324 DEAD HIPPOPOTAMUS. Chap. XVI. 



the channel was nearly straight, and had no cataract, so we 

 determined to risk it. Our men visited the village while 

 we were gone, and were treated to beer and tobacco. The 

 priest who knows how to pray to the god that rules the 

 rapids followed us with several of his friends, and they were 

 rather surprised to see us pass down in safety, without the 

 aid of his intercession. The natives who followed the dead 

 hippopotamus caught it a couple of miles below, and, hav- 

 ing made it fast to a rock, were sitting waiting for us on 

 the bank beside the dead animal. As there was a consider- 

 able current there, and the rocky banks were unfit for our 

 beds, we took the hippopotamus in tow, telling the villagers 

 to follow, and we would give them most of the meat. The 

 crocodiles tugged so hard at the carcass, that we were soon 

 obliged to cast it adrift, to float down in the current, to 

 avoid upsetting the canoe. We had to go on so far before 

 finding a suitable spot to spend the night in, that the natives 

 concluded we did not intend to share the meat with them, 

 and returned to the village. We slept two nights at the 

 place were the hippopotamus was cut up.* The crocodiles 

 had a busy time of it in the dark, tearing away at what was 

 left in the river, and thrashing the water furiously with their 

 powerful tails. The hills on both sides of Kariba are much 

 like those of Kebrabasa, the strata tilted and twisted in 

 every direction, with no level ground. 



Although the hills confine the Zambesi within a narrow 

 channel for a number of miles, there are no rapids beyond 

 those near the entrance. The river is smooth and apparently 

 very deep. Only one single human being was seen in the 

 gorge, the country being too rough for culture. Some rocks 



* The animal was a female, aud I obtained higher up was 4 ft. 3 in. 

 fat ; it was 10 ft. in length and 4 ft. at withers ; 9 ft. 7 in. from snout to 

 1 in. in height. A young bull I insertion of tail. 



