MY SOMALI BOOK 163 



crossing the fresh tracks of a pair of lions some five 

 miles away and going north. That was our direction, 

 so it was decided to move camp at once to a spot ten 

 miles north, orders were issued accordingly, and we 

 started off after the lions, strikmg their trail at about 

 midday. The tracks were those of two full-grown 

 males, one of exceptional size, judging from his pug. 



This time, however, luck was out. We tracked 

 the lions for four hours over varying types of country, 

 now bare clayey soil with nullahs in every direction, a 

 bank in one spot honeycombed with nesting holes of 

 an orange-throated bee-eater ; then thick sansevieria 

 jungle interspersed with thorn trees ; and again grassy 

 country dotted with clumps of thorn. In some places 

 we had to go very slow owing to the awkward character 

 of the bush. 



At length we reached a zariba which the lions had 

 prowled around, and the karia-folk told us it was 

 about midnight that they had received the visit. 

 That put an end to our hopes ; when the lions left 

 this spot, unfed, they must have had half a dozen 

 hours of the night before them, while we had only 

 two hours of daylight left. So when we found that the 

 trail turned away to the west we realised it would 

 only be waste of time to follow. It was a great dis- 

 appointment, as I felt that it was probably my last 

 chance. 



At 5.30 p.m. we reached the spot where our camp 

 should have been by that time, but no sign of it. I 

 climbed into a tree on the crest of a small hill, which 

 afforded a good view all round, and squatted in the 

 branches to have a smoke and study the face of the 



