CHAP. XIV. GOOSE, DUCK, PELICAN. 2'^27 



among the sacred animals of Egypt, wliicli were 

 forbidden to be eaten ; as is evident from there 

 having been a greater consumption of geese than of 

 any other bird, even in those places where the God 

 Seb was partictdarly adored. And if Herodotus* 

 says " it was sacred," he probably refers to its 

 having been the emblem of the husband of Netpe, 

 the Egyptian Saturn. It signified in hieroglyphics 

 a child t ; and Horapollo says, *' It was chosen to 

 denote a son, from its love to its young, being 

 always ready to give itself up to the chasseur in 

 order that they might be preserved : for which 

 reason the Egyptians thought it right to revere this 

 animal." 



The goose was very common in every part of 

 Egypt, as at the present day ; but few mummies 

 have been found of it, which is the more readily ac- 

 counted for from its utility as an article of food, 

 and as an offering for the altar. 



Among the minor Deities or Genii of the tombs, 

 a duck-headed God is sometimes represented ; but 

 this bird does not appear to have held a rank among 

 the sacred animals of Egypt. 



Horapollo t says *' the pelican was the type of 

 a fool ;" and relates a ridiculous story of the rea- 

 son for this unenviable distinction. But he adds, 

 " Since it is remarkable for the defence of its young, 

 the priests consider it unlawful to eat it, though 

 the rest of the Egyptians do so, alleging that it 



* Herodot. ii. 72. 



+ Horapollo, i. 33. It answered to the letter S, of Se, " a child." 



:j: Horapollo, Hierog. i. 54. 



Q 2 



