80 THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 



respective dams, who are ever on the watch for 

 the approach of danger. 



The males are very pugnacious, and the com- 

 bats which take place between them when they 

 are found in large numbers are of nightly oc- 

 currence. I have often listened to the tremendous 

 roars by which their struggles are accompanied, 

 as I have also seen on the skins of old bulls the 

 marks of the terrible injuries they inflict upon 

 each other. These animals are invariably very 

 fat, and their meat, not unlike coarse beef, is by 

 no means to be despised. They are gifted with 

 good sight and hearing, and their scent is quite 

 remarkably acute. 



Some years ago in the Quelimane River, 

 returning in my boat from a morning among the 

 wild-duck of Chuabo Dembi, I was somewhat 

 annoyed at the aggressive conduct of a hippopot- 

 amus which frightened the lives out of my native 

 boatmen by a series of demonstrations which I 

 must own were very far from reassuring. At 

 length, getting somewhat alarmed for the safety 

 of my smart gig, — which, moreover, was Govern- 

 ment property, — I waited for a suitable oppor- 

 tunity, and at a distance of about 15 or 20 yards 

 I planted a '303 nickel-covered bullet low down 

 between the beast's eye and ear. She dis- 

 appeared instantly from view, but the water was 

 shallow, and I felt convinced that my shot had 

 proved instantly fatal. We were therefore pre- 

 paring to " feel " for her with an oar when the 

 tiny head of a calf appeared above water, and my 

 materially-minded boatmen exhorted me to shoot 



