224 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



grouse to a hospital. At last we outdistanced our 

 following, and were able to negotiate breakfast. How 

 I loved the breakfasts " out there " in the open, a 

 permanent, everlasting picnic. Many insects came to 

 breakfast too, but then, what would you ? Were they 

 not all part and parcel of this world of happiness ? 



We went on, and everywhere was beautiful now in 

 green splendour ; the jungle had dressed itself anew 

 in robes of emerald. How exquisite the colours, how 

 drowsy all the air ! Great golden cobwebs hung from 

 thorn to thorn, the early sun scintillating on the 

 myriad dewdrops clinging to the fragile web. Ants 

 here lived in larger palaces than ever. 



The only available track lay through jungle as 

 dense as could be negotiated by any caravan. Pro- 

 gress was very slow, and sometimes very annoying. 

 Camels refused to move through gaps, necessitating 

 unloading and reloading, all the time bothered by the 

 grabbing wait-a-bit thorn. My pony put his foot into 

 a hole of sorts unexpectedly, and I came a terrific 

 purler bang into a bunch of thorn. I daresay it was 

 a blessing in disguise and saved me a bad shaking, but 

 I was grievously pricked and scratched. Besides, it 

 really is a very humiliating feeling to be retrieved from 

 a thorn bush by a mere camel man. I felt disgraced 

 for ever as an equestrienne. It was a " come off " so 

 disgracefully simple. 



At intervals, when the bush lightened a little, we 

 came on spoor of lion and rhino. The latter again 

 whetted Cecily's desire to come on another of these 

 creatures and give battle. I agreed we would track 



