S42 EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARW^ 



nuisance to the owners of cultivated lands that happen to be near 

 the river in which the animal has taken up his abode. 



During the day it is comfortably asleep in its chosen hiding- 

 place, but as soon as the shades. of night deepen, the hippopotamus 

 issues from its den, and treading its way into the cultivated lands, 

 makes sad devastation among the growing crops. 



Were the mischief confined to the amount which is eaten by 

 the voracious brute, it would be bad enough, but the worst of the 

 matter is, that the hippopotamus damages more than it eats by the 

 clumsy manner of its progress. The body is so large and heavy, 

 and the legs are so short, that the animal is forced to make a double 

 track as he walks, and in the grass-grown plain can be readily 

 traced by the peculiar character of the track. 



HIPPOPOTAMANI DESTROY MORE THAN THEY EAT. 



It may therefore be easily imagined that when a number of 

 these hungry, awkward, waddling, splay-footed beasts come blunder- 

 ing among the standing crops, trampling and devouring indiscrim- 

 inately, they will do no slight damage before they think fit to 

 retire. 



The aggrieved cultivators endeavor to protect their grounds 

 and at the same time to make the depredators pay for the damage 

 which they have done, by digging a number of pitfalls across the 

 hippopotamus paths, and furnishing each pit with a sharp stake in 

 the centre. 



When an animal falls into such a trap, the rejoicings are great, 

 for not only is the ivory of great commercial value, but the flesh is 

 very good eating, and the hide is useful for the manufacture of 

 whips and other instruments. The fat of the hippopotamus, called 

 by the colonists " Zee-Koe speck " or sea-cow bacon, is held in very 

 high estimation, as is the tongue and the jelly which is extracted 

 from the feet. 



Tne hide is so thick that it must be dragged from the creature's 

 body in slips, like so many planks, and is an inch and a half in thick- 

 ness on the back, and three-quarters of an inch on the other portions 

 of the body. Yet, in spite of its enormous thickness and its tough 



