PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION 
Somaliland, the new British Protectorate, is in some respects 
one of the most interesting regions of the African Continent. 
In the present daily life of its natives we have represented to us 
something of the wandering patriarchal existence of Biblical 
times. The country contains ruins which probably date back 
to a period of very ancient civilisation. It is, moreover, the 
threshold to the mysterious nomad Galla tribes who inhabit the 
land between the Gulf of Aden and the Great African Lakes. 
Somaliland is the home of many varieties of African large game, 
and affords one of the best and most accessible of hunting- 
grounds to be found at the present time. 
In the intervening years between 1884 and 1893, professional 
duties necessitated my undertaking several journeys in Somali- 
land, with the object of exploration. In the intervals between 
these journeys I devoted my periods of leave to hunting in that 
country. During a period of nine years I undertook seventeen 
separate journeys to the interior, and so became familiar with 
the chief elements of interest to be found there. At the outset 
of my travels my age was twenty-five. I enjoyed absolute 
freedom of movement, and at this period had full control of a 
small escort of Indian cavalry. The sense of responsibility, and 
the prospect of exploring new country, filled me with delight 
and awakened my faculties. When I first entered the interior 
of Somaliland, in 1885, it was practically an untraversed 
country ; and hitherto, though unjustly so, it had always borne 
the reputation of being the desert home of bigoted and ferocious 
savages. 
My principal object in writing this book is to present phases 
of life in nomadic North-East Africa, and to supply detailed 
information of a nature that might prove useful to travellers 
and sportsmen who wish to visit that country. As my brother 
