CHAPTER XYI.
ABOU DO IS GREEDY.
A b o u D o and Suleiman had lately given me some
trouble, especially the former, whose covetous nature
had induced him to take much more than his share of
the hides of buffaloes and other animals that I had shot;
all of which I had given to my head camel-man and
tracker, Taher Noor, to divide among his people and
the Tokrooris. This conduct was the more improper,
since the aggageers had become perfectly useless as
elephant hunters J they had ridden so recklessly upon
unnecessary occasions,--that all their horses were lamed,
and, with the exception of Abou Do's, they were incapable
of hunting. My three, having been well cared
for, were in excellent condition. Abou Do coolly
proposed that I should lend him my horses, which
I of course refused, as I had a long journey before
m e; this led to disagreement, and I ordered him and
his people to leave my camp, and to return to Gfeera.
During the time they had been with me, I had shot
great numbers of animals, including large antelopes,
buffaloes, hippopotami, elephants, &c. ; and about
twenty camel-loads of dried flesh, hides, fat, &c. had
been transported to Gfeera as the Arabs' share of the
spoils. They had also the largest share of ivory, and
altogether they had never made so successful a hunting
expedition. It was time to part; their horses being
used up, they began to be discontented, therefore I
had concluded that it would be advisable to separate,
to avoid a graver misunderstanding.
I warned them not to disturb my hunting-grounds
by attempting to hunt during their journey, but they
were to ride straight home, which they could accomplish
in four days, without baggage camels. This
they promised to do, and we parted.
I was now without aggageers, as Taher Sheriff's
party had disagreed with Abou Do some time before,
and they were hunting on their own account on the
banks of the river Royan, which I intended to visit
after I should have thoroughly explored the Settite.
I made up my mind to have, one more day in the
neighbourhood of my present camp, and then to return
to our old quarters at Delladilla, previous to otr
journey to the Royan junction.
Within three hundred yards of the camp was a
regular game path, by which the animals arrived at
the river to drink every morning from seven to nine.
I had shot several tetel and ariel by simply waiting
behind a rock at this place, and, as this was my last
day, I once more concealed myself, and was shortly
rewarded by the arrival of several herds, including
nellut (A. Strepsiceros), tdtel (A. Bubalis), ariel (G.
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