TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 3 



stance has made us the possessors of such wondrous 

 modern rifles, &c., as to leave us no reason to think of 

 endeavouring to supply ourselves with better. We, 

 fortunately, have an uncle who is one of the greatest 

 shikaris of his day, and his day has only just passed, 

 his sun but newly set. A terribly bad mauling from a 

 lion set up troubles in his thigh, and blood poisoning 

 finally ended his active career. He will never hunt 

 again, but he placed at our disposal every beautiful 

 and costly weapon he owned, together with his bound- 

 less knowledge. He insisted on our taking many 

 things that would otherwise have been left behind, 

 and his great trust in our powers inspired us with con- 

 fidence. It is to his help we owe the entire success 

 of our expedition. 



It would be an impertinence for a tyro like myself 

 to offer any remarks on the merits or demerits of any 

 rifle. Not only do the fashions change almost as 

 quickly as in millinery, not only do great shikaris 

 advise, advertise, and adventure with any weapon that 

 could possibly be of service to anyone, but my know- 

 ledge, even after the experience gained in our long 

 shoot, is confined to the very few firearms we had 

 with us. They might not have met with unqualified 

 approval from all men ; they certainly served us well. 

 After all, that is the main point. 



Our battery consisted of : 



Three 12-bore rifles. 



Two double-barrelled hammerless ejecting .500 

 Expresses. 



One .35 Winchester. 



