ppopotami are seen, and
the deep furrows they make, in ascending the banks to graze during the
nights, are every where apparent. They are guided back to the water by
the scent, but a long continued pouring rain makes it impossible for
them to perceive, by that means, in which direction the river lies, and
they are found bewildered on the land. The hunters take advantage of
their helplessness on these occasions to kill them.

It is impossible to judge of the numbers in a herd, for they are almost
always hidden beneath the waters; but as they require to come up every
few minutes to breathe, when there is a constant succession of heads
thrown up, then the herd is supposed to be large. They love a still
reach of the stream, as in the more rapid parts of the channel they are
floated down so quickly that much exertion is necessary to regain the
distance lost by frequently swimming up again: such constant exertion
disturbs them in their nap. They prefer to remain by day in a drowsy,
yawning state, and, though their eyes are open, they take little notice
of things at a distance. The males utter a loud succession of snorting
grunts, which may be heard a mile off. The canoe in which I was, in
passing over a wounded one, elicited a distinct grunting, though the
animal lay entirely under water.

The young, when very little, take their stand on the neck of the
dam, and the small head, rising above the large, comes soonest to the
surface. The dam, knowing the more urgent need of her calf, comes more
frequently to the surface when it is in her care. But in the rivers
of Londa, where they are much in danger of being shot, even the
hippopotamus gains wit by experience; for, while those in the Zambesi
put up their heads openly to blow, those referred to keep their noses
among water-plants, and breathe so quietly that one would not dream of
their existence in the river except by footprints on the banks.

Chapter 14.

Increasing Beauty of the Country--Mode of spending the Day--The People
and the Falls of Gonye--A Makololo Foray--A second prevented, and
Captives delivered up--Politeness and Liberality of the People--
The Rains--Present of Oxen--The fugitive Barotse--Sekobinyane's
Misgovernment--Bee-eaters and other Birds--Fresh-water
Sponges--Current--Death from a Lion's Bite at Libonta--Continued
Kindness--Arrangements for spending the Night during the
Journey--Cooking and Washing--Abundance of animal Life--Different
Species of