and began to descend
carefully, holding on by the creepers which encircled the tree. To my
intense vexation and disappointment, just as I was in this helpless
condition, half-way to the ground, the great hippo suddenly came out
from his shelter and calmly lumbered along right underneath me. I
bitterly lamented my ill-luck and want of patience, for I could almost
have touched his broad back as he passed. It was under these
exasperating conditions that I saw a hippo for the first time, and
without doubt he is the ugliest and most forbidding looking brute I
have ever beheld.

The moment the great beast had passed our tree, he scented us, snorted
loudly, and dived into the bushes close by, smashing through them like
a traction engine. In screwing myself round to watch him go, I broke
the creepers by which I was holding on and landed on my back in the
sand at the foot of the tree--none the worse for my short drop, but
considerably startled at the thought that the hippo might come back at
any moment. I climbed up to my perch again without loss of time, but he
was evidently as much frightened as I was, and returned no more.
Shortly after this we saw two rhino come down to the river to drink;
they were too far off for a shot, however, so I did not disturb them,
and they gradually waddled up-stream out of sight. Then we heard the
awe-inspiring roar of a hungry lion close by, and presently another
hippo gave forth his tooting challenge a little way down the river. As
there seemed no likelihood of getting a shot at him from our tree, I
made up my mind to stalk him on foot, so we both descended from our
perch and made our way slowly through the trees in the semi-darkness.
There were numbers of animals about, and I am sure that neither of us
felt very comfortable as we crept along in the direction of the
splashing hippo; for my own part I fancied every moment that I saw in
front of me the form of a rhino or a lion ready to charge down upon us
out of the shadow of the bush.

In this manner, with nerves strung to the highest pitch, we reached the
edge of the river in safety, only to find that we were again baulked by
a small rush-covered island, on the other side of which our quarry
could be heard. There was a good breeze blowing directly from him,
however, so I thought the best thing to do was to attempt to get on to
the island and to have a shot at him from there. Mahina, too, was eager
for the fray, so we let ourselves quietly in