DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3720#0093
70 DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE EGYFTIANS.
and the oryx, formed part of the stock of the farmyard. All
these last were bred in considerable numbers; and supplies
were constantly added whenever the huntsmen could catch them
young in the deserts, where they abounded. ¥e are informed
by the paintings, and the accounts of old writers, that experi-
ence had imparted to them many useful secrets in taming and
training animals and birds; and if lions were taught to perform
the part of hounds, and of the cJtita or hunting leopard of
India,—if cats could be made retrievers in fowling excursions
among the fens, and snakes were charmed (as they still are in
the East),—if monkeys helped to gather fruit, and if crocodiles
could be taught to come out of the water when called by name,
and submitted, like young ladies, to have their ears bored for
the display of an ornament, we must allow that our modern
Van Amburghs fall far short of the Egyptians. But, even
admitting that much of their reputed skill was exaggerated,
there can be little doubt that they studied the habits of animals
with great success; and the veterinary art was well understood.
Indeed, to northern people, more prone to destroy than to
tame wild animals, the regard so often shown them by Orientals
may often appear strange and inconsistent; but though none are
more fond of field sports than Asiatics (as they and the chase-
loving people of Egypt were of old), they do not kill animals
from a mere habit. Storks and doves are permitted by the
Oriental to appropriate whatever part of his house may please
them, even if it inconveniences the owner; and the gulls and
porpoises in the Golden Horn are so accustomed to be unmo-
lested, that they scarcely make way for the oar as it dips in
the water; and yet the Turks have not the credit of being the
meekest, or the most humane, of men. "What European boy or
man, who could reach a stone or a gun, would fail to indulge
in such an opportunity for destroying? And, with all our
and the oryx, formed part of the stock of the farmyard. All
these last were bred in considerable numbers; and supplies
were constantly added whenever the huntsmen could catch them
young in the deserts, where they abounded. ¥e are informed
by the paintings, and the accounts of old writers, that experi-
ence had imparted to them many useful secrets in taming and
training animals and birds; and if lions were taught to perform
the part of hounds, and of the cJtita or hunting leopard of
India,—if cats could be made retrievers in fowling excursions
among the fens, and snakes were charmed (as they still are in
the East),—if monkeys helped to gather fruit, and if crocodiles
could be taught to come out of the water when called by name,
and submitted, like young ladies, to have their ears bored for
the display of an ornament, we must allow that our modern
Van Amburghs fall far short of the Egyptians. But, even
admitting that much of their reputed skill was exaggerated,
there can be little doubt that they studied the habits of animals
with great success; and the veterinary art was well understood.
Indeed, to northern people, more prone to destroy than to
tame wild animals, the regard so often shown them by Orientals
may often appear strange and inconsistent; but though none are
more fond of field sports than Asiatics (as they and the chase-
loving people of Egypt were of old), they do not kill animals
from a mere habit. Storks and doves are permitted by the
Oriental to appropriate whatever part of his house may please
them, even if it inconveniences the owner; and the gulls and
porpoises in the Golden Horn are so accustomed to be unmo-
lested, that they scarcely make way for the oar as it dips in
the water; and yet the Turks have not the credit of being the
meekest, or the most humane, of men. "What European boy or
man, who could reach a stone or a gun, would fail to indulge
in such an opportunity for destroying? And, with all our