DWELLINGS. IS5 



a site calculated to obtain certain determined advan- 

 tages. In Egypt there are dogs which have become 

 wild. Having shaken off the yoke of man, which 

 in the East affords them little or no support, they 

 lead an independent life. During the day they 

 remain quiescent in desert spots or ruins, and at night 

 they prowl about like jackals, hunting living prey or 

 feeding on abandoned carcasses. There are hills 

 which have in a manner become the property of 

 these animals. They have founded villages there, 

 and allow no one to approach. These hills have an 

 orientation from north to south, so that one slope is 

 exposed to the sun from morning to mid-day and the 

 other from mid-day to . evening. Now, dogs have a 

 great horror of heat. They fear the torrid heat of 

 the south as much as in our climate they like to lie 

 warmed by gentle rays ; there is no shadow too deep 

 for their siesta. Therefore, on these Egyptian hills 

 every dog hollows out a lair on both slopes. One of 

 these dwellings is thus turned towards the east, the 

 other towards the west. In the morning, when he 

 returns from his nocturnal expeditions, the animal 

 takes refuge in the second, and remains there until 

 mid-day, sunk in refreshing sleep. At that hour the 

 sun begins to reach him, and to escape it he passes 

 over to the opposite slope ; it is a curious sight to see 

 them all, with pendent heads and sleepy air, advance 

 with trailing steps to their eastern retreat, settle down 

 in it, and continue their dream and their digestion 

 till evening, when they again set forth to prowl. We 

 never grow tired of admiring the intelligence of their 

 domesticated fellows, but this trait seems to me worthy 

 of remark ; it proves a very developed power of obser- 

 vation and reflection. 



