32 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA CHAP. 
succession of herds, each containing over a thousand camels, as 
they were taken to pasture in the mornings or back to the karias 
at night. They often have to graze at a distance of six miles or 
so from home, for, as the food near the karias is eaten up, they 
are driven farther out daily, and after a month or two the mat 
huts themselves are packed up and the tribe marches on, per- 
haps ten miles, to a fresh pasturage. Horsemen are constantly 
scouring the surrounding country to watch the next tribe, or to 
bring early news of a pasture having received heavy rain. 
Camels can be much more quickly rounded up and driven 
to the home karia than cattle or flocks, so they are trusted 
farther afield, and the number sometimes seen is astonishing, 
the whole horizon being covered with them. When camped at 
Gagab by the Milmil river-bed we daily saw between ten 
thousand and thirty thousand driven to water past our tents, 
belonging chiefly to the Rer Ali tribe. In Ogddén even an 
outcaste Midgan will sometimes own three or four hundred, and 
the only limit to their numbers is the capability of their owners 
to water and protect them. When a tribe becomes rich every 
man’s eye is covetously turned to this accumulation of camels, 
and it is not long before attempts are made to raid them ina 
mass, We were told of instances in the Dolbahanta country 
where ten thousand had been looted at one swoop. When 
unladen they can be driven at great speed, and as the raiders 
are nearly always on horseback, the attack is very sudden. 
When grazing, in dry weather, they are watered every six 
days or so, but when men are lazy, or animals very numerous, 
much longer periods are allowed to elapse. When rain has 
fallen, and the grass is green, camels, sheep, and goats are 
sometimes not watered for three months. We often found tens 
of thousands of camels and sheep grazing at least forty miles 
from water. The men and horses attendant on them live almost 
entirely on camel’s milk, a little water being carried over these 
great distances for the women and children. 
Droves of camels are generally led by an old one of immense 
size, a large wooden bell (kor) being hung round his neck to 
indicate the position of the drove after dusk. When returning 
from a good pasture, they show the exuberance of their spirits 
by cantering and kicking their heels in the air. A man running 
at best pace can with difficulty overtake one which is bent on 
avoiding him, and for a greater distance than two hundred yards 
the man is nowhere. They may often be seen scampering about 
