TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 85 
As I have said elsewhere, the horns of the aoul differ 
considerably, and some otherwise well fitted out bucks 
have no horns at all. These bucks are often as well 
able to hold their own as their more perfectly equipped 
(so-called) betters, frequently bossing a herd. Others 
again have but one horn, and that deformed. 
It was near this place of the aoul that a most 
amusing thing happened. Clarence and I got be- 
nighted in the jungle, and didn’t get home until 
morning. I know that this sounds just like the plot 
for a fashionable problem novel, but there wasn’t 
much problem about it really ; it all came about as a 
very natural consequence, and happened mostly 
through my enthusiasm over another splendid oryx. 
I stalked this one for hours and hours, and the mos- 
quitoes and heat seemed but to sting him into keener 
alertness. I could not get within range. I tried on 
foot, I tried squirming along the ground flat, and then, 
when there was nothing else for it, I’d mount my little 
pony once again and furiously dash off in pursuit. 
When within range I only got the oryx in the leg, a 
slight wound merely, and I had to try and ride the 
wounded buck down. A desperate business in this case, 
for he was not hard hit. I did not like the idea of 
leaving a hurt creature to die miserably after prolonged 
torture, so we let him lead us on and on, and it was very 
nearly dark before I gave that animal the coup-de-grdce. 
By the time we had secured his head, a fine one indeed, 
his shield and skin, it was dark. Night had descended 
upon the jungle. We fired three times in quick 
succession, a signal agreed on in case we ever got 
