ground.

A yell of delight from the expecting Kaffirs was the result of the
success, as they rushed down towards their formerly triumphant, but now
humbled enemies. Half a dozen hands eagerly seized on each bird, and in
a few seconds their bodies were torn into the smallest pieces and
scattered to the winds, whilst a shower of thanks and great praise fell
to my share.

I walked quietly up the banks of the Imvoti for nearly three miles, but
saw no signs of Hippo himself, although the spoor was very plentiful.
The day was very hot, and, seeking a shady tree, whose branches overhung
the stream, I sought shelter from the sun's rays and rest for my legs.
I was soon interested in watching a colony of the pretty little yellow
orioles, which were building their nests in the trees near the river.
They had selected those branches that were pliant and overhung the
stream, a little additional weight on which would have lowered them into
the water; they were thus secure from the depredations of birds-nesting
monkeys, whose egg-hunting attempts might have resulted in a ducking.
These birds seemed to be excellent weavers, and knit the grass in the
most ingenious way. Their nests were made in the shape of a glass
retort, the necks pointing downwards.

Upon casting my eyes on the water below the tree near which I was
sitting, I saw a small black snout just above the water: it was
perfectly still, not a ripple showing that it possessed life. Watching
it attentively for a few moments, I saw it begin slowly to rise, and
then recognised the head of an alligator: aiming between the eyes, I
lodged a bullet there, which struck with a crash. The alligator sank
instantly, but I could see that the water was agitated, as though the
monster were having a tussle for his life among the mud and reeds below
the surface. I kept a sharp look-out at different shallow parts near
the pool, but could not see him rise anywhere. After waiting for some
time, I returned to Inkau's kraal, which I reached just before dark. A
party went the next day on my trail, and examined the river, and found
the scaly monster floating and quite dead in the pool where I had left
him.

On the following morning, a Kaffir came to Inkau in breathless haste to
say that the evening before one of his cows had been killed, as it was
returning home, by a lion, that had paid no attention to the shouting of
the boy who attended the cattle, but had carried her away right before