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several of the skulls you wish, had I known they were particularly 

 desirable. As it was, I did the best I could, but my dragoman mis- 

 took my orders and got but little spirit at Cairo. In Upper Egypt 

 I could get only arrack and every thing I put into that liquor spoiled. 

 I had an asp, two cerastes, two large (crocodile-egg-eating) and many 

 small lizards of various species, many species of fish; two pelican's 

 heads, and the parasitic animals that inhabit them, also the neck 

 and curious respiratory apparatus; some other birds and other 

 curious things, but they are gone, and I have only three large and a 

 few small lizards, of different species, a few beetles, shell fish, and other 

 fish of the Nile, the head and neck of a small ostrich, the heads of 

 two cerastes and an asp, scorpions quantum suf., bats, frogs and toads, 

 in small variety. These will be packed to-day, and sent off in the 

 course of next week. On Monday we start for the wilderness, but 

 I cannot carry much spirit on camels, though I hope to secure you 

 the heads of some gazelles and wild goats. We saw many crocodiles, 

 but though I offered large prices could get neither eggs nor young. 

 It is a dangerous diversion to look for the nest of this "bird," and 

 the people don't like to undertake it. The crocodile is a very fero- 

 cious animal, we heard many well-authenticated accounts of the 

 destruction of human life by them. The quadrupeds of the valley 

 of the Nile are few. The gazelle (I have seen but three wild) the fox, 

 the hyaena, the jerboa and the ichneumon nearly make out the list, 

 but the birds are incredibly numerous. The waders greatly predomi- 

 nate, and it is pleasant to see the harmony in which these poor crea- 

 tures live with each other and even with the crocodile. I saw one 

 of these beasts completely surrounded by a flock of white, blue and 

 gray herons, spoon bills and geese, twenty of them at least within 

 reach of his tail. The crocodile bird (Herodotus trochilus) is very 

 common, but I saw it near the crocodile but once, and then it 

 wasn't picking his teeth. As for the Ibis, if in fact it was black as 

 Herodotus says, it is no longer to be found here, but most persons 

 take a very common bird of snowy plumage to be the Ibis. But 

 insomuch as the lotus and papyrus are gone or nearly so, why not 

 the Ibis? I am ashamed to have traversed so much of Egypt and 

 Nubia and understood so little. How I envy you your knowledge of 

 the many tongues in which Mother Nature speaketh to her children. 

 In fact I hold ignorance of geology, physical geography and natural 



