1 66 Wild Life in Central Africa. 



the persecution they have suffered they may still be con- 

 sidered plentiful. They are usually found in small herds 

 of from three to a dozen individuals, although in the 

 Zambesi River I have seen a herd consisting of over 

 forty animals. The old bulls, like the males of other 

 large animals, often wander off by themselves and lead a 

 solitary existence, and sometimes such beasts, if wounded, 

 will have no hesitation in attacking and upsetting a native 

 canoe. I have shot a good many hippo from boats (not 

 steamers) and from the banks of rivers, and I have only 

 seen one that wished to resent its injury. However, a big 

 European made boat is a different affair to a small, flimsy 

 dug-out canoe, and if people made a practice of shooting 

 out of these frail vessels they would doubtless meet with 

 more accidents than they do. I think it is a great shame 

 to shoot at hippos from a river steamer in motion, or, 

 indeed, from any craft that is moving, as good shooting in 

 such circumstances is quite impossible. A hippo's brain is 

 very small, certainly not more than 6in. in diameter ; so it 

 can be imagined that it presents a small and difficult mark 

 for the best of shots. 



Yet some men who have hardly ever fired a rifle before 

 think nothing of pumping bullets into hippos from the deck 

 of a fast travelling steamer. The bullets may hit at times, 

 so the hippo goes off with a painful w r ound, and retaliates 

 on the first native canoe that appears, as mentioned before, 

 possibly dro\vning the owner, or at any rate causing him 

 the loss of his canoe and contents, which cannot often be 

 recovered, as hippos nearly always frequent deep water in 

 the daytime. The grunting of hippos is a common sound 

 when camped near a lonely river or lake ; they seem to do 

 most of their wandering in the dark hours, and in the 

 daytime lie asleep in thick patches of papyrus or reeds, and 

 sometimes, where they have not been much shot at, w r ill 

 come into open deep pools during the day. The most 

 deadly shot for a hippo is at the back of the head slightly 

 below a line between the base of the ears, but when they 

 are disturbed they will not often present this chance, and 



