[848] Op. cit., 7.
[849] Plato bears witness to the skill of the Egyptians in taming fish, and animals, even the shy wild gazelle. Polit. 532.
[850] Herodotus, II. 69, 70. Rawlinson’s Trans.
[851] The story of the trochilus, with which alone out of all birds and beasts our author states the crocodile lives in amity, because the little bird enters its mouth (when on land) and frees it from myriads of devouring leeches, is too well known for reference, were it not for the dispute (a) as to whether the bird—Pluvianus egyptius—performs any service except uttering a shrill cry on the approach of man and thus warning the crocodile, and (b) whether for leeches, we should not substitute gnats. Cf. W. Houghton, N. H. of the Ancients (London), pp. 238-244. The account of the connection between the bird and the beast given by Plutarch is far prettier and more spirited than that of Herodotus.
[852] Plutarch, ibid., 75. The beasts enjoyed both a hereditary transmission of holiness and a subtle discrimination as to the build of a boat, for fishermen who embark in one made of papyrus enjoy security from their attentions, “they having either a fear or else a veneration for this sort of boat,” because Isis in her search for the remains of Osiris used such a means of conveyance. Plutarch, ibid., 18.
[853] Op. cit., II. p. 14, Pl. 2, Register 3.
[854] Crocodiles and Papyri seem a curious juxtaposition! Some time ago Dr. Grenfell was excavating ground likely to yield important finds. Bad luck dogged his digging: only preserved crocodiles came to light. One day a labourer, incensed at work wasted on the beasts, jabbed his pick into the latest specimen, whose head disgorged a roll of papyrus. Similar head-smashings were fruitful of results, most of which belong to the Hearst Collection.
[855] Maspero, Du genre épistolaire chez les Égyptiens, p. 65 f.
[856] II. 164. Cf., however, II. 47. It is not quite clear whether the order of the list is intentional. If so, it is certainly justifiable from the point of view of primitive or early society.
[857] [See p. 65], antea.