Since permitted to return,
Say, what is a lover’s duty,
Who with ardent fire doth burn.
Sympathize with him who loves you,
Crown of all my hopes and joys,
’Tis your constant swain approves you,
His Gazel all his soul employs.
Great numbers of gazels are found in all those extensive plains situated at the foot of the Atlas mountains; in those of Fruga, south of Marocco, after descending the Atlas, I have seen a hundred together; they also abound in the plains of Sheshawa near Anek Jimmel. Wild as the hare, and more fleet than the Barbary courser, they are seen bounding over the plains in large numbers. The antelope, however, soon fatigues, so that the horses of the Arabs gain on it, and the dogs are enabled finally to come up with it; it is hunted rather for the meat, which is similar to venison, than for actual sport, the Arabs having little desire to hunt merely for amusement. They kill and cut the throats of as many animals as they can procure. They often hunt the gazel with the (slogie) African greyhound, a peculiarly fine breed of which is produced in the province of Suse. The Arabs and Moors whilst hunting the antelope, often throw (zerwâta) thick sticks about two feet long at their legs, to break them, and thereby incapacitate them from running: a cruel device, at which the natural predilection for this delicate and beautiful animal recoils.
El Horreh.—This, as its name implies,[79] is reckoned among the Arabs the prince of animals, and the emblem of cleanliness. It is an inhabitant of Sahara and its confines, and is not found north of the river Suse. It is somewhat similar to the gazel in its form and size; the colour of its back and head is of a light red, inclining to that of a fawn; the belly is of a beautiful and delicate white, insomuch that its brilliancy affects the eyes in a similar manner to the sensation produced in them by looking stedfastly at fine scarlet.
This animal, according to the tradition of the Arabs, never lies down, lest it should deface the colour of its belly, of the beauty of which it appears to be conscious. The stone called in Europe bizoar stone,[80] is produced by the horreh, but whether it be a concretion formed in its stomach, or an egg, or the testicle, is probably not accurately ascertained. The Bide el horreh, or egg of the horreh, signifies also the testicle of the animal, and I am inclined to think it is either the testicle, or a peculiar concretion formed in its stomach, all those which I have seen being nearly of the same size and form, similar to a pigeon’s egg. This stone is scraped and taken as an antidote against poison. Some whimsical people carry it about with them, taking it frequently in tea.