VILLAGE OF SHIMBIRLEH 



large herd of cattle, they brought in nothing except 

 a little milk. I noticed that the married women wore 

 a vivid crimson head-dress instead of the usual black 

 cloth, but I do not think that this custom is confined 

 to the Aulehan. The country from here to the 

 Lorian is unknown, except to a few native hunters, 

 but the western extremity has been the scene of 

 many a bloodthirsty conflict between the Mohammed 

 Zubheir and the Abd Wak, two of the most truculent 

 and least civilised sub-tribes of the whole of the 

 Ogaden, It was therefore a heavy responsibility 

 to take my men forward into this unexplored, water- 

 less and dangerous region. 



Early the following morning I left the village, 

 which is known, by the way, as Tur Guda (which 

 means "a clump of Guda^ thorn trees"), and 

 marched along an excellent trail, until some eleven 

 miles to the westward I came to the little village 

 of Shimbirleh, where there was a large rainpool, a 

 hundred yards broad by two hundred long. The 

 country between these two villages is fairly open, and 

 contains many shallow sandy depressions to the north 

 of the river. There were many guinea-fowl in the 

 bush, of which I shot two, and I also obtained a 

 young dik-dik, which were a valuable contribution to 

 my larder. As I knew nothing of what lay before 

 me, I let the men cook their food here, and then, 

 filling up the ten water-cans, I started off westwards. 



Before leaving Shimbirleh, I had offered the 

 fabulous sum of Rs.50 for a guide, but nothing would 

 induce the headman of the village to provide one. 

 He told me, however, that I should cross the river 

 and follow its southern bank until I reached two 



^ Guda (or Guhra) is the Acacia Isyol. ZJel. 

 184 



