22 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
forms of hippopotami, and these gloomy routes form 
their channels of retreat, where they retire to sleep. 
Females, with their calves, are especially fond of 
these impervious bowers, where they are secure 
from all chances of molestation by man or beast. 
Although this animal may be shot from the 
shore, without the slightest danger of an attack 
upon the hunter, I have described a sufficient 
number of casualties to exhibit the true ferocity 
of its nature, when in the element which affords 
the greatest scope for its activity. Upon one 
occasion I was a witness to a most unprovoked 
aggression. We were swimming a herd of several 
hundred cows across the White Nile, about 20 
miles south of Gondokoro : the natives as usual 
accompanied the cattle, sometimes holding on to 
the horn, at other times by the tail of a cow, but 
as they swam they directed the course of their 
animals by shouts and by the aid of a stout 
bamboo. 
Suddenly the herd was invaded by several 
hippopotami, and I myself saw their enormous 
heads and necks emerge from the water, and with 
opened jaws they seized several cows and dragged 
them beneath the surface, never to appear again. 
This was sheer rage, as the hippo is not 
carnivorous. It is impossible to know what 
happened beneath the water, but, as the cows did 
not reappear, they must have been held at the 
bottom for a considerable time, until quite drowned. 
It may be generally accepted that the hippo- 
