THE JERBOA TRIBE.

THE Jerboas seem, in many respects, both of conformation and habit, much allied to the Kanguroos; but an adherence to artificial system will not allow them to be arranged together. They use their long hind-legs in leaping, very seldom going on all fours; and, with their fore-legs, they make their holes in the ground, and bear the food to their mouth. They are inhabitants principally of the warmer climates.

They have two front teeth above, and two below. The fore-legs are short, and the hind-ones very long; and they have clavicles, or collar bones.

THE SIBERIAN JERBOA.*

This species is found in different parts of the eastern deserts of Siberia: it also occurs in Barbary, Syria, and some parts of Tartary; but seldom in great plenty. It is of a pale yellowish fawn colour, on the upper parts, and white beneath. The length of the body is about eight inches, and

SYNONYMS-Dipus Jaculus. Linn. Gmel.-Mus Jaculus.—Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. xii.-Egyptian Jerboa. Pennant.-Jerboa. Bruce.―Jerbo. Sonnini-Gerboa, or Daman Israel Shaw's Travels.-Gerboise et Alagtaga. Buffon.-Erdhaase. Gmelin's Travels: Shaw's Gen. Zool. pl. 158.-Bew. Quad: 364.

of the tail, ten. It very much resembles the Egyptian Jerboa, except in the hind-feet, each of which has five instead of three toes.

The Jerboas inhabit dry, hard, and clayey ground. They dig their burrows very speedily, not only with their fore-feet, but with their teeth, and fling the earth back with their hind-feet, so as to form a heap at the entrance. The burrows are many yards long, and run obliquely and winding, but not above half a yard deep below the surface. They end in a large space or nest, the receptacle of the purest herbs. They have usually but one entrance, yet, by a wonderful sagacity, the animals work from their nest another passage, to within a very small space from the surface, which, in case of necessity, they can burst through, and so escape.*

*

The sands and rubbish which surround modern Alexandria, are much frequented by the Jerboas. They live there in troops, and, in digging the ground, are said to penetrate even through a stratum of softish stone, which is under the layer of sand. Without being actually wild, they are exceedingly restless: the slightest noise, or any new object whatever, makes them retire to their holes. with the utmost precipitation.

It is almost impossible to kill them, but by taking them by surprise. The Arabs have the art of catching them alive, by stopping up the outlets to the different galleries belonging to the colony, (one excepted,) through which they force them out.*

Though animals of a very chilly nature, they keep within their holes in the day, and wander' about only during the night. At sun-set, they first come out, clear their holes of their filth; and they remain abroad till the sun has drawn up the dews from the earth.*

They go only on their hind-legs, the fore-legs being very short; and, on the approach of any danger, they immediately take to flight, in leaps six or seven feet high, which they repeat so swiftly that a man, mounted on a good horse, can scarcely overtake them. They do not proceed in a straight line, but run first to one side, and then to the other, till they find either their own burrow, or some neighbouring one. In leaping, they bear their tails, which are longer than their bodies, stretched out. In standing or walking, they carry them in the form of an S, the lower part touching the ground, so that it seems a director of their motions. When surprised, they will sometimes go on all fours, but they soon recover their attitude of standing on their hind-legs, like a bird. When undisturbed, they use the former attitude; then rise erect, listen, and hop about like a crow. In digging or eating, they drop on their fore-legs; but, in the latter action, they often sit up like a squirrel.†

The Arabs of the kingdom of Tripoli, in Africa, teach their Greyhounds to hunt the Antelope,

* Sonnini observes, that, as far as he could learn, the contrary is the case, and that their principal time of being abroad is during the day,

by first instructing them to catch Jerboas; and so agile are these little creatures, that Mr. Bruce has often seen, in a large court-yard or inclosure, the Greyhound employed a quarter of an hour before he could kill his diminutive adversary; and had he not been well trained, so as to make use of his feet as well as his teeth, he might have killed two Antelopes in the time he could have killed one Jerboa.*

In their wild state, these animals are fond of tuliproots, and nearly all the oleaginous plants; but, in confinement, they do not refuse raw meat. They are the prey of most of the smaller rapacious beasts. It requires no difficulty to tame them, but it is necessary that they should be kept warm. They are so susceptible of cold as to foretell bad weather, by always wrapping themselves close up in their cage before its commencement: and those that are abroad, always, on these occasions, stop up the mouths of their burrows. They sleep during the winter, but a warm day sometimes revives them. On the return of the cold they always retreat again to their holes.t

M. Sonnini fed for some time, while he was in Egypt, six of these animals, in a large cage of iron wire. The very first night they entirely gnawed asunder the upright and cross sticks of their prison; and he was under the necessity of having the inside of the cage lined with tin. They were fond of

basking in the sun; and the moment they were put in the shade, they clung close to each other, and seemed to suffer from the privation of warmth. They did not usually sleep during the day. Though they had much agility in their movements, gentleness and tranquillity seemed to form their character. They suffered themselves to be stroked with great composure; and never made a noise or quarrelled even when food was scattered among them. No distinguishing symptoms of joy, fear, or gratitude were discoverable; and their gentleness was by no means either amiable or interesting: it appeared the effect of a cold and complete indifference, approaching to stupidity. Three of these died, one after another, before Sonnini left Alexandria: two died on a rough passage to the island of Rhodes; and the last was lost, and, as he supposes, devoured by Cats when he was at the island.

He says it is very difficult to transport these ten

der little creatures into other climates; but as an indispensible precaution to those who attempt it, he advises that they be close shut up in strong cages, or other conveniences, without any possibility of escaping; for their natural disposition inciting them to gnaw whatever comes in their way, they may occasion very considerable damage to a ship in the course of her voyage; and, being able to eat through the hardest wood, may even endanger her sinking*