TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 65 
deadly earnest. I do not think any harm would have 
resulted if the thorn had been left where it stuck until 
the morning. But no ! The men said if the thorn 
were left the throat would swell, and if the throat 
swelled the patient would choke, and if he choked he 
would be dead. The cook produced some of the doughy 
bread he was past-master in concocting, a sticky 
mass to act as a panacea, and our thorn-stuck hench- 
man swallowed a lot to the detriment of his digestion. 
No use. The thorn would not be levered out. Then 
—brilliant idea — try a hairpin ! Comic papers have 
it that a woman can go through the world with a 
hairpin as a tool for everything, and come out vic- 
torious. I have never seen one put in the list of a 
hunter’s requirements — a great oversight. Take my 
word for it, a hairpin does the work of ten ordinary 
implements. The rounded end of one hooked round the 
offending thorn ejected the cause of all the trouble, 
and peace reigned in the camp. 
E 
