THE STORY OF AN OUTING 



in the air in pain and thus gave me a good shot at the 

 base of the brain, whereupon he collapsed, stern toward 

 me. 



The current slowly rolled the body round and down- 

 stream, giving a water shot at the head. The body came 

 along down-stream into the deep water of the pool, 

 where the current was less swift; we could see it for about 

 six rods. A hippo always sinks when killed, and he also 

 sinks when he is disturbed and not killed. In the 

 sunshine he will bloat and float in two hours in that 

 country; in the shade or in the night it would require 

 three hours or more. He would therefore not come up 

 until long after dark. It had been raining hard on Kenia 

 all day and the water was up three or four feet next 

 morning. A bloated hippo with his short legs is much 

 like a pufF-ball, and he doubtless passed our camp while 

 we were held fast in sleep. They had to send out 

 porters with lanterns to light us back to camp; in the 

 last mile and a half we crossed two very bad dongas. 



Ants 



Leisure gave me opportunity to study the ant-hills 

 with which this country is dotted. They are rotund or 

 conical in shape, eight or ten feet high and fifteen to 

 twenty feet in diameter on the average. They are built 

 with surface dirt, carried by these little white ants, 

 about one-fourth of an inch long. In the center of the 

 hill is located the queen ant, which is a Brobdingnagian 

 among Lilliputians. She is from three to five inches long 

 and one or two inches broad. Her sole function seems 

 to be to produce her kind, and the process of fertilization 

 and production is continuous. 



