260 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



much more boring. We arrived at the karia at the 

 time appointed, dressed in our best clothes, which did 

 not say much, as the best was very bad. I would we 

 had been fortified by the possession of spotless garments 

 to steel ourselves against the inquisitive looks of the 

 Somali ladies. It is so hard for a woman to appear 

 at ease in rags. He was a philosopher indeed who 

 said, somewhere or other, "It is our clothes-thatch 

 that, reaching to our heart of hearts, tailorises and 

 demoralises us." 



We were received by the usual curious crowd, who 

 fingered our coats and tried to look into our pockets. 

 Clarence explained we were to sit on the herios pre- 

 pared, and the show would begin. Men and women 

 took part in the dance, advancing from either side and 

 then retreating. I have attended many an Indian 

 " potlatch " of extravagant description, but they were 

 dignified in the extreme to the Somali equivalent. I 

 won't describe the dance in detail, because this is 

 supposed to be a pleasant book ; besides, Mr. Stead 

 may read it. To put the case mildly, the affair was 

 savage to a degree of ignorance I had not dreamed of 

 in its unvarnished vulgarity. 



It was the first indication we had that the Somalis 

 are uncivilised savages. I tried to doze. And being 

 very weary, slept. A violent push from Cecily aroused 

 me to a sense of politeness again, and realising that 

 peace reigned around we stood up, and through 

 Clarence, thanked the gratified " artistes," and left 

 them wrangling over the gifts which lay on the ground, 

 looking as though they were trying to apologise for 



