Mimosa-trees also abounded here, and their bright green delicate foliage, when growing closely together, made some better watered parts of the country look as if covered with extensive meadows. Herds of some hundreds of a species of antelope, called “wydiddoo” could be observed in one direction, feeding on the edges of these woods, whilst on the other side, the less but more elegant “symbilla” was raising itself almost into the trees, to reach the tufts of curled seed-pods, that form its favourite food. These pods were also being gathered in considerable quantities by the camel-men, who placed them carefully in their body-cloths, or tobes, and intended them as a bonne bouche, for any camel deemed not altogether in such condition, as its owner could wish. They were always a dose at bed-time, being given the last thing, after the camels had been driven home, and had lain down for the night.
Ohmed Medina, Zaido, and Allee, with their spears and shields, accompanied Himyah and myself with our guns, and we proceeded down the face of the declivity, from our camp to the edge of the winding watercourse in front. Here, on the stiff clay of the not yet quite dried up pools which resulted from this morning’s rain, we found the large footprints of a hyæna, that had been prowling round the camp, and we immediately set about following the traces, in the hopes of meeting a nobler object of attack, than the fearful and provokingly shy antelope. These foot-marks took us in the direction of the lava-plain of Hy, and we soon found, that the extreme difficulty of recovering several times the broken trail, and the little chance we, could have, in the country he seemed to have retired to, of coming upon his retreat before he discovered our approach, offered no sufficient inducement for us to continue the chase.
Ohmed Medina had just come to a stand, and was making the proposal for us to return, when Zaido and Allee, simultaneously pointed in the direction of one of the numerous kairns, that mark the graves of the Dankalli. There we saw the object of our pursuit on the look-out, and apparently watching our movements, his grizzly head and high shoulders, protruding beyond the cover afforded by a large kairn, at the distance of at least four times the range of my short carbine. To circumvent him by some means or other, however, was our determination, so Ohmed Medina directed us all to squat down on our heels, as in the usual manner for a calahm, I having intimated to him, the impossibility of my killing the beast so far off, by shaking my head, and pointing to the length of my gun, and then to the great distance intervening. By good fortune, the hyæna seemed as determined as ourselves, to see the affair properly over, and kept his eyes fixed upon us all the time, as if we had been sitting in the direction he wished to go, and was waiting for us to retire.
After a few words amongst ourselves, Himyah got out of the little circle, and first moving off towards the camp, until well out of sight of the hyæna, he made a sudden turn to the right, and stealing among the detached portions of rock, which abounded along the edges of the plain, he, in a short time, made his appearance again far in the rear of the animal, who was still sitting, like ourselves, on its haunches, and not in the least aware of the dangerous proximity of the ugly Dankalli, with his still more ugly matchlock. All at once we saw Himyah drop behind a large stone, that quite screened him from our observation, during the long time he was taking his aim, but which, it seems, afforded him a most advantageous rest for the long barrel of his piece. After some minutes of suspense, a little puff of smoke from the pan of his large lock, told that at length the death of our victim was determined. We were, however, disappointed, for no report followed, and again we had to wait for the long operation, of pricking and priming the touch-hole afresh, and we certainly began to think that before Himyah could get ready, the hyæna would be off. But he was a doomed beast, and his senses had left him; so at last bang went the matchlock, knocking Himyah into sight one way by the recoil, and on the other, the hyæna over and over into the open ground, where Zaido and Allee, racing to be first, soon terminated his struggles with their spears. Himyah was delighted with the success of his shot. Ohmed Medina thought the old matchlock was a “tihebe bandook” (a capital gun), whilst Zaido and Allee were beckoning a crowd of Bedouins and Kafilah men, who had heard the report, and were now hastening in a long line, to witness the grand feat in the sporting annals of their country, the honour of which belonged entirely to them, through Himyah’s creditable firing, and who was saluted accordingly by several as an “Engreez got-tam,” (English soldier.)[[3]]
[3]. Unfortunately, the very blasphemous ejaculation, so frequently used by our soldiers in their conversations, has become their cognomen in the East, and is the only word which the Dankalli employ to designate them. I well recollect that when Ohmed Mahomed was telling me about the murder at Gunguntur, on my asking him how many were killed, he replied “Two got-tam,” (the two soldiers) “and one radgpoot,” this being the Portuguese cook.
After Himyah had been duly congratulated and praised on all sides, I began to examine a severe wound on his face, which had been cut by the butt end of his matchlock in the recoil; and it was well that the cheek-bone, was in his case unusually high and prominent, or he would certainly have seriously damaged his eye, or perhaps knocked it out altogether. A piece of my frock, which I tore off for the occasion, and a little shaking of my powder-flask over the wound, set all to rights again, and having presented him with nearly twelve charges of powder, as a reward for his dexterity, I made him both comfortable and happy, under the circumstances, and we proceeded afresh in search of game.
We descended into the bed of the stream which we kept along but a very short time before we came upon a numerous covey of fine guinea-fowl, walking before us at a rapid rate. I should suppose there were nearly fifty or sixty of them, and whether it was that numbers gave confidence, or that they were unsuspicious, from never having been molested before, after having got out of our direct course, they seemed to think, that was quite as much as was expected or wanted, and began pecking away on the banks on either side again, with as much careless ease, as if they had been so many barn-door fowls. I soon drew the charge of one of my barrels, and substituted some shot for the bullet with which it was loaded; for having anticipated meeting with only large animals, I had prepared accordingly. Leaving the group of my attendant friends, I crept to the trees which fringed the borders of the watercourse, and surprised myself exceedingly by finding, as I cautiously looked up, that I was not more than ten or fifteen yards from several dozen of the guinea-fowl, who only walked on a little farther when they saw me.
It was a sad case of misplaced confidence; for upon the strength of their great tameness, I took the opportunity of adding a few of the fine small pebbles, which abounded where I stood, to the charge of shot, and on firing this mixture among them, eight or nine of these fine birds fell fluttering together. As one or two, which were but slightly wounded, succeeded in getting away, I sprang forward to pick up the rest, a task in which I was assisted by Zaido, Allee, and Himyah, who, with their long knives unsheathed, seemed as if rushing to an attack upon the Muditu, or Issah Soumaulee. I soon found that all this hurry, was to secure the performance of the rites of religion over the dying birds; each being taken up, the head turned towards Mecca, and the throat cut, whilst the usual short prayer of Ul’ Allah, or Allah Achbah, was hurriedly pronounced.
One, and only one, was voted too late to receive the last consolations of religion, although I am sure, that more than one half of the others were quite dead, before this attention could be paid to them. To this one, over which no rite was performed, I volunteered to give a Christian burial with rice, &c., in my cooking-pot. As I thus got as much as I wanted in return for my shot, whilst the other birds went to my Islam attendants, the division was hailed with universal approbation, and was followed by a general consent to return to camp, bearing our game in triumph slung upon a spear, and carried on the shoulders of two men. This was the best course that could be adopted, for what with the report of the guns, and the noisy talking crowd of Bedouins who had now collected, there was not much likelihood that we should have another chance of adding to our bag, as everything in the shape of an antelope had taken alarm and trotted away to a distance, farther than Ohmed Medina deemed it prudent for us to follow.
In the afternoon several men of the Debenee tribe came into camp. They were very friendly, and accordingly very troublesome, pestering me for the remainder of the day, for small presents of needles, paper, and buttons. Tobacco was a continual demand of theirs, and the only method I could take to get rid of them was by referring them to Ohmed Mahomed, who undertook, at my request, to divide two large skin bags of this luxury amongst them. Women also brought milk in large quantities, which they offered for the most trifling things. A square bit of paper, scarcely four inches in extent, would purchase at least a gallon of the richest and sweetest milk, and Allee, Zaido, and myself so satisfied ourselves with it, as to be enabled to present the guinea-fowls, intended for our dinner in the evening, to others less fortunate than ourselves. As my particular one had been boiled in the same cooking pot with the rest, and the bit of stick that had been placed upon it as a mark, being lost, I thought, of course, that all must go to the dogs; but silence upon the subject was the order of the day, nothing being said about it by us, and no questions asked by the others, so the birds, both the Christian and Islam, were gladly received and speedily devoured, by our hungry and unscrupulous friends.