82 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 
dangerous fauna has been thinned almost to extinction, 
it would seem that the lesser has thriven/ Fewer 
lions to find food means more buck to live. 
You never find aoul in jungle country, and conse- 
quently they are of gazelle the most easily seen. 
Frequenting the grass plateaus and flat sandy wastes, 
as they do, whereon a few straggling bushes try to 
grow, the white hindquarters stand out clear and 
distinct as a target. When going off, startled, they 
stretch out, seeming to gain many inches in length, and 
when wounded an aoul never creeps off to die in 
impenetrable bush where the hunter has a difficulty in 
locating the hiding creature. Sensibly he selects the 
open “ bun, 55 and there is despatched the quicker. 
On coming to one open space of country I rubbed 
my eyes to see if I were awake or dreaming. The 
place swarmed with aoul. It was like some field at 
home, full of cows before milking time, except that 
these were very animated creatures, fighting battles 
together, and making the history for buckland. I lay 
down in a tuft of grass for an hour or more, watching 
the pantomime. The aoul were in two great herds, 
separate and distinct. Each was in the charge of a 
war-like old buck who had drilled his does into fine 
order, and vigilantly saw that they kept a fair distance 
from the rival herd. Sometimes a doe of frivolous 
propensities would essay to seek fresh fields and 
pastures new, edging away in the direction of the 
other harem. Nemesis was after her on the instant, 
in the person of her outraged lord, who gave chase, 
and cuffing her about most vigorously, soon showed 
