222 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



and it came out at a shade over eleven inches, and the 

 extended wings topped eight and a half feet. 



We were now on the march through a waterless 

 tract again, but game was once more plentiful, and 

 the men dined royally every day. We not so magnifi- 

 cently, as a whole boxful of our provisions had 

 mysteriously disappeared ; the camel man in charge 

 said lost, but looted or sold really. I kicked up a 

 frightful fuss, but of course that did not bring back 

 the missing necessaries. The loss of the box meant 

 much carefulness to us, as it would certainly be five 

 weeks or more before we touched Berbera, a con- 

 summation not wished for at all, and even the idea 

 was a vast regret to us. To think that in a short 

 space of time we should be in touch with the world 

 again, that the wild would call, and we, all an ache of 

 desperate longing, could not reply ! There would be 

 nothing to compensate us for the loss of the joys of the 

 jungle, no music like unto the lion's roar. We should 

 listen in vain for the whining bark of the koodoo, and 

 the weird calls of the wrangling hyaenas prowling 

 around our zareba o' nights would echo only in 

 memory. To us these things were the heart of happi- 

 ness, and to dream of leaving them was pain. 



Ah me ! Well, " fill the cup." 



Cecily bagged an oryx near Well- Wall, a fine female, 

 ever the best fitted out in the horn line among this 

 species. It is strange this should be so, when the bulls 

 are so pugnacious. The horns of this trophy were in 

 perfect condition, and measured thirty-two inches. 

 The bird life around us charmed us exceedingly. I 



