THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 85 



reduces it to thin pieces, like so many laths ; and when he has 

 thus prepared it, he embraces as much of it as he can in his 

 monstrous jaws, and twists it round with as much ease as an ox 

 would do a root of celery, or any small plant." 



u When pursued, and in fear, he possesses an astonishing de- 

 gree of swiftness, considering the unwieldiness of his body, his 

 great weight before, and the shortness of his legs. It is not 

 true, that in a plain he beats the horse in swiftness ; for though 

 a horse can very seldom come up, this is merely owing to his cun- 

 ning. He makes constantly from wood to wood, and forces him- 

 self into the thickest parts of them ; the trees that are dead, or 

 dry, are broken down as with a cannon-shot, and fall behind him 

 and on his side, in all directions ; others, that are more pliable, 

 or fuller of sap, are bent back by his weight, and the velocity of 

 his motions ; and after he has passed, restoring themselves, like 

 a green branch, to their natural position, they often sweep the 

 incautious pursuer and his horse from the ground, and dash them 

 in pieces against the surrounding trees." 



n .- 



CHAPTER XV. 

 THE mPPOPOTAMCS. 



" The flood disparts : behold ! in plaited mail, 

 Behemoth rears his head. Glanc'd from his side, 

 The darted steel in idle shivers flies : 

 He fearless walks the plain, or seeks the hills ; 

 Where, as he crops his varied fare, the herds, 

 In widening circles round, forget their food, 

 And at the harmless stranger wondering gaze." 



FOR the subject of this chapter, we have chosen another of 

 the wonderful works of the Creator, more rare than the rhino- 

 ceros, and equally worthy of attention. The peculiar habits and 

 disposition of the animal we are about to describe, concur with 

 the remoteness of those solitudes which afford it an asylum, in 

 throwing difficulties in the way of its investigation. 



THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 



Inhabits all the large rivers of Africa, from the Niger to the 

 Cape of Good Hope, but is not found in any of those which fall 

 into the Mediterranean, except the Nile, and exists in that part 

 of it only which runs through Upper Egypt, and the fens and 

 lakes of Abyssinia and Nubia. 



This amphibious animal has been celebrated from the remotest 



H 



