HIPPOPOTAMUS-HUNTIJS'G. 421 



l)iickets of water, which, by swelling the pease, cause it to blow 

 up, like an overloaded mortar. 



The natives on the Teoge, and other rivers that empty 

 tJiemselves into Lake Ngami, kill the hippopotamus with iron 

 harpoons, attached to long lines ending with a float. A huo-e 

 reed raft, capable of carrying both the hunters and their canoes, 

 with all that is needful for the prosecution of the chase, is pushed 

 from the shore, and afterwards abandoned to the stream, which 

 projDels the unwieldy mass gently and noiselessly forward. 

 rLong before the hippopotami can be seen, they niake known 

 [their presence by awful snorts and grunts whilst splashing and 

 blowing in the water. On approaching the herd — for the gre- 

 ^garious animal likes to live in troops of from twenty-five to 

 thirty — the most skilful and intrepid of the hunters stands pre- 

 pared with the harpoons, whilst the rest make ready to launch 

 the canoes should the attack prove successful. The bustle and 

 noise caused by these preparations gradually subside : at length 

 not even a whisper is heard, and in breathless silence the hunters 

 wait for the decisive conflict. The snorting and plunging 

 .become every moment more distinct ; a bend in the stream still 

 hides the animals from view ; but now the point is passed, and 

 •monstrous figures, that might be mistaken for shapeless cliffs, 

 [•did not ever and anon one or the other of them plunge and re- 

 appear, are seen dispersed over the troubled waters. On glides 

 [the raft, its crew worked up to the highest pitch of excitement, 

 [and at length reaches the herd, which, perfectly unconscious of 

 [anger, continue to enjoy their sports. Presently one of the 

 mimals is in immediate contact with the raft. Now is the 

 jritical moment ; the foremost harpooner raises himself to his 

 Full height to give the greater force to the blow, and the next 

 instant the iron is buried deep in the body of the bellowing 

 hippopotamus. The wounded animal plunges violently and 

 dives to the bottom, but all its efforts to escape are as in- 

 effectual as those of the seal when pierced wdth the barbed 

 iron of the Grreenlander. 



As soon as it is struck, one or more of the men launch a 

 canoe from off" the raft, and hastening to the shore with the 

 harpoon line, take a round turn with it about a tree, so that the 

 animal may either be brought up at once, or should there be too 

 great a strain on the line, ' played,' like a trout or salmon by 



