Some negro tribes on the White Nile dig pitfalls for hippopotami, and on the rivers which enter Lake Ngami (see map, p. 262) on its northern shore the natives hunt for them with harpoons, much in the same way as whales are killed in the northern and southern oceans. The harpoons have a sharp barbed blade of iron, and this point is secured by strong string to a stout shaft of wood, the end of which is attached by a line to a float. Two canoes are dragged on to a raft of bundles of reed tied together, and between them the black hunters crouch with harpoons and light javelins in their hands. When all is ready, the raft is pushed out into the current and drifts noiselessly down the river. The huge animals can be heard rolling and splashing in the water in the distance, but they are still hidden behind a bed of reeds. The raft glides gently past the point, but the hippopotami suspect no danger. One of them comes up close beside the raft. The harpooner stands up like a flash of lightning and drives his sharp weapon with all his strength into the animal's flank. The wounded hippopotamus dives immediately to the bottom, and the line runs out. The float follows the hippopotamus wherever he takes his flight, and the canoes, now in the water, follow. When the brute comes up again, he is received with a shower of javelins, and dives again, leaving a blood-red streak behind him. He may be irritated when he is attacked time after time by spears, and it may happen that he turns on his persecutors and crushes a too venturesome canoe with his great tusks, or gives it a blow underneath with his head. Sometimes the animal is not content with the canoes, but attacks the men, and many too daring hunters have lost their lives in this way. When the hippopotamus has been sufficiently tired out, the hunters pick up the float, and take the line ashore to wind it round a tree, and then they pull with all their might to draw the creature up out of the water. The flesh is eaten everywhere, especially that of the young animals, and the tongue and the fat of the older ones are considered delicacies. Riding-whips, shields, and many other articles are made out of the hide, and the large tusks are valuable. Hippopotami may be seen in some of the zoological gardens in Europe, but they do not thrive well in the care of man. MAN-EATING LIONS A terrible tale of man-eating lions is told by Colonel Patterson in his book _The Man-Eaters of Tsavo_.