“Very true,” said the Major; “but still, if it had not those wounds, it would tear you to pieces if it could.”
“That it certainly would,” said Swinton; “but still it is an object of pity. It cannot recover, and we had better put it out of its misery.”
Desiring Bremen to shoot the animal through the head, our travellers then walked back to the caravan. As they returned by the banks of the river, they perceived Begum very busy, scraping up the baked mud at the bottom of a pool.
“What is the princess about?” said Alexander.
“I know,” cried Omrah, who immediately ran to the assistance of the baboon; and after a little more scraping, he pulled out a live tortoise about a foot long.
“I have heard that when the pools dry up, the tortoises remain in the mud till the pools are filled again,” said Swinton.
“Are they good eating, Swinton?”
“Excellent.”
“Turtle soup in the desert, that’s something unexpected.”
The Hottentots now set to work and discovered five or six more, which they brought out. They then tried in vain to get at the water in the deep cleft, but finding it impossible, the caravan continued its course.