CHAPTER XXII 



HIPPO AND LION 



THE hippopotamus, imbued, like all wild animals, 

 with an instinctive fear of man, only ventures at 

 night in search of food from the security of the 

 river or pool that he frequents, and when bent on 

 this search will, at times, wander quite a distance 

 from the actual water. 



Prior to the incident which I am going to relate, 

 my natives had often told me that they had found 

 dead hippos at a considerable distance from water, 

 and that, from marks upon the carcases, they were 

 absolutely certain that lions had killed the animals 

 and fed upon the flesh. I had always discredited, 

 or, perhaps, to put it more aptly, taken their stories 

 with a pinch of salt, until on one occasion, near the 

 Msinjie River, I met with an experience which 

 fully corroborated their statements. As we were 

 tramping along parallel with the river, about 

 seventy yards from the banks, I heard the re- 

 peated snorts of a hippo, and, at once going 



