Ahu-Gardani 105 



time I have seen a herd of gazelle scouring 

 over the plain towards the margin of a phantom 

 lake : now they have reached the water and are 

 plunging in, their forms reflected from its still 

 surface. Deeper and still deeper they go, till 

 their heads only can be seen. Then they are 

 gone. And the whole phantasm bore such veri- 

 similitude that, had knowledge and experience 

 not been there, I could have confidently affirmed 

 that I had seen a herd of gazelle drown them- 

 selves in the water of a lake, even as did the 

 Gadarene swine. 



Once, when gazelle were being moved up to 

 me, I lay behind a solitary tuft of some aromatic 

 shrub alone in a misty set of haze. Then two 

 blurred dots arose, jumped up and down, waxed 

 larger, and passed by to one side. Quite sud- 

 denly they stood out sharp and clear as gazelle. 

 I fired a shot that threw up a spurt of sand 

 about half way, and realised that they were far 

 out of range. Once again I saw pass before me 

 in the mirage a procession of strange giraffe-like 

 creatures, with elongated necks and legs, but 

 on their heads the curved horns of gazelle. Of 

 such kind are the illusions conjured up by the 

 magicians of the desert. 



There are days when columns of yellow sand 

 or red dust dance and race across the plain, 



