same was repeated till it became perfectly exhausted; frequently receiving additional wounds, and being entangled by other nooses, which, the attendants held in readiness, as it was brought within their reach."

Several representations of this subject have been found at Thebes, but the destructive thoughtlessness of the peasants, or the appropriating inclinations of travellers, have, unfortunately, destroyed them, and few vestiges now remain beyond the figure of the man, his spear, and a few minor details. I should, therefore, have been unable to introduce a copy of this interesting subject, had not the kindness of Mr. Humphreys, who was fortunate enough to obtain a sketch of one of them, furnished me with it for the accompanying plate.*

The chasseur is here in the act of throwing the spear at the hippopotamus, which he has already wounded with three other blades, indicated by the ropes he holds in his left hand; and having pulled the animal towards the surface of the water, an attendant endeavours to throw a noose over its head, as he strikes it for the fourth time. Behind him is his son, holding a fresh spear in readiness: and in order that there should be no question about the ropes belonging to the blades, the fourth is seen to extend from his hand to the shaft of the spear he is throwing. The upupa, heron, and other birds are frightened from the rushes as the boat approaches; and the fish, with a young hippopotamus, seen at the bottom of

* Plate 15.

the water are intended to show the communication of the fenny lake with the Nile.

The mode of attacking the hippopotamus is thus described by Diodorus * : — " It is chased," says the historian, "by many persons, each armed with iron javelins. As soon as it makes its appearance at the surface of the water, they surround it with boats, and closing in on all sides they wound it with blades, furnished with iron barbs, and having hempen ropes fastened to them, in order that, when wounded, it may be let out, until its strength fails it from loss of blood."

The spear they used on these occasions was evidently of a different construction from that intended for ordinary purposes, and was furnished, as Diodorus observes, with a rope for letting out the wounded animal, in the same manner as practised by the modern Ethiopians: there was sometimes

No. 347.

Spear used in the chase of the hippopotamus.
*Diod, i. 35.

Thebes.

another line fastened to the shaft, and passing over a notch at its upper end; which was probably intended to give the weapon a greater impetus, as well as to retain the shaft when it left the blade. The rope attached to the blade was wound upon a reel, generally carried by some of the attendants. It was of very simple construction, consisting of a half ring of metal, by which it was held, and a bar turning in it, on which the line or string was wound.

No. 348.

A reel held by an attendant.

Beni Hassan.

as the

Besides the fish cured, or sent to market for the table, a very great quantity was set apart expressly for feeding the sacred animals and birds, cats, crocodiles, ibises, and others; and it is probable that some of the large reservoirs, attached to the temples, were used as well for preserves or piscinæ, where the fish were kept, as to afford a supply of water for the necessary ablutions of the devout, and for various purposes connected with religion.

With regard to the number of fish in the river of Egypt, and the many species said to have been known there, it may be conjectured that some for

longer met with to the north of the first and second cataracts or varieties of the same species may have been enumerated in the twenty-two mentioned by Diodorus; and we even find that the Ethiopians sometimes brought fish, perhaps of a rare kind unknown in Egypt, as part of their tribute to the Egyptians.

That some animals, both aquatic and terrestrial, as well as several botanical productions, once common in Egypt, are now confined to the latitudes of Ethiopia, is well known; the crocodile, formerly an inhabitant of Lower Egypt and the Delta*, now limits the extent of its visits northward, to the districts about Manfaloot; and the hippopotamus is no longer seen in Lower Ethiopia. And if one was known, some years ago, to wander downwards into Nubia, below the second cataract, and another even as far as Damietta, these were accidental occurrences, which occasioned as much astonishment to the people who witnessed their unexpected visit, as to the bewildered animals themselves.

As usual on such occasions, their unintentional intrusion, where they could not be objects of terror, was punished with a readiness, which the same persons would not have displayed in places where they are really obnoxious; and every Turk, or peasant, who could procure a weapon, was fired with the proud desire of destroying the intruder, and showed the same chivalrous feeling, usually called

*Seneca, Nat. Quæst. iv. 2., says, at the Heracleotic mouth of the Nile, which is the largest, a battle occurred between the dolphins of the sea and the crocodiles of the river, the former being victorious!"

forth against an imprudent porpoise, who has ventured to pass the bridges of the English capital.

But the hippopotamus once lived in Lower Egypt, and the city of Papremis, in the Delta, worshipped it as a sacred animal, worthy of the Egyptian Mars. Neither the hippopotamus nor the crocodile appear to have been eaten by the ancient Egyptians. Pliny indeed mentions the medicinal properties of both of them*; and Plutarch affirms that the people of Apollinopolis used to eat the crocodile ; this, however, was not a general custom, but merely upon a certain occasion connected with religious superstition, and intended to show their abhorrence of Typhon the evil genius, of whom it was an emblem. "They have likewise," he continues," a solemn hunt of this animal upon a particular day, set apart for the purpose, at which time they kill as many of them as they can, and afterwards throw their dead bodies before the temple of their god, assigning this reason for their practice, that it was in the shape of a crocodile Typhon eluded the pursuit of Orus."

This is one of many instances of the different feelings with which the sacred animals were regarded in various parts of Egypt: and as Herodotus observes, "some of the Egyptians consider the crocodile sacred, while others make war upon it; and those who live about Thebes and the Lake Moeris (in the Arsinoïte nome) hold it in great veneration."

* Plin. xxviii. 8.

† Plut. de Isid. s. 50.