74 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR. 
have not told how curious is the head of this great, un- 
wieldy creature. 
HEAD OF HIPPOPOTAMUS. 
Look at the huge, crooked tusks! What are they 
for? 
After watching a great many times the movements 
of the hippopotamus, I became assured that these huge, 
crooked tusks, which give its mouth such a savage ap- 
pearance, are designed chiefly to hook up the long river- 
grasses on which these animals feed in great part. I 
have often seen one descend to the bottom, remain a few 
minutes, and re-appear with its tusks strung with grass, 
which was then leisurely chewed up. 
There are no large herds of hippopotami in the parts 
of Africa I have explored, like those found in South 
Africa, thirty being about the greatest number I have 
ever seen together. . 
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