THE JOURNEY OF THE BOATS TO YO 175 



of silver to the south, beneath a sky of tender green, while 

 behind him the sun set with a glorious flare of crimson. 



CUTTING UP A HIPPO 



Jose had returned with the boat and towed the hippo into 

 camp. This was presented as a peace-offering to the Budumas, 

 of whom there were a good number fishing round the river 

 mouth. A week was now spent in making excursions on 

 the Lake, and in trying to collect information from the 

 Budumas. Both seemed to promise great results, but both 

 were deceitful ; for the attractive expanses of water would 

 lead for miles, only to land the boat in impenetrable mud ; 

 while the information given by the islanders, on the rare 

 occasions when they did not run away, was always systemati- 

 cally incorrect. During this time, however, Gosling succeeded 



