An Ordinary Clergyman, However Well
Suited For A Parish, Will Not, Without Special Training, Make A
Missionary; And As To
Their comparative usefulness, it is like that
of the man who builds an hospital, as compared with that of the
Surgeon who in after years only administers for a time the remedies
which the founder had provided in perpetuity. Had the Bishop
succeeded in introducing Christianity, his converts might have been
few, but they would have formed a continuous roll for all time to
come.
The Shire fell two feet, before we reached the shallow crossing where
we had formerly such difficulty, and we had now two ships to take up.
A hippopotamus was shot two miles above a bank on which the ship lay
a fortnight: it floated in three hours. As the boat was towing it
down, the crocodiles were attracted by the dead beast, and several
shots had to be fired to keep them off. The bullet had not entered
the brain of the animal, but driven a splinter of bone into it. A
little moisture with some gas issued from the wound, and this was all
that could tell the crocodiles down the stream of a dead
hippopotamus; and yet they came up from miles below. Their sense of
smell must be as acute as their hearing; both are quite
extraordinary. Dozens fed on the meat we left. Our Krooman, Jumbo,
used to assert that the crocodile never eats fresh meat, but always
keeps it till it is high and tender - and the stronger it smells the
better he likes it. There seems to be some truth in this. They can
swallow but small pieces at a time, and find it difficult to tear
fresh meat. In the act of swallowing, which is like that of a dog,
the head is raised out of the water. We tried to catch some, and one
was soon hooked; it required half-a-dozen hands to haul him up the
river, and the shark-hook straightened, and he got away. A large
iron hook was next made, but, as the creatures could not swallow it,
their jaws soon pressed it straight - and our crocodile-fishing was a
failure. As one might expect, - from the power even of a salmon - the
tug of a crocodile was terribly strong.
The corpse of a boy floated past the ship; a monstrous crocodile
rushed at it with the speed of a greyhound, caught it and shook it,
as a terrier dog does a rat. Others dashed at the prey, each with
his powerful tail causing the water to churn and froth, as he
furiously tore off a piece. In a few seconds it was all gone. The
sight was frightful to behold. The Shire swarmed with crocodiles; we
counted sixty-seven of these repulsive reptiles on a single bank, but
they are not as fierce as they are in some rivers. "Crocodiles,"
says Captain Tuckey, "are so plentiful in the Congo, near the rapids,
and so frequently carry off the women, who at daylight go down to the
river for water, that, while they are filling their calabashes, one
of the party is usually employed in throwing large stones into the
water outside." Here, either a calabash on a long pole is used in
drawing water, or a fence is planted.
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