ABUNDANCE OF GAME 
127 
brought three less than I had ordered them to bring. Then 
came a grand story, how the caravan had been attacked by 
Midgans (a low-caste tribe of Somali), who had stolen the 
three bags of rice, how my men had fired at them, and 
eventually they had dispersed, leaving behind them a 
quiver full of poisoned arrows, which they now brought me 
as proof of the veracity of their statements. My boy, who 
was the only man with any pretensions to truth, honestly 
told me some days after that this story had all been 
arranged for the men by my headman, who had ordered 
them to sell the three bags of rice and give him the pro- 
ceeds 1 
The arrows used by the Midgan hunters have a barbed 
iron head ; under the barb the poison is stuck on like black 
glue ; the shaft is then stuck into a thin stick, and made 
tight with a bit of hide. The quivers are made of wood, 
with gerenook-hide sewn round them ; to the quiver is 
attached a knife in a sheath, a stone for sharpening arrow- 
barbs, and a pointed tool for mending sandals. The bows 
were ordinary pieces of bent wood, with the gut of some 
antelope for string. The poison used on the arrows is 
obtained from the sap of a certain tree. 
Next day I left Bun Feroli an hour before sunrise, and 
when it was light we found ourselves surrounded by game 
— three lots of oryx, gerenook, ‘ big ’ or ' pork ’ (wart hog), 
zebra, and endless herds of ^ owl.’ I stalked a herd of oryx 
with great care, and knocked one over, when they dashed 
off in every direction, with the exception of one old fellow 
who, after staring at me for a moment, put his head down 
and his tail up, and charged me at a gallop ! I had but 
one cartridge in my rifle, so I waited until he was close 
upon me, when I put the bullet in the very centre of his 
chest, knocking him right back upon his haunches, and then 
he fell over on his side. I never saw an antelope charge in 
such a deliberate manner before, and I think I had a very 
lucky escape from being badly hurt, if not killed. On 
lookino; for the first which I had knocked over, we failed to 
