276 EXTRACTS FROM 



to the ruins, and then turning into the fields, near the first 

 houses of the village, we soon reached a sandy hillock on 

 which stood the tomb of an old Mahommedan sheikh. 



The Arab now posted us at two different points in the 

 shadow of a small grove of palms, telling us to keep perfectly 

 quiet and to be ready to shoot at whatever came. The 

 " Khamsin " had lulled in the afternoon, and the wild day 

 had been followed by a beautiful evening and a marvellous 

 sunset, which lit up with the most glowing colours the splendid 

 ruins and the desert mountains, which are here particularly 

 high. A gentle breeze ruffled the tops of the palms, balmy 

 perfumes rose from the luxuriant vegetation, the doves cooed 

 plaintively among the bushes, and the grand repose of the 

 lovely landscape had such a drowsy influence upon me that I 

 fell fast asleep. Suddenly Khalil, who was crouching hard 

 by, shook me roughly, telling me in sharp words that I had 

 let a jackal slip past. 



Meanwhile it had got pretty dark ; so the Grand Duke and 

 I set out on our return, and while walking homewards across 

 the fields I saw something glide past in a ghostly fashion, and 

 letting drive a chance shot at it, found, to my great delight, a 

 jackal tumbling about in its last struggles. This booty we 

 took with us, and soon reaching the place where the donkeys 

 were waiting we trotted contentedly back to our steamer. 



Following KhaliPs advice, some of us set out next morning 

 long ere sunrise and rode across the fields, past the ruins of 

 Karnak, to a pool where the larger wild animals usually come 

 to drink at dawn. 



The way was long, and the wide plains were lapped in a 

 death-like stillness, only now and then broken by the howling 

 of the jackals and the barking of the half-wild dogs. At last 

 we got to the pool, or, more correctly speaking, the water left 

 in a hollow by the inundation of the Nile. Khalil quickly 

 posted the guns, and we watched with the most strained 



