158 



HIPPOPOTAMI. 



till midniglit, unsatiated with the charm of the 

 darker hours. The moon rained molten silver over 

 the hlack foliage and the huge fronds of the Devil's 

 Dates (Eaphias) ; the stars gleamed like golden 

 lamps hung unusually high in the limpid air, and 

 Venus, the beautiful, glittered diamond-like upon 

 the pure front of the firmament. The fireflies 

 rose in a scatter of sparks — ' a shower of fire ' 

 Southey has it — now all shone out simultaneously 

 through the dark ; then the glow melted away, as 

 if by concerted impulse, amidst the glooms of the 

 ground. At our feet rolled the black waters of the 

 creek; in the jungle wild beasts roared fitfully ; 

 Leviathan and Behemoth crashed through the 

 bush, and the night breeze mingled softly sighing 

 sounds with the murmurs and the gurgling of 

 the stream. 



About midnight, when the tide flowed strong, 

 we resumed our way. The river then became a 

 sable streak down the avenue of lofty trees ex- 

 cept where a bend suddenly opened its mirrory 

 surface to the reflection of the moon, and 

 stretched it before us like a silver ribbon. The 

 deep roar of the hippopotamus, the snorting, 

 and the occasional blowing sounded close to our 

 stern, and the crew begged me to fire for the 

 purpose of frightening a certain pernicious 



