out of politeness. But really it isn't dinner time,
and the meet is in half an hour. So, unless you're really hungry----?'

The children said 'Not at all!'

'You hunt, of course?' the Lord High Islander said; 'it's really the
only sport we get here, except fishing. Of course we play games and all
that. I do hope you won't be dull.'

'We came here on business,' the parrot remarked--and the happy islanders
crowded round to see him, remarking--'these are Philip and Lucy,
claimants to the Deliverership. They are doing their deeds, you know,'
the parrot ended.

Lucy whispered, 'It's really _Philip_ who is the claimant, not me; only
the parrot's so polite.'

The Lord High Islander frowned. 'We can talk about that afterwards,' he
said; 'it's a pity to waste time now.'

'What do you hunt?' Philip asked.

'All the different kinds of graibeeste and the vertoblancs; and the
blugraiwee, when we can find him,' said the Lord High Islander. 'But
he's very scarce. Pinkuggers are more common, and much bigger, of
course. Well, you'll soon see. If your camel's not quite fresh I can
mount you both. What kind of animal do you prefer?'

'What do you ride?' Philip asked.

It appeared that the Lord High Islander rode a giraffe, and Philip
longed to ride another. But Lucy said she would rather ride what she
was used to, thank you.

When they got out into the courtyard of the castle, they found it full
of a crowd of animals, any of which you may find in the Zoo, or in your
old Noah's ark if it was a sufficiently expensive one to begin with, and
if you have not broken or lost too many of the inhabitants. Each animal
had its rider and the party rode out on to the beach.

'What _is_ it they hunt?' Philip asked the parrot, who had perched on
his shoulder.

'All the little animals in the Noah's ark that haven't any names,' the
parrot told him. 'All those are considered fair game. Hullo!
blugraiwee!' it shouted, as a little grey beast with blue spots started
from the shelter of a rock and made for the cover of a patch of giant
seaweed. Then all sorts of little animals got up and scurried off into
places of security.

'There goes a vertoblanc,' said the parrot, pointing to a bright green
animal of uncertain shape, whose breast and paws were white, 'and
there's a graibeeste.'

The graibeeste was about as big as a fox, and had rabbit's ears and the
unusual distinction of a tail coming out of his back just half-way
between one end of hi