Lake Victoria to Khartoum 



them by the vibration of the water. They slid 

 quietly into the liquid element. The hippos did 

 not take alarm till some seconds later ; when they 

 did the surface of the water was suddenly trans- 

 formed from a placid even plane to waves and 

 spray by the rushing shapes and unwieldy bulk 

 of these enormous creatures. Before dashing 

 pell-mell into the depths of the pool, one or two of 

 the younger ones paused to stare open-mouthed 

 at our dreadful apparition. One hippo came up 

 out of the water a mere yard from the bows of the 

 boat, sinking again so hurriedly in his dismay at 

 being nearly run down, that he must almost have 

 been choked. 



That day was full of incident. Herds of 

 antelope were seen on either bank, as the grass 

 and river growth had been burnt in places or had 

 rotted away till it was quite short. 



An hour or so further on, a sudden trumpet of 

 alarm caused a rush to the side of the vessel, 

 whence we saw a herd of six elephants tearing 

 along in front. The breeze was from behind us, 

 so our smoke was blown amongst them. They 

 kept along the bank for some four miles, always 

 just ahead of us, going at a very fast shamble, 

 crashing through the high grass and bushes as if 

 they weren't there to impede their progress. Why 

 the herd didn't make off into the depths of the 

 jungle was not evident. Perhaps to do so was 

 impossible owing to swamps and mud ; but at 



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