384 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



cession of shots. I immediately made my men 

 give way, and in about ten minutes I rejoined 

 Walker, who had fallen in with a school of river 

 horse up a narrow creek, between a small island 

 and the right bank of the Borea. He thought he 

 had wounded two, but, unfortunately, I was too 

 late to render him any assistance, and they did not 

 give us another chance. I landed on the island, 

 which was overgrown with brushwood, and found 

 plenty of fresh spoor, but no hippopotami. They had 

 all vanished, and although we waited for some time 

 expecting to see some of their heads appear above 

 water, we were disappointed. AVe continued our 

 route along the right bank of the Borea, until we 

 came to a creek, which we entered, and half an 

 hour's paddling brought us into the lagoon by the 

 factory. 



Another large lagoon, nearly three miles long in 

 the rainy season, lies between the factory and the 

 beach, and at certain times of the year, when the 

 bars of the two branches of the Borea river are 

 almost impassable, canoes are able to find a way 

 through the two narrow passages caused by the 



