good ducking. It was a fortunate thing that the other b. at contained part of our luggage.

The mystery was then explained to us : we had come in contact with a hippopotamus, an amphibious animal, peaceable and harmless in the water, unless when injured or provoked; but then, like all other animals, disposed to resent it.

Neither Frank nor I had given it a thought that the hippopotamus frequented the Nile; so that when we saw his huge head, and prodigious mouth wide open, coming toward us, never having seen such a creature before, it seemed that we had no hope of escape. Little else was talked of the remainder of that day but the big-headed, wide-mouthed hippopotamus.

Among the curious birds of Egypt and Africa, we here

saw one which the inhabitants call Father Sickle-bill, from its bill being curved and looking like a sickle; but Europeans name it the White Ibis, and the Ethiopians call it Father John. When it alights, it amuses itself for hours in tapping the baked muddy soil with its bill, and listening by putting its ears to the ground, as a woodpecker does on old trees, in search of worms. The Egyptians think it likewise preys on serpents. One species of this lird

298

HYENA, OR WOLF-DOG.

makes itself a sort of useful scavenger in the Egyptian cities, by eating the refuse of the streets, and devouring vermin; the streets of Alexandria abound with this Father Sickle-bill, which we called a sort of turkey-buzzard.

We saw a Hyena, and were glad he was at a respectable distance. The hyena of Africa is a sort of wolf, with high shoulders, arched back, and long legs, of grey colour, with dark cross stripes, and as ugly, fierce, and ravenous in his nature as in his appearance; or, as Frank remarked, does not in any way belie his looks. When this animal can get no other prey, he excavates the graves and tombs of the dead. Of all animals he is the most troublesome, and the terror of travellers during the night, when he destroys asses, mules, and other prey, and will sometimes penetrate into human habitations and tents.

CHAPTER XIII.

A Giraffe Hunt. Return to Alexandria. Embark for Gibraltar. Paul Preston loses the Bible given him by his Mother. His great distress.

He goes with Frank on

board the Rufus bound to Boston. They meet their old friend, Boucher the Purser. Laughable affair on Boucher's Birthday. Grassy Sea. Boucher's Accident. Arrival at Boston. Paul and Frank agree to wander to the Valley of the Mississippi, Kentucky, and other places.

As we passed up the river, Frank related to me some of his adventures in Italy, and described Rome, particularly dwelling on the Cathedral of St. Peter. This building, he said, as much surpassed St. Paul's in London, as that noble building did any of the surrounding edifices. It appeared by Frank's confession that, when he was in Italy, he had felt my absence as much as I felt his. This was gratifying to me, for we all dearly love to

be valued by those for whom we feel friendship and affection. Though so many years have passed since the days of which I am speaking, I can, at this moment, fancy that Frank is be

300 PAUL AND FRANK SAIL UP THE NILE.

side me in the boat on the Nile, and that his clear voice is warbling the words,

"Gather your rose-buds while you may,

Old Time is still a-flying;

And that same flower that blooms to-day,
To-morrow may be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he is getting;

The further still his course is run,
And nearer he's to setting."

Every thing in foreign countries looks strange and novel compared with the manners and men of our native soil. The further we are from home, the more their customs appear to differ from those we have hitherto witnessed.

Paul Preston could not help making this remark whilst witnessing a view of a Jewish funeral in Egypt. Horsemen, armed with spears, attend the procession; the corpse is carried on a bier without a coffin, and all the followers utter loud cries, intended to express the extent of their grief.

The ceremonies and customs of the Jews are, as it were, eternal. The weeping and howling with loud cries was probably precisely the same two or three thousand years ago. Wherever these strange people sojourn, spread and scattered as they are through every nation on the globe, their ceremonies and national traits and feelings attend