14 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF MAMMALIA. 



" As soon as the animal is fairly struck, the huntsmen 

 in their small canoes cautiously approach the floating 

 wood, and, after fastening a strong rope to it, they 

 hasten with the other end towards the large boat, which 

 contains their companions. The huntsmen now pull the 

 rope, when the monster, irritated by the pain, seizes 

 the boat with his teeth, and sometimes succeeds in 

 crushing or overturning it. In the mean time his assail- 

 ants are not idle : four or five more harpoons are plunged 

 into him, and every effort is made to drag the beast 

 close up to the boat, so as to give him less room to 

 plunge about in. Then they try to divide the liga- 

 mentiim nuch(B^ with a sharp weapon, or to pierce his 

 skull. Since the body of a full-grown hippopotamus is 

 too bulky to be pulled out of the water without a great 

 number of hands, they generally cut him up in the water 

 and bring the pieces to land. In the province of Don- 

 gola not more than one or tv\oof these animals are killed 

 in a year: from 1821 to 1823 inclusive, nine were 

 killed, out of which number we despatched four. The 

 flesh of a young hippopotamus is very good ; but the 

 full-grown ones are generally too fat. They weigh as 

 much as four or five oxen. The hide is made into ex- 

 cellent whips, and will furnish from 350 to 500. No 

 use is made of the teeth. 



" One of the hippopotami which we killed was a very 

 old fellow, and of an enormous size, measuring 13^ 

 French feet from the nose to the extremity of the tail. 

 .His incisive teeth were 26 French inches long, measured 

 from the root to the point, along the outer bending. 

 We fought with him for lour good hours by night, and 

 were very near losing our large boat, and probably our 

 lives too, owing to the fury of the animal. As soon as 

 he spied the huntsmen in the small canoe, whose busi- 

 ness it was to fasten the long rope to the float, he dashed 



* The suspensory ligament (an elastic substance), which 

 holds the heads of quadrupeds in their places, so as to allow 

 a free movement downwards, is particularly strong in all 

 those whose heads are of great weight. 



