390 Mr. E. Lort Phillips on a 



specimens of the Somali Courser {Cursorius somaliensis) , the 

 first we had met with, we came to a gorriar or native village, 

 outside which a man was lying in the sun. To all our 

 questions he returned the same answer, viz. that he was a 

 " stranger ^^ newly arrived and that he did not know the 

 country, also that he was too busy (!!) to come with us, even 

 the sight of rupees having no power to move him. Leaving our 

 surly friend to his arduous duties, we pushed on and turned 

 up a long narrow valley which led to the foot of the mountain, 

 at the end of which we found another gorriar, the inhabitants 

 of which turned out to inspect us as we came up. Curiously 

 enough these people were also strangers (!!!) and declared that 

 they had only just arrived from the Howd a few days before, 

 and that they knew nothing of the cloud-covered mountain 

 towering above them. From where we stood, a well-defined 

 track could be seen leading upward till it was lost in the 

 mist ; so, leaving one man in charge of the camels, we began 

 the ascent on foot. The track, though steep, was fairly good, 

 and we noted with pleasure that it was used by camels, a 

 fact which lifted a weight from our minds, for where loaded 

 camels could go our camp could go also. Three-quarters of 

 an hour's climb brought us to the edge of a sort of crater or 

 hollow depression, the sides of which were covered with 

 sheep and goats, while some horses and camels were feeding 

 near a gorriar that was just discernible through the mist. 

 While picking our way among the boulders towards the village 

 we suddenly came upon a shepherdess in the person of an 

 ancient hag, who was cowering below an overhanging rock 

 and had not noticed our approach. At first she seemed 

 paralyzed with terror; but, gathering her wits, she set off 

 towards the gorriar, screaming at the top of her cracked 

 voice, at a speed that did her the greatest credit. Her shrill 

 cry soon brought the men out of the huts, but to whatever 

 motive they may have attributed our presence, they certainly 

 welcomed us and offered us milk, of which we stood greatly 

 in need. I may as well state here a fact of which we 

 ourselves were not aware till some weeks later — namely, 

 that the people inhabiting this mountain, the Moosa Jibreel, 



