184 



COMMON JERBOA. 



seem to be of a mild and tranquil disposition^ 

 Mine suffered themselves to be touched without 

 difficulty ; and there was neither noise nor quarrel 

 among them, even when taking their food. At 

 the same time they testified neither joy, fear, nor 

 gratitude : their gentleness was neither amiable 

 nor interesting : it appeared to be the effect of 

 cold and complete indifference, bordering on stu- 

 pidity. Three of these animals died successively, 

 before my departure from Alexandria. I lost 

 two others during a somewhat stormy passage to 

 the isle of Rhodes, when the last, owing to the 

 negligence of the person to whose care it was 

 committed, got out of its cage and disappeared. 

 I had a strict search made for it, when the vessel 

 was unloaded, but without effect : it had, no 

 doubt, been killed by the cats." 



Mons. Sonnini seems inclined to think that the 

 Alagtaga or Tartarian Jerboa described by 

 Gmelin in the Petersburgh Transactions, is no 

 other than the Egyptian Jerboa, notwithstanding 

 its different residence. 



