The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient EgyptHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction; Egypt -- History -- To 332 B.C. -- Fiction
“I shall be busy for some days, to begin with,” Ameres said to his son
on the evening of their arrival, “and it will therefore be a good
opportunity for you to see something of the various branches of sport
that are to be enjoyed in this part of Egypt. The steward will place
men at your disposal, and you can take with you Amuba and Jethro. He
will see that there are slaves to carry provisions and tents, for it
will be necessary for much of your sport that you rise early, and not
improbably you may have to sleep close at hand.”
In the morning Chebron had an interview with the steward, who told him
that he had arranged the plan for an expedition.
“You will find little about here, my lord,” he said, “beyond such game
as you would obtain near Thebes. But a day’s journey to the north you
will be near the margin of the lake, and there you will get sport of
all kinds, and can at your will fish in its waters, snare waterfowl,
hunt the great river-horse in the swamps, or chase the hyena in the
low bushes on the sandhills. I have ordered all to be in readiness,
and in an hour the slaves with the provisions will be ready to start.
The hunters of this part of the country will be of little use to you,
so I have ordered one of my chief men to accompany you.
“He will see that when you arrive you obtain men skilled in the sport
and acquainted with the locality and the habits of the wild creatures
there. My lord your father said you would probably be away for a week,
and that on your return you would from time to time have a day’s
hunting in these parts. He thought that as your time will be more
occupied then it were better that you should make this distant
expedition to begin with.”
An hour later some twenty slaves drew up before the house, carrying on
their heads provisions, tents, and other necessaries. A horse was
provided for Chebron, but he decided that he would walk with Amuba.
“There is no advantage in going on a horse,” he said, “when you have
to move at the pace of footmen, and possibly we may find something to
shoot on the way.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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