A DINNER OF HIPPOPOTAMUS. 73 
moving not far from me, and by the dim moonlight 
piercing through the not very thick foliage, I perceived 
a monster hippopotamus, the male of the herd, coming 
sideways so as to pass within a few yards of me. Sud- 
denly he stopped; gave one of his sonorous grunts; and 
then advanced. What a monster he was! What a huge 
body! What short legs! At last, just as he had passed 
me, so that he could not face me without turning his 
unwieldy body, I fired into his ear, and the monster 
dropped on the spot with scarcely a struggle. But I __ 
wish you had been with me to hear the rush of the — 
others. I thought all the trees were coming down! One 
in his fright came down in my direction. I thought he 
was charging me, so I fired, and I heard the bullet strike. 
some part of his body, probably one of his tusks, for it 
made a great noise; but that was all; he passed on with 
a rapidity of which I thought these beasts perfectly in- 
capable. I was glad when they were all out of the way. ~ 
It had been an exciting hunt and I was satisfied. So 
I returned to the camp, and the next day we all went 
to cut up the beast. Some of the married men cut long 
strips of the hide to make whips, which they use pretty 
freely on the backs of their wives; but I made them 
promise not to use these whips except in self-defense. 
There was joy in the camp in the evening. We had 
music, and I enjoyed the broth amazingly; it was really 
good, and I wish I could say the same of the flesh ; but 
he was an old fellow and the meat was exceedingly 
tough. I soon gave up the job of trying to eat it. 
It did me good to see how my men enjoyed it. They 
had a dance in the evening. : | 
In the book called “Stories of the Gorilla Country ” I 
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