TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 253 



lion to that of his mate. One would have thought 

 they had eaten too much to roar — a whole lesser 

 koodoo between them ! Perhaps they were protesting 

 that we had docked them of the head. Next day 

 around the wells near where we were camped the pugs 

 of two lions stood out clear in the sand, going from 

 the oasis and back. The wells are too deep for wild 

 creatures to negotiate, but water sometimes is to be 

 had in the clay troughs used by the camels. These 

 troughs were very dry, and I'm afraid that the lions 

 went away thirsty. As it seemed an undoubted fact 

 that the great cats were still in the fastness of green 

 a mile or more in circumference, it did seem absurd 

 for us to go on until we had made another effort to 

 secure a fine trophy for the collection. 



At the edge of the oasis, on the north side, before 

 it finally ended in a yellow waste of sand, stood a few 

 guda trees, difficult to climb, for no branches hold out 

 kindly assistance for at least sixteen feet from the 

 roots, when the tree spreads vigorously into fantastic 

 shapes to the top, which attains a height of some fifty 

 feet. The foliage is very wide, and beautifully green. 

 Our idea was to climb a guda in the evening, having 

 tied up a suitable bait below. It had to be a sheep, 

 because we had no goat. We chose our tree, and 

 when the witching hour of twilight arrived, armed 

 with climbing-irons we began the ascent this-wise. 

 First myself, to the astonishment of half our caravan, 

 who had come to see what they should see. They 

 liked the climbing-irons immensely. I don't think 

 they had seen any before. 



