"He worked around till he thought he had the proper aim and then fired. His shot was not fatal, and she turned with a roar that was something like the squeal of a hog, though much deeper and louder.
"At the same moment I saw her calf, which had been lying on the ground, and then I knew she would face and fight us. If she had been without young, her first move would have been to rush for shelter in the water.
"I stumbled and fell, but was up again in an instant. Luckily for me the hippopotamus is clumsy on land though quite agile in the water, and I was getting nicely out of the way when my foot caught in a tangle of reeds and I was down again.
A NARROW ESCAPE.
"This time the animal reached me, and opened its great jaws as if to swallow me at one gulp. I thought I was lost, but at that moment another bullet from the gentleman's rifle called her attention the other way.
"Another bullet followed, and then the beast turned toward the water; but she had been struck in a vital part, and fell before getting to the river. The calf did not run away, but stayed by its mother. It was too large for us to capture alive, and so we killed it, or rather the Englishman did. We had a good deal of trouble getting the boatmen to help us carry the prizes to the bank, as they were all afraid of being attacked if they ventured away from the water.
"At another time two Englishmen went out in a boat with a negro who was to ferry them over the river. While they were crossing they wounded a calf. The little fellow bellowed at the top of his voice and his mother made a rush at the boat, dragging the stern under water and giving them a narrow escape from drowning; but in attacking the boat she raised herself half out of water, so that they had good aim at her at very close range. A couple of bullets made her loosen her hold on the boat and drop again into the river.