20 MY SOMALI BOOK 



when wanted. Hence the marking down of one in 

 his hiding place and driving him out, as frequently done 

 in India, is rarely practicable. The usual recourse 

 then is a bait at night. But there is generally no 

 convenient tree to sit in, so the sportsman has resort 

 to a zariba. Best a zariba occupied by a Somali 

 encampment with their sheep and goats, for any 

 leopard of the neighbourhood is certain to be aware 

 of their presence, and as likely as not will come prowling 

 round under cover of darkness in search of an oppor- 

 tunity of annexing one of the flock. The flock one 

 might imagine was fairly safe within the thick thorn 

 fence, some 4J or 5 feet in height, and with several 

 human beings sleeping alongside. But supply the 

 leopard's activit}^ and daring with the stimulus of a 

 little hunger, and he makes nothing of a leap over the 

 thorn-fence into the enclosure and another leap out 

 again, this time with a sheep. So it comes about that 

 if a Somali haria (encampment) occupies a zariba 

 for any length of time, a single leopard will sometimes 

 quarter himself upon it and exact his toll with the 

 utmost regularity two nights out of three, or even 

 oftener. The tax would seem an unbearable one, but 

 it is rarely that the Somali will take the trouble to 

 try and circumvent the marauder. His whole wealth 

 consists in his flocks, but an individual sheep costs 

 little, and spite of his avarice the Mussulman fatalism 

 of his nature endures the robbery, until one day he 

 thinks of counting up the sheep he has lost, then curses 

 all the robber's ancestral relatives and hurriedly shifts 

 his encampment ! From this it can be understood 

 that the Somali will probably welcome the Sahib who 



