SOMALILAND 
244 
eager was I to get it down my throat. I wished I could , 
fill my pockets with it. I had a good wash, and went on 
• after the oryx, until soon after I spied a koodoo dash across 
the track in front of us. After it we raced along. I saw 
it in the distance several times. It doubled back a dozen 
times, went round and round bushes, and tried all sorts of 
tricks to put us off the track. At length I got a good sight 
of it in the bushes, but what a disappointment — it was only 
a female ! 
My man turned up with the water-bottle, and I felt 
more comfortable. I thought we must now be a long way 
from camp, but my men assured me we were quite close, so 
I determined to go back, have a rest and some breakfast, 
and then try again in the afternoon. As we walked along, 
I nearly trod on a huge leopard which was lying in a very 
thin open bush. This demonstrates how wonderfully like 
the jungle this apparently brilliantly marked animal is. I 
did not see him until he was well out on the other side, and 
before I could grasp my rifle he was into some long grass 
and out of sight in an instant. But he had not seen us, 
and just as a lion did, as before related, he made a circle 
and came back to our tracks to see what had disturbed 
him. He tracked us for about 100 yards, when he must 
have caught sight of us, as he made off at a fast pace. 
I looked up now and saw my camels grazing about a 
quarter of a mile off, so sent my shikari racing off to fetch 
the only goat kid which had survived the long thirsty 
march. When it arrived, we tethered it to a tree, and hid 
close to it behind a thick thorn-bush. When we had 
disappeared from view the goat at once began to bleat, and 
in less than a minute after the leopard charged it full tilt. 
I waited until he lay still on the top of the kid, then took 
careful aim at his head (for I was but a few yards off him) 
and fired. The bullet caught him right in the centre of 
the forehead, making a tiny little hole, and killing the 
leopard stone-dead. I seemed to have extraordinary luck 
with this dangerous animal. 
