As they came near the river they saw several natives fishing from their rafts of ambatch reeds, such as we have already described. Some were lying quietly near the shore, while others were paddling about or floating with the current. Several river-horses were visible, but they were such a common sight in this part of the Nile that nobody gave them the least attention. Frank and Fred were standing on the bank, and happened to be looking at a raft which carried two men. Evidently one of them was blind, as his eyes were closed, and he carried no oar or paddle. Close by them was a hippopotamus of more than ordinary size, and Fred remarked that the raft seemed to be going directly for him. "The man at the stern doesn't see the beast," said Frank, "or he wouldn't be likely to run the risk of disturbing him." "I think so too," replied his cousin, "for they haven't anything to make a fight with, and if the 'hippo' attacks them they're in great danger." [Illustration: HIPPOPOTAMUS ATTACKING A RAFT.] Just as he spoke the bow of the raft touched the back of what Fred called the "hippo," and evidently touched him with considerable force. The animal turned, as Frank had predicted, and attacked the frail vessel with his enormous jaws. It was a brief combat, and an unequal one. The man at the bow was, as they afterward learned, stone-blind, and therefore unaware of the danger that threatened him. The beast seized him with the quickness of a flash, overturning the raft and upsetting the other man into the water. The victim of the attack was killed instantly. Other boats and rafts went to the rescue of the man struggling in the water, and he was saved from the crocodiles, with which the stream abounds. The hippopotamus went away unmolested, as the natives had no weapons that could make an impression on his thick hide. Doctor Bronson called for his heaviest rifle, but before he secured it the monarch of the river was safe below the waters. Abdul said that when Baker was ascending the Nile with his expedition they had considerable trouble with these animals; on several occasions they attacked the small boats at the stern of the larger ones, and seemed to regard them as personal enemies. [Illustration: A NIGHT ATTACK BY A RIVER-HORSE.] "One night," said Abdul, "we were all awakened by a tremendous splashing close to the boat, and the cry arose that a hippo was about attacking us. We ran on deck as fast as we could, and saw a hippo dashing about furiously, and throwing the water in all directions. We were lying close to a mud-bank, with the dahabeeah moored stem and stern; consequently one side was exposed to the river, and the beast had full tilt at it whenever he wanted.