THE RED SEA HILLS 351 



such circumspection that rarely or never can they be 

 approached unseen, though I cannot remember ever 

 having seen them post a sentry. 



Conspicuous as they are, ariel are always difficult of 

 access. If regarded solely from a sporting point of view 

 (which is against the unwritten laws of Africa) ariel- 

 stalking would undoubtedly rank in the very first class, 



ARIEL THE MIDDAY SIESTA. 



the mutual advantages and disadvantages being so equally 

 balanced. Many stalks fail ; others develop in delightfully 

 unexpected ways. Some of these stalks took us right 

 into the heart of the hills sooo-feet piles of dark shale, 

 bare of all vegetation save the dothering-grass and a 

 tiny blue-blossomed thistle (Blepkaris] that peeped from 

 under stones. Our first success, I remember, occurred 

 when a troop incautiously filed over a skyline 600 yards 

 ahead. To exploit the opportunity involved hard 

 running, so as to "cut them out"; but Lowe took on 



