EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS. 343 
quality, it is quite pliable when seen on the living beast, and accom¬ 
modates itself easily to all his movements. 
There is also the down-fall,’’ a trap which consists of a log of 
wood, weighted heavily at one end, to which extremity is loosely 
fixed a spearhead, well treated with poison. This terrible log is 
suspended over some hippopotamus path, and is kept in its place by 
a slight cord which crosses the path and is connected with a catch 
or trigger. As soon as the animal presses the cord, the catch is 
liberated, and down comes the armed log, striking the poisoned spear 
deep into the poor beast’s back, and speedily killing it by the poison, 
if not from the immediate effects of the wound. 
The most exciting manner of hunting the hippopotamus is by 
fairly chasing and harpooning it, as if it were a whale or a walrus. 
GETTING READY WITH THE HARPOON. 
The harpoon is a very ingenious instrument, being composed 
of two portions, a shaft measuring three or four inches in thickness 
and ten or twelve feet in length, and a barbed iron point, which fits 
loosely into a socket in the head of the shaft, and is connected with 
it by means of a rope composed of a number of separate strands. 
This peculiar rope is employed to prevent the animal from 
severing it, which he would soon manage were it to be composed of 
a single strand. To the other end of the shaft a strong line is fast¬ 
ened, and to the other end of the line a float or buoy is attached. 
As this composite harpoon is very weighty it is not thrown at the 
animal, but is urged by the force of the harpooner’s arm. The man¬ 
ner of employing it shall be told in the following words of one of 
the most skillful hunters of recent times: 
'' As soon as the position of the hippopotamus is ascertained, 
one or more of the most skillful and intrepid of the hunters stand 
prepared with the harpoons; whilst the rest make ready to launch 
the canoes, should the attack prove successful. The bustle and noise 
caused by these preparations gradually subside. Conversation is 
carried on in a whisper, and every one is on the alert. 
The snorting and plunging become every moment more 
distinct; but a bend in the stream still hides the animals frorn view. 
