458 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



day before us. Since leaving Lo Magondi's we 

 had seen very little game — nothing, in fact, but a 

 few waterbucks. In the morning I had knocked 

 over a fine bull, but lost him, although I followed a 

 long way on his blooci spoor. A little later on, 

 however, Jameson had bowled over a cow of the 

 same species, so that we had meat, though the 

 waterbuck is the least-esteemed antelope, from a 

 culinary point of view, to be found in the country. 



July 3ii/. — We started down the bank of the 

 river in high hopes of soon falling in with hippo- 

 potami, for on the preceding evening we had already 

 seen abundant signs of their having been about 

 very recently. In the course of an hour we passed 

 some magnificent pools several hundred yards long, 

 broad and seemingly very deep, for the water looked 

 dark blue, and from the fresh tracks and dung on the 

 broad footpath which the hippos had made all along 

 the river's edge, we expected to see or hear some every 

 instant. Here for the first time I saw the beautiful 

 Lory or plantain-eater {Corythaix -porphyreolophus). 

 These birds, with their bright scarlet wings, dark 

 purple-green body, crested heads, and loud cry of 

 Glock, glock, glock, must, wherever met with, at once 

 attract attention ; beautiful green pigeons, too {Treron 

 delalandii)^ flew in flocks from tree to tree as we 

 advanced. 



At length, about nine o'clock, we reached the pool 

 in which were the unsuspecting hippos. We came 

 upon them suddenly, as they were all lying lazily on 

 the top of the water, and not more than thirty yards 

 from the bank. When we approached they seemed 

 utterly unsuspicious of danger, only pricking their 

 little ears and raising their heads higher in the water. 

 Jameson openeci the ball by striking a large cow 



