Hippopotami-Hunting 209 



my hunters, of natives, the majority of whom were 

 from the east bank of the Aroangwa,- wished to defile 

 before this colossal quadruped, and the cutting up 

 of the body was not performed until next day. I 

 shall profit by the few days' rest following this task 

 to relate a hippopotamus * hunt a short time before, 

 on the banks of the Aroangwa, amid circumstances 

 not often experienced, which merit the telling. 



In the immediate neighbourhood of the great river 

 were shallow pools, and around them banks of sand 

 partly covered with reeds. Having seen five hippo- 

 potami lying in the sun on one of these banks, I was 

 struck with the happy idea of cutting off their retreat 

 by coming upon them through the pool, the bottom 

 of which I could see. Advancing, therefore, by the 

 river bank, my 8-bore in readiness, I entered the 

 water, and silently advanced with the intention of 

 making ravages in the herd of monsters. 



Nothing is so ugly as a hippopotamus on land. It 

 would seem as if Nature, by creating this deformed 

 animal, wished to ridicule beauty, regularity of 

 lines, harmony of outline. Moreover, it is to be 

 noticed that large animals of the past or present have 

 had the privilege of ugliness. While giving myself up 

 to these philosophic-sesthetical reflections, I draw r near 

 to this kind of "Mille Kilos" Club, and I deploy my 

 men, giving them orders to fire if the hippopotami 

 charge them. I imagined that this animal moved 

 slowly on land ; how wrong I was will be seen. 



1 For the habits of this animal, and how to hunt it, see Mes 

 Grandes Chasses, pp. 58-64, 70, 221, 239. 



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