HIPPOPOTAMUS 



SWAHILI: KIBOKO. MASAI: OL-MAKAU 



NEXT to the elephant, the largest in- 

 habitant of the African continent. 

 He has an unwieldy head with a 

 great square nose and mouth, and his 

 eyes and nostrils, when his head is held at a 

 certain angle, are the only projections above the 

 water. The beasts sink, and rise again to blow, 

 every two minutes or so continually. Their voices 

 are to be heard booming by day like the bass 

 pedal of an organ ; they make no noise at night, 

 as they are out on the banks of the river or lake 

 feeding on the grass and riparian vegetation. 



To kill a hippo he must be hit in the brain, 

 i.e. the usual place half-way between the eye and 

 the ear. He then sinks at once, and will float 

 earlier if hit in the evening than in the morning, 

 because his last night's food is digested, and he is 

 consequently fuller of air. One wants to have 

 men constantly on the look-out for his carcase 

 when it rises to the surface. 



I am told that when found on land feeding 

 they are only dangerous when the pursuer is 



89 



