From Pole to Pole: A Book for Young People

by Sven Anders Hedin

PLATE XXIX. A HIPPOPOTAMUS.

The hippopotamus spends most of his time in the water, but goes on land at night, especially in those districts where the rivers do not afford much food. Stealing carefully along a quiet river the traveller may often take him by surprise, and see two small jets of water rise from his nostrils when he comes up to breathe, snorting and puffing noisily. Then he dives again, and can remain under water three or four minutes. When he lies near the surface only six small knobs are seen above the water, the ears, eyes, and nostrils. If he is not quite sure of the neighbourhood, he thrusts only his nostrils above water and breathes as noiselessly as possible.

Hippopotami often lie splashing in shallow water, or climb up on to the bank to sun themselves and have a quiet lazy time. Very frequently they are heard to make a grunting noise of satisfaction. When evening comes they seek the deeper parts of the river, where they swim up and down, chase one another, and roll about in the water with great nimbleness and activity. They swim with great speed, throwing themselves forward in jerks, and filling the air with their gurgling bellowing cry; yet if they like they can swim so quietly that not the least ripple is heard. A wounded hippopotamus stirs up the water so that a small canoe may capsize in the swell from his forequarters.

When several old males are bellowing together, the din is heard for miles through the forest and rolls like thunder over the water. No other animal can make such a noise. Even the lion stops to listen.

On the Upper Nile, above Khartum, where the most luxuriant vegetation struggles for room on the banks, and the river often loses itself in lakes and swamps, the hippopotamus, like the crocodile, seldom goes ashore. Here he lives under lotus plants and papyrus leaves, soft reeds and all the other juicy vegetation that thrives in water-logged ground. He dives and rummages for a couple of minutes, stirring up the water far around. When he has his huge mouth full of stems and leaves, he comes up to the surface again, and the water streams in cataracts off his rounded body.

In districts where he goes on land to graze, he often works great damage among the corn and green crops, and may even attack the villagers. And he is not always to be trifled with if a canoe disturbs his repose. The most dangerous is a mother when her young ones are small. She carries them on her back as she swims and dives, sometimes to the bottom of the river. A gun must be heavily loaded if the shot is to have any effect on such a monster, and penetrate such a cuirass of hide. If the animal puffs and dives, he is lost to the hunter; but if he raises himself high out of the water and then falls again with a heavy thud, the wound is mortal and the hippopotamus sinks to the bottom. After an hour or two the body rises to the surface again.

Some negro tribes on the White Nile dig pitfalls for hippopotami, and on the rivers which enter Lake Ngami (see map, p. 262) on its northern shore the natives hunt for them with harpoons, much in the same way as whales are killed in the northern and southern oceans. The harpoons have a sharp barbed blade of iron, and this point is secured by strong string to a stout shaft of wood, the end of which is attached by a line to a float. Two canoes are dragged on to a raft of bundles of reed tied together, and between them the black hunters crouch with harpoons and light javelins in their hands. When all is ready, the raft is pushed out into the current and drifts noiselessly down the river. The huge animals can be heard rolling and splashing in the water in the distance, but they are still hidden behind a bed of reeds. The raft glides gently past the point, but the hippopotami suspect no danger. One of them comes up close beside the raft. The harpooner stands up like a flash of lightning and drives his sharp weapon with all his strength into the animal's flank. The wounded hippopotamus dives immediately to the bottom, and the line runs out. The float follows the hippopotamus wherever he takes his flight, and the canoes, now in the water, follow. When the brute comes up again, he is received with a shower of javelins, and dives again, leaving a blood-red streak behind him. He may be irritated when he is attacked time after time by spears, and it may happen that he turns on his persecutors and crushes a too venturesome canoe with his great tusks, or gives it a blow underneath with his head. Sometimes the animal is not content with the canoes, but attacks the men, and many too daring hunters have lost their lives in this way. When the hippopotamus has been sufficiently tired out, the hunters pick up the float, and take the line ashore to wind it round a tree, and then they pull with all their might to draw the creature up out of the water.

The flesh is eaten everywhere, especially that of the young animals, and the tongue and the fat of the older ones are considered delicacies. Riding-whips, shields, and many other articles are made out of the hide, and the large tusks are valuable. Hippopotami may be seen in some of the zoological gardens in Europe, but they do not thrive well in the care of man.