It appears that the habits of the hippopotami are to land at night for food, betaking themselves to the retirement of the small islands before break of day. Such unwieldy brutes cannot travel on shore without leaving marks, by which they are easily traced, and generally return to the water by the same paths. As they are never molested by the natives, we thought we might intercept them before they went to rest, and intended to be up at 3 o’clock, but it rained and our native servants neglected to call us. We went later to try for guinea-fowl, which were said to be plentiful and excellent eating. A covey of them was seen but not got at. Our next plan was to proceed to the patches of islands in the bay, so as to reach them before low water, about which time our experienced friend, Speke, considered that the hippopotami would be more likely to be caught napping or basking in the mud. We approached the islet with caution. [Illustration: _A right and left shot._] I shall not forget the first wild hippopotamus I saw: a huge ugly brute, standing up to his middle in water, apparently indifferent to our approach, until within fifty yards, when he moved leisurely towards some rocks where the water was deep and disappeared. On rounding the rocks, we opened on an extended sand-flat and observed several Sibuko, half in the water, with one fine fellow standing separate. To the left, and within forty yards of him, was a small clump of trees. As soon as our boat grounded, took up my position, as prearranged, on that side, and stalking under shelter of bushes, got pretty close, with a rest for my gun. Speke and Heneage had spread out to the right, so as to cut off his retreat that way to the sea. Within forty yards, when I thought they were quite ready, I fired _my first shot_. The monster seemed more astonished than hurt, although a stream of blood from the side of his neck showed where my ball had told. While he hesitated, the others broke away in a parallel direction to that I was moving in. They were close together, the head of the Hippo nearest to me being a little in rear of the shoulder of his companion. Had my double-barrel smooth-bore ready. It does not often fall to the lot of man to get right and left shots at a brace of hippopotami. I took the nearest; hit him just behind the ears, struck the spine, and brought him on his knees. The thick skull of the other turned my second ball. Instead of dropping, as I expected, he took a survey of the ground, hesitated a minute, eyed his dying chum, and made a rush to the path where I stood. With all due deference, I made a move out of his way, fell backward, gun going off.