The Wind Was Favourable, And I Crept Along The
Ground.
I had succeeded in arriving within a few yards of the
tree when up jumped the antelope, and bounded off as though
unhurt; but there was no chance for it at this distance, and I
rolled it over with a shot through the spine.
Having done the needful with my beautiful prize, and extracted
the interior, I returned for my camel that had well assisted in
the stalk. Hardly had I led the animal to the body of the ariel,
when I heard a rushing sound like a strong wind, and down came a
vulture with its wings collapsed, falling from an immense height
direct to its prey, in its eagerness to be the first in the race.
By the time that I had fastened the ariel across the back of the
camel, many vultures were sitting upon the ground at a few yards'
distance, while others were arriving every minute: before I had
shot the ariel, not a vulture had been in sight; the instant that
I retreated from the spot a flock of ravenous beaks were tearing
at the offal.
In the constant doubling necessary during the stalk I had quite
lost my way. The level plain to the horizon, covered with
scattered mimosas, offered no object as a guide. I was
exceedingly thirsty, as the heat was intense, and I had been
taking rapid exercise; unfortunately my water-skin was slung upon
my wife's camel. However unpleasant the situation, my pocket
compass would give me the direction, as we had been steering due
west; therefore, as I had turned to my left when I left my party,
a course N.W. should bring me across their tracks, if they had
continued on their route.
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