ABUNDANCE OF GAME 
2 I 
animal measured in a straight line ^ 37 f .inches, and round 
the curves 49^ inches ; the circumference at the base was 
10-| inches, and ifc was 19^ inches between .the tips.. 
Round Hargaisa next day I saw much game, including 
a herd of twenty oryx antelope, which passed me, trotting, 
at long range ; and as they did not see me, I waited for a 
better chance, which, however, never came, as they after- 
wards got our wind whilst stalking them. I cannot 
imagine a finer sight than a large herd of these magni- 
ficent and stately creatures trotting by one, shaking their 
heads up and down, and whisking their bushy tails. I also 
saw some koodoo females with one or two males’ with poor 
heads, some gazelle, which I could not hit, lots of dik-dik, 
two of which I killed (the female of these sweetly pretty 
antelopes is hornless), gerenook, which I never could get 
near, besides some francolin. Two of the latter I killed 
with one shot. I skinned one and ate the other, which 
proved extremely tasty. Being short of meat (the meat on 
a dik-dik being about equal in quantity to that on a hare), 
I bought three sheep for the men. After eating them all 
in a few hours, they set to work, and sang and danced by 
the camp-fires till midnight. One man sang a verse in a 
falsetto voice, which was followed by a chorus of the rest 
chanting ‘ Oh, ah ! oh, ah !’ in a low and quite euphonious 
fashion, clapping their hands and stamping upon the ground 
with their feet in time with the chant. 
My rifle and gun supplied me whilst at Hargaisa with 
most appetizing food. Listen to the menu for the day, and 
water, ye mouths : Breakfast at eleven. Porridge, a stew 
of francolin, dik-dik antelope, and onion gravy, followed by 
fried antelope. For dinner at sunset there were game, 
soup, curry and rice, roast guinea-fowl, followed by an 
extremely tasty little haunch of roast dik-dik. My cook 
was quite an artist, and served up my meals in a manner 
which would have done credit to many at home. 
At last I shot another gerenook. I got a difficult chance 
at one of these wily antelopes as he was standing upon his 
