This strange person was escorted by ten other Arabs armed with sticks, who were to rouse, track, and beat up the game. They set to work on the slope of the deep ravine which cuts the whole province in two, and after some time had been spent in a fruitless search, notice was given to our chief of the vicinity of an enormous boar. Three skilful shots disposed of the animal, who, though he had a shoulder and fore-paw broken by the first, continued his furious charge until the third dropped him. He rolled back into the torrent, whence the Arabs picked him up. It required a camel to bring home this wild boar, a very singular one in that country, where they are generally small, for he weighed more than three hundred. pounds.

The son of the sheik was quite wild with delight ; he executed indescribable flourishes in the air with his knife, as he marched in front of the procession. 'Alouf! Alouf! Kalas! cawaga Gérome Kebir!' Such was the joyful cry with which the whole village deafened us. David, when he brought back the head of Goliath, could hardly have received more vociferous welcome. The Coptic population, in their capacity as Christians, came to help us to consume this enormous head of game, and a general distribution

was made in the village to our co-religionists. Everybody was of the party, for the dogs had their share of the 'curée,' and, unabashed by the crowd, voracious eagles and hawks flew down upon them, and disputed the prey with beaks and talons. Wild boar steaks, with Madeira sauce, filet of wild boar with red pepper sauce, cutlets of wild boar with no sauce at all, figured for several days in our bill of fare. It would have rejoiced us to have sent some of the savoury meat to France, to console our families, but the difficulties of transport obliged us to relinquish the promptings of our hearts.

As for my personal achievements in the sporting line, the following is an exploit which I performed without knowing it, and which gives an idea of the profusion of game in this district, considering my awkwardness in the use of fire-arms, and that I took much more interest in my brushes than in my gun. I quitted our camp alone, and set off, with my painter's kit, intending to make a study of the village from the side opposite to our encampment. I did, however, carry my gun with me, whereby I complicated my difficulties, but imposed respect upon the population by the aspect of that warlike implement. I had installed myself on the edge of one of the little canals

which keep up the delicious freshness and verdure of Tamyèh the palm-trees, the pretty minaret of the principal mosque, some some Arab houses gracefully grouped, were all reflected in the water, and had induced me to set up my war parasol in this charming spot. I was not alone; thousands of birds were fluttering about at a little distance, quite unsuspicious of the vicinity of my gun. The temptation was too strong. I fired into the feathered flock, aiming especially at one beautiful bird which had been circling round me for half an hour, seeming to mock me each time it tapped one of its long pink claws against its great yellow bill. This bird was the sole object of my stupid resentment, and I was not a little surprised to find that my solitary shot had also hit three pigeons and two siç-sacs which were completely hidden from me by the grass and stones. The flight of birds which followed the explosion was like a rising cloud floating off to come down elsewhere, but they soon returned and began actually to peck at my colour-box. I was not at all proud of the useless massacre of which I had been guilty, and would gladly have given half my parasol to restore their innocent life to the beautiful little creatures whose mortal remains our 'stuffer' welcomed with delight.

A CROWDED POND.

91

The fact is, sport is no longer sport in this wonderful country, this veritable Promised Land, where gamekeepers have been on strike for several centuries.

Towards evening the whole party came out, and we invested one of the great ponds on the south-west of the village, Not the sands of the sea-shore, nor the stars of heaven, can give an idea of the flocks of wild duck which blacken the surface of the water. By the declining light, the compact masses seemed to be immense floating rafts which divided themselves into squadrons under the shot which we poured upon them. The night fell rapidly, happily for them, and put an end to this one-sided warfare. The flesh of the wild duck of these parts is unpleasant to the palate; among the immense number only a few birds served to recruit our larder.

On the following day we left this enchanting country, much to our regret, and the after evenings in our tent were frequently enlivened by our recollections of our short sojourn, of what we did, and our ideas of what we might have done.

We had some difficulty to get out of our camp; the game escorted us without any resentment, and added its many voices to the chorus of the population, who bestowed most eloquent praises and thanks upon us,

for having delivered them from the 300 pounds weight wild boar. At a short distance from the village one of our party killed, from his ass's back, twelve pigeons by one shot, so that the province of Fayoum was thenceforth dear to the memory of our cook. We missed these gluts of game sorely in the Desert, and many times did we speak low and softly of Tamyèh, when English preserves and sardines formed the staple of our food. From Tamyèh, the north-eastern extremity of the province of Fayoum, we intended to journey to the centre, halting at the village of Senouhrès, one of the most important localities after

Médinet.

We were still crossing the desert, but it was less dusty and less perilous in this part than in that which we had travelled through from Dachour. Here, the ground was firmer; the camels, the asses, the Arabs, and ourselves could move more freely, and on the first day we accomplished without over fatigue a stage which enabled us to sleep that night at Senouhrès.