The Chief Boatman, Who Occupies The Stem,
Has In Consequence A Light Javelin Always At Hand To Spear Them
If They Are Not Quickly Out Of Sight.
These, and large alligators
gliding in from the banks with a heavy plunge as we come round
a sudden bend of the stream, were the occurrences of every hour
as we sped up the river.
The rapids in the part of the river between Katima-molelo and Nameta
are relieved by several reaches of still, deep water, fifteen or twenty
miles long. In these very large herds of hippopotami are seen,
and the deep furrows they make, in ascending the banks to graze
during the nights, are every where apparent. They are guided
back to the water by the scent, but a long continued pouring rain
makes it impossible for them to perceive, by that means,
in which direction the river lies, and they are found bewildered on the land.
The hunters take advantage of their helplessness on these occasions
to kill them.
It is impossible to judge of the numbers in a herd, for they are almost always
hidden beneath the waters; but as they require to come up every few minutes
to breathe, when there is a constant succession of heads thrown up,
then the herd is supposed to be large. They love a still reach of the stream,
as in the more rapid parts of the channel they are floated down so quickly
that much exertion is necessary to regain the distance lost
by frequently swimming up again: such constant exertion disturbs them
in their nap. They prefer to remain by day in a drowsy, yawning state,
and, though their eyes are open, they take little notice of things
at a distance. The males utter a loud succession of snorting grunts,
which may be heard a mile off. The canoe in which I was,
in passing over a wounded one, elicited a distinct grunting,
though the animal lay entirely under water.
The young, when very little, take their stand on the neck of the dam,
and the small head, rising above the large, comes soonest to the surface.
The dam, knowing the more urgent need of her calf, comes more frequently
to the surface when it is in her care. But in the rivers of Londa,
where they are much in danger of being shot, even the hippopotamus gains wit
by experience; for, while those in the Zambesi put up their heads openly
to blow, those referred to keep their noses among water-plants, and breathe
so quietly that one would not dream of their existence in the river
except by footprints on the banks.
Chapter 14.
Increasing Beauty of the Country - Mode of spending the Day -
The People and the Falls of Gonye - A Makololo Foray - A second prevented,
and Captives delivered up - Politeness and Liberality of the People -
The Rains - Present of Oxen - The fugitive Barotse -
Sekobinyane's Misgovernment - Bee-eaters and other Birds -
Fresh-water Sponges - Current - Death from a Lion's Bite at Libonta -
Continued Kindness - Arrangements for spending the Night
during the Journey - Cooking and Washing - Abundance of animal Life -
Different Species of Birds - Water-fowl - Egyptian Geese -
Alligators - Narrow Escape of one of my Men - Superstitious Feelings
respecting the Alligator - Large Game - The most vulnerable Spot -
Gun Medicine - A Sunday - Birds of Song - Depravity; its Treatment -
Wild Fruits - Green Pigeons - Shoals of Fish - Hippopotami.
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