<A JOURNEY IN THE EAST: 343 



straight towards my hiding-place, but unfortunately the 

 wind was bad, and the cunning beast disappeared behind 

 some rocks. 



A strange, weird melancholy haunts these desolate ravines 

 of Palestine, especially in the evening, and one can imagine 

 what suitable places they are for the wolves, jackals, and 

 hyaanas, that howl in concert among the old tombs. I left 

 this damp chilly place before it grew quite dark, and was 

 hastening past the village to the camp, when a shadow swept 

 over me, and on firing at it a poor Stork fell dead to the 

 ground. On reaching the camp we dined and then speedily 

 retired to rest. 



Next morning we started pretty early and rode to Beth- 

 lehem. There were crowds of people in the square, and we 

 had great difficulty in getting our neighing and capering 

 Arab horses through them to the church door. The Fran- 

 ciscans accompanied our party into the Chapel of the Nativity, 

 where the Chaplain said Mass. The public followed us even 

 into the holy places underground, and among the people who 

 were kneeling on the bare rock, lit up by the dull glow of the 

 lamps, were some wonderfully beautiful women of Bethlehem, 

 with true Madonna faces. 



When the service was over we returned to the square 

 where our horses were standing. There a great surprise was 

 awaiting us, for on the terrace of a house lay an enormous 

 Hyaena, with a splendid skin and a long mane, while by its 

 side were two Jackals, smaller and different in colour to the 

 one of the previous day, but nevertheless larger than the 

 Canis aureus of Egypt, and unlike it in general appearance. 

 It was the work of the poison, for we had yesterday prepared 

 the head of the donkey with a strong dose of strychnine and 

 had laid it out as the only bait. Naturally the ravenous 

 animals of that barren district had greedily fallen upon the 

 tasty morsel and had thus come to a speedy end. I sent the 



