THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 137 



venience as much as possible, the hunters divide 

 themselves into several groups, and if they lose the 

 animal during the night, they easily find him in the 

 daytime. The hippopotamus, exhausted by his 

 struggles, by loss of blood, and want of food, soon 

 comes to die near the shore, unless the hunters in 

 their boats have in the meantime killed him with the 

 lance ; but it sometimes happens that he drags a 

 float for many days, especially when the harpoon has 

 been badly planted. M. Tremaux one day encoun- 

 tered a hippopotamus thus pierced. 



'Whilst we were still being towed by the people 

 of Lony, I heard a shout, ( The hippopotamus ! the 

 hippopotamus ! ' I surveyed the liquid surface, ex- 

 pecting to see the monstrous head and back of the 

 animal; and I was astonished not to see anything. 

 I observed on the water a kind of Greek cross, 

 formed by two short pieces of wood strongly fixed 

 and bound together in the centre. This cross was 

 cutting through the water, and floating swiftly down 

 the stream, making the water foam, as if moved by 

 some invisible power. As it neared us the float ap- 

 peared to be agitated in an extraordinary degree, and 

 at the same time a formidable snorting, mingled 

 with the noise of the rippling water, was heard close 

 to the boat. We perceived a hippopotamus, which, 

 frightened by the boat, near which he unexpectedly 



