82 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



fauna has been thinned almost to extinction, it would 

 seem that the lesser has thriven. Fewer lions to find 

 food means more buck to live. 



You never find aoul in jungle country, and conse- 

 quently they are of gazelle the most easily seen. 

 Frequenting the grass plateaus and flat sandy wastes, 

 as they do, whereon a few straggling bushes try to 

 grow, the white hindquarters stand out clear and 

 distinct as a target. When going off, startled, they 

 stretch out, seeming to gain many inches in length, and 

 when wounded an aoul never creeps off to die in 

 impenetrable bush where the hunter has a difficulty in 

 locating the hiding creature. Sensibly he selects the 

 open " bun," and there is despatched the quicker. 



On coming to one open space of country I rubbed 

 my eyes to see if I were awake or dreaming. The 

 place swarmed with aoul. It was like some field at 

 home, full of cows before milking time, except that 

 these were very animated creatures, fighting battles 

 together, and making the history for buckland. I lay 

 down in a tuft of grass for an hour or more, watching 

 the pantomime. The aoul were in two great herds, 

 separate and distinct. Each was in the charge of a 

 war-like old buck who had drilled his does into fine 

 order, and vigilantly saw that they kept a fair distance 

 from the rival herd. Sometimes a doe of frivolous 

 propensities would essay to seek fresh fields and 

 pastures new, edging away in the direction of the 

 other harem. Nemesis was after her on the instant, 

 in the person of her outraged lord, who gave chase, 

 and cuffing her about most vigorously, soon showed 



