312 GREYHOUNDS & THEIR ARAR MASTERS 



the village, and very fine it was ! They seldom 

 went far ; the neighbouring woods were full of game, 

 and thanks to the skill and quickness of the dogs, the 

 men had an easy time of it. The leash was slipped, 

 and the dogs dashed into the thickets, and soon re- 

 appeared, bringing with them all sorts of game — bustards, 

 guinea-hens, or anything else that they happened to come 

 across. If they spied an antelope, five or six would join 

 to chase him, and it was seldom, indeed, that he got 

 away. At the end of the day the spoil was counted over, 

 and was found to consist of antelopes, hares, birds, and 

 often wild animals, such as pariah dogs or desert foxes. 



The greyhounds are the pride of the dwellers in the 

 Kordofan desert, and every man thinks his own dog the 

 most beautiful and clever in the world. This breed is 

 not to be found among the Arabs who live among the 

 marshes that border the Nile, and if by any chance one 

 of the desert highlanders wanders that way with his dogs, 

 one or two are sure to be snapped up by the crocodiles. 

 Those dogs who are born and brought up on the banks 

 of the Nile seldom fall a prey to these terrible creatures. 

 If they are thirsty, they never drink till tbey have looked 

 carefully up and down to make certain that their dreaded 

 enemy is not lurking close at hand. But the desert dog, 

 who knows nothing about rivers or crocodiles, leaps gaily 

 into the stream, and is dragged underneath by his 

 destroyer. 



In the west of the Sahara, dogs, as a rule, are onlv 

 valued for their uses, and are not treated at all kindly ; 

 but all the care and affection that the Arab has to give, 

 he bestows on the greyhound. His dog is the apple of 

 his eye, and the two almost eat from the same dish, and 

 share the same sleeping mat. A Sahara Arab will travel 

 joyfully twenty or thirty miles to find a suitable wife for 

 his beloved companion. 



A really good greyhound is ?o swift that it can over- 

 take a gazelle in a very short time ; and there is a saying 



