INTRODUCTION. 9

Her pinions poised, through liquid air she springs,
And smoothly glides, nor moves her levelled wings.”

The Psalmist’s beautiful aspiration will occur to every
mind: “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! for then would
I fly away, and be at rest.”

Sculpture and painting also lend their aid, not only in
marking the estimation in which animals were held by the
ancients, but also throwing a light on many of the more
obscure allusions of the Scripture writers. From the an-
cient sculptures of Egypt we learn much of the manners of
these people, who were too closely connected with the
Hebrews, not to have imbued them with their customs.
And accordingly, these records form interesting commen-
taries on many expressions used in the Bible: for instance,
the chase was a favourite pastime among the Egyptians,
and from the monuments found in Upper Egypt it seems
that the animals of the desert were taken for the menagerie
as well as for food; for the traps are made with the greatest
care, to prevent the prey from being injured. The animals
are also represented as being led alive, quite as often as
carried after being slain, and the sportsmen use blunt
arrows, to stun, rather than kill; the hounds, too, are
taught to hold their prey without injury: in the preserves