SKETCHES IN THE SOUDAN 65 



gum arable were very plentiful on the injured acacias ; the 

 exuded sap, hardened by exposure to the air, had formed itself 

 into sparkling masses, varying in size from that of a cherry- 

 stone to that of a small apple. The men were busily employed 

 all the way home in sucking pieces of this gum, and although 

 almost tasteless, they seemed to appreciate it greatly. In the 

 absence of bigger game, we now kept a sharp look-out for some- 

 thing for the pot. A large herd of ariel, very wild and shy, gave 

 no chance ; but soon after I espied two dorcas gazelles feeding 

 on the young leaves of a mimosa bush. This, to my idea most 

 beautiful of the gazelle tribe, the very perfection of symmetry in 

 shape and of elegance in all its movements, with its dark 

 horizontal stripe along the lower part of its ribs, is never found, 

 like the ariel, in large herds, but generally in small parties of 

 two to three or four among low bushes, the young leaves of 

 which supply it with its favourite food. 



However, there was no time now for admiration ; a successful 

 stalk and well-placed bullet, supplemented by a cut across the 

 throat "in the name of Allah!" soon provided us with the 

 needful for to-night's dinner. The method of cutting up a 

 gazelle and rendering it more portable, without such injury to 

 the skin as would make it useless afterwards as a ghirba (water- 

 skin), is very ingenious, and well worth watching carefully. The 

 Arab makes a cut along the inside of each hind leg, from near 

 the foot to the top of the thigh ; the skin is then stripped off as 

 far as the toes, the bones separated at the hocks and taken out. 

 Then the upper ends of these cuts are joined together by a 

 transverse one, and the whole skin pulled off over the body as 

 far as the neck. The fore-legs are treated in the same manner 

 as the hind, and now the head is severed at the neck. The 

 flesh is then divided and put into the bag formed by the skin, 

 the hole in the neck having previously been filled up by the head 

 pushed into it from within. Lastly, the strips of skins from the 

 legs are tied together on each side, and the whole, slung over the 

 shoulder, is thus easily carried. To prepare the skin for use as 

 a ghirba, it is buried in the ground, after which the hairs can 

 readily be removed ; then follows its immersion during several 

 days in water, to which a large quantity of the bark of a 

 mimosa or nabbuk-tree has been added. These barks contain a 

 large percentage of tannin, so that the skin, after thorough 



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