Thus
Cleverly Made Sure, We Quickly Brought A Strain Upon The Hippo, And,
Although I Have Had Some Experience In Handling Big Fish, I Never Knew
One To Pull So Lustily As The Amphibious Animal That We Now Alternately
Coaxed And Bullied.
He sprang out of the water, gnashed his huge jaws,
snorted with tremendous rage, and lashed the river into foam.
He then
dived, and foolishly approached us beneath the water. We quickly
gathered in the slack line, and took a round turn upon a large rock,
within a few feet of the river. The hippo now rose to the surface, about
ten yards from the hunters, and, jumping half out of the water, he
snapped his great jaws together, endeavoring to catch the rope; but at
the same instant two harpoons were launched into his side. Disdaining
retreat, and maddened with rage, the furious animal charged from the
depths of the river, and, gaining a footing, he reared his bulky form
from the surface, came boldly upon the sand-bank, and attacked the
hunters open-mouthed.
He little knew his enemy. They were not the men to fear a pair of gaping
jaws, armed with a deadly array of tusks; but half a dozen lances were
hurled at him, some entering his mouth from a distance of five or six
paces. At the same time several men threw handfuls of sand into his
enormous eyes. This baffled him more than the lances; he crunched the
shafts between his powerful jaws like straws, but he was beaten by the
sand, and, shaking his huge head, he retreated to the river. During his
sally upon the shore two of the hunters had secured the ropes of the
harpoons that had been fastened in his body just before his charge. He
was now fixed by three of these deadly instruments; but suddenly one
rope gave way, having been bitten through by the enraged beast, who was
still beneath the water. Immediately after this he appeared on the
surface, and, without a moment's hesitation, he once more charged
furiously from the water straight at the hunters, with his huge mouth
open to such an extent that he could have accommodated two inside
passengers. Suleiman was wild with delight, and springing forward lance
in hand, he drove it against the head of the formidable animal, but
without effect. At the same time Abou Do met the hippo sword in hand,
reminding me of Perseus slaying the sea-monster that would devour
Andromeda; but the sword made a harmless gash, and the lance, already
blunted against the rocks, refused to penetrate the tough hide. Once
more handfuls of sand were pelted upon his face, and, again repulsed by
this blinding attack, he was forced to retire to his deep hole and wash
it from his eyes.
Six times during the fight the valiant bull hippo quitted his watery
fortress and charged resolutely at his pursuers. He had broken several
of their lances in his jaws, other lances had been hurled, and, falling
upon the rocks, they were blunted and would not penetrate. The fight had
continued for three hours, and the sun was about to set; accordingly the
hunters begged me to give him the COUP DE GRACE, as they had hauled him
close to the shore, and they feared he would sever the rope with his
teeth. I waited for a good opportunity, when he boldly raised his head
from water about three yards from the rifle, and a bullet from the
little Fletcher between the eyes closed the last act. This spot was not
far from the pyramidical hill beneath which I had fixed our camp, to
which I returned after an amusing day's sport.
The next morning I started to the mountains to explore the limit that I
had proposed for my expedition on the Settite. The Arabs had informed me
that a river of some importance descended from the mountains and joined
the main stream about twelve miles from our camp. In about three hours
and a half we arrived at Hor Mehetape, the stream that the Arabs had
reported. Although a powerful torrent during the rains, it was
insignificant as one of the tributaries to the Settite, as the breadth
did not exceed twenty-five yards. At this season it was nearly dry, and
at no time did it appear to exceed the depth of ten or twelve feet. It
was merely a rapid mountain torrent. But we were now among the mountains
whose drainage causes the sudden rise of the Atbara and the Nile.
Abou Do and Suleiman had lately given us some trouble, especially the
former, whose covetous nature had induced him to take much more than his
share of the hides of rhinoceros and other animals shot. The horses of
the aggageers had, moreover, been lamed by reckless riding, and Abou Do
coolly proposed that I should lend them horses. Having a long journey
before me, I refused, and they became discontented. It was time to part,
and I ordered him and his people to return to Geera. As Taher Sherrif's
party had disagreed with Abou Do some time previously, and had left us,
we were now left without aggageers.
On the following day I succeeded in killing a buffalo, which I ordered
my men, after they had flayed it, to leave as a bait for lions.
That night we were serenaded by the roaring of these animals in all
directions, one of them having visited our camp, around which we
discovered his footprints on the following morning. I accordingly took
Taher Noor, with Hadji Ali and Hassan, two of my trusty Tokrooris, and
went straight to the spot where I had left the carcass of the buffalo.
As I had expected, nothing remained - not even a bone. The ground was
much trampled, and tracks of lions were upon the sand; but the body of
the buffalo had been dragged into the thorny jungle. I was determined,
if possible, to get a shot; therefore I followed carefully the track
left by the carcass, which had formed a path in the withered grass.
Unfortunately the lions had dragged the buffalo down wind; therefore,
after I had arrived within the thick nabbuk and high grass, I came to
the conclusion that my only chance would be to make a long circuit, and
to creep up wind through the thorns, until I should be advised by my
nose of the position of the carcass, as it would by this time be in a
state of putrefaction, and the lions would most probably be with the
body.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 36 of 89
Words from 35620 to 36726
of 90207
