222 
TRAVELS IN 
described above : the color is cinereous, witli small black 
spots ; the neck and temples covered with long crisp hair 
like that of the mane of the lion ; tail two feet, flat, vertical, 
spotted lialf way from the root, and the other half annulated ; 
a thick black line from the interior angle of the eje extends 
to the opening of the mouth. Of this species we procured a 
young one ; it became instantlj^ tame, and as playful as the 
domestic kitten. Most beasts of prey, if taken young, may 
almost instantly be rendered tame. The fierce lion, or the 
tiger, is sooner reconciled to a state of domestication than the 
timid antelope ; and the cadaverous crociita, the wild dog, has 
lately been domesticated in the Sneuwberg, where it is now- 
considered as one of the best hunters aftergame, and as faith- 
ful and diligent as any of the common sort of domestic dogs, 
yet in a state of nature there cannot possibly be a more savage 
animal. 
Birds as well as beasts of prey are attracted to all such 
places as abound with game. In the vicinity of the Sea-Cow 
river, vultures were more numerous than they had hitherto 
been seen in any part of the country. Of these we distin- 
guished three sorts ; the large black condor, the percnopterus, 
or Egyptian sacred vulture, and a third species, that seemed 
to differ from the second only in size, being no more than two 
feet long. The female also of this bird, as well as that of the 
percnopterus, is distinguished from the whitish-colored male 
by its plumage of dusky brown. This small species is called 
by the peasantry the white crow. The sacred scavenger of 
Egypt meets not here with that protection which was afforded 
it on the banks of the Nile, where, according to Herodotus, 
