Bible animals

by J. G. Wood · English · Gutenberg #42964 · 1,421,180 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: Bible animals
being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.

Author: J. G. Wood

Illustrator: Friedrich Wilhelm Keyl
E. A. Smith
T. W. Wood

Release date: June 17, 2013 [eBook #42964]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

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Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Mary Akers and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIBLE ANIMALS ***

Transcriber's note:
Spelling and punctuation inconsistencies have been harmonized.
The original hyphenation and use of accented words has been
retained. Obvious printer errors have been repaired. Italic text
has been marked with _underscores_. Please see the end of this
book for further notes. Bible references are as they are in the
original book.

[Illustration: THE OSTRICH.

"What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and
his rider."--JOB xxxix. 18.]

BIBLE ANIMALS;

BEING A DESCRIPTION OF
EVERY LIVING CREATURE MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES,
FROM THE APE TO THE CORAL.

BY THE

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:

R. 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 understand 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 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 misinterpreted, 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 mentioned. 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 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 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 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
prophecy--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 11

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 18

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 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 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 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 50

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
the narrative proved--The Fox and Jackal destructive among
grapes--Allusions to the Fox in the New Testament--Partially
tamed Foxes 55

THE HYÆNA.

The Hyæna not mentioned by name, but evidently alluded
to--Signification of the word _Zabua_--Translated in the
Septuagint as "Hyæna"--A scene described by the Prophet
Isaiah--The Hyæna plentiful in Palestine at the present day--Its
well-known cowardice and fear of man--The uses of the Hyæna, and
the services which it renders--The particular species of
Hyæna--The Hyæna in the burial-grounds--Hunting the
Hyæna--Curious superstition respecting the talismanic properties
of its skin--Precautions adopted in flaying it--Popular legends
of the Hyæna and its magical powers--The cavern home of the
Hyæna--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 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 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

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 75

THE HEDGEHOG, OR BITTERN.

Various readings of the word _Kippôd_--The Jewish Bible and its
object--The Syrian Hedgehog and its appearance--Its fondness for
dry spots--The prophecies of Isaiah and Zephaniah, and their
bearing on the subject--The Porcupine supposed to be the
Kippôd--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 80

THE PORCUPINE.

Presumed identity of the Kippôd 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--Distinction 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 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 destructiveness--Jerboas and Hamsters eaten by
Arabs and Syrians--Various species of Dormice and Sand-rats 91

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--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 Tô, 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 Tô of Scripture--Description
of the Oryx, its locality, appearance, and habits--The points in
which the Oryx agrees with the Tô--The "snare" in which the foot
is taken, as distinguished from the net 116

THE REÊM, OR "UNICORN" OF SCRIPTURE.

The Reêm 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 Reêm--The Reêm a
two-horned animal--Its evident connexion 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 Reêm--Identity of the Urus
with the modern varieties of cattle--The Bull-hunts of Nineveh
121

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 untameable disposition 131

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 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.
Chasseaud'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 141

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 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 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 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
Aoudad--The Mouflon probably classed with the Aoudad under the
name of Zemer--Appearance and habits of the Mouflon 185

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 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 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

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, 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 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 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
harnessing--The load which it can draw--Camel-skin ropes--A
Rabbinical legend 244

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
its unshod hoofs--Love of the Arab for his Horse--Difficulty 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

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 agriculture--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 introduction 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
Phoenicians--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--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 CONEY, OR HYRAX.

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 Talmudical 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

BIRDS.

THE LÄMMERGEIER, OR OSSIFRAGE OF SCRIPTURE.

Difficulty of identifying the various birds mentioned in
Scripture--The Vultures of Palestine--The Lämmergeier, or
Ossifrage of Scripture--The Hebrew word _Peres_, and its
signification--The Ossifrage, or Bone-breaker--Appearance of the
Lämmergeier--Its flight and mode of feeding--How the Lämmergeier
kills snakes and tortoises, and breaks marrow-bones--Mode of
destroying the chamois and mountain sheep--Nest of the
Lämmergeier 333

THE EGYPTIAN VULTURE, OR GIER-EAGLE.

The Râchâm or Gier-Eagle identified with the Egyptian
Vulture--Its appearance on the Egyptian monuments--Signification
of the word _Râchâm_--Various translations of the word--The
shape, size, and colour of the bird--Its value as a scavenger,
and its general habits--The Egyptian Vultures and the
griffons--Its fondness for the society of man--Nest of the
Egyptian Vulture 339

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 Hamâm--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 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--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 357

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 Hariers known to inhabit
Palestine--Falconry apparently unknown to the ancient Jews 364

THE OWL.

The words which have been translated as "Owl"--The Côs, 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 Yanshûph, 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 37

THE NIGHT-HAWK.

Different interpretations of the word _Tachmâs_--Probability
that it signifies the Nightjar--Various names of the bird--Its
remarkable jarring cry, and wheeling 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 Sunbirds and
Bee-eaters--Variety of small birds found in Palestine--The
Swallows of Palestine--Swallows protected 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 _Tzippor-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--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 395

THE CUCKOO.

The Cuckoo only twice mentioned in Scripture--Difficulty of
identifying the Shachaph--The common species, and the Great
Spotted Cuckoo--Depositing 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 _Yonâh_--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-yonâh, 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 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 Jerusalem--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 subsequent 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

THE QUAIL.

Signification of the word _Selâv_--Various passages in which the
word is mentioned--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 430

THE RAVEN.

Signification of the word _Oreb_--The Haven 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 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 450

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--Superstitions connected
with it--The 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 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 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 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. 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--Appearance and habits of the Hyacinthine 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 _Shâlâk_ 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

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 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 LETÂÂH OR LIZARD.

Difficulty of identifying the Letââh--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--Translation of the word _Chomet_--Probability that
it signifies the Skink--Medicinal uses of the Lizard--The Seps
tribe--The common Cicigna, and the popular belief concerning its
habits--The Sphænops 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

SERPENTS.

Serpents in general--Signification of the Hebrew word
_Nachash_--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
_Pethen_--The deaf Adder that stoppeth her ear--Serpent-charming
in the East--Principle 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--Appearance
and habits of the reptile--The "Adder in the path" 540

THE VIPER, 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 Spuugh-Slange--The Cockatrice, or
Tsepha--The Yellow Viper--Ancient ideas concerning the
Cockatrice--Power of its venom 552

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. 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 Fish broiled on the coals--Clean
and unclean Fishes--The scientific writings of Solomon--The
Sheat-fish, or Silurus--The Eel and the Muræna--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 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 571

INVERTEBRATES.

MOLLUSCS.

The purple of Scripture--Various Molluscs from which it is
obtained--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 586

THE SNAIL.

The Snail which melteth--Rendering 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
Onycha--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--Metaphorical
uses of the Pearl--The Pearl of great price--Casting Pearls
before swine--An ancient proverb 592

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 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 _Debôrah_-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 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
605

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
laying 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
_Tolââth_--The Coccus or Cochineal of Palestine compared with
that of Mexico--Difference 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 Sâs and
the 'Ash--Similitude between the Hebrew _sâs_ and the Greek
_sês_--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 _Gâzam_, 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--Signor Pierotti's account of
the Flies--The sovereign remedy against Flies--Causes of their
prevalence 632

GNATS.

The Gnat of Scripture--Straining out the Gnat and swallowing the
camel, a typographical error--Probable identity of the Gnat and
the mosquito 635

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 636

THE FLEA.

Prevalence of the Flea in the East, and the annoyance caused by
them to travellers--Fleas of the Lebanon--The Bey's
bedfellows--The Pasha at the bath--Use of the word in Scripture
638

THE 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_ 647

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

THE OSTRICH AND ITS HUNTERS. (Job xxxix. 19) _Frontispiece._

THE LION AND HIS DEN. (Ezek. xix. 2) _to face_ 26

DOGS PROWLING 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 WAR HORSE GOING TO BATTLE. (Job xxxix. 25) " 250

WILD ASSES AND THE HUNTERS. (Job xxxix. 5-8) " 282

THE WILD BOAR IN THE VINEYARD. (Psa. lxxx. 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) " 352

THE EAGLE AND ITS NEST. (Job xxxix. 27) " 354

THE OSPREY AND ITS HAUNTS. (Deut. xiv. 12) " 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) 3

THE WANDEROO 6

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. lxiii. 10) 56

HYÆNAS AND VULTURES. (Ezek. xxix. 5) 65

THE HEDGEHOG. (Isa. xxxiv. 11) 81

THE MOLE-RAT. (Levit. xi. 30) 87

FIELD-MICE AMONG CORN. (1 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) 119

THE UNICORN, OR BISON. (Job xxxix. 9) 132

GAZELLES UPON THE MOUNTAINS. (Cant. ii. 8) 136

THE PYGARG, OR ADDAX. (Deut. xiv. 4) 142

THE FALLOW-DEER, OR 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 AOUDAD. (Deut. xiv. 4, 5) 187

GOATS DIVIDED FROM SHEEP. (Matt. xxv. 52) 199

THE WILD GOAT, OR IBEX. (Psa. cxiv. 18) 206

THE HIND, 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 WAR CHARIOT OF EGYPT. (Jer. xlvi. 9) 261

THE STATE CHARIOT OF 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 LÄMMERGEIER. (Deut. xiv. 12) 334

THE GIER-EAGLE, OR EGYPTIAN VULTURE. (Deut. xiv. 17) 340

THE VULTURE, OR KITE. (JOB xxviii. 7) 358

THE GLEDE, OR PEREGRINE FALCON. (Deut. 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, OR HOOPOE. (Levit. xi. 19) 393

THE SPARROW, OR BLUE THRUSH. (Psa. cii. 7) 399

THE SPARROW, OR TREE SPARROW. (Psa. lxxxiv. 3) 403

THE CUCKOO. (Levit. xi. 16) 406

THE ROCK DOVE. (Cant. ii. 14) 416

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) 463

THE HERON. (Deut. xi. 19) 469

THE CRANE. (Isa. xxxviii. 14) 475

THE SWAN OR IBIS, OR GALLINULE. (Deut. xiv. 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 CHAMELEON AND THE GECKO. (Levit. xi. 30) 535

THE ASP AND THE ADDER, OR THE COBRA AND THE CERASTES.
(Psa. lviii. 4; Gen. xlix. 17) 542

THE VIPER, OR TOXICOA. (Job xx. 16) 553

THE FROG. (Exod. viii. 3) 558

FISHES--MURÆNA, BARBEL, AND SHEAT-FISH. (Levit. xi. 10) 566

FISHES--SUCKING-FISH, TUNNY, AND CORYPHENE. (Levit. x. 9) 569

FISHES--LATES, MULLUS, AND URANOSCOPUS. (Numb. xi. 5) 582

THE PEARL OYSTER. (Matt. xiii. 45) 594

THE BEE. (Isa. vii 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. vii. 18) 635

THE SCORPION. (Rev. ix. 10) 641

THE CORAL. (Job xxviii. 18) 648

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 forming 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 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 imported 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. Consequently, the country in question must produce
gold, and must be inhabited by the monkey tribe, by the elephant, and
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 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.

[Illustration: THE RHESUS AND ENTELLUS.

"_Bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes._"--1 KINGS 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, scientifically 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 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 HOONUMAN, ENTELLUS, or MAKUR, which is more reverenced by
the Hindoos than any other species. Its scientific title is _Presbytes
entellus_. 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.

Perfectly aware of the impunity with which they are permitted 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 covering 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 could
erect buildings perfectly unique in the history of the world, who held
the foremost 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 modern 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 of some
attribute of God. Precisely the same remarks 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
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.

[Illustration: THE WANDEROO.]

There is one species of monkey, which is extremely likely to have been
brought to Palestine, and used for the adornment of a luxurious
monarch's palace. This is the WANDEROO, or NIL-BHUNDER (_Silenus
veter_). The Wanderoo, or Ouanderoo, as the name is sometimes spelled,
is a very conspicuous animal, 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 prevalent 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 corresponds 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 important case in law. Not that it will not condescend to
the little tricks and playful sallies for which the monkeys are so
celebrated; 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.

The natives of the country in which the Wanderoo lives, attribute to
it the wisdom which its venerable aspect seems to imply, much as the
ancient Athenians venerated the owl as the bird of wisdom, and the
chosen companion of the learned Minerva. In many places, the Wanderoo
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 probable, 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 Tennant points out
very forcibly, that in the Tamil language, the words for apes, ivory,
and peacocks, are identical 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 this. 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 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 others of which no 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. Several 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 fortification 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 interpretation, 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 the "Satyr" of Isaiah, and therefore it will be better to
decline giving any opinion on a subject which cannot be definitely
explained.

THE BAT.

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 prophesied 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 derivation.

In Lev. xi. 20, the words, "All fowls that creep, going upon all four,
shall be an abomination unto you," are evidently intended 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.

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
nourishment. 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, exceedingly 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 finding 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 consequence 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 bats 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 flapping 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
face unless kept off by the hands, and sometimes they force the
intruders 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 revolting 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 captivity 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 cometh 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.

Signor Pierotti, who has done such signal service in the investigation
of the Holy Land, gives a most remarkable semi-Mahommedan 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
Ramadhan, 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 Ramadhan 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 be
seen, he made, by the permission of God, an image in clay
representing a winged creature; and, after invoking the 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, pomegranates, 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 invention; 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 comprehensive sense, and
signifies all and any species of Bat. Until very lately, the exact
species of Bats which inhabit Palestine were not definitely
ascertained, and could only be conjectured. But, Mr. Tristram, who
travelled in the Holy Land for the express purpose of investigating
its physical history, 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 for the Temple
was worked beneath the earth, so that no sound of tool was heard
during the building, numbers of bats were disturbed 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. suggested 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
ægyptiaca_), 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 prohibition. 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 inaccessible. 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 companions had
penetrated to the second tier, and there made a curious discovery.

[Illustration: THE BAT.

"_The Lapwing and the Bat are unclean._"--LEV. xi. 19.]

"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 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 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 been 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 Rhinopome, 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 mentioned 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 hyæna, 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, 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 unpopulated district, he would simply be starved
to death, but when his lot is cast in the neighbourhood of human
beings, he is perforce 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 lest
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, surpassing even
his roar in resonance; and lastly, there is the unseen 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 Lions
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 suitable and undisturbed home, and a certainty of
food. Consequently, 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 firearms 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 describing the actions of
individual Lions, but mostly using the 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 species. 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 continually 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 surprise 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 that it must have traversed a very
considerable distance. Yet, in 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 terrible 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 Cumming. 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 considerable, 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 hard 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 removed can any one form a conception of the
enormously powerful muscles of the neck, which enable the Lion to lift
the 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.

In the dark, there 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 outburst of
sound, but a curiously graduated performance. No description of the
Lion's roar is so vivid, so true, and so graphic as that of Gordon
Cumming: "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 succession, 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 throughout 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 certainty. No fox knows every
hedgerow, ditch, drain, and covert better than the Lion knows the
whole country around his den. 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 distinguished 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 mentioned,
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 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 searching 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 consequence of his increasing inability to
catch prey.

The nocturnal habits of the Lion and its custom of lying in 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 his 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 references in the Scriptures.

[Illustration: THE LION.

"The lion is come up from his thicket."--JER.. iv. 7.

"She lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young
lions."--EZEKIEL. xix. 2.]

The mode of hunting the Lion with nets was identical with that which
is practised in India at the present time. The precise locality of the
Lion's dwelling-place 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, fling 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 throwing 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 sufficient 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 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 amusement 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. Rude, 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 work on
which he was engaged.

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 uncia_),
and the CHETAH, or HUNTING LEOPARD (_Gueparda 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.

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.

[Illustration: 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 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 covert to
another, and often expending several hours before he can proceed for a
mile. By degrees he contrives to come tolerably 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 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, crouching 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 unequal war against him for a time, but are
continually driven farther and farther away, until at last they are
completely expelled 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 introduces, and
in the seizing of which there is as much craft required 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 contrive 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 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 distance 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 underwood, at least six or seven feet in
height, among which trees are sparingly interspersed. When crouched in
this cover it is practically invisible, even though its body may be
within arm's length of a passenger. The spotted body harmonizes so
perfectly 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 sometimes thrown over the
shoulders and the paws crossed over the breast.

Such is a general history of the Leopard. We will now proceed 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 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 distinguishes 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." The 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 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 Hermon, 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 Rev. 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, hyænas, 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.

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 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 Egyptian 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 when 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 has 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 accomplished 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? The fact is, the Cat has
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 voluntarily 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 invariably went to sea with him, and as invariably used to
leap overboard, 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 multiplied from a family
into a nation, it does seem very remarkable 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 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 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.

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 present 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 manifested 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 mentioned; 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.

To the mind of the true Oriental the very name of the Dog 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 extraordinary, 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 bloodhound, 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, because
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 town
into districts, and not one dog ever ventures out of that particular
district to which it is attached. The boundaries, although invisible,
are as effectual as the loftiest walls, and not even the daintiest
morsel will tempt a dog to pass the mysterious 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 relatives, 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. 1: "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. lvi. 10: "His watchmen
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 watchmen 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 passionately 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 references 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
meet his gigantic enemy without 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 insignificant 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
contemptuous 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 mischief 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. 26,
Jesus employs the same metaphor when speaking to the Canaanitish 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 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 Palestine 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 immediately 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, I 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 respective jurisdictions
and were ready to follow me to my own house, if I 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."

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
country, 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 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 hyænas of
certain African towns, and act as scavengers, devouring 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 to usage, that we can hardly conceive
its possibility, and such a fate would be out of the ordinary course
of events. But, 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, Beirût,
attached himself instinctively to Wilhelm, though his canine instinct
soon taught him to recognise every one of our party of fourteen, and
to cling to the tents, whether in motion or at rest, as his home. Poor
Beirût! 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 perusing 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 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 neighbourhood. 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 dogs 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 follow him as far as the limits of
their particular district, but 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 Tophané--over-about Stamboul--far away at
Scutari--the whole sixty thousand dogs that are said to overrun
Constantinople appeared engaged in the most active extermination of
each other, without a moment's cessation. The yelping, howling,
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 windows open, I 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.

[Illustration: "At evening let them return; and let them make a noise
like a dog, and go round about the city. Let them wander up and down
for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied"--PSALM lix. 14, 15.]

"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 occasionally to toss a scrap of food, always followed
me from the hotel to the cross street in Pera, where the two
soldiers stood on 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, surrounded by a small fence of stakes only a foot or so
in height. Around him, but not venturing 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-mathnâim_ 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
question 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.

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 _Zeëb_, 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 disobedient 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 metaphorical 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.

[Illustration: THE WOLF.

"_The wolf catcheth and scattereth the sheep_"--JOHN x. 12.]

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 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 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 considerable time. This fact
is well known to hunters, who are accustomed 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 perseverance 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 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 Scripture. 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
wolves."

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 Testaments,
especially in the latter. In John x. 1-16, Jesus compares 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 themselves 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 shepherd'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 surrounded. "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 been
employed by the prophet 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 lxv. 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, when he quietly turned and followed me at a
respectful 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 he might be attacked,
the reverted look, and 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 Gennesaret, 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 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 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
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 _Shuâl_, which
is rendered in our translation as Fox, is used rather loosely, and
refers in some places to the Jackal, and in others to 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.

[Illustration: THE FOX OR JACKAL.

"_They shall be a portion for foxes._"--PSALM ixiii. 10. _The end of
the Scape Goat._]

Even at the present time, the Jackal is extremely plentiful in
Palestine; and as the numbers of wild beasts have much decreased in
modern days, the animals must have been even more numerous than they
are at present. It is an essentially nocturnal 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 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 daybreak. 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. lxiii. 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
Judæa 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: "O 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 to 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 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, before 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
Ramleh. I have frequently met with it during my wanderings by night,
and on one occasion had an excellent opportunity 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, prevented 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 Ramleh. I wished
to cross: my horse at first refused, but, on my spurring it, advanced
and at once sank up to the breast, followed of course by 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 consulate at
Jerusalem came from Ramleh 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 opportunity 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 consequently the
first objection to the truth of the story is disposed 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, 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. Consequently 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 ultimately burned to death, after
suffering a prolonged torture from the firebrand that was attached to
it. Such a consideration 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 powerful; 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 domesticated 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
predilection 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 used to come
every evening for the purpose of receiving a piece 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 companions generally accompanied them, but were
always jealously driven away before the monks appeared with the bread.

THE HYÆNA.

The Hyæna not mentioned by name, but evidently alluded
to--Signification of the word Zabua--Translated in the
Septuagint as Hyæna--A scene described by the Prophet
Isaiah--The Hyæna plentiful in Palestine at the present day--its
well-known cowardice and fear of man--The uses of the Hyæna and
the services which it renders--The particular species of
Hyæna--The Hyæna in the burial-grounds--Hunting the
Hyæna--Curious superstition respecting the talismanic properties
of its skin--Precautions adopted in flaying it--Popular legends
of the Hyæna and its magical powers--The cavern home of the
Hyæna--The Valley of Zeboim.

Although in our version of the Scriptures the Hyæna 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 ye, 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 speckled bird. But in the
Septuagint it is rendered as Hyæna, 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 Hyæna, when treating of its character; and it is equally
certain that such 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 evidently
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 Hyænas, vultures, 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, hyænas, and vultures are
found; and all these creatures were inhabitants of Palestine at the
time when Jeremiah wrote.

At the present day, the Hyæna 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 Hyæna, 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
Hyæna 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 unparalleled digestive powers
enabling it to assimilate the sharp and hard fragments which would
kill any creature not constituted like itself.

In a wild, or even a partially-inhabited country, the Hyæna 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 delinquencies 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 Hyæna
(_Hyæna 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
Hyænas. 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 Hyænas, 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 Hyæna 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 Hyæna cannot move; but those of the poor,
which are buried in the ground, must be defended by stones heaped over
them. Even when this precaution is taken, the Hyæna 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 powerful charms, and to defend the wearer from
the Hyæna's bite.

[Illustration: THE HYÆNA.

"_I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the
fowls of the heaven._"--EZEK. xxix. 5.]

They always observe certain superstitious precautions in flaying 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, as I can testify from practical
experience when dissecting a Hyæna 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 Hyænas are prevented from finding the body of their
comrade, and either avenging its death or taking warning by its fate.

Superstitions seem to be singularly prevalent concerning the Hyæna. In
Palestine, there is a prevalent idea that if a Hyæna 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 Hyæna, 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.

In Northern Africa there are many strange superstitions connected 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 Hyæna, whether it be gun, sword, spear, or dagger, is thenceforth
unfit to be used in warfare. "Throw away that sword," said an Arab to
a French officer, who had killed a Hyæna, "it has slain the Hyæna, 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 cause of this
diminution lies, according to Signor 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
hyænine relics. The quarries in which were lying the half-hewn blocks,
scored with the marks of wedges, had evidently formed the resort of
Hyænas 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 beau

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