" HIPPOS " 167 



of the water, or basking in the sun along the 

 bank, as soon as it becomes dark he takes to 

 the land to feed on grass and other vegetation. 

 In his meanderings along the bottom of the 

 river and as he comes to the surface amid dense 

 growths of aquatic plants he often becomes 

 tangled in them, and some of the leaves, stems, 

 and roots stick to his body. After he has been 

 on shore a short time his body dries and the 

 leaves and blades fall or are scraped off by the 

 bushes; so one will find water-plants strewn 

 wherever hippos have been wandering. 



One would think that such a clumsy, short- 

 legged animal would not be able to move very 

 fast on land, and, in fact, they seldom do move 

 fast when not molested; but if they are fright- 

 ened they attain remarkable speed. 



One night my tent boy awakened me and 

 said that a hippo was prowling around back of 

 the porters' tents. The men had had no meat 

 for some time. Thinking that this would be a 

 good opportunity to supply them, without run- 

 ning a risk of losing the animal by its sinking, 

 as hippos do when shot in the water, I snatched 

 up my rifle and with Doctor Mearns started 

 after the brute. It was a moonlight night, and 



