By nature the hippopotamus is rather an inoffensive animal. Occasionally it becomes greatly enraged, as when pursued by hunters in boats, and then may be well considered dangerous. Its voice, which is loud, harsh, and grating, has been likened to the creaking and groaning of a large wooden door upon its rusty hinges.
Like the elephant, the hippopotamus can be tamed. It then becomes much attached to man. In its wild state it commits such mischief among the crops of the fields and in sections under cultivation that it is closely hunted. Sometimes it is taken in pits which are dug along its usual tracks. Sometimes it is killed by poisoned arrows, or by pursuing it in canoes. The natives harpoon it or shoot it with rifles.
Its flesh is highly prized. Under the skin there is a thick layer of fat, which is considered a great African delicacy. This fat, when salted, is called "lake-cow bacon" at the Cape of Good Hope. The tongue is much esteemed, as is also a jelly made from the feet. The thick hide is used for a variety of purposes. The great front teeth are very valuable as ivory and form an important feature of African commerce.
Livingstone gives an interesting description of a tribe of hippopotamus hunters, whose ancestors for generations had followed the same pursuit:—
"They follow no other occupation, but when their game is getting scanty at one spot they remove to some other part of the Loangwa, Zambesi, or Shiré, and build temporary huts on an island, where their women cultivate patches. The flesh of the animals they kill is eagerly exchanged by the more settled people for grain. They are not stingy, and are ever welcome guests. I never heard of any fraud in dealing, or that they had been guilty of an outrage on the poorest; their chief characteristic is their courage.
"Their hunting is the bravest thing I ever saw. Each canoe is manned by two men; the canoes are long, light crafts, scarcely half an inch in thickness, about eighteen inches beam, and from eighteen to twenty feet long. They are formed for speed and shaped somewhat like our racing boats.
"The crew use broad, short paddles, and as they guide the canoe slowly down stream to a sleeping hippopotamus, not a single ripple is raised on the smooth water. They look as if holding in their breath, and communicate by signs only.
"As they come near the prey, the harpooner in the bow lays down his paddle and rises slowly up, and there he stands erect, motionless, and eager, with the long-handled weapon poised at arm's length above his head, till, coming close to the beast, he plunges it with all his might in towards the heart.
"During this exciting feat he has to keep his balance exactly. His neighbor in the stern at once backs his paddle, the harpooner sits down, seizes his paddle, and backs, too, to escape. The animal, surprised and wounded, seldom meets the attack at this stage of the hunt. The next stage, however, is full of danger.
"The barbed blade of the harpoon is secured by a long and very strong rope wound round the handle. It is intended to come out of its socket, and while the iron head is firmly fixed in the animal's body, the rope unwinds and the handle floats on the surface.