114 
HIPPO AND LEOPARD 
[CH. V 
It was sent back to camp in company with the wounded 
beater, after the wounds of the latter had been dressed ; 
they were not serious, and he was speedily as well 
as ever. 
The rivers that bounded Juja Farm, not only the Athi, 
but the Nairobi and Rewero, contained hippopotami 
and crocodiles in the deep pools. I was particularly 
anxious to get one of the former, and early one morning 
Judd and I rode off across the plains, through the herds 
of grazing game seen dimly in the dawn, to the Athi. 
We reached the river, and leaving our horses, went 
down into the wooded bottom, soon after sunrise. Judd 
had with him a Masai, a keen-eyed hunter, and I my 
two gun-bearers. We advanced with the utmost 
caution toward the brink of a great pool; on our way 
we saw a bushbuck, but of course did not dare to shoot 
at it, for hippopotami are wary, except in very unfre¬ 
quented regions, and any noise will disturb them. As 
we crept noiselessly up to the steep bank which edged 
the pool, the sight was typically African. On the still 
water floated a crocodile, nothing but his eyes and nos¬ 
trils visible. The bank was covered with a dense growth 
of trees, festooned with vines ; among the branches sat 
herons; a little cormorant dived into the water ; and 
a very small and brilliantly coloured kingfisher, with a 
red beak and large turquoise crest, perched unheedingly 
within a few feet of us. Here and there a dense growth 
of the tall and singularly graceful papyrus rose out of 
the water, the feathery heads, which crowned the long 
smooth green stems, waving gently to and fro. 
We scanned the waters carefully, and could see no 
sign of hippos, and, still proceeding with the utmost 
caution, we moved a hundred yards farther down to 
another lookout. Here the Masai detected a hippo 
