72 
SAVAGE SUDAN 
of hippopotami, exuberant after their nocturnal foray 
ashore, and by the weird wail of a hyena afar; also, at 
intervals, by the swish of vibrating - pinions as some trip 
of wildfowl passed in the pall overhead. Presently the low 
bellowing calls, snorts, and splashings of buffalo became 
distinguishable, and soon, as light waxed, we descried 
three, girth-deep in the river; while a dozen more, includ¬ 
ing some calves, stood on the open foreshore, others, 
barely visible, among the trees on the bank beyond. It 
was the latter who first detected danger ; for with sharp 
nasal grunts (quite distinct from their previous conver¬ 
sational tones) they vanished in the forest, and the rest 
promptly took the cue. Beyond, by the water’s edge, a 
dozen shaggy waterbuck (with never a horn among them) 
stood drinking, and in an open glade I descried a 
sounder of wart-hog making their way inland. We were 
obliged to drop anchor, to avoid drifting ashore; and the 
sullen splash spoilt an entrancing tropical scene. On two 
other occasions I met with buffalo thus, just before the 
dawn ; and several times struck brand-new spoor within 
the forest, though at this point we never succeeded in 
overhauling the beasts. 
It was near this latitude that, on a dark night about 
ten o’clock, the Isis came into violent collision with a 
hippopotamus in mid-river. The incident, however, is 
related in the chapter descriptive of our great amphibian 
neighbour. 
