REPTILES FISHES. 459 



that called jecko, the saliva of which, falling upon victuals, 

 is said by the Egyptians to infect the person that eats them 

 with leprosy. Scorpions are numerous in the deserts, 

 particularly on the confines of Palestine, which they have 

 continued to infest since the time when the Children of 

 Israel " passed through that great and terrible wilderness" 

 (Deut. viii. 15). Ali Bey saw a very large one in the 

 great court of the Temple at Mecca. It was of a sallow 

 colour, and walked with the tail bent over its back. Its 

 length appeared to be about six inches. Of serpents 

 there are several sorts whose bite is mortal ; though the 

 harmless are more numerous than the dangerous. The 

 only kind that is truly formidable is that called bcetan, 

 a small slender creature, spotted black and white. The 

 bite is said to cause instant death ; while the dead body is 

 swelled by the poison in a very extraordinary manner. 

 It has been remarked that, in general, life is endangered 

 by the wound of such only as have a distinct set of teeth 

 larger than the rest, which serve to conduct the poison. 

 Of this peculiarity the Arabs are aware ; and they scruple 

 not to play freely with these reptiles after the fatal teeth 

 are extracted. In some species, the bite occasions merely 

 a disagreeable itching, which the Bedouins cure by apply- 

 ing the leaves of the caper-tree. Serpents are very com- 

 mon in the Petraean deserts. On the shore near Akaba 

 Burckhardt observed the sand every where bearing im- 

 pressions of their passage crossing each other in all di- 

 rections ; and from the traces it appeared that the bodies 

 of some of them could not be less than two inches in dia- 

 meter. He was told that the fishermen were much afraid 

 of them, and always extinguished their fires in the even- 

 ing before going to sleep, as the light was known to attract 

 them. It was while traversing these wilds, " from Hor 

 to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom/' that 

 many of the Israelites were destroyed by these venomous 

 reptiles (Numb. xxi. 4 6. Deut. viii. 15), called some- 

 what inaccurately fiery or flying serpents.* 



Fishes. The Arabian seas swarm with all sorts of 

 fishes. In the short passage between Suez and Jidda, 



* The meaning of the original is " serpents whose bite causes 

 death by inflammation." Burckhardt observes, that the Arabic 

 version of the Pentateuch is more correct than our translation, by 

 rendering it " serpents of burning bites," instead of" fiery serpents. ' 



