TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 201 



while, Cecily and I went out on a sort of prospecting ex- 

 cursion. We actually came on some water oozing up 

 through a rock, not standing or sluggish. So we sent 

 a man back to camp to tell the head camel man to 

 have out all his animals and water them whether they 

 wanted it or not. 



We struck a well-defined caravan route, probably the 

 road to Wardare over the Marehan. We arrived by a 

 more direct line from Galadi. Game is always scarcer on 

 frequented ways, so we turned off into the wilderness. 



A rocky nullah lay to our left, and we caught a 

 glimpse of a fine hysena looking over the country. 

 He stood on the summit of a pile of whitish rock, 

 clearly outlined, and as he winded us, or caught a 

 glimpse of the leading figures, he was off his pinnacle 

 with a mighty bound and away into the adad bushes 

 behind him. A little farther we came on fresh lion 

 spoor, and followed it up only to overrun it. The 

 ground here was for the most part so stony and baked 

 up it was impossible to track at all. We held on, 

 searching in circles and then pursuing the line we 

 thought most likely. We were more than rewarded. 

 Under a shady guda tree lay a vast lioness with year- 

 old cub. Our men ran in different directions to cut 

 off the retreat, but we called to them to come back. 

 We had quite enough skins without trying to deplete 

 the country of a lioness at this stage of the expedition, 

 especially as the cub was small, and not yet thoroughly 

 able to right his own battles. She would have to 

 wage war for herself and him. I dislike all wholesale 

 slaughter ; it ruins any sporting ground. 



