Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/356

340 its way through a ravine of naked red and greenish-colored rocks, we could see in the distance the ranges of Jebel Gruz and Jebel el-Maïz. These are rather wild mountains, in which mouflons (Ovis musimon) have been plentiful in the past and with them their unwelcome enemy, the panther. But today no great number of these beautiful animals remain, and any hunter who attempts to bring one down will have long and arduous waits before he succeeds, and still more rarely will he come upon a specimen of the stalking feline.

In the neighborhood of Figig other beasts of prey continue from time to time to prowl, especially the guepard (Cynaelurus jubata), also known as the chetah, or hunting-leopard. Likewise there are wild cats with very long legs, which are not so savage as their larger relative, the panther, and which are trapped and tamed by the natives to be used in hunting gazelles, jackals and foxes.

With the excursions in the valley and through the surrounding country all accomplished, we spent a very memorable last evening in the home of Colonel and Madame Pariel, when my wife took leave of them and their oasis through the voice of her violin. As she had grown very fond of their verdant island in the desert sea, where we shared and enjoyed the unusual calm of nature, the unruffled life and the hearts of men, she played with unusual depth of feeling and with regret at leaving them all. To this distant, peaceful valley the germs of life's urban maladies do not penetrate; here political storms do not drive men from their homes to take up arms; even the storms of nature, the hurricane and the mad simoon,