_About Quadrupeds._
I must tell you that by this time, Jack had learned to read, and this
was now a source of great delight to him. It often happened that he
could not go into the fields to study nature, because the weather was
stormy, or perhaps it was winter, and the ground was covered with
snow. It is true that his aunt Piper was generally ready to answer his
questions, and to give him information――but she could not attend to
him always. Beside, he found in books that there were more exact and
scientific accounts of birds, beasts, fishes, insects and other things
which interested him, than even aunt Betsey Piper could give.
Thus, Jack devoted a good deal of his time to reading, though he did
not lay aside his habit of observing and investigating. This habit is
very important, and I advise all my young friends to adopt, and
continue it, however much they may read. Reading will indeed store the
mind, and make it full of knowledge; but observation and investigation
render that knowledge clear, distinct, and useful. So, I wish to have
every body follow Jack’s plan to read a great deal, and also to
investigate a great deal. Thinking is to the mind what exercise is to
the body――it makes it strong, cheerful, and full of health. Thus my
plan is that reading books and reading nature should go together. Now,
I will tell you how Inquisitive Jack managed this.
One day, he was going through a little wood, where he saw a squirrel
running along upon the fence. It was of a reddish color, and
exceedingly nimble. It seemed almost to fly along the rails of the
fence, and at last, it mounted upon a tree. It then ran about upon the
limbs, and sprang to another tree. Then it dashed from tree to tree
almost like a bird, until at last, it reached a large oak. It now
seemed to consider itself out of the reach of harm, and accordingly,
it began to chatter in the most extraordinary manner. There was
something about it that made Jack feel that the fellow was making fun
of him. He was annoyed at this, and picking up a stone, he hurled it
at the offender with all his force.
The squirrel dodged the stone, ran up the tree a little higher, and
chattered louder than ever. It seemed to say something like this, “Oh
Jack――Jack――you are a very silly fellow――get you gone and leave the
woods to me and my companions!――chickaree!――chickaree!――chickaree!”
While the squirrel was saying this, he flourished his long red tail,
and seemed to be in a state of violent agitation.
When Jack went home, he told his aunt Piper about the squirrel, but
she did not know as much of squirrels, as of bees, butterflies, and
birds, and therefore she could not wholly satisfy his curiosity. He
therefore consulted a book of natural history, and there he found a
full account of the red squirrel, or chickaree. He found it described
just as he had seen it, and furthermore he learned that it was one of
the most lively of the whole squirrel family; that it lives upon nuts,
and is common in the forests of New England and the Middle
States――that it builds its nest in hollow trees, and lays up a store
of its favorite fruit against the winter season.
Now you will be able to see the advantage of combining observation
with reading;――Jack had seen the squirrel, had noticed its color,
form, air, and manners. He had therefore distinct, indelible
impressions respecting these things, and when he began to read about
this squirrel, it was of something he had seen; something of which he
had a lively knowledge; something associated in his mind with his walk
through the woods, and the pleasure of a ramble. He read, therefore,
with a keen delight; he understood what he read, he remembered it all,
and he was incited to go on and pursue the subject, till at last he
had read the story of the whole squirrel family, red, black and gray!
I tell you this just to give you a specimen of Jack’s way of combining
observation with reading. I must now tell you about another thing,
which I have alluded to before. It would seem that ideas resemble
boys; they don’t love to be alone. One idea wants another; and several
ideas want a good many others. You show a child a beautiful shell, it
gives him a new idea, and that immediately suggests a desire of other
ideas, and he asks, “Who made the shell?” “Where did the shell come
from?” “What is it made of,” &c., &c.
I have almost got through my story, so do not be impatient if I tell
you one thing more, and that is how Jack used to think about what he
saw and read. I shall give you an instance. One day, he was strolling
through the fields, at a distance from any house, when he saw a large
hawk pounce down upon a rabbit. The talons of the bird pierced the
very heart of the little animal, and it was almost instantly killed,
and borne away by the destroyer, struggling however in the pangs of
death. As it was carried over his head, Jack noticed the four legs of
the rabbit, and he began to reflect upon the fact that a hawk has two
legs, and a rabbit four. Having made this comparison, he proceeded to
make others; and now it struck him, for the first time, that the whole
feathered race are two-legged creatures, while rabbits, squirrels,
cats, dogs, pigs, foxes, lions, tigers, cows, horses, and elephants
are four-legged creatures. As he was thus ruminating upon this matter,
he happened to take up his book, and he there found that the animal
creation is divided into groups――such as orders and classes, &c.,
according to their formation.
He learned that four-legged animals, called _quadrupeds_, form one
great class; that birds form another class; fishes another; reptiles
another; and insects still another. And in pursuing this subject, he
found that each class was divided into many families or kinds. Among
the quadrupeds, he found the family of cats, including old puss in the
corner, as well as the lynx, cougar, leopard, tiger, and lion. He
learned that among the bears, there are many kinds, and also among the
wolves and foxes, and all other races of animals.
And now, a new source of interest grew up in Jack’s mind. This
_classifying_ of animals became intensely interesting. He loved to
compare one kind with another; to note the resemblances and
differences; to observe the influence of climate, and see how nature
had diversified her works, so as to adapt everything to the purpose it
was designed to accomplish. Thus, at every step, his knowledge
increased, and became more and more permanently fixed in his mind;
while the interest he took in study, was enhanced even in a greater
degree.
Sketches in Egypt.
In a former number of our Museum, we have given some account of the
wonderful things, displaying the manners and customs of the Egyptians,
and setting forth many points of history, which have been discovered
among the ruins of their ancient cities and temples. We now give a few
passages, showing some of the manners and customs of the present
inhabitants of Egypt.
IRRIGATION.
Throughout the whole of Egypt, even in the Delta, there are numerous
canals to preserve the water after the overflow; and from these the
country is supplied with moisture. The lands in Upper Egypt――to aid
the process of artificial irrigation――are dug into small squares,
connected by gutters or furrows; and the water, being raised from the
stream either with a machine or by manual labor, is admitted into
these ridges, and flows from one square into another. This operation
forms the most laborious part of a fellah’s employment; particularly
where the Persian water-wheel is not in use.
[Illustration: _Egyptian mode of thrashing corn._]
HARVEST.
Immediately after the water has run off, sowing commences, the seed
only requiring to be strewed over the land, when it sinks into the
soft earth by its own weight, or is trodden down by the cattle driven
over it; a process generally performed in November. The harvest
commences in April, when the corn is cut with a sickle, close to the
ear, and the straw is appropriated for fodder, or converted into fuel.
The ears, having been carried from the field in baskets, are laid upon
the ground. A sort of sledge drawn by oxen is then driven over it,
which answers the end of thrashing, separating the corn from the
ears.[2] It is next stored, and the husbandman having none of the
labors of ploughing, furrowing, or manuring his land――those duties
being superseded by the bounteous Nile――he is at leisure till the next
overflow.
[Illustration: _Marriage procession._]
MARRIAGE.
A day or two before the wedding, the bride elect goes in procession to
the public bath, which is often hired exclusively for her and her
friends. A canopy of silk is borne over her by four men, preceded by
musicians, and sometimes by persons who perform some feat of strength
or a mock fight with swords; the female relations of the maiden are
also of the party; and when in the bath, the company is amused by
_almehs_ and other musicians.
On returning from the bath the bride takes a large lump of henna, and
going round to her guests solicits a contribution of money, when each
person generally sticks a small piece of gold into the henna, which on
being relieved of the coins, is afterwards applied to her hands and
feet. The evening of this ceremony is called “The night of the henna.”
The next day, the bride proceeds to the house of her future lord in
the same order as when she goes to the bath; and on arriving at the
harem all her friends leave her, except her mother or other near
relation, the bridegroom remaining below with his friends. Sometimes
he goes to a mosque, and on his return, after seeing the company
supplied with pipes and sherbet, is for the first time introduced to
his wife; and having been left alone with her he presents her money,
which is called “the price of uncovering the face.” This is an awkward
moment for the bride, whose form and features do not always bear out
the praises that the match-maker has previously bestowed on them by
way of description; and lovers have been known to betray
disappointment at this delicate juncture. On removing the covering it
is however proper for him to say, “In the name of God, the
compassionate, the merciful, blessed be this night!” the lady must
answer “God bless thee!” Several women are stationed outside the door,
who, at a signal from the bridegroom, set up cries of joy――which are
responded to by others below and in the neighborhood――to signify that
he acknowledges his bride, and that she equals his expectations: these
ceremonies over, the man rejoins his male friends, with whom he spends
an hour or two in sociality, and then returns to his wife.
MOSQUES.
The houses of worship in Cairo are magnificent and spacious. The
principal mosque, called the church of Lazarus, is situated in the
middle of the city. Van Egmont says that between five and six thousand
persons receive their subsistence from it, and that two thousand lie
in it every night. Formerly the interior was as a sealed book to all
who did not follow the faith of the prophet; for, if any stranger
happened to enter it, he was instantly imprisoned, and his only chance
of escape from death was to turn Mohammedan.
The minarets, or high towers of the mosques, are surrounded, at a
great elevation, with projecting galleries, in which stand the public
criers, who announce the stated times of prayer prescribed by the
Mohammedan law. Upwards of eight hundred voices may be heard at once
from these lofty stations, from which, also, prayers are on
extraordinary occasions, offered up.
[Illustration: _Great Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Grand Cairo._]
BURIALS.
The Egyptians seldom keep a corpse in their houses on the night
succeeding death; and never bury their dead after sunset. Rose-water,
camphor, and other perfumes, are sprinkled over the deceased, his
nostrils and ears are stuffed with cotton, the ankles bound, and the
hands placed over his breast. If he have been a man of wealth, he is
wrapped successively in layers of muslin, cotton cloth, and cloth of
cotton and silk, and lastly, a Cashmere shawl. He is then placed on a
bier, and a procession is formed of chanters, with the relations and
domestics of the deceased; and passages from the Koran, with a dirge,
are recited during the way. The bier is first carried into a mosque,
when the imán and his assistant repeat certain prayers over it; and
after the performance of some minor rites, the funeral train proceeds
to the burial-ground.[3] When within the tomb a singular ceremony is
performed by a person called “the instructor of the dead;” who,
sitting before it, speaks to the corpse as if it were a living person,
saying, that there will come two angels who will ask certain
questions, which he also tells the body how to answer. The two angels
are supposed to visit the dead on the succeeding night, when the soul
will depart and the body be tortured for its sins. After burial,
prayers are recited and certain forms gone through by the relatives,
to facilitate the entrance of the deceased into paradise. Wailers are
sometimes hired at funerals, to make loud lamentations; but in the
case of a _welee_, or reputed saint, these mournings are turned into
cries of joy at the release of the pious man from this world, to the
world of happiness; to which it is believed he has certainly departed.
[Illustration: _Burial procession._]
The religious _superstitions_ of the Egyptians present a remarkable
feature in their character; as many of them are not only believed in
by the learned, but are sanctioned by the Koran. The principal of
these is the belief in genii, a class of spirits who play so prominent
a part in the “Arabian Nights Entertainments.” These supernatural
beings are supposed to hold a sort of middle rank between angels and
men――to be created of fire, capable of assuming any form, and of
becoming invisible. They are presumed to inhabit rivers, ruined
houses, wells, baths, ovens, &c.
TINGING THE EYES.
It is a common practice with ladies in Egypt as in Persia, to tinge
their eyes with a black powder, called _khol_. This seems to have been
an ancient practice, for vessels containing this powder have been
found in the tombs. The hands and feet are also tinged with a
decoction of the henna tree, a kind of privet, which imparts an orange
hue. Women of the lower classes mark their bodies with a blue tint,
like that used by sailors in tattooing their wrists and arms.
[Illustration: _Tinging the eyes._]
Pictures of Various Nations.