MOBBED BY HIPPOS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 129, 1 June 1901, Page 5 (Supplement)

MOBBED BY HIPPOS.

I THRILLING ADVENTURES ON THE NILE. (From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON, April 12. Somaliland has been for the past few years the paradise of big game hunters, but if Mr Lionel Deele, wlio represents the "Daily Telegraph" on the Cape to Cairo Expedition, is not exaggerating, the sportsman in search of excitement would find it in plenty between Wadelal and Affudu, od the Nile. There It would seem hippos literally swarm and crocodiles abound, and both. It seems, afford fine sport spiced with considerable danger. From Mr Decle'u account of his experiences with the Nile hippos I extract these passages:— 1 had been promised a hard journey from Wodelai to Affudn, but It exceeded all expectations. We had days of incessant danger from the hippos, and nights of uninterrupted agony from the mosquitoes. From the moment we started In the morning until we stopped in the afternoon I had to stand ankle-deep In .the water at the bottom of the boat, rifle Id hand, while my trusted sergeant-major, Waua Omarl, kept watch on the other Bide. Fifteen minutes never elapsed Without our coming across troops of hippos, and these became a regular terror. The moment they saw our boat they made a dash for it. At first, seeing my men afraid, I laughed at them, telling them that the hippos were much more frightened than they, but I soon became more concerned than the men or the hippos. We were going on beautifully, following the deep channel of the river, which was cnrrylng us with a three-knot current, when the n;an at the rudder turned sharp round, and took us In shallow water. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Master, there are hippos ahead," he answered. "Never mind hippos —they won't hurt ua. Go on." He reluctantly returned to the channel, when first a head, then another, then half-a-dozen more BOBBED OUT OF THE WATER. "Look sharp! Bring my camera," I said to one of my boys. The hippos were so close that I wanted to take a photograph of tUtm. Suddenly a large bull got his head clean out of the water, opened his mouth, and made straight for us. I did not feel like taking a snapshot,but seized my 8-bore. The beast dived, and three seconds later was only four feet from the boat. I scarce knew what to do. If I fired and shot him, the rate at which he was going would bring him right under the boat, and just one single dying struggle would send us flying in the air.. I covered him, and whether the movement frightened him, or whether he thought better of it, he dived, and his head just rubbed the side of the boat. 1 had not recovered from my surprise when crack went a shot behind me; the men rowed for dear life Into a shallow place, and, turning roiind, I saw a huge hippo struggling in the water within ten yards of us. My man had shot him within five yards of the boat, as he was making for it. Luckily there was a large stretch of shallow water close to us, and we got into it; behind us, the Infuriated monster, who had only been wounded, wns rearing, plunging, and trying to get at us. We turned.the boat round, and then witnessed a wonderful sight. The hippo cculd not swim to us, but got in shallow water, and tried to get at us. Badly wounded, he fell on his knees, rose out of the water, tried to get on the sand bank, fell back, rolling over, and ultimately forced his way towards us. Bang went my 8-bore at 30 yards, and, Incredible as It may seem, THE BULLET STRUCK ON HIS BACK

and glanced off, cutting a deep furrow in hla skin. A second shot hit him, and- he rolled over, but recovered his footing, and we poured lead into him, and, after a minute's terrible struggles, he rolled round and died, with one-half of his body standIng out of the water. We had settled one beast, but all round us the river was alive with others. There were at least 40, and there might have beeu 60. To get ahead we had to go among them. The river was at least four miles broad, with half a dozen channels running between submerged island*; of reeds. You might have got on one of these islands, but you would never have reached the mainland. To shoot at another hippo meant only to Increase our danger, as If we merely wounded him It would infuriate the beast,and If we killed him it would not drive the others away. I therefore decided to let all my men fire volleys Into the water between us and the hippos. I had ten guns, and we fired three volleys, after which, to our great relief, the whole herd dived, and we could see them 200 yards or so higher up the stream. For five days this sort of thing went ou. We sometimes found the stream absolutely OBSTRUCTED WITH THE HERDS. Twice we shot some of them charging us, and once we were followed for 20 minutes by a huge bull, who luckily kept some 50 yards behind us. There were but a few places where we could land, as between us and the bank stood hundreds of yards of reeds, through which we could not force a passage. Here and there we found small channels In the vegetation, cut by natives to pass With their boats, and after rowing for eight or ten hours we used to force our way through one of these to halt for the night. We should never have found these passages but for friendly hippo hunters, who, promised a present, showed us the way. The pluck of these native hunters is truly wonderful. They go out In the smallest of canoes, some of them not more than ten feet long. They carry a long spear with a heavy iron head lOiu long, with one big barb. A stout rope is fixed to the head of the spear, and runs along the haft, to Which it 19 tied. The cud of the rope, about 20ft long, Is fastened to a. large block of very light Wood; they paddle among the hlppoa, wait for one to rise, and dig the spear into him; the beast dives, but the log of wood, which floats on the surface of the water, always flhows them where he 18. For two of three days they win follow and stick spears Into him until be dl«k