292 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol, XIII, 
boiling down the leaves of a laurel. growing on the Golis Range and other 
high altitudes, Its efficaciousness depends entirely upon its freshness and the 
care with which it is prepared, The plan of action is then as follows: 
filling their pockets with the poisoned berries the Midgans start out at dawn, 
each leading a camel. As soon as an ostrich is sighted (they are almost invari- 
ably feeding at this early hour),a bare patch of ground is selected, near 
which the unsuspecting quarry is likely to pass, and the shikaris then 
separate, and by keeping ata sufficient distance and driving their camels 
judiciously but naturally along, themselves concealed on the off side of them, 
they endeavour to head the birds imperceptibly towards the berry-strewn 
patch, Ostriches,as is well known, are very long and quick-sighted birds, 
and once they descry the bright berries, they make at once towards them,’ 
The effect of the poison is narcotic ; after swallowing one or more of the 
berries the bird soon becomes drowsy, and in the course of time gets the 
staggers and sinks to the ground, when the Midgans come up and either find 
it dead or put an end to it, They told me that once a berry had been swal- 
lowed they seldom lost a bird, but that they sometimes had to follow for 
many hours before the final collapse. 
I endeavoured to take a photo of the deeply scored and shrunken shoulder 
of the individual who, as before mentioned, had been mauled by a lion, but I 
am sorry to say it was a failure. I got a very good picture, however, of their 
characteristic little zareeba and its quaint contents, By the time I had taken 
my photos and they had cooked a repast from my venison for my followers 
and themselves, the day was far gone, so after a short but unsuccessful 
attempt to stalk a herd of Oryx which had meanwhile grazed into view, I said 
goodbye to my hosts and set out again across the “ ban” towards home, The 
day’s work had been very unproductive as far as Hartebeest were concerned, 
but I would not have missed it for a great deal. As for the latter, the 
Midgans, who knew the ground thoroughly, assured me that I might search 
the Haud over and over, but should not see a Hartebeest again till the next 
rains fell; they had all migrated westwards to the Abyssinian highlands 
where grass and water still existed, Ihad been under the impression that 
Hartebeest, like most other African antelope, did not require water, but ac- 
cording to the Midgans an occasional drink is a necessity to this species, when 
the grass gets too dry. He at ee 
THE GREATER KOODOO. 
(Strepsiceros koodoo), 
This grand beast is, and always will be,so long as the race survives, the 
finest trophy to be obtained in Somaliland, They are still numerous on the’ 
slopes of the Golis Range, and are to be found, less plentifully, in ‘suitable: 
hill country all over the Reserve, Out of this circumscribed tract, and: 
supposing that the latter is intended to embrace both the northern and 
aouthern slopes of the Golis—(this point is not made clear in “The Rules. 
