398 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



too, their meat is probably more appre- 

 ciated than that of any other African 

 animal, the immense quantities of fat 

 being greatly relished. 



"Agriculture and the hippopotamus do 

 not go hand in hand, as a single hippo- 

 potamus will in one night destroy acres 

 of crops; consequently the animals are 

 not much loved by either the native or 

 European farmers. 



"The hippopotamus is usually a noc- 

 turnal feeder. He spends most of the 

 day in the water, though he may be fre- 

 quently seen on rocks or sand bars enjoy- 

 ing his sun-bath. As evening approaches 

 he becomes restless, and usually soon 

 after the sun sets he begins to think of 

 dinner. At this time the herd separates, 

 each individual going, I believe, to his 

 own favorite feeding-ground. Whether 

 they feed every night I am not quite 

 sure, for I have noticed certain individ- 

 uals keeping to a pool all night, while it 

 is not at all an uncommon thing to see 

 them at night asleep on sand bars. 



"Certain landing places are used regu- 

 larly and, judging from the way the 

 banks are worn down and rocks pol- 

 ished, it would seem as though these 

 places have served for many centuries. 

 How far they will go from their day 

 pool is hard to say, but there is every 

 reason to believe that they will some- 

 times travel ten or fifteen miles or more 

 before landing. Then when they are 

 ashore they will often go a long way 

 before finding the necessary supply of 

 the grass which forms their food. 



"It is scarcely credible that such large 

 beasts (for a full-grown bull will proba- 

 bly weigh over three tons) can find 

 enough nourishment in grass, but of 

 course in porportion to their size they 

 do not require nearly as much food as 

 animals of more nervous temperament 

 and active habits of life." 



In addition to the lions, rhinos, hippos, 

 and giraffes, most interesting are Mr 

 Dugmore's photographs and descriptions 

 of the filthy spotted .hyena, of harte- 

 beests, tiny dik-dik, elands, warthogs, 

 gazelles, oryx, impala, waterbuck. 

 Grevy's zebra, vultures, marabou storks. 



and other animals, and of the extravagant 

 vegetation. 



Several entertaining chapters are de- 

 voted to an account of the little-known 

 country around Meru and the native 

 dances. 



"The women do most of the heavy 

 work, and it is no uncommon thing to 

 see a girl of perhaps twelve or thirteen 

 carrying a seventy or eighty pound load 

 of firewood on her back, with a bag of 

 corn or a huge gourd of water on the 

 top of it. These are hung by a strap 

 from the head, which is usually clean- 

 shaven. In front, more often than not, 

 hangs a baby, which complacently sucks 

 at its mother's breast as she walks along. 

 The father marches in front, carrying no 

 more than his spear and knob stick, his 

 body smeared with a sickening mess of 

 red earth and grease. 



"The costume of the men is usually a 

 red blanket or a brown cotton cloth hung 

 from one shoulder, while the neck, 

 wrists, arms, ankles, and below the knees 

 are decorated with beautiful little beaded 

 bands of wire. Frequently they dispense 

 with covering of any kind. The women 

 wear a short skirt of leather with or 

 without bead work. It is fastened 

 below the breasts and parts in front, so 

 as to leave the knees free. 



"Heavy wire ornaments are usually 

 wound around the legs, arms, and neck, 

 and sometimes immense waistbands or 

 beads and cowries are worn. Ear orna- 

 ments are used by both sexes, the women 

 preferring clusters of large beaded rings, 

 or heavy wire. In both cases the lobe of 

 the ear is cut and stretched enormously 

 by means of wooden or bone discs. 



"It is curious that the women have the 

 head clean-shaven, or nearly so, while 

 the men do their hair, or wool, in most 

 fanciful ways, usually filling the fine 

 braids with a mixture of their favorite 

 red earth and grease. The people are 

 chiefly agriculturists, their live stock con- 

 sisting almost entirely of goats, sheep, 

 and poultry. The sheep are rather small, 

 and are the fat-tailed variety ; the poul- 

 try are also small, and lav eggs not much 

 larger than those of the bantam." 



