196 
SAVAGE SUDAN 
The cause of the mishap was now clear. The lever 
actuating the catch-block which secures the attachment 
of telescope to barrel, had been tampered with; it had 
been lowered, so that the telescope lay merely resting 
on its “slides,” unclamped, and after the recoil of the 
shot it was left absolutely loose. 
Travelling forward along White Nile, though in con¬ 
stant touch with hippos daily and all day, however leisurely 
you cruise, yet but little chance is afforded the voyager 
of making intimate acquaintance with his huge neighbours. 
For that purpose, it is necessary to sojourn stationary 
among them. We enjoyed abundant opportunity. Once, 
for a week, Candace lay anchored right in the “pitch” 
of a school. Their normal landing-place—a deep arched 
inlet among the papyrus—lay broad on our beam, only 
60 yards away. In ordinary course this herd would have 
spent their days precisely where we had selected our 
moorings. Owing to our intrusion they temporarily 
shifted their quarters ioo yards lower down-stream, and 
all day wallowed, dipping, diving, grunting, and blowing, 
right under our stern. Often a pinky-brown toto climbed 
upon its mother’s back, or a bull reared his massive head 
to rest on the quarters of his neighbour next ahead. It 
seemed a monotonous existence; but here there were 
no sand-banks, so the hippos had perforce to make the 
best they could of deep water. At other, and more 
congenial points of the river, like the “enterprising 
burglar,” they “love to lie a-basking in the sun,” with 
half their bulk exposed. 
When, after a big morning’s hunt, we had returned 
early to our ship, it amused to sit on deck and watch 
their proceedings. Towards sundown, but sometimes a 
full hour earlier, our monster neighbours would wake 
up, and begin with intense caution to draw upstream 
towards their landing-place, scrutinising the obstructive 
ship with inquiring eyes and often raising half their 
