TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 265 
dislike of its own to our presence, and made off into 
the long grass. 
It took us a few minutes to recover from this shock 
and get back to our designs for ensnaring the hartebeest. 
The general idea was that Cecily was to work her way 
round opposite to me so that the sig lay between 
us. The coveted prize would then, at least we hoped 
so, break near to one of us. Of course it might just 
as easily dash off in quite another direction, altogether 
out of range. But it was the only thing we could 
think of to dislodge our quarry from the out-of-reach 
area in which it fed. I could not do any stalking 
myself that necessitated going on hands and knees, 
so Cecily set off, wriggling along like an eel. Though 
I soon lost sight of her, I could in a way judge of her 
whereabouts. Aoul started here and there as they 
winded her, moved away, and then contented them- 
selves again. They are like sentinels, these creatures, 
and must play a most useful part in the drama of the 
jungle. Not knowing, though, the actual moment 
Cecily would start the hartebeest, I began to feel 
quite nervous for fear I missed an easy shot. The 
tension got quite irritating when up from the sea of 
grass rose Cecily, like an Aphrodite in khaki. Her 
loud shout startled the sig, who stood an instant 
in paralysed affright, then, on the wings of the wind 
he sailed past me. I threw up my rifle, the pain in 
my supporting arm forgotten, and fired. The animal 
went on at a great pace. I do not think I got him 
anywhere, but Cecily, who ran through the grass to 
join me, says she heard even from where she was the 
