276 EXTRACTS FROM 
to the ruins, and then turning into the fields, near the first 
houses of the village, we soon reached a sandy hillock on 
which stood the tomb of an old Mahommedan sheikh. 
The Arab now posted us at two different points in the 
shadow of a small grove of palms, telling us to keep perfectly 
quiet and to be ready to shoot at whatever came. The 
“ Khamsin ” had lulled in the afternoon, and the wild day 
had been followed by a beautiful evening and a marvellous 
sunset, which lit up with the most glowing colours the splendid 
ruins and the desert mountains, which are here particularly 
high. A gentle breeze ruffled the tops of the palms, balmy 
perfumes rose from the luxuriant vegetation, the doves cooed 
plaintively among the bushes, and the grand repose of the 
lovely landscape had such a drowsy influence upon me that I 
fell fast asleep. Suddenly Khalil, who was crouching hard 
by, shook me roughly, telling me in sharp words that I had 
let a jackal slip past. 
Meanwhile it had got pretty dark ; so the Grand Duke and 
I set out on our return, and while walking homewards across 
the fields I saw something glide past in a ghostly fashion, and 
letting drive a chance shot at it, found, to my great delight, a 
jackal tumbling about in its last struggles. This booty we 
took with us, and soon reaching the place where the donkeys 
were waiting we trotted contentedly back to our steamer. 
Following Khalil’s advice, some of us set out next morning 
long ere sunrise and rode across the fields, past the ruins of 
Karnak, to a pool where the larger wild animals usually come 
to drink at dawn. 
The way was long, and the wide plains were lapped in a 
death-like stillness, only now and then broken by the howling 
of the jackals and the barking of the half-wild dogs. At last 
we got to the pool, or, more correctly speaking, the water left 
in a hollow by the inundation of the Nile. Khalil quickly 
posted the guns, and we watched with the most strained 
