AND LOWER EGYPT. 151 



trast agreeably with the beautifully shining white 

 of the under part of the body. 



The fore- feet are so short that they scarcely pro- 

 ject beyond the hair ; they are white and have five 

 toes, the greatest of which, or interior toe, is very 

 short, rounded at the extremity, and has no nail. 

 The other four, the second whereof outward is the 

 longest, are of considerable lengthy and armed 

 with great hooked nails. The heel is very much 

 raised, and the inside, or sole of the foot, is 

 naked and flesh-coloured. I have already re- 

 marked that they might be taken for hands ; in 

 truth they are of no service to the jerbo for walk- 

 ing, but only for laying hold of his food and car- 

 rying it to his mouth, and also for digging his hole. 



The hinder legs are clothed with long hair of a 

 faint red and white: the long feet are almost en- 

 tirely naked, especially on the outside; which 

 must of necessity be the case, as the animal, 

 whether in motion or at rest, is continually sup- 

 ported on this part of the body. Those feet, so 

 excessively lengthened out, have three toes; that 

 in the middle is somewhat greater than the other 

 two; they are all furnished with short nails, but 

 broad and obtuse; they have besides on the heel 

 a species of spur, or rather a very small rudiment 

 of a fourth toe, which constitutes a point of rc- 



l 4 semblance 



