EGYPTIAN JERBOA. 
Ill 
work from ''their nest another passage, to within 
a very small space from the surface, which, ill 
case of necessity, they can burst through, and so 
escape. 
The sands and rubbish which surround modern 
Alexandria, are much frequented by the jerboas. 
They live there in troops ; and, in digging the 
ground, are said to penetrate even through a stra- 
tum of softish stone, which is under the layer 
of sand. Though not actually wild, they are ex- 
ceedingly restless ; the slightest noise, or any new 
object whatever, makes them retire to their holes 
with the utmost precipitation. 
It is almost impossible to kill them, except when 
they are taken by surprize. The Arabs have the 
art of catching them alive, by stopping up the out- 
lets to the different galleries belonging to the co- 
lony ; one excepted, through which they force them 
out. 
Though animals of a very chilly nature, they 
keep within their holes in the day, and wander 
about only during the night. They first come out 
at sun s$t, and clear their holes of their filth ; and 
they remain abroad till the sun has drawn up the 
dews from the earth. 
They walk only on their hind legs, the fore legs 
being very short ; and, on the approach of any 
danger, they immediately take to flight, in leapg 
six or seven feet high, which they repeat so swiftly, 
that a man mounted on a good horse can scarcely 
overtake them. They do not proceed in a straight 
line ; but run first to one side, and then to the 
other, till they find either their own burrow, or 
some neighbouring one. In leaping, they bear 
their tails, which are longer than their bodies, 
stretched out. In standing or walking, they carry 
them in the form of an S ; the lower part teaching 
the ground, so that it seems a director of their mo- 
