WE REACH HARGAISA AGAIN 
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the most disagreeable I have ever slept out in. Terrific 
thunder and lightning was accompanied by a perfect deluge 
of rain. My bedding was saturated in a very few minutes, 
and so for the rest of the night I was obliged to sit on the 
wet ground. The dead camel, which, by-the-by, ‘ wasn’t 
no bloomin’ voilets !’ had been almost entirely consumed, so 
we fixed up a donkey near by it. 
The night was an ideal one for a Hon, but not one came 
near us. A curious little animal came boldly up and fed 
upon the camel’s carcase, close by the tail of the donkey. 
I dared not shoot at it, fearing to disturb bigger game. It 
was about the size of a jackal, but fatter, and I never 
remember seeing anything like it before. Cold and wet, I 
was glad when, at 2.30 a.m., my men came to let me out of 
my prison. I found the camels already on the march. 
That day we did two very heavy marches, viz., from 
2.30 a.m. till noon, and from 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m., seeing 
absolutely no game during the whole day. 
At 5 p.m. we reached Hargaisa again, and met with the 
first signs of cultivation I had as yet seen in Somaliland. 
Close to the village were huge square plots of ground, upon 
which grew long stalks, at the end of which hung bunches 
of seed resembling millet, and called by the natives haroot. 
In the middle of each of these plots were erected high 
platforms, on which men stood the whole day, shouting, 
and continually slinging stones among the stalks to frighten 
away the birds ; though why the stones didn’t knock off 
and destroy as much seed as the birds could eat I failed to 
see. 
We next saw a most unusual sight — the first house built 
for a European (Lord Delamere) in Central Somaliland, or 
rather, I should say, in course of building, for Mahomed 
Hindi, of Berbera, who was superintending the building, 
told me he could not finish it for a month. He begged of 
me to enter the wooden gates in the formidable wall, some 
12 feet high, and on passing through I found myself in a 
large court or square. In one corner a small bungalow. 
