114 HIPPO AND LEOPARD [ch. v 



It was sent back to camp in company with tlie wounded 

 beater, after the wounds of the latter had been dressed ; 

 they were not serious, and he was speedily as well 

 as ever. 



The rivers that bounded Juja Farm, not only the Athi, 

 but the Nairobi and Rewero, contained hippopotami 

 and crocodiles in the deep pools, I was particularly 

 anxious to get one of the former, and early one morning 

 Judd and I rode off across the plains, tln-ough the herds 

 of grazing game seen dimly in the dawn, to the Athi. 

 We reached the river, and leaving our horses, went 

 down into the wooded bottom, soon after sunrise. Judd 

 had with him a Masai, a keen-eyed hunter, and I my 

 two gun-bearers. We advanced with the utmost 

 caution toward the brink of a great pool ; on our way 

 we saw a bushbuck, but of course did not dare to shoot 

 at it, for hippopotami are wary, except in very unfre- 

 quented regions, and any noise will disturb them. As 

 we crept noiselessly up to the steep bank which edged 

 the pool, the sight was typically African. On the still 

 water floated a crocodile, nothing but his eyes and nos- 

 trils visible. The bank was covered with a dense growth 

 of trees, festooned with vines ; among the branches sat 

 herons ; a little cormorant dived into the water ; and 

 a very small and brilliantly coloured kingfisher, with a 

 red beak and large turquoise crest, perched unlieedingly 

 within a few feet of us. Here and there a dense growth 

 of the tall and singularly graceful papyrus rose out of 

 the water, the feathery heads, which crowned the long 

 smooth green stems, waving gently to and fro. 



We scanned the waters carefully, and could see no 

 sign of hippos, and, still proceeding with the utmost 

 caution, we moved a hundred yards farther down to 

 another lookout. Here the Masai detected a hippo 



