116 



Quadrupeds. 



THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, OE RIVER-HORSE. 

 (Hippopotamus amphibius.) 



THIS animal lives as well on land as in water, and yields 

 in size to none but the elephant : he weighs sometimes 

 more than fifteen hundred pounds. His skin is naked, 

 and of a blackish brown colour, tinged with red about 

 the muzzle and on the lower surface of the body. The 

 head is flattish on the top, about four feet long and nine 

 in circumference ; the lips are large, the jaws open 

 about two feet wide, and the cutting- teeth, of which it 

 has four in each jaw, are nearly a foot long ; he has 

 broad ears, and large eyes, a thick neck, and a short tail, 

 tapering like that of a hog. He grazes and eats the 

 leaves and young branches of trees on shore, but retires 

 to the water if pursued, and will sink down to the bot- 

 tom, where he can remain five or six minutes at a time. 

 When he rises to the surface and remains with his head 

 out of the water, he makes a bellowing noise which may 

 be heard at a great distance. The female brings forth 

 her young upon land, and it is supposed that she seldom 

 produces more than one at- a time. The calf at the 



