unl 



FAIRLY BEATEN. 139 



fit for human food, if, perchance, the hyaenas and 



tkals did not devour it all during the night. How- 

 sr, I chose to chance the latter course. 

 Already the carrion-feeding birds were as- 

 nbling. Vultures in dozens were sailing around, 

 ite-necked corbiveaux, in their sable attire and 

 clerical collars, were cheekily inspecting my food 

 supply, or sitting on the larger bushes, expressing 

 in their harsh voices the pleasure they felt in antici- 

 pation of a bountiful repast. 



I was fairly beaten ; the marauders had dis- 

 covered what I wished to hide from them, and all 

 the labour I could give till nigh on sundown, with 

 only a hunting-knife to cut cover with, would not 

 prevent the wretches obtaining an inroad through 

 any screen I could erect, the moment my back was 

 turned. 



To make the best out of a very disheartening 

 and embarrassing position, I went to the ostrich 

 and denuded its body of all the most valuable 

 plumes. They were easy enough of transportation, 

 and some consolation for my disappointment ; but, 

 even after I had secured these treasures, I still 

 lingered, momentarily becoming more and more 

 wroth from the impudence of the increasing crowd 

 of vultures and the shortness of time that now 

 remained for me to dispute possession with them. 

 But the birds had not alone found me out ; on a 

 ridge, not a hundred yards away, I could distinctly 



