104 THE MAMMALS OF SOMALILAND 



inhabiting the same kind of country in Guban and Ogo-Guban, 

 and subsisting on dry grass. They keep within distance of water, 

 probably not going more than three or four days without it except 

 in the dry season. 



They are very inquisitive. One evening, having halted my 

 caravan in a deserted zareba and turned the mules out to graze, 

 a wild ass chased one of the mules to within thirty yards of where 

 I was lying on my bed. As is frequently the case, this one was 

 wandering about alone. They are difficult to approach after once 

 being scared, and the sportsman would be lucky to get within four 

 hundred yards of them. Like oryx they can travel very fast over 

 stony ground their hoofs being very hard. Somalis will not 

 touch their flesh. The alternative name " Dameir dibbaded " by 

 which they are known among Somalis means the outcast donkey. 



