212 
TO LAKE NAIVASHA 
[CH. IX 
with the little Springfield rifle. The hippo was a self- 
confident, truculent beast; it went under water once or 
twice, but again came out to the papyrus and waded 
along the edge, its body out of water. We headed 
toward it, and thrust the boat in among the water-lilies, 
finding that the bay was shallow, from three to six feet 
deep. While still over a hundred yards from the hippo, 
I saw it turn as if to break into the papyrus, and at 
once fired into its shoulder, the tiny pointed bullet 
smashing the big bones. Round spun the great beast, 
plunged into the w r ater, and with its huge jaws open 
came straight for the boat, floundering and splashing 
through the thick-growing water-lilies. I think that its 
chief object was to get to deep water; but we were 
between it and the deep water, and instead of trying to 
pass to one side it charged straight for the boat, with 
open jaws, bent on mischief. But I hit it again and 
again w T ith the little sharp-pointed bullet. Once I struck 
it between neck and shoulder; once, as it rushed forward 
with its huge jaws stretched to their threatening utmost, 
I fired right between them, whereat it closed them with 
the clash of a sprung bear-trap; and then, when under 
the punishment it swerved for a moment, I hit it at the 
base of the ear, a brain shot which dropped it in its 
tracks. Meanwhile Kermit was busily taking photos 
of it as it charged; and, as he mentioned afterward, 
until it was dead he never saw it except in the “ finder” 
of his camera. The water was so shallow where I had 
killed the hippo that its body projected slightly above 
the surface. It was the hardest kind of work getting 
it out from among the water-lilies ; then we towed it to 
camp behind the launch. 
The engineer of the launch was an Indian Moslem. 
The fireman and the steersman were two half-naked 
