MY SOMALI BOOK 65 



in the Aden Police, at that time under my charge, 

 and we had a haldi (chat) over tea at the coffee-shop : 

 coffee being what a Somali " coffee-shop " does not 

 produce. 



Moving on at 4 a.m., soon after daylight w^e found 

 a couple of dhero bucks feeding with unexpected tame- 

 ness near a flock of sheep. I shot one at short range, 

 letting the second go as his head was only average. 

 Further on we saw several small lots of dhero^ but 

 only one good buck, which was duly bagged, horns 

 11 J inches. The lowland dhero {G. Pelzelni) much 

 resembles in appearance and habits its relative of the 

 higher altitudes {G. Spekei), differing in certain details 

 of colouration and in the absence of a nasal prominence. 

 The horns of the buck also average longer while those 

 of the doe, on the contrary, are rather smaller. 



Back in Berbera by 9.30 a.m. I had just time to 

 pay off my following, pack up, get my kit and trophies 

 through the customs, and catch the steamer to Aden 

 the same afternoon. 



A few concluding remarks on this trip. I had not 

 got my lion ; but otherwise, for the short time at my 

 disposal, the trip had been a distinct success, and I had 

 learnt a great deal. That this was so was in no small 

 measure due to the valuable assistance and advice 

 for which I was indebted to H. A word of praise to 

 Elmi Hirsi, one of the most decent Somalis I have 

 known, and a really first-class shikari, at any rate in 

 his own country. Old John did splendidly, although 

 his donkey broke down, so that after the first day he 

 had to walk every yard of the way, and the caravan 

 travelled in 25 days some 350 miles. 



