Guinea-fowl 
him evidently in the desired spot ; it was, in any 
case, a clean miss or deadly shot, the mark being 
so small a one that the former might easily have 
been the case. However, a great splash followed 
the report, and the hippo disappeared beneath 
the surface. That is what I understood might 
take place, for I knew that if I killed one of these 
animals, the body would sink, and not rise to 
the surface for three hours or more, in which 
time the carcass would have been more or less 
distended with gas. It was useless to wait 
for this to happen. I therefore returned to 
camp for supper, the afternoon drawing to a 
close. Near the tent I heard guinea-fowl that 
had gone to roost in a tree. I took my twelve- 
bore Paradox shot-gun, which is a_ useful 
enough weapon as it fires shot well and a ball 
excellently straight up to a hundred yards, and 
proceeded to get some fresh meat for the larder. 
I had only one shot at several that were perched 
on the limb of a tree, managing to kill three, 
which I brought in and handed over to Tom, 
my cook boy, who made a most excellent salmis 
of the carcasses. One bird he left for the morrow, 
when I found that it was impossible to eat it, 
the flesh having become objectionably high in 
that short time. 
At this place where I was camped there was 
a ford used by animals to cross the lagoon. Soon 
after dark the most unearthly roars proceeded 
125 
