The hunters dived as soon as
they had hurled their harpoons, and, swimming for some distance under
water, they came to the surface, and hastened to the shore lest an
infuriated hippopotamus should follow them.
One harpoon had missed; the
other had fixed the bull of the herd, at which it had been surely aimed.
This was grand sport! The bull was in the greatest fury, and rose to the
surface, snorting and blowing in his impotent rage; but as the ambatch
float was exceedingly large, and this naturally accompanied his
movements, he tried to escape from his imaginary persecutor, and dived
constantly, only to find his pertinacious attendant close to him upon
regaining the surface. This was not to last long; the howartis were in
earnest, and they at once called their party, who, with two of the
aggageers, Abou Do and Suleiman, were near at hand. These men arrived
with the long ropes that form a portion of the outfit of hippo hunting.
The whole party now halted on the edge of the river, while two men swam
across with one end of the long rope. Upon gaining the opposite bank, I
observed that a second rope was made fast to the middle of the main
line. Thus upon our side we held the ends of two ropes, while on the
opposite side they had only one; accordingly, the point of junction of
the two ropes in the centre formed an acute angle.
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