SEARCH FOR HIPPOPOTARn. 141 



plating these wonderful monsters of the river. It was 

 a truly grand and very extraordinary scene ; the op- 

 posite bank of the stream was clad with trees of gi- 

 gantic size and great beauty, which added greatly *to 

 the interest of the picture. 



On the 14th, after a very early breakfast, I proceed- 

 ed with three after-riders, two double-barreled rifles, 

 and about a hundred rounds of ammunition, to the spot 

 where I had yesterday found the hippopotami ; but they 

 had taken alarm, and were all gone. The spoor lead- 

 ing up the river, I rode along the banks, examining every 

 pool until my steed was quite knocked up, but found 

 not a single sea-cow. The spoor still led up the river; 

 they had made short cuts at every bend, sometimes 

 taking the direct line on my side, and sometimes on the 

 other. Finding that I must sleep in the feldt if I fol- 

 lowed on, I dispatched Ruyter to camp for my blank- 

 ets, coffee-kettle, biscuit, &c., and fresh steeds. I 

 searched on foot, and penetrated every thicket and ev- 

 ery dense jungle of reeds that overhung the river, until 

 at last, faint with hunger and fatigue, I sought some 

 game on which to make a luncheon, and had the good 

 fortune to fall in with a young doe of the " Antelopus 

 Roualeynei," which I shot, and in a few minutes she 

 was roasting on a mighty fire. 



Ruyter, at this moment coming up, brought a wel- 

 come supply of biscuit and coffee, and reported my yel- 

 low horse "Flux," about my very best, to have died of 

 horse-sickness. After luncheon I continued my search 

 for hippopotami, and just as the sun went down I start- 

 ed an old fellow from beneath some tall reeds, which 

 hung over a deep broad pool. On hearing me approach 

 he dived with a loud splash, and immediately reappeared 

 with a blowing noise a little further up the river, and 



