1901] A Boy Bitten 5 



side our garden wall, and in die hot weather they come inside it 

 for the sake of the shade and the water. They breed, however, far 

 away in the desert, whereas the jackal seldom leaves the cultivated 

 district. I have measured wolf tracks in the desert sand as large 

 as my hand. 



This incident, which had a tragic sequel, as will be seen later, 

 occurred while we were in full preparation for a desert journey of 

 exploration in the Kalala mountains, and we left Sheykh Obeyd 

 the following morning (15th February), and remained absent till 2nd 

 March, during which time we had no communication whatever with 

 the outer world. It was a very interesting expedition, covering a 

 good deal of unexplored and difficult mountain land, following the 

 romantic Wady Dem Dem to its source at the extreme ridge of the 

 mountain overlooking the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula. 



On our return after sixteen days' absence we found the tragedy 

 of the wolf already far advanced, and ten days later my diary 

 contains the following: 



" 13th March. — The poor boy Mohammed Sueylim, who was bitten by 

 the wolf, is dead. He had been treated in Cairo on the Pasteur 

 system and returned to us from the hospital on the 7th, having finished, 

 they said, his cure. He was in good health and spirits and was at 

 work on Friday in the kitchen as usual, but in the evening he com- 

 plained that his arm hurt him, and we sent him to sleep at home 

 with his family, intending that he should go back next day to see 

 his doctor at Cairo, but his father, old Sueylim, objected to this, and 

 he did not go. On the 9th he came with his father to the house, 

 looking much frightened, and saying that he had a swelling in his 

 throat and could neither eat nor drink, but still the father would not 

 consent to his going back to the hospital. In the afternoon he was 

 reported to be better, but it was followed by a bad night, and early on 

 the 10th he was taken to Cairo. There the Italian Doctor Simon 

 saw him and sent a note back with him to say he certainly had 

 hydrophobia. He would have detained the boy, but the father would 

 not allow him to remain in the hospital for fear they would dissect 

 the boy if he should die there. However, on the morning of the nth 

 Sueylim took him in again, but again would not leave him, and the 

 next night the boy, having gone raving mad, died. 



" This is a horrible thing for which there seems no accounting ac- 

 cording to any theory of Providence, for it is not even a case of 

 our miserable civilization being in fault. It seems as if it might 

 have happened in a pure state of nature, for here at Sheykh Obeyd 

 the wild beasts have been allowed to come and go as they please 

 without interference, nor have they ever before given trouble. Or 

 is hydrophobia an effect of the unnatural condition of the tame dog, 



