22 MY SOMALI BOOK 



been a heavy beast — had broken the rope clean. Of 

 course there was a hue and cry and a rush out with 

 lanterns to try and make him drop his prey, but it 

 was no use, he had got clear away. This was the 

 first, but not the last, time that I was fated to be 

 scored off b}^ a Somali leopard ! 



Well, we tied up another goat on the off-chance, 

 and after an hour or so I went to sleep. At about 

 4 a.m. another leopard turned up and killed. I woke 

 up, but it was a dark night, and, for half a minute or 

 so, could make out nothing to shoot at ; then just as 

 I was getting some idea as to the beast's position he 

 quietly slipped away : what roused his suspicions I 

 don't know. I waited for him till daylight, but 

 though I heard him once he did not show up again. 

 To have two goats killed, and two leopards within a 

 few feet of the muzzle of one's rifle in one night without 

 a shot was more than ordinarily bad luck. 



Next day I spent a long morning trying for lesser 

 kudu. Had occasional glimpses of them but they 

 were shy and I could not get a shot. The ground in 

 their favourite cover was overgrown with the aloe- 

 hke sansevieria, the fibre of which may prove of 

 considerable commercial value, if local conditions ever 

 permit of its satisfactory cultivation. 



I shot a jackal that afternoon from the tent door, 

 one of the black-backed species. He has a handsome 

 skin, but his singing is not in the same class with that 

 of his Indian cousin, his serenading voice being decided}^ 

 weak and throaty in comparison. 



On arrival at Mandera I had sent men out exploring 

 the nearer hills (such of them as were not included in 



