TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 49 



I bagged a very fine Speke's Gazelle here, but am 

 ashamed to say it was a doe. It is very hard some- 

 times to differentiate between the sexes in this species. 



I was very much looking forward to the oppor- 

 tunity of bagging an oryx, I admire the horns of 

 this antelope so greatly, though I suppose they are 

 not really to be compared in the same breath with 

 those of the koodoo. The oryx is very powerfully 

 made, about the size of a pony, and the horns are 

 long and tapering. They remind me of a vast pair 

 of screws, the " thread " starting from the base and 

 winding round to a few inches off the top when the 

 horn is plain. They are the greatest fighters of all 

 the genus buck, and the bulls are provided by 

 nature, who orders all things well, with almost im- 

 penetrable protective horn-proof shields of immensely 

 thick skin which covers the withers. These are much 

 valued by the Somalis for many purposes, notably 

 for the shields carried by them when in full dress. 

 Set up as trophies they take a high polish and come 

 up like tortoise-shell. One or two of mine I had 

 mounted as trays, with protective glass, others as 

 tables. All were exceedingly effective. 



By this time we had got to and set out upon, not 

 without some qualms, the waterless Haud, starting 

 for the first march at cock-crow. In some parts it 

 attains a width of over two hundred miles across. It 

 all depends on where you strike it. We did the cross- 

 ing in ten marches, taking five days over it. All that 

 time we had to rely solely on the supply of water 

 we carried with us, which was an anxious piece of 



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