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500
EGYPTIANS AND HIPPOPOTAMUS.
ter, an attendant endeavors to throw a noose over its head as he strikes it for the fourth time. Behind him is his son holding a fresh spear in readiness; and in order that there should be no question about the ropes belonging to the blades, the fourth is seen to extend from his hand to the shaft of the
spear he is throwing. The upupa, heron, and other birds are frightened from the rushes as the boat approaches; and the fish, with a young hippopotamus, seen at the bottom of the water, are intended to show the communication of the fenny lake with the Nile."
"The spear they used on these occasions was evidently of a different construction from that intended for ordinary
