Meanwhile it is not explained why the Acting Com- missioner
and the Camel Corps ever found themselves so far inland as Burao. It will be remembered that after the lengthy, costly, and fruitless operations against the " Mad Mullah," which began as long ago as 1899, the Government decided in 1910 to abandon the whole of Somaliland except for three points upon the coast. When the Camel Corps, which has now met with disaster, was formed last summer, doubts were raised as to whether the policy of evacuation had been reversed, but Mr. Harcourt repeated in the House of Commons as lately as February and again on Thursday night that no change had been made. It seems, however, as though the fighting last week must be due to a compromise between the alternatives of effectively occupying the hinterland and of completely abandoning it.
