THE BIG GAME OF AFRICA 



11.27 — or not quite half an hour from the moment the 

 hippo had been killed. The stream formed in this place a 

 fine, oblong pool, but only a very few hundred yards far- 

 ther down the foaming rapids began. Halfway to the rap- 

 ids there was a sharp bend in the river, and we thought 

 that the body, which now floated just about in midstream, 

 would surely land at our side of the bend. Much to our 

 dismay, however, the body seemed to float over nearer and 

 nearer to the opposite shore ; we had no boat available, and 

 there was no bridge or ford for many miles to either side. 

 Unless the hippo should be lost to us in a few more min- 

 utes, by being dashed down the rapids, someone would 

 have to swim out to the carcass to fasten it to the end of a 

 long rope, which I always carried on safari, and by which 

 it could then be easily hauled ashore. 



No promise of reward, nor anything else, could induce 

 any of my men to make this venture. I was very much 

 disturbed, thinking that, after all, this beautiful trophy 

 should be lost, and so, for a moment forgetting my dear 

 ones at home, I flung off my clothes, took the end of the 

 rope between my teeth, and jumped into the river, having 

 tied my big hunting knife to a string around my waist. I 

 must say that this was one of the most foolhardy things 

 I have ever done, for not only was the river filled with 

 hippos, but was also said to contain crocodiles, although 

 as yet we had not seen any. When within a few yards of 

 the hippo I felt a sudden stinging pain in my left leg; I 

 certainly thought I was done for then, imagining that a 

 crocodile or a hippo was trying to chew me up ! However, 

 I safely reached the carcass and, after having climbed up 

 on his side, I found myself bleeding from a wound some 



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