THE HIPPOPOTAMUS ON THE LINK

Hokitika Guardian, 18 January 1929, Page 8

THE HIPPOPOTAMUS ON THE LINK

pity Sir Pel-rival Phillips). .JIN.) A. (Uganda). Nov. 20. No other golf course suffers I rout such a tragic handicap. No other club within the Empire is cursed with such a skeleton in the cupboard. Tlie site is del igli't fill. it lies on the brow of a green hill above tliai wild and picturesque torrent cal leu the Ripon Falls, the birthplace of the Nile. There is an informal hotel like a country club, its lour sides open to the breeze at. sunset, a lew Government offices and banks of most unbusinesslike architecture; native shops discreetly hidden behind a screen of trees and a general air of .restfulness dimly remindful of the peace ol the English countryside. Undoubtedly a golf course worthy of all admiration. And yet—when the stranger mentions golf, a shadow passes over the hospitable taco ol Jinja. Your host, ii he be Hie club secretary, replies with a brooding air. ‘Acs, a good course, but there is a drawback . Things are not so pleasant as they seem. . . Our special rule. . Nothing like it anywhere else in the world of golf. . ■ But what can one do?” Tilt* tactful stranger will drop the subject, aware tliaL he is i reading on delicate ground. But he wonders what is amiss; what sinister secret is hidden by the smooth turfp Now there is an alert and charming lady of Jinja, the hostess ol the Ibis Hotel, which is a landmark on the new equatorial tourist highway across Kenya and Uganda to the Sudan. Through her. the .secret ol the links is frequently disclosed. You are awakened from a sound sleep in a bungalow, of bedrooms. A figure in the shadows whispers: “Come quietly, and you will see them. ’ Aim. tilled with sleepy bewilderment, you throw on dressing-gown and slippers and tip-toe into the night. The golf course beyond the motor road is distinct in the thin moonlight. You discern, with incredulous amazement, two or three enormous figures like tanks, moving leisurely over the greet). Your guide silently beckons you nearer and yet nearer. .•Suddenly an electric torch throws it beam of light on one of these giant, uuwieldly figures, as it moves clumsily with head down. A hippopotamus! A live, full-grown hippopotamus with two youthful members of her family. All three browsing happily on the grass; treading like steam rollers on the sacred goll course; creating dire havoc with every move of their ponderous loot. They pay not the slightest attention to the light. Quietly, methodically, they continue their bedtime meal. As quietly they stroll (with the grace ol a railway engine) back and forth between the holes until at last they have had enough, and with grunts of satisfaction wallow to the edge of the hill and disappear. “ Perfectly harmless.” says your guide with a triumphant air. “so long as you do not get between them and the water. Then they are liable to flatten you out from sheer panic. Not because they are malicious—dear, no!” "Wlmt is a club secretary to do? His course is rolled hy day and ravaged by night. Ihe denizens of the valley (they roam below and above the Falls quite impartially) leave an impress that is enough to baffle any scratch player next day. That--is why the Jinja golf club is, the only one in tlie world which has a rule that if your ball tails into the footprint of a hippopotamus, you lilt it and play again. (Unite naturally, the golfers of Jinja do not like hippopotami. Neither do the dwellers in the bungalows whose English gardens arc at tie mercy of the beasts I here was a municipal campaign a,gainst them a little while ago. The community divided itself into the hippopotamus and aiici-h'ppspotnmu.", parties. Government was appealed to. Should l bey be exterminated or not! The question was made more acute bv •disaster in the lake. A boat was upset and the occupants drowned. On another occasion a frcilnl hippopotamus obliterated one ol tln’se craft by simply overlaying it, and the wretched boatman was carried swiftly to Llic mud below, where he remains embedded lo this day. Government sent an officer to execute reprisals. Two boats were used and only one returned, 'llic hippopotamus that was outlawed went a nay victorious. There the matter rests. The links of .'Jinja arc still a happy Iccoing ground for the dwellers by Ripon Kails. Tourists still creep lorfh at night t when the occasion is propitious) to watidi them at Ilnur deadly work. It is a curious sight in the moonlight, this silent pageant ol AHiran wild life- silent, that is. except ' when tfie wakeful secretary tif the ' golf club utters a low moan.