UNPLEASANT MISGIVINGS AS TO FOOD. 331 



as breathless I reached the top of the hill I saw it 

 scampering off from a point close to me ; and, to add to 

 my annoyance, I found that instead of its being an ariel 

 it was the first ibex seen by any of our party. Three 

 hours passed, and still nothing for the pot, and I was 

 almost beginning to despair of finding any gazelle when 

 the Arab pointed some out to me about two hundred 

 yards off, and then by a lucky shot, having to allow for 

 a strong wind, I knocked one over. Seldom have men 

 enjoyed a luncheon more than we did ours on this 

 gazelle, and even Ranfurly found himself equal to eating 

 a good portion of the ' roasted ' liver whilst his soup 

 was undergoing a slower process of cooking. The 

 Arab had quite forgotten his objections, but from the 

 quantity he consumed he ought to have every reason to 

 remember them again. 



Still it is not to the quantity of gazelle he chooses to 

 eat that we have any objection, but to the amount of 

 water he drinks, for if he gets his mouth to the neck of 

 a full skin he nearly empties it unless compelled to give 

 it up ; and if a careful watch had not been kept over our 

 skins, he would have soon exhausted our daily supply. 

 Four hours' rest during the heat of the day, which of 

 late, owing to the wind, has not been at all oppressive, 

 and another of half an hour before sunset, enabled 

 Ranfurly to proceed without experiencing much fatigue 

 until 10.30 P.M., when, finding a moderately good tree 



