Chapter V: About Quadrupeds

I must tell you that by this time, Jack had learned to read, and this was now a source of great delight to him. It often happened that he could not go into the fields to study nature, because the weather was stormy, or perhaps it was winter, and the ground was covered with snow. It is true that his aunt Piper was generally ready to answer his questions, and to give him information――but she could not attend to him always. Beside, he found in books that there were more exact and scientific accounts of birds, beasts, fishes, insects and other things which interested him, than even aunt Betsey Piper could give.

Thus, Jack devoted a good deal of his time to reading, though he did not lay aside his habit of observing and investigating. This habit is very important, and I advise all my young friends to adopt, and continue it, however much they may read. Reading will indeed store the mind, and make it full of knowledge; but observation and investigation render that knowledge clear, distinct, and useful. So, I wish to have every body follow Jack’s plan to read a great deal, and also to investigate a great deal. Thinking is to the mind what exercise is to the body――it makes it strong, cheerful, and full of health. Thus my plan is that reading books and reading nature should go together. Now, I will tell you how Inquisitive Jack managed this.

One day, he was going through a little wood, where he saw a squirrel running along upon the fence. It was of a reddish color, and exceedingly nimble. It seemed almost to fly along the rails of the fence, and at last, it mounted upon a tree. It then ran about upon the limbs, and sprang to another tree. Then it dashed from tree to tree almost like a bird, until at last, it reached a large oak. It now seemed to consider itself out of the reach of harm, and accordingly, it began to chatter in the most extraordinary manner. There was something about it that made Jack feel that the fellow was making fun of him. He was annoyed at this, and picking up a stone, he hurled it at the offender with all his force.

The squirrel dodged the stone, ran up the tree a little higher, and chattered louder than ever. It seemed to say something like this, “Oh Jack――Jack――you are a very silly fellow――get you gone and leave the woods to me and my companions!――chickaree!――chickaree!――chickaree!” While the squirrel was saying this, he flourished his long red tail, and seemed to be in a state of violent agitation.

When Jack went home, he told his aunt Piper about the squirrel, but she did not know as much of squirrels, as of bees, butterflies, and birds, and therefore she could not wholly satisfy his curiosity. He therefore consulted a book of natural history, and there he found a full account of the red squirrel, or chickaree. He found it described just as he had seen it, and furthermore he learned that it was one of the most lively of the whole squirrel family; that it lives upon nuts, and is common in the forests of New England and the Middle States――that it builds its nest in hollow trees, and lays up a store of its favorite fruit against the winter season.

Now you will be able to see the advantage of combining observation with reading;――Jack had seen the squirrel, had noticed its color, form, air, and manners. He had therefore distinct, indelible impressions respecting these things, and when he began to read about this squirrel, it was of something he had seen; something of which he had a lively knowledge; something associated in his mind with his walk through the woods, and the pleasure of a ramble. He read, therefore, with a keen delight; he understood what he read, he remembered it all, and he was incited to go on and pursue the subject, till at last he had read the story of the whole squirrel family, red, black and gray!

I tell you this just to give you a specimen of Jack’s way of combining observation with reading. I must now tell you about another thing, which I have alluded to before. It would seem that ideas resemble boys; they don’t love to be alone. One idea wants another; and several ideas want a good many others. You show a child a beautiful shell, it gives him a new idea, and that immediately suggests a desire of other ideas, and he asks, “Who made the shell?” “Where did the shell come from?” “What is it made of,” &c., &c.

I have almost got through my story, so do not be impatient if I tell you one thing more, and that is how Jack used to think about what he saw and read. I shall give you an instance. One day, he was strolling through the fields, at a distance from any house, when he saw a large hawk pounce down upon a rabbit. The talons of the bird pierced the very heart of the little animal, and it was almost instantly killed, and borne away by the destroyer, struggling however in the pangs of death. As it was carried over his head, Jack noticed the four legs of the rabbit, and he began to reflect upon the fact that a hawk has two legs, and a rabbit four. Having made this comparison, he proceeded to make others; and now it struck him, for the first time, that the whole feathered race are two-legged creatures, while rabbits, squirrels, cats, dogs, pigs, foxes, lions, tigers, cows, horses, and elephants are four-legged creatures. As he was thus ruminating upon this matter, he happened to take up his book, and he there found that the animal creation is divided into groups――such as orders and classes, &c., according to their formation.

He learned that four-legged animals, called _quadrupeds_, form one great class; that birds form another class; fishes another; reptiles another; and insects still another. And in pursuing this subject, he found that each class was divided into many families or kinds. Among the quadrupeds, he found the family of cats, including old puss in the corner, as well as the lynx, cougar, leopard, tiger, and lion. He learned that among the bears, there are many kinds, and also among the wolves and foxes, and all other races of animals.

And now, a new source of interest grew up in Jack’s mind. This _classifying_ of animals became intensely interesting. He loved to compare one kind with another; to note the resemblances and differences; to observe the influence of climate, and see how nature had diversified her works, so as to adapt everything to the purpose it was designed to accomplish. Thus, at every step, his knowledge increased, and became more and more permanently fixed in his mind; while the interest he took in study, was enhanced even in a greater degree.

Sketches in Egypt.

In a former number of our Museum, we have given some account of the wonderful things, displaying the manners and customs of the Egyptians, and setting forth many points of history, which have been discovered among the ruins of their ancient cities and temples. We now give a few passages, showing some of the manners and customs of the present inhabitants of Egypt.

IRRIGATION.

Throughout the whole of Egypt, even in the Delta, there are numerous canals to preserve the water after the overflow; and from these the country is supplied with moisture. The lands in Upper Egypt――to aid the process of artificial irrigation――are dug into small squares, connected by gutters or furrows; and the water, being raised from the stream either with a machine or by manual labor, is admitted into these ridges, and flows from one square into another. This operation forms the most laborious part of a fellah’s employment; particularly where the Persian water-wheel is not in use.

HARVEST.

Immediately after the water has run off, sowing commences, the seed only requiring to be strewed over the land, when it sinks into the soft earth by its own weight, or is trodden down by the cattle driven over it; a process generally performed in November. The harvest commences in April, when the corn is cut with a sickle, close to the ear, and the straw is appropriated for fodder, or converted into fuel. The ears, having been carried from the field in baskets, are laid upon the ground. A sort of sledge drawn by oxen is then driven over it, which answers the end of thrashing, separating the corn from the ears.[2] It is next stored, and the husbandman having none of the labors of ploughing, furrowing, or manuring his land――those duties being superseded by the bounteous Nile――he is at leisure till the next overflow.

MARRIAGE.

A day or two before the wedding, the bride elect goes in procession to the public bath, which is often hired exclusively for her and her friends. A canopy of silk is borne over her by four men, preceded by musicians, and sometimes by persons who perform some feat of strength or a mock fight with swords; the female relations of the maiden are also of the party; and when in the bath, the company is amused by _almehs_ and other musicians.

On returning from the bath the bride takes a large lump of henna, and going round to her guests solicits a contribution of money, when each person generally sticks a small piece of gold into the henna, which on being relieved of the coins, is afterwards applied to her hands and feet. The evening of this ceremony is called “The night of the henna.”

The next day, the bride proceeds to the house of her future lord in the same order as when she goes to the bath; and on arriving at the harem all her friends leave her, except her mother or other near relation, the bridegroom remaining below with his friends. Sometimes he goes to a mosque, and on his return, after seeing the company supplied with pipes and sherbet, is for the first time introduced to his wife; and having been left alone with her he presents her money, which is called “the price of uncovering the face.” This is an awkward moment for the bride, whose form and features do not always bear out the praises that the match-maker has previously bestowed on them by way of description; and lovers have been known to betray disappointment at this delicate juncture. On removing the covering it is however proper for him to say, “In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful, blessed be this night!” the lady must answer “God bless thee!” Several women are stationed outside the door, who, at a signal from the bridegroom, set up cries of joy――which are responded to by others below and in the neighborhood――to signify that he acknowledges his bride, and that she equals his expectations: these ceremonies over, the man rejoins his male friends, with whom he spends an hour or two in sociality, and then returns to his wife.

MOSQUES.

The houses of worship in Cairo are magnificent and spacious. The principal mosque, called the church of Lazarus, is situated in the middle of the city. Van Egmont says that between five and six thousand persons receive their subsistence from it, and that two thousand lie in it every night. Formerly the interior was as a sealed book to all who did not follow the faith of the prophet; for, if any stranger happened to enter it, he was instantly imprisoned, and his only chance of escape from death was to turn Mohammedan.

The minarets, or high towers of the mosques, are surrounded, at a great elevation, with projecting galleries, in which stand the public criers, who announce the stated times of prayer prescribed by the Mohammedan law. Upwards of eight hundred voices may be heard at once from these lofty stations, from which, also, prayers are on extraordinary occasions, offered up.

BURIALS.

The Egyptians seldom keep a corpse in their houses on the night succeeding death; and never bury their dead after sunset. Rose-water, camphor, and other perfumes, are sprinkled over the deceased, his nostrils and ears are stuffed with cotton, the ankles bound, and the hands placed over his breast. If he have been a man of wealth, he is wrapped successively in layers of muslin, cotton cloth, and cloth of cotton and silk, and lastly, a Cashmere shawl. He is then placed on a bier, and a procession is formed of chanters, with the relations and domestics of the deceased; and passages from the Koran, with a dirge, are recited during the way. The bier is first carried into a mosque, when the imán and his assistant repeat certain prayers over it; and after the performance of some minor rites, the funeral train proceeds to the burial-ground.[3] When within the tomb a singular ceremony is performed by a person called “the instructor of the dead;” who, sitting before it, speaks to the corpse as if it were a living person, saying, that there will come two angels who will ask certain questions, which he also tells the body how to answer. The two angels are supposed to visit the dead on the succeeding night, when the soul will depart and the body be tortured for its sins. After burial, prayers are recited and certain forms gone through by the relatives, to facilitate the entrance of the deceased into paradise. Wailers are sometimes hired at funerals, to make loud lamentations; but in the case of a _welee_, or reputed saint, these mournings are turned into cries of joy at the release of the pious man from this world, to the world of happiness; to which it is believed he has certainly departed.

The religious _superstitions_ of the Egyptians present a remarkable feature in their character; as many of them are not only believed in by the learned, but are sanctioned by the Koran. The principal of these is the belief in genii, a class of spirits who play so prominent a part in the “Arabian Nights Entertainments.” These supernatural beings are supposed to hold a sort of middle rank between angels and men――to be created of fire, capable of assuming any form, and of becoming invisible. They are presumed to inhabit rivers, ruined houses, wells, baths, ovens, &c.

TINGING THE EYES.

It is a common practice with ladies in Egypt as in Persia, to tinge their eyes with a black powder, called _khol_. This seems to have been an ancient practice, for vessels containing this powder have been found in the tombs. The hands and feet are also tinged with a decoction of the henna tree, a kind of privet, which imparts an orange hue. Women of the lower classes mark their bodies with a blue tint, like that used by sailors in tattooing their wrists and arms.

Pictures of Various Nations.