At First The Plain Was A Network Of Holes, The Habitations Of The Jir Ad [38], A Field Rat With Ruddy Back And White Belly, The Mullah Or Parson, A Smooth-Skinned Lizard, And The Dabagalla, A Ground Squirrel With A Brilliant And Glossy Coat.

As it became dark arose a cheerful moon, exciting the howlings of the hyenas, the barkings of their attendant jackals [39], and the chattered oaths of the Hidinhitu bird.

[40] Dotted here and there over the misty landscape, appeared dark clumps of a tree called "Kullan," a thorn with an edible berry not unlike the jujube, and banks of silvery mist veiled the far horizon from the sight.

We marched rapidly and in silence, stopping every quarter of an hour to raise the camels' loads as they slipped on one side. I had now an opportunity of seeing how feeble a race is the Somal. My companions on the line of march wondered at my being able to carry a gun; they could scarcely support, even whilst riding, the weight of their spears, and preferred sitting upon them to spare their shoulders. At times they were obliged to walk because the saddles cut them, then they remounted because their legs were tired; briefly, an English boy of fourteen would have shown more bottom than the sturdiest. This cannot arise from poor diet, for the citizens, who live generously, are yet weaker than the Bedouins; it is a peculiarity of race. When fatigued they become reckless and impatient of thirst:

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