238 WILD ANIMALS. 



plantations, if there are any in the district, for not only is its 

 voracity great, its stomach having a capacity of containing five or 

 six bushels, but it breaks down and tramples under feet large 

 quantities, and, as a consequence, its destructive powers cause 

 a great deal of hardship to the poor inhabitants of the river-side 

 villages, which is frequently expressed by doleful lamentations and 

 Hottentot maledictions. This habit of laying waste the standing 

 corn is mentioned in Phny's " Natural History," with the additional 

 remark that the animal determines beforehand what part it shall 

 ravage on the following day, and enters the field backwards, to 

 prevent any ambush being laid for it on its return. 



They rarely trespass far inland, but prefer to keep near the 

 water, which is their retreat in case of danger. Occasionally, 

 however, stray animals are found asleep in places ten miles or more 

 away from a river, for as they are entirely dependent on their 

 scent as a guide to the right direction, if they wander off the 

 beaten track and a heavy rain-fall ensues they are apt to get 

 bewildered, and lose their way. Under these circumstances they 

 become easy victims to the native hunters, who are always on 

 the look-out for them. 



Nearly all travellers in Africa speak of the conspicuous tracks 

 these animals make in their nocturnal journeys. In course of time 

 they become so well worn that they form clearly-defined roads. 

 Selous,^ describing a place he visited, writes : " Aboiit here the river 

 runs through a succession of rocky gorges, dashing over huge 

 boulders of granite (?) rock. Through these ravines hippopotami 

 must have wandered for countless ages, for in one place where a 

 ledge of rock ran along the bank of the river, they had worn a 

 path for about twenty yards across it, at least four inches deep 

 into the hard stone. This path worn into the solid stone was the 

 very facsimile of those recently made in soft ground, having the 

 slight ridge along the centre. Now from the nature of the river, 

 and the sparseness of vegetation along its banks, I do not think 

 the hippopotami could ever have been much more plentiful about 

 here than they are at the present day ; so that as they do not 

 every night make use of the same path, the time required by them 



^ " A Hunter's Wanderings." 



