Yesterday, being the holiday of the week, I rode out a-hunting with Hiridia and other members of my Court amid the hilly region of forest that lies behind the city. We were engaged in hotly pursuing a wounded doe, and in the course of our chase came upon a wide open plateau in the midst of the woods. Across this we all galloped, and my mount being far fleeter than those of my companions, I soon outstripped them all and rushed forward into the forest beyond. I am not usually very intent on hounding down a stricken animal, but on this occasion I continued to charge wildly ahead, dodging the many trunks and branches in a manner that would have done credit to a colonial Bushman. The hot lust of the chase for once fired my blood, and I felt the true afflatus of the eager sportsman in my brain, as I tore madly onward, recking nothing of the surrounding danger or the possibility of getting lost. Suddenly I was stopped in my headlong career by the bough of a tree striking me full across the breast with considerable force. A quick struggle to retain my saddle and stirrups, an unusually fierce plunge from my excited horse, and a moment later I found myself clinging with both arms to the opposing branch with my steed escaping from under me. I watched his quarters disappear into the enveloping scrub, and for a few seconds could distinguish the crackling sound of his tearing through the undergrowth till all was silent. I now dropped cautiously to the ground below, where I found myself none the worse for my misadventure, save for a few scratches and bruises. My plight, if disagreeable and untimely, was not in the least fraught with danger, for I was sure to be sought and discovered by my comrades at any rate before many hours could pass. I felt however no inclination to lie quietly where I had fallen, so I decided to retrace my steps in the direction whither I imagined my friends to be approaching. So I rose and began guessing my way by means of the broken twigs and trampled grass caused by my horse's late gallop in the forest. But I must evidently have soon strayed from the desired direction, for after a time I lighted upon a well-defined track or pad, such as used to be familiar to me in the Australian bush; and thinking this track would certainly lead me towards some habitation, I followed its meanderings beneath the tall trees, whose leafy heads served to exclude a good deal of the waning afternoon light. Having threaded this little path for no small distance I suddenly found it emerge from the woodlands into a charming secluded little valley, watered by a clear purling stream trickling through bright green pastures that were thickly set with masses of the fragrant yellow narcissus. Beyond the brook and facing me stood a house of some size, recalling one of the mysterious Algerian _koubbas_ with its plain white-washed walls and its low cupolas. I hastened forward with the intention of demanding assistance, and had already leaped the narrow