256 UNDER THE AFRICAN SUN 



rolling the huge body on to the grassy bank, as seen in the 

 illustration. 



On this occasion, we had a narrow shave of being upset in 

 our dug-out. One" of the hippos, either frightened by the shots 

 or enraged, and either accidentally or intentionally, bumped up 

 under us and partly tilted the canoe over. We could see him 

 below the water doubling round and coming for us a second 

 time. The second bump threatened to shatter the canoe. I 

 fired at haphazard, as I could not possibly have hit, the part 

 of the body visible to me being below^ the surface. Fortu- 

 nately the hippo sheered off in one direction, and we hurriedly 

 left in the opposite. 



Some of the hippo-fat, melted down and strained, I filled 

 into two large gourds, holding a gallon or two. This 1 kept 

 for my private use. It came very handy later on, when I ran 

 out of soap for washing my clothes. My little Wahima 

 servant knew^ how to manufacture native soap ; and as I 

 promised him for his own private use one cake, or rather ball, 

 of soap out of every ten he manufactured, he was keen to be 

 entrusted with my soap-boiling venture. He certainly produced 

 some excellent hippo-soap, but 1 should be afraid to recommend 

 it for the complexion ! He refused to try my suggestion of 

 using wood-ashes, and preferred following his own method. 

 It consisted in collecting the peelings of green bananas from 

 all the refuse heaps in the village. He burnt these peelings, and 

 used the ashes to form a lye in which he boiled the hippo-fat. 

 This hippo-soap, kneaded into lumps about the size of cricket- 

 balls, resembled the ordinary native soap in colour and con- 

 sistency. It lasted me for some time, until a good supply of 

 ordinary washing soap reached me from Kampala. 



