6 OUR DOMESTIC FOWLS. 



bility of emerging from it, and taking that 

 station in which the fiat of God placed man 

 when he bade him "replenish the earth, and 

 subdue it : and have dominion over the fish of 

 the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and 

 over every living thing that moveth upon the 

 earth." This dominion over the lower orders 

 of creation, which the real savage cannot be 

 said rightly to exercise, was not abrogated 

 after the fall, but appears rather to have been 

 put into active operation immediately ; for we 

 read of the skins of slain animals — probably 

 of those offered up in sacrifice — being made 

 use of for garments, and of Abel, who is ex- 

 pressly stated to have been a keeper of sheep, 

 bringing " of the firstlings of his flock, and of 

 the fat thereof," as an offering to the Lord. 

 Here we have a proof of the early domestica- 

 tion of the sheep ; and soon after we read of 

 Jabal, that he was " the father of such as 

 dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle." 

 We have, now, oxen and sheep recorded as 

 being domesticated, doubtless from a sense of 

 their value ; and perhaps, though no mention 

 is made of it, the faithful dog may have been 

 their guardian against the ferocious beasts of 

 prey. The very circumstance of man's sue- 



