150 SOUTH AFRICAN MAMMALS 



with his own particular black " Boy " who feeds and looks 

 after him, although peculiarly enough, strange natives — 

 especially women — excite him. '* Sigapo," as he is named, 

 can be coaxed out of the water by his native keeper 

 almost at any time, by the offer of bread, or cakes of 

 mealie porridge of which he is inordinately fond. Should 

 these lures fail, as they sometimes do when he has a fit 

 of the blues, the forcible introduction of a strange Kaffir 



Fig, 73. — Hippo Wading. 



within his camp has the desired effect, much to the dismay 

 and terror of the said native. In his younger days shortly 

 after his arrival in the Zoo, he used to daily follow his 

 native attendant to the river for a bathe, until he chased 

 our blacksmith and nearly frightened the man out of his 

 wits. After this little escapade he was sentenced to 

 imprisonment for life and a concrete tank was built for 

 him instead. We nearly lost him twice, firstly when a 

 thoughtless individual threw a stone, nearly two inches 

 in diameter, down his throat, which he subsequently 



