DESERT DWELLERS 



associate with one or two others of the same age ; 

 it is these animals that carry by far the finest horns, 

 although in extreme old age the tips may be worn 

 away. 



Arrola are essentially desert dwellers, and are 

 as a rule found at a considerable distance from a 

 permanent water-supply, though an exception must, 

 of course, be made in the case of the herds that 

 inhabit the Tana Valley ; in the rainy season there 

 is a quantity of water in the shallow pans that are 

 so plentiful in Jubaland, but these soon evaporate 

 and are dry for at least six months in the year. 

 What they do then for water I am at a loss to 

 understand, but it seems probable that when the 

 pools have given out entirely they may find sufficient 

 moisture in the heavy dews that fall nightly, and 

 in the coarse grass that forms their principal food. 

 Lesser kudu, which are numerous in Joreh, are 

 very partial to the succulent leaves of the aloes, but 

 I failed to find any traces of this plant in the stomachs 

 of the arrola I shot, and I am inclined to doubt 

 whether they ever indulge in this diet. 



In some books the Galla name for Hunter's 

 hartebeeste is given as " Blanketta," and sometimes 

 as " Herola," while the Somali are said to call it 

 " Aroli." Personally I have never heard them called 

 anything but " Arrola " ; and Somali, Galla and 

 Waboni, when speaking of them, even to each other, 

 have always referred to them thus, at any rate when 

 I have been present. 



I02 



