150 LIFE WITH THE HAM RAN ARABS. 



Abdullah. He is without doubt a most valuable addi- 

 tion to our party, as he always does the hard manual 

 work ; he takes care of the horses, helps to prepare the 

 heads and skins, and seems able to turn his hand to 

 anything ; and, what is of no small importance to his 

 usefulness, he requires no interpreter, having a very fair 

 knowledge of French, which he learnt, as well as Spanish, 

 during a period of four years he spent in Mexico as one 

 of the Egyptian Contingent under Bazaine. The two 

 soldiers also deserve a special word of praise. The old 

 one, though weak, is very willing to do his best, and 

 when not looking after his donkey which he reared, and 

 seems as fond of as if it were his own child he is per- 

 fectly contented to sit all day on the bank fishing, but 

 owing to the weakness of his tackle he seldom succeeds in 

 landing anything. The young one has quite established 

 his right to the position of one of our personal attend- 

 ants, as he works like any of the others, and seems ex- 

 tremely pleased to be allowed to do so. 



Gumming continues perfectly quiet on his bed, and 

 the wound looks very well. The condition of the Arab's 

 hand is also very satisfactory, 



Feb. 17. Uncle Sam seldom returns home from a 

 hunt without having done something extraordinary and 

 peculiar to himself, and the explanation after dinner is 

 always looked forward to with much pleasure ; but to-day 

 he has outdone himself, and will probably soon be * at 



