The Common Hippopotamus 535 



in 1893, all, or nearly all, these hippopotami, which had become quite tame 

 through the protection which had been so long extended to them by the 

 savage chieftain, Lo Bengula, were ruthlessly destroyed by certain white 

 men for the sake of the few ounces of gold they hoped to obtain by the 

 sale of their hides. 



Hippopotami are thoroughly nocturnal in their habits, and seldom feed 

 except during the hours of darkness. They eat nothing but grass and 

 reeds. In the day-time they retire to the deep pools of the rivers they 

 frequent, or lie basking in the sun at the tail of some sand-bank, usually half 

 immersed in the water, but sometimes lying quite high and dry on the warm 

 sand. They are capable of standing a considerable amount of cold, since, 

 before the occupation of Mashunaland by Mr. Rhodes's pioneers in 1890, 

 the deep reaches on the upper course of the Hanyani, Umfuli, and Umgezi 

 Rivers used to be frequented by hippopotami all the year round, though the 

 altitude of the surrounding country was over 4500 feet above sea level, and in 

 the winter-time the nights were so cold that if a basin full of water was 

 taken from the river in the evening there would often be a thick skim of 

 ice over it the next morning, and the temperature of the water in the river 

 itself must have been very near freezing point. 



Unwieldy mass of flesh as the hippopotamus appears to be, it is a far 

 more active animal than one would suppose. I have seen one of them 

 gallop at a very considerable rate of speed, and at night they habitually 

 travel long distances in some parts of the country in search of food. In 

 walking, the hippopotamus moves the front and hind foot of each side in 

 two parallel lines, thus forming in soft or muddy ground two parallel 

 paths, divided one from another by a little ridge of sand or mud. The 

 same paths are followed year after year, and will often lead one in a bee- 

 line across a bend in a river, from one deep pool to another, through miles 

 of dense jungle, or over rocky, broken hills, into which one would imagine 

 that no hippopotamus would ever venture. On the Lower Umfuli River in 



