EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS. 343 



quality, it is quite pliable when seen on the living beast, and accom- 

 modates itself easily to all his movements. 



There is also the " down- fall," a trap which consists of a log of 

 wood, weighted heavily at one end, to which extremity is loosely 

 fixed a spearhead, well treated with poison. This terrible log is 

 suspended over some hippopotamus path, and is kept in its place by 

 a slight cord which crosses the path and is connected with a catch 

 or trigger. As soon as the animal presses the cord, the catch is 

 liberated, and down comes the armed log, striking the poisoned spear 

 deep into the poor beast's back, and speedily killing it by the poison, 

 if not from the immediate effects of the wound. 



The most exciting manner of hunting the hippopotamus is by 

 fairly chasing and harpooning it, as if it were a whale or a walrus. 



GETTING READY WITH THE HARPOON. 



The harpoon is a very ingenious instrument, being composed 

 of two portions, a shaft measuring three or four inches in thickness 

 and ten or twelve feet in length, and a barbed iron point, which fits 

 loosely into a socket in the head of the shaft, and is connected with 

 it by means of a rope composed of a number of separate strands. 



This peculiar rope is employed to prevent the animal from 

 severing it, which he would soon manage were it to be composed of 

 a single strand. To the other end of the shaft a strong line is fast- 

 ened, and to the other end of the line a float or buoy is attached. 

 As this composite harpoon is very weighty it is not thrown at the 

 animal, but is urged by the force of the harpooner's arm. The man- 

 ner of employing it shall be told in the following words of one of 

 the most skillful hunters of recent times: 



" As soon as the position of the hippopotamus is ascertained, 

 one or more of the most skillful and intrepid of the hunters stand 

 prepared with the harpoons; whilst the rest make ready to launch 

 the canoes, should the attack prove successful. The bustle and noise 

 caused by these preparations gradually subside. Conversation is 

 carried on in a whisper, and every one is on the alert. 



" The snorting and plunging become every moment more 

 distinct; but a bend in the stream still hides the animals from view. 



