SPEARING HIPPOPOTAMI.
Next day, soon after noon, Hatibu and I left Bilal in charge of the
camp. With four men armed with muskets we went in a canoe with two
natives about three miles down the river, where we landed, and there
found one of the most extraordinary sights that one ever saw. The river
was about ten feet below its highest level in flood-time, and the water,
falling, had left a huge, swampy lagoon, separated from it by five or
six hundred yards of muddy ground. On the shores of this lagoon were the
most extraordinary flocks of storks and other birds, which, according to
our guides, came there only at certain times of the year, and then
stopped for a few days. We could see numbers of hippopotami wallowing
about in the water, it in many places not being deep enough to cover
them. Lying on its banks were a lot of dark objects, looking something
like decayed trunks of trees. As we drew near they began to move, and
then I saw that they were crocodiles.
[Illustration: LAGOON NEAR LUAMA.
_Page 298._]
Certainly we had been brought where there were plenty of hippopotami,
but it was a question how we could get at them. There was great danger,
especially if we waded into the water, of being attacked by the
crocodiles. I at first proposed that we should haul the canoe across the
muddy strip separating the river from the lagoon; but we soon found that
we had not men enough to do it. Hatibu began to scold the guides,
telling them they had brought us on a fool’s errand; but they begged of
us not to be angry, saying we should, by following a path which they
pointed out, reach in half an hour a village where we could rest till
sunset, and close to this village was a place where the hippopotami
constantly came out to feed on the growing crops, and where a proper
ambuscade had been made to spear them from.
At first Hatibu did not care about going to this village, as he feared
some treachery; and, even without treachery, the people belonging to the
parties with us might bring about a row with the natives, and we might
be cut off from our companions, and be unable to defend ourselves. I
overruled his scruples. Following the path, we struck through some tall
cane grass, and found the whole ground covered with tracks of
hippopotami and crocodiles, while occasionally we came across fresh
tracks of elephants. As soon as we saw these, Hatibu became eager to go
on, the hope of adding to his stock of ivory overweighing any feeling of
caution.
We had not gone above five hundred yards along this path before we heard
screams and yells, and soon made out that they proceeded from some
Zanzibar people. Fearing that they might have got into some trouble, we
made our way with all haste in their direction, and breaking through the
grass we came upon a most exciting scene. A large portion of the grass
was trampled down. A number of the men who had gone out early in the
morning were brandishing their weapons, and some in the middle were
thrusting at some object which we could not very clearly discern. As we
drew closer we made out that this was an enormous crocodile, and we
heard that he had seized upon one of the party who had incautiously
strayed from the path.
His companions had been attracted by the poor fellow’s yells. They had
rushed to his rescue, and had managed to drive the brute away from him;
but after a bit the crocodile had turned to bay, and they were now all
round him trying to find a spot where they could penetrate his scaly
armour, and springing from side to side in order to avoid the sweeping
blows which he was dealing with his powerful tail. Just as we came up
one fellow more adroit and daring than his companions managed to plunge
a spear into the animal’s eye. It at once rolled over in agony, exposing
its belly, where the skin is softer, and instantly it was riddled with
spears. Though wounded to the death, it was tenacious of life, knocked
several fellows over, and
[Illustration: ENCOUNTER WITH A CROCODILE
_Page 302._]
seized one poor fellow by the arm, dragging the flesh and tendons from
the bone.
At this moment we, and the men with us who had muskets, fired
point-blank into its head, shattering it to pieces. We did not care to
remain in the neighbourhood, for the natives said that we might very
likely find more of these dangerous reptiles lurking in the canes, so we
picked up the two wounded men, and, regaining the path, made the best of
our way to the village.
On arriving we found that the poor fellow who had been first seized was
past caring for, and the wound of the second was such that I did not see
how we could do anything for him. Our guides said if we would leave him
to a fetichman in the village he would save his life, though he would
have to resign himself to the loss of his hand. I was very much
astonished at this, for I did not see how these savages could pretend to
amputate a limb; and the unfortunate fellow had the bone between his
wrist and elbow all bared of the flesh, which was hanging in ribbons.
Fortunately there was no great flow of blood, or else he would have been
dead before then.
Hatibu at once said that if the fetichman could do anything for him he
would pay him well; and the surgeon soon appeared. He ordered a fire to
be lit and a pot placed on it and filled with porridge, and as soon as
this was boiling fast he, with a very sharp knife, dissected the
elbow-joint of the wounded man, who was held by four strong men to
prevent struggling. The fore arm was removed, and then the bleeding
stump plunged into the boiling porridge.
When the porridge had cooled down the stump was withdrawn, and it was
encased in a great clot of the porridge, over which the surgeon tied a
piece of oiled grass-cloth. He then said that all the care now necessary
would be to keep the stump safe from blows until the cake of porridge
came off naturally and easily. This would be in about three weeks, when
we would find the wound healed up, and the man, save for the lack of his
arm, as well as ever he was in his life.
The operator was told that if he would return with us to our camp in the
morning he should be amply rewarded for his skill and care.
Then we began to make further inquiries about our projected
hippopotami-spearing, and we were told that the fetichman himself would
take us to their track. All that he asked was that we would implicitly
obey his directions, and that unless in imminent danger we would not
fire off a gun, for the report of a musket at night would alarm the
whole country. To all this we agreed.
An hour before sunset we left the village, and following a narrow path
through fields of Indian corn we came to a place where the bank of the
lagoon was some four feet above the surface, and where the hippopotami,
in their nightly searches for food, had broken down a passage five or
six feet wide. On either side we ensconced ourselves so as to wait for
the brutes landing.
Before the sun went down we were interested and astonished by remarking
the extraordinary number of birds that came from the lagoon and flew
away to their resting-places in the surrounding woods, and the noise of
ducks and other water-fowl that were calling to their companions
previous to seeking their night’s lodgings in the reeds. As soon as it
was dark all was quiet, except for the croaking of innumerable frogs,
that seemed, now that they were relieved from the fear of attacks by
storks and other feathered enemies, to be resolved to enjoy themselves
by making night hideous with their tuneless notes. As I listened to them
I could almost imagine that I was close to some huge ship-building
yards, and that innumerable calkers and smiths were busy plying their
noisy trades.
We waited for some time, keeping quite still and quiet. I began to think
that the hippopotami must have chosen some other place for their night’s
grazing-ground, when Hatibu gripped me by the arm and said--
“Listen, Franki, listen!”
I listened most intently, and soon I heard the sound of blowing and
snorting, which gradually grew nearer; then I heard splashing and sounds
of the huge beasts we were waiting for wallowing in the mud and water as
they made their way to the landing-place. Presently a great dark mass
came up from the lagoon and passed close by. I seized my spear, ready to
plunge it into the flank of the beast as he passed. The fetichman
whispered to us to wait, for if we wounded this one he would turn back
into the lagoon, and all our hopes of a night’s sport would be
destroyed. Slowly and cautiously the great animal made his way past us,
and when about twenty yards from the bank he gave a great roar, which
was answered by others that were still in the lagoon. This was evidently
a signal that the way was clear, for he was immediately followed by no
less than twenty hippopotami of all sizes, the last being a half-grown
one.
The fetichman now gave the signal for the attack to commence. I plunged
my spear, a heavy iron-hafted weapon, into the side of the last one, and
felt Hatibu and others striking it at the same time. At the same moment
one of the natives set fire to a great pile of dry grass and reeds which
had been collected, and the flames blazing up threw a light on the
scene. Other fires were instantly lighted, and the hippopotami,
evidently confused by the light of the flames, did not seem to know
which way to turn. The one we had first stabbed was killed on the spot;
and now we all, natives and our own people, rushed in among the herd and
stabbed indiscriminately at any one of the beasts we could reach. This
was not unaccompanied by risk and danger; for the animals, though
confused and surprised, kept making rushes and charges at their
assailants, and it was only by exercising the utmost caution and agility
that we could avoid being knocked over and trampled under their feet,
which would have been certain death.
The scene was an impressive one. The lurid light of the flames shone on
the shiny hides of the animals. The figures of the hunters, dealing
wounds on every side, looked like wild men; and their yells and cries as
they made a successful thrust were mingled with the roars and cries of
the wounded animals, which tried in vain to break away. Being met on
every side by fresh opponents thrusting at them with their spears and
brandishing masses of burning reeds torn from the fires, they headed
back again.
At last the fires began to burn low, and half-a-dozen of the animals,
which had been driven together in the middle of our circle of attack,
made a determined rush to the lagoon, and though one fell under repeated
wounds just before reaching the water, the rest made their escape. We
now looked to the results of our ambush, and found that fifteen
hippopotami had fallen victims to our spears; but although every one of
us had tales to tell of hairbreadth escapes, not one of our party had
received any injury.
The fetichman and other natives were delighted with the results of the
night’s work, for they said the carcasses would afford a plentiful
supply of meat both for them and us, and the hippopotami would now avoid
that side of the lagoon for many months, and their crops would be safe
from their depredations. Hatibu, who had agreed that the tusks should
fall to our share, was pleased with such an addition to the value of
what we were conveying to the coast.
These tusks we cut out at once, and it now being midnight we returned to
the village to rest, leaving the work of skinning and dividing the
bodies till the morning. A hut was given to me and Hatibu to sleep in,
and, fatigued by our long day and the work of slaughter in which we had
been engaged, we were soon slumbering soundly. I dreamed of our
onslaught, and I thought that the animals commenced beating drums, and
had muskets and were using them against us. At last I awoke thinking
that the biggest of all the animals was pointing at me a musket as large
as a thirty-two pounder, and soon I found that drums certainly were
beating in all directions, and that there was a sound of distant
musketry fire.