1 88 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 
in Canada. The camel bell is made of wood, carved 
by the natives, and, ringing in dull, toneless fashion, 
localises the band. 
We now began to be afraid of our reception. We 
were out of the beaten track, and Clarence was getting 
a bit out of his depth. Nothing untoward happened. 
We did not allow any stranger into our zareba, and 
met every caller outside. We felt that if we played the 
Englishman’s home is his castle idea for all it was 
worth we should be on the safe side. The Somali chil- 
dren seem to begin to work and carry heavy weights 
when ours at home are just about beginning to think 
it is time to sit up, and I never saw such out-sized 
heads ! They were all head and “ Little Mary.” 
With age equipoise asserts itself and the whole structure 
seems to revert to humdrumidity. For three years 
at least every Somali could qualify for Barnum’s as 
a freak. After that he begins to look like every other 
of his countrymen. But not all are alike. For 
instance, the head-man of this particular tribe was the 
most atrabilarious creature possible to meet. I don’t 
think he could smile. We thought he must be crossed 
in love, but Clarence said the Lothario had already 
worked through a little matter of four wives, so I 
suppose his excursions into the realms of Cupid had 
been fortunate rather than the reverse. 
A Somali is entitled to four wives at once, and the 
number of his children, as a rule, would rejoice the 
heart of President Roosevelt. The more children the 
better for him, because they make for the strength of 
the tribe. Even girls are not altogether despised assets, 
