72 SAVAGE SUDAN 



of hippopotami, exuberant after their nocturnal foray 

 ashore, and by the weird wail of a hyena afar ; also, at 

 intervals, by the swish of vibrating- pinions as some trip 

 of wildfowl passed in the pall overhead. Presently the low 

 bellowing calls, snorts, and splashings of buffalo became 

 distinguishable, and soon, as light waxed, we descried 

 three, girth-deep in the river ; while a dozen more, includ- 

 ing some calves, stood on the open foreshore, others, 

 barely visible, among the trees on the bank beyond. It 

 was the latter who first detected danger ; for with sharp 

 nasal grunts (quite distinct from their previous conver- 

 sational tones) they vanished in the forest, and the rest 

 promptly took the cue. Beyond, by the water's edge, a 

 dozen shaggy waterbuck (with never a horn among them) 

 stood drinking, and in an open glade I descried a 

 sounder of wart-hog making their way inland. We were 

 obliged to drop anchor, to avoid drifting ashore ; and the 

 sullen splash spoilt an entrancing tropical scene. On two 

 other occasions I met with buffalo thus, just before the 

 dawn ; and several times struck brand-new spoor within 

 the forest, though at this point we never succeeded in 

 overhauling the beasts. 



It was near this latitude that, on a dark night about 

 ten o'clock, the Isis came into violent collision with a 

 hippopotamus in mid-river. The incident, however, is 

 related in the chapter descriptive of our great amphibian 

 neighbour. 



