End of Somali 



were returning with their spoils when, one day, 

 two of them, a man and a boy, had followed and 

 slain an oryx. They laid down their bows and 

 arrows, and proceeded to skin him when, out of 

 the bush galloped about twenty looting Dolba- 

 hantas, secured their bows before they could get 

 to them, and then forced them to show where their 

 camp lay. Having located the latter, the looters 

 tied up the man and boy securely, left their ponies, 

 and, stealing in, lay round the remaining Midgans 

 till dark. It must have been all managed very 

 cleverly, for at a given signal they rushed in, 

 making straight for the Midgan weapons, of which 

 they got possession without any hitch in the pro- 

 ceedings, and took the lot prisoners. They then 

 returned to the Dolbahanta country, with their 

 captives walking by their ponies, and having got 

 far enough to render pursuit impossible, they let 

 the Midgans free, confiscating everything, animals, 

 hunting spoils, etc., the sole worldly goods of the 

 unfortunate hunters. 



I shot a dibatag in this country, an oryx bull, 

 and spent a night sitting up for a reported leopard, 

 but there wasn't much sitting up about it, as I 

 dropped off to sleep about half an hour after 

 starting my would-be vigil, and slept the sleep 

 of the just till 6 a.m. next day. I never was 

 any good at sitting up for anything ; it is most 

 monotonous work, and very little sport to be got 



161 M 



