66 SPORT AND TRAVEL PAPERS 



soaking and daily rubbing and scrubbing with hands and stones, 

 soon becomes thoroughly tanned and fit for use. All that now 

 remains to be done is to sew up the cuts in the legs and between 

 the thighs, leaving the hole in the neck, however, which is closed 

 by means of a leathern thong. The lower bones of the legs, 

 when taken out, are immediately broken between stones, and 

 the raw marrow greedily devoured ; this is considered a great 

 delicacy. 



While the gazelle is being dissected, numerous birds of prey 

 crows, buzzards, and vultures arrive from all points of the 

 compass, settling down on the ground or some trees around, 

 anxiously waiting for the moment when we shall retire, and 

 they be left in sole possession of the ground and of anything 

 that may remain thereon. When lazily lying in some shady 

 spot while the men are busy cutting up the game, it has always 

 been most interesting to me to watch the arrival of these birds 

 of prey, and to decide to my own satisfaction whether they are 

 led to the carcase by sight or by smell, a frequently disputed 

 point. From constant observation in several different ways, I 

 have become most thoroughly convinced that Sir Samuel Baker* 

 is right, and that it is sight and not smell which brings these 

 large assemblies together almost immediately after an animal has 

 been killed, and that his theory about the different strata in 

 which birds of prey fly is also correct. When an animal is 

 struck down in the open, has bled freely there, and is then cut 

 up so as to expose plenty of red flesh, vultures and their kindred 

 will collect almost immediately ; where not a single bird was 

 visible at one moment, the next scores and hundreds will be seen 

 circling overhead like specks at first in the clear air, but rapidly 

 increasing in size as they swiftly descend in fast-diminishing 

 circles, until one after another approaches the carcass. One 

 more round with half-turned head, and brilliant eye fixed upon, 

 and closely examining the inviting sight below, and then, well 

 satisfied, down come the legs, and bird after bird takes up his 

 position in full view of the expected repast. On the other hand, 

 kill an animal in thick high grass, or under the dense roof of 

 overhanging trees, where it is hidden, it will be left undisturbed, 

 at all events by birds. Cut up the game in the open, but be 

 sure to leave no trace of blood, and hide it under a tree, leaves 

 * "Nile Tributaries," by Sir Samuel Baker. 



