no TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



wasagreat'and glorious struggle, and the laurels should 

 be to the victor. For quite a long time it was im- 

 possible to tell which was the stronger, but at last the 

 right-hand buck — for, oddly enough, though they 

 circled round each other each always charged from 

 the side from which he commenced to give battle — 

 began to show signs of tremendous stress, and the 

 telling blows of his opponent wore him down more 

 and more. No longer was he able to parry the lunges 

 of his infuriated foe, who, like lightning, took instant 

 advantage of the on-coming weakness of the stricken 

 buck, and rushing in on a flying charge like a whirl- 

 wind, inserted his rapier-like horns into his enemy's 

 side and gored him unmercifully. 



This is where I came in. I would not shoot the 

 victor, for he had won his battle in fair fight. It was 

 the survival of the fittest. As he shook his dripping 

 horns and looked at me with blood-shot eyes and 

 frothing muzzle, I saw he was a youngster in the height 

 of his prime, and that the stricken buck was old. The 

 victor and I looked at one another, and I threw my 

 rifle up. A charge from a maddened oryx would be 

 no simple thing. But I did not want to take his life 

 unless compelled. A soft, low whinnying noise in the 

 bush : he was off, and I was forgotten. Cherchez la 

 femme, even in oryx land ! I walked up to the dying 

 buck, and Clarence, who had seen the whole thing 

 also, hurried up and asked me if he might " hallal " 

 quickly and save the meat. A Somali could not be 

 expected to appreciate sentimental reasons, so I did 

 not urge mercy towards the utterly vanquished, mostly 



