234 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



The men returned to say the skin of the rhino was 

 not to be found. I don't suppose they had even been 

 to the spot. I am confident they had, in some nrys- 

 terious way, managed to let their friends know a 

 wealth of shields were to be had for the taking. There 

 was nothing left of our huge friend of the day before, 

 so the men said. Wild beasts had eaten him. 



Later, I heard a great shouting in camp and calls for 

 us, and answering in person, I saw Clarence seated on 

 a pony, proudly displaying and offering to me a 

 baby oryx, which he had in front of him. We lifted 

 the mite down, holding it, all struggling, firmly. It 

 was terror-stricken, poor wee thing. I tried to stroke 

 its satin coat, but it only started and looked at me 

 with frightened piteous beseeching eyes. Clarence 

 meant well, but oh, I would a thousand times he had 

 left the kid with its mother. And then a thought 

 struck me. How had he come by this fleet thing ? 

 May be killed the doe and then ridden the baby down. 

 Instantly I put it to him. I know I frowned. But 

 he disarmed me by saying the matter was not as I 

 thought, and the mother was alive, unharmed ; that 

 he had ridden them down until the little oryx, spent, 

 had to drop, and the mother fled away in fear before 

 his threatening gestures. 



I consulted with Cecily, and we came to the con- 

 clusion that if we wanted to please Clarence there 

 was nothing for it but to keep the buck, but after 

 mixing it some condensed milk, which we gave it in 

 a bottle with a bit of rubber tubing on the neck, we 

 realised that to retain our little guest meant our going 



