52 
SOMALILAND 
Some of my men then performed, one of them being 
extremely clever, riding ‘bareback’ and turning somer- 
saults on the pony’s back and upon the ground, and then 
regaining his seat in the saddle at full gallop. The dis- 
play was not brought to a close without accident. One 
of my men got kicked by a pony, and then picked a quarrel 
with the tribesmeti-, saying their horse was trying to kill 
him. Daggers were drawn, but after kicking them both 
vigorously I at length restored order. 
Then one pony with a very hard mouth bolted and 
rushed headlong into a very thick thorn-bush, cutting its 
face and mouth in a shocking manner and severely mauling 
the rider. 
I took some snapshots with my camera of the riders, but 
in order to get near the women I was obliged to stalk them. 
They of course wanted to know what was inside ‘ that box.’ 
I answered them that it was a counting machine to tell me 
how many people were there. The display lasted upwards 
of two hours, at the end of which time I was very tired of 
sitting in the dust kicked up by the horses, added to which 
I received a nasty blow across my face from the whip of one 
of the riders as he galloped past. 
After the performance, there was a long consultation as 
to what we should give them. My headman wished to give 
them nothing, as they had given us no present, that being 
the custom of the country. On the other hand, my shikari, 
who was of the same tribe as the villagers, of course wanted 
to give them far too much. However, after a great deal of 
argument, in which my man who had been kicked by the 
pony joined in lustily, shouting ‘ Give ’em bullets in their 
stomachs !’ I finally said I would give them four tohes of 
merikani cloth if they gave me one sheep, which they 
accordingly did. The squabbling amongst the fifteen or 
twenty headmen present, the brandishing of spears, and 
the arguing as to who should have those four tohes, will 
not soon be forgotten, and it was only the darkness that 
finally cleared them off. 
