Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1908-11-18


Capt. Murray could recall d similar
| instance.
Whenever possible these hippos seem
| to relish a mud bath, and if there be
a suitable spot in the neighborhood
it is generally safe TO say that it will
have its nightly yisitants The ami.
mails plunge completely. into such wal
lows. where they roll and splash for
! quite an hour at 4 time. On one Of
the few occasions on which the mar
rator WIS tolerated in the vicinity Of
a pigmy hippo for any length Of time,
! he happened to be seated in tree,
| almost directly above the spot where
the animal was enjoying its bath. The
| night was inky black, and shot would
| have been too cruel to think of.
The clear water of the rivers does
rot seem to offer much attraction to
the hippo, although Capt. Murray saw
one use river as means of escape.
This was at Daru, in Sierra Leone.
where full grown individual was seen
in broad daylight feeding on the left
bank of the MOa river, although close
at hand natives were crossing the rail.
way bridge, chattering and shouting
as only negroes can, while directly op-
posite on the right bank were the
West African Frontier Force barracks
and some men bathing in front of
them. Altogether a deal of noise was
being made On both sides, of which,
however the pigmy took not the Slight
est notice. A shot was fired, which
struck the water some three yards
short of the bank on which it was
quietly feeding, when, after hesitating
for a second, it dived in head first and
was never seen again, although, both
up and down stream, long stretches of
the river were in full view From
this and other instances it may be in
TERED that these animals have the
power OF remaining under water for a
long time, and. while doing so, of coy
erlng considerable distance.
They are always extremely difficult
to approach, and seem to possess a
wonderful power of SCENT indeed, it
is only necessary TO cross one of their
runs or tunnels to stop that particu-
lar track being used for some time to
come. This has been tried many
times, and always with the same re-
suit; they will come right up to the
point where the run has been crossed,
and then either turn back or turn off
in different direction by means of
new tunnel
With so many well-defned tracks it
would seem easy to catch a specimen
by digging a pit. To test this a couple |
of deep pits were dug at a spot literal |
ly intersected with regularly-used |
runs, these pits being so carefully COW
cred to resemble the surface of the
surrounding ground that it became diff |
hcult to walk in the vicinity; in fact
a native on his way home did actually
walk into one of the pits in broad day
light. Nevertheless, it was not good
enough to deceive the willy hippo. The
pits were dug on the edge of a cas-
sada farm, but did not in any way stop
the animals from continuing their |
depredations. They came out of the
bush by the old tracks, but instead Of
using these to the point where they
led across the pits, carefully made new
ones on either side.
The pigmy hippopotamus appears to
be gifted with wonderful power of
sight. On a certain occasion Capt.
Murray was seated on a rough plat
form, or machan, about ten feet from
the ground, by the side of a swamp,
the machan itself being we'll under
cover, but looking out on to a moonlt1
glade some Is yards long, while at the
end of the glade and on all sides was
dense bush. A pigmy hippo was heard
approaching the edge of the glade,
where it stayed without making a
sound, but all the time well under
cover, for. perhaps. about five minutes,
when faint snort and the sound of
movement indicated its sudden depar.
ture
Taking into consideration its bulky
shape. and the very dense bush
through which it has to pass, the pig.
my hippopotamus is wonderfully ghost.
Ike and quiet in its movements, unless
disturbed, its presence being only de-
tected by the faintest rustic. These
notes give Us much better and more
authentic idea of the animal than we
ever had previously. 1t remains to
ascertain whether the pigmy hippo
potamus is confined to the West Coast.
or whether. like most great game ami
mails. Il extends right across the eQua,
tor.al belt
n. LYDzKIEnR