In A Few Minutes Later, At A Distance Of Nearly Half A Mile, We Observed
The Hippo Emerge From The Jungle And Descend At Full Trot To The Bed Of
The River, Making Direct For The First Rocky Pool In Which We Had
Noticed The Herd Of Hippopotami.
Accompanied by the old howarti (hippo
hunter), we walked quickly toward the spot.
He explained to me that I
must shoot the harpooned hippo, as we should not be able to secure him
in the usual method by ropes, as nearly all our men were absent from
camp, disposing of the dead elephants.
Upon reaching the pool, which was about a hundred and thirty yards in
diameter, we were immediately greeted by the hippo, who snorted and
roared as we approached, but quickly dived, and the buoyant float ran
along the surface, directing his course in the same manner as the cork
of a trimmer marks that of a pike upon the hook. Several times he
appeared, but as he invariably faced us I could not obtain a favorable
shot; I therefore sent the old hunter round the pool, and he, swimming
the river, advanced to the opposite side and attracted the attention of
the hippo, who immediately turned toward him. This afforded me a good
chance, and I fired a steady shot behind the ear, at about seventy
yards, with a single-barrelled rifle. As usual with hippopotami, whether
dead or alive, he disappeared beneath the water at the shot. The crack
of the ball and the absence of any splash from the bullet told me that
he was hit; the ambatch float remained perfectly stationary upon the
surface.
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