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CHAPTER XXXV. 
THE PEA-FOWL. 
If the references to the peacock in the two parallel passages of Scripture, r Kings x. 22 and 
2 Chron. ix. 21, are correct translations of the Hebrew word Tukiyyim , the bird has been known 
from the earliest times; and the decision of this question invests the Pea-fowl with an historical and 
geographical interest, greater perhaps than can be attached to any other bird, since upon it almost 
exclusively depends the further question as to the aim and extent of Solomon’s voyages, and the 
locality of that Ophir to which in other places they are said to have been directed. That Ophir is 
identical with the country from which the various products named in these verses were obtained 
may almost be assumed, and as every one of these except the Tukiyyim could have been obtained 
from either Arabia, Africa, or India, the whole of this interesting question almost entirely depends 
upon what creature is meant by the Hebrew word. Apart from this all is doubtful, for even the 
extraordinary supposition (made to account for the length of the three years' voyage) that the fleet 
went southward from the Red Sea, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and finally reached Spain, is 
not so wild as may appear when taken in conjunction with the statement of Herodotus, that 
the King of Egypt known in Scripture as Pharaoh Necho despatched vessels manned by 
Phoenicians three centuries later, which performed this very voyage. It is true Herodotus himself 
discredits this account; but as he does so solely on the ground that these mariners affirmed “ they 
had the sun on their right hand ” after having sailed round Libya, which he considered ridiculous 
“ romancing,” whereas we now know what the old astronomers were ignorant of, that this was 
exactly what would happen after crossing the Line, his very objection makes the truth of the 
narrative almost absolutely certain ; and it may be argued with much plausibility, that Necho 
probably directed this voyage from reports of the former successful expeditions by Solomon three 
hundred years before. 
In that case, however, it is most difficult to conceive what can be intended by the Tukiyyim. 
The word, it is true, has been supposed by Hebrew scholars to be derived from a foreign root, 
signifying “tufted,” or “crested;” and although the peacock is crested, the crest is far from being 
so conspicuous a characteristic as the gorgeous plumes. Hence a crested parrot has been 
conjectured ; but it does not appear that the ancients were acquainted with parrots, and much less 
with any crested parrot, till long after. In fact parrots do not appear to have been known till the 
time of Alexander, and even then the varieties we find traces of were non-crested birds imported 
from Ceylon. The pheasant has also been supposed, but the only species of this genus known to 
the ancients was also without crest ; and if we are to go eastward lor a crested species, we may much 
better accept the peacock at once. In fact, supposing an African Ophir at all, the only bird which 
could possibly satisfy such a derivation of Tukiyyim , would be one we have never yet seen suggested 
by any biblical scholar — the Guinea fowl, of which the crest of feathers on some varieties, and the 
bony casque on others, might be suggested as giving rise to it. This indeed offers, in our opinion, 
the only tenable alternative supposing the peacock to be rejected ; but it is open to the grave and 
