178 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIV. 



the animals of Egypt. But it is now confined to 

 the upper parts of Ethiopia ; being seldom known 

 to come into Nubia, or that part lying between 

 the second and first cataract ; and if ever it is seen 

 in Egypt, its visit is purely accidental, and as con- 

 trary, as I have already had occasion to remark*, 

 to its own expectations, as to those of the astonished 

 natives who witness its migration. I have also 

 mentioned the mode of catching it, and the uses to 

 which its hide were applied, both in ancient and 

 modern times, t 



Herodotus says, that though the Hippopotamus is 

 sacred in the Papremitic nome, they have not the 

 same respect for it in the rest of Egypt ; and, ac- 

 cording to Plutarch, *' it was reckoned amongst 

 the animals emblematic of the Evil Being. At 

 Hermopolis," he adds, *'is shown a statue of Typho, 

 which is a river-horse with a hawk upon its back, 

 fighting with a serpent ; the river-horse signifying 

 Typho, and the hawk that power and sovereignty 

 which he frequently gets into his hands by violence, 

 and then employs in works of mischief, both to his 

 own annoyance and to the prejudice of others. So, 

 again, those sacred cakes offered in sacrifice upon 

 the seventh day of the month Tybi, when they 

 celebrate the return of Isis from Phoenicia, have 

 the impression of a river-horse bound stamped 

 upon them." From the representations of this 

 animal in the sculptures both in Upper and 

 Lower Egypt, it is evident that the respect paid 



* Supra, Vol. III. p. 74. f Supra, Vol. III. p. 69 



