212 TO LAKE NATVASHA [ch. ix 



with the little Springfield rifle. The hippo was a self- 

 confident, truculent beast ; it went under water once or 

 twice, but again came out to the papyrus and M^aded 

 along the edge, its body out of water. We headed 

 toward it, and thrust the boat in among the water-lilies, 

 finding that the bay was shallow, from three to six feet 

 deep. While still over a hundred yards from the hippo, 

 I saw it turn as if to break into the papyrus, and at 

 once fired into its shoulder, the tiny pointed bullet 

 smashing the big bones. Round spun the great beast, 

 plunged into the water, and with its huge jaws open 

 came straight for the boat, floundering and splashing 

 through the thick-growing water-lilies. I think that its 

 chief object was to get to deep water ; but we were 

 between it and the deep water, and instead of trying to 

 pass to one side it charged straight for the boat, with 

 open jaws, bent on mischief. But I hit it again and 

 again with the little sharp-pointed bullet. Once I struck 

 it between neck and shoulder ; once, as it rushed forward 

 with its huge jaws stretched to their threatening utmost, 

 1 fired right between them, whereat it closed them with 

 the clash of a sprung bear-trap ; and then, when under 

 the punishment it swerved for a moment, I hit it at the 

 base of the ear, a brain shot which dropped it in its 

 tracks. Meanwhile Kermit was busily taking photos 

 of it as it charged ; and, as he mentioned afterward, 

 until it was dead he never saw it except in tlie " finder" 

 of his camera. The water was so shallow where I had 

 killed the hippo that its body projected slightly above 

 the surface. It was the hardest kind of work getting 

 it out from among the water-lilies ; then we towed it to 

 camp behind the launch. 



The engineer of the launch was an Indian Moslem. 

 The fireman and the steersman were two half-naked 



