MY SOMALI BQOE i • *. . ' H ' '- lOrt', 



karia there watering. Camels were provided with a 

 trough, but the method with goats and sheep was to 

 allow a whole herd to crowd into a pool at their own 

 sweet will. From this it was obvious that if I wanted 

 any moderately clean water or if any of the water was 

 to last at all, I must reserve one pool for our use, so I 

 annexed one alongside our zariba and had it fenced 

 round. I intended to make this camp my base of 

 operations for a week or so, according to circumstances. 



That afternoon I wounded an aoul high in the fore- 

 leg, the bullet unfortunately carrying on and killing a 

 youngster beyond him. The pony was laid up and 

 resting so I could not ride him down, and he would 

 not let me approach within 250 yards. At that 

 distance I could not hit him : I found it hopeless 

 trying to hold a rifle at all steady in the high wind 

 blowing across that exposed plain, and the grass was 

 just long enough to make a lying-down shot impossible. 

 Eventualh^, after giving the buck an hour's rest he got 

 a bit stiff, and I brought him down after an expenditure 

 of five cartridges. 



The effect of wind on the bullet from a high velocity 

 rifle does not amount to much at sporting ranges. It 

 is the force of the wind on one's arms and rifle which 

 renders a standing shot almost impossible in the open, 

 and steadiness even in a sitting position extremely 

 diflicult to attain. And at that season it was almost 

 always blowing on those level uplands. In the bush, 

 of course, or in a snap-shot at close range it is different. 



I should like to have one or two of our Bisley 

 marksmen, with their wind-gauges and all the rest of 

 it, and see how many cartridges they would expend 



