118 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA CHAP. 
and stretching far away to the east and west, without a bush. 
Our caravan travelled through abundance of game, chiefly beisa, 
hartebeests, and Scemmerring’s gazelles, which followed our steps 
while we were in the ban. 
Our caravan had now swelled to a long procession, as a 
number of people had come with us from the last karias to 
take advantage of our protection past the Hidegalla country. 
We camped on the farther side of this great plain, near 
some Samanter Abdalla karias. Here we heard that a lion 
KIRK’S DIK-DIK (Somali name, Sakdro gussuli). 
roared nightly round them, and next evening, at Gudaweina, we 
saw his pugs in the path. Thus we had found lion, ostrich, beisa, 
hartebeest, and Scemmerring’s gazelle, all living at least forty 
miles from water. The effect of thirst on our domestic animals 
was to make them abnormally tame. Often as I lay in my tent 
at the noon camp the donkeys and ponies would force their 
heads within the tent door, and the goats would walk straight 
in, putting their muzzles into every cup to look for water. As 
we arrived at one halting-place at dusk, a wild fox came trotting 
like a dog behind the caravan, a few yards from the last camel, 
having smelt the water which we carried in the Adns on the 
camels’ backs. 
