234 WITH THE CAMEL CORPS UP THE NILE.

shelving rock there was water enough and to spare.

Suddenly we caught sight of some forms moving about rapidly in the grassy tussocks ahead of us. " Gazelle ! " whispered N , and down we slipped, and tried to knee-lash our camels. Devil a bit ; they wouldn't kneel on the nubbly stones, and stood there bellowing, enough to frighten any gazelle away for miles round.

It was no good making more row than necessary, so I basely handed my camel to N - to hold, and ran forward, keeping well under cover, to get a flying shot at the gazelle. They seemed very tame in fact extraordinarily so, for they were there still. I was just drawing a bead on the nearest beast through the grass, when suddenly he kicked up his heels, and bolted into the open, followed by the rest of the herd. " Donkeys," I groaned, and returned to my camel, chastened in spirit. Alas ! it was so ; they were either wild asses, or else they had escaped from their native masters anyway, they wouldn't be caught, though we tried hard for more than half-an-hour.

This evidently accounted for the hoof-marks.

Another ten minutes brought us to a large shallow