the ibis was amongst the Egyptians, and no less profane would that person be accounted who should attempt to kill, nay even to hurt or molest it. The great regard that is paid to these birds, might have been first obtained, not so much from the service they are of to a moist fenny country*, in clearing it from a variety of useless reptiles and insects, as from the solemn gesticulations which they make, whenever they rest upon the ground, or return to their nests. For, first of all, they throw their heads backwards, in a posture of adoration; then they strike together, as with a pair of castanets †, the upper and lower parts of their bill; afterwards they prostrate their necks in a suppliant manner down to the ground, repeating the same gesticulations three or four times together. The Eastern nations have the like reverence for the pigeon, and all the dove kind, whose cooing, or in the prophet's expression, Nah. ii. 7. their tabring upon their breasts, they interpret as so many acts of worship and devotion. For upon these occasions their *Thus it is said of the prophet of Thessaly, Orcados de Teλαγγες (ετίμησαν) ότι πολλές οφεις της γης αναδίδωσης επιφανέντες εξω Agar axarras. Plut. de Isid. p. 380. Honos iis serpentium exitio tantus, ut in Thessalia capitale fuerit occidisse. Plin. 1. x. c. 23. From this noise it was called crotalistria by the ancients, the crotalum being likewise supposed to have been taken from it. crepitante ciconia rostro. Ovid. Met. 1. vi. Sonus, quo crepitant, oris potius, quam vocis est. Solin. Polyhist. ut supra. Και ουτος πελαργες, επειδαν παριόντας ήμας ΚΡΟΤΙΣΩΝ. Philostr. Epist. ad Epict. Ciconia, quasi Cicania, a sono, quo crepitant, dicta sunt quem rostro quatiente faciunt. Isid. Orig. 1. xii. p. 1134. their souls are supposed to go out in search of God; or, in the Psalmist's phrase, to call upon him. The storks breed plentifully in Barbary every summer. They make their nests with dry twigs of trees, which they place upon the highest parts of old ruins or houses, in the canals of ancient aqueducts, and frequently (so very familiar they are, by being never molested) upon the very tops of their mosques and dwelling houses. The fir, and other trees likewise, when these are wanting, are a dwelling for the stork, Psal. civ. 17. The sands and mountainous districts, on both sides of the Nile, afford us as great a plenty, both of the lizard and the serpentine kinds, as are found in the desert of Sin. The cerastes, probably the true Egyptian aspic, is the most common species of the latter. Signore Gabrieli, whom I have mentioned above, shewed me a couple of these vipers, which he had kept five years in a large crystal vessel, without any visible food. They were usually coiled up in some fine sand, which was placed in the bottom of the vessel; and when I saw them, they had just cast their skins, and were as brisk and lively as if newly taken. The horns of this viper are white and shining, in shape like to half a grain of barley, though scarce of that bigness. Of the lizard kind, the warral is of so docible a nature, and appears withal to be so affected with music, that I have seen several of them keep exact time and motion with the dervishes, in their circulatory dances, running over their heads heads and arms, turning when they turned, and stopping when they stopped. I have likewise read that the dab, another lizard which I have described, is a lover of music, particularly of the bagpipe t. This, I presume, (as there is no small affinity betwixt the lizard and the serpent kind), may bear some relation to the quality which the latter is supposed to have, of being charmed and affected with music. The Psalmist alludes to it (Psal. lviii. 4, 5.) when he mentions the deaf adder, which stoppeth her ear; and refuseth to hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. The like is taken notice of Eccles. x. 11. Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment, and a babbler is no better. Jer. viii. 17. I will send serpents, cockatrices among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you. The expression of St Paul, a ßirn se mimge rõivai, Eph. vi. 16. is supposed likewise to be in allusion to the opt (OD of Orpheus, in the preface. In all which texts of Scripture, the charming of serpents seems to be alluded to, either as a matter of fact, or as an opinion at least that was commonly received. The same notion of preventing the venom of serpents, and other noxious animals, VOL. II. * Vid. vol. i. p. 325. 2 M + Mr Greaves' friend at Grand Kairo had many four-legged serpents (lizards) blackish, with long knotty tails, ending in a point obtuse. These are something like the crocodile, but differ in the head, and tail, and skin. These serpents (lizards) when the weather is hot, would, upon music, come out and run upon him; but in the winter they lie as dead. Yet some of them will scramble a little and move. Of this music, they love the bagpipe best. Greaves' Observations, vol. ii. p. 523. mals, by charming them with certain sounds, or by muttering some particular words, or by writing upon scrolls of paper certain sentences or combinations of numbers, has formerly prevailed all over Greece and Rome, as it does to this day, all over those parts of Barbary where I have travelled t. * I was informed, that more than forty thousand persons in Kairo, and in the neighbourhood, live upon no other food than lizards and serpents. This singularity entitles them, among other religious privileges, to the honour of attending more immediately upon the embroidered hanging of black silk, which are made every year for the kaaba of Mecca, and conducted with great pomp and ceremony, from the castle, through the streets of Kairo, the day when they set out upon their pilgrimage to that place. I saw, upon this occasion, a number of this order, who sang and danced before it, throwing their bodies, at certain intervals, into a variety of enthusiastic gestures. Such like acts of devotion, how ludicrous soever they may appear to us, have been always looked upon with reverence by the Eastern nations. Thus we find, (Psal. cxlix. 3.) that the Lord's name was to be praised in the dance. And again, * (Psal. Αιγυπτιος εγω πυνθανόμαι μαγεία τινι επιχωρία στος όρνιθας εκ το κρανε καταφέρειν. των δε φυλέων της οφεις επαοιδαίς τισι καταγοητευσαν TOS, HITA MENTOL Teoxyrσi jasa. Ælian. Hist. Animal. 1. vi. c. 33. Bochart. (in Hieroz. par. post. 1. iii. c. 6.) has collected a great many authorities, both from Greek and Latin authors, to this purpose. +Vid. Pref. and vol. i. p. 365, &c. and Ludolf. Hist. Æthiop. 1. i. c. 16. et Comment. p. 216. (Psal. cl. 4.) that he was to be praised with the timbrel and dance. Agreeably to which injunctions, all the women went out after Miriam with timbrels and dances, Exod. xv. 20. and David, in bringing the ark from the house of Obed-Edom, danced before the Lord, 2 Sam. vi. 14. SECTION VI. Some additional Observations with regard to the Animals of Egypt, particularly as they relate to the Holy Scriptures. It is very probable, that the sacred historian, in prohibiting or allowing several species of animals for food, made frequent allusions to those of Egypt, with which the Israelites (as just departed out of that country) may be supposed to have been well acquainted. The Egyptian zoology therefore, no less than that of the neighbouring parts of Africa, Palestine, and Arabia, deserves to be further inquired into and considered, as from thence no small light may be given to the Holy Scriptures in that curious branch of literature. For how deficient we are in the knowledge of the Scripture animals, even after the many laborious researches of the Jewish rabbies, the sacred critics, and other persons of profound learning and experience, will sufficiently appear from the following doubts and observations. If then we begin with such quadrupeds of the wilder sort, as were allowed the Israelites for food, (for the tamer kinds are so well known, that they will |