A\'ith I-kishli-ht aiul Ritic -^ 



them of th(Mr feathers ! As a matter of fact, what he 

 really did was to kill the marabous he foiintl on the 

 corpses of the hippopotamuses he had himself shot. 



On my reporting this at the station the man, who 

 had been going about all over Africa for seven years, 

 without having any kind of credentials on him, was 

 arrested and brought up tor trial by order of Capt. 

 Merker, who had just come back from leave. His 

 employers paid the money due for the shooting-taxes. 

 This incident shows how undesirable it is to allow 

 foreigners, well equipj)ed with ammunition but without 

 credentials, to journey in the interior, where there can 

 be no control over their actions. 



In this connection I may remark that the capture of an 

 old marabou in an unimpaired condition is a feat I have 

 had before me for many years. It is an extraordinarily 

 difficult undertaking, very seldom carried out successfully. 



The teeth of the hi})|)opotamus are much hartler 

 than ivory, and for a long time were used for the 

 manuficture of false teeth. Science has now found a 

 better means of j:)roducing the latter, though it has 

 yet t(^ discover a substitute for ivory in the making 

 of billiard-balls. Old Le \\iillant remarks in his 

 book of travels, puljHshed a hundred )ears ago : " It 

 is not surprising that h>uropeans. especially Frenchmen, 

 should makt: an article of commerce out of the 

 teeth of the hippopotamus, for with the help of science 

 they are made to replace our own, and \\v. may see 

 them flashing delightfully in i\\(t mouth of a pretty 

 woman." 



268 



