Sporting Trips of a Subaltern 



on landing it disappeared as mysteriously as it 

 had arrived. Finally, as we were slowly moving 

 off, a large Somali, who had been trying to 

 smuggle himself through a port-hole from a 

 small boat, with loud cries of " Allah," fell 

 into the sea. I suppose he had paid his boat- 

 men, as they took not an atom of notice, but 

 rowed away, and we had to stop the engines, 

 lower a boat, and fish him out. So he got his free 

 passage after all. 



The less said about the voyage the better. 

 We were very glad at 9 a.m. to see Africa. First, 

 the grand outline of the Goli mountains, and then 

 the Maritime hills between the Golis and the sea. 

 Finally, rounding a point, we were at Berbera 

 at 11 a.m. 



We put up at the travellers' bungalow, a clean 

 little place, and presently interviewed our head- 

 man, Ahmed Warsama. He had only got nine 

 camels, but said he would soon get the others 

 from the hills. There are no camels at Berbera, 

 as there is no grazing for ten miles round, only 

 dust, sand, rock, flies, and awful heat. We had 

 all our meals with that most hospitable of resi- 

 dents, Captain Merewether. The next few days 

 were spent waiting for camels and trying to 

 satisfy the exorbitant demands of our headman, 

 Warsama, who we found was charging us far too 

 much for "herios " (camel-mats), water-casks, and 



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