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June 9 -

We had country chop at the Wilsons at noon, then came home and slept and read until bed time.

June 14-

This has been a week of hippos. When we returned from Cape Mount we were told the story of the hippo that Paramount Chief Barclay of Dobli's Island had sent in. It reached Kakata in an exausted condition, and was kept there a week before Norris was notified. He and Si then went out to get it, and found it badly lacerated, with broken toes, and probably half-starved. They brought it in to the rice shed and worked over it all night, but it died the next morning.  When we came back from Bromley Ralph was not here, and we were told he had gone out after another hippo.  On Monday he got in, completely worn out, having walked most of Sunday to get to the place where the hippo was, and then staying there over night, sleeping on a mat and rolled up in country cloth.  A native parson, the Reverend Logan, had caught this hippo, a young one and in good shape, and Ralph got it in to the rice shed on Monday.  Bill paid the Reverend twenty pounds for it, and the little man has been buying himself new clothes ever since.  Bill has seen him around the plantation wearing elegant outfits, including rubber boots.

News came a few days ago that Barclay had another hippo at Dobli's Island, and [[strikethrough]] that his men were on [[/strikethrough]] Norris sent his trusty assistant, Momo, to bring it in.  The truck was sent to the end of the road on the day the hippo was expected, but only Momo was there, to report that the animal was so heavy the boys had struck on carrying it, and relays must be sent up from here.  That meant another delay, and further expense in sending the trunk again.  However, twenty-five boys left here on Tuesday noon.  We were in the rice shed Wednesday morning, and Ralph was busily building a big crate for the hippo, and had figured it all out that the truck would be back with its cargo about five o'clock.  It poured rain all afternoon, and we were sure that no delivery was ever made on time here anyway, and so did not go over to meet the promised pygmy.  However, when our boys got to the end of the road they only had to walk half an hour, instead of four hours as expected, when they met the Chief's carriers.  They had gone back to Dobli's Island and Barclay had sent them back again.  The hippo, a big female, weighed seven hundred pounds crated!  The crate, which was made of bamboo with heavy planks to reinforce it, and padded with rice bags, weighed about three hundred pounds by itself - quite a load to be carried by sweating natives over bad trails.  They had apparently taken good care of this beast, feeding it allng the way and setting it down from time to time in streams so the animal could drink and keep moist.  Now we have two hippos, the small male and the big female, and are full of hopes for getting at least one of them safely home.  Ralph has cheered up immensely; homesick as he has been, the care of two hippos has been a lifesaver for him.  Why he has such a passion for the ugly slippery beasts is more than I can understand.