Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-14

ture broke down my fences, and
doalt me final blow by dying ten days before
We reached New York. Yet with me his mem
oty is green; for troublesome as he was, Hor-
aee the first pigmy hippopotamus that ever
liyed for long under my care, was hkable
chap Sometimes / even thought he returned
my affection. But this is not the beginning Oh
the story
Dutch steamer Hercules at Kanakri, on the
west African coast. After two days we landed
&c Monrovia travelling north in surfboat
fyc-n Monrovia, we reached Cape Mount harpor
end passed safely through the psrilous SURF OF
the bay Soon we were warmly welcomed by
thu Americans of the mission at Cape Mount
and were invited to dine with some OF them.
IN the course of our talk at the table l IN
uuired about the pigmy hippopotamus. Wnen
/ explained that hoped to take one ahVe the
men hesitated They had never heard OF
hippo's being taken alive. They were canny
basis and they lived in remote waters Inc
natives caught them, but always dead. HOW
would man take one of these 8OO-pounders
alive. anyway? We'll" insisted, Il will try"
Later the missionaries introduced me TO
clever lad whose extraordinary name was Pea
Soup He would give me good advice ABOUT
hippo localities And early the next morning
we set out in a canoe on our 49-mlie paoole
uo toward the Mauwa River-Pea Soup, Hector,
six padders and I.
THREE days travel brought us to an evil,
swampy country where the marshes
stretched to the river and the land was inter-
laoed with small tributaries of the Mauwa in
b ewildering number. And from each of these
or -eks stretched hippo paths, as the beaten
down elephant grass told us plainly.
=, At length we grounded up one of these little
reams. and pushed for a half hour along
hi1uo path through the swamps till we reached
a tree where Pea Soup explained what we saw.
While he talked in Mondi to Hector I looked
about me in exultation, there In the fartner-
NEST wilds of the world. I thought OF the lie
that passed under this tree by nighttime
gnet. the cvet, the serval, the leopard, the
crocodile the African elephant and the pigmy
h!cpopotamus And then Hector was ready to
translate.
This tree was rugged with native trap for
- King the hippopotamus. From one OF Its
b-onches a stout Llama rope dragged to the
g-ound where with calabash, or gourd, at It's
end it was fastened to a trigger. From another
stnaH tree, some 10 feet distant, the other END
OF the rope hung in midair, holding huge
block of wood, and to its under side was fas-
tened large, sharp-barbed spear.
The device was plausible. The hippo would
cone along and release the nearer end OF the
rope when he stumbled on the trigger. He
lid start ahead nervously, Just In Tune 10
r. Give the cruel spear in his back, as the looS-
er 4 further end of the rope sent down the
b ok and its burden with savage force. The
S icken animal would plunge painfully home,
d agging to his river the rope and the calabash.
Quickly he would bleed to death and then sink.
Ard the calabash, floating on the waters like
a buoy would tell the hungry natives where
the meal of hippopotamus lay. So Pea Soup
exDIained while Hector translated.
The spear trap was useless to me, since
must take my beast alive So urged Pea Soup
tn lead us to a second device which was a pit
6 feet wide, feet deep, 10 feet long.
After the pit is dug, Pea Soup explained, it
must be covered with crossed sticks, fronds and
elephant grass TO make it look like the rest Of
t hippo path. Sunk into the ground in the
T. and projecting feet above ground,
e several spears The unfortunate beast,
t., aoiing through the frai camouhage, would
lcpd on the spears and bleed TO death, dying
: h -ribly The pit, therefore, was no better
than the spear trap.