130 THE LION KILLER. 



" Soon a flock of bustards arose before the horsemen who 

 were beating the plain ; four falcons were successively cast 

 off. and a large bustard was instantly singled out and pur- 

 sued by the hawks with sharp cries and arrowy speed. 



" Our eagles, freed from their hoods, were not long in per- 

 ceiving the combat, and when their eyes were once on the 

 scene we cast them off, and they took their flight, first slowly 

 and in a direct line, then faster, and approaching nearer and 

 nearer the bustard and his pursuers as they all gradually 

 mounted in air. 



" After having fastened our ass to a tamarind, we followed 

 up the course of the brook, in order to have a better view of 

 the combat. 



"The bustard separated from the rest of the flock, and 

 fiercely attacked by the four falcons at once, had no other 

 resource but to keep above them. 



" In order to accomplish this, she arose vertically to such 

 a height that she appeared but the size of a pigeon, while the 

 birds hastening after her, looked sometimes like locusts, and 

 sometimes disappeared altogether in the blue sky. 



" But fast as was their flight there were faster foes on their 

 track, and our two eagles fanning the thin air with their great 

 wings, climbed up above them and soon we could not dis- 

 tinguish one from the other, and only saw the group like a 

 dark speck on the summer sky. 



" The Sheik and his horsemen were assembled in the plain, 

 their eyes fixed on the sky, watching the issue of this aerial 

 struggle. 



"Suddenly, we thought we heard distant piercing and 



