Hippopotamus 
down the line. I was likely to have some 
difficulty with my cook, Tom, whom, in the 
ordinary way, I meant to send back to the West 
Coast on my return to Cape Town, but as he was 
offered, and accepted, the post of cook at the 
Fontesvilla Hotel, I was unwilling to stand in 
the way of his making good money, so I left him 
there, and have no doubt that he gave every 
satisfaction. He should have been able to save 
quite a nice little sum if he were careful, enough 
to start him in a small way on his return to his 
own country. 
On our way down-river the steamer stuck on 
a sand-bank, and as the tide was still falling, it 
meant a wait of three or four hours before she 
would again be afloat. Coudenhove and I 
therefore took a boat and some boys as crew, 
proceeding up a small tributary. On our return 
an hour or so later, when almost within sight of 
the steamer, our small boat got aground. Do 
what we would we could not get her off into the 
channel, so there was nothing to do but wait 
for the turn of the tide with the best grace 
possible. We had been here only a short time 
when a hippopotamus appeared out of the river 
a hundred yards off, and casually remained in 
full view standing on one of the sand-banks. 
My rifles were all packed up, so I took Couden- 
hove’s °577 and fired at the beast’s shoulder. 
Now, this rifle was built on a particular pattern 
L 145 
