270 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



Sabaki river. There would, however, be lit.tle chance of getting 

 a shot at one in any of these places, except in the upper reaches 

 of the Tana, without the aid of a boat or canoe. In the small 

 lakes at Jipi, on the mainland opposite the island of Lamu, 

 they are found, at Mpecatoni near Kipini, and also at Jilori 

 near Melindi, besides in several of the salt-water creeks. 

 Further inland there are a good many in Lake Jipi near 

 'Taveta, and also in a large ' Ziwa ' (swamp) to the east of 

 Kilimanjaro and in Lakes Naivasha and Baringo. They are, 

 however, far more plentiful in the river Nzoia in Northern 

 Kavirondo than in any other place that I know of. In the 

 Nile, both above and below the Ripon Falls, they are also 

 numerous. The river Athi, to the north of Machako's, is 

 -another good place. I have shot them there with finer teeth 

 than anywhere else, and this is the experience of others besides 

 myself. 



The food of the hippo consists of coarse grass, reeds, 

 -and other plants growing in damp and wet places. In places 

 like Kavirondo, where the natives cultivate the ground to a 

 large extent and where hippos abound, they are a source of 

 .great annoyance, as during the night they do much damage 

 to the crops. With the exception of a few caught in pitfalls, 

 these beasts are rarely killed by natives, except by the Wapo- 

 komo of the river Tana. 



At night when in search of food hippos will wander long 

 'distances, and I have seen their spoor as much as three miles 

 away from the nearest water. On one occasion, at Merereni, 

 on the coast, I followed the spoor of an old bull hippo for 

 over eight miles and then gave it up, as I found it was leading 

 in the direction of a salt-water creek, which I knew to be some 

 two miles ahead. I did not follow up the spoor with any idea 

 of coming across the beast on land, but simply to see where 

 he was going. As I often saw him for three or four days run- 

 ning in the creek close to my camp, then saw nothing at all 

 of him for the next few days, and afterwards noticed his fresh 

 spoor leading away from the creek, but could find no signs 



