132 EGYPTIAN BIRDS 
many examples. Then again, it was taken and 
placed on the body of a man, and made a symbol 
of the god Thoth, who presided over arts, in- 
ventions, writing, and literature. So it has come 
to pass that all of us, before even our first visit to 
the Nile, know of this bird, anyhow by name, and 
being here, very naturally desire to see it. The 
dragoman, being asked so frequently to point out 
Sacred Ibises, long ago settled that it would be 
best to please and humour his patrons, and deter- 
mined to call all Egrets, Spoonbills, and Buff- 
backed Herons, being white birds with long necks 
and legs, Sacred Ibises. Time after time I have 
been solemnly informed that four or five, or a 
round dozen, Ibises had been seen at such a place. 
On inquiry I have been told there could be no 
mistake, as dear So-and-so, the dragoman, had 
pointed them out and assured all and sundry that 
they were “genuine Sacred Ibis.” And though 
strange, it is true, people prefer to believe a lie if 
it confirms what they wish, than the truth if it 
does not. The sad truth is, there are no Sacred 
Ibises in Egypt at all, and the dragomans—any- 
how, most of them—know this elementary bit of 
ornithology perfectly well, but they prefer to lie, 
and live in the perpetual atmosphere of mild 
