I then made up my mind to lie low for such time as might be necessary to reassure the animals. I had to wait some considerable time--certainly more than an hour; but finally my patience was rewarded. The old male, still swimming, was actually coming in my direction. His head, carried well clear of the water, presented a marvellous target at a distance of about twenty-five feet from me--a regular tyro’s shot. And yet something or other made my hand tremble, and as I pulled the trigger I realized that I had missed! I also realized more than this. In order to make the effect of the ball the surer I had employed my largest gun, and I had given it a full elephant charge. The shock of the recoil was so tremendous that I was thrown on my back several paces away, with a feeling as if my shoulder had been put out of joint. When I got on my feet once more all the natives were shrieking with laughter, for this misadventure to their white master appeared to them highly diverting. [Illustration: A GLANCE AT THIS TRULY FORMIDABLE PAIR OF JAWS WILL ENABLE THE READER TO REALIZE HOW IT IS THAT THESE GREAT BRUTES ARE ABLE TO DEMOLISH CANOES SO EASILY. _From a Photograph._] Meanwhile, in the pond a terrible scene was in progress. Maddened with rage and pain, the old hippopotamus was swimming furiously, first in one direction, then in another. Now he would mount on a sandbank, now plunge with a tremendous splash into the water, which was reddened with his blood. He was seeking an enemy on whom he might be avenged, and blindly pursued his fellows under the water. The ball had struck him in the chest, whereas the only immediately vital spot in the hippopotamus is situated just beneath the eye, the ball thence penetrating the brain. My bullet, though it had not killed him outright, must have caused terrible internal injuries, for very soon I saw him turn completely over several times, displaying successively above the surface of the water his head and his feet. Then, all at once, he sank and did not again reappear. [Illustration: THE ALARM! A BOAT HAS APPEARED IN THE DISTANCE, AND THE GIGANTIC LEADER OF THE HERD ROARS OUT HIS WARNING. _From a Photograph._] [Illustration: A DEAD HIPPOPOTAMUS WHICH HAS BEEN DRAGGED IN TO THE RIVER BANK. _From a Photograph._] A dead hippopotamus invariably sinks to the bottom, and it is only after an interval which varies between two and eight hours that the body rises and floats on the surface. For this reason, if you kill a hippopotamus in a river the current of which is at all rapid, you must, in nine cases out of ten, give up all hope of ever recovering your quarry. The carcass may be carried a great distance under the water, reappearing at the surface miles away, where it furnishes a providential feast to the native inhabitants on the banks, who call down ironical blessings upon the infallible rifle of the white man.