532 
African Game Trails 
I struck it between neck and shoulder; 
once, as it rushed forward with its huge 
jaws stretched to their threatening utmost, 
1 fired right between them, whereat it 
closed them with the clash of a sprung bear 
trap; and then, when under the punish¬ 
ment 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, 
trich feathers. The two Kikins were un¬ 
consciously entertaining companions. With¬ 
out any warning they would suddenly start 
a song or chant, usually an impromptu re¬ 
citative of whatever at the moment inter¬ 
ested them. They chanted for half an hour 
over the feat of the “B’wana Makuba” 
(great master, or chief—my name) in kill¬ 
ing the hippo; laying especial stress upon 
the quantity of excellent meat it would fur- 
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 Ind¬ 
ian Moslem. The fireman and the steers¬ 
man were two half-naked and much-orna¬ 
mented Kikins. The fireman wore a blue 
bead chain on one ankle, a brass armlet on 
the opposite arm, a belt of short steel 
chains, a dingy blanket (no loin cloth), and 
a skull cap surmounted by a plume of os- 
nish, and how very good the eating would be. 
Usually one would improvise the chant, and 
the other join in the chorus. Sometimes they 
would solemnly sing complimentary songs 
to one another, each in turn chanting the 
manifold good qualities of his companion. 
Around this camp were many birds. The 
most noteworthy was a handsome gray 
eagle owl, bigger than our great horned 
owl, to which it is closely akin. It did not 
hoot or scream, its voice being a kind of 
grunt, followed in a second or two by a 
succession of similar sounds, uttered more 
quickly and in a lower tone. These big 
owls frequently came round camp after 
dark, and at first their notes completely 
