'A JOURNEY IN THE EAST: 237 



On the following morning, after spending some hours in 

 ceremonial duties, we were able to change our full-dress 

 uniforms for our shooting-coats, and after taking an early 

 lunch we set out to shoot at Heliopolis, and ere long came in 

 sight of the celebrated obelisk with its surroundings of bushes 

 and green meadows. 



Near the obelisk is a garden belonging to the Khedive, 

 which contains a well-kept orange-grove with beautiful walks, 

 and is adorned with flowers and luxuriant African vegeta- 

 tion. This garden, which is not larger than those often 

 attached to European country houses, is surrounded by a low 

 mud wall, and situated among well-tilled fields near a village. 



Baron Saurma now proposed that we should beat it, but as 

 we entered the gate I could not help thinking that we should 

 not find anything more worth shooting at than the pretty 

 Egyptian Turtle-Do ves, but we were soon to be better 

 informed. 



Some of the gentlemen stationed themselves on one of the 

 principal paths that intersected the garden, hiding behind the 

 orange-trees, now loaded with fruit, while to me was assigned 

 the last post near the wall. Saurma's eight capital dachs- 

 hunds were then let loose, and their merry music soon 

 reminded us of our hunting-grounds at home. 



With strained attention I followed the progress of the 

 hunt, and in a few minutes a shot was fired on the path. 

 It was succeeded by a short silence, but the dogs soon gave 

 tongue again in the opposite direction and came nearer and 

 nearer to my post. Suddenly I heard an animal rushing 

 through the bushes towards me, and immediately afterwards 

 a jackal came galloping along the wall as hard as he could. 

 A lucky shot knocked him over, and I had a good deal of 

 difficulty in rescuing my booty from the onslaughts of the 

 furious dachshunds, which had followed closely on the track. 

 It was a true African Jackal that I had killed a lean, reddish- 



