ii 4 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



well she did it too, marching up and down with head 

 erect and alert eyes. They had not winded us. We 

 were covered by fairly dense wait-a-bit. The birds, 

 however, were entirely out of range. I was now on 

 foot, and flung myself down, as had Clarence. We then 

 raised ourselves sufficiently to cut as silently as we could 

 a bunch of the awful prickly grass, all mixed with thorn 

 spikes, and though it scratched me like fun, and I heard 

 my poor garments ripping away, I took the screen from 

 Clarence and holding it well in front of me wriggled to 

 the edge of the open country in front of me. I did 

 feel absurd, and how was I to get within range of those 

 knowing birds, all encumbered as I was too, with my 

 weapon and my wait-a-bit ? It was wait-a-bit ! I took 

 half an hour to crawl a few yards. But the birds still 

 went on picking the grass in the peculiar way they 

 have, taking turns at sentry-go. They had great doubts 

 about this small tuft that had grown up in a day, 

 mushroom-like, and it was only when sentry turned 

 and paced the other way I could progress at all. The 

 bird who was doing the eating did not trouble itself so 

 much. At last, wonderful to relate, I really got within 

 range, and then it was a toss up which bird to choose. 

 I really considered it an embarras de richesse, and told 

 myself that both belonged to me ! Sentry presented 

 the best mark, and as she turned and came towards me 

 I drew a bead on her breast and fired. She fell — 

 plop ! But her companion simply took a sort of 

 flying run, very quaint to watch, and vanished in the 

 instant on the horizon. This is, I know, a prodigious 

 fuss about shooting an ostrich ; but I found them 



