If lerouy hunting be the glory of the pedestrian, ostrich hunting is the glory of the horseman. In the season of the sirocco, when a sort of burning sleep seems to weigh down all nature, when it might be thought that all animated beings must be condemned to repose, the dauntless hunters mount on horseback. Of all animals, the ostrich is known to be the least provided with craft. It never takes a circuitous course, but, confiding in its swiftness alone, endeavours to escape in a line straight as that of an arrow. Five horsemen station themselves at intervals of a league in the direction it is certain to take. Each one acts as a relay. When one pulls up, the next clashes off at a gallop in pursuit of the bird, which is thus deprived of a moment's rest, and has to contend against horses that are fresh. The horseman who is the last to start is necessarily the victor, but his victory is not achieved without danger. In falling, the ostrich, by the movement of its wings, inspires the horse with a panic that is often fatal to the rider.
On horses that have to accomplish this terrific running they place only a saddle-cloth, and a saddle of extreme lightness. Some hunters use only wooden stirrups, and an extremely light bit attached to a simple pack-thread. Each one takes with him a small leathern bottle filled with water, and from time to time moistens the bit, in order to keep the animal's mouth tolerably cool. This racing of five horsemen is not, however, the only mode of hunting the ostrich. Sometimes, an Arab who is thoroughly acquainted with the habits of the bird, takes his post by himself close to a spot where it is in the habit of passing—near a mountain defile, for instance—and as soon as the ostrich comes in sight he gives chace at full gallop. But it is rare for a hunter to succeed by himself, as very few horses can overtake the ostrich. However, I once possessed a mare that excelled in this sport.
Although the horse is usually employed in this as in other kinds of hunting, he is not indispensable to man. Craft may sometimes of itself overcome the ostrich. In the laying season the hunters dig holes near the nests, in which they squat down, and kill the parent bird as it comes to visit its eggs. The Arabs have recourse, likewise, to disguises. Some of them will clothe themselves in the skin of the bird, and thus approach close to those they wish to kill; but hunters, disguised in this fashion, have sometimes, they say, been shot by their own companions. If an ostrich has had a leg broken by a ball, she cannot, like other bipeds, run along, hopping on the other leg. This is because there is no marrow in its bones, and, without marrow, bones will not mend when they have been fractured. The Arabs affirm that the ostrich is deaf, and that the sense of smell replaces that of hearing.
The hyæna is a powerful animal, with formidable jaws, but a coward and afraid of daylight. For the most part it dwells in caves which it finds in ravines and among rocks. It seldom goes abroad but at night, and searches for carrion and dead bodies, and commits such ravages in graveyards, that the Arabs, by way of prevention, bury their dead at a great depth. In some districts they even construct two chambers for a single corpse, which is then interred in the lower one. As a rule, it does not attack the flocks; but sometimes at night, prowling round an encampment, it carries off a dog. The Arabs take little notice of it, though they amuse themselves by hunting it on horseback, and let it be pulled down by their greyhounds, but never pay it the compliment of firing at it. After they have carefully reconnoitred the cave in which it makes its lair, it is no uncommon thing to find Arabs who despise the beast sufficiently to penetrate boldly into its den, after having carefully closed the entrance with their burnouses, so as not to allow any light to enter. Having got thus far, they go up to it, talking with great energy, seize hold of it, gag it, without the slightest resistance on its part—so terrified is it—and then drive it out with heavy blows with a stick. The skin of such a cowardly brute is little esteemed. In many tents they would not permit it to enter, for it can bring nothing but misfortune. The common people eat the flesh, which is not at all good, but they carefully abstain from touching the head or brains—contact with which, they believe, would make them go mad.
Let us leave this ignoble animal, and pass on to one much more to be feared, and the chace of which presents some striking scenes, though its reputation is far from being in the eyes of the Arabs what it is in the imagination of Europeans—I allude to the panther.
The panther is found over the whole surface of Algeria, though it inhabits only wooded coverts, and broken, difficult ground. There are several species. Some never quit the neighbourhood of their lair, and are called dolly, that is, keeping to the house. Others, again, which are called berani, or strangers, frequently wander away from the place where they usually dwell, and prowl about the surrounding districts to a considerable distance.
The dolly panther is larger, stronger, and more dangerous than the other species. Its coat is speckled with spots more elegantly disposed, of a very dark shade, and close to one another. The colours are black, white, and yellow. On the jowl, limbs, and back-bone, there are no spots, but stripes. Those on the jowl are arranged diagonally. The upper points start from the lower eyelids, the nostrils, and the corners of the mouth, and descend towards the neck, gradually melting away into yellow, and finally lost in the white.
Panthers lap like dogs. They generally roam in couples. In districts that are well peopled, they are never seen in the daytime. In uninhabited regions, although they do go abroad in the day, they hunt only at night. They have not more than two or three cubs. The Arabs are far from regarding the panther with the esteem they accord to the lion. The lion, say they, if attacked, harassed, wounded, and surrounded by enemies, feels his courage heighten in the midst of the uproar and in the thick of the danger. He fearlessly encounters his assailants and fights to the death, while the panther only accepts the combat when it finds no way to retreat. In a word, the lion, as soon as the combat has fairly commenced, never retires, while the panther escapes whenever an opportunity presents itself. Another difference is this—the lion will devour a man, the panther never. The latter generally strikes at his head, lacerates him with its claws, and inflicts terrible bites, and then, preferring the flesh of other animals to that of a son of Adam, it leaves him there and goes in search of other prey. In a country where it is able to supply itself with the flesh of wild boar, sheep, cattle, and game of all kinds, and where it can satiate itself with the carcases of animals, it kills man, not because it is hungry, but in self-defence, as the only way of shaking off an enemy. In the case of the lion, man is often the game in quest of which he stalks abroad; while in that of the panther he is an adversary to be avoided, and never to be provoked. You may pass boldly and confidently close to the thick brushwood that conceals it, and, if you do not begin the attack, it will remain crouched as close as a partridge, even holding in its breath. But if you fire and miss, it will spring upon, bite, and lacerate you, and then, still distrustful of itself, will take itself off.
The Arabs have remarked, from the numbers of persons who have come in collision with panthers, and been wounded without being killed, that it uses only its teeth; its bite being like that of the dog, and injuring only the flesh. The lion, on the other hand, by his violent shaking, breaks the bones of the victim he holds in his powerful jaws. When the panther has inflicted its bite, it does not trouble itself as to its being fatal or otherwise, but makes off with fear and caution. The lion grows more and more furious, and returns to the attack again and again. It is not enough that the enemy be disabled—he must feel the whole weight of a lion's wrath. The lion bounds into a douar, and plunders boldly, at his leisure. He seizes his share without any concealment; he has no fear; he is exercising his right, the right of the strongest. The panther covers its advance, glides, creeps, crawls along like a thief, accompanied by shame and fear. The panther's spring, when enraged, is like a flash of lightning; but after that tremendous effort, its pace is less swift than that of an ordinary horse. If a panther be surrounded, tracked down, and hard pressed—maddened by terror rather than by rage—it will spring on the tree in which the hunters are stationed, and close with them. But at another time, if only one or two men are lying in ambush, and it be not shut in on all sides and a path is left for escape, it forgets its power and runs away. Everywhere and at all times, the lion is a dangerous enemy, to encounter whom is a terrible undertaking; whereas no one need dread the panther unless he has first attacked it. The cry of the latter animal resembles the clear, shrill, impotent neigh of the mule, and is in no way calculated to inspire terror like the roar of the lion, which is as the growling of thunder. But it is quick and agile, and its movements baffle the eye. If the natural disposition of the panther leads it to spare, or at least to avoid, man, and to choose for its prey animals wild or tame, such as sheep, cows, gazelles, and antelopes, that cannot defend themselves, it is equally instructed by instinct to modify its mode of attack upon animals whose habits or courage render them difficult or dangerous to assail—against such, it has usually recourse to surprise. It will not attack a horse in the centre of a douar. Its habitual circumspection and cowardice will restrain it from seeking to seize upon a prey that might be rescued in time, or promptly avenged. Even when out grazing, a horse by itself might escape by galloping off; but if it has not been seen, or suspected, if with a single bound it can fall upon the horse, he is lost.
Nor is the wild boar an easy victim. If it be full grown, and have had warning, and there be room enough, it will defend itself successfully. At times, indeed, it comes off absolutely victorious—the Arabs having found panthers in desert places, ripped up by a boar's tusks. A frequent struggle, perhaps the only one which the panther openly engages in, is with the porcupine; but the latter, though it grows to a considerable size in Africa, is more formidable in appearance than in reality. It has indeed, the property of bristling up its long, hard, sharp-pointed quills, which it can even throw to some distance; but these arms cannot save it. The slightest wound completely paralyses the muscular contractions by means of which it places itself in a state of defence: besides, it cannot do anything without something to fall back upon, such as a tree or a stone.