NATURE 
55 

ill attract them. On one occasion I saw two ravens attack a 
rse which had fallen from exhaustion, 
An Arabian proverb says, ‘‘ Take a raven for your guide and he 
ill lead you to a dead dog.” 
An Arab tradition evidently taken—as many others are—from 
he Old Testament, ascribes the first idea of burial to the 
en. ‘While Adam was absent on a pilgrimage to Mecca, 
Jain and Abel each erected an altar for sacrifices. Cain, a 
husbandman, offered the refuse of his garden, but Abel chose the 
est young ram of his flock and laid it upon the altar. His 
sacrifice was accepted, and the ram taken up to heaven, there to 
remain till it was required as a substitute for Ishmael when his 
ther Abraham shouid offer him up on Mount Moriah. Cain 
seeing his offering refused, conceived so sudden a jealousy against 
his brother that he slew him, but being perplexed after the deed, 
and knowing not how to dispose of the body, he carried it about 
ith him for many years. At last he saw two ravens engaged in 
deadly conflict, and one having killed the other scraped a hole in 
the ground and buried it, a hint which Cain took, and thus in- 
stituted the first burial rites as he had caused the first death. 
Adam returning mourned for his son and cursed the ground which 
had drunk up his blood, wherefore say the Muslims, the earth will 
ever more absorb the blood of one who is slain, but it remains 
above ground, a lasting testimony to the murderer's guilt.” 
andgrouse (/etrocles setariits).—This species is most common 
in the Desert, but three other kinds are also found, viz. P. exastus 
nd /. sengalensis (found by Tristram near the Dead Sea) and 
arenarius. All these are called Kafa, or, in Bedawi dialect, 
Gata (in Morocco Koudr?). The first and last mentioned species 
ire called by some Bedawin Kowdriyeh and Sunifeh respectively. 
_ These birds require to drink morning and evening, and thus 
often prove of great service to the traveller by indicating the 
proximity of water. While staying at Damascus I was assured 
t these birds exist in such numbers in the territory of the 
*Anazeh Bedawin that during the nesting season two men will go 
out with a camel’s-hair bag between them and fill it with eggs in 
a very short space of time. The women then squeeze out the 
eggs and cook them, leaving the shells inside the bag. The 
Kata is said always to lay three eggs, neither more nor less. 
Its bones when properly prepared are said to be a cure for bald- 
ness, and the head may be used as a charm to extort secrets from 
la sleeping person, From its being so sure an indicator of the 
esence of water, the Arabs have the proverb ‘‘ More truthful 
than the Gata.” 
_ Sheep. The proper Arabic name is Didz ; Ghanem is the 
general term for flocks of sheep and goats. 
_In the Tih there are few sheep, but in Moab and Palestine 
they are numerous; these are generally the fat-tailed variety 
Ovis laticaudata). A fine-woolled breed is found in some dis- 
ricts. I have always noticed that in the East sheep’s milk is 
much better than that of either cows or goats. 
Snake, Ar. Haiyeh, Taaban Offi (cf. apis) Ditdeh (lit. worim) 
Rakshah (speckled one). Owing to its being winter when I passed 
through the Tih, there were very few snakes to be found. The 
attitude taken by a horned snake ( Cerastes hasselguistii) which I 
captured was remarkable. Immediately it saw me it began to 
hiss, and, tying itself as it were into a knot, created a curious 
grating sound by the friction of its scales. This snake is con- 
sidered the most deadly of all by the Arabs, who hold it in great 
dread, They also affirm that if a snake has swallowed a bone 
which it cannot digest it will coil itself tightly round a tree or 
stone till the bone inside it is completely broken up. 
_ Vortoise ( Zestudo vraca), Ay. Salahfit (in Morocco afkah), 
The water-tortoise (Zmzys caspica) is called Leyak. The former is 
Occasionally found in the Tih. though common in Palestine. The 
latter abounds in the pools and streams of that country. Another 
species of land tortoise (Zestudo marginata) is mentioned by 
‘Tristram, as being found on Mount Carmel. The water-tortoise 
is known to be carnivorous, and the Arabs declare that the land 
“Species also eat snakes, but this I believe to be quite false. 
| oe have a very strong odour, and I have frequently 
| 





‘seen pointers in Morocco stand to them as they would to game. 
Vulture, Egyptian (Mecphron peronopterus), Ar. Rakhamah 
(Heb. vacham) or Onak (in Morocco Sew). This is the only 
(vulture at all frequently seen in the Desert. The Griffon (Gyfs 
| fulews) and Lammer-geier (Gyfaetss harbaius) seldom wander 
|beyond the limits of cultivation, ‘The Egyptian Vulture is com- 
monly found near Arab encampments, where it shares the office 
of scavenger with the dogs. Many tribes, however, both in 
North Africa and the East, consider its flesh a delicacy. 



Wolf (Canis lupus), Ax. Deeb. These animals are found in 
the mountains of Sinai and Palestine, but rarely in the Tih, 
They do not pack like European wolves, but hunt by twos and 
threes. 
The Bedawin say that “they sleep with one eye open,” and 
have a similar proverb to our own, ‘‘ A wolf in the stomach.” 
Hunger is sometimes called Da’ ed deeb, wolf's malady. Various 
parts of the animal are used for charms, e.g. a wolf’s head in a 
pigeon cote, or a tail in a cattle stall, will keep off other wild 
beasts. 
In addition to stories about real animals, the Bedawin have 
many fables of imaginary creatures, such as the Ginn, the 
Efreet, andtheGhoul. These hardly come within my province, and 
are well described by Lane (‘Arabian Nights,” vol. i.), I may 
however mention the /V7s-7z¢s, which is said to resemble a man 
bisected longitudinally, and to possess but one arm, one leg, and 
half a head. The story goes that it is found in Yemen, and that 
the people there hunt and eat it, notwithstanding that it can 
speak Arabic! The Hud-hud (so called from its cry) is a 
mysterious creature, not uncommon in Sinai, The Bedawin de- 
clare that it is never seen Though I often heard its plaintive 
cry close to my tent, and rushed out gun in hand, yet I never 
could obtain so much as a glimpse of it. At one moment the 
sound came from just over my head ; the next instant it was far 
away up the hill side, and would either pass into the distance, 
or as suddenly return to me. From this I am convinced that 
the cry is made by some bird, probably of the owl tribe. The 
Arabs, of course, will accept no such materialistic solution of 
the mystery. 
The Botany of the Tih, especially in a season of drought such 
as we experienced, is very limited. The climate is so dry that 
mosses and even lichens are not found, except near Nakhl, where 
I gathered some much resembling the true Reindeer moss. This 
only grows on the northern side of the hillocks. 
ihe passage in Job xxx. 4, ‘‘Who cut up mallows by the 
bushes,” seems wrongly referred to the Sea Purslane (Adzplex 
Halimus.) Yn North Africa and the country east of Bir-Erba 
there isa small mallow which is eaten. This zzvariably grows 
either where an Arab encampment has stood or on the site of an 
ancient town. It has asmall pinkish flower, and seldom exceeds 
seven or eight inches in height. 
In the caves near Ain Muweileh a considerable quantity of 
salt crystallises on the surface of the limestone. Though dis- 
agreeable to the taste, it is eaten by the Arab. 
At Petra the natives chip the interior of the caves. The frag- 
ments of sandstone are crushed and boiled, and a saltpetre suffi- 
ciently pure for the purpose of making gunpowder is thus 
obtained. The sulphur is found on the Lisan and coasts of the 
Dead Sea. _ 
The above report necessarily contains but a sketch of our work. 
It will, however, I trust, give some idea of the country we had 
to examine, and of the difficulties which we encountered. In 
conclusion, I must here tender my best thanks to the University 
of Cambridge for having aided me in the investigation of this 
hitherto so little known but important district. It is the intention 
of Mr. Palmer and myself to publish together as soon as possible 
a full and systematic account of our explorations. 
Cuas. F, TyRWHITT-DRAKE 
(Note by Mr. C. R. Crotch on the Coleoptera brought from 
the Tih.) 
“In the small collection now before me are contained ninety 
species of Coleoptera, representing more or less all the larger 
families of the order, except the Water-beetles, an omission 
easily to be accounted for. The group most largely represented 
is, as throughout Syria, the Heteromera These curious 
apterous, sluggish forms seem to thrive under the most arid 
conditions. |The whole cast of the fauna is essentially Medi- 
terranean ; that one is on its southern side is shown by 
genera like Adesmia, Graphipterus, Pachydeura, &c. The rela- 
tions of this collection wth an Egyptian one are very marked, 
many specimens being identical. None of them, however, 
extend to the Algerian deserts, though congeneric species occur 
there in their place. Nearly all are confined to the S. corner of 
Palestine and E. of Egypt, except the Dung-beetles (Histerida, 
Aphoiiadee, and Coprida), and these are more or less identical 
with those of S. Europe. The paucity of vegetation is very 
strongly indicated by the fact that the two great groups of 
Rhynchophera and Phytophaga number gly seven species 
between them.” 
