TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 
92 
We pickled it all right, or what seemed like all right 
to us, rubbing it daily with handfuls of salt as we had 
seen ham cured at home. And then one day, when 
a meal was badly wanted, and the larder was empty 
of all else, we essayed to cut the treasured ham and 
fry it in slices. Cecily inserted a knife. The resultant 
odour was appalling. So were the awful little maggots 
that rose in hundreds. Clearly we didn’t know how 
to pickle ham, or else the ham of wart-hog would not 
take salt as our pig at home does. We could see 
the line to where the pickle had penetrated. Below 
chaos ! Ruefully we had a funeral of our looked-for 
supper, and fell back on the never-failing “ Elizabeth 
Lazenby.” 
