PROGRAMME, FOR THE DAY 
17 
be found, and the result is either a wound or a'blow-tb- 
pieces. 
In this country were to be found enormous ants, which 
were most interesting to watch. I saw one of these insects 
carrying off a piece of bread four or five times its own size 
at a great pace. When he came to a steep place, in order 
to get it along quickly, he clutched it wdth all his legs, and, 
placing himself on his back, literally turned head over heels 
backwards down the little bank, still clinging tightly to his 
prize. In this manner he got along with amazing rapidity. 
My programme when on the march was : Coffee at 2.30 
or 3 a.m., march till 9 or 10 a.m., then unload camels and 
turn off to feed. Breakfast, and an hour’s sleep on my bed 
under a tree, flies, ants, and insects of all kinds swarming 
over me the whole time, and birds hopping about picking 
up the crumbs within an arm’s length of me. We fetched 
up the camels at 1 or 2 p.m., and marched again till 5 or 6, 
when we encamped for the night, and after a thorough 
examination of the body for the thousands of noxious insects 
which crawl over one when asleep on the ground, I made a 
hearty meal, wrote up my diary for the day, and retired to 
bed at 8 or 9. At first the smell of the camels all round 
my tent was intensely annoying, but I soon got accustomed 
to it. The noise of the men was objectionable, singing and 
dancing often being kept up till well-nigh midnight. The 
changing of sentries, the glare of the camp-fires, and the 
howling of hyaenas all helped to keep one awake. 
The day before we got to Hargaisa we marched at 
2.30 a.m., the morning being intensely cold. I was so 
sleepy that I actually fell asleep in my saddle, when the 
pony stumbled over an aloe plant, and I awoke with a start 
to find it still dark, and the reins trailing on the ground. 
When day broke, my syce, as usual, spotted three gerenook, 
and after following them in full view for half a mile, one, a 
male, lagged behind, and as he stood facing me at 100 yards, 
I fired at his chest, the ball striking his left shoulder. He 
whisked round, and was off like lightning. We followed 
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