242 THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA CHAP. 
At the Seyyid’s village I heard that Ugdz Umr, the Malingur 
chief, had returned from Harar, after laying complaints against 
frontier Abyssinians before Ras Makunan. Eight men, who 
had either deserted from Prince Ruspoli or had been dismissed 
by him, said that some of their comrades and all the guns had 
been seized by Ugdz Umr, and were to be sent to Harar. They 
asked me to interfere ; but for political reasons I declined. 
On 22nd August, at sunset, we reached Bokhaiyer, another 
permanent village, occupied by the Rer Amaden tribe. Here 
I met many old friends, among them Jama Deria and his sons, 
who had escorted me to Imé a few months before, and were in 
this country on a short visit. I was standing, the centre of a 
mob of the villagers, when Jama Deria and six horsemen rode 
up, covering us with dust, and Jama shouted that “his English- 
man had come.” He took jealous care of me, whipping away 
the crowd, and never ceased begging till I left next morning. 
After several days’ hard marching we reached the Webbe 
at Sen Morettu, a permanent village of the Gilimiss Somalis, 
standing on the north bank, about six marches south-east of 
Imé, Karanleh lying half-way between the two villages. 
In this journey, owing to the difficulty in getting reliable 
guides, we had made a detour to the east, doing fifty-two marches 
between Berbera and the Webbe, the direct distance being forty 
short marches. We actually struck the Webbe at Dagah-Yeleh 
on 25th August, and in the evening I went out and shot my 
first adult balanka, or waterbuck. The bucks I shot at Imé, 
under the impression that they belonged to a new species, I 
now found to be young ones. 
Next day we made one long march westward, by the river- 
banks, to Sen Morettu. The Gilimiss Somalis were strong here, 
and came in numbers to my camp to present their salaams. 
Late at night they brought for sale the skin of a dél, or Webbe 
bushbuck. This was the first time I had heard of such an 
animal as a dél, and I resolved not to leave the Webbe till I 
had shot one. I shot a large crocodile by moonlight ; it was 
floating with the eyes above the water, only thirty yards from 
the tent, no doubt waiting for one of the milch-goats to come 
and drink. 
This night camp on the banks of the Webbe at Sen Morettu 
was striking in its scenery, and will ever live in my memory. 
The Gilimiss who had brought the dol skin had left, and the 
camp had settled down into slumber, except for one watchful 
