After the Victory.

hiding, seeking for some patli that "would take him to Dem Suleiman, of which he knew that we had taken possession. He then pointed out to us the direction taken by Suleiman. I consigned him to the care of an escort, and sent him to the head of the column to serve as guide. We marched at a quick pace, for the traces of fugitives became more frequent, and we suspected that the enemy could not be far away.

At four p.m. the guide said that if we continued at this pace we should reach a village shortly after nightfall. I now began to observe flocks of vultures and other birds of prey circling in the air, which showed that some carrion must be lying near.

When hunting in these countries it is alwajs the vultures that show the hunter where some antelope, buffalo, or elephant, which he has wounded or killed the day before and not been able to find, is lying, and these disgusting birds are a real assistance in these hilly regions. When we reached the spot over Avhich the vultures were hovering, we found the half-devoured corpses of two Besiugers. One had been wounded in the arm and jaw by bullets, and both had their throats cut. This latter fact made us sure that they had been in the retreat after the battle of Dem Suleiman, that then, on climbing the steep mountain with the others, they had become exhausted from loss of blood and unable to drag themselves any further, and that Suleiman, fearing they might fall into our hands, and give us information concerning his movements, had barbarously murdered them.

Farther on we met with a third and then a fourth corpse in the same state, and still farther some freshly-raised mounds. The tools with which the graves had been dug lay near — three pointed pieces of wood. Through one of the mounds protruded the fingers and toes of the buried man. They were Arabs, for only to men of that race is the honour of T 2