30 THE IMAGE OF WAR 



three of us started in a fresh bullock-cart, attended 

 by a rabble of dirty servants — all armed, of course. 



I told H that we were not likely to do much 



good like this, and he agreed. Presently our friend 

 bowled over a hare, which, however, went on again. 

 I had lost sight of her, when one of the attendants 

 uttered a yell, and tore off in order to cut the throat 

 of the beast, which he had seen fall. It is, of course, 

 unlawful for the Mussulman to eat meat which has 

 not been so treated. The animal must be alive, but 

 this is always supjjosed to be the case. The invo- 

 cation of the name of God is never omitted. 



As I had imagined, the buck seemed unwilling 

 to allow themselves to be approached by such a 

 procession, and, indeed, there were not many about. 

 Late in the afternoon we came on a small herd, 

 which seemed a little less shy. The master buck 

 was not a black one, but a very fair one, approach- 

 ing a dark shade of brown. They would not let us 

 get within a couple of hundred yards, but at length 



H dropped down behind a clump of camel-thorns, 



while we circled round them. With some little 

 trouble we got them to move in the required direc- 

 tion, but then they would not stand. As they were 

 walking along I saw a puff of smoke, and as the 

 accompanying report reached my ear the big buck 

 collapsed, while the others made off with mighty 

 bounds. The natives were considerably astonished 



at H 's performance, the distance being about a 



hundred and seventy yards. 



This was the last chance we had, as our home- 

 ward way lay over the plain we had worked in the 

 morning. 



The tonga ponies were wretchedly bad, and at 



