 Chapter 4 of The Cat of Bubastis, A Tale of Ancient Egypt. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Cat of Bubastis by G. A. Henty. Chapter 4 An Easy Servitude. Just as the priest finished speaking, a lad of about the same age as Amuba appeared on the portico of the house, and ran down to his father. Oh, father, he exclaimed, have you brought two of those strange captives home? We saw them in the procession, and marveled greatly at the color of their hair and eyes. Misa and I particularly noticed this lad whose hair is almost the color of gold. As usual, Chebran, your tongue outruns your discretion. This youth understands enough Egyptian to know what you are saying, and it is not courteous to speak of a person's characteristics to his face. The lad flushed through his olive cheeks. Pardon me, he said courteously to Amuba. I did not think for a moment that one who had but newly arrived among us understood our language. Do not apologize, Amuba replied with a smile. Doubtless our appearance is strange to you, and indeed even among the peoples of Lydia and Persia there are few whose hair and eyes are as fair as ours. Even had you said that you did not like our appearance I should not have felt hurt. For all people I think like that to which they are accustomed. In any case it is good of you to say that you regret what you said. People do not generally think that captives have feelings. Chebran's apology was right, his father said. Among us politeness is the rule, and every Egyptian is taught to be considerate to all people. It is just as easy to be polite as to be rude, and men are served better for love than for fear. And are they to stay here, father? Everyone asked, or have you only brought them for today? They are to stay here, my son. I have chosen them from those set aside for our temple. I selected the younger because he was about your age, and it is good for a man to have one near him who has been brought up with him and is attached to him. Who, although circumstances may not have made them equal in condition, can yet be a comrade and a friend, and such I hope you will find in Amuba, for such he tells me is his name. I have said whom circumstances have placed in an inferior position, for after all circumstances are everything. This youth in his own country held a position even higher than you do here, for he was the son of the king, and since his father fell in battle would now be the king of his people had they not been subjected to us. Therefore, Chebran, bear it always in mind, that although misfortune has placed him a captive among us, he is in birth your superior, and treat him as you yourself would wish to be treated did you fall a captive into the hands of a hostile nation. I will gladly treat you as my friend, the young Egyptian said frankly to Amuba, although you are so different from me in race I can see in your face that you are true and loyal. Besides, he added, I am sure that my father would not have bade me so trust you had he not read your character, and been certain that you will be a fit friend for me. You and your father are both good, Amuba replied, I know how hard is the lot of captives taken in war, for we Rebu had many slaves whom we took in various expeditions, and I was prepared to suffer. You can judge, then, how grateful I feel to our gods that they have placed me in hands so different from those I had looked for, and I swear to you, Chebran, that you shall find me faithful and devoted to you. So too will you find my friend here, who in any difficulty would be far more able to render you service than I could. He was one of our bravest warriors. He drove my chariot in the great battle we fought with your people, and saved my life several times, and should you need the service of a strong and brave man, Jethro will be able to aid you. What have you been in battle? Chebran asked in surprise, that was the first time I had ever fought with men, Amuba said, but I had often hunted the lion, and he is almost as terrible an enemy as your soldiers. I was young to go to battle, but my father naturally wanted me to take my place early among the fighting men of our nation. By the way, Chebran, Amaris said, I would warn you, mention to no one the rank that Amuba held in his own country, were it known he might be taken away from us to serve in the palace? His people who were taken captives with him said nothing as to his rank, fearing that ill might befall him were it known, and it was therefore supposed that he was of the same rank as the other captives, who were all men of noble birth among the rebu. Therefore tell no one, not even your mother or your sister, Misa, if there is a secret to be kept, the fewer who know it the better. While this conversation had been going on, Amuba had been narrowly examining the lad who had promised to treat him as a friend. Like his father he was fairer in complexion than the majority of the Egyptians, the lighter hue being indeed almost universal among the upper class. He was much shorter and sleighter than the young rebu, but he carried himself well, and had already in his manner something of the calm and dignity that distinguished Egyptians born to high rank. He was disfigured, as Amuba thought, by the custom general throughout Egypt of having his head smoothly shaven, except one lock which fell down over the left ear. This, as Amuba afterward learned, was the distinguishing sign of youth, and would be shaved off when he attained man's estate, married, or entered upon a profession. At present his head was bare, but when he went out he wore a close-fitting cap with an orifice through which the lock of hair passed out and fell down to his shoulder. He had not yet taken to the custom general among the upper and middle classes of wearing a wig. This general shaving of the head had, to Amuba, a most unpleasant effect until he became accustomed to it. It was adopted doubtless by the Egyptians for the purpose of coolness and cleanliness, but Amuba thought that he would rather spend any amount of pains in keeping his hair free from dust than to go about in the fantastic and complicated wigs that the Egyptians wore. The priest now led them within the house. On passing through the entrance they entered a large hall. Along its side ran a row of massive columns supporting the ceiling which projected twelve feet from each wall. The walls were covered with marble and other colored stones. The floor was paved with the same material. A fountain played in the middle and threw its water to a considerable height, for the portion of the hall between the columns was open to the sky. Ents of a great variety of shapes stood about the room, while in great pots were placed palms and other plants of graceful foliage. The ceiling was painted with an elaborate pattern in colors. A lady was seated upon a long couch. It had no back, but one end was raised as a support for the arm, and the ends were carved into the semblance of the heads of animals. Two Nubian slave girls stood behind her, fanning her, and the girl, about twelve years old, was seated on a low stool studying from a roll of papyrus. She threw it down and jumped to her feet as her father entered, and the lady rose with a languid air as if the effort of even so slight a movement was a trouble to her. Oh, papa! The girl began, but the priest checked her with a motion of his hand. My dear, he said to his wife, I have brought home two of the captives whom our great king has brought with him as trophies of his conquest. He has handed many over for our service and that of the temples, and these two have fallen to my share. They were of noble rank in their own country, and we will do our best to make them forget the sad change in their position. You are always so peculiar in your notions, our mares, the lady said more pettishly than would have been expected from her languid movements. They are captives, and I do not see that it makes any matter what they were before they were captives, so that they are captives now. My all means treat them as you like, so that you do not place them about me, for their strange-colored hair and eyes and their white faces make me shudder. Oh, mama! I think it is so pretty, my sir exclaimed. I do wish my hair was gold-colored like that, boys, instead of being black like everyone else's. The priest shook his head at his daughter reprovingly, but she seemed in no way abashed, for she was her father's pet, and knew well enough that he was never seriously angry with her. I do not propose placing them near you, our main see, he said, calmly in reply to his wife. Indeed, it seems to me that you have already more attendance about you than you can find any sort of employment for. The lad I have specially allotted to Chebron. As to the other I have not exactly settled as to what his duties will be. Won't you give him to me, papa? My sir said, coaxingly, Fatina is not at all amusing, and Doma, the Nubian girl, can only look good-natured and show her white teeth, but as we can't understand each other at all, I don't see that she is of any use to me. And what use do you think you could make of this tall rebu? The priest asked, smiling, I don't quite know, papa. My sir said, as with her head a little on one side, she examined Jethro critically. But I like his looks, and I am sure he could do all sorts of things. For instance, he could walk with me when I want to go out. He could tow me round the lake in the boat. He could pick up my ball for me, and could feed my pets. When you are too lazy to feed them yourself, the priest put in. Very well, my sir, we will try the experiment. Jethro shall be your special attendant, and when you have nothing for him to do, which will be the best part of the day, he can look after the waterfowl. Zombo never attends them properly. Do you understand that? He asked Jethro. Jethro replied by stepping forward, taking the girl's hand, and bending over it until his forehead touched it. There is an answer for you, my sir. You indulge the children too much on marries, his wife said irritably. I do not think in all Egypt there are any children so spoiled as ours. Other men's sons never speak unless addressed, and do not think of sitting down in the presence of their father. I am astonished indeed that you, who are looked up to as one of the wisest men in Egypt, should suffer your children to be so familiar with you. Perhaps, my dear, our marries said with a placid smile, it is because I am one of the wisest men in Egypt. My children honour me in their hearts as much as do those who are kept in slave-like subjection. How is a boy's mind to expand if he does not ask questions? And who should be so well able to answer his questions as his father? There, children, you can go now. Take your new companions with you, and show them the garden and your pets. We are fortunate indeed, Jethro, Amuba said, as they followed Jabran and Mysa into the garden. When we pictured to ourselves as we lay on the sand at night during our journey hither what our life would be, we never dreamed of anything like this. We thought of tilling the land, of aiding to raise the great dams and embankments, of quarrying stones for the public buildings, of a grinding and hopeless slavery, and the only thing that ever we ventured to hope for was that we might toil side by side. And now see how good the gods have been to us. Not only are we together, but we have found friends in our masters a home in this strange land. Truly it is wonderful, Amuba. This priest on marries is a most excellent person, one to be loved by all who come near him. We have indeed been most fortunate in having been chosen by him. The brother and sister led the way through an avenue of fruit trees, at the end of which a gate led through the high pailing of rushes into an enclosure some fifty feet square. It was surrounded by trees and shrubs, and in their shade stood a number of wooden structures. In the center was a pool occupying the third of the area, and like the large pond before the house bordered with aquatic plants. At the edge stood two ibises, while many brilliantly plumaged waterfowl were swimming on its surface or cleaning their feathers on the bank. As soon as the gate closed there was a great commotion among the waterfowl, the ibises advanced gravely to meet their young mistress, the ducks set up a chorus of welcome, those on the water made for the shore, while those on land followed the ibises with loud quackings, but the first to reach them were two gazelles, which bounded from one of the wooden huts and were in an instant beside them, thrusting their soft muzzles into the hands of Chebran and Misa, while from the other structures arose a medley of sounds, the barking of dogs and the sounds of welcome from a variety of creatures. This is not your feeding time, you know, Chebran said, looking at the gazelles, and for once we have come empty-handed, but we will give you something from your stores. See Jethro, this is their larder, and he led the way into a structure somewhat larger than the rest. Along the walls were a number of boxes of various sizes, while some large bins stood below them. Here you see, he went on, opening one of the bins and taking from it a handful of freshly cut vetches, and going to the door and throwing it down before the gazelles. This is their special food. It is brought in fresh every morning from our farm, which lies six miles away. The next bin contains the seed for the waterfowl. It is all mixed here, you see, wheat and peas and pulse and other seeds. Misa, do give them a few handfuls, for I can hardly hear myself speak from their clamor. In this box above you see there is a pan of soft bread for the cats. There is a little mixed with the water, but only a little, for it will not keep good. Those cakes are for them, too. Those large, plain, hard-baked cakes in the next box are for the dogs. They have some meat and bones given them two or three times a week. These frogs and toads in this cage are for the little crocodile. He has a tank all to himself. All these other boxes are full of different food for the other animals you see. There's a picture of the right animal upon each, so there is no fear of making a mistake. We generally feed them ourselves three times a day when we are here, but when we are away it will be for you to feed them. And please, Misa said, above all things be very particular that they have all got fresh water. They do love fresh water so much, and sometimes it is so hot that the pans dry up in an hour after it has been poured out. You see, the gazelles can go to the pond and drink when they are thirsty, but the others are fastened up because they won't live peaceably together as they ought to do, but we let them out for a bit while we are here. The dogs chase the waterfowl and frighten them, and the cats will eat up the little ducklings, which is very wrong when they have plenty of proper food, and the newmen, even when we are here, would quarrel with the snakes if we let him into their house. They are very troublesome that way, though they are all so good with us. The houses all want making nice and clean of a morning. The party went from house to house inspecting the various animals, all of which were most carefully attended. The dogs, which were, Chabron said, of a Nubian breed, were used for hunting, while on comfortable beds of fresh rushes three great cats lay blinking on large cushions. But got up and rubbed against Misa and Chabron in a token of welcome. A number of kittens that were playing about together rushed up with upraised tails and loud mewings. Amuba noticed that their two guides made a motion of respect as they entered the house where the cats were, as well as toward the dogs, the ignuman, and the crocodile, all of which were sacred animals in thieves. Many instructions were given by Misa to Jethro as to the peculiar treatments that each of her pets demanded, and having completed their rounds the party then explored the garden, and Amuba and Jethro were greatly struck by the immense variety of plants, which had indeed been raised from seeds or roots brought from all the various countries where the Egyptian arms extended. For a year the time passed tranquilly and pleasantly to Amuba in the household of the priest. His duties and those of Jethro were light. In his walks and excursions Amuba was Chabron's companion. He went to row his boat when he went out fishing on the Nile. When thus out together the distinction of rank was all together laid aside. But when in thieves the line was necessarily more marked, as Chabron could not take Amuba with him to the houses of the many friends and relatives of his father among the priestly and military classes. When the priest and his family went out to a banquet or entertainment Jethro and Amuba were always with the party of servants who went with torches to escort them home. The service was a light one in their case, but not so in many others, for the Egyptians often drank deeply at these feasts, and many of the slaves always took with them light couches upon which to carry their masters home. Even among the ladies who generally took their meals apart from the men upon these occasions, drunkenness was by no means uncommon. When in the house Amuba was often present when Chabron studied, and as he himself was most anxious to acquire as much as he could of the wisdom of the Egyptians, Chabron taught him the hieroglyphic characters, and he was ere long able to read the inscriptions upon the temple and public buildings, and to study from the papyrus scrolls, of which vast numbers were stowed away in pigeon-holes ranged round one of the largest rooms in the house. When Chabron's studies were over Jethro instructed him in the use of arms, and also practiced with Amuba. A teacher of the use of the bow came frequently, for Egyptians of all ranks were skilled in the use of the national weapon, and the rebu captives, already skilled in the bow as used by their own people, learned from watching his teaching of Chabron to use the longer and much more powerful weapon of the Egyptians. Whenever Misa went outside the house, Jethro accompanied her, waiting outside the house as she visited until she came out, or going back to fetch her if her stay was a prolonged one. Greatly, they enjoyed the occasional visits made by the family to their farm. Here they saw the cultivation of the fields carried on, watched the plucking of the grapes and their conversion into wine. To extract the juice the grapes were heaped in a large, flat vat above which ropes were suspended, a dozen barefooted slaves entered the vat and trod out the grapes, using the ropes to lift themselves in order that they might drop with greater force upon the fruit. Amuba had learned from Chabron that although he was going to enter the priesthood as an almost necessary preliminary for state employment, he was not intended to rise to the upper rank of the priesthood but to become a state official. My elder brother will, no doubt, some day succeed my father as high priest of Osiris, he told Amuba. I know that my father does not think that he is clever, but it is not necessary to be very clever to serve in the temple. I thought that, of course, I too should come to high rank in the priesthood, for, as you know, almost all posts are hereditary, and though my brother as the elder would be high priest, I should be one of the chief priests also. But I have not much taste that way, and rejoiced much when one day saying so to my father, he replied at once that he should not urge me to devote my life to the priesthood, for that there were many other offices of state which would be open to me, and in which I could serve my country and be useful to the people. Almost all the posts in the service of the state are indeed, held by the members of priestly families. They furnish governors to the provinces, and not infrequently generals to the army. Some, he said, are by disposition fitted to spend their lives administering in the temples, and it is doubtless a high honor and happiness to do so, but for others a more active life and a wider field of usefulness is more suitable. Engineers are wanted for the canal and irrigation works. Judges are required to make the law respected and obeyed. Guards to deal with foreign nations, governors for the many peoples over whom we rule. Therefore, my son, if you do not feel a longing to spend your life in the service of the temple, by all means turn your mind to study which will fit you to be an officer of the state. Be assured that I can obtain for you from the king a post in which you will be able to make your first essay, and so, if deserving, rise to high advancement. There were few priests during the reign of Thotmese III, who stood higher in the opinion of the Egyptian people than Ameres. His piety and learning rendered him distinguished among his fellows. He was high priest in the temple of Osiris, and was one of the most trusted of the counselors of the king. He had by heart all the laws of the sacred books. He was an adept in the inmost mysteries of the religion. His wealth was large, and he used it nobly. He lived in a certain pomp and state which were necessary for his position, but he spent but a tithe of his revenues, and the rest he distributed among the needy. If the Nile rose to a higher level than usual and spread ruin and destruction among the cultivators, Ameres was ready to assist the distressed. If the rise of the river was deficient, he always set the example of remitting the rents of the tenants of his broad lands, and was ready to lend money without interest to tenants of harder or more necessitous landlords. Yet among the high priesthood Ameres was regarded with suspicion and even dislike. It was whispered among them that, learned and pious as he was, the opinions of the high priest were not in accordance with the general sentiments of the priesthood, that although he performed punctiliously all the numerous duties of his office, and took his part in the sacrifices and processions of the god, yet he lacked reverence for him, and entertained notions widely at variance with those of his fellows. Ameres was, in fact, one of those men who refused to be bound by the thoughts and opinions of others, and to whom it is a necessity to bring their own judgment to bear on every question presented to them. His father, who had been high priest before him, for the great offices of Egypt were for the most part hereditary, while he had been delighted at the thirst for knowledge and the enthusiasm for study in his son, had been frequently shocked at the freedom with which he expressed his opinions as step by step he was initiated into the sacred mysteries. Already at his introduction to the priesthood Ameres had mastered all there was to learn in geometry and astronomy. He was a skillful architect, and was deeply versed in the history of the nation. He had already been employed as supervisor in the construction of canals and irrigation works on the property belonging to the temple, and in all these respects his father had every reason to be proud of the success he had attained and the estimation in which he was held by his fellows. It was only the latitude which he allowed himself in consideration of religious questions which alarmed and distressed his father. The Egyptians were the most conservative of peoples. For thousands of years no change whatever took place in their constitution, their manners, customs, and habits. It was the fixed belief of every Egyptian that in all respects their country was superior to any other, and that their laws and customs had approached perfection. All from the highest to the lowest were equally bound by these. The king himself was no more independent than the peasant, his hour of rising, the manner in which the day should be employed, the very quantity and quality of food he should eat, were all rigidly dictated by custom. He was surrounded from his youth by young men of his own age, sons of priests chosen for their virtue and piety. Thus he was freed from the influence of evil advisers, and even had he so wished it had neither means nor power of oppressing his subjects whose rights and privileges were as strictly defined as his own. In a country then where every man followed the profession of his father, and where from time immemorial everything had proceeded on precisely the same lines, the fact that Ameris, the son of the high priest of Osiris, and himself destined to succeed to that dignity, should entertain opinions differing even in the slightest from those held by the leaders of the priesthood, was sufficient to cause him to be regarded with marked disfavor among them. It was indeed only because his piety and benevolence were as remarkable as his learning and knowledge of science that he was enabled at his father's death to succeed to his office without opposition. Even at that time the priests of higher grade would have opposed his election, but Ameris was as popular with the lower classes of the priesthood as with the people at large, and their suffrages would have swamped those of his opponents. The multitude had indeed never heard so much as a whisper against the orthodoxy of the high priest of Osiris. They saw him ever foremost in the sacrifices and processions. They knew that he was indefatigable in his services in the temple, and that all his spare time was devoted to works of benevolence and general utility, and as they bent devoutly as he passed through the streets they little dreamed that the high priest of Osiris was regarded by his chief brethren as a dangerous innovator. And yet it was on one subject only that he differed widely from his order, versed as he was in the innermost mysteries he had learned the true meaning of the religion of which he was one of the chief ministers. He was aware that Osiris and Isis, the six other great gods, and the innumerable divinities whom the Egyptians worshipped under the guise of deities with the heads of animals, were in themselves no gods at all, but mere attributes of the power, the wisdom, the goodness, the anger of the one great god, a god so mighty that his name was unknown, and that it was only when each of his attributes was given an individuality and worshipped as a god that it could be understood by the finite sense of man. All this was known to Amaris and the few who, like him, had been admitted to the innermost mysteries of the Egyptian religion. The rest of the population in Egypt worshipped in truth and in faith the animal-headed gods and the animals sacred to them, and yet as to these animals there was no consensus of opinion. In one no more division of the kingdom the crocodile was sacred, in another he was regarded with dislike and the ignuman that was supposed to be his destroyer was deified, in one the goat was worshipped and in another eaten for food, and so it was throughout the whole of the list of sacred animals which were regarded with reverence or indifference according to the gods who were looked upon as the special tutelary deities of the gnome. It was the opinion of Amaris that the knowledge confined only to the initiated should be more widely disseminated, and without wishing to extend it at present to the ignorant masses of the peasantry and laborers, he thought that all the educated and intelligent classes of Egypt should be admitted to an understanding of the real nature of the gods they worshipped and the inner truths of their religion. He was willing to admit that the process must be gradual and that it would be necessary to enlarge gradually the circle of the initiated. His proposals were nevertheless received with dismay and horror by his colleagues. They asserted that to allow others besides the higher priesthood to become aware of the deep mysteries of their religion would be attended with terrible consequences. In the first place it would shake entirely the respect and reverence in which the priesthood were held and would annihilate their influence. The temples would be deserted and, losing the faith which they now so steadfastly held in the gods, people would soon cease to have any religion at all. There are no people, they urged, on the face of the earth so moral, so contented, so happy, and so easily ruled as the Egyptians, but what would they be did you destroy all their beliefs and launch them upon a sea of doubt and speculation? No longer would they look up to those who have so long been their guides and teachers, and whom they regard as possessing a knowledge and wisdom infinitely beyond theirs. They would accuse us of having deceived them, and in their blind fury destroy alike the gods and their ministers. The idea of such a thing is horrible. Ameris was silenced, though not convinced. He felt, indeed, that there was much truth in the view they entertained of the matter, and that terrible consequences would almost certainly follow the discovery by the people that for thousands of years they had been led by the priests to worship as gods those who were no gods at all, and he saw that the evil which would arise from a general enlightenment of the people would outweigh any benefit that they could derive from the discovery. The system had, as his colleagues said, worked well, and the fact that the people worshiped as actual deities imaginary beings who were really but the representatives of the attributes of the Infinite God could not be said to have done them any actual harm. At any rate, he alone and unaided could do nothing. Only with the general consent of the higher priesthood could the circle of initiated be widened, and any movement on his part alone would simply bring upon him disgrace and death. Therefore, after unburdening himself in a council composed only of the higher initiates, he held his peace and went on the quiet tenor of his way. Enlightened as he was, he felt that he did no wrong to preside at the sacrifices and take part in the services of the gods. He was worshiping not the animal-headed idols, but the attributes which they personified. He felt pity for the ignorant multitude who laid their offerings upon the shrine, and yet he felt that it would shatter their happiness instead of adding to it were they to know that the deity they worshipped was a myth. He allowed his wife and daughter to join with the priestesses in the service at the temple, and in his heart acknowledged that there was much in the contention of those who argued that the spread of the knowledge of the inner mysteries would not conduce to the happiness of all who received it. He himself would have shrunk from disturbing the minds of his wife and daughter by informing them that all their pious administrations in the temple were offered to non-existent gods, that the sacred animals they tended were in no way more sacred than others, save that in them were recognized some shadow of the attributes of the unknown god. His eldest son was, he saw, not of a disposition to be troubled with the problems which gave him so much subject for thought and care. He would conduct the services consciously and well. He would bear a respectable part when, on his accession to the high priesthood, he became one of the counsellors of the Monarch. He had common sense, but no imagination. The knowledge of the innmost mysteries would not disturb his mind in the slightest degree, and it was improbable that even a thought would ever cross his mind that the terrible deception practiced by the enlightened upon the whole people was anything but right and proper. Emery's saw, however, that Chebran was altogether differently constituted. He was very intelligent and was possessed of an ardent thirst for knowledge of all kinds, but he had also his father's habit of looking at matters from all points of view and of thinking for himself. The manner in which Emery's had himself superintended his studies and taught him to work with his understanding, and to convince himself that each rule and precept was true before proceeding to the next, had developed his thinking powers. Altogether, Emery's saw that the doubts which filled his own mind as to the honesty or even expediency of keeping the whole people in darkness and error would probably be felt with even greater force by Chebran. He had determined, therefore, that the lad should not work up through all the grades of the priesthood to the upper rank, but should, after rising high enough to fit himself for official employment, turn his attention to one or other of the great departments of state. CHAPTER V. IN LOWER EGYPT I am going on a journey, on Emery's said to his son a few days after the return from the farm, I shall take you with me, Chebran, for I am going to view the progress of a fresh canal that is being made on our estate in Goshen. The officer who is superintending it has doubts whether, when the sluices are opened, it will altogether fulfill its purpose, and I fear that some mistake must have been made in the levels. I have already taught you the theory of the work. It is well that you should gain some practical experience in it, for there is no more useful or honourable profession than that of carrying out works by which the floods of the Nile are conveyed to the thirsty soil. Thank you, Father, I should like it greatly, Chebran replied in a tone of delight, for he had never been far south of Thebes, and may Amuba go with us? Yes, I was thinking of taking him, the high priest said, Jethro can also go, for I take a retinue with me. Did I consult my own pleasure I would far rather travel without this state and ceremony, but as a functionary of state I must conform to the customs, and indeed even in Goshen it is as well always to travel in some sort of state. The people there are of a different race to ourselves, although they have dwelt a long time in the land and conformed to its customs, still they are notoriously a stubborn and obstinate people, and there is more trouble in getting the public works executed there than in any other part of the country. I have heard of them, Father, they belong to the same race as the shepherd-kings who were such bitter tyrants to Egypt. How is it that they stayed behind when the shepherds were driven out? They are of the same race, but they came not with them, and formed no part of their conquering armies. The shepherds who, as you know, came from the land lying to the east of the great sea, had reigned here for a long time when this people came. They were relations of the Joseph, who, as you have read in your history, was chief minister of Egypt. He came here as a slave, and was certainly brought from the country when Sarah Pressers came. But they say that he was not of their race, but that his forefathers had come into the land from a country lying far to the east. But that I know not. Suffice it he gained the confidence of the king, became his minister, and ruled wisely as far as the king was concerned, though the people have little reason to bless his memory. In his days was a terrible famine, and they say he foretold its coming, and that his gods gave him warning of it. So vast granaries were constructed and filled to overflowing, and when the famine came and the people were starving, the grain was served out, but in return the people had to give up their land. Thus the whole tenure of the land in the country was changed, and all became property of the state, the people remaining as its tenants upon the land they formerly owned. Then it was that the state granted large tracts to the temples and others to the military order, so that at present all tillers of land pay rent either to the king, the temples, or the military order. Thus it is that the army can always be kept up in serviceable order, dwelling by its tens of thousands in the cities assigned to it. Thus it is that the royal treasury is always kept full, and the services of the temples maintained. The step has added to the power and dignity of the nation, and has benefited the cultivators themselves by enabling vast works of irrigation to be carried out, works that could never have been accomplished had the land been the property of innumerable small holders, each with his own petty interests. But you said, Father, that it has not been for the good of the people, nor has it in one respect, Chebran, for it has drawn a wide chasm between the aristocratic classes and the bulk of the people who can never own land and have no stimulus to exertion. But they are wholly ignorant, Father, they are peasants, and nothing more. I think they might be something more, Chebran, under other circumstances. However, that is not the question we are discussing. This Joseph brought his family out of the land at the east of the Great Sea, and land was given to them in Goshen, and they settled there and throve and multiplied greatly, partly because of the remembrance of the services Joseph had rendered to the state, partly because they were a kindred people, they were held in favor as long as the shepherd kings ruled over us. But when Egypt rose and shook off the yoke they had grown under so long, and drove the shepherds and their followers out of the land, this people, for they had now so grown in numbers as to be in verity of people, remained behind, and they have been naturally viewed with suspicion by us. They are akin to our late oppressors, and lying as their land does to the east, they could open the door to any fresh army of invasion. Happily, now that our conquests have spread so far, and the power of the people eastward of the Great Sea has been completely broken, this reason for distrust has died out, but Joseph's people are still viewed unfavorably. Prejudices take long to die out among the masses, and the manner in which these people cling together, marrying only among themselves and keeping themselves apart from us, gives a certain foundation for the dislike which exists. Personally, I think the feeling is unfounded. They are industrious and hard-working, though they are, I own, somewhat disposed to resist authority, and there is more difficulty in obtaining the quota of men from Goshen for the execution of public works than from any other of the provinces of Egypt. Do they differ from our sin appearance, father? Considerably, Chebran, they are somewhat fairer than we are, their noses are more aquiline, and they are physically stronger. They do not shave their heads as we do, and they generally let the hair on their faces grow. For a long time after their settlement I believe that they worshipped their own gods, or rather their own god, but they have long adopted our religion. Surely that must be wrong, Chebran said. Each nation has its gods, and if a people forsake their own gods, it is not likely that other gods would care for them as they do for their own people. It is a difficult question, Chebran, and one which it is best for you to leave alone at present. You will soon enter into the lower grade of the priesthood, and although if you do not pass into the upper grades you will never know the greater mysteries you will yet learn enough to enlighten you to some extent. Chebran was too well trained in the respect due to a parent to ask further questions, but he renewed the subject with Amuba as they strolled in the garden together afterward. I wonder how each nation found out who were the gods who specially cared for them, Amuba. I have no idea, Amuba, who had never given the subject a thought replied. You are always asking puzzling questions, Chebran. Well, but it must have been somehow, Chebran insisted. Do you suppose that any one ever saw our gods? And if not, how do people know that one has the head of a dog and another of a cat, or what they are like? Are some gods stronger than others, because all people offer sacrifices to the gods and ask for their help before going to battle? Some are beaten and some are victorious. Some win today and lose tomorrow. Is it that these gods are stronger one day than another, or that they do not care to help their people sometimes? Why do they not prevent their temples from being burned, and their images from being thrown down? It is all very strange. It is all very strange, Chebran. I was not long ago asking Jethro nearly the same question, but he could give me no answer. Why do you not ask your father? He is one of the wisest of the Egyptians. I have asked my father, but he will not answer me, Chebran said thoughtfully. I think sometimes that it is because I have asked these questions that he does not wish me to become a high priest. I did not mean anything disrespectful to the gods, but somehow when I want to know things and he will not answer me, I think he looks sadly as if he was sorry at heart that he could not tell me what I want to know. Have you ever asked your brother, Neko? Oh, Neko is different, Chebran said with an accent almost of disdain. Neko gets into passions and threatens me with all sorts of things, but I can see he knows no more about it than I do, for he has a bewildered look in his face when I ask him these things, and once or twice he has put his hands to his ears and fairly run away, as if I was saying something altogether profane and impious against the gods. On the following day the high priest and his party started for Goshen. The first portion of the journey was performed by water. The craft was a large one, with a pavilion of carved wood on deck and two masts with great sails of many colors cunningly worked together. Persons of consequence travelling in this way were generally accompanied by at least two or three musicians playing on harps, trumpets or pipes, for the Egyptians were passionately fond of music, and no feast was thought complete without a band to discourse soft music while it was going on. The instruments were of the most varied kinds, strained instruments predominated, and these varied in size from tiny instruments resembling zithers to harps much larger than those used in modern times. In addition to these they had trumpets of many forms, reed instruments, cymbals and drums, the last named long and narrow in shape. Amerys, however, although not averse to music after the evening meal, was of too practical a character to care for it at other times. He considered that it was too often an excuse for doing nothing and thinking of nothing, and therefore dispensed with it except on state occasions. As they floated down the river he explained to his son the various objects which they passed, told him the manner in which the fishermen in their high boats made of wooden planks bound together by rushes, or in smaller crafts shaped like punts formed entirely of papyrus bound together with bands of the same plant caught the fish, pointed out the entrances to the various canals, and explained the working of the gates which admitted the water, gave him the history of the various temples, towns and villages, named the many waterfowl basking on the surface of the river, and told him of their habits and how they were captured by the fowlers. He pointed out the great tombs to him, and told him by whom they were built. The largest, my son, are monuments of pride and folly. The greatest of the pyramids was built by a king who thought it would immortalize him, but so terrible was the labour that its construction inflicted upon the people that it caused him to be execrated, and he was never laid in the mausoleum he had built for himself. You see, our custom of judging kings after their death is not without advantages. After a king is dead the people are gathered together and the question is put to them, has the dead monarch ruled well? If they reply with assenting shouts, he is buried in a fitting tomb which he has probably prepared for himself, or which his successor raises to him. But if the answer is that he has reigned ill, the sacred rights in his honour are omitted, and the mausoleum he has raised stands empty forever. There are few indeed of our kings who have thus merited the execration of their people, for as a rule the careful manner in which they are brought up, surrounded by youths chosen for their piety and learning, and the fact that they, like the meanest of their subjects, are bound to respect the laws of the land, act as sufficient check upon them. But there is no doubt that the knowledge that after death they must be judged by the people, exercises a wholesome restraint even upon the most reckless. I long to see the pyramids, Jabran said, are they built of brick or stone, for I have been told that their surface is so smooth and shiny that they look as if cut from a single piece. They are built of vast blocks of stone, each of which employed the labour of many hundreds of men to transport from the quarries where they were cut. Were they the work of slaves or of the people at large? Vast numbers of slaves captured in war laboured at them, the priest replied, but numerous as these were they were wholly insufficient for the work, and well nigh half the people of Egypt were forced to leave their homes to labour at them. So great was the burden and distress that even now the builders of these pyramids are never spoken of save with curses, and rightly so, for what might not have been done with the same labour usefully employed, why the number of the canals in the country might have been doubled and the fertility of the soil vastly increased, vast tracts might have been reclaimed from the marshes and shallow lakes, and the produce of the land might have been doubled, and what splendid temples might have been raised, Jabran said enthusiastically, doubtless my son, the priest said quietly after a slight pause, but though it is meet and right that the temples of the gods shall be worthy of them, still as we hold that the gods love Egypt and rejoice in the prosperity of the people, I think that they might have preferred so vast an improvement as the works I speak of would have effected in the condition of the people even to the raising of long avenues of sphinxes and gorgeous temples in their own honour. Yes, one would think so, Jabran said thoughtfully, and yet father we are always taught that our highest duty is to pay honour to the gods, and that in no way can money be so well spent as in raising fresh temples and adding to the beauty of those that exist. Our highest duty is assuredly to pay honour to the gods, Jabran, but how that honour can be paid most acceptably is another and deeper question, which you are a great deal too young to enter upon. It will be time enough for you to do that years hence. There, do you see that temple standing on the right bank of the river? That is where we stop for the night. My messenger will have prepared them for our coming and all will be in readiness for us. As they approached the temple they saw a number of people gathered on the great stone steps reaching down to the water's edge and strains of music were heard. On landing Amaris was greeted with the greatest respect by the priests all bowing to the ground, while those of inferior order knelt with their faces to the earth and did not raise them until he had passed on. As soon as he entered the temple a procession was formed, thus bearing sacred vessels and the symbols of the gods walked before him to the altar. A band of unseen musicians struck up a processional air. Priestesses and maidens, also carrying offerings and emblems, followed Amaris. He naturally took the principal part in the sacrifice at the altar, cutting the throat of the victim and making the offering of the parts specially set aside for the gods. After the ceremonies were concluded the procession moved in order as far as the house of the chief priest. After all again saluted Amaris, who entered followed by his son and attendants. A banquet was already in readiness. To this Amaris sat down with the principal priests, while Chebran was conducted to the apartment prepared for him, where food from the high table was served to him. Amuba and the rest of the suit of the high priest were served in another apartment. As soon as Chebran had finished he joined Amuba. Let us slip away, he said. The feasting will go on for hours, and then there will be music far on into the night. My father will be heartily tired of it all, for he loves plain food, and thinks that the priest should eat none other. Still as it would not be polite for a guest to remark upon the viands set before him, I know that he will go through it all. I have heard him say that it is one of the greatest trials of his position, that whenever he travels people seem to think that a feast must be prepared for him, whereas I know he would rather sit down to a dish of boiled lentils and water than have the richest dishes set before him. Is it going to be like this all the journey? Amuba asked. Oh, no! I know that all the way down the river we shall rest at a temple, for did my father not do so the priests would regard it as a slight, but then we leave the boat and journey in chariots or bullock carts. When we reach Goshen we shall live in a little house which my father has had constructed for him, and where we shall have no more fuss and ceremony than we do at our own farm. Then he will be occupied with the affairs of the estates and in the works of irrigation, and although we shall be with him when he journeys about, as I am to begin to learn the duties of a superintendent, I expect we shall have plenty of time for amusement and sport. They strolled for an hour or two on the bank of the river, for the moon was shining brightly and many boats were passing up and down, the latter drifted with the stream, for the wind was so light that the sails were scarce filled, the former kept close to the bank and were either propelled by long poles or towed by parties of men on the bank. When they returned to the house they listened for a time to the music and then retired to their rooms. Amuba lay down upon the soft couch made of a layer of bullrushes, covered with a thick woolen cloth, and rested his head on a pillow of bullrushes which Jethro had bound up for him, for neither of the Rebu had learned to adopt the Egyptian fashion of using a stool for a pillow. These stools were long and somewhat curved in the middle to fit the neck. For the common people they were roughly made of wood, smoothed where the head came, but the head stools of the wealthy were constructed of ebony, cedar, and other scarce woods, beautifully inlaid with ivory. Amuba had made several trials of these head stools, but had not once succeeded in going to sleep with one under his head, half an hour sufficing to cause such an aching of his neck that he was glad to take to the pillow of rushes to which he was accustomed. Indeed, to sleep upon the stool pillows it was necessary to lie upon the side with an arm so placed as to raise the head to the exact level of the stool, and as Amuba had been accustomed to throw himself down and sleep on his back, or any other position in which he first lay, for he was generally thoroughly tired either in hunting or by exercise of arms, he found the cramped and fixed position necessary for sleeping with a hard stool absolutely intolerable. Over a week the journey down the river continued, and then they arrived at Memphis, where they remained for some days. Amerys passed the time in ceremonial visits and in taking part in the sacrifices in the temple. Chebran and Amuba visited all the temples and public buildings, and one day went out to inspect the great pyramids attended by Jethro. "'This surpasses anything I have seen,' Jethro said as they stood at the foot of the great pyramid of Keops. "'What a wonderful structure, but what a frightful waste of human labor.' "'It is marvelous indeed,' Amuba said. "'What wealth and power a monarch must have had to raise such a colossal pile. I thought you said, Chebran, that your kings were bound by laws as well as other people. If so, how could this king have exacted such terrible toil and labor from his subjects, as this must have cost?' "'Kings should be bound by the laws,' Chebran replied, "'but there are some so powerful and haughty that they tyrannize over the people. Keops was one of them. My father has been telling me that he ground down the people to build this wonderful tomb for himself. But he had his reward, for at his funeral he had to be judged by the public voice. And the public condemned him as a bad and tyrannous king. Therefore he was not allowed to be buried in the great tomb that he had built for himself. I know not where his remains rest, but this huge pyramid stands as an eternal monument of the failure of human ambition. The greatest and costliest tomb in the world, but without an occupant, save that Thelyan, one of his queens, was buried here in a chamber near that destined for the king.' "'The people did well,' Jethro said heartily, but they would have done better still had they risen against him and cut off his head directly they understood the labor he was setting them to do. On leaving Memphis one more day's journey was made by water, and the next morning the party started by land, a Mary's road in a chariot which was similar in form to those used for war, except that the sides were much higher, forming a sort of deep open box against which those standing in it could rest their bodies. Amuba and Chebran travelled in a wagon drawn by two oxen, the rest of the party went on foot. At the end of two days they arrived at their destination. The house was a small one compared to the great mansion near Thebes, but it was built on a similar plan. A high wall surrounded an enclosure of a quarter of an acre. In the center stood the house with one large apartment for general purposes and small bed chambers opening from it on either side. The garden, although small, was kept with scrupulous care. Rose of fruit trees afforded a pleasant shade. In front of the house there was a small pond bordered with lilies and rushes. Anubian slave and his wife kept everything in readiness for the owner whenever he should appear. A larger retinue of servants was unnecessary, as a cook and barber were among those who travelled in the train of Amaris. The overseer of the estate was in readiness to receive the high priest. I have brought my son with me, Amaris said, when the ceremonial observances and salutations were concluded. He is going to commence his studies in irrigation, but I shall not have time at present to instruct him. I wish him to become proficient in outdoor exercises and beg you to procure men skilled in fishing, fouling, and hunting, so that he can amuse his unoccupied hours with sport. At Thebes he has but rare opportunities for these matters, for accepting in the preserves. Game has become well-nigh extinct, while as for fouling there is none of it to be had in Upper Egypt, while here in the marshes birds abound. The superintendent promised that suitable men should be forthcoming, one of each caste, for in Egypt men always followed the occupation of their fathers, and each branch of trade was occupied by men forming distinct castes, who married only in their own caste, working just as their fathers had done before them, and did not dream of change or elevation. Thus the fowler knew nothing about catching fish or the fishermen of fouling, both however knew something about hunting, for the slaying of the hyenas that carried off the young lambs, and kids from the villages and the great river horses which came out and devastated the fields, was part of the business of every villager. The country where they now were was for the most part well cultivated and watered by the canals, which were filled when the Nile was high. A day's journey to the north lay Lake Minzale, a great shallow lagoon which stretched away to the Great Sea, from which it was separated only by a narrow bank of sand. The canals of the Nile reached nearly to the edge of this, and when the river rose above its usual height and threatened to inundate the country beyond the usual limits, and to injure instead of benefiting the cultivators, great gates at the end of these canals would be opened, and the water find its way into the lagoon. There were two connections between some of the lower arms of the Nile and the lake, so that the water, although salt, was less so than that of the sea. The lake was the abode of innumerable waterfowl of all kinds, and swarmed also with fish. These lakes formed a fringe along the whole of the northern coast of Egypt, and it was from these and the swampy land near the mouths of the Nile, that the greater portion of the fowl and fish that formed important items in the food of the Egyptians was drawn. To the southeast lay another chain of lakes, whose water was more salt than that of the sea. It was said that in olden times these had been connected by water both with the great sea to the north and the southern sea, and even now when the south wind blew strong and the waters of the southern sea were driven up the gulf with force, the salt water flowed into Lake Timsa, so called because it swarmed with crocodiles. I shall be busy for some days to begin with, are Mary's said to his son on the evening of their arrival, and it will therefore be a good opportunity for you to see something of the various branches of sport that are to be enjoyed in this part of Egypt. The steward will place men at your disposal, and you can take with you Amuba and Jathro. He will see that there are slaves to carry provisions and tents, for it will be necessary for much of your sport that you rise early, and not improbably you may have to sleep close at hand. In the morning Jebron had an interview with the steward, who told him that he had arranged the plan for an expedition. You will find little about here, my lord, he said, beyond such game as you would obtain near Thebes. But a day's journey to the north you will be near the margin of the lake, and there you will get sport of all kinds, and can at your will fish in its waters, snare waterfowl, hunt the great river-horse in the swamps, or chase the hyena in the low bushes on the sandhills. I have ordered all to be in readiness, and in an hour the slaves with the provisions will be ready to start. The hunters of this part of the country will be of little use to you, so I have ordered one of my chief men to accompany you. He will see that when you arrive you obtain men skilled in the sport and acquainted with the locality and the habits of the wild creatures there. My lord, your father said you would probably be away for a week, and that on your return you would from time to time have a day's hunting in these parts. He thought that as your time would be more occupied then it were better that you should make this distant expedition to begin with. An hour later some twenty slaves drew up before the house, carrying on their heads provisions, tents, and other necessaries. A horse was provided for Chebran, but he decided that he would walk with Amuba. There is no advantage in going on a horse, he said, when you have to move at the pace of footmen, and possibly we may find something to shoot on the way. The leader of the party, upon hearing Chebran's decision, told him that doubtless when they left the cultivated country, which extended but a few miles further north, game would be found. Six dogs accompanied them. Four of them were powerful animals, kept for the chase of the more formidable beasts, the hyena or lion, for although there were no lions in the flat country, they abounded in the broken grounds at the foot of the hills to the south. The other two were much more lightly built, and were capable of running down a deer. Dogs were held in high honor in Egypt. In some parts of the country they were held to be sacred. In all they were kept as companions and friends in the house as well as for the purposes of the chase. The season was the cold one, and the heat was so much less than they were accustomed to at Thebes, where the hills which enclosed the plain on which the city was built cut off much of the air, and seemed to reflect the sun's rays down upon it, that the walk was a pleasant one. Chebran and Amuba, carrying their bows, walked along chatting gaily at the head of the party. Gero and Rabat, the foremen, came next. Then followed two slaves, leading the dogs in leashes, ready to be slipped at a moment's notice while the carriers followed in the rear. Occasionally they passed through scattered villages, where the women came to their doors to look at the strangers, and where generally offerings of milk and fruit were made to them. The men were for the most part at work in the fields. They are a stout-looking race, stronger and more bony than our own people, Chebran remarked to the leader of the party. They are stubborn to deal with, he replied. They till their ground well and pay their portion of the produce without rumbling, but when any extra labor is asked of them there is sure to be trouble. It is easier to manage a thousand Egyptian peasants than a hundred of these Israelites, and if forced labor is required for the public service it is always necessary to bring down the troops before we can obtain it. But indeed they are hardly treated fairly, and have suffered much. They arrived in Egypt during the reign of Usert to win the first, and had land allotted to them. During the reign of the king and other successors of his dynasty they were held in favor and multiplied greatly, but when the Theban dynasty succeeded out of Memphis, the kings, finding this foreign people settled here, and seeing that they were related by origin to the shepherd tribes who at various times had threatened our country from the east, and have even conquered portions of it and occupied it for long periods, regarded them with hostility, and have treated them rather as prisoners of war than as a portion of the people. Many burdens have been laid upon them. They have had to give far more than their fair share of labor toward the public works, the making of bricks and the erection of royal tombs and pyramids. It is strange that they do not shave their heads as do our people, Chebran said. But I do not, Amuba laughed, nor Jethro. It is different with you, Chebran replied. You do not labor and get the dust of the soil in your hair. Amuba replied. You do keep it cut quite short. Still, I think you would be more comfortable if you followed our fashion. It is all a matter of habit, Amuba replied. To us, when we first came here, the sight of all the poorer people going about with their heads shaven was quite repulsive, and as for comfort, surely one's own hair must be more comfortable than the great wigs that all of the better class wear. They keep off the sun, Chebran said, when one is out of doors and are seldom worn in the house, and then when one comes in one can wash off the dust. I can wash the dust out of my hair, Amuba said. Still, I do think that these Israelites wear their hair inconveniently long, and yet the long plates that their women wear down their back are certainly graceful, and the women themselves are fair and comely. Chebran shook his head. They may be fair, Amuba, but I should think that they would make very troublesome wives. They lack altogether the subdued and submissive look of our women. They would, I should say, have opinions of their own, and not be submissive to their lords. Is that not so, Raba? The women like the men have spirit and fire, the four men answered, and have much voice in all domestic matters, but I do not know that they have more than with us. They can certainly use their tongues, for at times when soldiers have been here to take away gangs of men for public works they have had more trouble with them than with the men. The latter are sullen, but they know that they must submit, but the women gather at a little distance and scream curses and abuse at the troops, and sometimes even pelt them with stones, knowing that the soldiers will not draw a weapon upon them, although not infrequently it is necessary in order to put a stop to the tumult to haul two or three of their leaders off to prison. I thought they were Viragos, Chebran said with a laugh. I would rather hunt a lion than have the women of one of these villages set upon me. In a few miles cultivation became more rare, sand hills took the place of the level fields, and only here and there in the hollows were patches of cultivated ground. Raba now ordered the slave leading the two fleet dogs to keep close up and be in readiness to slip them. We may see deer at any time now, he said. They abound in these sandy deserts which form their shelter, and yet are within easy distance of fields where when such vegetation as is here fails them they can go for food. A few minutes later a deer started from a clump of bushes. The dogs were instantly let slip and started in pursuit. Hurry on a hundred yards and take your position on that mound, Raba exclaimed to Chebran, while at the same time he signaled to the slaves behind to stop. The dogs know their duty, and you will see they will presently drive the stag within shot. Chebran called Amuba to follow him and ran forward. By the time they reached the mound the stag was far away, with the dogs laboring in pursuit. Not present they seemed to have gained but little, if at all, upon him, and all were soon hidden from sight among the sandhills. In spite of the assurance of Raba the lads had doubts whether the dogs would ever drive their quarry back to the spot where they were standing, and it was full a quarter of an hour before pursuers and pursued came in sight again. The pace had greatly fallen off, for one of the dogs was some twenty yards behind the stag, the other was out on its flank at about the same distance away, and was evidently aiding in turning it toward the spot where the boys were standing. We will shoot together, Chebran said, it will come within fifty yards of us. They waited until the stag was abreast of them. The dog on its flank had now fallen back to the side of his companion as if to leave the stag clear for the arrows of the hunters. The lads fired together just as the stag was abreast, but it was running faster than they had allowed for, and both arrows flew behind it. They uttered exclamations of disappointment, but before the deer had run twenty yards it gave a sudden leap into the air and fell over. Jethro had crept up and taken his post behind some bushes to the left of the clump, in readiness to shoot, should the others miss, and his arrow had brought the stag to the ground. Well done, Jethro, Amuba shouted, it is so long since I was out hunting that I seem to have lost my skill, but it matters not since we have brought him down. The dogs stood quiet beside the deer that was struggling on the ground, being too well trained to interfere with it. Jethro ran out and cut its throat. The others were soon standing beside it. It was of a species smaller than those to which the deer of Europe belong, with too long straight horns. It will make a useful addition to our fare tonight, Raba said, although perhaps some of the other sorts are better eating. Do the dogs never pull them down by themselves? Amuba asked. Very seldom. These two are particularly fleet, but I doubt whether they would have caught it. These deer can run for a long time, and although they will let dogs gain upon them, they can leave them if they choose. Still, I have known this couple run down a deer when they could not succeed in driving it within bow shot, but they know very well they ought not to do so, for, of course, deer are of no use for food unless the animals are properly killed and the blood allowed to escape. Several other stags were startled, but these all escaped, the dogs being too fatigued with their first run to be able to keep up with them. The other dogs were therefore unloosed and allowed to range about the country. They startled several hyenas, some of which they themselves killed, others they brought to bay until the lads ran up and dispatched them with their arrows, while others which took to flight in sufficient time got safely away. For the hyena, unless overtaken just at the start, can run long and swiftly and tire out heavy dogs such as those the party had with them. After walking some fifteen miles, the lads stopped suddenly on the brow of a sand hill. In front of them was a wide expanse of water bordered by a band of vegetation. Long rushes and aquatic plants formed a band by the water's edge, while here and there huts with patches of cultivated ground dotted the country. We are at the end of our journey, Raba said. These huts are chiefly inhabited by fowlers and fishermen. We will encamp at the foot of this mound. It is better for us not to go too near the margin of the water, for the air is not salubrious to those unaccustomed to it. The best hunting ground lies a few miles to our left, for there, when the river is high, floods come down through a valley which is at all times wet and marshy. There we may expect to find game of all kinds in abundance. CHAPTER VI The tents which were made of light cloth intended to keep off the night dews rather than to afford warmth were soon pitched, fires were lighted with fuel that had been brought with them in order to save time in searching for it, and Raba went off to search for fish and fowl. He returned in half an hour with a peasant carrying four ducks and several fine fish. �We shall do now,� he said, �with these and the stag our larder is complete, everything but meat we have brought with us.� Cebron, although he had kept on bravely, was fatigued with his walk and 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 seemed so wide an expanse of water. When on the top of the hill he had made out a faint dark line in the distance, and this Raba told him was the bank of sand that separated the lake from the great sea. Now from his present position this was invisible, and nothing but a wide expanse of water stretching away until it seemed to touch the sky met his view. Here and there it was dotted with dark patches which were, Raba told him, clumps of waterfowl, and in the shallow water near the margin, which was but a quarter of a mile away, he could see vast numbers of wading birds, white cranes, and white and black ibises, while numbers of other waterfowl, looking like black specks, moved about riskily among them. Sometimes with loud cries a number would rise on the wing and either make off in a straight line across the water or circle round and settle again when they found that their alarm was groundless. "'It is lovely, is it not?' he exclaimed to Amuba, who was standing beside him leaning on his bow and looking over the water. Amuba did not reply immediately, and Cebron looking up saw that there were tears on his cheeks. "'What is it, Amuba?' he asked anxiously. "'It is nothing, Cebron, but the sight of this wide water takes my thoughts homeward. Our city stood on a sea like this, not so large as they say is this great sea we are looking at, but far too large for the eye to see across, and it was just such a view as this that I looked upon daily from the walls of our palace, save that the shores were higher. "'Maybe you will see it again some day, Amuba,' Cebron said gently. Amuba shook his head. "'I fear the chances are small indeed, Cebron. Jethro and I have talked it over hundreds of times, and on our route hither we had determined that if we fell into the hands of harsh masters, we would at all hazards try some day to make our escape, but the journey is long and would lie through countries subject to Egypt. The people of the land to be passed over speak languages strange to us, and it would be well nigh impossible to make the journey in safety. Still we would have tried it. As it is, we are well contented with our lot, and should be mad indeed to forsake it on the slender chances of finding our way back to the land of the Rebu, where indeed, even if we reached it, I might not be well received, for who knows what king may now 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 Egypt for a life such as you have described to me among your own people? There can be no doubt, Cebron, that your life here is far more luxurious, and that you are far more civilized than the Rebu. By the side of your palaces our houses are but huts. We are ignorant even of reading and writing. A pile of rushes for our beds and a rough table and stools constitute our furniture, but perhaps after all one is not really happier for all the things you have. You may have more enjoyments, but you have greater cares. I suppose every man loves his own country best, but I do not think that we can love ours as much as you do. In the first place, we have been settled there but a few generations, large numbers of our people constantly moving west, here by themselves or joining with one of the peoples who push past us from the far east. Beside, wherever we went we should take our country with us, build houses like those we left behind, live by the chase or fishing in one place as another, while the Egyptians could nowhere find a country like Egypt. I suppose it is the people more than the country, the familiar language, and the familiar faces and ways. I grant freely that the Egyptians are a far greater people than we, more powerful, more learned, the masters of many arts, the owners of many comforts and luxuries, and yet one longs sometimes for one's free 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 at the bidding of your king, you might perhaps find that the life even of an Egyptian peasant is easier and more pleasant than yours was. That may be, Amuba said thoughtfully, and yet I think that the very poorest among us was far freer and more independent than the richest of your Egyptian peasants. He did not grovel on the ground when the king passed along. It was open to him if he was braver than his fellows 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 or custom. He was a man, a poor one perhaps, a half-savage one if you feel, but he was a man, while your Egyptian peasants, free as they may be in name, are the very slaves of law and custom. But I see that the meal is ready and I have a grand appetite. So have I, Amuba. It is almost worth while walking a long way for the sake of the appetite one gets at the end. The meal was an excellent one. One of the slaves who had been brought was an adept at cooking, and fish, birds, and venison were alike excellent, and for once the vegetables that formed so large a portion of the ordinary Egyptian repast were neglected. What are we going to do to-morrow, Raba? Cebran asked after the meal was concluded. I have arranged for to-morrow, if such is your pleasure, my lord, that you shall go fouling. A boat will take you along the lake to a point about three miles off where the best sport is to be had. Then when the day is over it will carry you on another eight miles to the place I spoke to you of, where good sport was to be obtained. I shall meet you on your landing there, and will have everything in readiness for you. That will do well, Cebran said. Amuba and Jethro, you will, of course, come with me." As soon as it was daylight Raba led Cebran down to the lake, and the lad with Amuba and Jethro entered the boat, which was constructed of rushes 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 by profession, and skilled in all the various devices by which the waterfowl were captured. They had, during the night, been preparing the boat for the expedition by fastening rushes all round it. The lower ends of these dipped into the water, the upper ends were six feet above it, and the rushes were so thickly placed together as to form an impenetrable screen. The boat was square at the stern, and here only was there an opening a few inches wide in the rushes to enable the boatmen standing there to propel 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 between the rushes, and directed his comrade in the stern as to the course he should take. In the bottom of the boat lay two cats, who, knowing that their part was presently to come, watched all that was being done with an air of intelligent interest. A basket well stored with provisions and a jar of wine were placed on board, and the boat then pushed noiselessly off. Skirting the reeds with their fingers and peeping out, the boys saw that the boat was not making out into the deeper part of the lake, but was skirting the edge, keeping only a few yards out from the band of rushes at its margin. �Do you keep this distance all the way?� Jebron asked the man with the pole. The man nodded. �As long as we are close to the rushes the waterfowl do not notice our approach, while were we to push out into the middle they might take the alarm, although we often do capture them in that way, but in that case we get to windward of the flock we want to reach, and then drift down slowly upon them, but we shall get more sport now by keeping close in. The birds are numerous, and you will soon be at work.� In five minutes the man at the bow motioned his passengers that they were approaching a flock of waterfowl. Each of them took up his bow and arrows and stood in readiness, while the man in the stern used his pole even more quickly and silently than before. Finally at a signal from his comrades he ceased polling. All round the boat there were slight sounds, low contented quackings and flutterings of wings, as the birds raised themselves and shook the water from their backs. Parting the rushes in front of them, the two lads and Jethro peeped through them. They were right in the middle of a flock of wildfowl who were feeding without a thought of danger from the clump of rushes in their midst. The arrows were already in their notches, the rushes were parted a little further and the three shafts were loosed. The twangs of the bows startled the ducks, and stopping feeding they gazed at the rushes with heads on one side. Three more arrows glanced out, but this time one of the birds aimed at was wounded only, and uttering a cry of pain and terror it flapped along the surface of the water. Instantly with wild cries of alarm the whole flock arose, but before they had fairly settled in their flight two more fell pierced with arrows. The cats had been standing on the alert, and as the cry of alarm was given leaped overboard from the stern and proceeded to pick up the dead ducks, among which were included that which had at first flown away, for it had dropped in the water about fifty yards from the boat. A dozen times the same scene was repeated until some three scored ducks and geese lay in the bottom of the boat. By this time the party had had enough of sport and had indeed lost the greater part of their arrows, as all which failed to strike the bird aimed at went far down into the deep mud at the bottom and could not be recovered. Now let the men show us their skill with their throwing sticks, Chebran said, you will see they will do better with them than we with our arrows. The men at once turned the boat's head toward a patch of rushes growing from the shallow water a hundred yards out in the lake. Numbers of ducks and geese were feeding round it, and the whole rushes were in movement from those swimming and feeding among them, for the plants were just at that time in seed. The birds were too much occupied to mark the approach of this fresh clump of rushes. The men had removed the screen from the side of the boat furthest from the birds, and now stood in readiness, each holding half a dozen sticks about two feet long, made of curved and crooked wood. When close to the birds the boat was swung round, and at once with deafening cries the birds rose, but as they did so the men with great rapidity hurled their sticks one after another among them, the last being directed at the birds which, feeding among the rushes, were not able to rise as rapidly as their companions. The lads were astonished at the effect produced by these simple missiles, so closely packed were the birds that each stick, after striking one, were old and twisted among the others, one missile frequently bringing down three or four birds. The cats were in an instant at work, the flapping and noise was prodigious, for although many of the birds were killed outright, others struck in the wing or leg were but slightly injured. Some made off along the surface of the water, others succeeded in getting up and flying away, but the greater part were either killed by the cats or knocked on the head by the poles of the two fowlers. Altogether twenty-seven birds were added to the store in the boat. "'That puts our arrows to shame altogether, Amuba,' Chebran said. I have always heard that the fowlers on these lakes were very skilled with these throwing sticks of theirs, but I could not have believed it possible that two men should, in so short a space, have effected such a slaughter, but then I had no idea of the enormous quantities of birds on these lakes.' Jethro was examining the sticks which, as well as the ducks, had been retrieved by the cats. "'They are curious things,' he said to Amuba. I was thinking before the men used them that straight sticks would be much better, and was wondering why they chose curved wood, but I have no doubt now the shape has something to do with it. You see, as the men threw, they gave them 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 stop them. I am sure one of those sticks that I kept my eyes fixed on must have knocked down six birds. I will practice with these things, and if I ever get back home I will teach their use to our people. There are almost as many water-fowl on our sea as there are here. I have seen it almost black with them down at the southern end, where it is bordered by swamps and reed-covered marshes. "'How do they catch them there, Jethro?' Cebron asked. They net them in decoys, and sometimes weighed out among them with their heads hidden among floating boughs, and so get near enough to seize them by the legs and pull them under water. In that way a man will catch a score of them before their comrades are any the wiser. We catched them the same way here, one of the fowlers who had been listening remarked. We weave little bowers just large enough for our heads and shoulders to go into, and leave three or four of them floating about for some days near the spot where we mean to work. The wild fowl get accustomed to them, and after that we can easily go among them and capture numbers. "'I should think fouling must be a good trade,' Cebron said. "'It is good enough at times,' the man replied, "'but the ducks are not here all the year. The long-legged birds are always to be found here in numbers, but the ducks are uncertain, so are the geese. At certain times in the year they leave us all together. Some say they go across the great sea to the north, others that they go far south into Nubia. Then even when they are here they are uncertain. Sometimes they are thick here, then again there is scarce one to be seen, and we hear they are swarming on the lake's further to the west. Of course the wading birds are of no use for food, so you see when the ducks and geese are scarce we have a hard time of it. Then again, even when we have got a boat load, we have a long way to take it to market, and when the weather is hot all may get spoiled before we can sell them, and the price is so low in these parts when the flocks are here that it is hard to lay by enough money to keep us and our families during the slack time. If the great cities, thieves, and Memphis lay near to us, it would be different. They could consume all we could catch, and we should get better prices, but unless under very favorable circumstances there is no hope of the fowl keeping good during the long passage up the river to Thebes. In fact were it not for our decoys we should starve. In these, of course, we take them alive and send them in baskets to Thebes, and in that way get a fair price for them. What sort of decoys do you use, Jethro asked. Many kinds, the man replied. Sometimes we arch over the rushes, tie them together at the top so as to form long passages over little channels among the rushes. Then we strew corn over the water, and place near the entrance ducks which are trained to swim about outside until a flock comes near. Then they enter the passage feeding, and the others follow. There is a sort of door which they can push aside easily 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 the rushes form a thick screen twenty yards deep along the bank. Then a light net two or three hundred feet long is pegged down onto the shore behind them, and thrown over the tops of the rushes reaching to within a foot or two of the water. Here it is rolled up so that when it is shaken out it will go down into the water. Then two men stand among the rushes at the end of the net, while another goes out far on to the lake in a boat. When he sees a flock of ducks swimming near the shore he pulls the boat toward them, not so rapidly as to frighten them into taking flight, but enough so to attract their attention and cause uneasiness. He goes backward and forward, gradually approaching the shore, and of course managing so as to drive them toward the point where the net is. When they are opposite this he closes in faster, and the ducks all swim in among the rushes. Directly they are in, the men at the ends of the net shake down the rolled up part, and in the whole flock are prisoners. After that the fowlers have only to enter the rushes, and take them as they try to fly upward and are stopped by the net. With luck two or three catches can be made in a day, and a thousand ducks and sometimes double that number can be captured. Then they are put into flat baskets just high enough for them to stand in with their heads out through the openings at the top, and so put on board the boat and taken up the nile. Yes, I have often seen the baskets taken out of the boats, Chebran said, and thought how cruel it was to pack them so closely, but how do 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 he has got enough together to freight a large craft, for it would not pay to work upon a small scale, accompanies them up the river, and feeds them regularly with little balls made of moistened flour just in the same way that they do at the establishments in upper Egypt, where they raise 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 two or three boys to help him, for it is no light matter to feed such a number, and each must have a little water as well as the meal. It seems strange to us here where fowl are so abundant that people should raise and feed them just as if they were bullocks, but I suppose it is true. It is quite true, Chebran replied. Amuba and I went to one of the Great Breeding Farms two or three months ago. There are two sorts, one where they hatched, the other where they fat them. The one we went to embraced both branches, but this is unusual. From the hatching places collectors go round to all the people who keep fowls for miles round and bring in eggs, and besides these they buy them from others at a greater distance. The eggs are placed on sand laid on the floor of a low chamber, and this is heated by means of flues from a fire underneath. It requires great care to keep the temperature exactly right, but of course men who pass their lives at this work can regulate it exactly, and know by the field just what is the heat at which the eggs should be kept. There are eight or ten such chambers in the place we visited, so that every two or three days one or other of them hatches out and is ready for fresh eggs to be put down. The people who send the eggs come in at the proper time and receive each a number of chickens in proportion to the eggs they have sent, one chicken being given for each two eggs. Some hatchers give more, some less. What remain over are payment for their work, so you see they have to be very careful about the hatching. 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 or too 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 great many of the eggs they have themselves bought. They are thus able to give the right number to their customers even if the eggs have not turned out well. Those that remain after the proper number has been given to the farmers, the breeders sell to them or to others, it being no part of their business to bring up the chickens. The fattening business is quite different. At these places there are long rows of little boxes piled up on each other into a wall five feet high. The door of each of these 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 placed in each bow. Then the attendants go around two together. One carries a basket 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 it open its beak, and with his other hand pushes the ball of meal down its throat. They are so skillful that the operation takes scarce a moment. Then they go on to the next, and so on down the long rows until they have fed the last of those under their charge. Then they begin 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 not restless, and slept all the time between their meals. Then each time the flap is lifted they think it is daylight, and pop out their heads at once to see. In about ten days they get quite fat and plump, and are ready for market. It seems a wonderful deal of trouble, the fowler said, but I suppose as they have a fine market close at hand, and can get good prices it pays them. It seems more reasonable to me than the hatching business. That they should not let the fowls hatch their own eggs is more than I can imagine. Fowls will lay a vastly greater number of eggs than they will hatch, Chabron said. A well-fed fowl should lay 250 eggs in the year, and left to herself she will not hatch more than two broods of 15 eggs in each. Thus you see, as it pays the peasants much better to rear fowls than to sell eggs, it is to their profit to send their eggs to the hatching places, and so get 125 chickens a year instead of 30. I suppose it does, the fowler agreed, but here we are, my lord, at the end of our journey. There is the point where we ought to land, and your servant who hired us is standing there in readiness for you. I hope that you are satisfied with your day's sport. Chabron said that they had been greatly pleased, and in a few minutes the boat reached the landing-place where Raba was awaiting them. One of the fowlers, carrying a dozen of the finest fowl they had killed, accompanied them to the spot Raba had chosen for the encampment. Like the last it stood at the foot of the sand-hills, a few hundred yards from the lake. Is the place where we are going to hunt near here, was Chabron's first question? No, my lord, it is two miles away. But in accordance with your order last night I have arranged for you to fish tomorrow. In the afternoon I will move the tents a mile nearer to the country where you will hunt, but it is best not to go too close, for near the edge of these great swamps the air is unhealthy to those who are not accustomed to it. I long to get at the hunting, Chabron said, but it is better, as you say, to have the day's fishing first, for the work would seem tame after the excitement of hunting the river-horse. We shall be glad of our dinner as soon as we can get it, for although we have done justice to the food you put on board, we are quite ready again. Twelve hours of this fresh air from the sea gives one the appetite of a hyena. Everything is already in readiness, my lord, I thought it better not to 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 your boat for the last two or three hours, we were able to calculate the time of your arrival, and thus have everything in readiness. The dinner was similar to that on the previous day, except that a hare took the place of the venison, a change for the better, as the hare was a delicacy much appreciated by the Egyptians. The following day was spent in fishing. For this purpose a long net was used, and the method was precisely similar to that in use in modern times. One end of the net was fastened to the shore, the net itself being coiled up in the boat. This was rode out into the lake, the fisherman paying out 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 enclosed within its sweep. After seeing two or three hauls made, the lads went with Jethro on board the boat. They were provided by the fishermen with long, two-pronged spears. The boat was then quietly rode along the edge of the rushes, where the water was deeper than usual. It was, however, so clear that they could see to the bottom, and with their spears they struck at the fish swimming there. At first they were uniformly unsuccessful, as they were ignorant that allowance must be made for diffraction, and were puzzled at finding that their spears, instead of going straight down at the fish they struck at, seemed to bend off at an angle at the water's edge. The fishermen, however, explained to them that an allowance must be made for this, the allowance being all the greater, the greater the distance the fish was from the boat, and that it was only when it lay precisely under them that they could strike directly at it. But even after being instructed in the matter they succeeded but poorly, and presently laid down their spears and contented themselves with watching their boatmen, who rarely failed in striking and bringing up the prey they aimed at. Presently their attention was attracted to four boats, each containing from six to eight men. Two had come from either direction, and when they neared each other volleys of abuse were exchanged between their occupants. What is all this about, Chabran asked, as the two fishermen laid by their spears, and with faces full of excitement turned round to watch the boats. The boats come from two villages, my lord, between which at present there is a feud arising out of some fishing nets that were carried away. They sent a regular challenge to each other a few days since, as is the custom here, and their champions are going to fight it out. You see the number of men on one side are equal to those on the other, and the boats are about the same size. Amuba and Jethro looked on with great interest, for they had seen painted on the walls representations of these fights between boatmen, which were of common occurrence. The Egyptians being a very combative race, and fierce feuds being often carried on for a long time between neighboring villages. The men were armed with poles some ten feet in length, and about an inch and a half in diameter, their favorite weapons on occasions of this kind. The boats had now come in close contact, and a furious battle at once commenced, the clattering of the sticks, the heavy thuds of the blows, and the shouts of the combatants creating a clamor that caused all the waterfowl within a circle of half a mile to fly screaming away across the lake. The men all used their heavy weapons with considerable ability, the greater part of the blows being warded off. Many, however, took effect, some of the combatants being knocked into the water, others fell prostrate in their boats, while some dropped their long staves after a disabling blow 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 as being very peculiar, has its uses, for it must tend to thicken the skull, for surely the heads of no other men could have borne such blows without being crushed like water-jars.' That there was certainly some ground for Jethro's supposition is proved by the fact that Herodotus, long afterward writing of the desperate conflicts between the villagers of Egypt, asserted that their skulls were thicker than those of any other people. Most of the men who fell into the water scrambled back into the boats and renewed the fight, but some sank immediately and were seen no more. At last, when fully half the men on each side had been put or decombe, four or five having been killed or drowned, the boats separated, no advantage resting with either party, and still shouting defiance and jeers at each other, the men polled in the direction of their respective villages. "'Are such desperate fights as these common?' Chebran asked the fisherman. "'Yes, there are often quarrels,' one of them replied, quietly resuming his fishing, as if nothing out of the ordinary way had taken place. "'If they are water-side villages, their champions fight in boats as you have seen. If not, equal parties meet at a spot halfway between the villages and decide it on foot. Sometimes they fight with short sticks, the hand being protected by a basket hilt, while on the left arm a piece of wood, extending from the elbow to the tips of the fingers, is fastened on by straps serving as a shield. But more usually they fight with the long pole, which we call the nebut.' "'It is a fine weapon,' Jethro said, and they guard their heads with it admirably, sliding their hands far apart. If I were back again, Amuba, I should like to organize a regiment of men armed with those weapons. It would need that the part used as a guard should be covered with light iron to prevent a sword or axe from cutting through it, but with that addition they would make splendid weapons, and footmen armed with sword and shield would find it hard indeed to repel an assault by them. The drawback would be, Amuba observed, that each man would require so much room to wield his weapon that they must stand far apart, and each 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 point in the use of such a weapon, but for single combat, or the fighting of broken ranks, they would be grand. When we get back to Thebes, if I can find any peasant who can instruct me in the use of these nebutes, I will certainly learn it. "'You ought to make a fine player,' one of the fishermen said, looking at Jethro's powerful figure. I should not like a crack on the head from a nebut in your hands. But the sun is getting low, and we had best be moving to the point where you ought to disembark. We have had another capital day, Raba,' Chébron said when they reached their new encampment, "'I hope that the rest will turn out as successful. I think that I can promise you that they will, my Lord. I have been making inquiries among the villagers, and find that the swamp in the river-bed abounds with hippopotamia. How do you hunt them on foot?' "'No, my Lord, there is enough water in the river-bed for the flat boats made of bundles of rushes to pass up, while in many places are deep 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 as found in swamps like this at its mouth, there are none anywhere in the neighborhood of Thebes. I suppose that there is too much traffic for them, and that they are afraid of showing themselves in such water. There would be no food for them,' Raba said. "'They are found only in swamps like this, or in places on the upper Nile where the river is shallow and bordered with aquatic plants, on whose roots they principally live. They are timid creatures and are found only in little frequented places. When struck they generally try to make their escape, for although occasionally they will rush with their enormous mouth open at a boat, tear it in pieces, and kill the hunter, this very seldom happens, as a rule they try only to fly.' "'They must be cowardly beasts,' Jethro said scornfully. "'I would rather hunt an animal, be it ever so small, that will make a fight for its life. However we shall see.' Upon the following morning they started for the scene of action. An exclamation of surprise broke from them simultaneously when, on ascending a sand hill, they saw before them a plane a mile wide extending at their feet. It was covered with rushes and other aquatic plants, and extended south as far as the eye could see. "'For one month in the year,' Raba said, "'this is a river. For eleven it is little more than a swamp, though the shallower boats can make their way up at many miles. But a little water always finds its way down, either from the Nile itself or from the canals. It is one of the few places of northern Egypt where the river horses still found, and none are allowed to hunt them unless they are of sufficient rank to obtain the permission of the governor of the province. The steward wrote forehand obtained this as soon as he knew by letter from your father that you were accompanying him and would desire to have some sport. "'Are there crocodiles there?' Amuba asked. "'Many,' Raba replied, although few are now found in the lakes. The people here are not like those of the Theban zone, who hold them in high respect. Here they regard them as dangerous enemies, and kill them without mercy." End of chapter 6