Chap. XIII. THE CHOBE— HIPPOPOTAMI. 159 



ill the journey, which, with a small gipsy tent, just sufficient to 

 sleep in, a sheepskin mantle as a blanket, and a horse-rug as ?, 

 bed, completed my equipment. I had always found that the art 

 of successful travel consisted in taking as few " impedimenta " 

 as possible. The outfit was rather spare, and intended to be 

 still more so when we should come to leave the canoes. An 

 array of baggage would probably have excited the cupidity 

 of the tribes through whose country we wished to pass. 



ll^A of November, 1853. — We left the town of Linyanti, 

 accompanied by Sekeletu and his principal men, to embaik 

 on the Chobe. We crossed five of its branches before we 

 reached the main stream ; and this ramification must be the 

 reason why it appeared so small to Mr. Oswell and mj^self in 

 1851. When all the subdivisions re-enter, it is a large 

 deep river. The chief lent me his own canoe, and, as it was 

 broader than usual, I could turn about in it with ease. 



The Chobe is much infested by hippopotami. As a rule 

 they flee the approach of man, and are only dangerous if a 

 canoe passes into the midst of a sleeping herd, when some of 

 them may strike the vessel in terror. To avoid this mishap, 

 it is generally recommended to travel by day near the bank, 

 and by night in the middle of the stream. Certain elderly 

 males, however, which have been expelled the community, 

 become soured in their temper, and attack every one that 

 passes near them. One of these "bachelors" issued out of 

 his lair, and, putting down his head, ran after some of our 

 company with considerable speed. Another, before we arrived, 

 had smashed to pieces a canoe by a blow from his hind foot. 

 I was informed by my men that, in the event of a similar 

 assault, the proper course was to plunge to the bottom of the 

 river, and remain there a few seconds, because the animal, 

 after breaking a canoe, always looks for the people on the 

 surface, and, if he finds none, soon moves off. I have seen 

 some frightful gashes made on the legs of men who were un- 

 able to dive. The hippopotamus uses his teeth against foes as 

 an offensive weapon, but he is altogether a herbivorous feeder. 



The part of the river called Zabesa, or Zabenza, is spread 

 out like a little lake, surrounded on all sides by dense masses 

 of tall reeds. As it issues from this expanse, it is still a 

 hundred or a hundred and twenty yards broad, and ne^vei 



