158 Anecdotal Natural History. 



:roppingthe herbage as closely as if a scythe had been 

 employed. 



In consequence of its huge appetite and destructive 

 habits, the hippopotamus is an object of great detes- 

 tation in the neighbourhood which it frequents, as its 

 constant visits to the plantations in the v cinity result in 

 an almost total destruction of the crops. And the 

 havoc it causes is all the greater on account of the 

 position of its legs, which, being very short, and set 

 widely apart from one another, oblige the animal to 

 make two distinct tracks, thus exactly doubling the 

 damage caused by its passage through the crops. 



In order to check its ravages as much as possible, 

 various means are employed, chief among them being 

 the pit-fall and the ' down-fall.' 



The first of these needs no explanation, and the 

 latter may be described in a few words. 



A log of wood is heavily weighted at one end, and 

 furnished with a spear-head dipped in poison. This 

 is suspended to a branch over the path of the animal. 

 To it is fastened a cord, which is carried across the 

 track in such a manner that the pressure caused by the 

 advancing hippopotamus causes the log to fall, and 

 the poisoned spear to sink deeply into its body. '1 he 

 doom of the animal is then effectually sealed, the 

 venom performing its destructive work in the course 

 of a very short time. 



The hippopotamus is also slain by means of a 

 specially constructed harpoon, consisting of a stout 

 shaft, some ten or twelve feet in length, and a barbed 

 point fitting loosely into a socket at the end of the 

 shaft, to which it is fastened by means of a rope com- 

 posed of a number of separate strands ; this is in order 

 to prevent the animal from biting it asunder. To the 

 handle is fastened a stout line, to the other end of 

 which a float is attached. 



