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my;
c h a p . ii.] PREPARATION OF WATER-SKINS. 49
pursuers like the wind; but, secure in its speed,'it
halts and faces' the dogs, exhausting itself by bounding
exultingly in the air : in the meantime the greyhounds
are closing up, and diminishing the chance
of escape. As a rule, notwithstanding this' absurdity
of the gazelle, it has the best of the race, and the
greyhounds return crestfallen and beaten. Altogether
it is the most beautiful specimen of game that exists,
far too lovely and harmless to be hunted and killed
for the mere love of sport. But when dinner depends
upon the rifle, beauty is no protection; accordingly,
throughout our desert march we lived upon gazelles,
and I am sorry to confess that I became very expert
at stalking these wary little animals. The flesh,
although tolerably good, has a slight flavour of musk ;
this is not peculiar to the gazelle, as the odour is
common to most of the small varieties of antelopes.
Having a good supply of meat, all hands were
busily engaged in cutting it into strips and drying
it for future use; the bushes were covered with
festoons of flesh of gazelles and hippopotami, and
the skins of the former were prepared for making
girbas, or water-sacks. The flaying process for this
purpose is a delicate operation, as the knife must be
so dexterously used that no false cut should injure the
hide. The animal is hung up by the hind legs; an
incision is then made along the inside of both thighs
to the tail, and with some trouble the skin is drawn
off the body towards the head, precisely as a stocking
might be drawn from the leg; by this operation the
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