THE HIPPOPOTAMUS AND HER BABY. 89 



animals abounded in Lower Egypt. I believe now they do not occur 

 in any part of the Nile below the cataracts, the headquarters being 

 the central and southern parts of Africa only ; but I am afraid that, as 

 civilization increases, so will the hippopotamus retreat. This huge 

 animal spends most of its time in the water, and it comes out to feed 

 at night. Above the cataracts of the Nile they are very destructive 

 to the crops, as they eat an immense quantity, and trample down much 

 more than they eat. The stomach contains as much as five or six 

 bushels, and the large intestine is eight inches in diameter. They do 

 not grind their food much, but rather munch it up. The reader should 

 be curious to notice this at the Zoological Gardens. When the old 

 hippo opens its mouth, a good-sized baby could as easily be put in as 

 one puts a letter into a letter-box. As the elephant makes passes in 

 the jungles, so it appears to me that one of the chief offices of the 

 hippopotamus is to keep in check the dense vegetation in tropical 

 climates, which, if allowed to accumulate, would block up the long 

 reaches of rivers, and ultimately turn the flat lands into useless, fever- 

 breeding swamps: so that we see this gigantic animal is of very con- 

 siderable economic importance. This living machine for the destruc- 

 tion of fresh-water vegetation is admirably adapted for its work. 

 Nature has not given him any hair, as that would be an incumbrance 

 to it, and would not well conduce to its comfort when wallowing in 

 the mud. The skin is, therefore, somewhat like that of a pig. If the 

 animal had not some protection against the sudden changes of temper- 

 ature induced by his going in and out of the water so frequently, he 

 would always be either shivering or else unbearably hot. Nature, 

 therefore, has given him a thick layer of fat between the skin and the 

 muscles. The Dutchmen in Southern Africa call the hippopotamus the 

 " Zee-coe," or " Sea-cow." My friend Mr. Mostyn Owen, who has 

 travelled a great deal in Africa, tells me that they also call him the 

 " Umzivooboo ; and should the reader happen to visit the Dee, near 

 Ruabon, he would be exceedingly likely to see a coracle floating 

 down the river with a gentleman sitting in it fishing for salmon, and 

 he would also probably observe the name " Umzivooboo " painted on 

 the coracle in laro-e letters. 



In the water, the hippopotamus, though a gigantic beast, shows 

 very little of his carcass. On referring to the engraving, it will be 

 observed that the nostrils, eyes, and ears, are on the same level. The 

 nostrils are each provided with a wonderful valve, by means of which 

 he can open his nostrils to breathe, or shut them up to exclude the 

 water. This beautiful mechanism is worked by what is called a 

 " sphincter muscle." Reader, your own eyes are worked by a sphinc- 

 ter muscle. Stand opposite the looking-glass and wink at yourself, 

 you will then see a sphincter muscle in operation. You do not re- 

 quire a sphincter muscle to your nose, because you are not amphibious. 

 We find, however, that the seal, like the hippopotamus, can close his 



