Instead
Of Biting, As I Had Expected, The Astonished Captives Sat Astride Of The
Horses, And Clung Tenaciously With Both Arms To The Necks Of Their
Steeds, Screaming With Fear.
The hunt was over, and we halted to secured the prisoners.
Dismounting,
to my surprise the Arabs immediately stripped from a mimosa several
thongs of bark, and having tied the baboons by the neck, they gave them
a merciless whipping with their powerful coorbatches of hippopotamus
hide. It was in vain that I remonstrated against this harsh treatment;
they persisted in the punishment. Otherwise they declared that the
baboons would bite, but if well-whipped they would become
"miskeen"(humble). At length by wife insisted upon mercy, and the
unfortunate captives wore an expression of countenance like prisoners
about to be led to execution, and they looked imploringly at our faces,
in which they evidently discovered some sympathy with their fate. They
were quickly placed on horseback before their captors, and once more we
continued our journey, highly amused with the little entr' acte.
We had hardly ridden half a mile when I perceived a fine bull tetel
standing near a bush a few hundred yards distant. Motioning to the party
to halt, I dismounted, and with that the little Fletcher rifle I
endeavored to obtain a shot. When within about a hundred and seventy
yards, he observed our party, and I was obliged to take the shot,
although I could have approached unseen to a closer distance, had his
attention not been attracted by the noise of the horses.
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