THE SIBERIAN JEREOA. 4J?} 



fore-legs ; but in the latter action, they often sit up 

 also like a squirrel *. 



The Arabs of the kingdom of Tripoli, in Africa, 

 teach their Greyhounds to hunt the Antelope, by 

 first instructing them to catch Jerboas : and so agile 

 are these little creatures, that Mr. Bruce has often 

 seen, in a large court-yard or inclosure, the Grey- 

 hound employed a quarter of an hour before he could 

 kill his diminutive adversary ; and had not the Dog 

 been well trained, so as to make use of his feet as 

 well as his teeth, he might have killed two Ante- 

 lopes in the time of killing one Jerboa -|~. 



In their wild state, these animals are fond of tulip- 

 roots, and nearly all the oleaginous plants ; but in 

 confinement, they do not refuse raw meat. They 

 are the prey of most of the smaller rapacious beasts. 

 It requires no difficulty to tame them, but it is ne- 

 cessary that they should be kept warm. They are 

 so susceptible of cold, as to foretell bad weather by 

 wrapping themselves close up in their cage before 

 its commencement; and those that arc abroad, always, 

 on these occasions, stop up the mouths of their 

 burrows. They sleep during the vvinter, but a 

 warm day sometimes revives them. On the return 

 of the cold they retreat again to their holes ;|:. 



M. Sonnini fed for some time, while he was in 

 Egypt, six of these animals, in a large cage of iron 

 wire. The very first night they entirely gnawed 

 asunder the upright and cross sticks of their prison ; 

 and he was under the necessity of having the inside 



* I'cnn. Qua!, ii. -13). t Bruce. % Pcnn. Quad. ii. A3\. 



