tened into the beam, fitting very loosely round the throat of each animal. The beam of the plough, or the pole of the cart, is attached to the centre of the yoke. Sometimes oxen are made to draw by a cord attached to their horns.

Though the ox is very gentle under the yoke, yet when the herds are turned loose to graze, and have long enjoyed their freedom in the forests or plains, the bulls frequently become rather wild, and the buffaloes, in particular, are not agreeable creatures for an unarmed stroller to meet alone. They are in the habit of gather ing in a circle round any novel or unaccustomed object, and may easily be irritated into charging with their horns. This habit is alluded to in Ps. xxii. 12: "Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round." There are several provisions in the law of Moses to provide for the cases of injury by a bull goring man or animal. Whenever it had gored a man or woman it was to be slain; and if it were proved that the owner had been warned of its dangerous habit, and had not kept it in, his life also was forfeit. (See Ex. xxi. 28-36.) The cattle in Gilead, and in the wilderness. will vigorously defend themselves against the attacks of wolves, hyænas, and other wild beasts, by forming themselves into a circle with the cows and calves behind them.

Horned cattle are by no means universally spread over the country. They are only suited to districts where the water is easily accessible, and where fresh pasture can be obtained throughout the year. In the Sinaitic peninsula, even in those parts where there are not only camels, but horses, sheep, and goats, neat cattle are unknown. Then in the southern wilderness of Judah, on the downs and bare prairies, to the south and east of Beersheba, and in all the Plain of Philistia, they are very numerous, and their appearance is very striking to the traveller who has been for some time in the hill country of Hebron, and the eastern wilderness adjoining the Dead Sea, where they are never seen. These herds, which are rarely used for agriculture, are of very small size, not much larger than the horned Scotch cattle, and resembling them in general appearance, but with much shorter horns. They are shaggy, shortlegged, and small in the hams, but deep in the fore quarters. Their colour is black or brown, sometimes red, but rarely piebald, and very seldom with any white.

In the maritime Plains of Sharon, Acre, and Phoenicia, and in that of Esdraelon, is found a large variety of the same breed, from which the southern cattle have probably degenerated. They are better cared for, and are accustomed to the yoke, all the agricultural operations of these districts being performed by them.

In all the central districts of Palestine, from Hebron up to the Lebanon, neat cattle are rare, excepting on such plains as those of Dothan and Shechem. The pastures are few, and burnt up in summer, and the agriculture of the terraced hills is not adapted for their use. Goats supply the milk and butter of these regions, and are unknown delicacies.

beef and veal

In the north of the country, in the richer parts of Galilee, may occasionally be seen very fine cattle, of a quite distinct breed, and of very large size, which are there called the Armenian cattle. They are generally light-coloured, recalling the Tuscan ox, and bearing some resemblance to the Hereford breed, but with shorter horns. They seem to belong to the same race which is represented on the Egyptian monuments, and which is still the finest breed on the banks of the Nile. In the richer parts of Northern Syria, and near Damascus, these large cattle are more common.

In the wild countries east of Jordan, Southern Bashan, Gilead, and Moab, neat cattle form the principal wealth of the Arabs and of the few settled villages, until we reach the desert itself. The breed is the same as that of Southern Judæa, but of a larger size, and generally black. Their milk and butter is very rich and abundant, for the forests preserve the verdure of the glades throughout the year, so that the milch kine do not go dry as in the south.

In the Ghor, or Jordan valley, another species of cattle, quite distinct from the Bos taurus, the Indian buffalo (Bos bubalus), takes the place of the common ox. It is incapable of flourishing excepting in marsh land, where it wallows during the day buried up to the neck in water or mud. It is, however, utilized by the Arabs near the Waters of Merom for ploughing. It is a huge ungainly creature, very ill-tempered, and frequently dan gerous, always black, and with a rough short coat, which is often bare in places. It does not appear to have been known to the ancient Israelites, and was probably intro

duced through Persia at a later period. Its milk is considered richer than that of the cow, but is deficient in quantity. There is no trace of the Indian humped cattle in Palestine.

In the bone caves of the Lebanon we discovered the teeth of two extinct species of the ox tribe, belonging probably to Bos primigenius, or the aurochs, and Bison priscus. [See UNICORN.]

The worship of Apis, or the bull-god of Egypt, is well known, and had become deeply engraven in the imagination of the Israelites. Whether they also associated it with the symbol of the cherubim, which many learned men maintain to have been in the form of an ox, is not quite clear. But there can be no doubt that they adopted it both in the wilderness, and afterwards under Jeroboam, not as the symbol of a false god, but as the emblem or figure of Jehovah. Thus Aaron proclaims : "To-morrow is a feast to the Lord" (Ex. xxxii. 5); and Jeroboam is not condemned for introducing the worship of a Baal or an Apis, but for setting up the calves as images of the LORD, in whose name his prophets still continued to speak. The idea of the symbol may have been suggested by Jeroboam's residence in Egypt, but he seems to have appropriated it professedly to Jehovah. The expression "So will we render the calves of our lips " (Hos. xiv. 2) signifies, we will render the 'sacrifice' of our lips, the calf' being used for an acceptable offering.

CHAMOIS. Heb. zemer.—In the list of the clean animals permitted as food in Deut. xiv. 5, the 'zemer' occurs, and nowhere else in Scripture. From the Arabic zamar' we conclude that some leaping animal is intended. It can

not be the chamois, of the existence of which there is no trace in Bible lands. Nor can it be the giraffe or cameleopard, an animal of Central Africa, which is the interpretation of some ancient commentators. As other words designate the rock-goats or ibex, and the various antelopes, it is probable that zemer is applied to the wild. mountain sheep, called kebsch in Arabia and aoudud in North Africa, very like the mouflon of Sardinia.

The wild sheep is gray, like a goat, and is considered such by the Arabs. The North African species, or aoudad (Ovis tragelaphus), lives in small flocks in the most rugged districts of the Atlas mountains, extending from Barbary

to the frontiers of Egypt. It is depicted on Egyptian monuments. The kebsch of Arabia Petræa is probably identical with it, but, though well known to the Bedouin, no specimen has hitherto been secured by any naturalist. Doubtless the animal was far more common in ancient times, as it evidently was in Egypt, and hence would naturally be named among the animals fit for food in the Mosaic law. The mouflon (Ovis musimon) is very closely allied to it; and though now found only in Sardinia, Corsica, and Cyprus, it, or allied forms, were formerly common in Spain, the Greek mountains, and across Circassia to Persia, where it is said still to exist. It may therefore be presumed to have extended to the Lebanon.

The aoudad is wonderfully active, bounding from rock to rock, and often lighting on its enormous horns, which are very massive, and two feet in length, curving gently backwards. It is more than three feet in height, and, though without a mane, has very long hair down its throat and breast, and on the fore legs, forming a sort of ruffles, which extend to the knee. Though I have frequently seen it in the Atlas mountains, I never succeeded in finding it in Western Asia.

CHAPTER V.

MAMMALS.-PART II.

CONEY. Heb. chaphan; Hyrax syriacus of naturalists.-The Hebrew name signifies the hider,' and it is known in Southern Arabia by a similar name, 'thofun,' though in Palestine and Sinai it is called weber.' it must not

be confounded with the rabbit, sometimes called the coney in England, for no species of rabbit is found in Palestino or Arabia. It was forbidden as food to the Israelites. "The coney because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you" (Lev. xi. 5; Deut. xiv. 7). In Ps. civ. 18, we read: "The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies;" and in Prov. xxx. 24, 26, "There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise. . . . The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks."

The hyrax or coney is a very singular creature, stand