TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 113 



because I could not bag an ostrich the bird seemed to 

 me the be-all and end-all of the trip. I am a woman 

 all over, it seems. 



Well, Clarence's idea was this : Ostrich never eat at 

 night ; therefore, if you persistently chase the same 

 ostrich for two or three days consecutively it follows, 

 of course, that the bird must give in sooner or later — 

 sooner, Clarence hoped — from want of food and 

 exhaustion. Or, if a hen ostrich could only be pro- 

 cured — just as though I was not prepared to welcome 

 her — it would not be long before I should have a near 

 view of a cock bird, who would come along with a 

 view to a possible introduction to Miss Ostrich. She 

 was to be tied to a thorn bush behind which I should 

 be ensconced. It did not seem at all a sporting thing 

 to do. Love's young dream should not be made a 

 potent factor in a deadly business of the kind. Love 

 spells life, not death. 



The other idea did not commend itself to me either 

 with any gusto. I had no mind myself to go riding 

 after ostrich as though it were a trophy beyond price. 

 Neither did I want to detail any of the men for the 

 job. It was just as well we did not trouble for — such 

 are the chances of hunting, when the position of things 

 may change from success to failure, from failure to 

 success in the blinking of an eyelid — I suddenly came 

 on two birds — two grey hens — one afternoon as I was 

 returning from a fruitless expedition after a lion that 

 must have left the neighbourhood a week before. One 

 hen was picking the new grass that was everywhere 

 springing up, the other was playing sentry. And very 



H 



