232 ' SOMALILAND 
breakfast, after- wliich repast I wentN fast asleep again 
until we restarted at 1. About 4 p.m., as I was riding 
the pony, a fine leopard jumped out of a bush under 
the horse’s hoofs, and made off through the bushes at a 
great pace. I was out of the saddle in an instant, and my 
shikari in.* Seizing my rifle, I fired, and missed him. Off 
galloped my shikari after him, and soon brought him to 
bay in a small thorn-bush, where he lay flat against the 
ground, showing his teeth and uttering low growls. As I 
ran up, the pony, which was very frightened, reared and 
backed, and the leopard turned his head from me to look 
at him. I took a careful aim, and put a bullet in at the 
back of his neck, killing him instantaneously. He was a 
large leopard for Somaliland, and had a handsome skin. 
On getting back to, or rather coming up with, the 
caravan, we camped. I climbed a large tree, and could 
see in the distance the same range of hills we had passed 
on our left when marching into the Marehan country. 
Next morning we approached the range of hills, and 
camped close by the side of a small one, which stood out 
alone on our right. In the evening we were passing the 
big range on our left. We found an empty well, round 
which were numerous old elephant and rhinoceros tracks. 
We passed the Bur Gabo range of hills at about fo\]r miles 
distance. Between us and the hills there was thick thorn- 
bush with big trees, the former all burnt up with the heat, 
and not in leaf. The trees reached right to the top of the 
hills. In the bushes T saw two lots of dibitag and one herd 
of gerenook, all of which proved frightfully wild. I also 
saw fresh lesser koodoo tracks, and a lion’s spoor two days 
old. Two of my men were sick and had to be carried on 
camels, and one of my goats was so ‘ pumped ’ with the long 
marches that it had to be killed. 
Next morning we started at 3.30, and the thorn- 
bushes tore my hands all to pieces again. How I longed 
for the sun to rise ! When at length dawn appeared, we 
discovered that the old caravan tracks we had been follow- 
