When we consider the scanty vegetation of the Sahara, we cannot wonder that animal life is but sparingly scattered over its surface. The lion, so frequently misnamed ‘the king of the desert,’ only shows himself on its borders; and on asking the nomads of the interior whether it is ever seen in their parts, they gravely answer that in Europe lions may perhaps feed on shrubs or drink the air, but that in Africa they cannot exist without flesh and water, and therefore avoid the sandy desert. In fact, they never leave the wooded mountains of the Atlas, or the fruitful plains of the Soudan, to wander far away into the Sahara, where snakes and scorpions are the only dangerous animals to be met with. The snakes, which belong to the genus _Cerastes_, which is distinguished by two small horns upon the head, have a deadly bite, and are remarkable for their almost total abstinence from water. Among the animals which inhabit those parts of the desert which are covered with prickly shrubs, we find hares and rabbits, hyænas and jackals, the hedgehog and the porcupine. Well-beaten paths, and here and there a scattered quill, lead to the hole which this proverbially fretful animal burrows in the sand. The hunters widen the entrance with their poniards or swords, until a hoarse, prolonged growl, and the peculiar noise which the enraged porcupine makes on raising his quills, warn them to be on their guard. Suddenly the creature rushes from its burrow to cast itself into the thicket; but the well-aimed blow of a poniard stretches it upon the sand. A fire being kindled, the animal is buried under the embers; and the quills then easily separate from the roasted and excellently-flavoured meat. Several lizards inhabit the desert; among others, a large grey monitor, and a small white skink, with very short legs, called Zelgague by the Arabs. Its movements are so rapid that it seems to swim on the sand like a fish in the water, and when one fancies one has caught it, it suddenly dives under the surface. Its traces, however, betray its retreat, and it is easily extracted from its hole,--a trouble which, in spite of the meagre booty, is not considered too great when provisions are scarce.