ZOOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 
xlix 
object, tried all in his power to dissuade him from entering upon so arduous an 
undertaking, without success, however, as Hasselquist signified his intention to walk 
all the way on foot rather than have his desire frustrated. A small sum, however, was 
contributed by a few public-spirited individuals, and, as it was afterwards supplemented 
from some other sources, he was ultimately in a position to undertake the journey. 
A free passage to Smyrna having been granted to him by the Levant Company, 
Hasselquist sailed for the East on the 7th August, 1749, arriving at Smyrna on the 
26th November, and after a residence in that town of about four and a half months 
he set out for Alexandria, which he reached on the loth May, 1750. He resided 
there for a short time, and afterwards proceeded by Rosetta to Cairo, where he arrived 
in the month of July. His residence in Egypt extended over nearly a year. He left 
the country by Damietta on the 28th March, 1751, and visited Palestine, where he 
spent about seven weeks. Thence he sailed to Cyprus, Rhodes, and Chios, and he 
landed again in Smyrna in the beginning of August of the same year. 
His life in Cairo, where the greater part of his time was spent, was but little 
conducive to an attainment of a knowledge of the natural history of Egypt, which was 
then, he says, governed by rebels who had been slaves, and under whose rule 
Christians were so despised and badly treated that he had to live in a kind of civil 
arrest and to keep his chamber. When he ventured out into the town or country, 
he had to commit himself to the hands of soldiers, who conducted him with staffs 
and pikes amid their " villainous brethren " ; and he adds that to travel to Cairo in 
those days and to live there for some time was like doing penance for crimes. It is 
thus apparent that he had great difficulties to contend with in prosecuting his natural- 
history researches. 
In the posthumous work, the ' Iter Palaestinum,' the following species are indi- 
cated: — 
Lacerta crocodilus, Hasselq. & Linn. 
„ chamcsleon, Hasselq. & Linn. 
,, stellio, Linn. 
„ mgyptia, Hasselq. & Linn. 
„ gecko, non Linn. 
„ scincus, Hasselq. & Linn. 1 
„ nilotica, Hasselq. & Linn. 
Coluber vipera, Hasselq. & Linn. 1 
„ cornutus, Hasselq. & Linn. 1 
„ haje, Hasselq. & Linn. 
Artguis jaculus, Hasselq. & Linn. 
? „ colubrinus, Hasselq. & Linn. 
„ cerastes, Hasselq. & Linn. 1 
= Crocodilus niloticus, Laur. [Cone. 
= ? Chamceleon vulgaris, Daud., or ? C. basiliscus, 
= Agama stellio (Linn.). 
= Uromastix agyptius (Hasselq. & Linn.). 
= Ptyodactylus hasselquist ii (Donudorff). 
= Scincus officinalis, Laur. 
= Varanus niloticus (Hasselq. & Linn.). 
= Cerastes vipera (Hasselq. & Linn.). 
= „ cornutus (Hasselq. & Linn.). 
= Naja haje (Hasselq. & Linn.). 
= Eryx jaculus (Hasselq. & Linn.). 
= ? „ thebaicus (Hasselq. & Linn.). 
= „ jaculus (Hasselq. & Linn.). 
1 Eirst described in the Act. Ac. Sc. Upsal., 175.1. 
