36 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



big game shooting. We also resolved to share a tent 

 for safety's sake, but after a little, when we had begun 

 to understand there was nothing on earth to be afraid 

 of, we "chucked" this uncomfortable plan and sported 

 a tent apiece. 



On clear nights I always left the flap of the tent open. 

 I loved to see the wonderful blue of the sky, so remi- 

 niscent of the chromo-lithograph pictures admired so 

 greatly in childhood's days. And I would try and 

 count the myriad stars, and trace a path down the 

 Milky Way. How glorious it was, that first waking in 

 the early, early morning with dark shadows lurking 

 around, the embers of the fires glowing dully, and — 

 just here — a faint breeze blowing in with messages 

 from the distant sea. 



The long string of grunting camels ahead looked 

 like some pantomime snake of colossal proportions as 

 it wriggled its way through the low thorn bushes 

 which, here and there, grew stunted and forlorn ; 

 camels move with such an undulating gait, and the 

 loads I had trembled about seemed to be a mere 

 bagatelle. 



All too soon came the day, and, with the day, the sun 

 in fiery splendour, which speedily reduced us both to 

 the condition of Mr. Mantalini's expressive description 

 of " demn'd, damp, unpleasant bodies." The glitter 

 from the sand made us blink at first, but, like every, 

 thing else, we got perfectly inured to it, and dark 

 days or wet seemed the darker for its loss. 



Jerk ! And all the camels stopped and bumped into 

 each other, like a train of loaded trucks after a push 



