410 
EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
XXXII 
nostrils, nasal surface of tlie face, orbits, ears and eyes 
(see p. 178). Like the whale, it sometimes blows before 
reaching the surface, and drives up a watery column, or 
a spray of water. Often a blowing grunt or bellow is 
heard before the head appears. When shot at, these 
uncouth beasts become very cautious and forsake the 
clear parts of a pool and lie with their noses hidden 
among the reeds. 
Unless taken unawares, the hippopotamus when in 
the water offers a small target for the sportsman. It is 
usual to aim at a spot an inch behind the eye and near 
the base of the small erect ear. A bullet in that position 
penetrates the brain case. When shot dead the animal 
turns over, the feet stick up, and the body sinks like a 
stone to refloat about two hours later. When badly 
wounded the hippopotamus flounders about, and churns 
up the water in a sort of death-struggle like the flurry 
of a mortally wounded whale. A wounded bull is a 
dangerous animal, and will attack a boat with great 
ferocity. Hunters have been drowned on several occa¬ 
sions by wounded hippopotamuses. There are many 
reliable reports in wdiich natives and Europeans have 
been attacked by these animals when crossing the 
Victoria Nyanza. The natives kill the hippopotamus 
by means of game pits dug in their tracks, or with 
harpoons and spears (see p. 54). 
It is believed by many that a lion cannot kill a 
hippopotamus, but Gregory relates that when he was on 
the banks of the Thika-Thika, three lions had surprised 
a hippopotamus in some long grass about thirty yards 
from the river. There had been a desperate fight ; the 
grass had been trampled down for yards around, but 
the hippopotamus had finally succumbed to loss of 
blood. The skin was terribly scratched by claws and 
teeth, and the lower part of the neck had been torn 
away. 
Livingstone regarded the hippopotamus as an animal 
which spends its life mainly in the water in a sort of 
listless dream. He watched them at play, when the 
