Hippopotamus 
had not been bruised and cut when firing a 
heavy rifle like a °577 with one hand. I should 
not care to do the same again in cold blood—the 
rifle recoils quite enough when used against the 
shoulder and when held with both hands. The 
next morning I went up to see if we had hit the 
lion, or if any blood spoor was to be found, but 
could find nothing. It struck me, though, as 
more wonderful than ever how any beast could 
have come up through the grass and thus avoided 
the fire. It may have come along the bank of 
the river, but even there the grass was burnt to 
within a foot of the edge. There remained only 
the narrow tongue I have mentioned, and when 
I looked at the place by daylight I decided that 
that must have been the means of approach. 
We all had breakfast close by, but a little 
lower down-river from the scene of last night’s 
adventure. I dressed the boy’s arm and side 
again, and was relieved to see that they looked 
healthy, and not in the least inflamed round the 
edges. He had slept well, too, he told Weddell, 
which was a marvel. 
We resumed our voyage after breakfast, 
arriving at Fontesvilla without further mishap. 
An event had happened on the previous night 
here, too, which had thrown this small place 
into a state of excitement. A hippo had wan- 
dered from the river below the town and passed 
several houses until he came to the railway 
143 
