A Hippo Banquet

MHK is not only the quintessential Victorian female explorer, but she writes in a style I find hilarious. Its hard to describe accurately, but to read it in modern times it comes across as sort of pretentious or pompous, using a lot of words I only vaguely understand, but also in a self deprecating sort of way, which just makes her descriptions amusing.
Page 4 “Geographical research in this region is fraught with difficulty, I find, owing to different tribes calling one in the same place by different names; and I am sure the Royal Geographical Society ought to insert amongst their “hints” that every traveller in this region should carefully learn every separate native word, or set of words, signifying “I don't know,” - four villages and two rivers I have come across out here solemnly set down with various forms of this statement, for their native name.”
Page 12, while discussing Hippopotamus “At present I am undecided whether nature tried ‘her ‘prentice hand' on them in her earliest youth, or whether, having got thoroughly tired of making the delicately beautiful antelopes, corallines, butterflies,and orchids, she just said ‘Goodness! I am quite worn out with this finicking work. Here, just put these other viscera into big bags - I can't bother any more.' “