384 Mr. E. Lort Phillips on a 



the case. We saw and shot several Waders and a Hammer- 

 head. A pair of Egyptian Geese, however, M'hich we badly 

 wanted for the pot, escaped ns, and as they flew past down 

 stream we did not see them again. 



We reached Bihen in capital time and pitched our tents 

 just beyond the big fig-tree the roots of which are the cradle of 

 the stream, the water bubbling up from among them slightly 

 warm and beautifully clear. The little oasis was full of life, 

 a flock of sheep and a few cattle were enjoying the bright 

 green grass, while their owners were exchanging news with 

 some traders from the interior, whose caravan was passing at 

 the time on its way to Berbera. From them we heard that 

 two white men were encamped at the bottom of the Sheikh 

 Pass, some 15 miles south of us. Next morning Aylmer and 

 Gillett started off to make the second known ascent of 

 Dimoleh Mountain. Our former tent-servant and wag, 

 Hersi-Shirreh, was not with us on this occasion, so he was 

 spared the chance of an offer of two hundred pounds to 

 accompany " Mr. Elmer " a second time, which he declared 

 he would refuse sooner than face that fearful climb again. 

 Soon after breakfast the two ''white men^^ we had been 

 told of arrived. They proved to be Messrs. Parkinson and 

 Dunbar, who had been on a surveying expedition in the 

 Wadi Nogal and Boor Dap district, a locality noted for the 

 wildness of its inhabitants, who live by looting passing 

 caravans that are not strong enough to protect themselves. 

 These light-fingered gentry, not content with the lesson they 

 had had from Col. Paget some years previously, swooped 

 down and drove off" Mr. Parkinson's camels while their 

 owners were away shooting. By the greatest good luck, 

 however, on their way to camp, they met the raiders with 

 their booty, and recognizing their own beasts by the brand- 

 marks, they were able, by " emptying a couple of saddles,'^ 

 to regain possession of the whole herd, and thus saved them- 

 selves from being stranded in a hostile country without the 

 means of moving. Boor Dap (Fire Mountain) is a peak 

 where a '' look-out " is kept, and on which a lighted beacon 

 warns the robber tribes of the approach of a caravan. 



