MY SOMALI BOOK 155 



An hour or two after skinning him we came across 

 another good bull beisa, which dropped to a single 

 bullet at 250 yards, not equal to the last, but a good 

 head, 3H inches. The camel we had brought with us 

 being sufficiently loaded, Ave borrowed another from 

 a herd grazing on the plain, giving the owner a haunch 

 of oryx meat for the loan. 



We then turned our faces homewards, and presently 

 I bagged a second hartebeest, feeding with an oryx 

 among a big herd of aoul. The sig has been described 

 as shy and difficult to shoot ; possibly they are so when 

 in herds, but the two bulls I shot (I saw no other) were 

 as tame as any antelope I have ever seen, in marked 

 contrast to the oryx and even the aoul in the same 

 place. 



Continuing our way we passed a karia which pro- 

 duced a long draught of milk that, if a trifle smoky, 

 was yet most comforting. Presently we passed the 

 remains of the first beisa, providing a contentious 

 repast for four or five jackals and a number of vultures. 

 The antics of one of the former were peculiar, every 

 now and then he would ruffie up his fur and arch his 

 back into a buck-jumping attitude and, with a sort 

 of dancing gait, go for the nearest vulture or another 

 jackal, the latter invariably giving way. 



Further on I shot a bustard, intermediate in size 

 between the chugli and the gelo and at length reached 

 camp at seven o'clock, having been out for twelve 

 hours. A good day. The two camel-loads of meat 

 were received with acclamation by my band of hungry 

 retainers. 



Of aoul I must have seen over two thousand on 



