MY SOMALI BOOK 41 



of animals that were new to me. I managed to hit 

 one with a snap-shot, as he bolted from a bush 30 

 yards awa}^ He was like a small fox, short in the 

 leg, and with ears a size too large. General colour a 

 dark greenish grey, with quite a good brush. I 

 noticed that he seemed to run on his toes, as the 

 claws formed the most distinctive part of his spoor ; 

 the claws themselves being decidedly weak and slender 

 for a fox. This handsome little animal turned out to 

 be the Long-eared Fox {otocyon megalotis). The 

 Somali name is goleli ivardba, which Drake-Brockman 

 in his book translates into " possessor of a neck like 

 a hyaena." In a letter to the Field, however, the same 

 authority has given the meaning as having a flank 

 like a hysena, which is more in accordance with what 

 a Somali told me. Personally I failed to see the 

 resemblance. The one I shot yapped like a fox when 

 hit, and I have heard a fox-like bark at night that I 

 put down to this species, as I know of no other fox 

 in Somaliland south of the Golis. 



No Jchahar (news) next morning, so I went out 

 in the afternoon after oryx. After following a small 

 herd for a mile, I hit one, hard I thought, at 200 

 yards ; but he made off and after a scanty blood-trail 

 had failed, his spoor became hopelessly mixed up with 

 other fresh tracks and we failed to find him again, 

 which annoyed me considerably. 



Later we met two Midgtins who had been hunting 

 with equal unsuccess. These people hunt the oryx 

 with dogs, the former when overtaken turning at bay 

 to defy their enemies, when the Midgan seizes the 

 opportunity of creeping up and letting fly his deadly 



