140 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 
somewhat superciliously, and went off with it with 
both blades open. We had not once got to the main 
point, the leopard, whose existence was supposed to 
be a daily menace to their karia. I bade Clarence go 
after our guest, and extract particulars. 
After a little time a convoy appeared with return 
gifts, a couple of goats, and dirty hams without number 
full of camels’ milk. I thought at one time the extreme 
uncleanliness of the hams accounted for the unpleasant 
taste of the milk, but I liked it no better when Ij 
sampled it from a can of my own providing. 
The leopard, for this time rumour had not lied, had 
made serious depredations, and carried off nightly 
goats, sheep, and even a baby camel. It jumped the 
zareba wall with ease, apparently. We decided to 
have a machdn , or rather a small enclosure, built, and 
sit up for the thief. I never see much fun in thi s 
sitting up business. It is so often all waiting and no 
coming. We set some of the men to construct the 
shelters, and arranged them some six hundred yards 
away from the Somali encampment on the side where 
the leopard had most often made an entry. We 
decided to have a small zareba each, two hundred 
yards apart, and took up our residence for the night 
about 6 p.m. Cecily had Clarence with her ; I had 
mine to myself. I was most uncomfortably crowded as 
it was, but Cecily had a little more space in her prison. 
We tied up a goat between us, and settled down to 
dreary hours of silent watching. Though we kept 
quiet, the Somalis never gave over singing and shouting 
for a moment. I wondered at a leopard going near 
