Egypt : handbook for travellers / edited by K. Baedeker.

Date:
1885-1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Egypt : handbook for travellers / edited by K. Baedeker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    being the fat-tailed varieties (ovis pachycera recurvicanda and ovis platyura). The wool of the Egyptian sheep is harsh and wiry, while many of those in the desert have stiff, straight hair, and are altogether destitute of wool. The Pig (Arab, khanzir), which was regarded by the ancient Egyptians as the emblem of Typhon, and is considered unclean by the Arabs, can hardly be called one of the domestic animals of Egypt, but it is kept by the Greek tavern-keepers. The Dog (Arab, kelb) throughout the whole of the East is a masterless and half-wild animal. The usual breed resembles the jackal type, its colour being of a light rusty tint. Every canine family has its regular beat, from which intruders are rigorously excluded. Most of the Egyptian dogs feed on street refuse. The Cat (Arab, kott, kotteh), which was one of the sacred animals of the ancient Egyptians’ ’(comp. p. 136), is now domesticated in almost every Egyptian and Beduin family. The Weasel (mustela semipalmata; Arab. or abu farils), is occa- sionally kept, like the cat, for the purpose of keeping in check the mice of numerous kinds with which the country is infested. It is chiefly met with in a half-wild condition in Central and Lower Egypt, in the towns, farm-buildings, warehouses, and deserted dwellings. Foremost among the various kinds of poultry kept by the Egyptians is the domestic Ben (Arab, farkha; cock, dik), the usual breeds of which are of small size. The artificial hatching establishments in Egypt are of very ancient origin. The Turkey (Arab, farkha rdmi) is imported. The domestic Goose (Arab, wuzzeh) is chiefly met with in Lower and Central Egypt, but nowhere in large numbers. The Egyptian Domestic Pigeon (Arab, hamdm) is very common throughout the File Valley. The peasants erect large dovecots for these pigeons, which they keep solely for the sake of the manure they yield. II. Wild Animals. As there are no game-laws in Egypt, any one provided with a license from the police to carry fire-arms is at liberty to shoot anywhere and at any season, provided enclosed gardens be not entered, and growing crops respected. Permission to shoot on Lake Menzaleh, however, must be obtained from the farmer of the fishings, an introduction to whom may easily be procured from the traveller’s consul at Cairo. Tolerable guns and other requirements for the chasse may be pur- chased at Cairo (p. 235), but gunpowder is bad and dear. Sportsmen who bring their own guns will find it very troublesome to clear them at the custom-house. One of the favourite objects of the chase is the Arabian Mountain Goat (Ibex beden; Arab, beden or walal), which still frequents the mountains between the Nile and the Bed Sea. Another inhabitant of the mountains is the ‘Maned Sheep’' (Ovis trage- laplius; Arab, kebsh el-md, or lcebsh el-gebel), which is occasionally met with among the rocky hills near Minyeh and in the neighbourhood of the Fayum. A denizen of the plains between Cairo and Suez , and of the sand- hills and heights which bound the valley of the Nile and the oases, is the Dorcas Gazelle (Antilope dorcas; Arab, gliazdl), particularly during the dry and hot season. On the Libyan side of the Nile, in the region of the Natron Lakes and the Fayum, and the tract extending thence to the oases, occur also the ‘Spear Antelope’ (Antilope leptoceros; Arab, abu-'l hardb) and the Addax Antelope (Antilope addax; Arab, a'kas, or bakar el-wahsli), besides which the Arabs mention a kind of '•Cow Antelope' (perhaps the Antilope bubalis). The Wild Boar (Arab, hail'df) now occurs in a few districts only in the Delta and the Fayum. In similar localities the sportsman will also meet with the Marsh Lynx (Felis chaus; Arab, tifah), the small-footed Wild Cat (Felis manicu-