226 
SOMALILAND 
The curious part of these swarms of bees was that they 
always attacked me and my ' boy,’ and left the other men 
in comparative peace. Poor Deria stamped and jumped, 
and cursed and swore in Somali, but, then, Deria was always 
in hot water. If a man threw a stone, it was always Delia’s 
head on which it would alight. On the march, if a branch 
stuck out beyond the rest, Deria’s face would feel its thorns. 
If a camel fell down, and boxes flew in every direction, on 
picking up the pieces, who but Deria was ever to be found 
underneath ? Poor Deria ! No wonder he wore such a 
disagreeable expression. 
Added to all these discomforts was the cruel disappoint- 
ment, when all the men returned at night, that we could 
not find elephants, having wasted so much time and come 
so many hundred miles out of the way on a useless search 
through a country utterly destitute of all game. 
I had now barely ten days’ rations for the men. It 
became absolutely necessary to race out of this hateful 
country, where there were plenty of sheep, but where none 
could be bought. 
Next morning I was awakened by the noise of the camels 
being loaded up, to find myself stiff and sore all over from 
bee-stings. Whilst on the march, we passed the. fresh 
carcase of a gerenook killed that morning by a pack of 
wild dogs, the tracks of which we saw in the sand. At 
10 a.m., after our guide had lost his way more than half a 
dozen times, we camped on a grassy bit of open plain devoid 
of the horrid stones. Here, instead of bees, hundreds of 
‘ gingerbread ’ ticks swarmed over me. A nice change 1 It 
was very hot as usual, so that, on the caravan marching at 
2 p.m., I rested under the shade, and watched my shikaris 
making fire with the twirling-rod. Two men sat opposite 
each other. One held a piece of thorn-bush stick (having a 
small indentation in the middle) firm against the ground, 
whilst the other man placed another rod with a blunt point 
into the indentation and twdrled it round and round as fast 
as he could, holding it between the palms of his hands. 
