CHAPTER XXII 
IIIPPO AND LION 
The hippopotamus, imbued, like all wild animals, 
with an instinctive fear of man, only ventures at 
night in search of food from the security of the 
river or pool that he frequents, and when bent on 
this search will, at times, wander quite a distance 
from the actual water. 
Prior to the incident which I am going to relate, 
my natives had often told me that they had found 
dead hippos at a considerable distance from water, 
and that, from marks upon the carcases, they were 
absolutely certain that lions had killed the animals 
and fed upon the flesh. I had always discredited, 
or, perhaps, to put it more aptly, taken their stories 
with a pinch of salt, until on one occasion, near the 
Msinjie River, I met with an experience which 
fully corroborated their statements. As we were 
tramping along parallel with the river, about 
seventy yards from the banks, I heard the re¬ 
peated snorts of a hippo, and, at once going 
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