THE WORLD'S WONDEKS. 



405 



after much patient labor, in one frail canoe, hollowed out of an 

 immense tree. 



After seeing the work of ferrying the expedition properly com- 

 menced, Stanley sat down on a condemned canoe to amuse him- 

 self with the hippopotami by peppering their thick skulls with 

 his No. 12 smooth-bore. The Winchester rifle (calibre 44) did 

 no more than slightly tap them, causing about as much injury as 

 a boy's sling ; it was perfect iu its accuracy of fire, for ten times 



WASTING CARTRIDGES ON THE HIPPOPOTAMI. 



in succession he struck the tops of their heads between the ears. 

 One old fellow, with the look of a sage, was tapped close to the 

 right ear by one of these bullets. Instead of submerging him- 

 self, as others had done, he coolly turned round his head as if to 

 ask, "Why this waste of valuable cartridges on us?" The 

 response to the mute inquiry of his sageship was an ounce-and-a 

 quarter bullet from the smooth-bore, which made him bellow 

 with pain, and in a few moments he rose again tumbling in 

 his death agonies. As his groans were so piteous, Stanley 



