as they disposed of some audacious biter was very irritating. Sleep being out of the question, I determined to try hunting by moonlight. After an hour or two's silent paddling, the Bangala intimated that on an island close to us hippos were to be found, and, running the canoe into the rank vegetation fringing its edge, we forced our way some distance up a narrow slippery path.

This led to an open space, where the grass had evidently been trampled down or eaten, and almost immediately I found myself face to face with a pair of hippopotami not twenty yards distant. I had only a Mannlicher and the five cartridges in its magazine with me. As the trampled and broken grass was still nearly up to my shoulders, I had no difficulty in working my way round the open space, which enabled me to get a fair shot at the nearer animal.