Evening star., 1926-08-22

Grab the rope l yelled. Crab
the rope, Charlie! Can't we swim and
pull the thing to the shore? Come on,
boys. Swim, you poor foolse'
We were only 100 yards from the
shore, but there was a stretch Of so
yards Of water so deep we could not
wade. Again and again we tried by
swimming to drag that hippo across
the stretch, but we couldn't. 1t was
too large and too strong. When it
happened that we could all get soma
kind of a purchase on the slippery
rocks we could just hold IT. Once we
lost our footing, it did what 1t liked
with us.
TWO hours or more this. strenuous
battle lasted. We began to tire
and give in. l felt as II I had swal.
lowed half the Kafue River and my
boys" looked as If they had swal.
lowed all the rest. We were nearly
drowned. tired out and played out.
II was like a game Of superwater polo
when each side tries to finish of the
other by drowning.
Suddenly there came worning
shout from Charlie:
Look out. Inkos! It's charging.
Shoot him."
mo. I won't shoot. I want to let
it 60" ,. r, -,,,a.
it's leg is wet and won't come OF.
The hippo will die. Shoot IT. We Will
eat it."
IL know you'll eat 1t. Mangineera
can you get the rope OFF,"
mo, Inkbs. It's too tight.
TRY IT. I don't want TO have TO
kill 1t. The rope won't bother it."
Yes. II will. BY and by the leg
swell no blood. Rope too wet. Never
come off. BY and by hippo go on land
rope dry. Make hard. Finish leg"
In desperation l shot II. We towed
1t ashore behind a dugout. Compared
with the two adults which ! had shot,
this one turned out to be a little more
than a third grown. 1t weighed. 1
Judge, 1900 pounds.
After resting awhile and trying to
get some of the water out of our sys-
TENS, we towed all three hippos to
shallow water. There we started In
on the three-day job of skinning and
cutting them up. When one Is hunt
ing professionally. no part of any
animal is allowed TO go to waste.
To skin a hippo in two feet Of
muddy water Is quite a task. First
of all we cut off the head close to the
massive shoulders. Then the hide
was cut down the median line of the
back and abdomen. The head and
neck we dragged up onto the rocks
entire. 1t took 10 natives to do It.
The two pieces of hide we treated
similarly. but it took II natives pull
ing hard to get them out of water.
While the boys" were flaying Oft
the fat and stripping the meat,
started skinning out the heads. On
a. rIy 80 NIA he
skin of hippopotamus Is over two
inches thick Just try skinning a
head on which the skin Is two inches
thick without splitting the hide! II
was hard work. Eventually. with the
help of half dozen natives. I got
the skins. off and sent them TO camp
to be rubbed with alum and salt until
I could find time to get at them
again.
Hippopotamus hide Is valuable In
Africa for the purpose of making
shamboks (whipsl and canes. This
is also true Of rhinoceros hide. Hippo
cut lengthwise into strips four and
a half inches wide. These strips are
hung up to dry in trees.
When thoroughly dry. they are as
hard and stiff as boards and can be
sawed and planed like wood. A good
hide properly treated In this manner
can be sold for about 60 or 20 dollars.
The skin of the feet and tail are
cured and sold to make humidors and
boxes.
Meat is always useful as a trading
article. All we had was carefully
saved and cut up into strips to be
hung in the camp and dried in the
sun. The fat was washed and put
into sacks and sent to the cooks to
be dried out.
All this took five days OF hard
work. At camp j set boys to work
drying out the fat. hanging UP the
strips of hide. curing the feet and
tails and thinning down the head
skins to uniform thickness of a
quarter of an inch. Finally we had
1t all done and found ourselves In
possession of 52 strips of hide, three
head skins and cleaned skulls. 12
feet, three tails. 100 pounds of clean.
sweet. white lard and tons of meat.
This last, together with odd bits Of
hide. disappeared rapidly In a brisk
trade for meat, potatoes. cassava.
peanuts, beans and tobacco.
(CopyrGht. 1921