CAMP FIRE YARNS 335 



streak about a foot wide, which I supposed to be 



his mouth. About six feet from the end of the white 



streak (or jaw) there was a large hump on his back ; 



his body at the surface of the water was about the 



ji size round of the long boat. Underneath the jaws 



I there appeared to be a quantity of shock [tawny] hair, 



I like the pouch of a pelican it was of a lighter colour 



I than the rest of the body, which appeared black and 



f smooth. He appeared to be about a hundred and 



i eighty feet long, as near as I could judge. The water 



broke in several places along his body, which I think 



! must have been occasioned by humps similar to the 



i one close to his head. He was about three ships' 



I lengths from us, and was visible for about sixteen 



minutes. He kept moving his head through the water, 



i keeping way with the vessel, when he suddenly dis- 



| appeared, and we saw him no more. I have not the 



i slightest hesitation in saying that it was the celebrated 



sea-serpent which I believe was last seen by the officers 



: of H. M.S. Dawdalus somewhere between the Cape of 



Good Hope and St. Helena in 1849-50." 



An amusing account of a hippo hunt is given by 

 1 Mr. Richard Harding Davis in the record of his travels 

 in the Congo regions l : " It is distinctly a hard- luck 

 story. ,We had just gone on the bridge for breakfast 

 | when we saw the hippo walking slowly from us along 

 an island of white sand as flat as your hand, and on 

 which he loomed large as a haystack. Captain Jensen 

 was a true sportsman. He jerked the bell to the 

 engine-room, and at full speed the Deliverance raced for 

 the shore. The hippo heard us, and tried to get back 

 to the river. Captain Jensen danced on the deck plates. 

 * See Bibliography, 16. 



