TRAPPING HIPPOPOTAMI. 357 



side, while in the enthusiasm of the moment I waved my cap above my head, and gave him a 

 British cheer as he reached the shore. His usually stern features relaxed into a grim smile of delight 

 this was one of the moments when the gratified pride of the hunter rewards him for any risks. I 

 congratulated him on his dexterity ; but much remained to be done. I proposed to cross the river 

 and to follow upon the tracks of the Hippopotamus, as I imagined that the buoy and rope would 

 catch in the thick jungle, and that we should find him entangled in the bush ; but the old hunter 

 gently laid his hand upon my arm, and pointed up the bed of the river, explaining that the Hippo 

 would certainly return to the water after a short interval. 



" In a few minutes later, at the distance of nearly half a mile, we observed the Hippo emerge from 

 the jungle, and descend at full trot to the bed of the river, making direct for the first rocky pool, in 

 which we had noticed the herd of Hippopotami. Accompanied by the old howarti (Hippo hunter), 

 we walked quickly towards the spot ; he explained to me that I must shoot the harpooned Hippo, as 

 we should not be able to secure him in the usual method by ropes, as nearly all our men were absent 

 from camp, disposing of the dead Elephants. Upon reaching the pool, which was about a hundred 

 and thirty yards in diameter, we were immediately greeted by the Hippo, who snorted and roared as 

 we approached, but quickly dived, and the buoyant float ran along the surface, directing his course in 

 the same manner as the cork of a trimmer with a pike upon the hook. Several times he appeared, but 

 as he invariably faced us, I could not obtain a favoui*able shot ; I therefore sent the old hunter round 

 the pool, and he, swimming the river, advanced to the opposite side, and attracted the attention of the 

 Hippo, who immediately turned towards him. This afforded me a good chance, and I fired a steady 

 shot behind the ear, at about seventy yards, with a- single-barrelled rifle. He disappeared beneath 

 the water at the shot. The crack of the ball and the absence of any splash from the bullet told me 

 that he was hit ; the ambatch float remained perfectly stationary upon the surface. I watched it for 

 some minutes ; it never moved. Several heads of Hippopotami appeared and vanished in different 

 directions, but the float was still ; it marked the spot where the grand old bull lay dead beneath." 



In addition to the ordinary means of harpooning, a harpoon is also vised as a sort of trap, it 

 being well known to the hunters that the Hippopotamus has certain roads or tracks which it habitually 

 uses, preferring a quiet gully with tall trees and grass overhanging. The Irunter finding such 

 a road prepares a harpoon within six feet of a moderate-sized tree-trunk, to which he attaches heavy 

 stones. Having found a siiitable tree overhanging the path of the Hippopotamus, he throws the rope 

 which is attached to the shaft of the harpoon round a branch, and hauls up his weighted instrument, 

 having done which he drives a stake on one side of the path and turns the rope round it. He then 

 drives another stake on the other side of the path, stretches his rope across, and fastens it to the 

 other stake. The iinsuspecting animal, taking his usual evening stroll, strikes his foot against the 

 rope, which dislodging the stakes, the harpoon comes thundering down and the Hippopotamus is 

 transfixed, to be found in the morning by the trapper, probably dead or dying, a long way from the 

 scene of the trap. 



Livingstone gives an account in his " African Travels " of a Hippopotamus captured by means 

 of this trap, of whose working he was himself an eye-witness. He says that " both banks of the 

 River Zambesi near the Mboma village are dotted with Hippopotamus traps, over every track which 

 these animals have made in going up out of the water to graze. The Hippopotamus feeds on grass 

 alone, and where there is any danger only at night. Its enormous lips act like a mowing-machine, 

 and form a path of short-cropped grass as it feeds. We never saw it eat aquatic plants or reeds. 

 The tusks seem weapons of both offence and defence. The Hippopotamus trap consists of a beam 

 five or six feet long, armed with a spear-head, or hard-wood spike covered with poison, and sus- 

 pended to a forked pole by a cord, which, coming down to the path, is held by a catch, to be set 

 free when the beast treads on it. Being wary brutes, they are still very numerous. One got 

 frightened by the ship as she was steaming close to the bank. In its eager hurry to escape it 

 rushed on shore, and ran directly under a trap, when down came the heavy beam on its back, driving 

 the poisoned spear-head a foot deep into its flesh. In its agony it plunged back into the river, to die 

 in a few hours, and afterwards furnish a feast for the natives. The poison on the spear-head 

 does not affect the meat, except the part around the wound, and that is thrown away. In some 

 places the descending beam is weighted with heavy stones, but here the hard heavy wood is sufficient." 



