The Colour Of
The Wild Ass Is A Reddish Cream Tinged With The Shade Most
Prevalent Of The Ground That It Inhabits; Thus It Much Resembles
The Sand Of The Desert.
I wished to obtain a specimen, and
accordingly I exerted my utmost knowledge of stalking to obtain
a shot at the male.
After at least an hour and a half I succeeded
in obtaining a long shot with a single rifle, which passed
through the shoulder, and I secured my first and last donkey. It
was with extreme regret that I saw my beautiful prize in the last
gasp, and I resolved never to fire another shot at one of its
race. This fine specimen was in excellent condition, although the
miserable pasturage of the desert is confined to the wiry herbage
already mentioned; of this the stomach was full, chewed into
morsels like chopped reeds. The height of this male ass was about
13.3 or 14 hands; the shoulder was far more sloping than that of
the domestic ass, the hoofs were remarkable for their size; they
were wide, firm, and as broad as those of a horse of 15 hands.
I skinned this animal carefully, and the Arabs divided the flesh
among them, while Hadji Achmet selected a choice piece for our
own dinner. At the close of our march that evening, the morsel of
wild ass was cooked in the form of "rissoles:" the flavour
resembled beef but it was extremely tough.
On the following day, 30th June, we reached Gozerajup, a large
permanent village on the south bank of the river. By dead
reckoning we had marched 246 miles from Berber. This spot was
therefore about 220 miles from the junction of the Atbara with
the Nile. Here we remained for a few days to rest the donkeys and
to engage fresh camels. An extract from my journal will give a
general idea of this miserable country:--
"July 3.--I went out early to get something for breakfast, and
shot a hare and seven pigeons. On my return to camp, an Arab
immediately skinned the hare, and pulling out the liver, lungs,
and kidneys, he ate them raw and bloody. The Arabs invariably eat
the lungs, liver, kidneys, and the thorax of sheep, gazelles, &c.
while they are engaged in skinning the beasts, after which they
crack the leg bones between stones, and suck out the raw marrow."
A Bishareen Arab wears his hair in hundreds of minute plaits
which hang down to his shoulders, surmounted by a circular bushy
topknot upon the crown, about the size of a large breakfast-cup,
from the base of which the plaits descend. When in full dress,
the plaits are carefully combed out with an ivory skewer about
eighteen inches in length; after this operation, the head appears
like a huge black mop surmounted by a fellow mop of a small size.
Through this mass of hair he carries his skewer, which is
generally ornamented, and which answers the double purpose of
comb and general scratcher.
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