34 Bedoinn Tribes of the Eiiplirates. [ch. xvn. 



Another fox-liunt ; but tliis time an unsuccessful 

 one, for lie had too much start, and after three 

 miles at a racing pace, we got among some low hills 

 where he escaped, though only a few yards in front 

 of us. The mares do their work in a marvellous 

 manner, considering that they have to travel every 

 day and are only grass fed, but Hagar, directly she 

 sees a fox, goes off, and nothing will stop her. I 

 follow as I can on Tamarisk, who, though slow, is a 

 stayer. AVe also saw three gazelles, and tried to get 

 some houbdras, or frilled bustards, by riding round 

 them in a circle as we have done in the Sahara, but 

 here they refuse to hide their heads in the bushes, 

 and take flight always just too soon. At eleven 

 o'clock we came to a broad flat wady with white 

 chalk clifis, in the middle of which was a small pool 

 of rainwater, rapidly drying up, but still sufficient 

 for our purpose of filling the skins. Several false 

 snipes were running along the edge of it, and water 

 Avao;tails. 



After this we left the track, I hardly know where, 

 and took a point more to the south so as to avoid a 

 low ridge of hills, which is a sort of spur from the 

 main ridge towards which we have gradually been 

 •convergino:. We can see the white chalk cliffs under 

 which JMohammed tells us the villaoe of Sokhne 

 (hot) lies, so called, not because it is, as it must be, 

 a little furnace in summer, but because there are 

 hot springs. We do not care to go into the village, 

 but intend to send Ghduim in to-morrow as we pass 



