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If their skill in making traps is not proved in those used by the fowlers, it may at least be in

No. 334.

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Bird traps.

Beni Hassan.

Fig. 1. Trap closed and the bird caught in it; the net work of it has been effaced, as also in fig. 3. The other traps are open.

ferred from that in which the robber was caught in the treasury of Rhampsinitus*; since the power of the spring, or the mechanism of the catch, was so great that his brother was unable to open it or release him.

They do not seem to have used the bow very generally to shoot birds, nor was the sling adopted, except by gardeners and peasants to frighten them from the vineyards† and fields. The use of the throw-stick was very general, every amateur chasseur priding himself on the dexterity he displayed with this missile: and being made of heavy wood, flat, and offering little surface to the V. wood-cut, No. 136. Vol. II. p. 149. The Irish frequently use it for the same purpose.

* Vide Vol. 1. p. 123.

air in the direction of its flight, the distance to which an expert arm could throw it was consider

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A sportsman using the throw-stick.

No. 535. Thebes. Figs. 2 and 3. his sister and daughter. 4. A decoy bird. 5.5. Birds struck with the stick.

able; though they always endeavoured to approach the birds as near as possible, under the cover of the bushes or reeds. It was from one foot and a quarter to two feet in length, and about one inch and a half in breadth, slightly curved at the upper end; and its general form may be inferred from one found at Thebes by Mr. Burton, from those of the Berlin Museum, and from the sculptures. On their fowling excursions, they usually pro

ceeded with a party of friends and attendants, sometimes accompanied by the members of their family, and even their young children, to the jungles or thickets of the marsh lands, or to the lakes of their own grounds, formed by the waters of the overflowing Nile, at the period of the inundation, when wild fowl was more abundant than at any other season of the year; and seated in punts made of the papyrus*, or rushes of various kinds, they passed without disturbing the birds, amidst the lofty reeds which grew in the water, and masked their approach. This sort of boat was either towed, pushed by a pole, or propelled by paddles; and a religious prejudice induced the Egyptians to believe that persons who used it were secure from the attacks of crocodilest; a story which can be more readily believed and explained, when we remember that they principally used these boats in the lakes and inland canals, where crocodiles were seldom seen.

The attendants collected the game as it fell, and one of them was always ready to present a fresh stick to the chasseur, as soon as he had thrown. They frequently took with them a decoy bird, which was posted in a convenient place; and in order more effectually to prevent its quitting the post assigned to it, a female was selected for the purpose, whose nest, containing eggs, was brought with it and deposited in the boat.

* Conf. Lucan, iv. 136. :—

"Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro.” and Plin. xiii. 11.

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+ Plut. de Is. s. 18. Isis... made use of a boat constructed of the reed papyrus, in order to pass more easily through the fenny parts of the country, whence, they say, the crocodile never touches any persons who go in this sort of vessel."

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No. 336.

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Part I. Fowling scene. Part 2. Spearing fish with the bident. 1. An amateur sportsman throwing the stick. 8. Two bulti fish speared with the bident of fig. 11.

2. His son holding a fresh stick ready, and carrying the game. 3, 4. His daughter, or sisters. 5. Another son carrying the game. 6. A decoy bird, with its nest in the boat.

7. The ichneumon carrying away a young bird from a nest.

9. 10. Butterflies and dragon flies.

12. His sister holding a spear.

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Thebes.

13. His son holding a spear, and carrying the fish strung upon a water plant. The cat appears as if begging to be let out of the boat into the thicket.

A favourite cat sometimes attended them on these occasions, and from the readiness with which

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No. 337.

Sportsman using the throw-stick. Fig. 2. keeps the boat steady by holding the stalks of a lotus. the thicket. 5. A decoy bird.

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it is represented to have seized the game, the artist has intended to show that those animals acted as retrievers, or were trained to catch the birds; being let out of the boat into the thickets which grew at the water's edge: though making every allowance for the great skill attributed to the Egyptians in taming and training animals, it is difficult to persuade us that the cat could be induced, on any consideration, to take the water, in quest of a fallen bird.

That cats, as well as dogs, were looked upon with great esteem by the Egyptians, is evident

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