‘THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 273 
_ but whether his hind-legs were resting on the bottom or not I 
was unable to make out, as I had no means of testing the 
depth of the water. 
_ The spots at which to aim in order to penetiate the brain 
are various, and depend entirely on the position of the beast’s 
head when fired at. If it should be facing the sportsman, he 
should aim between the eyes or at the eye ; if broadside on, 
in a line between the eye and the ear; if diagonally towards 
him, at the eye ; if diagonally away from him, behind the ear ; 
and if straight away from him, at the base of the big lump of 
flesh that shows up at the back of the head between the ears. 
Either an accurate Martini or a ‘450 Express with a solid 
bullet is a first-rate weapon for this sport. When killed, 
hippos always sink, and the time that elapses before they rise 
' May vary considerably from one to as much as six hours, 
_ depending both on the temperature and depth of the water and 
_ also on the condition of the animal. Hippos, when shot in 
_ the head and not killed outright, often behave in an extra- 
_ ordinary way. They will rear up out of the water, fall back- 
_ wards, and float, belly upwards, on the surface, lashing out 
_ with their short stumpy legs, or rolling over and over, churn- 
‘ ing up the water in a marvellous manner, and will drown 
_ through being unable to raise their heads, in this stunned con- 
_ dition, above water. Their movements are, however, so rapid 
| that it is seldom they offer a chance for a shot at the head, 
_ though they often expose the greater part of the body. The 
sportsman should therefore always have a heavy rifle with him 
to enable him to dispatch them with a shot through the lungs, 
as the beasts, being only stunned by the bullet passing close 
to the brain, will often recover sufficiently to enable them to 
escape for the time, though they will probably die in the end. 
_ T have only once had a wounded hippo attempt to get out 
of the water at me, but as I was on the river bank, a foot or two 
above it, it never had a chance, and dropped dead to a shot 
between the eyes. My friend Mr. Gedge was once charged 
a most determined manner by a wounded cow. As it was - 
