TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 253 
lion to that of his mate. One would have thought 
they had eaten too much to roar — a whole lesser 
koodoo between them ! Perhaps they were protesting 
that we had docked them of the head. Next day 
around the wells near where we were camped the pugs 
of two lions stood out clear in the sand, going from 
the oasis and back. The wells are too deep for wild 
creatures to negotiate, but water sometimes is to be 
had in the clay troughs used by the camels. These 
troughs were very dry, and I’m afraid that the lions 
went away thirsty. As it seemed an undoubted fact 
that the great cats were still in the fastness of green 
a mile or more in circumference, it did seem absurd 
for us to go on until we had made another effort to 
secure a fine trophy for the collection. 
At the edge of the oasis, on the north side, before 
it finally ended in a yellow waste of sand, stood a few 
guda trees, difficult to climb, for no branches hold out 
kindly assistance for at least sixteen feet from the 
roots, when the tree spreads vigorously into fantastic 
shapes to the top, which attains a height of some fifty 
feet. The foliage is very wide, and beautifully green. 
Our idea was to climb a guda in the evening, having 
tied up a suitable bait below. It had to be a sheep, 
because we had no goat. We chose our tree, and 
when the witching hour of twilight arrived, armed 
with climbing-irons we began the ascent this-wise. 
First myself, to the astonishment of half our caravan, 
who had come to see what they should see. They 
liked the climbing-irons immensely. I don’t think 
they had seen any before. 
