on the Countries of Congo and Loango. £?1 
Chacal . — The natives have contrived to domesticate a species 
of Chacal, which, however, is of very little use to them, and 
very ugly ; nevertheless, they take it with them to the chace. 
Hippopotamus , or River-Horse . — The natives hunt this ani- 
mal with much eagerness for its flesh, which they esteem ex- 
cellent food. I was one day presented with a piece which had 
just been killed. It was coarse and bitter ; probably however, 
some of the gall had been diffused over it : the young ones 
may be delicate enough. It is an amphibious animal, and asso- 
ciates in herds. I have sometimes seen a groupe of fifty bask- 
ing in the sunshine, and half covered by the shallow water of a 
sand-bank. At such times being frequently asleep, the natives 
steal cautiously upon them in canoes, but seldom succeed in sur- 
prising them. They remain so long under water when disturb- 
ed, that it would be difficult to discover a wounded one, were it 
not for a float attached by a line to the harpoon. This points 
out his retreat, and where he will re-appear to breathe. There 
are two tusks in each jaw, which yield very valuable ivory. 
When they have cropped all the herbage upon the low islands, 
and on the margin of the river, they go on shore during the 
night to graze, and are caught in pits, dug in their most fre- 
quented paths, and covered over with branches. 
I never had the good fortune to kill a Hippopotamus, al- 
though I have often attempted it by muffling the oars and wa- 
rily approaching them, but they always took the alarm, and re- 
treated to deep water. This inclines me to think, that one of 
their number stands centinel whilst the others sleep. They 
presented, however, many opportunities of being fired at, rear- 
ing their huge heads abruptly out of the water, sometimes only 
a few yards from the boat, putting us under no small apprehen- 
sion by their tremendous bellowing and threatening aspect. 
Many a volley was fired at them, but whether the hide was 
proof against ball, or the current carried the wounded out of 
our reach, we could not ascertain. 
One morning I dispatched my chief mate, Shimmons, who 
augured better success with the harpoon, upon this employment. 
When he reached the shoal, where the Hippopotami had been 
observed basking, he discovered cue of them by the motion of 
the water, and accordingly darted the harpoon at it with his ut- 
t 2 
