FROM GILGIL TO KENIA 263 
water the upper rim of a broad nostril and the little round 
covering of the eyes; a truly mighty “‘submarine!’”’? Hippo 
are not supposed to be dangerous though sometimes they 
are, as was proved by one chasing a band of men on a 
public road within two miles of Mengo, the capital of 
Uganda, while I was there. The ponderous beast actually 
yan them down (and the Waganda are well known to be 
very fast runners) and bit one man completely in two. 
Next morning two hundred Waganda surrounded the 
little swamp where the furious beast lived, and from which 
he had charged forth in his quite unprovoked attack. Doctor 
Cook, with whom I was staying at the time, took me to 
his admirable hospital and showed me the results of that 
encounter. One man had his thigh shot through, another 
had a ball in his shoulder, a third had a great piece out 
of his buttock, and a fourth was trampled into and under 
the mud and the reeds till he was a mass of wounds and, 
besides, was nearly suffocated. They killed the hippo. 
I am inclined to think that, during low water, the 
Embellossett hippo is not so hard to bring to bag as he 
was at the time we waited in vain for him; for during low 
water his supply of soft eating far out in the swamp fails 
him, and he has to content himself with the meadow grass 
that, as soon as the rains stop, begins to grow luxuriantly 
all along the rich margin of the marsh. On moonlight 
nights he will often take a long walk inland. I! remember 
one night seeing two great fellows solemnly walking all 
round our circle of tents. That was to north of the Nzoia, 
and the swamp they had come from was a good way off. 
The borders of Embellossett are extraordinarily rich 
and green, as they are watered by the swamp vapours 
as well as numberless rivulets from the hills. A deep 
lush growth of white clover spreads up to the very feet 
of the cliffs and upon this the bush-buck love dearly to 
feed. Very early in the morning and just again before 
