enliven the waters of the river, and animate
the reedy swamps of the Delta in infinite variety. They are to be seen
ranged in long files upon the sand-banks, fishing and basking in the
sun; suddenly the flock is seized with panic, rises heavily, and settles
away further off. In hollows of the hills, eagle and falcon, the merlin,
the bald-headed vulture, the kestrel, the golden sparrow-hawk, find
inaccessible retreats, whence they descend upon the plains like so many
pillaging and well-armed barons. A thousand little chattering birds come
at eventide to perch in flocks upon the frail boughs of tamarisk and
acacia.

[Illustration: 045.jpg THE MORMYRUS OXYRHYNCHUS.]

Many sea-fish make their way upstream to swim in fresh waters-shad,
mullet, perch, and labrus--and carry their excursions far into the Said.
Those species which are not Mediterranean came originally, still come
annually, from the heart of Ethiopia with the of the Nile, including two
kinds of Alestes, the elled turtle, the Bagrus docmac, and the mormyrus.
Some attain to a gigantic size, the Bagrus bayad and the turtle to about
one yard, the latus to three and a half yards in length, while others,
such as the sihlrus (catfish), are noted for their electric properties.
Nature seems to have made the fahaka (the globe-fish) in a fit of
playfulness. It is a long fish from beyond the cataracts, and it is
carried by the Nile the more easily on account of the faculty it has of
filling itself with air, and inflating its body at will.

[Illustration: 046.jpg AHAKA]

When swelled out immoderately, the fahaka overbalances, and drifts along
upside down, its belly to the wind, covered with spikes so that it looks
like a hedgehog. During the inundation, it floats with the current from
one canal to another, and is cast by the retreating waters upon the
muddy fields, where it becomes the prey of birds or of jackals, or
serves as a plaything for children.

[Illustration: 47.jpg TWO FISHERMEN CARRYING A LATUS. 1]

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a Medum painting. Petrie,
_Medum_, pl. xii.

Everything is dependent upon the river:--the soil, the produce of the
soil, the species of animals it bears, the birds which it feeds: and
hence it was the Egyptians placed the river among their gods. They
personified it as a man with regular features, and a vigorous and
portly body, such as befits the rich of high lineage. His breasts, fully
developed like those of a woman,