A GAZELLE HUNT. 
339 
took something* started off briskly at the very first shout; and 
having but one eye, which was the left eye, it happened that 
he caught sight of the mules just as they became fired with 
ambition to join the chase. I have no doubt whatever that 
he thought they were legitimate game, and that the grand 
object to be achieved was to run them down and then run 
over them. Such small game as gazelles probably never oc¬ 
cupied the attention of so great a head as his. At all events, 
no sooner did he catch sight of the scampering mules, than 
he neighed as if ready to burst with impatience ; and, tossing 
up his head and tail simultaneously, dashed after them full 
speed. All his previous efforts in the way of running seemed 
ridiculously tame, compared with the prodigious bounds which 
he made on this occasion. Accustomed as I had in some 
measure become to his fits of insanity, this so far surpassed 
any derangement under which he had hitherto labored, that 
I was forced to let him have his way, and confine my ener¬ 
gies to keeping myself in the saddle. The mules, startled at the 
clatter of the baggage about their legs, and panic-stricken at 
the thundering of hoofs behind them, tried hard to head off; 
but Saladin kept his left eye on them and never ceased to 
head off after them, till every one in the train was running 
round in a circle at the utmost extremity of his speed. No 
equestrian corps in a circus could have presented half so ex¬ 
traordinary a spectacle. It was utterly in vain that the mule¬ 
teers kept running round inside the ring, calling upon me 
in the name of Allah to give over running their mules down in 
that way, and swearing by every hair in the beard of the 
Prophet that if I kept it up much longer the poor animals 
would drop dead on the spot; for Saladin, driven to the very 
climax of enthusiasm by the noise of the tin pans and the 
screaming of the chickens, rushed furiously after the mule 
upon which they were hung, and never left off biting him 
until the unfortunate beast was entirely rid of his load and 
crazed beyond all hope of recovery. By this time the rest of 
the party began to gather in, and by their united assistance 
both Saladin and the mules were stopped. In the course of 
half an hour we gathered m the scattered remnants of our 
