THE SWIMMING, OR NATATOllIAL GROUP. 161 



boat, which communicates with the bank by- 

 means of a narrow board, he makes a signal 

 call, and all the ducks rush simultaneously- 

 forward ; the first which gains the boat is 

 ordinarily rewarded with a handful of rice, 

 but the last undergoes a smart chastisement ; 

 of this the birds from repetition are well aware, 

 and hence, every one struggles to get before 

 his neighbour, partly incited by hope, but more 

 by fear. Of course, one must be the last, but 

 it knows what awaits it. 



In Persia, the duck and goose are seldom 

 kept, nor are these birds in any request for the 

 table ; in fact, it would seem that they are sel- 

 dom eaten. 



Among the ancient Egyptians, ducks were 

 in high request, and representations of these 

 birds were favourite subjects for their paint- 

 ings. We learn from Herodotus that salted 

 ducks were eaten without any other cooking, 

 and the mode of pickling them is seen in 

 pictures from Thebes ; in one of these, two men 

 are seen " carrying the ducks on their shoul- 

 ders, and a little further, a man putting them 

 into earthern vessels, formed like Roman 

 amphorse, probably containing salt or pickle. 

 In the extreme left of the picture are two men 

 r 



