44 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 
use. Every extraordinary feature of wild life seems to 
me to be there for some reason of protection, or 
escape, or well-being. Dear Nature arranges things so 
to balance accounts a little ’twixt all the jungle folk. 
In the Speke fraternity there is more equality of the 
sexes. The does as well as the bucks carry horns. At 
first I pretended to Cecily that my expedition had been 
an humiliating and embarrassing failure, that I had 
signally missed a shot at a gereniik that would have 
delighted the heart of a baby in arms. But she caught 
sight of my trophy impaled on a thorn bush, and 
dashed over to see it instanter. 
About this time we were very much amused to dis- 
cover we had among our shikaris a veritable Baron 
Munchausen. Of whatever he told us, the contrary 
was the fact. If he brought word of splendid khubbar , 
there was no game for miles. If we went spooring, 
he spoored to the extent of romancing about beasts 
that could not possibly frequent the region we were 
in at all. I do not mind a few fibs ; in fact, I rather 
like them. 
“ A taste exact for faultless fact 
Amounts to a disease,” 
and argues such a hopeless want of imagination. 
But this man was too much altogether. Of course he 
may have had a somewhat perverted sense of humour. 
My uncle had warned me I should find all Somalis 
frightful liars, and to be prepared for it. Personally, 
I always like to assume that every man is a Washington 
until I have proved him to be an Ananias. 
We saw — in the distance — numerous aoul, Scemmer- 
