me. And should he not he able to elicit it by fair
means, he thought at any rate he would extract it by
foul, then and there, without condition or any clause
whatever. This was preposterous. I frankly told bim
exactly what I thought of him, saying I could not forget
what had happened; that he had abused the trust
reposed in him by the English, and I was bound in
duty to report the whole matter in every detail to the
Government; but should he discontinue his evil ways,
and take me safely to my journey’s end, I would promise
him a full pardon as soon as I arrived at Ber-
bera. This would not answer his purpose—bygones
must be bygones without any condition whatever, and
he went to his bed as wrathful as he rose.
lQth.— l rose early and ordered the men to load, but
not a soul would stir. The Abban had ordered otherwise,
and they all preferred to stick, like brother
villains, to him. And then began a battle-royal; as
obstinately as I insisted, so obstinately did he persist;
then, to show his superior authority, and thinking to
touch me on a tender point, forbade my shooting any
more. This was too much for my now heated blood
to stand, so I immediately killed a partridge running
on the ground before his face. Seeing this, he wheeled
about, prepared his pony, and, mounting it, with his
arms agitated and ready for action, said to the people
standing by that he would kill me if I dared shoot
again. I was all this while standing prepared to shoot,
without understanding a word of what was said, when
the interpreter rushed towards me pale and trembling,
and implored me not to shoot, but to arrange matters
quietly. He would not tell me, however, what had
occasioned the great anxiety his excited manner showed.
I of course was ready at any time to do anything I
could to help me on the journey, and again stated the
terms on which I.would grant the man a pardon. At
this juncture, Hassan, the sultan’s brother, who had
been absent a few days, came and‘interceded between
us. I told him everything that had happened, how
the Abban had even superseded the sultan’s order, by
forbidding me to do what I wished in his country,
and again begged him to be my Abban in Sumunter’s
stead. This he said he could not do, but gave Su-
munter a wigging, and desired me to go and shoot
anywhere I liked. Thus ended this valuable day.
11th.—Last night I shot a female spotted crocuta
hyena (here called Durwa) in the act of robbing. These
tiresome brutes prowl about at night, and pick up anything
they can find. Their approach is always indicated
by a whining sound, which had prepared me on
this occasion. She was caught in the act of stealing
away some leather thongs. The specimen was a fin p.
one, but until dissected I could not, from the hermaph-
rodital form of these animals, determine which sex it
was that I had killed. We now prepared for the march
westward, when Hassan said he would go back to near
the Mijjertaine frontier, where rain had lately fallen,
and all the Warsingalis had migrated with their cattle,
to fetch some ponies, which he would bring to me in a
few days, even before I could arrive at the Dulbahanta