THE LEUCORYX ANTELOPE 143 



outlined against the fast-darkening sky a magnifi- 

 cent group of animal statues. One sturdy bull 

 rakes his horns nonchalantly against a convenient 

 rock ; another devotes nearly five minutes to 

 scratching his muzzle. Caring little for the water, 

 where a covey of sand-grouse have just alighted to 

 drink, the great antelopes begin to pasture. The 

 sand-grouse spread themselves thickly over the 

 little valley; the rough slopes are covered with them, 

 drinking, pecking, or walking about with nodding 

 gait, like so many pigeons. 



Suddenly there is an alarm snort from the old 

 female who acts as sentinel ; every animal is 

 instantly at attention, staring hard at a small group 

 of parti-coloured beasts which have just entered 

 the opposite end of the valley. Square-headed 

 and large-eared, with long legs and a mixed 

 coat of black, white, and yellow these are the 

 terrible wild dogs which ravage the desert in their 

 nightly wanderings. There is a pause of a few 

 seconds; then the leucoryx are in full flight, leaping 

 and bounding like ibexes, and scattering the flints 

 behind them in a stony shower. Silently the terrible 

 hounds spread out, trying to encircle their quarry ; 

 too quick for them, the oryx top a neighbouring 

 ridge and slip like lightning down the opposite side. 

 Mute yet determined, their white tails gleaming in 

 the fast-growing darkness, the tortoiseshell pack 

 sweeps after them, keen, persevering, relentless ; 



