IV 
GO VERNMENT EX PL ORA T10NS 
83 
that the sepoys could either ride or pack their valises on them. 
We arrived at So Midg&n, twenty-three miles from Buih&r, at 
dusk, and next day marched to Eil A nod, ten miles farther. 
We expected to come upon the Habr Gerhajis tribe, which was 
supposed to be slightly hostile to the British, and was noted for 
raiding ; and as we passed the spurs of the Sarar-awr (camel- 
back) plateau, on the way to Eil Anod, we saw the tops of the 
hills white with sheep and lined with men, who were in a great 
state of alarm, shouting down at us. Later we found a karia 
with only a few women in it, who said all the men had run 
away, thinking we had come to loot them ! Knowing mounted 
men cannot climb hills, they had taken the precaution to drive 
the flocks up, taking charge of them for the time being, and 
leaving the women to mind the rest of their property below. 
We reassured these women, who then ran up and brought 
down the men, and after a short conference the flocks were 
driven into the plain again. The owners of the karia turned 
out to be a jilib or family of the Habr Gerhajis, and soon an 
intelligent-looking young man who had lost one leg came forward 
mounted on a pony and shook hands. He was Deria Shire, the 
son of an important elder of the Habr Gerhajis tribe named 
Shire Shirmaki, whom I afterwards met and made great friends 
with during the elephant -hunting trip described in the last 
chapter. The latest news I have heard of Deria Shire, who, 
although a well-mannered young man, is rather a scoundrel, was 
to the effect that two or three years after our meeting he speared 
his old father in the leg, nearly killing him. I found him very 
polite, and he accompanied us to the wells, remarking that he 
had not the slightest knowledge why we had come, and that his 
tribe were very suspicious. No other white man had ever been 
to Eil Anod before, and he did not quite see why we had come 
now. 
We found a few men at the Eil Anod wells, who received us 
with black looks, and we took possession of one of the old 
zeribas and put a sentry over a well reserved for our own use. 
Deria Shire left us, saying that he could not be responsible for 
what his tribe might do ; we had come armed with guns and 
were strong, and he hoped we would leave him alone. Mean- 
while, as we were pitching camp, my interpreter, Samanter, 
went to the wells and got into conversation with some tribesmen 
lounging there. He came back to me in a great state of excite- 
ment, saying he had reliable information that we were to be 
