57S TRAVELS IN 
the paflage was fhort, and I was too far from 
the fea to have any thing to dread. 
Though the ifland appeared to contain no 
living creature, we found leveral hippopota- 
inufes concealed in it, whence I gave it the 
name of Hippopotamus Ifland. The mo- 
ment we appeared, fome of thefe animals being 
alarmed rufhed into the river. 
One of them happening to come in the way 
©f Klaas, he fired, and killed it on the fpot. 
It was a young one» But the report of the 
gun roufed others j and in lefs than a minute 
I faw more than a dozen, of all ages and fizes, 
run to the water and difappear in an inftant. 
I could never have believed that an animal fo 
unwieldy on land fhould poffefs in the water 
fuch furprifmg agility. 
To pafs the night in the Ifland would not 
have been prudent in me. I was too well ac- 
quainted with the rivers of Africa, and parti-* 
cularly the Orange, which by a fudden aug- 
mentation might furprlfe and overwhelm us 
in the fliort fpace of only a few hours. Ac* 
cordingly, having cut a few morfels from our 
hippopotamus to fupply us with fteaks for our 
fupper, we crefled the other arm pf the river, 
an4 
