THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, OR ZEEKOE. 765 
The most exciting manner of hunting the Hippopotamus is by fairly chasing and 
harpooning it, as if it were a whale or a walrus. This mode of sport is described very 
vividly by Mr. Andersson. 
The harpoon is a very ingenious instrument, being composed of two portions, a shaft 
measuring three or four inches in thickness and ten or twelve feet in length, and a 
barbed iron point, which fits loosely into a socket in the head of the shaft, and is connected 
with it by means of a rope composed of a number of separate strands. This peculiar 
rope is employed to prevent the animal from severing it, which he would soon manage 
were it to be composed of a single strand. To the other end of the shaft a strong line is 
fastened, and to the other end of the line a float or buoy is attached, As this composite 
harpoon is very weighty it is not thrown at the animal, but is weed by the force of the 
harpooner’s arm. The manner of employing it shall be told in Mr. Andersson’s own 
words :— 
“ As soon as the position of the Hippopotami is ascertained, one or more of the 
most skilful and intrepid of the hunters stand prepared with the harpoons; whilst the 
rest make ready to launch the canoes, should the attack prove successful. The bustle 
and noise caused by these preparations gradually subside. Conversation is carried on 
in a whisper, and every one is on the gué-vive. The snorting and plunging become 
every moment more distinct ; but a bend in the stream still hides the animals from view. 
The angle being passed, several dark objects are seen floating listlessly on the water, 
looking more like the crests of sunken rocks than living creatures. Ever and anon, one 
or other of the shapeless masses is submerged, but soon again makes its appearance on 
the surface. On, on, glides the raft with its sable crew, who are now worked up to the 
highest state of excitement. At last, the raft is in the midst of the herd, who appear 
quite unconscious of danger. Presently one of the animals is in iminediate contact with 
the raft. Now is the critical moment. The foremost harpooner raises himself to his full 
height, to give the greater force to the blow, and the next instant the fatal iron descends 
with unerring accuracy in the body of the Hippopotamus, 
The wounded animal plunges violently, and dives to the bottom; but all his efforts to 
escape are unavailing. The line or the shaft of the harpoon may break; but the cruel 
barb once imbedded in the flesh, the weapon (owing to the toughness and thickness of 
the beast’s hide) cannot be withdrawn. 
As soon as the Hippopotamus is struck, one or more of the men launch a canoe from 
off the raft, and hasten to the shore with the harpoon-line, and take a round turn with it 
about a tree, or bunch of reeds, so that the animal may either be ‘brought up’ at once, 
or, should there be too great a strain on the line, ‘played’ (to liken small things to great) 
in the same manner as the salmon by the fishermen. But if time should not admit of 
the line being passed round a tree, or the like, both line and ‘buoy’ are thrown into the 
water, and the animal goes wherever he chooses. 
The rest of the canoes are now all launched from off the raft, and chase is given 
to the poor brute, who, so soon as he comes to the surface to breathe, is saluted with a 
shower of light javelins. Again he descends, his track deeply crimsoned with gore. 
Presently—and perhaps at some little distance—he once more appears on the surface, 
when, as before, missiles of all kinds are hurled at his devoted head. 
When thus beset, the infuriated beast not unfrequently turns upon his assailants, and 
either with his formidable tusks, or with a blow from his enormous head, staves in or 
capsizes the canoes. At times, indeed, not satisfied with wreaking his vengeance on the 
craft, he will attack one or other of the crew, and with a single grasp of his horrid jaws 
either terribly mutilates the poor fellow, or, it may be, cuts his body fairly in two. 
The chase often lasts a considerable time. So long as the line and the harpoon hold, 
the animal cannot escape, because the ‘buoy’ always marks his whereabout. At length, 
from loss of blood or exhaustion, Behemoth succumbs to his pursuers.” 
The Hippopotamus is a gregarious animal, collecting in herds of twenty or thirty in 
number, and making the air resound with their resonant snorts. The snort of this 
