“After walking about two miles, we noticed a herd of Hippopotami, in a pool below a rapid, where the rush of water had thrown up a bank of pebbles and sand. Our old Neptune did not condescend to bestow the slightest attention when I pointed out these animals—they were too wide awake; but he immediately quitted the river’s bed, and we followed him quietly behind the fringe of bushes upon the border, from which we carefully examined the water.
“About half a mile below this spot, as we clambered over the intervening rocks through a gorge which formed a powerful rapid, I observed, in a small pool just below the rapid, an immense head of a Hippopotamus close to a perpendicular rock that formed a wall to the river, about six feet above the surface. I pointed out the Hippo to old Abou Do, who had not seen it. At once the gravity of the old Arab disappeared, and the energy of the hunter was exhibited as he motioned us to remain, while he ran nimbly behind the thick screen of bushes for about a hundred and fifty yards below the spot where the Hippo was unconsciously basking, with his ugly head above the surface. Plunging into the rapid torrent, the veteran hunter was carried some distance down the stream, but breasting the powerful current, he landed upon the rocks on the opposite side, and retiring some distance from the river, he quickly advanced towards the spot beneath which the Hippopotamus was lying. I had a fine view of the scene as I was lying concealed exactly opposite the Hippo, who had disappeared beneath the water. Abou Do now stealthily approached the ledge of rock beneath which he had expected to see the head of the animal; his long sinewy arm was raised, with the harpoon ready to strike, as he carefully advanced. At length he reached the edge of the perpendicular rock. The Hippo had vanished, but far from exhibiting surprise, the old Arab remained standing on the sharp ledge, unchanged in attitude. No figure of bronze could have been more rigid than that of the old river king, as he stood erect upon the rock, with the left foot advanced, and the harpoon poised in his ready right hand, above his head, while in the left he held the loose coils of rope attached to the ambatch buoy. For about three minutes he stood like a statue, gazing intently into the clear and deep water beneath his feet. I watched eagerly for the reappearance of the Hippo. The surface of the water was still barren, when suddenly the right arm of the statue descended like lightning, and the harpoon shot perpendicularly into the pool with the speed of an arrow. What water fiend answered to the summons? In an instant an enormous pair of open jaws appeared, followed by the ungainly head and form of the furious Hippopotamus, who, springing half out of the water, lashed the river into foam, and, disdaining the concealment of the deep pool, he charged straight up the violent rapids. With extraordinary power he breasted the descending stream; gaining a footing in the rapids, about five feet deep, he ploughed his way against the broken waves, sending them in showers of spray upon all sides, and upon gaining broader shallows he tore along through the water, with the buoyant float hopping behind him along the surface, until he landed from the river, started at full gallop along the dry shingly bed, and at length disappeared in the thorny nabbuk jungle.”
HIPPOPOTAMI AT THE FALLS OF THE RIVER SENEGAL.
“I never could have imagined that so unwieldy an animal could have exhibited such speed; no man would have had a chance of escape, and it was fortunate for our old Neptune that he was secure upon the high ledge of rock, for if he had been in the path of the infuriated beast, there would have been an end of Abou Do.
“The old man plunged into the deep pool just quitted by the Hippo, and landed upon our side, while in the enthusiasm of the moment I waved my cap above my head, and gave him a British cheer as he reached the shore. His usually stern features relaxed into a grim smile of delight; this was one of the moments when the gratified pride of the hunter rewards him for any risks. I congratulated him on his dexterity; but much remained to be done. I proposed to cross the river, and to follow upon the tracks of the Hippopotamus, as I imagined that the buoy and rope would catch in the thick jungle, and that we should find him entangled in the bush; but the old hunter gently laid his hand upon my arm, and pointed up the bed of the river, explaining that the Hippo would certainly return to the water after a short interval.
“In a few minutes later, at the distance of nearly half a mile, we observed the Hippo emerge from the jungle, and descend at full trot to the bed of the river, making direct for the first rocky pool, in which we had noticed the herd of Hippopotami. Accompanied by the old howarti (Hippo hunter), we walked quickly towards the spot; he explained to me that I must shoot the harpooned Hippo, as we should not be able to secure him in the usual method by ropes, as nearly all our men were absent from camp, disposing of the dead Elephants. Upon reaching the pool, which was about a hundred and thirty yards in diameter, we were immediately greeted by the Hippo, who snorted and roared as we approached, but quickly dived, and the buoyant float ran along the surface, directing his course in the some manner as the cork of a trimmer with a pike upon the hook. Several times he appeared, but as he invariably faced us, I could not obtain a favourable shot; I therefore sent the old hunter round the pool, and he, swimming the river, advanced to the opposite side, and attracted the attention of the Hippo, who immediately turned towards him. This afforded me a good chance, and I fired a steady shot behind the ear, at about seventy yards, with a single-barrelled rifle. He disappeared beneath the water at the shot. The crack of the ball and the absence of any splash from the bullet told me that he was hit; the ambatch float remained perfectly stationary upon the surface. I watched it for some minutes; it never moved. Several heads of Hippopotami appeared and vanished in different directions, but the float was still; it marked the spot where the grand old bull lay dead beneath.”
In addition to the ordinary means of harpooning, a harpoon is also used as a sort of trap, it being well known to the hunters that the Hippopotamus has certain roads or tracks which it habitually uses, preferring a quiet gully with tall trees and grass overhanging. The hunter finding such a road prepares a harpoon within six feet of a moderate-sized tree-trunk, to which he attaches heavy stones. Having found a suitable tree overhanging the path of the Hippopotamus, he throws the rope which is attached to the shaft of the harpoon round a branch, and hauls up his weighted instrument, having done which he drives a stake on one side of the path and turns the rope round it. He then drives another stake on the other side of the path, stretches his rope across, and fastens it to the other stake. The unsuspecting animal, taking his usual evening stroll, strikes his foot against the rope, which dislodging the stakes, the harpoon comes thundering down and the Hippopotamus is transfixed, to be found in the morning by the trapper, probably dead or dying, a long way from the scene of the trap.
Livingstone gives an account in his “African Travels” of a Hippopotamus captured by means of this trap, of whose working he was himself an eye-witness. He says that “both banks of the River Zambesi near the Mboma village are dotted with Hippopotamus traps, over every track which these animals have made in going up out of the water to graze. The Hippopotamus feeds on grass alone, and where there is any danger only at night. Its enormous lips act like a mowing-machine, and form a path of short-cropped grass as it feeds. We never saw it eat aquatic plants or reeds. The tusks seem weapons of both offence and defence. The Hippopotamus trap consists of a beam five or six feet long, armed with a spear-head, or hard-wood spike covered with poison, and suspended to a forked pole by a cord, which, coming down to the path, is held by a catch, to be set free when the beast treads on it. Being wary brutes, they are still very numerous. One got frightened by the ship as she was steaming close to the bank. In its eager hurry to escape it rushed on shore, and ran directly under a trap, when down came the heavy beam on its back, driving the poisoned spear-head a foot deep into its flesh. In its agony it plunged back into the river, to die in a few hours, and afterwards furnish a feast for the natives. The poison on the spear-head does not affect the meat, except the part around the wound, and that is thrown away. In some places the descending beam is weighted with heavy stones, but here the hard heavy wood is sufficient.”