CHAPTER XII.
OLD NEPTUNE JOINS THE PARTY.
W e started from Geera, on the 23d of December,
with our party complete. The Hamran sword-hunters
were Abou Do, Jali, and Sulieman. My chief
tracker was Taher Noor, who, although a good
hunter, was not a professional aggahr, and I was
accompanied by the father of Abou Do, who was
a renowned “ howarti,” or harpooner of hippopotami.
This magnificent old man might have been Neptune
himself; he stood about six feet two, and his
grizzled locks hung upon his shoulders in thick
and massive curls, while his deep bronze features
could not have been excelled in beauty of outline.
A more classical figure I have never beheld than
the old Abou Do with his harpoon, as he first
breasted the torrent, and then landed dripping from
the waves to join our party from the Arab camp
on the opposite side of the river. In addition to>
my Tokrooris, I had engaged nine camels, each
with a separate driver, of the Hamrans, who were
to accompany' us throughout the expedition. These
people were glad to engage themselves with their
camels included at one and a half dollars (six
shillings) per month, for man and beast as one.
We had not sufficient baggage to load five camels,
but four carried a large supply of corn for our
horses and people.
Hardly were we mounted and fairly started, than
the monkey-like agility of our aggageers was displayed
in a variety of antics, that were far more
suited to performance in a circus than to a party
of steady and experienced hunters, who wished to
reserve the strength of their horses for a trying
journey. "
Abou Do was mounted on a beautiful Abyssinian
horse, a grey .; Sulieman rode a rough and inferior-
looking bea.st; while little Jali, who was the pet of
the party, rode a grey mare, not exceeding fourteen
hands in height, which matched her rider exactly
in fire, spirit, and speed. Never was there a more
perfect picture of a wild Arab horseman than Jali
on his mare. Hardly was he in the saddle, than
away flew the mare over the loose shingles that
formed the dry bed of the river, scattering the
•rounded pebbles in the air from her flinty hoofs,
while her rider in the vigour of O deliOght threw himself
almost under her belly while at full speed, and
picked up stones from the ground, which he flung,
and again caught as they descended. Never were
there more complete Centaurs than these Hamran
>;Arabs; the horse and man appeared to be one