XII AGH ATER HIPPO 141 
were numbers of animals about, and I am sure that 
neither of us felt very comfortable as we crept along 
in the direction of the splashing hippo; for my own 
part I fancied every moment that I saw in front of 
me the form of a rhino or a lion ready to charge 
down upon us out of the shadow of the bush. 
In this manner, with nerves strung to the highest 
pitch, we reached the edge of the river in safety, 
only to find that we were again baulked by a small 
rush-covered island, on the other side of which our 
quarry could be heard. There was a good breeze 
blowing directly from him, however, so I thought 
the best thing to do was to attempt to get on to the 
island and to have a shot at him from there. 
Mahina, too, was eager for the fray, so we let our- 
selves quietly into the water, which here was quite 
shallow and reached only to our knees, and waded 
slowly across. On peering cautiously through the 
reeds at the corner of the island, I was surprised to 
find that I could see nothing of the hippo; but I 
soon realised that I was looking too far ahead, for 
on lowering my eyes there he was, not twenty-five 
yards away, lying down in the shallow water, only 
half covered and _ practically facing us. Huis 
closeness to us made me rather anxious for our 
safety, more especially as just then he rose to his 
feet and gave forth the peculiar challenge or call 
which we had already heard so often during the 
