The Crocodiles Had Dragged The Skeletons Of The
Hippopotami Into The Water; Several Huge Heads Appeared And Then
Vanished From The Surface, And The Ribs Of The Carcase That
Projected, Trembled And Jerked As The Jaws Of The Crocodiles Were
At Work Beneath.
I shot one of very large size through the head,
but it sank to the bottom; I expected to find it on the following
morning floating upon the surface when the gas should have
distended the body.
I also shot a large single bull hippopotamus late in the evening,
which was alone at the extremity of the pool; he sank at the
forehead shot, and, as he never rose again, I concluded that he
was dead, and that I should find him on the morrow with the
crocodile. Tired with the heat, I trudged homeward over the hot
and fatiguing sand of the river's bed.
The cool night arrived, and at about half-past eight I was lying
half asleep upon my bed by the margin of the river, when I
fancied that I heard a rumbling like distant thunder: I had not
heard such a sound for months, but a low uninterrupted roll
appeared to increase in volume, although far distant. Hardly had
I raised my head to listen more attentively when a confusion of
voices arose from the Arabs' camp, with a sound of many feet, and
in a few minutes they rushed into my camp, shouting to my men in
the darkness, "El Bahr!
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