It is a sufficient cause of war if you only approach them, even by accident.

Some turn out of the ranks and stand with open mandibles, or, charging with extended jaws, bite with savage ferocity.

When hunting, we lighted among them too often; while we were intent on the game, and without a thought of ants, they quietly covered us from head to foot, then all began to bite at the same instant; seizing a piece of the skin with their powerful pincers, they twisted themselves round with it, as if determined to tear it out.

Their bites are so terribly sharp that the bravest must run, and then strip to pick off those that still cling with their hooked jaws, as with steel forceps.
This kind abounds in damp places, and is usually met with on the banks of streams.

We have not heard of their actually killing any animal except the Python, and that only when gorged and quite lethargic, but they soon clear away any dead animal matter; this appears to be their principal food, and their use in the economy of nature is clearly in the scavenger line.
We started from the Sinjere on the 12th of June, our men carrying with them bundles of hippopotamus meat for sale, and for future use.