. The game animals of Africa . in search of food. In walking, the hippopotamusmoves the front and hind foot of each side in parallel lines, thusforming in soft or muddy ground two parallel tracks, divided from oneanother by a little ridge of sand or mud. The same paths arefollowed year after year, and often lead one in a bee-line across a bendin a river, from one deep pool to another, through miles of dense jungle,or over rocky, broken hills, into which one would imagine that nohippopotamus would ever venture. On the lower Umfuli river innorthern Mashonaland there are places where the stream h
. The game animals of Africa . in search of food. In walking, the hippopotamusmoves the front and hind foot of each side in parallel lines, thusforming in soft or muddy ground two parallel tracks, divided from oneanother by a little ridge of sand or mud. The same paths arefollowed year after year, and often lead one in a bee-line across a bendin a river, from one deep pool to another, through miles of dense jungle,or over rocky, broken hills, into which one would imagine that nohippopotamus would ever venture. On the lower Umfuli river innorthern Mashonaland there are places where the stream has cut achannel through beds of hard rock, enclosed between ranges of lowstony hills, and in such situations the hippopotamuses have, in thecourse of ages, worn well-defined paths in the rock leading from onepool to another. These paths worn into the stone present exactly theappearance of a hippopotamus-track freshly made in soft ground, therebeing a low ridge of stone running down the middle corresponding to HIPPOPOTAMUS 407. 4o8 SWINE GROUP the ridge of mud in a modern track. In certain places on these rock-paths, where a sudden ascent had to be made to a higher ledge, theedges of the higher levels of hard rock are beautifully polished by thebellies of the numbers of hippopotamuses which, in the course of ages,have rubbed against them. Where hippopotamuses have never been fired at, they are tame,and even inquisitive. I once found a herd in a small rock-pool on thelower Umfuli river, the members of which had probably never seen aman with clothes on before, as they showed no fear whatever, but, as Isat on a rock at the edge of the pool, came up within a few yards, andremained with their heads in full view for a long time, staring stolidlyat the unwonted sight, and continually twitching their little ears. Inlarge rivers like the Zambesi, Shire, or Chobi, where the hippopotamuseshave been hunted by the natives for ages, they are usually wideawake, and often inclined to be vicious
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectg, booksubjecthunting
