Chap. XXIT. BISHOP MACKENZIE. 451 



valuable merely to convert the heathen. If the attempt is 

 to be made at all, it is "penny wise and pound foolish" to 

 employ any but the very best men, and those who are 

 specially educated for the work. An ordinary clergyman, 

 however well suited for a parish, will not, without special 

 training, make a Missionary ; and as to their comparative 

 usefulness, it is like that of the man who builds an hospital, as 

 compared with that of the surgeon who in after years only 

 administers for a time the remedies which the founder had 

 provided in perpetuity. Had the Bishop succeeded in intro- 

 ducing Christianity, his converts might have been few, but 

 they would have formed a continuous roll for all time to come. 

 The Shire fell two feet, before we reached the shallow 

 crossing where we had formerly such difficulty, and we had 

 now two ships to take up. A hippopotamus was shot two 

 miles above a bank on which the ship lay a fortnight : it 

 floated in three hours. As the boat was towing it down, the 

 crocodiles were attracted by the dead beast, and several shots 

 had to be fired to keep them off. The bullet had not entered 

 the brain of the animal, but driven a splinter of bone into it. 

 A little moisture with some gas issued from the wound, and 

 this was all that could tell the crocodiles down the stream 

 of a dead hippopotamus ; and yet they came up from miles 

 below. Their sense of smell must be as acute, as their 

 hearing ; both are quite extraordinary. Dozens fed on the 

 meat we left. Our Krooman, Jumbo, used to assert, that 

 the crocodile never eats fresh meat, but always keeps it till 

 it is high and tender — and the stronger it smells, the better 

 he likes it. There seems to be some truth in this. They 

 can swallow but small pieces at a time, and find it difficult 

 to tear fresh meat. In the act of swallowing, which is like 

 that of a dog, the head is raised out of the water. We 

 tried to catch some, and one was soon hooked ; it required half- 



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