Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-11-18
whose herds or farmyards they were

whose herds or farmyards they were
standing enemies, in any way by which
they could be taken. The poacher ap-
pears To have been unknown.
Not less striking than their hunting
WAS the towing Of the Egyptians. The
lakes and msrshland of the Delta and the
reedy marshes which in many places line
,h5 banks OF the Nile, have ever been the
resort of innumersble wild fowl. Hence,
towing appears to ha e been general
pursuit. The professional fowler WHO
followed II for his Inv, hood used nets
aud traps; but the sportsman brought the
birds down with the tnrow-st:ck "a stick
made OF heavy wood from foot snd q
quarter to two feet Ia length, and about
an inch and a half in breadth, slightly
curved at the upper end, aud which,
being flat, and thus encou0tering bnt lit.
tie resistance from the Ill. IA lis fl GIT
could be thrown t. a distance, and, when
thrown By a dsxterous hand, with con.
siderable accuracy of aim. The method
OF proceeding appears 10 have been 10
creep in punts msde OF the papyrus. IS
noiSeleasly as possible into the reeds, the
height of which concealed tdetr ap.
proach, till, the birds rising, the sports
man was enabled 20 use the throw.sticS,
an attendant being at hand, who, as fast
as one stick was thrown, supplied an
other. Three of the most spirited sketches
in Sir Gardner Wllkinson'S collection
are representations OF such towling par
ties Strange TO say, IN two o, them there
appears cat, employed to act the part OF
a retriever in getting the fallen birds out
of the thicket
M trace of hawking is to be found in
the Egyptian paintings. The use OF the
hawk species Tor the purpose OF towing
appears 10 have been unknown to the
Egyptians as also to the Asiatics
From their early contact with the
E yyptians 1t might have been expected
that the Jews would have acquired a taste
for huating But this does not appear to
have been the case They had, no doubt
occasion to destroy the beasts of prey for
the pr 1tection of their fl)cks and herds
From the legend OF Samson, and the state.
ment ascribed to David that he had claim
lion and bear, and the story of Be
naiah, VINO is said to have slain lion In
PIT in time OF snow, 1t would appear
that lions, though there is no reason 10
suppose them to have been numerous,
were ocCasi )nslly troublesome in Jude9.
Several illusions ia the b be also show
that the various devices tor taking both
ground snd winged game were not I'M
known TO the Jews, and the express emu.
meration Of hsits, roebucks, and fallow
deer among the provisions daily sup.
piled for the household and table OF Sol
1mon, shows that game OF this descrip-
ton WAS not wanting in Judea, and that
its capture was not neglected. Bat thtr-
Is nothing to lead US to suppose that hunt.
ing or towling WAS generally pursued as
an amusement, or on an extensive scale,
as in Egynt Or Assyria. The prohibition
ss to eating the fl 1sh of certain animals,
as the wild swine, the hare, and the copey,
elsewhere the objects OF pursuit, bu, for
hidden by the jewish law, no doubt on
the superstition that their flesh was un.
wholesome to msn,-thCugh we are at a
loss to see why the flesh of an animal
which chews the cui but does not divide
the hoof should necessarily be unit tor
man aud still more so to account for tho
lawgiver having fallen into th5 mistake OF
supposing that the hare and coney were
animals which chewed cud-may have
tended to check the practice of hunting
tha pursuit OF the hare and the wild boar
especially the former, forming generally
so large portion of the hunters Occu
patton. 1t does rot appear from the
Bible that the Jews availed themselves
Of the service Of the dog in pureujt OF
game Possibly the prohibit ton contain
ed in the seventeenth ch.pter Of Levitt
Gus against eating the Il ssh OF any AMI
mai that had been torn may have led "a
the non.use OF the dog, a serious draw
back TO the success OF the hunter, and
which Unuli npcpseItafa the Uee of Tho
snare, the trap, and pltfsll in substitution
for the chsse.