* A JOURNEY IN THE EAST: 231 



graced his head, and he carried a long gun, while he was 

 attended by a peasant and a couple of very unsporting-looking 

 curs. 



For more than an hour we toiled up a desolate mountain- 

 ravine, where high hill-slopes quite shut out the view on both 

 sides, and there was nothing to be seen but bare dazzling 

 white masses of rock surrounded by narrow belts of ever- 

 green bushes, the whole place having the true sunburnt look 

 of so many mountain districts of the south, such as those of 

 Dalmatia and Spain. 



The dogs hunted among the stones, and the priest bounded 

 about the rocks with tremendous energy, his gun loaded and 

 at full cock. Still nothing stirred, only high above us circled 

 some Imperial Eagles. 



At last we reached the ridge of the mountain, where we 

 had a fine view of the sea and of the high plateau with its 

 medley of stones, rocks, peaks, and summits. While resting 

 there for a quarter of an hour we heard several shots at no 

 great distance, which were followed by the appearance of 

 some peasants with their guns they had missed one of the 

 few hares of the island. 



On the way back I struck across the hill and was taking 

 the most direct line to the monastery, when suddenly a little 

 hare (probably Lepus mediterraneus) jumped up in front of 

 me, but as it was too far off I did not fire. Thereupon the 

 dogs gave chase and the priest, too, pursued the noble animal 

 with long strides; but of course the hare outran them and 

 soon vanished, and the poor priest came back panting and 

 haranguing me in Greek, for, thanks to its great rarity, a hare 

 plays a very important part in Zante. 



On the 16th the weather was favourable and we left this 

 island, arriving at Alexandria on the 18th. Leaving the 

 ' Miramar ' on the 19th, we travelled by Tantah from Alex- 

 andria to Cairo in a special train of the Viceroy's, which went 



