TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 245 



agile Somali would caper in front of the pachyderm 

 to attract his attention, and a rider at the gallop 

 would pass in swift flying rush behind and cut 

 the ham-string or tendon of one of the hind legs. 

 The elephant would then be at the mercy of the 

 hunters. It must have been a dangerously exciting 

 business. The sword used — I saw one in the hut of a 

 Mullah at the Upper Sheik — is of native make, ap- 

 parently, strong, and longer in the blade than the 

 bilawa, which is often seen in its scabbard of white 

 leather bound round the waist of a Somali. It was not 

 unlike the familiar sword known to us as the " Der- 

 vish " — two-edged, with a groove down the centre, 

 and light. The handle was of horn, and bound about 

 with leather. And yet we think ourselves brave to 

 venture in the vicinity of my lord the elephant with 

 the latest thing in rifles in our hands ! 



What with the ham-stringing, and all hunters killing 

 cows and bulls indiscriminately, the result has been 

 that the elephant has left his old haunts, never to 

 return. The Somalis wasted the entire carcase. They 

 do not care to eat the flesh, and even the hide is not so 

 beloved as that of the oryx and rhino. The Somali 

 tusks were never of the vast proportions attained 

 in other parts of Africa. Ivory still forms part of the 

 stock of some trading caravans, so the elephants must 

 exist in the flesh somewhere in Somaliland, unless 

 these traders trade with others again at the rear of 

 the back of beyond. 



A twig cracked ! No twig of mine, I swear, since 

 I sat like a statue carved in stone. My foot had long 



