184 MAHOMEDAN CUSTOM. 



accordingly. Leaving the group of my attendant 

 friends, I crept to the trees which fringed the 

 borders of the watercourse, and surprised myself 

 exceedingly by finding, as I cautiously looked up, 

 that I was not more than ten or fifteen yards from 

 several dozen of the guinea-fowl, who only walked 

 on a little farther when they saw me. 



It was a sad case of misplaced confidence ; for upon 

 the strength of their great tameness, I took the op- 

 portunity of adding a few of the fine small pebbles, 

 which abounded where I stood, to the charge of 

 shot, and on firing this mixture among them, eight 

 or nine of these fine birds fell fluttering together. 

 As one or two, which were but slightly wounded, 

 succeeded in getting away, I sprang forward to 

 pick up the rest, a task in which I was assisted by 

 Zaido, Allee, and Himyah, who, with their long knives 

 unsheathed, seemed as if rushing to an attack upon 

 the Muditu, or Issah Soumaulee. I soon found that 

 all this hurry, was to secure the performance of the 

 rites of religion over the dying birds ; each being 

 taken up, the head turned towards Mecca, and the 

 throat cut, whilst the usual short prayer of Ul' 

 Allah, or Allah Achbah, was hurriedly pronounced. 



One, and only one, was voted too late to receive 

 the last consolations of religion, although I am 

 sure, that more than one half of the others were 

 quite dead, before this attention could be paid to 

 them. To this one, over which no rite was per- 

 formed, I volunteered to give a Christian burial 



