GVA P TER crt 
A NIGHT AFTER HIPPO 
DurinG my stay at Tsavo I made many little 
excursions into the surrounding country, and used 
to go off on a short shooting and exploring expe- 
dition whenever I had the opportunity. I was 
especially anxious to bag a hippopotamus, so | 
made up my mind to try my luck on the banks of 
the Sabaki. Unfortunately, I possessed no heavy 
rifle, which is almost a necessity for hippo shooting, 
but it occurred to me to supply the deficiency by 
manufacturing a few cartridges for my smooth-bore. 
In these I had double charges of powder and a 
hardened bullet made of lead mixed with about 
an eighth part of tin. I well remember the anxiety 
with which I fired the first round of my home-made 
ammunition. As I more than half expected that 
the barrel would burst, I lashed the gun in the fork 
of a tree, tied a piece of string a hundred feet long 
.to the trigger, and then—taking shelter behind a 
K 2 
