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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