218 LIFE WITH THE H AMR AN ARABS. 



and head by Ibrahim and the Arab, who were sent out 

 on camels for this purpose. Though the Arabs do not 

 eat the fat, they find it very useful in many other ways. 

 March 12. A hyaena paid our tent a visit in the 

 night, and stayed for a few moments at the foot of 

 Vivian's bed, but retired very quickly on his stretching 

 out an arm for his revolver. After shooting two ariel 

 for the larder, and whilst waiting for my luncheon on 

 the liver, &c., of one a VArabe, I amused myself with 

 the small kites. These, with the black and white crows, 

 are always the first birds to be seen at such an enter- 

 tainment, and the former are so courageous that they 

 will even brush past us with their wings to pick up a 

 piece of meat. My chief occupation was throwing 

 bits into the air, which the kites seldom failed to catch 

 in a claw before reaching the ground, so accurate were 

 they in their swoops. The next to arrive are the 

 vultures, soon to be followed by the Marabou storks, 

 which from a region far beyond the reach of human 

 vision keep constant watch over the movements of their 

 friends beneath them. Twelve Arabs, headed by an 

 old man named Ali, have arrived here from Gwayha, 

 hunting as for a wild animal a young female slave who 

 has recently escaped from Ali. They have tracked her 

 from their village to this point step by step, where she 

 stopped to drink, and beyond this they are afraid to go, 

 fearing that they may fall into the hands of the Base, her 



