THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, OR ZEEKOE. 765 



The most exciting manner of hunting the Hippopotamus is by fairly chasing and 

 harpooning it, as if it were a whale or a walrus. This mode of sport is described very 

 vividly by Mr. Andersson. 



The harpoon is very ingenious instrument, being composed of two portions, a shaft 

 measuring three or four inches in thickness and ten or twelve feet in length, and a 

 barbed iron point, which fits loosly into a socket in the head of the shaft, and is connected 

 with it by means of a rope composed of a number of separate strands. This peculiar 

 rope is employed to prevent the animal from severing it, which he would soon manage 

 were it to be composed of a single strand. To the other end of the shaft a strong line 

 is fastened, and to the other end of the line a float or buoy is attached. As this com- 

 posite harpoon is very weighty it is not thrown at the animal, but is urged by the force 

 of the harpooner's arm. The manner of employing it shall be told in Mr. Andersson's 

 own words : 



" As soon as the position of the Hippopotami is ascertained, one or more of the 

 most skilful and intrepid of the hunters stand prepared with the harpoons ; whilst the 

 rest make ready to launch the canoes, should the attack prove successful. The bustle 

 and noise caused by these preparations gradually subside. Conversation is carried on 

 in a whisper, and every one is on the qui-vive. The snorting and plunging become 

 every moment more distinct ; but a bend in the stream still hides the animals from 

 view. The angle being passed, several dark objects are seen floating listlessly on the 

 water, looking more like the crests of sunken rocks than living creatures. Ever and 

 anon, one or other of the shapeless masses is submerged, but soon again makes its 

 appearance on the surface. On, on, glides the raft with its sable crew, who are now 

 worked up to the highest state of excitement. At last, the raft is in the midst of the 

 herd, who appear quite unconscious of danger. Presently one of the animals is in 

 immediate contact with the raft. Now is the critical moment. The foremost harpooner 

 raises himself to his full height, to give the greater force to the blow, and the next 

 instant the fatal iron descends with unerring accuracy in the body of the Hippo- 

 potamus. 



The wounded animal plunges violently, and dives to the botton ; but all his efforts to 

 escape are unavailing. The line or the shaft of the harpoon may break ; but the cruel 

 barb once imbedded in the flesh, the weapon (owing to the toughness and thickness of 

 the beast's hide) cannot be withdrawn. 



As soon as the Hippopotamus is struck, one or more of the men launch a canoe from 

 off the raft, and hasten to the shore with the harpoon-line, and take a round turn with 

 it about a tree, or bunch of reeds, so that the animal may either be ' brought up ' at once, 

 or, should there be too great a strain on the line, * played' (to liken small things to great) 

 in the same manner as the salmon by the fisherman. But if time should not admit of 

 the line being passed round a tree, or the like, both line and * buoy ' are thrown into 

 the water, and the animal goes wherever he chooses. 



The rest of the canoes are now all launched from off the raft, and chase is given 

 to the poor brute, who, so soon as he comes to the surface to breathe, is saluted with a 

 shower of light javelins. Again he descends, his track deeply crimsoned with gore. 

 Presently and perhaps at some little distance he once more appears on the surface, 

 when, as before, missiles of all kinds are hurled at his devoted head. 



When thus beset, the infuriated beast not unfrequently turns upon his assailants, and 

 either with his formidable tusks, or with a blow from his enormous head, staves in 

 or capsizes the canoes. At times, indeed, not satisfied with wreaking his vengeance 

 on the craft, he will attack one or other of the crew, and with a single grasp of his 

 horrid jaws either terribly mutilates the poor fellow, or, it may be, cuts his body fairly 

 in two. 



The chase often lasts a considerable time. So long as the line and the harpoon hold, 

 the animal cannot escape, because the ' buoy ' always marks his whereabout. At length, 

 from loss of blood or exhaustion, Behemoth succumbs to his pursuers." 



The Hippopotamus is a gregarious animal, collecting in herds of twenty or thirty in 



