Panthers are very rare nowadays, and keep away in the highest peaks where there are forests or thick undergrowth. Only when it is very cold do they come down to lower levels and kill a few sheep. The moment their presence is known all the neighboring villages are up in arms, and the wretched beasts have not many days to live. Jackals and foxes are also shot, as they do a great deal of damage to flocks, and their skins are tanned and sold. Hyenas frequent the plains of the Northern Sahara. On the whole, however, the Arab who is at heart a good sportsman considers that any form of hunting not connected with a horse is more a means to obtain food than anything else. There are, of course, the great chiefs who will organize regular shoots for their friends as is done in Europe, but it is not very general. Horse-racing is encouraged, and, though it is carried out in rather a wild method, with little attention to handicapping, it is very highly thought of. Every Arab knows how to ride, be he a soldier, a merchant, or a cook, and the smallest boy will mount his steed without fear or hesitation at the first opportunity. What strikes one, however, is the little care the average man takes of his horse. He very rarely grooms him, he feeds him on any sort of fodder available, and when in camp he hobbles him in a way which is almost cruel. He uses a heavy saddle based on a wooden framework, and the bit, though light, is often rusty. It is nothing for a nomad to do thirty miles a day on an animal which has never smelled a handful of oats in its life. In spite of this, however, the horses seem to thrive, and those who are properly cared for answer to the treatment in an incredibly short space of time. All along the coast, sea-fishing abounds, but it differs in no way from the same sort of fishing all over the world. The river-fishing inland is not worth speaking about, but it exists, and the rather bony fish which is caught often makes a pleasant contrast to the eternal meals of mutton and game. This, roughly speaking, is the sport of Algeria. There are, of course, private individuals—European farmers—who do a certain amount of preserving, but they are in the minority, and rarely ask others than their neighbors to share in their shoots. Game exists everywhere, and, if the sportsman will take trouble, he can have as good fun with gun and rifle as in any country, but he must do it all himself. CHAPTER XX THE NOMADS