142 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CH. XII 
night. All the same, as he raised his head, I fired 
at it. He whirled round, made a plunge forward, 
staggered and fell, and then lay quite still. To 
make assurance doubly sure, I gave him a couple 
more bullets as he lay, but we found afterwards 
that they were not needed, as my first shot had been 
a very lucky one and had penetrated the brain. 
We left him where he fell and got back to our 
perch, glad and relieved to be in safety once more. 
As soon as it was daylight we were joined by my 
own men and by several Wa Kamba, who had 
been hunting in the neighbourhood. The natives 
cut out the tusks of the hippo, which were rather 
good ones, and feasted ravenously on the flesh, 
while I turned my attention with gratitude to the 
hot coffee and cakes which Mabruki had meanwhile 
prepared. 
