flesh is cut in pieces, and boiled by the sultan in person.
All the grease is preserved as valuable magic medicine,*
the tail and paws are bung over bis doorway, and tbe
skin, skilfully pegged out in tbe sun to dry, is prepared
for tbe sultan’s wear, as no one else dare use it.
Tbe colour of a young male lion was a pale ocbre, witb
distinct dark spots on bis bind-legs. Tbe lynx is even
more bigbly prized tban tbe lion, tbougb only tbe size
of, and a little heavier tban, an English fox, witb a
stumpy, short, curled-back dog-tail, and tips of bair to
bis black ears. He has immense, powerful, thickly-
formed little arms, great length of body, and is said
by tbe natives to kill even the lion and buffalo. This
I believe, for be gives one tbe idea of bull-dog courage.
He is said to watch bis prey from a tree. Tbe colour
of tbe lynx is a dusty red, indistinctly spotted ; a perfect
cat’s bead; white round tbe eyes and underneath
tbe body. Tbe ceremony observed on tbe arrival of
either a bon or lynx is curious :—Tbe sultan, sultana,
and tbe sultan’s wife next in rank, sit on stools placed
in tbe open air, witb tbe dead animal in front of them,
tbe crowd all round, squatted or standing. A small
lump of serpent-dung is made into a paste witb water
upon a stone. Spots of this white ointment are placed
by tbe sultan’s own bands upon tbe forehead, chest,
tips of shoulders, instep, and palms of bands of himself
and tbe two wives, and drums and dancing continue
afterwards for some hours. Tbe serpent-dung is supposed
to have tbe charm of bringing plenty, or “ bur-
kut,” to a bouse, because it gives many young. No one
but kings may make use of it.
Vultures always hover where a dead body is thrown
out of tbe village into tbe grass. This did not prevent
tbe natives from making use of their feathers, or those
of tbe adjutant, for head-dresses on occasions of merriment,
or on tbe march. Another bird of prey is
a slate-coloured hawk, possessing a powerful flight,
quite able to knock over a guinea-fowl, and altogether
of noble appearance. Of eating-birds, there were three
species of partridge, a few quail, tbe florikan, blue
wild-pigeon, guinea-fowl, and a knob-nosed duck. Tbe
“ k’engo,” tree-partridge, resembles the painted one of
India, has yellow legs, beautiful plumage, and weighs
about a pound; tbe natives trap them in nooses of
bair. Tbe “ kewtee” or “ nsense,” only half a pound
in weight, is a very plump little partridge, found in
open places, scratching and scraping tbe ground like a
ben; and in colour it is almost tbe same as tbe quail.
It has reddish legs, witb a button-like pearly spur. A
third kind of partridge is tbe “ qualse: ” it is more
common tban tbe others, and has a handsome blue
full plumage and red legs, witb sometimes an appearance
of a double spur. Tbe most game bird in plumage
was tbe florikan, weighing from 1^ to 2 | lb., and
forming even better food tban tbe Indian species. A
few parrots, a long-tailed bird of paradise, witb tbe
most graceful airy flight, some handsome yellow birds,
about tbe size of tbe blackbird, and others witb black
bodies and white primaries, taking languid, short
flights, were tbe most remarkable we saw during a
morning or evening walk.
Our Seedees killed nearly all tbe fish in tbe country.
They were caught by raking tbe still, waist-deep pools
in tbe stream-bed by means of a hurdle of sticks. Tbe
large 20-pounders were often left for another day, but
a good load of fifty smaller fish was generally brought