ARRIVAL OF THE LETTER-BAG. 153 



given to the guest of a Scotch laird by a deerstalker, 

 when he made a somewhat similar inquiry : 



Guest. Well, Mac, what do you say of the day will 

 it be fine or wet ? 



Mac. Well, sir, I hope it will be a fine day. 



Gttcst. Oh, never mind what you hope : tell me what 

 you think it will be. 



Mac. Ah ! sir, that's another matter. I think it will 

 be a very wet one. 



It is becoming daily of more importance that we 

 should know the kind of ground we are to be taken to, 

 for our horses' backs are becoming sore, English saddles 

 withal, and if we are not going to the woods frequented 

 by rhinoceros, it is no use carrying our heavy smooth- 

 bores ; but we have been in this neighbourhood so long 

 now, and have picked up so much Arabic, that instead 

 of implicitly obeying the orders of our respective hunters 

 we can afford to make them take a second place, and do 

 a little hunting on our own account. 



Feb. 1 8. Abdullah has returned from Kassala, and 

 after all our anxiety for the arrival of the mail it has 

 been cruelly repaid, for instead of a pile of letters and 

 newspapers, it only brings the ' Times ' of January I, 

 one ' Punch/ and two letters, so when the others will 

 reach their destination is a problem beyond calculation. 

 The chances are in favour of their doing so on English 

 soil towards the end of the year. Well, we have the 



