xii A NIGHT AFTER 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. His 

 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 



