1850 TO 1865 261 
several of the skulls you wish, had I known they were particularly 
desirable. As it was, I did the best I could, but my dragoman mis- 
took my orders and got but little spirit at Cairo. In Upper Egypt 
I could get only arrack and every thing I put into that liquor spoiled. 
I had an asp, two cerastes, two large (crocodile-egg-eating) and many 
small lizards of various species, many species of fish; two pelican’s 
heads, and the parasitic animals that inhabit them, also the neck 
and curious respiratory apparatus; some other birds and other 
curious things, but they are gone, and I have only three large and a 
few small lizards, of different species, a few beetles, shell fish, and other 
fish of the Nile, the head and neck of a small ostrich, the heads of 
two cerastes and an asp, scorpions quantum suf., bats, frogs and toads, 
in small variety. These will be packed to-day, and sent off in the 
course of next week. On Monday we start for the wilderness, but 
I cannot carry much spirit on camels, though I hope to secure you 
the heads of some gazelles and wild goats. We saw many crocodiles, 
but though I offered large prices could get neither eggs nor young. 
It is a dangerous diversion to look for the nest of this “bird,” and 
the people don’t like to undertake it. The crocodile is a very fero- 
cious animal, we heard many well-authenticated accounts of the 
destruction of human life by them. The quadrupeds of the valley 
of the Nile are few. The gazelle (I have seen but three wild) the fox, 
the hyaena, the jerboa and the ichneumon nearly make out the list, 
but the birds are incredibly numerous. The waders greatly predomi- 
nate, and it is pleasant to see the harmony in which these poor crea- 
tures live with each other and even with the crocodile. I saw one 
of these beasts completely surrounded by a flock of white, blue and 
gray herons, spoon bills and geese, twenty of them at least within 
reach of his tail. The crocodile bird (Herodotus trochilus) is very 
common, but I saw it near the crocodile but once, and then it 
wasn’t picking his teeth. As for the Ibis, if in fact it was black as 
Herodotus says, it is no longer to be found here, but most persons 
take a very common bird of snowy plumage to be the Ibis. But 
insomuch as the lotus and papyrus are gone or nearly so, why not 
the Ibis? I am ashamed to have traversed so much of Egypt and 
Nubia and understood so little. How I envy you your knowledge of 
the many tongues in which Mother Nature speaketh to her children. 
In fact I hold ignorance of geology, physical geography and natural 
