28 
and then wander to some distant part, in 
search of a more propitious vegetation. 
The plough has never turned up the soil; 
the uses of it are unknown, and the natives 
live mostly on the produce of the chase. 
If they are not successful in hunting, and 
the hoorde labours under a temporary 
want, they sleep away their time, until, 
pressed by famine, they again renew the 
dangers of the forest. In these excursions 
they frequently encounter the lion, the 
rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the buffalo, 
the panther, or the tiger ; all are their 
food, and they frequently devour them 
without touching the fire. The oxen, which 
they possess in such abundance, it might 
reasonably be supposed, would protect 
them from want; but the natives prefer 
the flesh of the wild and carnivorous ani- 
mals of the desert to the most delicate 
and nutricious parts of the sheep or the 
ox. The latter are kept by them chiefly 
as beasts of burden, or for the purposes of 
war; and in training them for offensive 
operations, discover a most extraordinary 
sagacity. They not only instruct the ox 
