The Men On The Opposite Bank Now Dropped Their Line, And Our Men
Hauled In Upon The Ambatch Float That Was Held Fast Between The
Ropes.
Thus cleverly made sure, we quickly brought a strain upon
the hippo, and, although I have had some experience in handling
big fish, I never knew one pull so lustily as the amphibious
animal that we now alternately coaxed and bullied.
He sprang out
of the water, gnashed his huge jaws, snorted with tremendous
rage, and lashed the river into foam; he then dived, and
foolishly approached us beneath the water. We quickly gathered in
the slack line, and took a round turn upon a large rock, within
a few feet of the river. The hippo now rose to the surface, about
ten yards from the hunters, and, jumping half out of the water,
he snapped his great jaws together, endeavouring to catch the
rope, but at the same instant two harpoons were launched into his
side. Disdaining retreat, and maddened with rage, the furious
animal charged from the depths of the river, and, gaining a
footing, he reared his bulky form from the surface, came boldly
upon the sandbank, and attacked the hunters open-mouthed. He
little knew his enemy; they were not the men to fear a pair of
gaping jaws, armed with a deadly array of tusks, but half a dozen
lances were hurled at him, some entering his mouth from a
distance of five or six paces, at the same time several men threw
handfuls of sand into his enormous eyes. This baffled him more
than the lances; he crunched the shafts between his powerful jaws
like straws, but he was beaten by the sand, and, shaking his huge
head, he retreated to the river. During his sally upon the shore,
two of the hunters had secured the ropes of the harpoons that had
been fastened in his body just before his charge; he was now
fixed by three of these deadly instruments, but suddenly one rope
gave way, having been bitten through by the enraged beast, who
was still beneath the water. Immediately after this he appeared
on the surface, and, without a moment's hesitation, he once more
charged furiously from the water straight at the hunters, with
his huge mouth open to such an extent that he could have
accommodated two inside passengers. Suleiman was wild with
delight, and springing forward lance in hand, he drove it against
the head of the formidable animal, but without effect. At the
same time, Abou Do met the hippo sword in hand, reminding me of
Perseus slaying the sea-monster that would devour Andromeda, but
the sword made a harmless gash, and the lance, already blunted
against the rocks, refused to penetrate the tough hide; once more
handfuls of sand were pelted upon his face, and, again repulsed
by this blinding attack, he was forced to retire to his deep hole
and wash it from his eyes. Six times during the fight the valiant
bull hippo quitted his watery fortress, and charged resolutely at
his pursuers; he had broken several of their lances in his jaws,
other lances had been hurled, and, falling upon the rocks, they
were blunted, and would not penetrate. The fight had continued
for three hours, and the sun was about to set, accordingly the
hunters begged me to give him the coup de grace, as they had
hauled him close to the shore, and they feared he would sever the
rope with his teeth. I waited for a good opportunity, when he
boldly raised his head from water about three yards from the
rifle, and a bullet from the little Fletcher between the eyes
closed the last act. This spot was not far from the pyramidical
hill beneath which I had fixed our camp, to which I returned
after an amusing day's sport.
The next morning, I started to the mountains to explore the limit
that I had proposed for my expedition on the Settite. The Arabs
had informed me that a river of some importance descended from
the mountains, and joined the main stream about twelve miles from
our camp. The aggageers were seriously expecting an attack from
the Base, and they advised me not to remain much longer in this
spot. The route was highly interesting: about five miles to the
south-east of the camp we entered the hilly and mountainous
country; to the east rose the peaked head of Allatakoora, about
seven thousand feet from the base, while S.S.E. was the lofty
table-mountain, known by the Arabs as Boorkotan. We rode through
fertile valleys, all of which were free from grass, as the
various fires had spread throughout the country; at times we
entered deep gorges between the hills, which were either granite,
quartz, or basalt, the latter predominating. In about three hours
and a half we arrived at Hor Mehetape, the stream that the Arabs
had reported. Although a powerful torrent during the rains, it
was insignificant as one of the tributaries to the Settite, as
the breadth did not exceed twenty-five yards. At this season it
was nearly dry, and at no time did it appear to exceed a depth of
ten or twelve feet. As we had arrived at this point, some
distance above the junction, we continued along the margin of the
stream for about two miles until we reached the Settite. The Hor
(a ravine) Mehetape was the limit of my exploration; it was
merely a rapid mountain torrent, the individual effect of which
would be trifling; but we were now among the mountains whose
drainage caused the sudden rise of the Atbara river and the Nile.
Far as the eye could reach to the south and east, the range
extended in a confused mass of peaks of great altitude, from the
sharp granite head of one thousand, to flat-topped basalt hills
of five or six thousand feet, and other conical points far
exceeding, and perhaps double, that altitude.
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