melookheeyeh (Corchorus olitorius), leeks, onions, garlic, celery, parsley, chicory, cress, radishes, carrots, turnips, colocasia, lettuce, cabbage, fennel, gourds and cucumbers (both of several kinds), the tomato, the egg-fruit or badingán (black and white), caraway, coriander, cumin, aniseed, and red pepper.

The chief field-produce is wheat (which is more grown than any other kind of corn), barley, several sorts of millet, maize, rice, oats, clover, pease, the sugar-cane, roses, two species of the tobacco-plant, and cotton, now largely cultivated. The sugar-cane is extensively cultivated, and excellent sugar is manufactured from it. There are fields of roses in the Feiyoom, which supply the market with rose-water. The tobacco produced in Egypt is coarse and strong compared with that which is used by the middle and upper classes and imported from Syria and Turkey. That of Syria is considered the best. Of textile plants, the principal are hemp, cotton, and flax; and of plants used for dyeing, bastard saffron, madder, woad, and the indigo plant. The intoxicating hasheesh, which some smoke in a kind of water-pipe formed of a cocoa-nut, two tubes, and a bowl, seldom used for any other narcotic, is not, as has been erroneously supposed, opium, but hemp. The effect is most baneful. The leaves of the hinnè plant are used to impart a bright red colour to the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, and the nails of both hands and feet, of women and children, the hair of old ladies, and the tails of horses. Indigo is very extensively employed to dye the shirts of the natives of the poorer classes, and is, when very dark, the colour of mourning; therefore, women at funerals, and generally after a death, smear themselves with it. Oil is extracted from the seeds of the cotton plant, hemp, colewort, the poppy, the castor-oil plant, sesame, and flax. The high coarse grass called halfeh (Poa cynosuroïdes) grows in great quantity in waste places and among ancient ruins.

Many kinds of reeds are found in Egypt, though, if we compare the representations in the ancient tombs with what we see in the present day, it is evident that they were formerly much more common. That they should be wasted away was prophesied by Isaiah (xix. 6, 7). The famous byblus, or papyrus, from which paper was manufactured, appears to be nearly, if not quite extinct, since Sir Gardner Wilkinson had never seen it (Mol. Eg. and Thebes, i. 441). M. Delile, in his excellent account of the Egyptian flora, merely mentions it by name in his list as the Cyperus Papyrus, called in Arabic berdy, and found at Damietta,' but gives no figure of it. The lotus, greatly prized for its flowers by the ancient inhabitants, is still found in Egypt, though it is not common. The French naturalist above mentioned enumerates three species which formerly grew in that country, one with white flowers, another with blue, and a third with rosecoloured, the last of which is now extinct there. On the botany of Egypt, see Boissier, Flora Orientalis, in progress.

Animals. The zoology of Egypt is not of remarkable interest, although it contains some very curious points. The absence of jungle and of forest, and the little cover thus afforded to beasts of prey, as well as other wild animals, partly causes this; and we observe few birds of beautiful plumage for the same reason.

One of the most characteristic of the beasts is the camel, which is more at home in the dry climate of Egypt than elsewhere out of his native deserts. It has been remarked, however, that the camel, like his master the Arab,

Cyperus Papyrus, Linn.-Arab. berdy, Damiatae." Description de l'Egypte, tom. xix. 71. Other Cyperi are described at pp. 185-6 and 130-2 of the same volume.

degenerates when removed into a city or a cultivated tract, that the former commonly becomes mangy, and the latter experiences a physical and moral degradation. The Egyptian camel is of the one-humped kind, which has been erroneously called the dromedary, whereas the dromedary is merely aswift camel standing in the same relation to the ordinary camel that our saddle-horse does to our cart-horse. Camel's flesh is for the most part eaten only by the peasants and the Arabs of the desert; by the Copts it is considered unlawful food.

It is very remarkable that no representation of the camel has been found in the sculptures and paintings of the Egyptian moauments, among the very numerous figures of the animals of Egypt both tame and wild, and of those brought from foreign lands as presents. It does not appear to have been introduced into other African countries until after the Christian Era (comp. Desmoulins, Mém. lu à l'Institut, 28 Juin 1823); but it was known to the Egyptians, although it is by no means certain that it was one of their domestic beasts. Two passages in the Bible which speak of camels in the possession of Pharaohs (Gen. xii. 16; Ex. ix. 3) refer to the time at which foreign tribes had been settled in Egypt; and perhaps the camel was peculiarly the animal of one or all of those tribes, and, as they were hated by the Egyptians, it may have been omitted in the representations of the monuments.

To modern Egypt the camel is very valuable, since the traffic with Syria, Arabia, Western Africa, and Ethiopia is to a great extent carried on by caravans. But the ancient Egyptians appear to have derived their wealth more from tributary presents than from commerce, to have allowed their land commerce to be much in the hands of foreign merchants, like those who brought Joseph into Egypt, and to have left even their sea commerce partly at least to foreigners.

The horse is not known to have been used in Egypt before the time of the Empire. Thenceforward the horses of Egypt were famous, and the armies of the Pharaohs were noted for their war-chariots. From Egypt, Solomon, and in his time the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria, had horses and chariots (1 K. x. 28, 29). And long after, when first the kingdom of Israel and then that of Judah endeavoured to throw off the yoke of the great kings of the East, and made alliance with Egypt, they put their trust in Pharaoh's horses (Isa. xxxi. 1). In the representations of battles fought by the kings of the Empire we see no Egyptian cavalry, but only chariots, called "horse" in the inscriptions. At later times they may have had cavalry, properly speaking, of their own, and perhaps at all times among the mercenary or auxiliary

forces.

In the present day the horses of Egypt are of a very indifferent breed, and the best that one sees in that country have been brought from Arabia and Syria, but these are seldom of great excellence. It is indeed surprising to find few really good horses in a country bordering on Arabia; and not many years ago this was still more remarkable, though not during the existence of the Memlooks. The finest Arabs, however, are kept in the background by their possessors, partly for fear of the "evil eye," and partly, in the case of all but the highest dignitaries, to avoid their forcible seizure by those of greater rank and power.

The Egyptian ass holds a middle place between that of Great Britain and the wild ass, which is more swift of foot than the horse. It is tall and handsome, docile, and having excellent paces, particularly a quick and easy amble. Thus it is well suited to the narrow streets of the towns

of Egypt, and is therefore commonly used for riding by

persons

of the middle and lower classes. The mules are

handsome, but noted for vice, and for not being sure footed.

The cattle are short-horned, rather small, and, as of old, very beautiful, speaking artistically. They are exceedingly quiet in disposition, and much valued for agricultural labour by the people, who therefore very rarely slaughter them for meat, aud then only for the Franks. Buffaloes of an uncouth appearance and of a dark slaty colour, strikingly contrasting with the neat cattle, abound in Egypt. When voyaging on the Nile, one often sees them standing or lying in the river by herds. They are very docile, and the little children of the villagers often ride them to or from the river. They are sometimes slaughtered, but their flesh is tough and coarse. Sheep (of which the greater number are black) and goats are abundant in Egypt, and mutton is the ordinary butcher's meat, Swine are very rarely kept, and then almost wholly for the Franks, the Copts generally abstaining from eating their meat. It appears that the ancient Egyptians, though not forbidden this flesh, rarely ate it, perhaps because it is extremely unwholesome in a hot climate.

The Muslims consider dogs unclean, and therefore those of Cairo and most of the towns are half-wild and without masters, living upon offal, and upon food thrown to them by humane persons. In the villages, however, and particularly in the Thebaïs, their case is better, for they are kept as guards to protect live stock from thieves, and from hyenas and other wild animals, which come from the deserts by night in quest of prey. The common dog of Egypt is generally of a sandy colour and strong, though not remarkable for courage; but in Upper Egypt, about Thebes, there is a fierce breed of dogs with wiry hair, generally black, and much esteemed for courage by their masters. Cats are as numerous in Cairo as dogs, and many of them are as homeless. They are, however, liked by the natives, who assign as their reason that Mohammad was fond of cats. This may perhaps be regarded as a relic of the veneration in which they were held by the ancient Egyptians. It is not a little curious, that there is at Cairo a royal foundation for the support of destitute cats. The author of this charity was the famous Memlook sultan, Edh-Dháhir Beybars, whose humane intentions have of late years been sadly neglected by the

trustees.

The wolf, fox, jackal, and hyena chiefly inhabit the deserts and waste places of Egypt, and lurk in the ancient tombs and deserted quarries. The wild cat is also found in that country, though it is not common. The weasel abounds in Cairo, and is proverbial for its mischievous and revengeful disposition, and rats and mice are not among the least of the plagues. The ichneumon, jerboa, hare, and hyrax are likewise natives of Egypt or its deserts, and the tame rabbit is kept for food.

The beasts of the chase of the Egyptian deserts are antelopes of various kinds, and the wild ass, esteemed by the Arabs and Persians to be the prince of game, which is found in the southern part of the Eastern Desert. The most beautiful of the antelopes is the gazelle, which is often tamed and kept in the large courts of the houses of Cairo. In Lower Egypt, principally in the desolate marshes near the Mediterranean, the wild boar is found and occasionally hunted. It is, however, a timid animal, so that the sport is not, like boar-hunting elsewhere, exciting and dangerous.

From the representations in the tombs we see that in old times the hippopotamus was one of the wild beasts of the country. It has now retreated above the First Cataract, the southern boundary of Egypt. The crocodile has retreated in the same manner, and instead

of being found throughout the Nile in Egypt, is rarely seen even in Lower Nubia. The name of the island of Elephantine, situate a little to the north of the First Cataract, bearing the same signification in hieroglyphics as in Greek, makes it probable that at some remote period elephants were found in Upper Egypt, though now they are not seen north of Abyssinia.

In exploring the tombs and dark parts of the temples the traveller is annoyed by crowds of bats, which extinguish his candle, fly into his face, and cling to his clothes, sometimes rendering examination impossible without a lantern. One species is very large, but the common one is small.

Birds of prey are numerous in Egypt, and of many kinds. Of the most remarkable are three species of large nakednecked vultures-the Arabian, the sociable, and the fulvous; as well as the smaller species called the aquiline vulture. The aquiline vulture has a feathered neck, and when standing is by no means a handsome bird, but it is much to be admired when on the wing from the contrast of the black and white of its plumage, and the steady manner in which it soars in circles. Perhaps the bearded vulture breeds in the most lofty parts of the desolate mountains of the Eastern Desert; for when the French army was in Egypt, one of these birds was killed. It is said to have been of extraordinary size, measuring more than 14 Parisian feet, or more than 15 English, from point to point of its expanded wings. Several species of eagles and falcons, two kinds of hawks, the common buzzard, and the moorharrier live in Egypt, or visit that country, according as they are migratory, erratic, or sedentary. The common kite abounds at Cairo, and is one of the chief scavengers of the city, the others being the crow, the aquiline vulture, the half-wild dog, and the cat. The ruins and tombs of Egypt, and the modern houses, scarcely ever in perfect repair, shelter owls of various kinds.

The Spanish sparrow, which differs little from that of Britain, the water-wagtail, linnets, and larks are among the birds of Egypt. The kind of kingfisher which is commonly seen on the Nile, perched on some eminence, and darting suddenly to seize a fish, is very inferior in its plumage, which is speckled, black and white, to the common kingfisher, which is also occasionally seen. The beautiful hoopoe is among the least rare birds, and there are also three species of bee-eaters. The hoopoe may be often seen in Cairo, where it is regarded with some reverence, as the bird of Solomon. Crows of the kind which we call the Revston crow are very numerous at Cairo. Birds of the swallow tribe, the wood pecker, and the cuckoo are also known in Egypt.

In the metropolis, in the towns and villages, and in the fields, no bird is more common than the pigeon, tame or wild. Pigeon-fancying is a favourite amusement of all classes at Cairo, and in the villages the pigeon-houses are often loftier than the huts upon which they are raised. Tourists on the Nile inflict great loss on the poor peasantry by recklessly shooting these tame birds. Wild turtle-doves build in the courts of the houses of the capital. These courts often serve for the purpose of poultry-yards, in which fowls wander about without any care being taken of them, except that food is occasionally thrown to them. They are consequently meagre, and produce very small eggs. Turkeys, ducks, and geese are kept in the same

manner.

Quails migrate to Egypt in great numbers; and sandgrouse, called by the natives kata, from their cry, are common in the deserts. There also the Arabs, like the ancient Egyptians, hunt the ostrich. ▲ red-legged partridge is likewise found in Egypt.

The islands of the Nile, the sand-banks which appear when the river is low, the lakes and marshes, the sheets

of water caused by the inundation, and the mountains near the river, are the favourite resorts of many kinds of wading and of web-footed birds.

Of the waders the most interesting would be the sacred ibis of Egypt, if that bird be now found there. But it does not appear certain that only one species was anciently held sacred, and if so that this is the Ibis religiosa of Cuvier now known in Egypt. The Egyptian plover is famous on account of the story, which modern observation has confirmed, related by Herodotus respecting it and the crocodile. Among the most common waders are the spur-winged plover, the snow-white egret, which has been erroneously called the ibis, and the pelican. The cormorant, too, is often seen, as are wild geese and ducks, both of several kinds.

Of the many reptiles the crocodile occupies the first place. It is seldom observed in the present day in Upper Egypt. Some years ago it was usual south of Asyoot to see several crocodiles basking in the sun in the heat of the day on a sand-bank; at the approach of a boat they would quickly plunge into the stream. They rarely attack a human being, but it is unwise to bathe in the river at places where they are reputed to be fierce, and to hathe at any distance from a boat in the part of Upper Egypt where they are found. It is said that the crocodile's common mode of attacking a person on shore, who is near the river's edge, is to approach stealthily and sweep him into the stream by a blow of his tail, the great weapon of all the lizard-tribe. The smaller saurians are found in great numbers of these a species of chameleon may be mentioned.

Serpents and snakes are among the most common reptiles, and are of various kinds, including the deadly cerastes and cobra di capello. The house snakes, however, which are numerous at Cairo, are harmless.

Fishes abound in the Nile and in the Lake Menzeleh. The modern inhabitants of the country are partial to fish as food, but they say that only those fishes which have scales are wholesome. The fishes of the Nile are generally insipid in comparison to those of the sea; though a few of them, particularly the bultee (Labrus niloticus, Linn.), the kishr (Perca nilotica), and the binnee (Cyprinus bynni, Arted.), are of a delicate flavour.

One of the commonest insects is the dangerous scorpion. Its sting is very painful, and, if no remedy is applied, sometimes fatal, particularly if a person is stung in the hcel.1 Large spiders are abundant, including more than one species of solpuga, incorrectly called tarantulas by the Europeans, and believed by the natives to be very venomous, but this is most likely an error Egypt bas ever been famous for what may be termed insect-plagues, but not to the extent that has been asserted by some modern travellers. Caution will enable one partially to escape the attacks of fleas and bugs, and altogether to avoid the more dreaded insect usually spoken of with them. Beetles of various kinds are found, including that which was anciently held sacred, the scarabæus. Locusts are seldom seen, and very rarely in large numbers. When, however, such is the case, they commit great havoc in the fields and gardens, reminding one of the account of the plague of locusts which preceded the Exodus, and the remarkable passage in the book of Joel (ii. 1-11) describing an invading army as a destructive flight of locusts. Sometimes they merely cross the valley of Upper Egypt, and leave the mark of their passage in desolated fields, entirely stripped of verdure; and at other times they spread themselves for days, or even weeks, over the cultivated lands, committing far more extensive mischief.

Bees are kept in Egypt, and their honey is much prized by the inhabitants, who usually eat it in a clarified state. It is inferior to that of Englaud, and also to the famous Greek honey. Butterflies and moths of many kinds are observed in the fields. There are plantations of mulberry trees in the eastern part of Lower Egypt, for the rearing of silk-worms. The manufacture of silks was a Government monopoly, but has lately ceased to be so. The silks of Egypt are generally inferior to those of Syria and other Eastern countries, though some have been produced of great excellence. Among the other insects may be mentioned the common fly, rightly deserving a place among the plagues of Egypt, as doec also the mosquito, which, however, is not found throughout the country.

Ancient Inhabitants.-In the following remarks on the ancient Egyptians great assistance has been derived from the valuable work of Sir Gardner Wilkinson on their Manners and Customs, which has made us better acquainted with them than we are with any other people of antiquity. From the representations of their monuments, and from the mummies which have been unrolled, we can form an accurate idea of the personal characteristics of the ancient Egyptians. In consequence of a misconception of a passage in Herodotus (ii. 104), and confused notions respecting the inhabitants of Africa, it has been often supposed that the Egyptians were very nearly allied to the negro race. A careful examination of the most distinct data in our possession has, however, produced a far different result; and it is now acknowledged that they were more related to the Caucasian than to the negro type. It has also been shown that most of the modern inhabitants have preserved many of the characteristics of their ancient predecessors, and that it is, therefore, erroneous to suppose that they are chiefly of Arab origin, although the intermixture of Arab blood has so much changed the national type that it would not be safe to describe the earlier people from the appearance of the present. Nevertheless, one is often struck, among the remains of ancient monuments, by the similarity of an early representation to some one of the natives standing by, priding himself upon an Arab origin, and repudiating the reproach that he is of the race of Pharaoh.

Judging from the monuments and mummies, the countenance of the ancient Egyptians was oval, and narrower in the case of the men than of the women. The forehead was small and somewhat retiring, but well-shaped; the eyes large, long, and generally black; the nose rather long, and with a slight bridge; the mouth expressive, with rather full lips, and white and regular teeth; the chin small and round, and the cheek-bones a little prominent. The hair was long, full, crisp, somewhat harsh, and almost always black. The beard was worn in so artificial a mode that one cannot judge whether it was full or not. skin of the men was dark brown; that of the women varied from olive to pink flesh-colour in different persons. The colour of the women was natural, and the darker hue of the men the result of exposure to the sun, and the scantiness of their clothing explains why their faces were not darker that the rest of their bodies.

The

sometimes much shorter and in the form of a bag; there VII, —.??

is, indeed, reason to suppose that the practice of shaving the bead was universal, except among the soldiers. All the hair of the face was also shaven, except in the cases of kings and great persons, who bad a small formal beard, possibly artificial, beneath the chin.

The king was distinguished from his subjects by the richness of his apparel. His head-dress was sometimes his own hair, or the wig, alone; and at others he wore the high crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, the former being a kind of conical helmet, and the latter a short cap with a tall point behind, worn outside the other. He is also occasionally represented with another form of high cap. The figure of an asp, the emblem of royalty, is often tied just above his forehead. His beard was about three inches long, and one inch broad and deep, and formally plaited.

The simplest royal dress was a kilt, usually reaching nearly to the knees, rather full in front, having a girdle above, from which hung before a broad band, richly ornamented, and peculiar to the king, like the lion's tail (natural or artificial) which was attached to it behind, and reached nearly to the ground. Sometimes a large and full shirt was worn over the kilt, descending almost to the ankles, and having wide sleeves reaching to the elbow: this outer dress is occasionally simply a skirt. Both these dresses were usually of white linen, and the outer dress was apparently very fine and transparent. Sandals were worn on the feet, and the ornaments were armlets, bracelets, both flat and broad, and deep necklaces.

The ordinary costume of men of the upper and middle classes was the same as that of the king, the short kilt, with sometimes the long shirt or skirt of fine linen above it, tied in various forms. Their beards were very short, scarcely exceeding an inch in length, and of a formal square shape, and they wore the full hair or wig, or a skull-cap. They generally went barefoot, but sometimes used sandals. The priest was occasionally clad in a leopard's skin, either tied or thrown over the shoulder, or worn as a shirt, the fore-legs forming sleeves. Military personages are often represented with helmets, and sometimes with short coats or corslets of plate-mail. The royal princes were distinguished by a side lock apparently curiously plaited.

The men of the lower class wore the kilt and girdle alone, or, especially when engaged in laborious work, went altogether naked. They shaved the head and face, and had no head-covering but the skull-cap. The soldiers had kilts of different kinds, and coats or corslets of plate-mail, and either wore full hair or helmets.

The dress of the queen consisted of a tight skirt, descending to the ankles, supported by shoulder-straps, and bound at the waist by a girdle, with long ends falling in front. Over this was usually worn a full shirt of fine linen, with wide sleeves reaching below the elbows, and having a broad skirt falling to the ground. It much resembles the upper dress of the king, or of men of the richer classes. The queen was distinguished by her head-dress, which was in the form of a vulture with outspread wings, the bird's head projecting over the forehead, and the wings falling on either side, while the tail extended behind. Sometimes the queen is also known by the royal asp above her forehead, and at other times she is represented with various forms of head-dress. The queen also wore sandals. (For illustrations of royal dress see COSTUME, vol. vi., p. 457-8.)

The dress of ladies was the same as that of the queen, without the distinguishing ornaments, but they frequently appeared in the under garment or skirt alone. The women of the lower class wore that garment only, and sometimes it was much shorter than that of the ladies, particularly when they were engaged in manual labour. The women's hair was worn in the same manner as the men's, but it was of greater length, usually reaching about half

way from the shoulders to the waist, being rarely longer, and sometimes much shorter. It was ornamented in various ways, but the general form was always the same.

The children of all ranks were very simply dressed, when clad at all, though those of rich persons were sometimes attired as their elders. Boys were distinguished by the side-lock, which the princes, as before mentioned, wore in a peculiar fashion.

Religion. The credit which the Egyptian priests enjoyed in antiquity for a knowledge of philosophy led to the expectation among modern scholars that, when hieroglyphics were read, the world would recover a lost body of human speculation. The first results disappointed this expectation, but later studies have gone far to justify it. The statement of what those studies have achieved may be divided into the two main subjects-the teaching as to the gods and that as to man's duties and destinies, rites and ceremonies coming under both heads.

in other words, raised upon a The Egyptian

Had the Egyptians any idea of one God is their religion a complex structure recognized monotheistic foundation religious writings are held by M. de Rougé to give an affirmative answer to this question. They speak of one supreme being, self-existent, self-producing, the creator of heaven and earth, called the double god or double being, as the parent of a second manifestation. From the idea of a supreme deity, at once father and mother, producing s second form, probably originated a first triad like the triads of father, mother, and son frequent in Egyptian mythology. To the local divinities the attributes of this supremne deity are given, as though they were mere personifications: that they were originally so is, however, not certain. Ra, the sun, is indeed spoken of as this supreme being, but this appears to have been a later phase of opinion. (De Rougé, "Etudes sur le Rituel Funéraire," Rev. Arch., n.s., i. 356 seqq.) It was probably an attempt to substitute a popular materialistic belief for a philosophical creed. A significant instance of this tendency is perhaps seen in the endeavour of a king of Dynasty XVIII. to abolish all worship but that of the solar disk-sun-worship in its most material form.

A very ancient moral tract, the papyrus of Ptah-hotep, composed under Dynasty V., although a purely Egyptian work, mentioning Osiris and a divinity who may be a form of Osiris, yet speaks constantly of God as if the author had the idea of one God.1

It also appears from one remarkable fact that this idea prevailed in Egypt before the conversion of the nation to Christianity. The Copts took care to eliminate from their vocabulary all the words connected with the religion of their forefathers, substituting for them Greek equivalents. Their term for God is, however, not Greek but Egyptian, Mort, the hieroglyphic neter. They also used it for heathen objects of worship, god or goddess. These uses must therefore have been prevalent in the vulgar dialect when it was first written in Coptic.

Though it cannot reasonably be doubted that the Egyptians had a distinct idea of monotheism, this idea was mixed up with the basest polytheism. The double character which we perceive in the race and the language, both partly Nigritian, partly Semitic, is equally evident in the religion. Every town in Egypt had its sacred

1 "L'idée abstraite de la Divinité intervient frequenument dans le texte, comme si l'auteur avait la notion de l'unité et de l'indivisibilité divine. Mais cette manière de parler n'appartient pas exclusivement à cet antique document. On la rencontre fréquemment dans les textes plus modernes et notamment au Ritucl. D'ailleurs le nom d'Osiris et celui de Dieu double crocodile suffisent pour nous démontrer que nous avons affaire à un monument de pure origine égyptienne." Chaba Le plus ancien livre du mon·le," Rev. Arch. xv. 16