Now, as every true Believer should conform to the Law, and as it is possible that he may not reach the spot for a quarter of an hour after the gazelle has been pulled down, the hunters, before letting the hounds loose, do not omit to exclaim: _Bi es-sem Allah! Allah akbar!_ "In the name of Allah! Allah is great!" For the Prophet hath said: "When thou hast let loose thy dog and hast invoked the name of Allah, if thy dog has not killed the game that he has overtaken, and thou hast found it yet alive, cut its throat to purify[86] it; and if it was already dead when thou hast found it, and thy dog has not eaten of it, thou mayest eat of it." If the previous invocation was omitted through accident, the game may still be eaten; but not if the omission has been voluntary. The horsemen who are well mounted, and own the best greyhounds, renew the chace, and not until the evening do men and animals take rest. Sometimes the hunters cook the gazelle on the spot where they have pitched their camp. At other times, on their return home on the morrow, they send the product of the chace to their friends and relatives, and these presents give rise to family feastings at which the chief dish consists of the flesh of this animal, so highly esteemed by the Arabs. Gazelles are brought up in the tents, and are driven with the sheep at every change of encampment; but in the end they always contrive to escape. The winter is the proper season for hunting the gazelle and the antelope. The earth, softened by the heavy rains, retards and embarrasses their flight, while the dogs and horses find water everywhere. When the snow is on the ground, if a party of Arabs come upon a herd of gazelles, a regular massacre ensues. They are then unable to run, and being famished are easily overtaken. Ten or a dozen may be killed by each Arab. In hunting this animal the Arabs take with them three burnouses, boots, and shoes, and carry the horse-cloth upon the top of the saddle. The proverbial beauty of the gazelle's eyes, and the whiteness of its teeth, have given rise to a curious practice. Women with child have one brought to them that they may lick its eyes with their tongue, in the belief that the eyes of their infant will have the same lustrous melancholy. Under a similar idea they touch its teeth with a finger, which they afterwards put into their own mouth. The horns, shaved thin and mounted in silver, are used by women as instruments to put _kohol_ on their eyes; and the skin, after being carefully tanned, is made into _mezoueud_, or cushions, in which they enclose their most valuable articles. THE GREYHOUND. If it were necessary to prove how aristocratic are the habits of the people of the Sahara, how lordly their tastes, I could give yet another very simple proof, which some persons may regard as puerile—I mean the love they have for the _slougui_, or greyhound.