126 
SOMALILAND 
up for the occasion. My word ! it was a painful operation. 
He would persist in sticking the sharp quills well into my 
head ; he also had a knack of taking up a lock of hair 
with the comb, cutting half of it off with the scissors, and 
pulling the other half out by the roots ! When it was 
over, and I looked at the result in the glass — well, I never 
was a beauty before, but now — ‘ Larf ! I thought I 
should ’a doid 1’ There was no hair left. Between rows 
of long white furrows a few short bristles stood up, as 
though to mock me. 
Next day I spent the whole morning tracking the fresh 
spoor of a lion, but could not find the animal himself. 
Coming home I disturbed a huge spotted hysena, which 
was crouching in a bush close to my sheep. During 
breakfast the men had a row among themselves about 
the ownership of the sheep-skins. The cook, seizing a 
large carving-knife, and brandishing it on high, shouted 
in a loud tone that they all belonged to him. Before he 
had stood there two seconds, about half a dozen men fell 
upon him, knocking him head-over-heels into a cooking-pot 
of boiling water, and throwing his carving-knife right over 
the zareba. A general m6lee ensued, some taking the cook’s 
part — goodness only knows why — and some taking the 
opposition. Knives were used freely, but I managed, by 
rushing in between the parties unarmed, to quell the riot 
before any serious damage had been done to anybody. 
As we were short of meat, I devoted my afternoon to 
riding down ‘ owl ’ gazelle, and shooting from horseback. 
Singling out a large herd of old bucks, I soon cantered up 
level with them ; but as the pony refused to be brought to 
a standstill, I was obliged to fire at them at the gallop. 
After several ineffective shots, I got in a marvellous right 
and left, both animals dying instantaneously, and after 
another long gallop I shot a third. Having now enough 
meat for the men, I returned home, much pleased with the 
behaviour of the pony under fire. On coming back I 
wished to see the new bags of rice, and found that they had 
