ITS EARLY DOMESTICATION. l8l 



upon this point, and in his admirable work " On the 

 Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication," 

 he gives the following results : 



" The earliest record, as has been pointed out to me by 

 Professor Lepsius, of pigeons in a domesticated condition, 

 occurs in the fifth Egyptian dynasty, about 3000 B.C. ; but 

 Mr. Birch, of the British Museum, informs me that the 

 pigeon appears in a bill of fare in the previous dynasty.* 

 Domestic pigeons are mentioned in Genesis, Leviticus, 

 and Isaiah. In the time of the Romans, as we hear from 

 Pliny, immense prices were given for pigeons ; ' nay, they 

 are come to this pass, that they can reckon up their 

 pedigree and race.' In India, about the year 1600, 

 pigeons were much valued by Akber Khan : 20,000 birds 

 were carried about with the court, and the merchants 

 brought valuable collections. ' The monarchs of Iran and 

 Turan sent him some very rare breeds. His Majesty,' 

 says the courtly historian, ' by crossing the breeds, which 

 method was never practised before, has improved them 

 astonishingly. Akber Khan possessed seventeen distinct 

 kinds, eight of which were valuable for beauty alone. At 



* In the ruined temple of Medineet Haboo is a representation of the coronation 

 of the famous warrior, King Rameses III. (B.C. 1297). "The conquering hero, 

 among the clamours of the populace, and shouts of his victorious army, is depicted 

 proceeding to the temple to offer his grateful thanks to the gods ; and whilst 

 certain priests in their gorgeous robes are casting incense about, and offering up 

 sacrifices at many a smoking altar, others are employed in letting off carrier- 

 pigeons to announce the glad tidings to every quarter of the globe." LKITH 

 ADAMS, No/es of a Xaluralist in the Nile Valley and Malta, p. 27. 



