76 
SOMALILAND 
sation most of the night with his brother in the main camp, 
close at hand. I sat in a chair, peering out into the 
darkness the whole night, with my rifle ready through the 
port-hole, I heard a lion roar to the south of us, and soon 
after the donkey lay down. Suddenly I started, as I 
saw a gray form appear, but it was only a hysena. He 
approached the donkey, and the latter jumped up and 
turned round to kick. The hyaena bolted After this the 
donkey became restless, and I was sure there was a Hon 
about, for he cocked his ears and stamped his feet in- 
cessantly, keeping his mouth shut for the rest of the 
night. 
Next morning some of my men arrived to let us out of 
the zareba, with the intelligence that a lion had killed a 
young camel ; so after a cup of coflee I walked down to 
where it was reported, but on inquiry found it was all a lie. 
One of the villagers, however, volunteered to show us 
ostriches — a cock and a sitting hen with four eggs. So ofl 
we started, to again meet with disappointment, for after a 
long tramp we found the nest, certainly, but the mother 
bird, having been disturbed the day before, had broken all 
the ‘ hegses ’ and decamped. After collecting a few mangy 
black and white feathers I returned to camp. 
We then marched to a place called Gobtelleli, where there 
was a well of filthy water full of tortoises. Around here there 
were countless tracks of zebra ; but although we spent the 
whole afternoon looking for them we saw none. Next 
morning we found that lions had been walking all round 
our zareba during the night, but the ground was too rocky 
to follow them. Some men now came in saying a lion had 
killed a camel at a zareba three miles ofl. Before ordering 
the camp to be pitched, I determined to see the spoor 
myself, knowing full well that all Somalis are champion 
liars. We found that zareba after a long hunt, and for a 
wonder I found that the news was true. But of course 
they had cut up and taken away the dead camel, leaving 
only the entrails, in the midst of which sat a little girl 
