Page 110 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW - ISSUE 13

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 1 1 0

A cave painting from Rhat shows a faithful rendition of a hunting scene, which corresponds
exactly to this scene as it takes place, and in which the role of the dogs is clearly emphasised.

Its horns can be up to 90 cm long, measured at the outermost edge of the horn. Most of the

time, however, they are no longer than 45 cm, and many a dog has experienced how strong
they are. Rabti ag Abahadj, one of my friends from Ahaggar, one of his dogs was slashed and
died on the spot. A dog that grabs a mouflon by the front paw or shoulder is a dead dog, as
the animal quickly finishes it off with a blast of its horn. If the dog grabs it by the thigh or

hindquarters, it is not in much danger. Those who are well accustomed to hunting catch it
by the muzzle or testicles (Rabti ag Abahadj assured me that the jackal is capable of
overpowering the mouflon and grabbing it by the throat). Four dogs cannot subdue a
mouflon because it has Herculean strength and resists them victoriously. As the mouflon

itself says, at least seven dogs are needed to bring it under their control. But during a hunt,
people are not idle. Even though the dogs do most of the work, it is the humans who play the
decisive role. If the mouflon is held by the dogs, the hunters come quickly, run and leap
between the rocks with remarkable agility and overpower it by grabbing it by the horns. If,

on the other hand, it has taken refuge on a rock out of reach of the dogs, the hunters manage
to get close, i.e. within reach of a spear, to finish it off with this fearsome weapon. I myself
have witnessed very detailed fights in which mouflons, dogs and humans literally vied for
courage and outdid each other. The tail of the hunted animal was cut off before it was dead

and put in its mouth. Then its throat is slit. Then the mouflon would be skinned, gutted, the
entrails placed in the skin and brought back to camp either on a camel or on a man's back.

The interest of the Tuareg in Ahaggar in hunting mouflon has given rise to a variety of rites.

First of all, a hunter who sets out leaves the camp in the evening, says nothing about his
intentions and tries not to meet anyone. Meeting someone would be a bad omen. When a
mouflon was killed, the first act was to cut off the tail and put it in the mouflon's mouth.

This is a gesture of atonement, as if to ask the victim for forgiveness, and if this gesture is
not carried out, it could mean bad luck for the hunter, and in any case he would always
return empty-handed later. On the way back, the man goes to his camp in the same way,
without anyone seeing him, and hides his game under a blanket. He washes his hands if they

are still stained with blood and removes all visible traces. When people come and ask him if
he has killed a mouflon, he denies it. At night, when everyone is asleep, he cuts up the
animal and distributes the pieces to everyone in the camp the next day. If the children see
him in the meantime, before he has distributed the pieces, the hunter will not cut anything

up. It is customary to give the chops to the fiddler, who has a special place in your heart.