354 NATURAL HIS TORI. 



quietly down on the sleeping animal. The bowman dashes the harpoon into the unconscious victim, 

 while the quick steersman sweeps the light craft back with his broad paddle. The force of the 

 blow separates the harpoon from its corded handle, which, appearing on the surface, sometimes with 

 an inflated bladder attached, guides the hunters to where the wounded beast hides below until they 

 despatch it." Livingstone then goes on to say : " These Hippopotamus hunters form a separate 

 people called Akombwi, or Mapodzo, and rarely -the women, it is said, never intermarry with any 

 other tribe. The reason for their keeping aloof from certain of the natives of the Zambesi is obvious 

 enough, some having as great an abhorrence of Hippopotamus meat as Mohammedans have of swine's 

 flesh. Our pilot, Scissors, was one of this class ; he would not even cook his food in a pot which 

 had contained Hippopotamus meat, preferring to go hungry until he could find another, and yet 

 he traded eagerly in the animals' tusks, and ate with great relish the flesh of the foul-feeding 

 Marabout." 



Sir Samuel Baker relates from personal observation the capture of a Hippopotamus with the 

 harpoon above described. He says : "At length we arrived at a large pool, in which were several 

 sand-banks covered with rushes, and many rocky islands. Among these rocks was a herd of Hippopo- 

 tami, consisting of an old bull and several cows ; a young Hippo was standing, like an ugly little 

 statue, on a protruding rock, while another infant stood \;pon its mother's back that listlessly 

 floated on the water. This was an admirable place for the hunters. They desired me to lie down, 

 and they crept into the jungle out of view of the river. I presently observed them stealthily descend- 

 ing the dry bed about two hundred paces above the spot where the Hippos were basking behind the 

 rocks. They entered the river, and swam down the centre of the stream towards the rock. This was 

 highly exciting. The Hippos were quite unconscious of the approaching danger, as steadily and rapidly 

 the hunters floated down the strong current ; they neared the rock, and both heads disappeared as 

 they purposely sank out of view ; in a few seconds later they reappeared at the edge of the rock upon 

 which the young Hippo stood. It would be difficult to say which started first, the astonished young 

 Hippo into the water, or the harpoons from the hands of the howartis ! It was the affair of a 

 moment. The hunters dived directly they had hurled their harpoons, and swimming for some distance 

 under water, they came to the surface, and hastened to the shore lest an infuriated Hippopotamus 

 should follow them. One harpoon had missed ; the other had fixed the bull of the herd, at which it 

 had been surely aimed. 



" This was grand sport ! The bull was in the greatest fury, and i-ose to the surface, snorting and 

 blowing in his impotent rage ; but as the ambatch float was exceedingly large, and this naturally accom- 

 panied his movements, he tried to escape from his imaginary persecutor, and dived constantly, only to 

 find his pertinacious attendant close to him upon regaining the surface. This was not to last long. 

 The howartis were in earnest, and they at once called their party, who, with two of the aggageers, 

 Abou Do and Suleiman, were near at hand. These men arrived with long ropes that form a portion of 

 the outfit for Hippo hunting. The whole party now halted on the edge of the river, while two men 

 swam across with one end of the long rope. Upon gaining the opposite bank, I observed that a second 

 rope was made fast to the middle of the main line ; thus upon our side we held the ends of two ropes, 

 while on the opposite side they had only one. Accordingly, the point of junction of the two ropes in 

 the centre formed an acute angle. The object of this was soon practically explained. Two men upon 

 our side now each held a rope, and one of these walked about ten yards before the other. Upon both 

 sides of the river the people now advanced, dragging the rope on the sxirface of the water until they 

 reached the ambatch float that was swimming to and fro, according to the movements of the Hippopo- 

 tamus below. By a dexterous jerk of the main line the float was now placed between the two ropes, 

 and it was immediately secured in the acute angle by biinging together the ends of these ropes on our 

 side. The men on the opposite bank now dropped their line, and our men now hauled in upon the 

 ambatch float that was held fast between the ropes. Thus cleverly made sure, we quickly brought a 

 strain upon the Hippo ; and although I have had some experience in handling big fish, I never knew 

 one pull so lustily as the amphibious animal that we now alternately coaxed and bullied. 



" He sprang out of the water, gnashed his huge jaws, snorted with tremendous rage, and lashed 

 the river into foam ; he then dived, and foolishly approached us beneath the water. We quickly 

 gathered in the slack line, and took a round turn upon a large rock within a few feet of the river. 



