MY SOMALI BOOK 109 



I have never been in a district where there were 

 many lions, so have never seen these exceptionally 

 high zaribas. But I saw one at Aror with an outer 

 fence of seven feet, on account of the lions, as the 

 occupants (of the Samantar Abdullah section) told me. 

 And they had reason, for while I was there three 

 adjacent zaribas with lower fences were raided by 

 lions while they escaped. 



What Abdilleh told me was that the lion will often 

 try to creep through a fence if he can do so quietly, 

 but as a rule he cannot do this, so if he is sufficiently 

 hungry he takes the jump. In this particular instance, 

 I carefully examined the ground and fence, and ascer- 

 tained beyond doubt that the lion could not possiblj^ 

 have got through the fence but must have jumped it 

 both ways. And the marks of his landing outside 

 were unmistakable ; of course, from this spot the sheep 

 was dragged in the usual way. Later, I was able to 

 investigate another similar case, and I can see no 

 reason for considering that these were exceptional 

 instances. The fence over which the sheep was taken 

 on the first occasion measured 4J to 5 feet and on the 

 second 5J feet. 



I must not be taken as disputing Mr. Kirby's 

 statements as to the practice of lions in South Africa. 

 But in Somaliland conditions are different. Game is 

 wild and often far from plentiful. The nomad Somali's 

 herds are numerous and tempting, and they consist 

 largely of sheep which are easity carried off. The 

 Somali's thorn zariba in lion country presents too 

 substantial an obstacle for a lion to get through. His 

 daring and frequent aggressiveness at night are well 



