Wilkinson, John Gardner: Topographie of Thebes, and general view of Egypt: being a short account of the principal objects worthy of notice in the valley of the Nile, to the second cataracte and Wadi Samneh, with the Fyoom, Oases and eastern desert, from Sooez to Bertenice (London, 1835)

Chap. III.] A CHASE. 139

desert are admirably designed.* The fox, hare,
gazelle, ibex, eriel (antelope oryx), ostrich, and wild
ox fly before the hounds; and the porcupine and
hyaena retire to the higher part of the mountains.
The female hyaena alone remains, and rises to de-
fend her young; but most of the dogs are repre-
sented in pursuit of the gazelles, or in the act of
seizing those they have overtaken in the plain.f
The chasseur follows, and discharges his arrows
among them as they fly. The arrows\ are very
light, being made of reed, feathered, and tipped
with stone.

In observing the accuracy with which the general
forms and characters of their animals are drawn,
one cannot but feel surprised that the Egyptians
should have had so imperfect a knowledge of the
art of representing the trees and flowers of their
country, which, with the exception of the lotus,
palm, and dom, can scarcely ever be identified,
unless the fruit, as in the pomegranate and syca-
more, is present to assist us.

The most numerous and interesting grottoes are

* Madame de Stael justly observes, " Les sculpteurs Egyptiens
saisissoient avec Men plus de genie la figure des animaux que
celle des hommes."—Corinne, vol. i. p. 121.

t The gazelle prefers the plain when pursued; the ibex and
wild sheep the acclivities of the mountains.

f Arrows of this kind are used by the natives of South America,
and several Indian tribes. The Egyptians sometimes mounted
them with bronze heads. The stone was probably the Ethiopicus
lapis, a trap, or a black flint.