bank, just below the surface; upon this shallow bed
the hippo was reposing. Upon perceiving us he was
exceedingly saucy, snorting at my party, and behaving
himself in a most absurd manner, by shaking
his head and leaping-half way out of the water, r
This plunging demonstration was intended to frighten !
us. I had previously given Bacheet a pistol, and had
ordered him to follow on the opposite bank from
the ford at Wat el Negur. I now hallooed to him
to fire several shots at the hippo, in order to drive
him, if possible, towards me, as I lay in ambush
behind a rock in the bed of the river. Bacheet
descended the almost perpendicular bank to the
water’s edge, and after having chaffed the hippo considerably,
he fired a shot with the pistol, which was
far more dangerous to us on the opposite side than
to the animal. The hippo, who was a wicked solitary
old bull, accustomed to have his own way,
returned the insult by charging towards Bacheet
with a tremendous snorting, that sent him scrambling
up the steep bank in a panic, amidst a roar
of laughter from the people on my side concealed
in the bushes. In this peal of merriment I thought
I could distinguish a voice closely resembling that
of my wife. However, Bacheet, who had always
longed to be brought face to face with some foe
worthy of his. steel, had bolted, and he now stood
safe in his elevated position on the top of the bank,
thirty feet above the river, and fired the second
barrel in bold defiance at the hippopotamus.
“ As the hippo had gained confidence, I showed
myself above the rock, and called to him, according
to Arab custom, ‘ H&sinth! H&sinth ! ’ * He, thinking
no doubt that he might as well hunt me away, gave
a loud snort, sank, and quickly re-appeared about
a hundred yards from me; but nearer than this he
positively refused to approach. I therefore called to
Bacheet to shout from the other side to attract his
attention, and as he turned his head, I took a
steady shot behind the ear with the little Fletcher
rifle. This happened to be one of those fortunate
shots that consoles you for many misses, and the
saucy old hippo turned upon his back and rolled
about in tremendous struggles, lashing the still and
deep pool into waves, until he at length disappeared.
We knew that he was settled; thus my people
started off towards the village, and in a marvellously
short time a frantic crowd of Arabs arrived with
camels, ropes, axes, knives, and everything necessary
for an onslaught upon the hippo, who, up to
this time, had not appeared upon the surface. In
about one hour and a half from the time he received
the bullet, we discovered his carcase floating about two
hundred yards lower down the river. Several heads
of large crocodiles appeared and vanished suddenly
within a few feet of the floating carcase, therefore
the Arabs considered it prudent to wait until the
stream should strand the body upon the pebbly
* Hasinth is the Arabic for Hippopotamus.