A DELICACY FROM THE FOREST. 93 



denly come to an end, Gumming having found out that 

 he is totally ignorant of the country ; and Emanuel has 

 gone back to the Hamran village with him to-day, with 

 orders to bring another hunter to replace him. 



Another new arrival to-day in camp viz., a very fine 

 antelope that Vivian shot yesterday, but could not then 

 bring home. Mohamed called it a maariff, which, ac- 

 cording to Baker, is the largest and most rare of all 

 antelopes ; but his description of it does not quite tally 

 with the appearance of this one, so mine shall be deferred 

 for the present. 



Coke shot his first buffalo to-day near the camp, 

 after an unsuccessful hunt along the Royan, a river that 

 flows into the Settite a few hundred yards beyond our 

 ground. This river, we are much disappointed to find, 

 is now dry on the surface, excepting here and there some 

 stagnant-looking pools ; but there is water still flowing 

 at a little depth below the surface-sand, so we have a 

 slight chance of finding animals in its neighbourhood. 



Elephant's foot for dinner has been a great success ; 

 it was boiled for twenty-four hours consecutively, and 

 then very much resembled calf's foot, both in taste and 

 appearance, excepting perhaps in size and shape, and it 

 was appreciated accordingly. Our table is now very 

 well supplied with dainties from the forest, and with the 

 enormous quantity of meat at his disposal, our cook, 

 Mohamed, produces soup of an excellence and strength, 



