LION REPORTED 
93 
flying through the air, straight on a level with my head, at 
a terrific pace. I had just time to throw myself flat on 
my face in the grass as they passed over me. They went so 
fast it was almost impossible to make out what they were, 
but I suspect they were some sort of large bee swarming. 
I asked my shikari what he called them, and he said 
'shindy.’ Yes, I thought to myself, a very appropriate 
name ! During the morning I saw six different herds of 
oryx, but got a chance at one lot only. I had a very long 
crawl on my stomach, and my poor barked knees, which 
were healing up so nicely, were made worse than ever. 
I got at last within 150 yards of them, and then missed 
them with both barrels. They stood staring at me, huddled 
close together, for over a minute, as I felt in vain in every 
pocket for another cartridge. I had none, and when my 
shikari was in the act of throwing me the cartridge-bag, 
the antelope all turned round, and with a whisk of their 
tails cantered off Coming home I saw another sounder of 
' big,’ as my shikari called wart hog, but they got into 
thick bushes before I could mount. At noon the tempera- 
ture was 96° in my tent, and 119° in the sun. During the 
afternoon two native policemen, in the employ of the 
Government, came in, and asked for cartridges, stating 
that the caravan they were escorting had been attacked 
near Milmil, and that, after terrific fighting, they had 
succeeded in killing one ' honey ’ and badly frightening half 
a dozen men. I gave them ten rounds of ammunition each, 
and a letter to send to the coast, to be forwarded home. 
Next morning I started south-east for a village where 
lion were reported to have been lately at work. We 
marched for five hours steadily uphill, through thick tree- 
jungle. As we neared the village of Godgodeo, we found 
the spoor of a lion, a few days old, but when we reached 
the village, which was one of the biggest I had yet seen, 
we found, as usual, that nearly all the reports about lions 
were lies : so that I had come all this way for nothing. 
In your intercourse with Somalis there are two maxims I 
