WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



fired only when the eyes and nostrils, at least, are ex- 

 posed at the same time. 



When last I visited the Merker lakes I took a few good 

 pictures of hippopotami in the water and also killed a 

 very old male animal by a single shot in the ear. I had 

 been given special permission to do so, but I found an- 

 other hunter busy exterminating the small remnant of 

 river-hogs in these lakes. He claimed to be a Boer — 

 De Wet he called himself — and he had been allowed to 

 pass Fort Moschi and travel into the wilderness un- 

 challenged. The officials had taken his word for it 

 that he did not mean to hunt, but merely catch mara- 

 bous for the sake of their feathers. They even exempt- 

 ed him from paying the tax on killed marabous, since he 

 pretended to be able to capture the birds alive, pluck 

 their feathers, and then release them. In fact, his meth- 

 od consisted in killing the marabous which collected on 

 the bodies of river-hogs killed by the ingenious Boer. 

 He was really a professional hunter backed by some 

 Greek merchants to collect marabou feathers and to 

 gain the valuable teeth and skins of hippopotami. I 

 did not hesitate to denounce this impostor to the offi- 

 cer in charge of Moschi station, who had him arrested. 

 For seven years he had been carrying on his nefarious 

 business in different parts of Africa. His backers, how- 

 ever, paid the fines, and the authorities had to let him 



go- 



The hippopotamus was formerly hunted not only for 



154 



