44 MY SOMALI BOOK 



my foresight a trifle and hit him low, so we had to 

 follow him up and might have been a long time before 

 bringing him to bay, as an antelope wounded in the 

 stomach will travel far if not pressed to full speed, 

 but for some unexpected assistance. This was afforded 

 by a jackal, whose quick nose had detected the blood 

 taint as the wounded buck passed the grass where he 

 lay, and who took up the chase in front of us ! He 

 soon became aware of our proximity and retired, but 

 he had forced the dihatag to a sprint by which it was 

 quickly exhausted, and I soon had an opportunity 

 of bringing it down. I shall describe the dihatag later, 

 enough for the present that this was a good head and 

 T was very pleased. 



While this buck was being skinned a messenger 

 turned up with news of fresh lion tracks on the far 

 side of camp. We at once made our way back, had a 

 hurried breakfast and started out again. 



It was then 11.30 a.m. and it took us an hour to 

 get on to the trail. There was a pair, lion and lioness, 

 but after a time they separated and we followed the 

 male. It was exciting work, as the bush was decidedl}^ 

 thick in places. We progressed at an average rate of 

 2| miles an hour, which on that ground was good track- 

 ing, and at about three o'clock Elmi caught a glimpse 

 of him on the move and the next moment I saw him 

 trot across an open space a hundred yards ahead. 

 He looked a big fellow, with a fine dark mane, but I 

 had no chance of a shot and we never got a sight of 

 him again. He had had his morning's sleep and it 

 was not hot, so he saw no reason to wait for us, and it 

 was not open enough to try and ride him down. We 



