io2 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



of a whole flight were in evidence all over the glossy 

 coat. Some Midgans hunting without dogs had missed 

 their quarry somehow. Cecily had put the big bull 

 out of his pain, and there we were with an embarras de 

 richesse miles from camp and alone. The oryx had 

 very finely turned horns, and it seemed a sin to waste 

 them. We set off to decapitate him with the only 

 implement we had, a very small shikar knife. It took 

 a long time in the doing, and we were so hot and tired 

 and sick by the end of the performance, I thought we 

 must be struck with the sun. The water in our bottles 

 was quite hot. 



The instant we left the carcase of the oryx the 

 vultures came from all sides, hanging over it with legs 

 poised to alight, screaming as they flapped along the 

 ground and settled on the bushes around. We took it 

 in turns to ride the spare pony ; the other was a beast 

 of burden for our spoils. A flock of quail ran ahead 

 and disappeared beneath the khansa. The walking 

 one walked, and the riding one rode, and at last we 

 had to take our coats off. The heat grew insufferable, 

 the sun blazed a-shimmer through the purple-blue 

 coverlet of the sky. Even the sun loving sun-birds 

 kept in the shade of the bushes. My rifle — best of 

 playthings — took on a pound or two in weight. 



Cecily wears perpetually a single-stone diamond 

 ring, given her by a friend now in Purgatory, if every- 

 one gets their deserts, as we are told is the invariable 

 rule. The sun danced on the exquisite stone, and as 

 she moved her hand a glinting light flickered from it 

 on the sand here and there, like a will-o'-the wisp. 



