294 
THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA chap. 
and from any direction ; and there is an additional danger in 
three or four men being huddled together with rifles on full 
cock in such jungle. 
As I have been nearly always travelling incessantly and 
generally on duty, I have seldom had time to wait among <the 
Somali karias for news of lions, and when I have been on leave, 
and time has permitted, I have generally preferred to camp 
among the mountains and look for koodoo, amid fine scenery 
and away from the noise and dust of inhabited country. This, 
to my mind, is by far the most fascinating sport in Somaliland. 
I have, however, had many shots at lions when marching, and 
brought home the trophies of four. To make a good bag, it is 
necessary to devote a trip exclusively to lion-shooting ; but to 
my mind the bright moments of intense excitement do not come 
often enough to compensate for the long monotonous days in 
camp. 
Lions are still numerous in Somaliland, chiefly in unexplored 
parts of the Haud and Ogaden. It is probable that many of 
the Haud lions never drink except when they can find pools of 
rain-water. They may be encountered at all times of the year 
at distances up to fifty miles or more from the nearest water. 
The Midgans go after them a good deal, and bring their skins 
to Berbera and Aden for sale, but they are seldom in good 
condition, being often riddled with spear-holes inflicted wantonly 
after death. When a lion has committed so many depredations 
among the karias that the men living in them are roused to the 
point of banding together to kill him, Somalis and Midgans, 
according to their own account, go after him on horseback till 
they bring him to a standstill in the open. Then they bait him 
by galloping round at full speed and shouting* The lion turns 
this way and that, trying to face them as they whirl round ; and 
getting confused with the shouting and dust, he falls a prey to 
the arrows of the Midgans, who mount and ride away to a safe 
distance with the other Somalis, and wait for his death. Some- 
times one of the horsemen is knocked over : an angry lion, unless 
too done up to make good his charge, being easily able to catch 
a bad or tired pony. 
The movements of the native encampments seem chiefly to 
influence the changes of quarters of the lions, the latter follow- 
ing the karias as they move to fresh pastures. When a family, 
with its flocks and herds and its karias, moves, its attendant 
lions, if there should be any, accompany it, being sometimes 
