The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt

  CHAPTER VI.

  FOWLING AND FISHING.

  The tents, which were made of light cloth intended to keep off thenight dews rather than to afford warmth, were soon pitched, fires werelighted with fuel that had been brought with them in order to savetime in searching for it, and Rabah went off to search for fish andfowl. He returned in half an hour with a peasant carrying four ducksand several fine fish.

  "We shall do now," he said; "with these and the stag our larder iscomplete. Everything but meat we have brought with us."

  Chebron, although he had kept on bravely, was fatigued with his walkand was glad to throw himself down on the sand and enjoy the prospect,which to him was a new one, for he had never before seen so wide anexpanse of water.

  When on the top of the hill he had made out a faint dark line in thedistance, and this Rabah told him was the bank of sand that separatedthe lake from the Great Sea. Now from his present position this wasinvisible, and nothing but a wide expanse of water stretching awayuntil it seemed to touch the sky met his view. Here and there it wasdotted with dark patches which were, Rabah told him, clumps ofwaterfowl, and in the shallow water near the margin, which was but aquarter of a mile away, he could see vast numbers of wading birds,white cranes, and white and black ibises, while numbers of otherwaterfowl, looking like black specks, moved about briskly among them.

  Sometimes with loud cries a number would rise on the wing, and eithermake off in a straight line across the water or circle round andsettle again when they found that their alarm was groundless.

  "It is lovely, is it not?" he exclaimed to Amuba, who was standingbeside him leaning on his bow and looking over the water.

  Amuba did not reply immediately, and Chebron looking up saw that therewere tears on his cheeks.

  "What is it, Amuba?" he asked anxiously.

  "It is nothing, Chebron; but the sight of this wide water takes mythoughts homeward. Our city stood on a sea like this, not so large asthey say is this Great Sea we are looking at, but far too large forthe eye to see across, and it was just such a view as this that Ilooked upon daily from the walls of our palace, save that the shoreswere higher."

  "Maybe you will see it again some day, Amuba," Chebron said gently.

  Amuba shook his head.

  "I fear the chances are small indeed, Chebron. Jethro and I havetalked it over hundreds of times, and on our route hither we haddetermined that if we fell into the hands of harsh masters, we wouldat all hazards try some day to make our escape; but the journey islong and would lie through countries subject to Egypt. The people ofthe land to be passed over speak languages strange to us, and it wouldbe well-nigh impossible to make the journey in safety. Still we wouldhave tried it. As it is, we are well contented with our lot, andshould be mad indeed to forsake it on the slender chances of findingour way back to the land of the Rebu, where, indeed, even if wereached it, I might not be well received, for who knows what king maynow be reigning there?"

  "And if you could get away and were sure of arriving there safely,would you exchange all the comforts of a civilized country like Egyptfor a life such as you have described to me among your own people?"

  "There can be no doubt, Chebron, that your life here is far moreluxurious and that you are far more civilized than the Rebu. By theside of your palaces our houses are but huts. We are ignorant even ofreading and writing. A pile of rushes for our beds and a rough tableand stools constitute our furniture; but, perhaps, after all one isnot really happier for all the things you have. You may have moreenjoyments, but you have greater cares. I suppose every man loves hisown country best, but I do not think that we can love ours as much asyou do. In the first place, we have been settled there but a fewgenerations, large numbers of our people constantly moving west,either by themselves or joining with one of the peoples who push pastus from the far East; beside, wherever we went we should take ourcountry with us, build houses like those we left behind, live by thechase or fishing in one place as another, while the Egyptians couldnowhere find a country like Egypt. I suppose it is the people morethan the country, the familiar language, and the familiar faces andways. I grant freely that the Egyptians are a far greater people thanwe, more powerful, more learned, the masters of many arts, the ownersof many comforts and luxuries, and yet one longs sometimes for one'sfree life among the Rebu."

  "One thing is, Amuba, you were a prince there and you are not here.Had you been but a common man, born to labor, to toil, or to fight atthe bidding of your king, you might perhaps find that the life even ofan Egyptian peasant is easier and more pleasant than yours was."

  "That may be," Amuba said thoughtfully, "and yet I think that the verypoorest among us was far freer and more independent than the richestof your Egyptian peasants. He did not grovel on the ground when theking passed along. It was open to him if he was braver than hisfellows to rise in rank. He could fish, or hunt, or till the ground,or fashion arms as he chose; his life was not tied down by usage orcustom. He was a man, a poor one, perhaps--a half-savage one, if youwill--but he was a man, while your Egyptian peasants, free as they maybe in name, are the very slaves of law and custom. But I see that themeal is ready, and I have a grand appetite."

  "So have I, Amuba. It is almost worth while walking a long way for thesake of the appetite one gets at the end."

  The meal was an excellent one. One of the slaves who had been broughtwas an adept at cooking, and fish, birds, and venison were alikeexcellent, and for once the vegetables that formed so large a portionof the ordinary Egyptian repast were neglected.

  "What are we going to do to-morrow, Rabah?" Chebron asked after themeal was concluded.

  "I have arranged for to-morrow, if such is your pleasure, my lord,that you shall go fowling. A boat will take you along the lake to apoint about three miles off where the best sport is to be had; thenwhen the day is over it will carry you on another eight miles to theplace I spoke to you of where good sport was to be obtained. I shallmeet you on your landing there, and will have everything in readinessfor you."

  "That will do well," Chebron said. "Amuba and Jethro, you will, ofcourse, come with me."

  As soon as it was daylight Rabah led Chebron down to the lake, and thelad with Amuba and Jethro entered the boat, which was constructed ofrushes covered with pitch and drew only two or three inches of water.Two men with long poles were already in the boat; they were fowlers byprofession, and skilled in all the various devices by which thewaterfowl were captured. They had, during the night, been preparingthe boat for the expedition by fastening rushes all round it; thelower ends of these dipped into the water, the upper ends were sixfeet above it, and the rushes were so thickly placed together as toform an impenetrable screen.

  The boat was square at the stern, and here only was there an opening afew inches wide in the rushes to enable the boatman standing there topropel the boat with his pole. One of the men took his station here,the other at the bow, where he peered through a little opening betweenthe rushes, and directed his comrade in the stern as to the course heshould take. In the bottom of the boat lay two cats who, knowing thattheir part was presently to come, watched all that was being done withan air of intelligent interest. A basket well stored with provisions,and a jar of wine, were placed on board, and the boat then pushednoiselessly off.

  Parting the reeds with their fingers and peeping out, the boys sawthat the boat was not making out into the deeper part of the lake, butwas skirting the edge, keeping only a few yards out from the band ofrushes at its margin.

  "Do you keep this distance all the way?" Chebron asked the man withthe pole.

  The man nodded.

  "As long as we are close to the rushes the waterfowl do not notice ourapproach, while were we to push out into the middle they might takethe alarm; although we often do capture them in that way, but in thatcase we get to windward of the flock we want to reach, and then driftdown slowly upon them, but we shall get more sport now by keepingclose in. The birds are numerous, and you will soon be at work."


  In five minutes the man at the bow motioned his passengers that theywere approaching a flock of waterfowl. Each of them took up his bowand arrows and stood in readiness, while the man in the stern used hispole even more quickly and silently than before. Presently at a signalfrom his comrades he ceased poling. All round the boat there wereslight sounds--low contented quackings, and fluttering of wings, asthe birds raised themselves and shook the water from their backs.Parting the rushes in front of them, the two lads and Jethro peepedthrough them.

  They were right in the middle of a flock of wildfowl who were feedingwithout a thought of danger from the clump of rushes in their midst.The arrows were already in their notches, the rushes were parted alittle further, and the three shafts were loosed. The twangs of thebows startled the ducks, and stopping feeding they gazed at the rusheswith heads on one side. Three more arrows glanced out, but this timeone of the birds aimed at was wounded only, and uttering a cry of painand terror it flapped along the surface of the water.

  C. of B. FOWLING WITH THE THROWING-STICK.--Page 111.]

  Instantly, with wild cries of alarm, the whole flock arose, but beforethey had fairly settled in their flight, two more fell pierced witharrows. The cats had been standing on the alert, and as the cry ofalarm was given leaped overboard from the stern, and proceeded topick up the dead ducks, among which were included that which had atfirst flown away, for it had dropped in the water about fifty yardsfrom the boat. A dozen times the same scene was repeated until somethree score ducks and geese lay in the bottom of the boat. By thistime the party had had enough of sport, and had indeed lost thegreater part of their arrows, as all which failed to strike the birdaimed at went far down into the deep mud at the bottom and could notbe recovered.

  "Now let the men show us their skill with their throwing-sticks,"Chebron said. "You will see they will do better with them than we withour arrows."

  The men at once turned the boat's head toward a patch of rushesgrowing from the shallow water a hundred yards out in the lake.Numbers of ducks and geese were feeding round it, and the whole rusheswere in movement from those swimming and feeding among them, for theplants were just at that time in seed. The birds were too muchoccupied to mark the approach of this fresh clump of rushes. The menhad removed the screen from the side of the boat furthest from thebirds, and now stood in readiness, each holding half a dozen sticksabout two feet long, made of curved and crooked wood.

  When close to the birds the boat was swung round, and at once withdeafening cries the birds rose; but as they did so the men with greatrapidity hurled their sticks one after another among them, the lastbeing directed at the birds which, feeding among the rushes, were notable to rise as rapidly as their companions. The lads were astonishedat the effect produced by these simple missiles. So closely packedwere the birds that each stick, after striking one, whirled andtwisted among the others, one missile frequently bringing down threeor four birds.

  The cats were in an instant at work. The flapping and noise wasprodigious, for although many of the birds were killed outright,others struck in the wing or leg were but slightly injured. Some madeoff along the surface of the water, others succeeded in getting up andflying away, but the greater part were either killed by the cats, orknocked on the head by the poles of the two fowlers. Altogethertwenty-seven birds were added to the store in the boat.

  "That puts our arrows to shame altogether, Amuba," Chebron said. "Ihave always heard that the fowlers on these lakes were very skilledwith these throwing-sticks of theirs, but I could not have believed itpossible that two men should in so short a space have effected such aslaughter; but then I had no idea of the enormous quantities of birdson these lakes."

  Jethro was examining the sticks which, as well as the ducks, had beenretrieved by the cats.

  "They are curious things," he said to Amuba. "I was thinking beforethe men used them that straight sticks would be much better, and waswondering why they chose curved wood, but I have no doubt now theshape has something to do with it. You see, as the men threw they gavethem a strong spinning motion. That seems the secret of their action.It was wonderful to see how they whirled about among the fowl,striking one on the head, another on the leg, another on the wing,until they happened to hit one plump on the body; that seemed to stopthem. I am sure one of those sticks that I kept my eyes fixed on musthave knocked down six birds. I will practice with these things, and ifI ever get back home I will teach their use to our people. There arealmost as many waterfowl on our sea as there are here. I have seen italmost black with them down at the southern end, where it is borderedby swamps and reed-covered marshes."

  "How do they catch them there, Jethro?" Chebron asked.

  "They net them in decoys, and sometimes wade out among them with theirheads hidden among floating boughs, and so get near enough to seizethem by the legs and pull them under water; in that way a man willcatch a score of them before their comrades are any the wiser."

  "We catch them the same way here," one of the fowlers who had beenlistening remarked. "We weave little bowers just large enough for ourheads and shoulders to go into, and leave three or four of themfloating about for some days near the spot where we mean to work. Thewild fowl get accustomed to them, and after that we can easily goamong them and capture numbers."

  "I should think fowling must be a good trade," Chebron said.

  "It is good enough at times," the man replied; "but the ducks are nothere all the year. The long-legged birds are always to be found herein numbers, but the ducks are uncertain, so are the geese. At certaintimes in the year they leave us altogether. Some say they go acrossthe Great Sea to the north; others that they go far south into Nubia.Then even when they are here they are uncertain. Sometimes they arethick here, then again there is scarce one to be seen, and we hearthey are swarming on the lakes further to the west. Of course thewading birds are of no use for food; so you see when the ducks andgeese are scarce, we have a hard time of it. Then, again, even when wehave got a boat-load we have a long way to take it to market, and whenthe weather is hot all may get spoiled before we can sell them; andthe price is so low in these parts when the flocks are here that itis hard to lay by enough money to keep us and our families during theslack time. If the great cities Thebes and Memphis lay near to us,it would be different. They could consume all we could catch, andwe should get better prices, but unless under very favorablecircumstances there is no hope of the fowl keeping good during thelong passage up the river to Thebes. In fact, were it not for ourdecoys we should starve. In these, of course, we take them alive, andsend them in baskets to Thebes, and in that way get a fair price forthem."

  "What sort of decoys do you use?" Jethro asked.

  "Many kinds," the man replied. "Sometimes we arch over the rushes, tiethem together at the top so as to form long passages over littlechannels among the rushes; then we strew corn over the water, andplace near the entrance ducks which are trained to swim about outsideuntil a flock comes near; then they enter the passage feeding, and theothers follow. There is a sort of door which they can push asideeasily as they pass up, but cannot open on their return."

  "That is the sort of decoy they use in our country," Jethro said.

  "Another way," the fowler went on, "is to choose a spot where therushes form a thick screen twenty yards deep along the bank; then alight net two or three hundred feet long is pegged down on to theshore behind them, and thrown over the tops of the rushes, reaching towithin a foot or two of the water. Here it is rolled up, so that whenit is shaken out it will go down into the water. Then two men standamong the rushes at the ends of the net, while another goes out far onto the lake in a boat. When he sees a flock of ducks swimming near theshore he poles the boat toward them; not so rapidly as to frightenthem into taking flight, but enough so to attract their attention andcause uneasiness. He goes backward and forward, gradually approachingthe shore, and of course managing so as to drive them toward the pointwhere the net is. When they are opposite this he closes in faster, andthe ducks all sw
im in among the rushes. Directly they are in, the menat the ends of the net shake down the rolled-up part, and then thewhole flock are prisoners. After that the fowlers have only to enterthe rushes, and take them as they try to fly upward and are stopped bythe net. With luck two or three catches can be made in a day, and athousand ducks and sometimes double that number can be captured. Thenthey are put into flat baskets just high enough for them to stand inwith their heads out through the openings at the top, and so put onboard the boat and taken up the Nile."

  "Yes, I have often seen the baskets taken out of the boats," Chebronsaid, "and thought how cruel it was to pack them so closely. But howdo they feed them for they must often be a fortnight on the way?"

  "The trader who has bought them of us and other fowlers waits until hehas got enough together to freight a large craft--for it would not payto work upon a small scale--accompanies them up the river, and feedsthem regularly with little balls made of moistened flour, just in thesame way that they do at the establishments in Upper Egypt, where theyraise fowl and stuff them for the markets. If the boat is a large one,and is taking up forty or fifty thousand fowl, of course he takes twoor three boys to help him, for it is no light matter to feed such anumber, and each must have a little water as well as the meal. Itseems strange to us here, where fowl are so abundant, that peopleshould raise and feed them just as if they were bullocks. But Isuppose it is true."

  "It is quite true," Chebron replied. "Amuba and I went to one of thegreat breeding-farms two or three months ago. There are two sorts--onewhere they hatch, the other where they fat them. The one we went toembraced both branches, but this is unusual. From the hatching-placescollectors go round to all the people who keep fowls for miles roundand bring in eggs, and beside these they buy them from others at agreater distance. The eggs are placed on sand laid on the floor ofa low chamber, and this is heated by means of flues from a fireunderneath. It requires great care to keep the temperature exactlyright; but of course men who pass their lives at this work canregulate it exactly, and know by the feel just what is the heat atwhich the eggs should be kept.

  "There are eight or ten such chambers in the place we visited, so thatevery two or three days one or other of them hatches out and is readyfor fresh eggs to be put down. The people who send the eggs come in atthe proper time and receive each a number of chickens in proportion tothe eggs they have sent, one chicken being given for each two eggs.Some hatchers give more, some less; what remain over are paymentfor their work; so you see they have to be very careful about thehatching. If they can hatch ninety chickens out of every hundred eggs,it pays them very well; but if, owing to the heat being too great ortoo little, only twenty or thirty out of every hundred are raised,they have to make good the loss. Of course they always put in a greatmany of the eggs they have themselves bought. They are thus able togive the right number to their customers even if the eggs have notturned out well.

  "Those that remain after the proper number has been given to thefarmers the breeders sell to them or to others, it being no part oftheir business to bring up the chickens. The fattening business isquite different. At these places there are long rows of little boxespiled up on each other into a wall five feet high. The door of each ofthese boxes has a hole in it through which the fowl can put its head,with a little sort of shutter that closes down on it. A fowl is placedin each boX. Then the attendants go around two together; one carries abasket filled with little balls of meal, the other lifts the shutter,and as the fowl puts its head out catches it by the neck, makes itopen its beak, and with his other hand pushes the ball of meal downits throat. They are so skillful that the operation takes scarce amoment; then they go on to the next, and so on down the long rowsuntil they have fed the last of those under their charge. Then theybegin again afresh."

  "Why do they keep them in the dark?" the fowler asked.

  "They told us that they did it because in the dark they were notrestless, and slept all the time between their meals. Then each timethe flap is lifted they think it is daylight, and pop out their headsat once to see. In about ten days they get quite fat and plump, andare ready for market."

  "It seems a wonderful deal of trouble," the fowler said. "But Isuppose, as they have a fine market close at hand, and can get goodprices, it pays them. It seems more reasonable to me than the hatchingbusiness. Why they should not let the fowls hatch their own eggs ismore than I can imagine."

  "Fowls will lay a vastly greater number of eggs than they will hatch,"Chebron said. "A well-fed fowl should lay two hundred and fifty eggsin the year; and, left to herself, she will not hatch more than twobroods of fifteen eggs in each. Thus, you see, as it pays thepeasants much better to rear fowls than to sell eggs, it is to theirprofit to send their eggs to the hatching-places, and so to get ahundred and twenty-five chickens a year instead of thirty."

  "I suppose it does," the fowler agreed. "But here we are, my lord, atthe end of our journey. There is the point where we are to land, andyour servant who hired us is standing there in readiness for you. Ihope that you are satisfied with your day's sport."

  Chebron said they had been greatly pleased, and in a few minutes theboat reached the landing-place, where Rabah was awaiting them. One ofthe fowlers, carrying a dozen of the finest fowl they had killed,accompanied them to the spot Rabah had chosen for the encampment. Likethe last, it stood at the foot of the sandhills, a few hundred yardsfrom the lake.

  "Is the place where we are going to hunt near here?" was Chebron'sfirst question.

  "No, my lord; it is two miles away. But, in accordance with yourorder last night, I have arranged for you to fish to-morrow. In theafternoon I will move the tents a mile nearer to the country where youwill hunt, but it is best not to go too close, for near the edge ofthese great swamps the air is unhealthy to those who are notaccustomed to it."

  "I long to get at the hunting," Chebron said; "but it is better, asyou say, to have the day's fishing first, for the work would seem tameafter the excitement of hunting the river-horse. We shall be glad ofour dinner as soon as we can get it, for although we have done justiceto the food you put on board, we are quite ready again. Twelve hoursof this fresh air from the sea gives one the appetite of a hyena."

  "Everything is already in readiness, my lord. I thought it better notto wait for the game you brought home, which will do well to-morrow,and so purchased fish and fowl from the peasants. As we have seen yourboat for the last two or three hours, we were able to calculate thetime of your arrival, and thus have everything in readiness."

  The dinner was similar to that on the previous day, except that a haretook the place of the venison--a change for the better, as the harewas a delicacy much appreciated by the Egyptians. The following daywas spent in fishing. For this purpose a long net was used, and themethod was precisely similar to that in use in modern times. One endof the net was fastened to the shore, the net itself being coiled upin the boat. This was rowed out into the lake, the fishermen payingout the net as it went. A circuit was then made back to the shore,where the men seized the two ends of the net and hauled it to land,capturing the fish inclosed within its sweep. After seeing two orthree hauls made, the lads went with Jethro on board the boat. Theywere provided by the fishermen with long two-pronged spears.

  The boat was then quietly rowed along the edge of the rushes, wherethe water was deeper than usual. It was, however, so clear that theycould see to the bottom, and with their spears they struck at the fishswimming there. At first they were uniformly unsuccessful, as theywere ignorant that allowance must be made for diffraction, and werepuzzled at finding that their spears instead of going straight down atthe fish they struck at seemed to bend off at an angle at the water'sedge. The fishermen, however, explained to them that an allowance mustbe made for this, the allowance being all the greater the greater thedistance the fish was from the boat, and that it was only when it layprecisely under them that they could strike directly at it. But evenafter being instructed in the matter they succeeded but poorly, andpresently la
id down their spears and contented themselves withwatching their boatmen, who rarely failed in striking and bringingup the prey they aimed at.

  Presently their attention was attracted to four boats, each containingfrom six to eight men. Two had come from either direction, and whenthey neared each other volleys of abuse were exchanged between theiroccupants.

  "What is all this about?" Chebron asked as the two fishermen laid bytheir spears, and with faces full of excitement turned round to watchthe boats.

  "The boats come from two villages, my lord, between which at presentthere is a feud arising out of some fishing-nets that were carriedaway. They sent a regular challenge to each other a few days since, asis the custom here, and their champions are going to fight it out. Yousee the number of men on one side are equal to those on the other, andthe boats are about the same size."

  Amuba and Jethro looked on with great interest, for they had seenpainted on the walls representations of these fights between boatmen,which were of common occurrence, the Egyptians being a very combativerace, and fierce feuds being often carried on for a long time betweenneighboring villages. The men were armed with poles some ten feet inlength, and about an inch and a half in diameter, their favoriteweapons on occasions of this kind. The boats had now come in closecontact, and a furious battle at once commenced, the clattering of thesticks, the heavy thuds of the blows, and the shouts of the combatantscreating a clamor that caused all the waterfowl within a circle ofhalf a mile to fly screaming away across the lake. The men all usedtheir heavy weapons with considerable ability, the greater part of theblows being warded off. Many, however, took effect, some of thecombatants being knocked into the water, others fell prostrate intheir boats, while some dropped their long staves after a disablingblow on the arm.

  "It is marvelous that they do not all kill each other," Jethro said."Surely this shaving of the head, Amuba, which has always struck us asbeing very peculiar, has its uses, for it must tend to thicken theskull, for surely the heads of no other men could have borne suchblows without being crushed like water-jars."

  That there was certainly some ground for Jethro's supposition isproved by the fact that Herodotus, long afterward writing of thedesperate conflicts between the villagers of Egypt, asserted thattheir skulls were thicker than those of any other people.

  Most of the men who fell into the water scrambled back into the boatsand renewed the fight, but some sank immediately and were seen nomore. At last, when fully half the men on each side had been put _horsde combat_, four or five having been killed or drowned, the boatsseparated, no advantage resting with either party; and still shoutingdefiance and jeers at each other, the men poled in the direction oftheir respective villages.

  "Are such desperate fights as these common?" Chebron asked thefishermen.

  "Yes; there are often quarrels," one of them replied, quietly resuminghis fishing as if nothing out of the ordinary way had taken place. "Ifthey are water-side villages their champions fight in boats, as youhave seen; if not, equal parties meet at a spot halfway between thevillages and decide it on foot. Sometimes they fight with shortsticks, the hand being protected by a basket hilt, while on the leftarm a piece of wood, extending from the elbow to the tips of thefingers, is fastened on by straps serving as a shield; but moreusually they fight with the long pole, which we call the neboot."

  "It is a fine weapon," Jethro said, "and they guard their heads withit admirably, sliding their hands far apart. If I were back again,Amuba, I should like to organize a regiment of men armed with thoseweapons. It would need that the part used as a guard should be coveredwith light iron to prevent a sword or ax from cutting through it; butwith that addition they would make splendid weapons, and footmen armedwith sword and shield would find it hard indeed to repel an assault bythem."

  "The drawback would be," Amuba observed, "that each man would requireso much room to wield his weapon that they must stand far apart, andeach would be opposed to three or four swordsmen in the enemy's line."

  "That is true, Amuba, and you have certainly hit upon the weak pointin the use of such a weapon; but for single combat, or the fighting ofbroken ranks, they would be grand. When we get back to Thebes if I canfind any peasant who can instruct me in the use of these neboots Iwill certainly learn it."

  "You ought to make a fine player," one of the fishermen said, lookingat Jethro's powerful figure. "I should not like a crack on the headfrom a neboot in your hands. But the sun is getting low, and we hadbest be moving to the point where you are to disembark."

  "We have had another capital day, Rabah," Chebron said when theyreached their new encampment. "I hope that the rest will turn out assuccessful."

  "I think that I can promise you that they will, my lord. I have beenmaking inquiries among the villagers, and find that the swamp in theriver bed abounds with hippopotami."

  "How do you hunt them--on foot?"

  "No, my lord. There is enough water in the river bed for the flatboats made of bundles of rushes to pass up, while in many places aredeep pools in which the animals lie during the heat of the day."

  "Are they ferocious animals?" Amuba asked. "I have never yet seen one;for though they say that they are common in the Upper Nile, as well asfound in swamps like this at its mouth, there are none anywhere in theneighborhood of Thebes. I suppose that there is too much traffic forthem, and that they are afraid of showing themselves in such water."

  "There would be no food for them," Rabah said. "They are found only inswamps like this, or in places on the Upper Nile where the river isshallow and bordered with aquatic plants, on whose roots theyprincipally live. They are timid creatures and are found only inlittle-frequented places. When struck they generally try to make theirescape; for although occasionally they will rush with their enormousmouth open at a boat, tear it in pieces, and kill the hunter, thisvery seldom happens. As a rule they try only to fly."

  "They must be cowardly beasts!" Jethro said scornfully. "I wouldrather hunt an animal, be it ever so small, that will make a fight forits life. However, we shall see."

  Upon the following morning they started for the scene of action. Anexclamation of surprise broke from them simultaneously when, onascending a sandhill, they saw before them a plain a mile wideextending at their feet. It was covered with rushes and other aquaticplants, and extended south as far as the eye could see.

  "For one month in the year," Rabah said, "this is a river, for elevenit is little more than a swamp, though the shallower boats can maketheir way up it many miles. But a little water always finds its waydown, either from the Nile itself or from the canals. It is one of thefew places of Northern Egypt where the river-horse is still found, andnone are allowed to hunt them unless they are of sufficient rank toobtain the permission of the governor of the province. The stewardwrote for and obtained this as soon as he knew by letter from yourfather that you were accompanying him and would desire to have somesport."

  "Are there crocodiles there?" Amuba asked.

  "Many," Rabah replied, "although few are now found in the lakes. Thepeople here are not like those of the Theban zone, who hold them inhigh respect--here they regard them as dangerous enemies, and killthem without mercy."