With Extraordinary Power He Breasted The Descending
Stream, Gaining A Footing In The Rapids, About Five Feet Deep.
He
ploughed his way against the broken waves, sending them in showers of
spray upon all sides, and, upon
Gaining broader shallows, tore along
through the water, with the buoyant float hopping behind him along the
surface, until he landed from the river, started at full gallop along
the dry shingly bed, and at length disappeared in the thorny nabbuk
jungle.
I never could have imagined that so unwieldy an animal could have
exhibited such speed; no man would have had a chance of escape, and it
was fortunate for our old Neptune that he was secure upon the high ledge
of rock; for if he had been in the path of the infuriated beast there
would have been an end of Abou Do. The old man plunged into the deep
pool just quitted by the hippo and landed upon our side, while in the
enthusiasm of the moment I waved my cap above my head and gave him a
British cheer as he reached the shore. His usually stern features
relaxed into a grim smile of delight: this was one of those moments when
the gratified pride of the hunter rewards him for any risks. I
congratulated him upon his dexterity; but much remained to be done. I
proposed to cross the river, and to follow upon the tracks of the
hippopotamus, as I imagined that the buoy and rope would catch in the
thick jungle, and that we should find him entangled in the bush; but the
old hunter gently laid his hand upon my arm and pointed up the bed of
the river, explaining that the hippo would certainly return to the water
after a short interval.
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