228 LIFE WITH THE HAMRAN ARABS. 



being even seen by me, and the vultures also of course 

 disappeared at the same moment. It was a pity that 

 the arrival of the ostrich should have so abruptly termi- 

 nated this interesting seance. It was then useless 

 watching any longer, and after our men's arrival and the 

 robbery of two eggs, we retired to a little distance to 

 enjoy a frugal repast of baked ostrich-egg, biscuits, and 

 sardines, and afterwards go to bed, or rather roll our- 

 selves up in our blankets and lie down on the ground. 

 Here we felt quite sure that our sleep would be undis- 

 turbed by visitors, being far from the haunts of animals, 

 excepting the harmless giraffe, and so, without taking 

 any special precautions for safety, our hunters and our- 

 selves soon dropped off one by one into the soundest of 

 sleeps. The horses fortunately were of a different 

 opinion, and a sudden chorus of snorts in the middle of 

 the night made us spring to our feet, and then find that, 

 thanks to them, two rhinoceros, instead of walking over 

 us, had turned their course a little, and were rapidly 

 vanishing into space. At daybreak we paid the nest a 

 final visit, but no ostrich was to be found there ; and as 

 the eggs were quite cold, and probably deserted for good, 

 our party divided the spoil, and we turned our steps home- 

 wards, both being of one accord, that ostrich-shooting 

 after this fashion was not amusing. The excursion has 

 taught us one good lesson viz., before leaving camp 

 always to examine the water-skins, for our men had 



