DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49271#0225
The KababIsh, a Sudan Arab tribe
163
he took off again, and we after him at a swinging trot, but with the hand bearing on the
halter. He soon disappeared; and after an hour’s run we again paused, when after a
long lapse he again returned, but this time flurried, his mouth open and his wings more
dangled than ever. As soon as he saw us he fled and we after him, but this time at a run.
We kept him in sight nearly two hours, and when we perceived that we were gaining on
him we started off at a racing pace. I got up first; he made a spirt, but it was his last,
for he dropped his wings, and, becoming apparently confused, I soon arrived, and two
blows from a light stick on his neck sufficed to throw him down. I was very much pleased
at his capture, but cannot say whether I owe my luck to the speed of my dromedary or to
the politeness of the Arabs, though I have met with very few camels that could keep up
with the one I rode that day.
“It would perhaps appear from what I have said that the ostrich is hunted only in
the rains, but on the contrary the hot season, i. e. the dry season, before the rains (about
April and May), is the best, for two reasons, namely, because the ostrich cannot resist
the heat in running like the camel; and, secondly, because the mud during the rain dirties
the feathers.”90
Mansfield Parkyns did not himself have any experience of giraffe hunting, but he
gives the following account of what he was told:—
“If it be merely to kill a giraffe, a horseman armed with a sharp sword rides after it,
and cuts the tendon of the heel. For this the horse must be able to make a good start;
for if you cannot come up with the giraffe at the first run, you may as well return to your
house, for he will tire the horse, and gain ground at every step. If it be a calf, the horse
soon comes up with it, and the rider throws a cord or a cloth, or puts his arm round its
neck, and takes it alive, the animal remaining perfectly quiet. They remain in the same
spot some days, during which time the calf is fed with the milk of a nagah, or she camel,
which accompanies the hunters, till becoming a little tame, and recovering from the fatigue
and fright caused by the capture, he is taken to the village.”91
A display of horsemanship — the usual Arab fantasia — is practised and is much
admired. It consists chiefly of galloping at full tilt with loose reins, and suddenly stopping
dead. As the bit used is of the usual Arab type, a particularly cruel curb, the horse stops
the moment he feels the check, and the higher the horse rears the more the horseman-
ship is admired. The appearance of the Kababish horses, or more properly ponies, will be
appreciated from the photograph (pl. 4, fig. 1) taken at Showa as its rider was about
to start in pursuit of the raiders mentioned on p. 160 sq. Camel-racing might take place
90 Op. cit., p. 260, sq.
91 Ibid., p. 261.
163
he took off again, and we after him at a swinging trot, but with the hand bearing on the
halter. He soon disappeared; and after an hour’s run we again paused, when after a
long lapse he again returned, but this time flurried, his mouth open and his wings more
dangled than ever. As soon as he saw us he fled and we after him, but this time at a run.
We kept him in sight nearly two hours, and when we perceived that we were gaining on
him we started off at a racing pace. I got up first; he made a spirt, but it was his last,
for he dropped his wings, and, becoming apparently confused, I soon arrived, and two
blows from a light stick on his neck sufficed to throw him down. I was very much pleased
at his capture, but cannot say whether I owe my luck to the speed of my dromedary or to
the politeness of the Arabs, though I have met with very few camels that could keep up
with the one I rode that day.
“It would perhaps appear from what I have said that the ostrich is hunted only in
the rains, but on the contrary the hot season, i. e. the dry season, before the rains (about
April and May), is the best, for two reasons, namely, because the ostrich cannot resist
the heat in running like the camel; and, secondly, because the mud during the rain dirties
the feathers.”90
Mansfield Parkyns did not himself have any experience of giraffe hunting, but he
gives the following account of what he was told:—
“If it be merely to kill a giraffe, a horseman armed with a sharp sword rides after it,
and cuts the tendon of the heel. For this the horse must be able to make a good start;
for if you cannot come up with the giraffe at the first run, you may as well return to your
house, for he will tire the horse, and gain ground at every step. If it be a calf, the horse
soon comes up with it, and the rider throws a cord or a cloth, or puts his arm round its
neck, and takes it alive, the animal remaining perfectly quiet. They remain in the same
spot some days, during which time the calf is fed with the milk of a nagah, or she camel,
which accompanies the hunters, till becoming a little tame, and recovering from the fatigue
and fright caused by the capture, he is taken to the village.”91
A display of horsemanship — the usual Arab fantasia — is practised and is much
admired. It consists chiefly of galloping at full tilt with loose reins, and suddenly stopping
dead. As the bit used is of the usual Arab type, a particularly cruel curb, the horse stops
the moment he feels the check, and the higher the horse rears the more the horseman-
ship is admired. The appearance of the Kababish horses, or more properly ponies, will be
appreciated from the photograph (pl. 4, fig. 1) taken at Showa as its rider was about
to start in pursuit of the raiders mentioned on p. 160 sq. Camel-racing might take place
90 Op. cit., p. 260, sq.
91 Ibid., p. 261.