, two of 
 which are represented in the accompanying plate. Those on the 
 ground are the common Migratory Locusts ((Edipoda migra- 
 toria), while those on the wing, which have long heads, are a 
 species of Truocalis. 
 
 At least four species of Locust are mentioned in the Scrip- 
 tures, one of them being the beetle of the Authorized Version ; 
 and it is probable that one or two words .which are differently 
 rendered in the Authorized Version are either names of different 
 species of Locusts, or are synonyms for the same species. 
 
 We will first take the different Hebrew words which are 
 translated as " Locust," and then proceed to the description of 
 the insects themselves. 
 
 The first of those words is arbeh, about the rendering of
 
 THE LOCUST. 597 
 
 which there is no doubt whatever. It occurs many times in 
 the Scriptures, and, even if its signification were doubtful, the 
 context would be sufficient to denote the proper rendering of 
 the word. Take, for example, the account in Exod. x. of the 
 threatened plague of Locusts. Nothing can be more terse and 
 graphic than the description of the Arbeh, its vast multitudes, 
 its sudden arrival, and its destructive power. 
 
 In Judges vl 5 the word is translated as "grasshopper." " For 
 they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came 
 as grasshoppers for multitude ; for both they and their camels 
 were without number : and they entered into the land to destroy 
 it." Translating the word rightly as " Locust," we see the real 
 force of this passage. Grasshoppers may inhabit a spot, and do 
 no great harm, but the Locusts invade whole districts, coming 
 like destructive armies upon it, and causing utter destruction as 
 long as they remain. 
 
 In 1 Kings viii. 37, Solomon speaks of the presence of the Arbeh 
 among the most terrible calamities that can befall a country, 
 and classes it with famine, drought, pestilence, and siege. In 
 Prov. xxx. 27 the same writer remarks on the curious fact that 
 these creatures are gregarious and migratory, and yet have no 
 leader, as is mostly the case with gregarious animals. " The 
 locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands." 
 
 Allusion is made to the vast number of the Arbeh in Jer. xlvi. : 
 " They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord, though it can- 
 not be searched ; because they are more than the grasshoppers, 
 and are innumerable." The voracity of the Arbeh is mentioned 
 in Joel i. 4 and ii. 25. These are but a few passages selected 
 out of the many in which the Arbeh is mentioned, in order to 
 show how completely the word corresponds with the character of 
 the Locust. The word is derived from a Hebrew root signifying 
 multitudes, and is therefore appropriately used for these insects, 
 which singly are so feeble, and collectively are so terrible. 
 . Next comes the word chagdb, which evidently signifies some 
 migratory and gregarious Locust, though we cannot say pre- 
 cisely to which species it refers. The word is mostly translated 
 as " grasshopper," and, from the context of several passages, it 
 seems to have been less in size than the Arbeh, inasmuch as 
 it is used as a metaphor to express smallness. See, for example, 
 Numb. xiii. 3133, where is recorded the false report of the spies
 
 598 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 whom Moses sent to inspect the land. " The men that went up 
 said, We be not able to go up against the people ; for they are 
 stronger than we. 
 
 " And they brought up an evil report of the land which they 
 had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, 
 through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth 
 up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in 
 it are men of a great stature. 
 
 " And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come 
 of the giants : and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers" 
 (chagabim), " and so we were in their sight." 
 
 A similar metaphor is employed by the Prophet Isaiah : " It 
 is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabi- 
 tants thereof are as grasshoppers" (xl. 22). And in Eccles. xii. 5 
 extreme weakness is forcibly indicated by the words, " the 
 grasshopper " (chagaV) " shall be a burden." 
 
 Now the two principal species of Locust which travel in 
 bands and devastate the country are the common Migratory 
 Locust ((Edipoda migratoria) and the Acridium percyrinnm. If, 
 therefore, the word arleh expresses one of these insects, it is 
 probable that the word chagab signifies the other. 
 
 The Bald Locust of Lev. xi. 22 is probably some species of 
 Truxalis, the insects belonging to this genus having long and 
 smooth heads. The Hebrew word is sallom, and the Jewish Bible 
 leaves it untranslated. The word chargol which also occurs 
 in the same passage, and is translated in the Authorized Ver- 
 sion as " beetle," is in all probability a species of Locust, as it 
 is classed with those insects which have " legs above their feet 
 to leap withal." 
 
 Besides these words, we find that others translated as " cater- 
 pillar," " palmerworm," and " cankerworm " may be synonyms for 
 the Locust, either different species, or as ' expressing the same 
 species in its various stages of development. (See Lepidoptera, 
 page 632.) 
 
 We will now pass on to the insect and its habits, taking the 
 Migratory Locust as the type of its family. 
 
 The Locust belongs to the great order of Orthoptera, or 
 straight-winged insects. They have, when fully developed, 
 four wings, the two front being thick and membraneous, while 
 the. two -hinder wings are large, delicate, translucent, and
 
 THE LOCUST. 599 
 
 folded longitudinally under the front pair of wings when the 
 insect is at rest. In the Locusts these characteristics are 
 admirably shown. The appearance of a Locust when at rest 
 and when flying is so different that the creature is at first 
 sight scarcely recognisable as the same creature. When at 
 rest, it is a compact and tolerably stout insect, with a dull 
 though delicately coloured body ; but when it takes flight it 
 appears to attain twice its previous dimensions. 
 
 The front pair of wings, which alone were seen before they 
 were expanded, became comparatively insignificant, while the 
 hinder pair, which were before invisible, became the most pro- 
 minent part of the insect, their translucent folds being coloured 
 with the most brilliant hues, according to the species. The body 
 seems to have shrunk as the wings have increased, and to have 
 diminished to half its previous size, while the long legs that pre- 
 viously were so conspicuous are stretched out like the legs of a 
 flying heron. 
 
 AH the Locusts are vegetable-feeders, and do great harm 
 wherever they happen to be plentiful, their powerful jaws 
 severing even the thick grass stems as if cut by scissors. But it 
 is only when they invade a country that their real power is felt. 
 They come flying with the wind in such vast multitudes that 
 the sky is darkened as if by thunder-clouds; and when they 
 settle, every vestige of green disappears off the face of the earth. 
 
 Mr. Gordon Gumming once saw a flight of these Locusts. 
 They flew about three hundred feet from the ground, and came 
 on in thick, solid masses, forming one unbroken cloud. On all 
 sides nothing was to be seen but Locusts. The air was full of 
 them, and the plain was covered with them, and for more than 
 an hour the insect army flew past him. When the Locusts settle, 
 they eat with such voracity that the sound caused by their jaws 
 cutting the leaves and grass can be heard at a great distance ; 
 and even the young Locusts, which have no wings, and are 
 graphically termed by the Dutch colonists of Southern Africa 
 " voet-gangers," or foot-goers, are little inferior in power of jaw 
 to the fully-developed insect. 
 
 As long as they have a favourable wind, nothing stops the 
 progress of the Locusts. They press forward just like the vast 
 herds of antelopes that cover the plains of Africa, or the bisons 
 that blacken the prairies of America, and the progress of even
 
 600 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the wingless young is as irresistible as that of the adult insects. 
 Eegirneuts of soldiers have in vain attempted to stop them. 
 Trenches have been dug across their path, only to be filled up 
 in a few minutes with the advancing hosts, over whose bodies 
 the millions of survivors continued their march. When the 
 trenches were filled with water, the result was the same; and 
 even when fire was substituted for water, the flames were 
 quenched by the masses of Locusts that fell into them. When 
 they come to a tree, they climb up it in swarms, and devour 
 every particle of foliage, not even sparing the bark of the smaller 
 branches. They ascend the walls of houses that come in the 
 line of their march, swarming in at the windows, and gnawing 
 in their hunger the very woodwork of the furniture. 
 
 We shall now see how true to nature is the terrible prophecy 
 of Joel. " A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds 
 and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains : 
 a great people and a strong ; there hath not been ever the like, 
 neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many 
 generations. 
 
 "A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame 
 burneth : the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and 
 behind them a desolate wilderness ; yea, and nothing shall 
 escape them. 
 
 " The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses ; and 
 as horsemen, so shall they run. 
 
 " Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall 
 they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the 
 stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. . . . 
 
 " They shall run like mighty men ; they shall climb the wall 
 like men of war ; and they shall march every one on his ways, 
 and they shall not break their ranks : 
 
 " Neither shall one thrust another ; they shall walk every one 
 in his path : and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not 
 be wounded. 
 
 " They shall run to and fro in the city ; they shall run upon 
 the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses ; they shall enter 
 in at the windows like a thief. 
 
 " The earth shall quake before them ; the heavens shall 
 tremble : the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars 
 shall withdraw their shining :
 
 THE LOCUST 
 'All thv trflps shall thr locust ronnimP."-DErT xxviii. 4i
 
 THE LOCUST. 
 
 TTTE plague of locusts in Southern Russia before His a -f 
 ents to undergo no abatement. We ublished 5 m ^ : 
 
 Then the poet-prophet 
 light, which he compares 
 tains, and to the compact 
 Mind like soldiers on the 
 hem is shown in verse 8, 
 ad entering the chambers 
 
 B to undergo no abatement. We published 
 resterday a letter from our Odessa Corre- 
 
 jjondent which stated that the Governor- ira te than this splendid 
 preneral of Odessa Lad just gone to Bessarabia st we have the darkness 
 p organize if possible some means of saving clouds between the 
 the peasantry from wholesale ruin. In one ^ u f 
 
 Jossarabian district a booming and. fertile , l ' een tne Dooming 
 
 (State was swept bare in a day or two, scarcely e 7 settle on it, and its 
 } vestige of the crops being left. The insects 
 ire described as rising in legions and swarming 
 p immense clouds which darken the sky. 
 jThere they alight everything is devoured. In 
 ihe words of the Hebrew prophet, " the 
 ' land is as the garden of Eden before 
 'them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. " 
 )ur Correspondent states that the pest is in- 
 reasing every year, and that in its widespread , . , 
 
 ievastation it threatens absolute ruin to whole ' re ' S WillC " at hrst si g nt 
 Russian provinces. This historic plague has l n when we understand 
 jlvrays ravaged the East. The locust is a sort refers : " I am f'one like 
 ff magnified grasshopper, with powerful wings. sse d U p anc l J own as t j ie 
 fhere is some difference of opinion among 
 jntomologists as to its capacity for flight ; but 
 
 jherecanbe no doubt that when favoured by nt strength of flight to 
 {he wind a locust army may move with great period, and to pass over 
 fwiftness to very considerable distances. They ;ommand over the direc- 
 
 tiave frequently invaded Italv and the South of j^-u fV^ ,; A v 
 
 itn the wind, lust as has 
 France, and some time since some parts of the . " 
 
 Fnited States were desolated by swarms, which ' enhrel y are they at the 
 probably came from the mountains. Ancient ; t arises the Locusts are 
 lescriptions of the plague agree so completely ner ; and if they should 
 pith modern observation as to show that this ar air-currents that 
 itrange natural phenomenon is the same in the j , , , , . , 
 
 j- T.-_L P' 1 they inhabit, they are 
 present day as it was in the dawn of history. / 
 
 There seem to be tides in the affairs of locusts wt power of extricating 
 is of men. Year after year they are produced 
 
 jn comparatively small numbers ; and then comes depends entirely on the 
 ^ season or successive seasons in which they ', b the win( , anj th 
 ieem to swaim into life. They may remain for I . J 
 
 Uf a generation in their natural home, and *' utloned m the sacnid 
 then suddenly break forth in vast migratory plague of J^cust.s, the 
 Armies in search of food. It is these huge .<e both of their arrival 
 craves of locust life which, whether ] XO( j x 10 i-{ . 
 they come periodically or by irregular out- , , .' . ' . 
 
 bursts, are the striking and dangerous feature ' 
 
 pf the plague. There is no possibility of com- lie y ma j come up upon 
 gating them when they are once on the war- the land, even all that 
 path. The ancient prophet speaks of them as
 
 ..^u. aiiuMimiu in vne united JiuisrUom 1 
 tnitary purposes, for the week ending J 
 Leteorological Office, London. 
 
 _JL_ 
 
 ,_!_ 
 
 B 
 
 liii 
 
 W pI- ? ? p. 
 
 ?>?' w; J;z! 
 
 3 
 
 422333 
 
 gggsgs 
 
 Highest. 
 
 3 
 
 4hCO ..* CO CO 
 
 Lowest 
 
 vlOO "*4 CD CJ1 O 
 
 K*S 
 
 Daily Maxima. 
 
 X CO 10 O> -* CO 
 
 '^o * -^ co en oo 
 
 Daily Minima. 
 
 :ji qi 01 cn 01 01 
 
 ci tr. O5 01 en ^ 
 
 CQCDO C5 J^CCt 
 tO O ' Ol C33 ^J 
 
 Daily Mean. 
 
 < 5 09 -3 c% g 
 
 5 < (t O <J> ^ 
 
 ^ Cu -^> CA> fO is 
 
 crcrcr 0*0*0 
 
 5 C 5 
 
 < < < -5 < 3 
 
 Above or Bel 
 Mean for the 
 
 O CO OOO CC"^ 
 
 sisig^fi 
 
 For the Week. 
 
 OG&COOCji -* 
 
 O isj -* ** fO O 
 
 W -J U Ui -- INS-J^ ^ 
 
 Since Dec. 30. 
 
 sooooo 
 
 c.y 
 
 For the Week. 
 
 Islags 
 
 10 co a) o> oi cc-j^ t g 
 
 Since Dec. 30. 
 
 
 
 No. of Rainy 
 
 
 
 Days. 
 
 ooco 'too 
 
 ss^-coEr;;: 
 
 Total Fall. 
 
 o to co ca 4 - 
 
 ; C gg C O * 
 
 '3 33 
 
 O ' CO CO CO SS 
 
 3 g B g*g 
 o 3 ro o 3 
 
 More or Le 
 than the Mea 
 for Die Wee 
 
 28SSSS 
 
 cotoeocoroo 
 
 to -D 4* Oi U><> 
 
 No, of Rainy 
 Days. 
 
 acof^Oitoca 
 
 ^^^w- ? 
 
 Total Fall. 
 
 ssssss 
 
 Ol On C7I ** -^ 
 CJi O *-4 - Oi tD 
 
 For the Week. 
 
 !ilSSS 
 
 c^ en cc cn 
 
 Since Dec. 30. 
 
 31 wro w wto 
 
 S~;S 
 
 For the Week. 
 
 StJS^^S 
 
 COTOCO coro 
 
 ho CQ -ffc *-* o ce 
 
 Since Dec. 30. 
 
 * Principal wheat-producing districts 
 
 + Principal prazinK districts. 
 ExPl/AJfATTOlT OF bUMjtf-tRY. The " Daily A 
 ;ure " is obtained from the maxima and minima t> 
 ection determinpd for each month, x'he " Mean 1 
 lie Week " is the mean daily temperature (obtainei 
 he corresponding week, derived from twenty yeai 
 1861-80). caiculated at the Meteorological Office. 
 Temperature" indicates the combined amount and 
 excess or deficit of temperature above or below 42 
 jeriod named, and is expressed in day decrees, a 
 isjnifying 1 deg. continued for 24 hours, or any otl 
 legrees for an inversely proportional numbor or hou 
 iainfall lor the Week " is tho mean rainfftU obtains 
 ibservatious (1866-80). A " rainy day" is one on \i 
 niudredth of an inch has fallen. 
 
 GENERAL REMAEKS. 
 "Weather was at first fine in England and tit 
 And and Scotland. After the 6th, however, tt 
 were entirely reversed, heavy rain falling at 
 English stations on the 6th, and still heavier i 
 >ur Midland and South-Eastern Counties on the 
 -t,,. i.,^>.,,. v,,,H nf t.hf> wrp(k foff wna
 
 THE LOCUST. 601 
 
 " And the Lord shall utter Hia voice before His army : for His 
 camp is very great ".(Joel ii. 2 11). 
 
 Nothing can be more vividly accurate than this splendid 
 description of the Locust armies. First we have the darkness 
 caused by them as they fly like black clouds between the sun 
 and the earth. Then comes the contrast between the bloomiu< 
 
 O 
 
 and fertile aspect of the land before they settle on it, and its 
 utter desolation when they leave it. Then the poet-prophet 
 alludes to the rushing noise of their flight, which he compares 
 to the sound of chariots upon the mountains, and to the compact 
 masses in which they pass over the ground like soldiers on the 
 march. The impossibility of checking them is shown in verse 8, 
 and their climbing the walls of houses and entering the chambers 
 in verse 9. 
 
 There is one passage in the Scriptures which at first sight 
 
 seems rather obscure, but is clear enough when we understand 
 
 the character of the insect to which it refers : " I am gone like 
 
 I the shadow when it declineth : I am tossed up and down as the 
 
 I locust" (Ps. cix. 23). 
 
 Although the Locusts have sufficient strength of flight to 
 I remain on the wing for a considerable period, and to pass over 
 I great distances, they have little or no command over the direc- 
 i tion of their flight, and always travel with the wind, just as has 
 j been mentioned regarding the quail. So entirely are they at the 
 ? mercy of the wind, that if a sudden gust arises the Locusts are 
 I tossed about in the most helpless manner ; and if they should 
 g 1 happen to come across one of the circular air-currents that are 
 I so frequently found in the countries which they inhabit, they are 
 m whirled round and round without the least power of extricating 
 themselves. 
 
 The course then of the Locust-swarms depends entirely on the 
 
 ^ direction of the wind. They are brought by the wind, and they 
 
 % are taken away by the wind, as is mentioned in the sacred 
 
 > narrative. In the account of the great plague of Locusts, the 
 
 wind is mentioned as the proximate cause both of their arrival 
 
 ica5t and their departure. See, for example, Exod. x. 12, 13 : 
 
 " And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over 
 iQ ire the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon 
 o^tt the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that 
 l' %he hail hath left.
 
 602 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 " And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, 
 and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land ail that day, 
 and all that night ; and when it was morning, the east wind 
 brought the locusts." 
 
 Afterwards, when Moses was brought before Pharaoh, and 
 entreated to remove the plague which had been brought upon 
 the land, the west wind was employed to take the Locusts away, 
 just as the east wind had brought them. 
 
 " He went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord. 
 
 " And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took 
 away the locusts, and cast them into the Red Sea ; there remained 
 not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt" (Exod. x. 18, 19). 
 
 Modern travellers have given accounts of these Locust armies, 
 which exactly correspond with the sacred narrative. One tra- 
 veller mentions that, after a severe storm, the Locusts were 
 destroyed in such multitudes, that they were heaped in a sort 
 of wall, varying from three to four feet in height, fifty miles in 
 length, and almost unapproachable, on account of the odour of 
 their decomposing bodies. 
 
 WE now come to the use of Locusts as food. 
 
 Very few insects have been recognised as fit for human food, 
 even among uncivilized nations, and it is rather singular that 
 the Israelites, whose dietary was so scrupulously limited, should 
 have been permitted the use of the Locust. These insects are, 
 however, eaten in all parts of the world which they frequent, 
 and in some places form an important article of diet, thus 
 compensating in some way for the amount of vegetable food 
 which they consume. 
 
 Herodotus, for example, when describing the various tribes of 
 Libyans, mentions the use of the Locust as an article of diet. 
 " The Nasamones, a very numerous people, adjoin these Auschisse 
 westward .... When they have caught locusts, they dry 
 them in the sun, reduce them to powder, and, sprinkling them 
 in milk, drink them." (Melpomene, ch. 172.) 
 
 This is precisely the plan which is followed at the present 
 day by the Bosjesmans of Southern Africa. 
 
 To them the Locusts are a blessing, and not a plague. They 
 till no ground, so that they care nothing for crops, and they 
 breed no cattle, so that they are indifferent about pasture land.
 
 603 
 the distance they light 
 
 running liUo mighty men, climbing tlio wall 
 'ike men of war, marching every one on his way 
 tnd not breaking their ranks. They have been 
 known to fill up vast trenches with the dead 
 
 bodies of the earlier regiments till the army i 
 
 k)u<ms upon them, so as 
 could advance over them as on level ground. A . . 
 
 strong wind blowing them into the sea, they liave "0 idea of avoiding 
 have beea. cast up in such numbers as to create lires, and, stifled by the 
 in intolerable stench and pestilence. They over- . cau r ht in vast numbers 
 whelm all resistance by the mere force of incal- 
 culable numbers. 
 
 The serious nature of the plague in iJbe d eateu as many as they 
 southern provinces of Russia led some time since over the fires, pulverize 
 to a meeting of tho Governors-General of eix he meal for future use, 
 Russian provinces in Odessa to discuss the best :*. w ith milk 
 means of resisting the insect invasion. Our , ,, f . 
 
 Correspondent reports that nothing has come of | vei " travellers ot the 
 the conference, and experience seems to show 
 that nothing can be done. "When the insect 
 armies are on the march they are irresistible. 
 The plague must be arrested at an earlier stage. 
 [t is not difficult to discover where the creatures 
 bird. Some doubt exists whether 
 
 are 
 
 they can 
 it seems 
 
 fly very long 
 quite certain 
 
 distances, 
 that they 
 
 and 
 are 
 
 usually hatched in the countries they desolate. 
 In the South of France the peasants collect the 
 eggs or trap the young insects. In Cyprus tho 
 representatives of our Government have put in 
 operation a method of destroying the locusts 
 which seems to have been perfectly successful. 
 A. Parliamentary Paper was published last 
 year under the title of a " Eeport on the 
 " Locust Campaign of 1884," by the Govern- 
 
 ment Engineer, Mr. S. BROWN. Till that 
 year the locusts were an 
 Mr. BKOWN reports that in 
 
 annual plague. 
 May and June 
 
 in several years previous to 1884 he had ridden 
 through dense flights of locusts, a singlo flight 
 sometimes covering several square miles. Yet in 
 1870 it was believed that Cyprus had been 
 
 many. Mr. W. G. Pal- 
 
 la," gives a description 
 a sloping bank, at a 
 
 lin large black patches, 
 of the soil around, and 
 ttracted by a strange 
 close along the ground, 
 
 arted as though struck 
 
 warm of locusts, here 
 
 :om their birthplace in 
 
 .nd wide, 
 
 e insects 
 
 here, half-stupified by 
 
 vhich warm them once 
 
 ,'ork of the sun, and it 
 ?re the most frightened, 
 able to see so huge a 
 >f a harmless, stinglcss 
 
 and we had 
 are wont to 
 
 qual this 'ship of the 
 
 almost delivered irnm tho, pest. Mr. 
 MATTEI inv.nled in 1SG2 and 18G3 a system of 
 , jiud Kc.rrcns, by which the insects were 
 caught in early stages and destroyed. In six j n ,,t so their masters, 
 or seven years the ;"H seemed to ljfi ma( J f or J y. Locusts 
 
 complete. It was officially reported that the j ft .^ swann ,,f 
 
 louiwt hail ceased to exist in the island. ^ In 
 y.^ir or two tl:< tppear, and in 1875 | 
 
 the Turkish offieiale !i ngiiin to re- ud to be delicious, and 
 
 cogni.se 1h' 'ir Little was done, how- 
 
 sver, to k l whl - u <ho Iir 
 
 wscupatiou began i.. 1878 their ravages had 
 
 onco more 1" 1:1 a "' s l' mi S of 
 
 1ST 
 
 . TUI uu; and in the iirgt 
 
 an incredible extent, 
 to taste them, what-
 
 .U"-. iuvtn^.1. kit, 
 
 thunderstorms u^u,^u m manv parts of EHP 
 = \<:'nperalure was a Iit0e below the mean 
 
 602 BIBLE ANIilAL^^ W -^Ifela=d,8.,^;K^ l 
 
 ma, .w., and Ireland, W., but above tb*, 
 d eX e OT, m ^a**"*. E - and EiuSj a b! 
 
 "And Moses stretched forth his rod l th.wh f .ntLtfcL^fI i a . we , rc , b!erved 
 
 and the Lord brought an east wind 
 
 and all that night; and when it 
 
 brought the locusts." BEiftBS amouated to 45 ' 
 
 Afterwards, when Moses was broui^iS^ 
 entreated to remove the plague whic&Si. T ' Iaatern ' 6outhera . 34 
 the land, the west wind was employe 
 just as the east wind had brought then 
 
 " He went out from Pharaoh, and 
 
 "And the Lord turned a mighty 
 
 away the locusts, and cast them into tlP^ Europe, the 
 
 not one locust in all the coasts of Eg^y- .Pwnng the night of the sauwweve?^ 
 
 i n i o^tively high pressure was formed over 'our m 
 
 Modem travellers have given aCCOU^^^teasmallhollow waa developed ore 
 
 which exactly correspond with the sf. 
 
 J two minima ad vanced over our southern 1 ' 
 
 veller mentions that, after a seven^eastnvard in the north. 6 
 
 destroyed in such multitudes, that 
 
 of wall, varying from three to four f( 
 
 length, and almost unapproachable, . SALES BY AUCTION.THia 
 
 their decomposing bodies. o. A. WILKINSON -"p^ 
 
 ' 
 
 at 
 
 WE now come to the use of Locus BAKER ar ,a 
 
 Very few insects have been 
 even among uncivilized nations, aniNdRTowrTRisi^'wATNEr, and c P 
 the Israelites, whose dietary was so SNEWBO'N and aAjaDKrG._ FDBSITCR 
 have been permitted the use of the TUXL'EY and Co^-JpBKBHotB n,^ 
 ,_,ein in aH parts of the 
 
 and in some places form an impcCHRisTiE, MANSON, and wooBslxh 1 ' 
 compensating in some way for the square, at fp!m.' a " TOOme > King-street, 
 which they consume. m """ 
 
 1S , for example, when de^-gUfe 1 ^^ *?*J 
 
 they 
 
 them in the sun, reduce them to 
 in milk, drink them." (Melpomene, 
 
 This is precisely the plan 
 day by the Bosjesmans of Southern^ 
 
 To them the Locusts are a 
 till no ground, so that they care 
 
 7 **" -""'''f-i'-'i', 10 work m 
 
 breed no cattle, so that they are i Qimes near Laimceston T
 
 THE LOCUST. 603 
 
 When they see a cloud of Locusts in the distance they light 
 great fires, and heap plenty of green boughs upon them, so as 
 to create a thick smoke. The Locusts have no idea of avoiding 
 these smoke columns, but fly over the fires, and, stifled by the 
 a, vapour, fall to the ground, where they are caught in vast numbers 
 
 by the Bosjesmans. 
 
 [> When their captors have roasted and eaten as many as they 
 
 K can manage to devour, they dry the rest over the fires, pulverize 
 
 g them between two stones, and keep the meal for future use, 
 
 '^ mixing it with water, or, if they can get it, with milk. 
 
 r w We will now take a few accounts given by travellers of the 
 
 3 present day, selecting one or two from many. Mr. W. G. Pal- 
 
 K grave, in his " Central and Eastern Arabia," gives a description 
 
 riti of the custom of eating Locusts. "On a sloping bank, at a 
 
 inn short distance in front, we discerned certain large black patches, 
 
 rt in strong contrast with the white glisten of the soil around, and 
 
 I at the same time our attention was attracted by a strange 
 
 I whizzing, like that of a flight of hornets, close along the ground, 
 
 while our dromedaries capered and started as though struck 
 1 with sudden insanity. 
 
 "The cause of all this was a vast swarm of locusts, here 
 
 ?BO" 
 
 [ alighted in their northerly wanderings from their birthplace in 
 
 I the Dahna ; their camp extended far and wide, and we had 
 
 [ already disturbed their outposts. These insects are wont to 
 
 [ settle on the ground after sunset, and there, half-stupified by 
 
 IS 
 
 ^ the night chill, await the morning rays, which warm them once 
 
 I more into life and movement. 
 
 " This time, the dromedaries did the work of the sun, and it 
 
 ! would be hard to say which of the two were the most frightened, 
 KM* they or the locusts. It was truly laughable to see so huge a 
 ron beast lose his wits for fear at the flight of a harmless, stingless 
 j insect, for, of all timid creatures, none equal this 'ship of the 
 ***' desert' for cowardice. 
 
 "But, if the beasts were frightened, not so their masters, 
 ta I really thought they would have gone mad for joy. Locusts 
 *C* are here an article of food, nay, a dainty, and a good swarm of 
 L, them is begged of Heaven in Arabia. . . . 
 
 " The locust, when boiled or fried, is said to be delicious, and 
 ^ boiled and fried accordingly they are to an incredible extent 
 
 I However, T never could persuade myself to taste them, what-
 
 604 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ever invitations the inhabitants of the land, smacking their lips 
 over large dishes full of entomological ' delicatesses,' would make 
 me to join them. Barakat ventured on one for a trial. He 
 pronounced it oily and disgusting, nor added a second to the 
 first : it is caviare to unaccustomed palates. 
 
 " The swarm now before us was a thorough godsend for our 
 Arabs, on no account to be neglected. Thirst, weariness, all 
 were forgotten, and down the riders leaped from their starting 
 camels. This one spread out a cloak, that one a saddle-bag, a 
 third his shirt, over the unlucky creatures, destined for the 
 morning meal. Some flew away, whizzing across our feet ; 
 others were caught, and tied up in sacks." 
 
 Mr. Mansfield Parkyns, in his " Life in Abyssinia," mentions 
 that the true Abyssinian will not eat the Locust, but that the 
 negroes and Arabs do so. He describes the flavour as being 
 something between the burnt end of a quill and a crumb of 
 linseed cake. The flavour, however, depends much on the 
 mode of cooking, and, as some say, on the nature of the Locusts' 
 food. 
 
 Signor Pierotti states, in his " Customs and Traditions of 
 Palestine," that Locusts are really excellent food, and that he 
 was accustomed to eat them, not from necessity, but from choice, 
 and compares their flavour to that of shrimps. 
 
 Dr. Livingstone makes a similar comparison. In Palestine, 
 Locusts are eaten either roasted or boiled in salt and water, but, 
 when preserved for future use, they are dried in the sun, their 
 heads, wings, and legs picked off, and their bodies ground into 
 dust. This dust has naturally a rather bitter flavour, which is 
 corrected by mixing it with camel's milk or honey, the latter 
 being the favourite substance. 
 
 We may now see that the food of St. John the Baptist was, 
 like his dress, that of a people who lived at a distance from 
 towns, and that there was no more hardship in the one than in 
 the other. Some commentators have tried to prove that St. John 
 fed on the fruit of the locust or carob tree the same that is 
 used so much in this country for feeding cattle ; but there is 
 not the least ground for such an explanation. The account of 
 his life, indeed, requires no explanation ; Locust-dust, mixed 
 with honey, being an ordinary article of food even at the pre- 
 sent day.
 
 season 37$ tons of eggs were collected and 
 i destroyed. In the spring of 1880 the swarms 
 
 were, however, Larger than ever, and more 605 
 
 energetic measures were adopted. The scale of 
 i destruction was much larger, and I ho agga col- 
 lected and burnt amounted to 236 tons. In 
 spite of all tlu's destruction, the locust armies of 
 1S1 were larger than ever, and in the autumn, 
 and winter of that year the collection of the 
 i was carried out on an enormous scale, and 
 no loss than 1,330 ions of eggs were brought 
 in and d* siroycd. In the sprins the trap- ^ A 
 ping of the inject- was continued with equal 
 :md it was found that the in- 
 of the locust swarms had been arrested. 
 I lie locusts were less numerous, but it 
 
 ^lestine-AhundanceofBeesin 
 i-Hissing for the Bee-Bees in 
 %ticated Bees and their hives- 
 B ,-The Crusaders and the honey- 
 percent, escaped. Persistency had ev ^ Dibs, or grape-honey, and mode 
 on the locusts, and last summer the crops in 
 (ypvu* were ->.!>. 
 
 *Jt qi Lmpl ! nsects called Neuroptera, 
 
 s most undent of all natural plagues is - . A 
 
 the control of modern energy and in- N Scriptural writings by 
 
 ,-. It must lirst be discovered where the 'ith the ants, we come to 
 
 d, and? hoy must be coll. cte ;md .^ we fi n( j several repre- 
 
 . g most fam j liar to 
 
 is frequently mentioned 
 ect allusion is made in 
 mention honey, honey- 
 
 lu the early spring, when the 
 young swarms from the undiscovered eggs come 
 forth, they must be caught in screens and pits. 
 If this proccw* is patiently followed up the 
 locusts will cense to be a plague. Continued 
 security, however, depends on continued ettorts. 
 A-X found in Cyprus that the number 
 ;..idbveach female locust was thirty- 
 
 yare contained in a cocoon and de- mt the rendering of the 
 
 1 iu the ground. Supposing that only r ays been acknowledged 
 
 h*lf the egg* produce insects which arrive at (ere j )ag> nowever) ' 
 
 Laturitv, a single couple would increase to more 
 
 Ull|/tll M*J y * A _,,! 4-f\ CttlUll \JL 
 
 a 
 
 lot UUU lILLLilUl a JJJL I/MV 'it, V. ' i T 
 
 This Miormous rate of increase accounts for lusion to its habit of 
 the difficulty of exterminating the locust, and a t j ie Hebrew dabar, a 
 for the sudden flights wh: *oropriate to the Bee on 
 
 at unequal periods. "F ' m ^y^^^ were supposed 
 
 the numbers press on the means of siibsxstencc 
 in their natural habitat, and next years 
 
 hatching season is favourable, there is an m- ! m Palestine, and ill 
 crease in the next spring of sixteen or twenty to &uc]l fln ext( , nt that 
 L'uld, and the vast hosts must set out g ^ re8 jj ence Rre 
 
 S^S=T wSEf5g2 -,1 ., U,e Bee, o f 
 
 S&TS'^SS 
 
 ter catastrophe iu the insect world than it
 
 iSSS!HsS 
 
 604 BIBLE ANIMALS. -Vr. L. K. Jai^ b'lhl^S-^ - I n ^ 
 
 ever invitations the inhabitants of the lBf^ c -^Kua^ 
 over large dishes full of entomological ' cp 
 me to join them. Barakat ventured c| 
 pronounced it oily and disgusting, nor I 
 first : it is caviare to unaccustomed pala 
 
 " The swarm now before us was a t 1 Total 
 
 Arabs, on no account to be neglectec 
 were forgotten, and down the riders 1< 
 camels. This one spread out a cloak, **?< .T!." 
 
 third his shirt, over the unlucky cr> Total, 
 
 morning meal. Some flew away, w" , ETON COLLEGE"? 
 
 ., ,. i .. i . , In the team f f ^_ '*.."*$ 
 
 others were caught, and tied up m 
 
 Mr. Mansfield Parkyns, in his " 
 that the true Abyssinian will not eat 
 negroes and Arabs do so. He desci 
 something between the burnt end 
 linseed cake. The flavour, 
 mode of cooking, and, as some say, on 
 food. 
 
 Signor Pierotti states, in his " C 
 Palestine," that Locusts are really e 
 was accustomed to eat them, not from 
 and compares their flavour to that of M c. 
 
 Dr. Livingstone makes a similar ' * B 13 -; 
 Locusts are eaten either roasted or b< 
 when preserved for future use, they Mr. n. : 
 
 wings, and legs picked 
 dust. This dust has naturally a 
 corrected by mixing it with camel' 
 being the favourite substance. Hon^s."!^; 
 
 We may now see that the food c u e -bi. 
 like his dress, that of a people wh Messrs. H. j. Mordaunt ^"-fe 1 
 
 id not bat. ' * " Brand, and B. 
 
 towns, and that there was no more . . 
 
 the other. Some commentators hav< A modert 7 W l? D .^ C) ? L v 
 fed on the fruit of the locust or 
 used so much in this country for 
 
 sent day.
 
 THE BKE. 605 
 
 HYMENOPTERA. 
 
 THE BEE. 
 
 The Hebrew word Deb6rahThe Honey Bee of Palestine Abundance of Bees in 
 the Holy Land Habitations of the wild Bee Hissing for the Bee Bees in 
 dead carcases The honey of Scripture Domesticated Bees and their hives 
 Stores of wild honey The story of Jonathan The Crusaders and the honey- 
 Butter and honey Oriental sweetmeats The Dibs, or grape-honey, and mode 
 of preparation Wax, its use as a metaphor. 
 
 PASSING for the moment the order of insects called Neuroptera, 
 which may possibly be represented in the Scriptural writings by 
 the Termites, which would be classed with the ants, we come to 
 the vast order of Hymenoptera, of which we find several repre- 
 sentatives. Beginning with that which is most familiar to us, 
 we will take the BEE, an insect which is frequently mentioned 
 in the Scriptures, and to which indirect allusion is made in 
 many passages, such as those which mention honey, honey- 
 comb, and wax. 
 
 FORTUNATELY, there is no doubt about the rendering of the 
 Hebrew word debdrah, which has always been acknowledged 
 to be rightly translated as "Bee." There has, however, been 
 a difference of opinion as to the derivation of the word, some 
 Hebraists thinking that it is derived from a word which signi- 
 fies departure, or going forth, in allusion to its habit of 
 swarming, while others derive it from the Hebrew dabar, a 
 word which signifies speech, and is appropriate to the Bee on 
 . account of the varied sounds of its hum, which were supposed 
 5 to be the language of the insect. 
 
 The Honey Bee is exceedingly plentiful in Palestine, and in 
 
 some parts of the country multiplying to such an extent that 
 
 I the precipitous ravines in which it takes up its residence are 
 
 I almost impassable by human beings, so jealous are the Bees of
 
 606 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 their domains. Although the Bee is not exactly the same 
 species as that of our own country, being the Banded Bee 
 (Apis fasciata), and not the Apis mellifica, the two insects very 
 much resemble each other in shape, colour, and habits. Both of 
 them share the instinctive dislike of strangers and jealousy of 
 
 THE BEE. 
 
 " They shall r-st all of them in the desolate valleys nnii in the htiles of the rockt." ISA. vii. 19. 
 
 intrusion, and the Banded Bee of Palestine has as great an 
 objection to intrusion as its congener of England. 
 
 Several allusions are made in the Scriptures to this trait in 
 .the character of the Bee. See, for example, Deut. i. 44 : " And 
 the Arnorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against 
 you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, 
 even unto Hormah." All those who have had the misfortune 
 to offend Bees will recognise the truth of this metaphor, the
 
 THE BEE. C07 
 
 Amorites swarming out of the mountain like wild Bees out 
 of the rocky clefts which serve them as hives, and chasing the 
 intruder fairly out of their domains. 
 
 A similar metaphor is employed in the Psalms : " They com- 
 passed me about ; yea, they compassed me about ; but in the 
 name of the Lord I will destroy them. 
 
 "They compassed me about like bees, they are quick as 
 the fire of thorns, but in the name of the Lord I will destroy 
 them." 
 
 There is another passage in which the Bee is mentioned in 
 the light of an enemy : " And it shall come to pass in that 
 day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the utter- 
 most part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in 
 the land of Assyria. 
 
 " And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the deso- 
 late valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, 
 and upon all bushes" (Isa. vii. 18, 19). Some commentators have 
 thought that the word which is translated as "Bee" may in this 
 case refer to some noxious fly, which, although it is not a Bee, 
 and does not even belong to the same order of insects, has 
 a sufficiently Bee-like appearance to cause it to be classed 
 among the Bees by the non -zoological Orientals. The context, 
 however, sets the question at rest ; for the allusions to the 
 resting of the insect in the holes of the rock, upon the thorns, 
 and on the bushes, clearly refers to the mode in which the 
 Honey Bee throws off its swarms. 
 
 The custom of swarming is mentioned in one of the earlier 
 books of Scripture. The reader will remember that, after 
 Samson had killed the lion which met him on the way, he 
 left the carcase alone. The various carnivorous beasts and birds 
 at once discover such a banquet, and in a very short time the 
 body of a dead animal is reduced to a hollow skeleton, partially 
 or entirely covered with skin, the rays of the sun drying and 
 hardening the skin ui til it is like horn. 
 
 In exceptionally hot weather, the same result occurs even in 
 this country. Some years before this account was written there 
 was a very hot and dry summer, and a great mortality took 
 place among the sheep. So many indeed died that at last 
 their owners merely flayed them, and left their bodies to perish. 
 One of the dead sheep had been thrown into a rather thick
 
 608 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 copse, and had fallen in a spot where it was sheltered from the 
 wind, and yet exposed to the fierce heat of the summer's sun. 
 The consequence was that in a few days it was reduced to a 
 mere shell. The heat hardened and dried the external layer of 
 flesh so that not even the carnivorous beetles could penetrate it, 
 while the whole of the interior dissolved into a semi-putrescent 
 state, and was rapidly devoured by myriads of blue-bottles and 
 other larvae. 
 
 It was so thoroughly dried that scarcely any evil odour clung 
 to it, and as soon as I came across it the story of Samson 
 received a simple elucidation. In the hotter Eastern lands, the 
 whole process would have been more rapid and more com- 
 plete, and the skeleton of the lion, with the hard and horny 
 skin strained over it, would afford exactly the habitation of 
 which a wandering swarm of Bees would take advantage. At 
 the present day swarms of wild Bees often make their habi- 
 tations within the desiccated bodies of dead camels that have 
 perished on the way. 
 
 As to the expression " hissing " for the Bee, the reader must 
 bear in mind that a sharp, short hiss is the ordinary call in 
 Palestine, when one person desires to attract the attention of 
 another. A similar sound, which may perhaps be expressed by 
 the letters tst. prevails on the Continent at the present day. 
 Signor Pierotti remarks that the inhabitants of Palestine are 
 even now accustomed to summon Bees by a sort of hissing 
 sound. 
 
 Whether the honey spoken of in the Scriptures was obtained 
 from wild or domesticated Bees is not very certain, but, as the 
 manners of the East are much the same now as they were three 
 thousand years ago, it is probable that Bees were kept then 
 as they are now. The hives are not in the least like ours, 
 but are cylindrical vases of coarse earthenware, laid horizontally, 
 much like the bark hives employed in many parts of Southern 
 Africa. 
 
 In some places the hives are actually built into the walls 
 of the houses, the closed end of the cylinder projecting into the 
 interior, while an entrance is made for the Bees in the other end, 
 so that the insects have no business in the house. When the 
 inhabitants wish to take the honey, they resort to the operation 
 which is technically termed " driving " by bee -ir. asters.
 
 THE BEE. G09 
 
 They gently tap the end within the house, and continue the 
 tapping until the Bees, annoyed by the sound, have left the hive. 
 They then take out the circular door that closes the end of the 
 hive, remove as much comb as they want, carefully put back 
 those portions which contain grubs and bee-bread, and replace 
 the door, when the Bees soon return and fill up the gops in 
 the combs. As to the wasteful, cruel, and foolish custom of 
 " burning " the Bees, the Orientals never think of practising it. 
 
 In many places the culture of Bees is carried out to a very 
 great extent, numbers of the earthenware cylinders being piled 
 on one another, and a quantity of mud thrown over them in 
 order to defend them from the rays of the sun, which would 
 soon melt the wax of the combs. 
 
 In consequence of the geographical characteristics of the Holy 
 Land, which supplies not only convenient receptacles for the Bees 
 in the rocks, but abundance of thyme and similar plants, vast 
 stores of bee-comb are to be found in the cliffs, and form no 
 small part of the wealth of the people. 
 
 Reference to this kind of property is made by the Prophet 
 Jeremiah. When Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had treacher- 
 ously killed Gedaliah and others, ten men tried to propitiate 
 him by a bribe : " Slay us not, for we have treasures in the 
 field, of wheat, of barley, and of oil, and of honey " (chap. xli. 8). 
 References to the wild honey are frequent in the Scriptures. 
 For example, in the magnificent song of Moses the Lord is 
 said to have made Israel to " suck honey out of the rock " 
 (Deut. xxxii. 13). See also Psalm Ixxxi. 16 : " He should 
 have fed them also with the finest of the wheat : and with honey 
 out of the rock should I have satisfied thee." 
 
 The abundance of wild honey is shown by the memorable 
 events recorded in 1 Sam. xiv. Saul had prohibited all the 
 people from eating until the evening. Jonathan, who had not. 
 heard the prohibition, was faint and weary, and, seeing honny 
 dripping on the ground from the abundance and weight of 
 the comb, he took it up on the end of his staff, and ate sufficient 
 to restore his strength. 
 
 Thus, if we refer again to the history of St. John the Baptist 
 and his food, we shall find that he was in no danger of starving 
 for want of nourishment, the Bees breeding abundantly in the 
 desert places he frequented, and affording him a plentiful supply 
 
 R B
 
 610 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 of the very material which was needed to correct the deficiencies 
 of the dried locusts which he used instead of bread. 
 
 The expression "a land flowing with milk and honey" has 
 become proverbial as a metaphor expressive of plenty. Those to 
 whom the words were spoken understood it as something more 
 than a metaphor. In the work to which reference has already 
 been made Signor Pierotti writes as follows : " Let us now see 
 how far the land could be said to flow with milk and honey 
 during the latter part of its history and at the present day. 
 
 " We find that honey was abundant in the time of the 
 Crusades, for the English, who followed Edward I. to Palestine, 
 died in great numbers from the excessive heat, and from eating 
 too much fruit and honey. (See M. Sanutus, ' Liber secretorum 
 fidelium Crucis' lib. iii. p> xii.) 
 
 " At the present day, after traversing the country in every 
 direction, I am able to affirm that in the south-east and north- 
 east, where the ancient customs of the patriarchs are most fully 
 preserved, and the effects of civilization have been felt least, 
 milk and honey may still be said to flow, as they form a portion 
 of every meal, and may even be more abundant than water, 
 which fails occasionally in the heat of summer. ... I have often 
 eaten of the comb, which I found very good and of delicious 
 fragrance." 
 
 A reference to sickness occasioned by eating too much honey 
 occurs in Prov. xxv. 16 : " Hast thou found honey ? Eat so 
 much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and 
 vomit it." A similar warning is given in verse 27 : "It is not 
 good to eat much honey : so for men to search their own glory is 
 not glory." 
 
 So plentiful indeed was the wild honey that it was exported to 
 other countries, and in the palmy days of Israel formed part of 
 a regular trade with Tyre. See Ezek. xxvii. 17 : " Judah and 
 the land of Israel, they were thy merchants : they traded in thy 
 market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and 
 balm." 
 
 In one or two passages honey is mentioned as being eaten 
 with butter. (See, for example, 2 Sam. xvii. 29.) When 
 David and his followers were wearied at Mahanaim, the people 
 brought presents to him, among which are specially mentioned 
 butter and honey.
 
 THE BEE. fin 
 
 Then there is the familiar prophecy, " Behold a virgin shall 
 conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ImmanueL 
 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse 
 the evil and choose the good." The same image is repeated 
 in the same chapter : " And it shall come to pass for the 
 abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: 
 for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the 
 land " (ver. 22). 
 
 This mixture is at the present day a favourite one. All 
 Orientals are fond of sweets, and in the composition of many of 
 their favourite sweetmeats use honey instead of sugar. But an 
 extemporized sweetmeat is often made by mixing together honey 
 and butter, and eating it without further preparation. 
 
 IT is right to mention here that there is a substance which is 
 sometimes called honey, but which is not made by Bees. This 
 is still used in Palestine under the name of " dibs," a word which 
 is almost identical with the Hebrew cCbash. A very excellent 
 account of this preparation is given by Mr. Urquhart in his 
 " Lebanon." " The dibs, the honey of Scripture, which Jacob 
 sent to Joseph, is the inspissated juice of the grape. It is of 
 two sorts : one dark and liquid, resembling molasses this is the 
 racon ; the other is thick, and of a yellow brown, and is called 
 dibs (jibes). In every village there is an establishment for 
 making it, some of them bearing marks of great antiquity. There 
 are vats for pressing, and troughs cut in the rock for holding 
 the juice, and a furnace for boiling it. 
 
 "The grapes are not trodden by the feet, but laid in a heap and 
 pressed by a beam, of which one end is fixed in the wall, and a 
 heavy stone attached to the other, as the oil seems anciently to 
 have been expressed, judging from the relics I observed near 
 Tyre. The juice is then boiled in the iron pan for an hour, 
 then poured back into the trough. After it has cooled it is 
 again returned into the pan and boiled if for the racon for 
 three hours, if for the jibes four. 
 
 "The process is thus complete for the first; the second is still 
 liquid, and is conveyed home, where, during a month, it is daily 
 for an hour turned or beaten with a fresh branch of fig-tree, 
 or botun. This property of the fig-tree is curious. 
 The racon takes four okes of grapes to make one oke; the 
 
 R R 2
 
 612 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 jibes five. The first is worth forty paras, and the second 
 sixty." 
 
 THE Hebrew word donag, which has been rightly interpreted 
 as wax, occurs very seldom in the Old Testament. No mention 
 is made of any use to which it was put, and in every instance 
 it is employed simply as a metaphor. 
 
 Three examples- occur in the Psalms : " I ani poured out 
 like water, and all my bones are out of joint : my heart is like 
 wax ; it is melted in the midst of my bowels " (Psa. xxii. 14). 
 
 The word occurs again in Psa. Ixviii. 2 : "As smoke is driven 
 away, so drive them away : as wax melteth before the fire, so 
 let the wicked perish at the presence of God." It occurs for 
 the third time in Psa. xcvii. 5 : " The hills melted like wax at 
 the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the. 
 whole earth." 
 
 The Prophet Micah uses a similar image : " Behold the Lord 
 cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread 
 upon the high places of the earth. 
 
 "And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the 
 valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters 
 that are poured down a steep place." (i. 3, 4.) 
 
 The Bee represented ' on page 606 is the common Bee of 
 Palestine, Apis fasciata. The lowest figure in the corner, with 
 a long body and shut wings, is the queen. The central figure 
 represents the drone, conspicuous by means of his large eyes, 
 that almost join each other at the top of the head, and for his 
 thicker and stouter body, while the third figure represents the 
 worker Bee. Near them is shown the entrance to one of the 
 natural hives which are so plentiful in the Holy Land, and are 
 made in the "clefts of the rocks." A number of Bees are 
 shown issuing from the hole.
 
 THE HORNET. 
 
 The Tzirah or Hornet of Scripture Travellers driven away by Hornets The 
 Hornet used as metaphor Oriental symbolism The Talmudical writers- 
 Sting of the Hornet. 
 
 STILL keeping to the hymenopterous insects, we come to the 
 Hornet. There are three passages in which occurs the word 
 tzirah, which has been translated as Hornet. In every case 
 when the word is mentioned the insect is employed in a meta- 
 phorical sense. See, for example, Exod. xxiii. 27, 28 : "I will 
 send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to 
 whom thou shalt come ; and I will make all thine enemies turn 
 their backs unto thee. 
 
 " And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out 
 the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee." 
 
 A similar use of the word is made in Deut. vii. 20 : " More- 
 over the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until 
 they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed." 
 
 The fulfilment of this promise is recorded in Josh. xxiv. 
 11, 12: "And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho : 
 and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and 
 the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the 
 Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites ; and I delivered 
 them into your hand. 
 
 " And I sent the hornet before you, which drave thorn out 
 from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites ; but not 
 with thy sword, nor with thy bow." 
 
 It is most probable that in these passages the word is used 
 rather as a metaphor than as the statement of a fact, and that 
 under the symbol of the Hornet was signified some moans 
 whereby the people should be driven out of the laud as men 
 are driven when chased by angry Hornets. The reader may 
 remember that the word "bee" is more than once used in a similar 
 manner. This view of the case is corroborated by such passages
 
 614 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 as Deut. ii. 25 : " This day will I begin to put the dread of thee, 
 and the fear of thee, upon the nations that are under the whole 
 heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and 
 be in anguish because of thee." Also Josh. ii. 9-11 : " I know 
 that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is 
 
 TIIK HOKNKT. 
 
 ' / will send hornets befure thee." Kxoix xxiii. 2S. 
 
 fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint 
 because of you. 
 
 " For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the 
 Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt ; and what ye did 
 unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side 
 Jordan, Sihon and Og, -whom ye utterly destroyed.
 
 THE HOUNET. 615 
 
 " And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did 
 melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, 
 because of you." 
 
 The Hornet affords a most appropriate image for such a 
 promise as was made to the Israelites, and was one whicli they 
 must have thoroughly comprehended. The Hornets of Palestine 
 and the neighbouring countries are far more common than our 
 own Hornets in England, and they evidently infested some parts 
 to such an extent that they gave their name to those spots. 
 Thus the word Zoreah, which is mentioned in Josh. xv. 33, 
 signifies the " place of Hornets." 
 
 They make their nests in various ways ; some species placing 
 them underground, and others disposing them as shown in the 
 illustration, and merely sheltering them from the elements by a 
 paper cover. Such nests as these would easily be disturbed by 
 the animals which accompanied the Israelites on their journeys, 
 even if the people were careful to avoid them. In such a case, 
 the irritated insects rush out at the intruders ; and so great is 
 the terror of their stings, that men and beasts fly promiscuously 
 in every direction, each only anxious to escape from the winged 
 foes. 
 
 The recollection of such scenes would necessarily dwell in the 
 memory of those who had taken part in them, and cause the 
 metaphor to impress itself strongly upon them. 
 
 It is needless to say that the passages in question might be 
 literal statements of facts, and that the various nations were 
 actually driven out of their countries by Hornets. Let the 
 insects be brought upon the land in sufficient numbers, and 
 neither man nor beast could stay in it. It is not likely, how- 
 ever, that such a series of miracles, far exceeding the insect- 
 plagues of Egypt, would have been worked without frequent 
 references to them in the subsequent books of the Scriptures ; 
 and, moreover, the quick, short, and headlong flight of the attack 
 of Hornets is a very different thing from the emigration which is 
 mentioned in the Scriptures, and the long journeys which such 
 a proceeding involved. 
 
 The Talmudical writers inclined to the literal view of the 
 passage, and dilated on the terrible power of the Hornet, four of 
 which could destroy a horse, and one kill a boy nine years 
 age, or a man, provided he were stung in the forehead. The s
 
 616 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 of the Hornet is very severe indeed, exceeding in virulence that 
 of the wasp, to which it is closely allied ; and it is possible that 
 a boy, or even a man, might be in so feeble a state of health, or 
 be naturally so sensitive to poison, that the sting of a Hornet 
 would be fatal. As a rule, however, the sting of the Hornet, 
 although exceedingly painful, is scarcely more injurious than that 
 of a bee or wasp. The Talmudists stated that the Hornets men- 
 tioned in Joshua killed the people by stinging them in the eye. 
 
 The species of Hornet represented in the illustration is Vespa, 
 orientalis, the insect and nest being drawn from specimens in 
 the British Museum. 
 
 THE ANT. 
 
 The Ant of Scripture Solomon's allusion to the Aut Habit of laying up stores 
 of food A controversy respecting the Ant The Ants of Palestine, and their 
 habits The Agricultural or Mound-making Aut Preparing ground, sowing, 
 tending, reaping, and storing the crop Different habits of Ants Development 
 of the insect The winged Ants An Arab proverb. 
 
 THERE are two short passages in the Old Testament, around 
 which an animated controversy has long raged. They both 
 occur in the Book of Proverbs. 
 
 The first is found in chap. vi. 6 8 : " Go to the ant, thou 
 sluggard ; consider her ways, and be wise : 
 
 " Which, having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 
 
 " Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food 
 in the harvest." 
 
 The Jewish Bible renders the passage in almost exactly the 
 same manner : " Go to the ant, thou sluggard ; see her ways, 
 and be wise : 
 
 " Which having no captain, bailiff, or ruler, 
 
 " Provideth her bread in the summer, and gathereth her food 
 in the harvest." 
 
 The second passage is of a similar character : " There be four 
 things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding 
 wise. 
 
 " The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their 
 meat in the summer."
 
 THE ANT. 617 
 
 It has been objected to these passages that the Ant is a 
 carnivorous insect, and therefore could not gather her food in 
 the harvest, and that the very nature of that food would prevent 
 it from being laid up in store. The objectors thought that the 
 sacred writer had been deceived by appearances, and had mis- 
 taken the white cocoon of the ant-pupae (popularly called ant- 
 eggs among ourselves) for grains of corn which they were storing 
 away for future use. 
 
 Those who took the other side of the question answered that, 
 in the first place, dt was necessary to be sure of the real trans- 
 lation of the word which is rendered as " ant " in the Authorized 
 Version; and that, in the second place, the Ants of a warm 
 country like Palestine might have different habits from those 
 which inhabit the comparatively cold and changeable climate of 
 England. 
 
 As to the first point, there is no doubt that the rendering is 
 the right one, and that 'the word nemdlah is correctly translated 
 as " ant." The Jewish Bible employs the word " ant," and does 
 not add the mark of doubt Buxtorf, in his " Hebrew Lexicon," 
 translates it as " formica," ^ind derives it from a root which 
 signifies " to eat," because it eat the seeds which it conveys to its 
 dwelling. The lexicographer here alludes to a belief that when 
 the Ant carries a gr-ain of corn into its home, it bites off the 
 germ, so as to prevent it from sprouting. 
 
 In Palestine Ants abound, and the species are tolerably 
 numerous. Among them are found some species which do 
 convey seeds into their subterranean home ; and if their stores 
 should be wetted by the heavy rains which sometimes prevail 
 in that country, bring them to the outer air, as soon as the 
 weather clears up, and dry them in the sun. 
 
 The writer of the Proverbs was therefore perfectly right when 
 he alluded to the vegetable stores within the nest, and only 
 spoke the truth when he wrote of the Ant that it was exceeding 
 wise. Any one who wishes to test the truth of his words can 
 easily do so by watching the first Ants' nest which he finds, the 
 species of the Ant not being of much consequence. The nests of 
 the Wood-Ant are perhaps the best suited for investigation, 
 partly because the insect and its habitation are comparatively 
 large, and, secondly, because so much of the work is done above- 
 ground.
 
 CIS BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The most wonderful Ant in the world is one which hitherto 
 is only known in some parts of America. Its scientific name is 
 Atta malefaciens, and it has been called by various popular 
 names, such as the Mound-making Ant and the Agricultural 
 Ant on account of its habits, and the Stinging Ant on account 
 of the pungency of its venom. This characteristic has gained 
 for it the scientific name of malefaciens, or villanous. 
 
 The habits of this Ant were studied in Texas by Dr. Lincecum 
 for the space of twelve years, and the result of his investigations 
 was communicated to the Liuneean Society by C. Darwin, Esq. 
 His abstract of Dr. Lincecum's observations may be found in the 
 " Journal of the Linnsean Society," vol. vi. No. 21, page 29. It 
 is so extraordinary an account that it must be given in the 
 narrator's own words : 
 
 " The following is merely an abstract of Dr. Lincecum's com- 
 munication, containing only what appears to be most remarkable 
 and novel in it in the way of observation. 
 
 " The species which I have named ' Agricultural ' is a large 
 brownish ant. It dwells in what may be termed paved cities, 
 and, like a thrifty, diligent, provident farmer, makes suitable and 
 timely arrangements for the changing seasons. It is, in short, 
 endowed with skill, ingenuity, and untiring patience sufficient to 
 enable it successfully to contend with the varying exigencies 
 which it may have to encounter in the life-conflict. 
 
 "When it has selected a situation for its habitation, if on 
 ordinary dry ground, it bores a hole, around which it raises the 
 surface three and sometimes six inches, forming a low circular 
 mound having a very gentle inclination from the centre to the 
 outer border, which on an average is three or four feet from the 
 entrance. But if the location is chosen on low, flat, wet land 
 liable to inundation, though the ground may be perfectly dry at 
 the time the ant sets to work, it nevertheless elevates the 
 mound, in the form of a pretty sharp cone, to the height of 
 fifteen to twenty inches or more, and makes the entrance near 
 the summit. Around the mound in either case the ant clears 
 the ground of all obstructions, levels and smooths the surface to 
 the distance of three or four feet from the gate of the city, 
 giving the space the appearance of a handsome pavement, as it 
 really is. 
 
 " Within this paved area not a blade of any green thing is
 
 THE ANT. G19 
 
 allowed to grow, except a smgle species of grain-bearing grass 
 Having planted this crop in a circle around, and two or three 
 feet from, the centre of the mound, the insect tends and culti- 
 vates it with constant care, cutting away all other grasses and 
 weeds that may spring up amongst it and all around outside of 
 the farm-circle to the extent of one or two feet more. 
 
 " The cultivated grass grows luxuriantly, and produces a heavy 
 crop of small, white, flinty seeds, which under the microscope 
 very closely resemble ordinary rice. When ripe, it is carefully 
 harvested, and carried by the workers, chaff and all, into the 
 granary cells, where it is divested of the chaff and packed away. 
 The chaff is taken out and thrown beyond the limits of the 
 paved area. 
 
 " During protracted wet weather, it sometimes happens that 
 the provision stores become damp, and are liable to sprout and 
 spoil. In this case, on the first fine day the ants bring out the 
 damp and damaged grain, and expose it to the sun till it is dry, 
 when they carry it back and pack away all the sound seeds, 
 leaving those that had sprouted to waste. 
 
 " In a peach-orchard not far from my house is a considerable 
 elevation, on which is an extensive bed of rock. In the sand- 
 beds overlying portions of this rock are fine cities of the Agri- 
 cultural ants, evidently very ancient. My observations on their 
 manners and customs have been limited to the last twelve years, 
 during which time the enclosure surrounding the orchard has 
 prevented the approach of cattle to the ant-farms. The cities 
 which are outside of the enclosure as well as those protected in 
 it are, at the proper season, invariably planted with the ant-rice. 
 The crop may accordingly always be seen springing up within 
 the circle about the 1st of November every year. 
 
 " Of late years, however, since the number of farms and cattle 
 has greatly increased, and the latter are eating off the grass much 
 closer than formerly, thus preventing the ripening of the seeds, I 
 notice that the Agricultural ant is placing its cities along the 
 turn-rows in the fields, walks in gardens, inside about the gates, 
 &c., where they can cultivate their farms without molestation 
 from the cattle. 
 
 " There can be no doubt of the fact, that the particular species 
 of grain-bearing grass mentioned above is intentionally planted. 
 In farmer-like manner the ground upon which it stands is caro-
 
 620 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 fully divested of all other grasses and weeds during the time it 
 is growing. When it is ripe the grain is taken care of, the dry 
 stubble cut away and carried off, the paved area being left un- 
 encumbered until the ensuing autumn, when the same ' ant- 
 rice ' reappears within the same circle, and receives the same 
 agricultural attention as was bestowed upon the previous crop ; 
 and so on year after year, as I know to be the case, in all situa- 
 tions where the ants' settlements are protected from gramini- 
 vorous animals." 
 
 
 
 In a second letter, Dr. Liucecum, in reply to an inquiry from 
 Mr. Darwin, whether he supposed that the Ants plant seeds for 
 the ensuing crop, says, " I have not the slightest doubt of it. 
 And my conclusions have not been arrived at from hasty or 
 careless observation, nor from seeing the ants do something that 
 looked a little like it, and then guessing at the results. I have 
 at all seasons watched the same ant-cities during the last twelve 
 years, and I know that what I stated in my former letter is 
 true. I visited the same cities yesterday, and found the crop of 
 ant-rice growing finely, and exhibiting also the signs of high 
 cultivation, and not a blade of any other kind of grass or weed 
 was to be seen within twelve inches of the circular row of ant- 
 rice." 
 
 The economical habits of this wonderful insect far surpass 
 anything that Solomon has written of the Ant, and it is not too 
 much to say that if any of the Scriptural writers had ventured 
 to speak of an Ant that not only laid up stores of grain, but 
 actually prepared the soil for the crop, planted the seed, kept the 
 ground free from weeds, and finally reaped the harvest, the 
 statement would have been utterly disbelieved, and the credi- 
 bility not only of that particular writer but of the rest of 
 Scripture severely endangered. We all know that Solomon's 
 statement concerning the Ant has afforded one of the stock 
 arguments against the truth of Scripture ; and here we have his 
 statements not only corroborated to the very letter by those who 
 have visited Palestine for the express purpose of investigating its 
 zoology, but far surpassed by the observations of a scientific man 
 who had watched the insects for a series of years. One of the 
 Ants of Palestine, shown on page 621, belongs to the same genus 
 as the Agricultural Ant.
 
 THE ANT. g oj 
 
 As may be inferred from the above description, the habits of 
 Ants vary greatly according to their species and he climate , 
 wtach they hve All, however, are wonderf,,! creature ad 
 whether we look at their varied architecture, their mode of 
 procunng food, the system of slave-catching adopted by some 
 
 ANT OF PALESTINE (Atta Klrtwm). 
 
 "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and he wn".e." PROV. \ I ;. 
 
 the " milking " of aphides practised by others, their astonishing 
 mode of communicating thought to each other, and their perfect 
 system of discipline, we feel how true were the words of the 
 royal naturalist, that the Ants are "little upon earth, but are 
 exceeding wise." 
 
 There is one point of their economy in which all known
 
 622 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 species agree. Only those which are destined to become per- 
 fectly developed males and females attain the winged state. 
 Before they assume the transitional or piipal condition, each spins 
 around itself a slight but tough silken cocoon, in which it lies 
 secure during the time which is consumed in developing its full 
 perfection of form. 
 
 When it is ready to emerge, the labourer Ants aid in freeing it 
 from the cocoon, and in a short time it is ready to fly. Millions 
 of these winged ants rise into the air, seeking their mates, and, 
 as they are not strong on the wing, and are liable to be tossed 
 about by every gust of wind, vast numbers of them perish. 
 Whole armies of them fall into the water and are drowned or 
 devoured by fish, while the insectivorous birds hold great fes- 
 tival on so abundant a supply of food. As soon as they are 
 mated they bend their wings forward, snap them off, and pass 
 the rest of their lives on the ground. 
 
 In consequence of the destruction that takes place among the 
 winged Ants, the Arabs have a proverb which is applied to 
 those who are over-ambitious : " If God purposes the destruction 
 of an ant, He permits wings to grow upon her." 
 
 HOMOPTERA. 
 THE CEIMSON WOEM. 
 
 The scarlet or crimson of Scripture Signification of the word Tolddth Tho 
 Coccus or Cochineal of Palestine compared with that of Mexico Difference 
 between the sexes Mode of preparing the insect The Aratic word Kermcs. 
 
 WE now come to another order of insects. 
 
 Just as the purple dye was obtained from a mollusc, the 
 scarcely less valuable crimson or scarlet was obtained from an 
 insect. The Hebrew word tolddth is translated in the Autho- 
 rized Version either as " crimson " or " scarlet," but its full 
 signification is the Crimson-worm. This is an insect scienti- 
 fically named Coccus ilicis on account of its food. It is closely 
 allied to the well-known cochineal of Mexico, which gives a 
 more brilliant dye, and has at the present day nearly superseded
 
 THE CRIMSON' WORM. f 9 ., 
 
 the native insect. It is, however, .till employed a t dve 
 some parts of the country. 
 
 As its name imports, it feeds on the holm oak 
 
 Like the cochineal insect of Mexico, the female is very much 
 larger than her mate, and it is only from her that the dye is pro- 
 cured. At the proper season of year the females are gathered 
 off the trees and carefully dried, the mode of drying having 
 some effect npon the quality of the dye. During the process of 
 
 THK CKIM.SOX WORM. 
 
 " Though your sins be an red as crimton, tkry *>ntll t* irHitc at snoir. " Is* j is. 
 
 drying the insect alters greatly, both in colour and size, shrinking 
 to less than half its original dimensions, and assuming a greyish 
 brown hue instead of a deep red. When placed in water it soon 
 gives out its colouring matter, and communicates to the water 
 the rich colour with which we are familiar under the name of 
 carmine, or crimson. This latter name, by the way, is only a 
 corruption of the Arabic kermes, which is the name of the 
 insect.
 
 G24 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The reader will remember that this was one of the three 
 sacred colours scarlet, purple, and blue used in the vestments 
 of the priests and the hangings of the tabernacle, the white not 
 taking rank as a colour. 
 
 The Coccus belongs to the Homoptera in common with the 
 cicadse, the lantern flies, the hoppers, and the aphides. 
 
 On page 623 the large females are shown on the prickly pear, 
 and near them are the tiny males, some flying and some on the 
 leaves. 
 
 LEPIDOPTERA. 
 THE CLOTHES MOTH. 
 
 The Moth of Scripture evidently the Clothes Moth The Sas and the 'Ash 
 Similitude between the H ebrew sds and the Greek ses Moths and garments 
 Accumulation of clothes in the East Various uses of the hoarded robes The 
 Moths, the rust, and the thief. 
 
 ONLY one Lepidopterous insect is mentioned by name in the 
 Scriptures. This is the MOTH, by which we must always under- 
 stand some species of Clothes Moth in fact, one of the Tineidae, 
 which are as plentiful and destructive in Palestine as in this 
 country. 
 
 Two words are used in the Old Testament to express the 
 Moth, one of which, sds, only occurs once, and then in con- 
 nexion with the other word 'ash. The resemblance of the 
 Hebrew sds and the Greek ses is to be noted, both of them 
 denominating the same insect. See Is. li. 8 : "For the moth 
 ('ash) shall eat them up like garment, and the worm (sds) shall 
 eat them like wool." Buxtorf translates sds as tinea, blatta. 
 
 Several references are made to the Moth in the Scriptures, 
 and nearly all have reference to its destructive habits. The 
 solitary exceptions occur in the Book of Job, "Behold, He put 
 no trust in His servants ; and His angels He charged with folly : 
 how much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose
 
 THE CLOTHES MOTH. (J25 
 
 foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?" 
 (Ch. iv. 18, 19.) A similar allusion to the Moth is made in the 
 same book : " He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth 
 that the keeper maketh " (xxvii. 18). 
 
 The Moth is mentioned in one of the penitential passages of 
 the Psalms : " When Thou with rebukes dost correct man for 
 iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a inoth : 
 surely every man is vanity" (Ps. xxxix. 11). 
 
 The prophets also make use of the same image. "Behold, 
 the Lord God will help me ; who is he that shall condemn me ? 
 lo, they all shall wax old as a garment ; the moth shall eat 
 them " (Isa. 1. 9). The image is repeated in the next chapter 
 (ver. 8), in which the 'Ash and the Sas are both mentioned. Hosea 
 employs the word as a metaphor expressive of gradual destruc- 
 tion : " Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the 
 house of Judah as rottenness" (v. 12). 
 
 In the New Testament reference is made several times to the 
 Moth. " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where 
 moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through 
 and steal " (Matt. vi. 19). St. James, in a kind of commentary on 
 this passage, writes as follows : " Go to now, ye rich men, weep 
 and howl for your miseries that shall come upon yon. 
 
 " Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth- 
 eaten. 
 
 " Your gold and silver is cankered ; and the rust of them shall 
 be a witnes's against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. 
 Ye have heaped treasures together for the last days." (v. 1-3.) 
 
 Even to ourselves these passages are significant enough, but 
 to the Jews and the inhabitants of Palestine they possessed a 
 force which we can hardly realize in this country. In the East 
 large stores of clothing are kept by the wealthy, not only for 
 their own use, but as presents to others. At a marriage feast, 
 for example, the host presents each of the guests with a wedding 
 garment. Clothes are also given as marks of favour, and a present 
 of " changes of raiment," i.e. suits of clothing, is one of the most 
 common gifts. As at the present day, there was anciently no 
 greater mark of favour than for the giver to present the very 
 robe which he was wearing, and when that robe happened to be 
 an official one, the gift included the rank which it symbolized. 
 Thus Joseph was invested with royal robes, as well as with the 
 
 s s
 
 626 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 royal ring (Gen. xli. 42). Mordecai was clothed in the king's 
 robes : " Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth 
 to wear, and the horse the king rideth upon, and the crown 
 royal which is set upon his head. 
 
 " And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of 
 jne of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the 
 man withal whom the king, delighteth to honour, and bring him 
 on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before 
 him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth 
 to honour." (Esther vi. 8, 9.) 
 
 The loose clothing of the East requires no fitting, as is the 
 case with the tight garments of the West ; any garment fits 
 any man : so that the powerful and wealthy could lay up great 
 stores of clothing, knowing that they would fit any person to 
 whom they were given. An allusion to this practice of keeping 
 great stores of clothing is made in Job xxvii. 26 :" Though he 
 heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay ; 
 
 " He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the 
 innocent shall divide the silver." 
 
 So large was the supply of clothing in a wealthy man's house, 
 that special chambers were set apart for it, and a special officer, 
 called the "keeper of the garments" (2 Chron. xxxiv. 22), was 
 appointed to take charge of them. 
 
 Thus, when a man was said to have clothing, the expression 
 was a synonym for wealth and power. See Isa. iii. 6 : " When a 
 man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, 
 saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler." 
 
 The reader will now see how forcible was the image of the 
 Moth and the garments, that is used so freely in the Scriptures. 
 The Moth would not meddle with garments actually in use, so 
 that a poor man would not be troubled with it. Only those 
 who were rich enough to keep stores of clothing in their houses 
 need fear the Moth, which would be as destructive to that 
 portion of their wealth represented by their clothes as the " rust," 
 i. e. the Grain Moth (Tinea granella] which consumed their 
 stores, or the thief who came by night and stole their gold 
 and silver.
 
 THE SILKWORM MOTH. 
 
 Various passages wherein Silk is mentioned The virtuous woman and her 
 household Probability that the Hebrews were acquainted with Silk Present 
 cultivation of the Silkworm The Silk-farms of the Lebanon -Signification of 
 the word Meshi Silkworms and thunder Luis of Grenada's sprtnon The 
 Hebrew word Gdzam., and its signification The Palmer-worm of Scripture. 
 
 IN the Authorized Version there are several passages wherein silk 
 is mentioned, but it is rather doubtful whether the translation be 
 correct or not, except in one passage of the Revelation : "And 
 the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her ; for 
 no man buyetli their merchandise any more : 
 
 "The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, 
 and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk." (xviii. 
 11, 12.) 
 
 In Prov. xxxi. 22 Solomon writes of the virtuous woman 
 " that she maketh herself coverings of tapestry ; her clothing is 
 silk and purple." The word which is here given as " silk " is 
 translated in the Jewish Bible as " fine linen." 
 
 In the other two passages, however, in which the word occurs it 
 is rendered as "silk :" " I clothed thee also with broidered work*, 
 and shod thee with badger's skin, and I girded thee about with 
 fine linen, and I covered thee with silk " (Ezek. xvi. 10). See 
 also verse 13 of the same chapter: " Thus wast thou decked with 
 gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen and broiuered 
 work." 
 
 That the Hebrews were acquainted with silk from very early 
 times is nearly certain, but it is probable that until compara- 
 tively late years they only knew the manufactured material, and 
 were ignorant of the source whence it was derived. As to the 
 date at which silk was introduced into Palestine, nothing certnin 
 is known ; but it is most likely that Solomon's fleets brought 
 silk from India, together with the other valuables which are 
 mentioned in the history of that monarch. 
 
 s s 2
 
 628 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 At the present day silk is largely cultivated, and the silk- 
 farmers of the Lebanon are noted for the abundance of the 
 crop which is annually produced. The greatest care is taken 
 in rearing the worms. An excellent account of these farms 
 is given by Mr. G. W. Chasseaud in his "Druses of the 
 Lebanon : " 
 
 " Proceeding onward, and protected from the fierce heat of 
 the sun's rays by the pleasant shade of mountain pines, we were 
 continually encountering horseloads of cocoons, the fruit of the 
 industry of the Druse silk-rearer. The whole process, from 
 hatching the silkworms' eggs till the moment that the worm 
 becomes a cocoon, is one series of anxiety and labour to the 
 peasant. The worms are so delicate that the smallest change of 
 temperature exposes them to destruction, and the peasant can 
 never confidently count upon reaping a harvest until the cocoon 
 is fairly set." 
 
 After a long and interesting description of the multiplied and 
 ceaseless labours of the silk-grower in providing food for the 
 armies of caterpillars and sheltering them from the elements, 
 the writer proceeds as follows : 
 
 " The peasant is unwilling to permit of our remaining and 
 watching operations. Traditional superstition has inculcated 
 in him a dread of the evil eye. If we stop and admire the 
 wisdom displayed by the worm, it will, in his opinion, be pro- 
 ductive of evil results ; either the cocoon will be badly formed, 
 or the silk will be worthless. So, first clearing the place of all 
 intruders, he puts a huge padlock on the door, and, locking the 
 khlook (room in which the silkworms are kept), deposits the key 
 in his zinnar, or waistband. 
 
 "Next week he will come and take out the cocoons, and, 
 separating them from the briars, choose out a sufficiency for 
 breeding purposes, and all the rest are handed over to the 
 women of his family. These first of all disentangle the cocoon 
 from the rich and fibrous web with which it is enveloped, and 
 which constitutes an article of trade by itself. The cocoons are 
 then either reeled off by the peasant himself or else sold to 
 some of the silk factories of the neighbourhood, where they are 
 immediately reeled off, or are suffocated in an oven, and after- 
 wards, being well aired and dried, piled up in the magazines of 
 the factory.
 
 THE SILKWORM MOTH. 629 
 
 " Such is a brief account or history of these cocoons, of which 
 we were continually encountering horseload after horseload. 
 
 " As you will perceive, unless suffering from a severe cold in 
 the head, the odour arising from these cocoons is not the most 
 agreeable ; but this arises partly from the neglect and want of 
 care of the peasants themselves, who, reeling off basketful after 
 basketful of cocoons, suffer the dead'insects within to be thrown 
 about and accumulate round the house, where they putrefy and 
 emit noxious vapours." 
 
 The Hebrew word meshi, which is the one that occurs in 
 Ezek. xvi., is derived from a root which signifies " to draw out," 
 probably in allusion to the delicacy of the fibre. 
 
 Although our limits will not permit the cultivation of the 
 Silkworm to be described more fully, it may here be added that 
 all silk-growers are full of superstition regarding the welfare of 
 the caterpillars, and imagine that they are so sensitive that they 
 will die of fear. The noise of a thunderclap is, in their estima- 
 tion, fatal to Silkworms ; and the breeders were therefore accus- 
 tomed to beat drums within the hearing of the Silkworms, 
 increasing the loudness of the sound, and imitating as nearly 
 as possible the crash and roll of thunder, so that the caterpillars 
 mi^ht be familiar with the sound if the thunderstorm should 
 
 O 
 
 happen to break near them. 
 
 A quaint use of this superstition is made by Luis of Grenada 
 in one of his discourses : 
 
 Dominica IV. post Pent., Concio 1. 
 
 " Sunt rursus alii, quorum pectora sic generis humani hostis 
 obsedit, ut nulHus divinaB vocis fulminibus perterreantur, vel 
 parum animo commoveantur. 
 
 " Qua autem ratione eorundem aures obstruat, proposito hoc 
 exemplo indicabo. 
 
 "Bombyces, hoc est venues illi qui serica fila nectunt, ita 
 tonitruum sonitu gravantur, ut interdum moriantur. Quo fit, ut 
 qui eos nutriunt tympana frequenter pulsent, ut sonitui molliori 
 assueti a graviori tonitrui sono non lanlantur. Tales mihi multi 
 sacrarum concionum auditores h&c tetate esse videntur, qui 
 quotidianis concionibus audiendis sine ullo anirni motu assueti, 
 si quis concionator, a Deo actus, gravius aliquid ct fonnidibilius
 
 630 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 internet, non idem magis animo permoveantur ; utpote qui ne,u r li- 
 genter audiendi consuetudine pene insensibiles ad verbi Dei 
 tonitrua affecti sint." 
 
 Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Sermon 1. 
 " Again, others there are of whose breasts the enemy of man- 
 
 O ' *J 
 
 kind hath taken such possession, that they be terrified by the 
 thunderbolts of no Divine voice, or are in mind only a little 
 disturbed thereby. 
 
 " Now after what sort he stoppeth the ears of these same 
 men I will, by this example, propound and set forth. 
 
 " The Bombyxes that is to say, those worms which do spin 
 the silk threads are by peals of thunder so troubled that some- 
 times they die. Wherefore it comes to pass that the keepers 
 of them do ofttimes beat drums, to the end that, being used to 
 the softer noise, they may take no hurt from that sound of the 
 thunder which is heavier. Of such a sort do seem to me to be 
 nowadays many hearers of sacred discourses. For inasmuch 
 as they be used to the hearing of common discourses, by which 
 their minds are nothing moved, if a preacher, urged of God, do 
 sound forth something in any wise solemn and dreadful, they are 
 not, therefore, any the more moved in mind, seeing that by their' 
 custom of careless hearing they have grown well-nigh hardened 
 to the thunders of God's Word." 
 
 ABOUT the correct reading of the Hebrew word gdzam, which 
 is translated in the Authorized Version " palmer-worm," there 
 has always been some difficulty. It only occurs in three pas- 
 sages of Scripture, and in each case reference is made to its 
 destructive powers. 
 
 The first is in Joel i. 4 : " That which the palmer-worrn hath 
 left, hath the locust eaten." 
 
 The second is in chap. ii. 25 of the same book : " I will restore 
 to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, 
 and the caterpillar, and the palmer- worm, my great army which 
 I sent among you." 
 
 The third is in" Amos iv. 9 : " I have smitten you with blasting 
 and mildew : when your gardens, and your vineyards, and 
 your fig-trees, and your olive-trees increased, the palmer-worm
 
 TIIK SILKWORM MOTH. 
 
 631 
 
 devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto n,c, saith the 
 
 The Jewish Bible retains the reading of palmor-worin, but 
 affixes the mark of doubt, as it does to the canker-worm. Some 
 
 BUTIf.RKUkS OK f.\ I.KS 1 1 .S> . 
 
 SYRIAN QAAVLINQ (Bipparehia Persephone). SYRIAN ORANCE-TIF (Anth<H-hi,ri Clmuv) 
 
 SYRIAN SWALLOW-TAIL (Pnpilm \irpitu) 
 " That which the palmer-u-orm hath left hath tht loan! eattn."JoKL i 4. 
 
 Hebraists have thought that the word ydzam is one of the names 
 to designate the locust, either some distinct species, or the same 
 species in its undeveloped condition. Others have thought thut, 
 as the Jews were very loose in their nomenclature, they would 
 not have made so great an exception in favour of an insect as to 
 apply two different names to it.
 
 632 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Buxtorf derives the word from a root signifying " to shave," or 
 " to shear," in allusion to the havoc which the gdzam makes among 
 the vegetation. The reader will see that it is impossible to 
 decide with any certainty upon the precise species of insect 
 signified by the word gdzam ; but there can be no harm in fol- 
 lowing the translation of the Septuagint and Vulgate, both of 
 which render it as " caterpillar." Assuming, therefore, that it 
 is a caterpillar of some kind, I have inserted figures of some 
 butterflies found in Palestine, together with the caterpillar and 
 chrysalis of one of them, namely the Papilio. 
 
 DIPTERA. 
 FLIES. 
 
 Flies of Scripture Dead Flies and the apothecary's ointment Gadflies and 
 their attacks Annoyance caused by the House-fly Flies and ophthalmia 
 Signor Pierotti's account of the Flies The sovereign remedy against Flies 
 Causes of their prevalence. 
 
 NEXT we come to the Dipterous or two-winged insects, which 
 are very sparingly mentioned in the Scriptures, and only one 
 species is definitely named. 
 
 There are two Hebrew words which are translated as "fly." 
 One is zebul, so familiar in the compound word Baal-zebul i. e. 
 " Lord of Flies." This word only occurs in two passages, one 
 being the well-known proverb, " Dead flies cause the ointment 
 of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour " (Eccles. x. 1). 
 
 This passage requires a little explanation. By the word 
 " apothecary " we must not understand a medical man, nor by 
 the word " ointment " the mollifying substance used as an appli- 
 cation for wounds. The ointment of Scripture signifies the 
 various perfumed unguents used as scents and cosmetics for the 
 living, as part of the preparation of the dead for the grave, and 
 as an essential accessory to Jewish ritual. 
 
 These ointments were most carefully made, and the person 
 who prepared and sold them was called the apothecary. If, 
 therefore, the unguents were carelessly stored, and the Flies
 
 FLIES. 
 
 G33 
 
 permitted to enter, the perfume would be destroyed by the 
 odour of their dead bodies. 
 
 The second passage is Isa. vii. 18 : The Lord shall hiss for 
 the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt " No 
 particular species of fly is here indicated ; but it is evident that 
 some peculiarly irritating and troublesome, not to say dangerous, 
 .insect is signified. 
 
 Many species of gadfly would produce that effect, and inflict 
 direful torments on those whom they assail. Even in England 
 the gadflies are more than troublesome to human beings. In the 
 New Forest I have been fairly driven back by the attack of the 
 gadflies, which wounded me through a thick woollen coat, while 
 they attacked the uncovered portions of the skin so fiercely that, 
 before reaching shelter, my neck was bathed in blood. 
 
 Another word is arob, which is applied to the flies which were 
 brought upon Egypt in the great plague. It is probable that 
 some different species is here signified, but there is no certainty 
 in the matter. Any species, however, would be a sufficient 
 plague if they exceeded the usual number which infest Egypt, 
 and which at first make the life of a foreigner a burden to him. 
 They swarm in such myriads, that he eats flies, drinks Hies, and 
 breathes flies. 
 
 Not the least part of the nuisance is, that they cluster in the 
 eyes of those who are affected with the prevalent ophthalmia, 
 which is so fertile a cause of blindness, and so convoy the 
 infection with them. A stranger is always struck with the 
 appearance of the children, who have quantities of these pests 
 upon and about their eyes, and yet seem perfectly unaffected by 
 a visitation which would wellnigh drive a European mad. 
 
 Signor Pierotti writes feelingly on the subject : 
 
 " These insects sometimes cause no slight suffering in Pales- 
 tine, as I can vouch from my own experience. However large or 
 however small they may be, a rabid and restless foe, they attack 
 alike, and make themselves insufferable in a thousand ways, in 
 every season and place, in the house and in the field, by day and 
 by night. 
 
 " Frequently in 1857 and 1860, while I was encamped near 
 the tents of the Bedawln, in the neighbourhood of the .Ionian, 
 and to the south of Hebron, flies were brought in such numbers 
 by the east wind that all, beasts and men, were in clangor of
 
 G34 BIBLE AXIMA.LS. 
 
 being choked by them, as they crept into our ears, noses, and 
 mouths, and all over our bodies. My servant and I were the 
 first to fly from the pest, as we were spotted all over like lepers 
 with the eruption caused by their bites : the Bedawin them- 
 selves were not slow to follow our example. 
 
 " I am not the only person who has experienced this nuisance, 
 for Eugene Eoger, who travelled in Palestine during the seven- 
 teenth century, informs us that during his stay at Nazareth 
 a swarm of small black flies, called bargash, invaded the plain of 
 Esdraelon, where a tribe of Bedawin, to the number of six hundred 
 tents, were encamped, who suffered greatly from them. 
 
 " The flies, therefore, still infest Palestine as they did of old, 
 except that they are not now so numerous as to compel the 
 chiefs of the villages or tribes (answering to the kings of the 
 Pentateuch and Joshua) to evacuate the country before them. 
 
 " The Philistines had a special deity whom they invoked 
 against these pests, Baalzebub, the God of Flies, whose temple 
 was at Ekron. The reason of this is evident at the present day, 
 for the ancient country of the Philistines is infested with insect 
 plagues, as I experienced together with his Excellency S array a 
 Pasha in the summer of 1859. 
 
 ' As, however, we had no faith in Baalzebub, we were obliged 
 to arm ourselves with fly-traps and stoical patience. Many 
 travellers bring with them a perfect druggist's shop from Europe 
 as a protection against these nuisances, and leave behind them 
 this only efficacious remedy, patience. This I strongly recom- 
 mend ; it is very portable, very cheap, and equally useful in all 
 climates. 
 
 " It is especially valuable in the case of the insects, as they 
 are found everywhere in greater or less numbers ; especially in 
 the dwellings, where they are nourished by the carrion that lies 
 about, the heaps of rubbish, the filth of the streets, the leakage 
 of cesspools and sewers, the dirt in the houses, the filthy clothing 
 worn by the people, and the kind of food they eat. Though the 
 country of Baalzebub is deserted and enslaved, the flies are still 
 abundant and free, self-invited guests at the table, unasked 
 assistants in the kitchen, tasting everything, immolating them- 
 selves in their gastronomic ardour, and forming an undesirud 
 seasoning in every dish."
 
 GNATS. 
 
 The Gnat of Scripture Straining out the Gnat and swallowing the camel, a 
 typographical error Probable identity of the Gnat and the mosquito. 
 
 IT has already been stated that only one species of fly is men- 
 tioned by name in the Scriptures. This is the Gnat, the name 
 of which occurs in the familiar passage, " Ye blind guides, which 
 strain at a gnat and swallow a camel " (Matt, xxiii. 24). 
 
 HOXIOI'8 KI.IE8 OK PAI.KKTINE. 
 
 MosQ.no (Cuiex). CASH* KM (Taban... .., 
 
 ' Ht HI diver, torts of/lie, among (ta* which demount 0**."- 
 
 I may again mention here that the word, 
 to haveLn printed - strain out," the substituUon of tl 
 the other being only a typographical error, 
 made to a custom which is explained by Hen
 
 636 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ing article on the fly. In order to avoid taking flies and other 
 insects into the mouth while drinking, a piece of thin linen stuff 
 was placed over the cup, so that if any insects, as was usually 
 the case, had got into the liquid, they would be " strained out " 
 by the linen. 
 
 Whether or not any particular specieg of insect was signified 
 by the word " gnat " is very doubtful, and in all probability the 
 word is only used to express the contrast between the smallest 
 known insects and the largest known beasts. Gnats, especially 
 those species which are popularly known by the word " mosquito," 
 are very plentiful in many parts of Palestine, especially those 
 which are near water, and are as annoying there as in other 
 lands which they inhabit. 
 
 APTERA AND APANIPTERA. 
 
 THE LOUSE. 
 
 Insect parasites The plague of Lice Its effect on the magicians or priests The 
 Hebrew word Chinnim Probability that it may be represented by "tick " 
 Habits of the ticks, their dwellings in dust, and their effects on man and 
 beast. 
 
 WE close the history of insects mentioned in Scripture with two 
 parasites of a singularly disagreeable character. 
 
 With respect to the former of them, we find it mentioned in 
 the account of the great plagues of Egypt. After the two plagues 
 of the waters and the frogs, both of which were imitated by the 
 magicians, i.e. the priests, a third was brought upon Egypt, which 
 affected the magicians even more than the people, for a reason 
 which we shall presently see : 
 
 " And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out 
 thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice, 
 throughout all the land of Egypt. 
 
 " And they did so ; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his 
 rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man
 
 THE LOUSE. C37 
 
 and in beast ; all the dust of the land became lice throughout 
 all the land of Egypt. 
 
 " And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring 
 forth lice, but they could not : so there were lice upon man and 
 upon beast." 
 
 Now it is hardly possible to conceive a calamity which would 
 have told with greater effect upon the magicians, by whose 
 advice Pharoah had resisted the requests of Moses and Aaron. 
 
 Living in a laud where all, from the highest to the lowest, 
 were infested with parasites, the priests were so much in advance 
 of the laity that they wore held polluted if they harboured one 
 single noxious insect upon their persons, or in their clothing. 
 The clothing, being linen, could be kept clean by frequent 
 washing, while the possibility of the body being infested by 
 parasites was prevented by the custom of shaving the whole of 
 the body, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, at 
 least once in every three days. 
 
 It may easily be imagined, therefore, how terrible this visita- 
 tion must have been to such men. As swine to the Pharisee, as 
 the flesh of cattle to the Brahmin, so was the touch of a parasite 
 to the Egyptian priest. He was degraded in his own estimation 
 and in that of his fellows. He could perform no sacred oiHces : 
 so that, in fact, all the idolatrous worship of Egypt ceased until 
 this particular plague had been withdrawn. 
 
 We now come to a consideration of the insect which is signi- 
 fied by the Hebrew word chinnim. Sir Samuel Baker is of 
 opinion that the word ought to have been translated as " tick: 
 and for the following reasons : 
 
 After quoting the passage which relates to the stretching <>f 
 Aaron's rod over the dust, and the consequence of that action, 
 he proceeds as follows: "Now the louse that infests the human 
 body and hair has no connexion whatever with dust, ami, if 
 subjected to a few hours' exposure to the dry heat of the burning 
 sand, it would shrivel and di. But a tick is an inhabitant of 
 the dust, a dry horny insect, without any apparent moisture in 
 its composition. It lives in hot sand and dust, where it cannot 
 possibly obtain nourishment until some wretched animal should 
 lie down upon the spot, and become covered with these horrible 
 
 vermin. 
 
 " I have frequently seen dry desert places so infested with
 
 638 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ticks that the ground was perfectly alive with them, and it 
 would have been impossible to have rested upon the earth. In 
 such spots, the passage in Exodus has frequently seemed to me 
 as bearing reference to these vermin, which are the greatest 
 enemy to man and beast. It is well known that from the size 
 of a grain of sand, in their natural state, they will distend to the 
 size of a hazel nut after having preyed for some days on the 
 body of an animal." (" Nile Tributaries," p. 122.) 
 
 Granting that this suggestion be the correct one, as it cer- 
 tainly is the most consistent both with actual facts and with the 
 words of Holy Writ, the plague would lose none of its intensity, 
 but would, if anything, be more horrible. Only those who have 
 suffered from them can appreciate the miseries caused by the 
 attack of these ticks, which cling so tightly that they can 
 scarcely be removed without being torn in pieces, and without 
 leaving some portion of their head beneath the skin of their 
 victim. Man and beast suffer equally from them, as is implied 
 in the words of Scripture, and, unless they are very cautiously 
 removed, painful and obstinate is the result of their bites. 
 
 THE FLEA. 
 
 Prevalence of the Flea in the East, and the annoyance caused by them to tra- 
 vellers Fleas of the Lebanon The Bey's bedfellows The Pasha at the bath 
 Use of the word in Scripture. 
 
 THIS active little pest absolutely swarms in the East. The 
 inhabitants are so used to the Fleas that either the insects do not 
 touch them, or by long custom they become so inured to their 
 attack' that the bites are not felt. 
 
 But every traveller in Eastern lands has a tale to tell about 
 the Fleas, which seem to be accepted as one of the institutions 
 of the country, and to be contemplated with perfect equanimity. 
 Miss Rogers, for example, in her " Domestic Life in Palestine," 
 mentions how she was obliged to stand upon a box in order
 
 THE FLEA. 
 
 to be out of the reach of a large company of Fleas that were 
 hopping about on the floor ! 
 
 Mr. Urquhart, experienced Orientalist as he was, found on one 
 occasion that the Fleas were too strong for him. lie had for- 
 gotten his curtain, and was invaded by armies of Fleas, that 
 marched steadily up the bed and took possession of their prey. 
 The people were quite amused at his complaints, and said that 
 their Bey could not sleep without a couple of hundred of them 
 in his bosom. Mr. Urquhart suggests that these little creatures 
 act as a wholesome irritant to the skin, and says that the last 
 two mouthfuls of every meal are for the benefit of the Fleas. 
 
 In order to show the perfect indifference with which the pre- 
 sence of these little pests is regarded, I quote a passage from 
 Mr. Farley's "Druses of the Lebanon." He was in a Turkish 
 bath, and was much amused at a scene which presented itself. 
 
 " A man, whose skin resembled old discoloured vellum, was 
 occupying himself with the somewhat undignified pursuit of 
 pursuing with great eagerness something that, from the move- 
 ment of his hands, seemed continually to elude him, jumping 
 about and taking refuge in the creases and folds of his shirt, that 
 was spread out over his lap as he sat cross-legged on his bedstead 
 like a tailor on his board. This oddity was no less a dignitary 
 than a Pasha." 
 
 This extract also serves to illustrate the two passages in Scrip- 
 ture wherein the word "flea" is mentioned, and in both of 
 which it is used as a metaphor to express weakness on the one 
 side and power on the other. 
 
 The first occurs in 1 Sam. xxiv. 14: "After whom is the 
 king of Israel come out ? After whom dost thou pursue ? After 
 a dead dog, after a flea ? " The second is in chap. xxvi. of the 
 same book, ver. 20 : " Now therefore .... the king of Israel 
 is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in 
 the mountains." The reader will see how completely the anec- 
 dote of the Pasha in the bath illustrates this passage.
 
 640 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ARACHNIDA. 
 THE SCORPION. 
 
 The Scorpions of Palestine Signification of the word AkrdbMm Habits of the 
 Scorpion Dangers of mud walls Venom of the Scorpion Scorpions at sea 
 The Scorpion whip, and its use The Scorpion Pass. 
 
 THE Arachnida are represented in Scripture by the Scorpion 
 and Spider. 
 
 Scorpions are exceedingly common in Palestine, and to a novice 
 are a constant source of terror until he learns to be accustomed 
 to tliem. The appearance of the Scorpion is too well known to 
 need description, every one being aware that it is in reality 
 a kind of spider that has the venom claw at the end of its body, 
 and not in its jaw. As to the rendering of the word dkrabbim 
 as " Scorpions," there has never been any doubt. 
 
 These unpleasant creatures always manage to insinuate them- 
 selves in some crevice, and an experienced traveller is cautious 
 where the Scorpions are plentiful, and will never seat himself in 
 the country until he has ascertained that no Scorpions are 
 beneath the stones on or near which he is sitting. Holes in 
 walls are favourite places of refuge for the Scorpion, and are very 
 plentiful, the mud walls always tumbling down in parts, and 
 affording homes for Scorpions, spiders, snakes, and other visitors. 
 
 The venom of the Scorpion varies much in potency according 
 to the species and size of the creature, some of the larger Scor- 
 pions being able to render a man ill for a considerable time, and 
 even to kill him if he should be a sensitive subject. So much 
 feared were the Scorpions that one of the chief privileges of the 
 Apostles and their immediate followers was their immunity from 
 the stings of Scorpions and the bite of venomous serpents. 
 
 It is said, however, that after a person has been stung once by 
 a Scorpion, he suffers comparatively little the second time, and 
 that if he be stung three or four times, the only pain that he
 
 SCORPION. 
 
 641 
 
 suffers arises from the puncture. Sailors also say that after 
 a week at sea the poison of the Scorpion loses its power 
 and that they care nothing for the Scorpions which are sure 
 to come on board inside the bundles of firewood. 
 
 THE SCORPIO!*. 
 
 "And they had tails like unto srorpioiit: and Hurt wtrt ttinyt in thtir 'nilt " Rcr Ix. 10 
 
 We will now take a few of the Scriptural passages which 
 allude to the Scorpion. As may be expected, most of them refer 
 to the poisonous quality of its sting, though one or two allude 
 to its habit of dwelling in desert places. See, for example, 
 Deut. viii. 15, which forms part of the address that Moses 
 delivered to the Israelites : " Lest .... thou forget the Lord 
 thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, 
 from the house of bondage ; 
 
 T T
 
 642 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 " Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, 
 wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where 
 there was no water." 
 
 A similar image of desolation is found in Ezek. ii. 6 : " And 
 thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their 
 words, though briars and thorns be with thee, and thou dost 
 dwell among scorpions." 
 
 Those passages which mention the venom of the Scorpion are 
 numerous, though most, if not all, of them occur in the New 
 Testament. See Eev. ix. 5 : " And to them it was given that 
 they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five 
 mouths, and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, 
 when lie striketh a man." Also ver. 10 of the same chapter : 
 " And they had tails like unto scorpions : and th',ie were 
 stings in their tails : and their power was to hurt men five 
 months." 
 
 The venom of the Scorpion is indirectly mentioned in other 
 passages. There is, for example, the well-known saying of our 
 Lord, " If a son shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? " 
 (Luke xi. 12.) And in the preceding chapter of the same Evan- 
 gelist Scorpions are classed with serpents in their power of 
 injury : " Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents 
 and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy ; and nothing 
 shall by any means hurt you." 
 
 THERE is another reference to the Scorpion in the Old Testa- 
 ment, which requires an explanation. It forms part of the rash 
 counsel given to Rehoboam by his friends : " My father made 
 your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke ; my father also 
 chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." 
 
 The general tenor of this passage is evident enough, namely, 
 that he intended to be far more severe than his father had 
 been. But his words assume a new force when we remember 
 that there was a kind of whip called a Scorpion. This terrible 
 instrument was made for the express purpose of punishing 
 slaves, so that the mere mention of it was an insult. It consisted 
 .of several thongs, each of which was loaded with knobs of metal, 
 and tipped with a metal hook, so that it resembled the jointed 
 and hooked tail of the Scorpion. This dreadful instrument of 
 torture could kill a man by a few blows, and it was even used
 
 THK SPIDER. 
 
 iii combats in the amphitheatre, a gladiator armed with a Scor- 
 pion being matched against one armed with a spear. 
 
 The prevalence of the Scorpion in Palestine and its neighbour. 
 hood may be inferred from the fact that a wacly or pass between 
 the south end of the Dead Sea and Zion was named after it, 
 The southern boundary of Judah is said to be at Mnaleh 
 Akrabbim (Josh. xv. 3). Now the literal translation of these 
 words is " The Ascent of Scorpions," or The Scorpion Pass. 
 
 THE SPIDER. 
 
 Signification of the word SemamUh Various interpretations of a Scriptural 
 passage Talmudical opinions respecting the creature The 'Akkabish and its 
 web Spiders of Palestine. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the word, "spider" is mentioned three times in the 
 Authorized Version of the Bible, one of them must be excluded, 
 namely Prov. xxx. 28 : " The spider taketh hold with her 
 hands, arid is in kings' palaces." There is much doubt whether 
 the word semamith, which is here translated a " spider," does not 
 rather allude to the Gecko, a lizard which has already been 
 described. Moreover, the passage is rendered very differently in 
 the Jewish Bible : " A spider thou mayest catch \\ ith the hands, 
 and is in kings' palaces." 
 
 Buxtorf mentions some curious Talmudical opinions re- 
 garding the Semam. For example, there is a kind of proverb 
 "Dreaded as a Semam by a scorpion," founded on the belief that 
 the Semam, whatever it might be, crept into the ears of the 
 scorpion. Another proverb is, " A Seraam against a scorpion," 
 the idea being that if a Semam was crushed on the wound made 
 by a scorpion, it would destroy the effect of the poison. 
 
 He further mentions that the word has been translated as 
 araneus or aranea, i.e. Spider, as simia, i.e. an ape, as caln- 
 motes, which signifies a kind of fish, or as kalalotcs and axkala- 
 botes, which is a kind of lizard. The Septuagiut employs this 
 rendering, to which Buxtorf himself leans.
 
 644 BIBLE AN 7 IMALS. 
 
 The same word 'akkabish occurs twice, and certainly does 
 signify some kind of Spider. The Prophet Isaiah writes of 
 the wicked that they "weave the spider's web" (lix. 5), and 
 there is a similar image in Job viii. 14 : " So are the paths of all 
 that forget God ; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish. Whose 
 hope shall be cut off, and whose hope shall be a spider's web " 
 (or house). In both instances reference is made to the fragility 
 of the Spider's web as a metaphor to express the futility of evil 
 devices. 
 
 The reader will see that in neither of these passages is there 
 anything that indicates the species of Spider. There are very 
 many species of Spider in Palestine ; some which spin webs, like 
 the common Garden Spider, some which dig subterranean cells 
 and make doors in them, like the well-known Trap-door Spider 
 of Southern Europe, and some which have no webs, but chase 
 their prey upon the ground, like the Wolf and Hunting Spiders. 
 Notice is. however, only taken of those which spin webs. 
 
 ANNELIDA. 
 
 THE WORM. 
 
 Various words translated as " Worm " Probable confusion of the words The 
 Rimmah and the Tole'ah The Worm which destroyed Jonah's gourd The 
 Earthworm. 
 
 THE word " worm " occurs many times in the Authorized Version, 
 and is a rendering of three Hebrew words. One is sds, which 
 has been already explained under the article Moth ; the second is 
 rimmah; and the third toleah. There is very great difficulty 
 in ascertaining the real signification of these words, unless 
 we assume that the Hebrews were not aware of the distinction 
 between actual Annelida and the larvae of various insects. 
 
 Even at the present day we commit a similar error. We speak 
 of the wire-worm, which is the larva of one kind of beetle. 
 We say that wood is worm-eaten, signifying that it has been
 
 THE WORM. 045 
 
 attacked by the larva of another kind of beetle. Then we use 
 the word " palmer-worm " to signify the larva of a moth, " glow- 
 worm " to signify a beetle, " tape- worm " to signify an entozoon, 
 and strangest of all "blindworm" to signify a lizard which 
 can see perfectly well. We therefore need not wonder that the 
 Hebrew language produces similar confusion of nomenclature. 
 
 The other words are frequently used in connexion with each 
 other. The Rimmah is the " worm " that was bred in the manna 
 when it had been kept beyond the specified time, and it is 
 evident that the larva of some insect, such as the blow-fly, 
 is signified. 
 
 The word is evidently used in the same sense by Job. The 
 " worm shall feed sweetly on him " (xxiv. 20). " They shall lie 
 down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them " (xxi. 
 26). The same word is employed in his lamentation over liis 
 evil case : " My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust ; 
 my skin is broken, and become loathsome " (vii. 5). In xxv. 6 
 he uses both words : " Man that is a worm, and the son of 
 man that is a worm." This passage is more correctly rendered 
 in the Hebrew Bible : " Man that is a worm (rimmah], and the 
 son of man which is a maggot " (toleaJi). Both words are also 
 used in connexion with each other by Isaiah : " The worm 
 (rimmaJi) is spread under thee, and the worms (tolaim) cover 
 thee"(xiv. 11). 
 
 The well-known passage in Job xix. 26 is altogether wrongly 
 rendered in the text, the marginal translation being much more 
 correct. The Worm is not mentioned at all in that passage, 
 which the Jewish Bible renders as follows : " Even after my 
 skin shall have been stripped off this [body] and flesh, I shall 
 see God." 
 
 The Worm which destroyed the gourd of Jonah was a Tolaeth 
 (another form of tole'ah}. See Jonah iv. 7. 
 
 The passage in Micah probably refers to the earthworm : 
 " They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of 
 their holes like worms of the earth" (vii. 17). In this case, 
 however, the expression is a general one, and, as may be seen by 
 reference to the marginal translation, is more correctly rendered 
 not as " worms," but as " creeping things."
 
 646 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 THE HOKSE LEECH. 
 
 Signification of the word Alukah The Arabic word Leeches in Palestine The 
 horse and the Leech Leeches in England. 
 
 IN Prov. xxx. 15 there is a word which only occurs once in the 
 Scriptures. This is alukah, which is translated as horse-leech. 
 " The horseleech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give." 
 
 The Hebrew Bible does not translate the word at all. There 
 is, however, no doubt that the translation is a correct one. 
 Buxtorf renders the word as sanguisuga hirudo, and it is 
 worthy of remark that the Arabic name for the Leech, Aluk, is 
 identical with the Hebrew Alukah. 
 
 The Leeches are very common in Palestine, and infest the 
 rivers to such an extent that they enter the nostrils of animals 
 who come to drink, and cause great annoyance and even danger. 
 The following anecdote, related by Mr. H. Dixon in his " Holy 
 Land," gives us a good idea of the prevalence of the Leeches, 
 and the tenacity with which they retain their hold : 
 
 " At Beit-Dejan, on a slight twist in the road, we find the 
 wheel and well, and hear a delicious plash and rustle in the 
 troughs. To slip from my seat to dip Sabeah's nose into the 
 fluid is the work of a second ; but no sooner has she lapped up 
 a mouthful of water, than one sees that the refuse falling back 
 from her lips into the tank is dabbled and red. Opening her 
 mouth, I find a gorged leech dangling from her gum. But the 
 reptile being swept off, and the mare's nose dipt into the cooling 
 stream, the blood still flows from between her teeth, and, forcing 
 them open, I find two other leeches lodged in the roof of her 
 mouth. 
 
 " Poor little beast ! how grateful and relieved she seems, how 
 gay, how gentle, when I have torn these suckers from her flesh,
 
 SPONGE AND CORAL. (',47 
 
 and soused the water about her wounds ; and how my hunting- 
 whip yearns to descend upon the shoulders of that laughing and 
 careless Nubian slave ! " 
 
 Persons passing through the river are also attacked by them, 
 and, if they have a delicate skin, suffer greatly. Even in England 
 this will happen. While bathing in a Kentish stream, I have 
 found, when coming out of the water, that numbers of Leeches 
 were adhering to me, and have had considerable trouble in 
 removing them. 
 
 PROTOZOA AND RADIATA. 
 
 SPONGE AND CORAL 
 
 Use of the Sponge in Scripture Probability that the ancient Jews were acquainted 
 with it Sponges of the Mediterranean The Coral, and its value Signification 
 of the word Ramoth. 
 
 THERE is little to be said on either of these subjects. 
 
 Sponge is only mentioned with reference to the events of the 
 Crucifixion, where it is related that a soldier placed a sponge 
 upon hyssop, dipped it in vinegar (i.e. the acid wine issued to 
 the Roman soldiers), and held it to the Lord's lips. There is 
 little doubt that the ancient Hebrews were fully aware of the 
 value of the Sponge, which they could obtain from the Medi- 
 terranean which skirted all their western coasts. 
 
 THE Coral is mentioned in two passages of Scripture : " No 
 mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls'' (Job xxviii. 18). 
 The second occurrence of the word is in Ezek. xxvii. 16 :" They 
 occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, 
 and fine linen, and coral, and agate." 
 
 This Coral, which is described as being brought from Syria, 
 was probably that of the fted Sea, where the Coral ntaundft, and
 
 64$ 
 
 BIBLE ANIMALS. 
 
 where it attains the greatest perfection. The Hebrew word, 
 ramoth, is expressive of the peculiar growth of the Coral, and 
 signifies high, or lofty. 
 
 CORAU 
 
 "No menticn shall be made of coral." REV. xviii. IS.
 
 N D E X. 
 
 A. 
 
 B. 
 
 Caspian KIIIVH, 503 
 
 
 
 Cat, 36. 
 
 Abon Hannes, 4S9. 
 
 Bactrian Camel, 2 1 4. 
 
 Cattle, 101. 
 
 Menzel, 489. 
 
 Badger, 70. 
 
 Cerastes, 55i> 
 
 Accijriter nisus, 365. 
 
 Barbel, 567. 
 
 Chameleon, 5->4. 
 
 A cridium peregrin urn , 
 
 Long-headed, 5(>7. 
 
 Chamois, 185. 
 
 598. 
 Acronotus bubalis, 144. 
 
 Barbus longiccps, 5(J;J. 
 Bat, 11. 
 
 Chasidah, 478. 
 
 Adas, 143. 
 
 Bear, 75. 
 
 Chetah, 29. 
 
 Addax, 141. 
 
 Beden, 20S. 
 
 Choled, 68. 
 
 Adder, 554. 
 
 Bee, 605. 
 
 Cicigua, 533. 
 
 African Elephant, 311. 
 
 Banded, 606. 
 
 Ciconia niyra, 48:t. 
 
 Akas, 143. 
 
 Honey, 605. 
 
 Circaltus ynU-icmt, S5." 
 
 Akbar, 91. 
 
 Behemoth, 318. 
 
 Circus ceriKjiiinnii*, :\>',*> 
 
 Ako, 207. 
 
 Bhunder, 3. 
 
 cyanfiix, fyi'j. 
 
 Alpine ibex, 204. 
 
 Bison, 131. 
 
 Climber, 203. 
 
 Ammopcrdix Heyii, 
 
 Bittern, 80, 462. 
 
 Col.ra, 544. 
 
 427. 
 
 Black Vulture, 336. 
 
 Cockatrice, 551. 
 
 Ammotragus, 186. 
 
 Blue Thrush, 39S. 
 
 Columba acnas, i\'.>. 
 
 Anakah, 69. 
 
 Bog-bleater, 464. 
 
 Una, 41 K. 
 
 Annelida, 644. 
 
 Bonasus, 131. 
 
 palumbus, 41'.'. 
 
 Ant, 616. 
 
 Bonnet Monkey, 10. 
 
 Schimpcri, 41*. 
 
 Agricultural, 618. 
 
 Boomah, 371. 
 
 Coney, 312. 
 
 Mound - making. 
 
 Botaurus stellaris, 4CJ. 
 
 Cora, 136. 
 
 618. 
 
 Bubale, 143. 
 
 Coral, 647. 
 
 Stinging, 618. 
 
 Hubalus biiffdus, 114. 
 
 Corine Antelojx>, l:{5. 
 
 Aoudad, 186. 
 
 Babo ascalaphus, 37;5. 
 
 C'oriuna, 135. 
 
 Ape, 1. 
 
 maximus, 374. 
 
 Connorant, 490. 
 
 Aphaniptera, 636. 
 
 Virginianus, 374. 
 
 Corcus agricoln, 4)7. 
 
 Apis fasciata, 612. 
 
 Buffalo, 114. 
 
 corax, 447. 
 
 mellifica, 606. 
 
 Bull, 101. 
 
 mcniedttln, I.., 4 17. 
 
 Aptera, 636. 
 
 Wild, 119. 
 
 nmbrinn.1, 447. 
 
 Aquila chrysaetos, 351. 
 mogilnik, 355. 
 
 Butter, 203. 
 bump, 464. 
 
 C'urifjtfuena hii>j>i'-->*, 571 . 
 Coryphene, 571. 
 
 Arachnida, 640. 
 
 
 Cow, 101. 
 
 Ardea cinerea, 470. 
 Ariel, 136. 
 
 C. 
 
 Crane. 474. 
 Cricetits/rvMfiitariiix,'' 4. 
 
 Aruebeth, 97. 
 
 
 Crocodile, 514. 
 
 Arvicola arvalis, 93. 
 
 Caccabis saxatili*, 4'2'J. 
 
 Crow, Hoodvil, 447. 
 
 Asinus hemippus, 280. 
 Ashkoko, 316. 
 Ass, 264. 
 
 Calf, 101. 
 Camel, 216. 
 Arabian, 244. 
 
 Cuckoo, 405. 
 Culex, 635. 
 Great Sjwtted, 4"'i. 
 
 Domesticated, 264. 
 
 Camclus Baclrianus, 216. 
 
 Citprinus, 531. 
 
 Wild, 279. 
 
 dromedaries, 216. 
 
 t'yp-*flu.<i ajfiiii.1, 3Sl. 
 
 Athene noctua, 371. 
 
 Capistrated 8ph*nops, 
 
 intllta, 389. 
 
 Persica, 371. 
 
 533. 
 
 
 Alt a barbara, 621. 
 
 Capra A ngnrensis, 20-2. 
 
 
 malefatiens, 618. 
 
 Mambrica, 202. 
 
 , 
 
 Ayzal, 208. 
 Ayzalah, 208. 
 Azel, 203. 
 
 Jfubiana, 203. 
 Syriaca, 202. 
 Caprovit Munition, 188. 
 
 f)aboia jrTM'/uf<i, '"'& 
 Datypus, 1'7. 
 
 . 
 
 D U 

 
 650 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Deer, 208. 
 
 Fowl, Domestic, 421 
 
 I. 
 
 DelouL, 229 
 
 Fox, 55. 
 
 
 Deror, 384. 
 
 Francolin, 430. 
 
 Ibex, Arabian, 203. 
 
 Dhnbb, 512. 
 
 Frog, 557. 
 
 I bus 48-3. 
 
 Diadem Staircase Shell, 
 
 Edible, 559. 
 
 faltinellus, 4S9. 
 
 588. 
 
 Green, 559. 
 
 Glossy or Green, 4 Sy. 
 
 Dibs, 611. 
 
 
 religiosa, 488. 
 
 Itipsat plieatus, 593. 
 
 G. 
 
 White or Sacrc-'l, 
 
 Diptera, 632. 
 
 
 488. 
 
 Dipus, 95. 
 
 Gazdla Dorcas, 133. 
 
 Insects, 596. 
 
 Dishon, 141. 
 
 Gazelle, 133. 
 
 Izab, 506. 
 
 f-6b, 76. 
 
 Gecko, 534. 
 
 
 Dog, 39. 
 
 Gier-Eagle, 339. 
 
 
 Periwinkle, 5S6. 
 
 Glass Snake, 531. 
 
 J. 
 
 Whelk, 586. 
 
 Glede, 361. 
 
 
 Dor-hawk, 379. 
 
 Gnat, 635. 
 
 Jachraur, 143. 
 
 Dormouse, 96. 
 
 Goat, 189. 
 
 Jackal, 55. 
 
 Dove, 408. 
 
 Goatsucker, 379. 
 
 Jackdaw, 447. 
 
 Barbary, 421. 
 
 Grayling, Syrian, 631. 
 
 Jaela, 186, 204. 
 
 Bine Rock, 418. 
 
 Great Shearwater, 407. 
 
 Jar-Owl, 378. 
 
 Egyptian Rock, 418. 
 Riug, 419. 
 
 Greyhound, 49. 
 Griffon Vulture, 345. 
 
 Jerboa, 95. 
 
 Stock, 419. 
 
 Groaner, 69. 
 
 
 Wild Rock, 419. 
 
 Gruscinerea, 476. 
 
 
 Duck, Hawk, 369. 
 
 Gypsfulvus, 345. 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 Kaath, 497. 
 
 E. 
 
 H. 
 
 Kalong, 12. 
 
 Eagle, 354. 
 Fishing, 356. 
 
 Halicorc hemprichii, 72. 
 Hamster, 94. 
 Hare, 96. 
 
 Kestrel, 365. 
 Kevel, 136. 
 Kevella Antelope, 135. 
 
 Golden, 354. 
 Imperial, 355. 
 
 Harier Hawk, 367. 
 Hen, 369. 
 
 Khopash, 15. 
 Kippfid, 80. 
 
 Short-toed, 355. 
 Echis arenicola, 552. 
 
 Marsh, 368. 
 Hart, 208. 
 
 Kite, 357. 
 Black, 359. 
 
 carinata, 553. 
 Echeneis reinora, 570. 
 
 Hawk, 364. 
 Bine, 369. 
 
 Common, 35S. 
 Egyptian, 360. 
 
 Egyptian Mastigure, 51 2. 
 
 Dove, 369. 
 
 Red, 358. 
 
 Elephant, 302. 
 Elephas Indieus, 311. 
 
 Ring-tailed, 369. 
 White, 369. 
 
 Klip-das, 315. 
 Kuphim, 2. 
 
 Kmys caspifa, 509. 
 Entellus, 3, 4. 
 
 Hedgehog, 80. 
 Heifer, 101. 
 
 
 Epheh, 552. 
 
 Heirie, 229 
 
 L. 
 
 Ephialt&s Scops, 377. 
 
 Heron, 463 
 
 
 Erinaceus, 83. 
 
 Uerpestes, 68. 
 
 Laeerta niridis, 53<\ 
 
 
 Hind, 208. 
 
 Lammergeier, 334. 
 
 F. 
 
 Hircus cegragus, 202. 
 
 Lanner Falcon, 3(52 
 
 
 Hirundo cahirica, 388. 
 
 Lapwing, 392. 
 
 Falco lanarius, 362. 
 
 Tufula, 388. 
 
 Leech, Horse, 64C. 
 
 peregrinus, 362. 
 
 Homoptera, 622. 
 
 lyeopard, 29. 
 
 Fallow- Deer, 143, 208. 
 
 Honey, 609. 
 
 Lepidoptera, 624. 
 
 Fan-foot, 69. 
 
 Hoonuman, 3. 
 
 Lerwea, 186. 
 
 Father John, 489. 
 
 Hoopoe, 392. 
 
 Letaah, 529. 
 
 Sickle-bill, 489. 
 
 Hornet, 613. 
 
 Leviathan, 514. 
 
 Pelis maniculatus, 37. 
 
 Horse, 248. 
 
 Lion, 18. 
 
 Fern Owl, 378. 
 
 Hunting Leopard, 23. 
 
 Lizard, 529. 
 
 Ferret, 69. 
 
 Hyaciuthine Gallinule, 
 
 Green, 530. 
 
 Fichtall, 186. 
 
 486. 
 
 Jersey, 530. 
 
 Field-mouse, 92. 
 
 Hyaena, 62. 
 
 Scaiy, 529. 
 
 Fish. Sucking, 570. 
 
 Hydr&saurus niicticus, 
 
 Locust, 596. 
 
 Fishes, 563. 
 
 539. 
 
 Migratory, 596. 
 
 Flea, 638. 
 
 Hymenoptera, 605. 
 
 Long-horned Gazille, 
 
 Fly, 632. 
 
 Hyrax, 312. 
 
 136. 
 
 Camel, 635. 
 
 Hystrix, 86. 
 
 Louse, 636.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 651 
 
 M. 
 
 Ostrich, 450. 
 
 Q. 
 
 
 Ounce, 29. 
 
 
 Macncus Rhesus, 3. 
 Macaques, 3. 
 Magpie, 448. 
 
 Orit C'apensit, 160. 
 caiida obesa, 160. 
 latifaudatu,*, 160. 
 
 Quail, 430. 
 Qutrcut cocci/era, 23. 
 
 Maharik, 229. 
 
 laticauda pUUyccrns, 
 
 
 Makur, 3. 
 
 160. 
 
 
 Manx Shearwater, 407. 
 
 steatopyga, 160. 
 
 
 Martin, 388. 
 
 Owl, 370. 
 
 
 House, 388. 
 
 Baru, 373. 
 
 Radiata, 647. 
 
 Sand, 388. 
 
 Churn, 378. 
 
 Jiatta esculent a, 559. 
 
 Meleagrina marijarile- 
 ffra, 595. 
 Milnis atra, 358. 
 Egyptiaciis, 360. 
 regalis, 358. 
 Mohair Goat, 200. 
 
 Eagle, 374. 
 Egyptian Eagle, 373. 
 European Eagle, 37 4. 
 Great, 373. 
 Little, 371. 
 Little Night, 071. 
 
 Raven, 439. 
 Ashy-necked, 447. 
 World-wide, 447. 
 Red Deer, 208. 
 Reem, 121. 
 Rhinopoma fnicrophyllt 
 
 1 Q 
 
 Mole, 86. 
 
 Scop?, 377. 
 
 19. 
 
 Molluscs, 585. 
 Monitor, 534. 
 Land, 539. 
 Nilotic, 539. 
 
 Screech, 373. 
 Virginian Eared,374. 
 White, 373. 
 Ox, 101. 
 
 RhfniA, 3. 
 Rock Rabbit, 315. 
 Roe, 133. 
 Rook, 447. 
 
 Monoceros, 123. 
 
 Oxylophus glandrit'.*. 
 
 
 Moor Buzzard, 369. 
 
 406. 
 
 
 Mosquito, 635. 
 
 
 s 
 
 Moth, Clothes, 624. 
 
 P. 
 
 
 Grain, 626. 
 
 
 Sand-rat, 96. 
 
 Silkworm, 627. 
 
 Pandion haliaetus, 356. 
 
 Satyr, 10. 
 
 Mouflon, 1S8. 
 
 1'arash, 248. 
 
 Scalaria diadrma, 5>8. 
 
 Mouse, 91. 
 
 Partridge, 426. 
 
 Scheltopusic, 531. 
 
 Mule, 285. 
 
 Black, 430. 
 
 Scincua officinal is, 531. 
 
 Mullus mn mul'lus, 582. 
 
 Desert, 427. 
 
 Scorpion, 640. 
 
 Muraena, 567. 
 
 Greek, 429. 
 
 Sclav, 534. 
 
 Muraena helena, 566. 
 
 Passer Cisalpinns, 402. 
 
 Seps, 533. 
 
 Murex brandari-i, 586. 
 
 montnnus, 403. 
 
 Serpents, 540. 
 
 tnmculus, 566. 
 
 talicariut, 404. 
 
 Shalak, 490. 
 
 Afygale, 69. 
 
 Peacock, 425. 
 
 Sheat-fishes, 565. 
 
 
 Pearl, 592. 
 
 Sheen, 146. 
 
 
 Mussel, 593. 
 
 Shephiphon, 55<\ 
 
 . 
 
 Oyster, 595. 
 
 Shrew-mouse, 69. 
 
 Naja haje, 544. 
 Iripudians, 545. 
 Nates niloticus, 581. 
 Nectarinia Oseae, 384. 
 
 Pelican, 495. 
 Crested, 502. 
 P'licanus cristatua, 502. 
 Petrocossypkut cyatuut, 
 398. 
 
 Stlfnus vtttr, 6. 
 Silurus niatrwaHtJ, .. 
 
 - a 
 
 Skink, 531. 
 Snail, 589. 
 
 Neophron percnoptn-iix, 
 
 Pigeon, 418. 
 
 Snake, Dart, 543. 
 
 o fl 
 
 House, 419. 
 
 Horatta-pftiiL, i."^. 
 
 Night-hawk, 377. 
 
 Rock, 418. 
 Plestiodon auraticin, 531. 
 
 Solomon's lleot, 1. 
 Spalax, 88. 
 
 -jar, 379. 
 Nil-Bhunder, 6. 
 Nile Perch, 581. 
 
 Porcupine, 85. 
 Porphyrio relent m, 33'.>, 
 
 i'-' 
 
 Sparrow, 395. 
 -hawk. 36.',. 
 
 lioilst* 404. 
 
 Nubian Wild Goat, 204. 
 
 *ou. 
 
 Poultry, 421. 
 
 f>h(nif>!i sfptoultt, 5.1'!. 
 
 
 Prabytes enttlha, 4. 
 
 Spider, 44-S. 
 
 - 0. 
 
 Protozoa, 647. 
 
 SjKinge, 647. 
 
 
 Psutnmosaurut scincus, 
 
 Stanncl Hawk. 365 
 
 (Edipoda migratoria, 
 596. 
 
 539. 
 Pseudopus pallasii, 531. 
 
 Star-gazer, 581. 
 Starling, 449. 
 
 Onycha, 590. 
 Orange-tip, Syrian, 631. 
 
 Pteropus, 16. 
 Pujfinus Anglorvm, 407. 
 
 Steinbok. 203. 
 Stork, 478. 
 
 Oreb, 449. 
 
 cinercus, 407. 
 
 Blark, 483. 
 
 Oryx, 120. 
 
 Purpurahccmastomn,5$. 
 
 Strix flammta, 373. 
 
 Ospray. 356. 
 
 lapiJlus, 5S6. 
 
 Surmullet, 582. 
 
 Ossifrage, 334. 
 
 Pygarg, 141. 
 
 Sia, 248.
 
 652 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Swallow; 381. 
 
 Oriental, 388. 
 
 Rufous or Russet, 
 388. 
 
 -tail, Syrian, 631. 
 
 White, 391. 
 Swan, 485. 
 Swine, 292. 
 Swift, 388. 
 
 Alpine, 389. 
 
 Galilean. 389. 
 
 Marsh, 404. 
 
 Spanish, 404. 
 
 Tree, 403. 
 Syrian Goat, 200. 
 
 Grayling, 631. 
 
 Orange-tip, 631. 
 
 Swallow-tail, 631. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tabanus marocanus, 63.". 
 Tachash, 70. 
 Testudo Grceca, 507. 
 Thynnus thynnus, 570. 
 Tinea granella, 626. 
 Tinnunculus alaudarivs, 
 
 365. 
 
 Tivutiemeth, 87, 4S8. 
 T6, 116. 
 
 Tones, Sacred, 175. 
 Tortoise, 505. 
 Tozicoa, 552. 
 
 Trumpet, Ram's-horn, 
 
 175. 
 
 Truxalia, 598. 
 Tsebi, 133. 
 Tunny, 570. 
 Turtle Dove, 419. 
 
 Collared, 421. 
 
 Palm, 421. 
 Turtur risorius, 421. 
 
 Senegalensis, 421. 
 Tzippor-deror, 391. 
 Tzfrah, 612. 
 
 U. 
 
 Unicorn, 121. 
 Unio margaritiferus,5i>3. 
 Upupa epops, 392. 
 Uranoscopus-scaber, 581. 
 Ursus Isabellinus, 76. 
 Uras, 127. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vespa orientalis, 61 6. 
 Viper, 552. 
 
 Horned, 551. 
 
 Sand, 552. 
 
 Yellow, 555. 
 Vulture, Arabian. 348. 
 
 Bearded, 36.' 
 
 Egyptian, 339. 
 
 of Scripture, 3f.~. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wall-lizard, 69. 
 Wanderoo, 6. 
 Weasel, 68. 
 -Wheel-bird, 379. 
 Wild Bull, 116. 
 
 Goat, 203. 
 
 Ox, 116. 
 
 Wind-hover, 365. 
 Wing-shell, 590. 
 Wolf, 50. 
 Worm, 644. 
 
 Canker, 630. 
 
 Crimson, 622. 
 
 Palmer,' 630. 
 
 Xantharpi/a 
 16. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yanshiiph, 373. 
 
 Zamar, 186. 
 
 Zeeb, 50. 
 
 Zootoca viripara, 529. 
 
 LONDON : B. CLAY, 3OXS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS
 
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