"The Sheik Of Sofi, Hassan Bel Kader, Swam Across The River With
A Present Of Fowls; These He Had Tied Upon His Head To Prevent
Them From Drowning.
This man is a celebrated hippopotamus hunter,
and I look forward to accompanying him upon a harpooning
expedition, when the river is lower.
His father was killed by a
bull hippo that he had harpooned; the infuriated animal caught
the unfortunate hunter in his jaws, and with one nip
disembowelled him before his son's eyes. Accidents are constantly
occurring in this dangerous sport, as the hunters are so
continually in the water that they are exposed, like baits, to
the attacks of crocodiles. During the last season one of the
sheik's party was killed; several men were swimming the river,
supported by inflated skins, when one was suddenly seized by a
crocodile. Retaining his hold upon the support, his comrades had
time to clutch him by the hair, and beneath the arms; thus the
crocodile could not drag the buoyant skins beneath the surface.
Once he was dragged from their grasp, but holding to his inflated
skin, he regained the surface, and was again supported by his
friends, who clung to him, while he implored them to hold him
tight, as the crocodile still held him by the leg. In this way
the hunters assisted him; at the same time they struck downwards
with their spears at the determined brute, until they at last
drove it from its hold. Upon gaining the shore, they found that
the flesh of the leg from the knee downwards had been stripped
from the bone, and the poor fellow shortly died.
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