ANIMAL LIFE IN THE SAHARA 75 



of the desert," only shows himself on its borders; and on 

 asking the nomades of the interior whether it is ever seen in 

 their parts, they gravely answer that in Europe lions may 

 perhaps feed on shrubs or drink the air, but that in Africa they 

 cannot exist without flesh and water, and therefore avoid the sandy 

 desert. In fact, they never leave the wooded mountains of the 

 Atlas, or the fruitful plains of the Soudan, to wander far away 

 into the Sahara, where snakes and scorpions are the only 

 dangerous animals to be met with. The snakes, which belong 

 to the genus Cerastes, which ' is distinguished by two small 

 horns upon the head, have a deadly bite, and are remarkable 

 for their almost total abstinence from water. AMien a caravan, 

 on first entering the desert, meets with one of these venomous 

 reptiles, it is not killed, " for it is of good omen to leave evil 

 behind ; " but farther on the snakes are mercilessly destroyed 

 wherever they are seen. 



Among the animals which inhabit those parts of the desert, 

 which are covered with prickly shrubs, we find hares and rabbits, 

 hyaenas and jackals, the hedgehog and the 

 porcupine. 



Well-beaten paths, and here and there 

 a scattered quill, lead to the hole which 

 this proverbially fretful animal burrows 

 in the sand. The hunters widen the 

 entrance with their poniards or swords, 

 until a hoarse, prolonged growl, and the Porcupine. 



peculiar noise which the enraged porcupine 



makes on raising his quills, warn them to be on their guard. 

 Suddenly the creature rushes from its burrow to cast itself 

 into the thicket ; but the well-aimed blow of a poniard stretches 

 it upon the sand. A fire is then kindled, and the animal 

 buried under the embers ; the quills then easily separate from 

 the roasted and excellently-flavoured meat. 



The ostrich, which is proverbially said to drink only every 

 five days when there is water, and to be able to endure thirst 

 for a much longer period when there is none, and the 

 gazelle, which even the greyhound finds it difficult to catch, 

 venture deeper into the desert. The chase of the gazelle is a 

 favourite amusement of the Saharians. On seeing a herd at a 



