4^40 THE HUNTING GROUNDS 



SONG.— THE BASHI-BAZOUK TO HIS HORSE, 

 "DESERT-BORN."* 



Come, rouse thee, my charger, prepare for the fray ; 

 For trumpets are braying, and we must away ! 

 The booming of cannon sounds loud on the wind ; 

 When fame 's to be won, we must ne'er be behind. 

 Let those who prefer it dwell in a fix'd home, 

 But we, my heart's treasure, together will roam ! 

 For Islam is threaten'd — the Sultan has need 

 Of the Bashi-bazouk and his brave Arab steed. 



Chorus. 

 I 'm mounted ! I 'm mounted ! I 'm away like the wind ; 

 No steed in the desert can leave me behind. 

 Al-ham-du-lillah ! t— I fear not a foe ; 

 I 'm free as the breezes that o'er the sands blow ! 



My own '* Desert-born," dost remember the day, 

 When Cossack hordes hover'd around us at bay, 

 And we charged through the mass like a whirwind's blast, 

 And gain'd the vast steppe when the danger was past ?J 

 How the foes howl'd with rage as they watch'd our flight, 

 And f ollow'd our course till the fall of the night ? 

 I laugh'd at their efforts — for, unmatch'd in speed, 

 I knew none could reach us, my brave Arab steed ! 



Chorus. 

 I 'm mounted ! I 'm mounted ! I 'm away like the wind ; 

 No steed in the desert can leave me behind. 

 Al-ham-dulillah !— I fear not a foe ; 

 I 'm free as the breezes that o'er the sands blow ! 



• " Desert-born," a favourite Arab charger, killed at the battle 

 of Inkermann. 

 + " Thanks be to God ! " a common Arabic expression. 



