I cocked my gun, hid myself behind a big tree, and waited. I heard the crash of branches in all directions except one, and finally saw the branches of the trees moving not far from me, and by the dim moonlight piercing through the not very thick foliage, I perceived a monster hippopotamus, the male of the herd, coming sideways so as to pass within a few yards of me. Suddenly he stopped; gave one of his sonorous grunts; and then advanced. What a monster he was! What a huge body! What short legs! At last, just as he had passed me, so that he could not face me without turning his unwieldy body, I fired into his ear, and the monster dropped on the spot with scarcely a struggle. But I wish you had been with me to hear the rush of the others. I thought all the trees were coming down! One in his fright came down in my direction. I thought he was charging me, so I fired, and I heard the bullet strike some part of his body, probably one of his tusks, for it made a great noise; but that was all; he passed on with a rapidity of which I thought these beasts perfectly incapable. I was glad when they were all out of the way. It had been an exciting hunt and I was satisfied. So I returned to the camp, and the next day we all went to cut up the beast. Some of the married men cut long strips of the hide to make whips, which they use pretty freely on the backs of their wives; but I made them promise not to use these whips except in self-defense. [Sidenote: _A DINNER OF HIPPOPOTAMUS._] There was joy in the camp in the evening. We had music, and I enjoyed the broth amazingly; it was really good, and I wish I could say the same of the flesh; but he was an old fellow and the meat was exceedingly tough. I soon gave up the job of trying to eat it. It did me good to see how my men enjoyed it. They had a dance in the evening. In the book called “Stories of the Gorilla Country” I have not told how curious is the head of this great, unwieldy creature. [Illustration: HEAD OF HIPPOPOTAMUS.] Look at the huge, crooked tusks! What are they for? After watching a great many times the movements of the hippopotamus, I became assured that these huge, crooked tusks, which give its mouth such a savage appearance, are designed chiefly to hook up the long river-grasses on which these animals feed in great part. I have often seen one descend to the bottom, remain a few minutes, and re-appear with its tusks strung with grass, which was then leisurely chewed up. There are no large herds of hippopotami in the parts of Africa I have explored, like those found in South Africa, thirty being about the greatest number I have ever seen together. [Illustration: [Fleuron]] CHAPTER IX. A GREAT GORILLA.