540 EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS. 



not be difficult to conceive the almost impossibility of holding on by 

 the hands, especially in the water, which is the natural element of 

 the brute. 



Another member of the Roosevelt party relates a thrilling 

 experience that befell some of his companions on one of their hunt- 

 ing trips. A hippopotamus happened to rise under their boat, and 

 struck her back against its keel. Irritated by the unexpected resist- 

 ance, she dashed at the boat with open jaws, seized the side between 

 her teeth, and tore out seven planks. She then sank for a few sec- 

 onds, but immediately resumed the attack, and if one of the party 

 had not fired a musket in her face, would probably have worked 

 still more harm. 



NARROW ESCAPE FROM DROWNING. 



As it was, too much mischief had been already done, for the 

 loss of so much planking had caused the boat to fill rapidly, and it 

 was only by severe exertion that the party succeeeded in getting the 

 boat to shore before it sank. The boat was providentially not more 

 than an oar's length from the bank when the attack took place ; but 

 had it been in the centre of the river, few, if any of the occupants, 

 would have escaped to tell the tale. 



The shock from beneath was so violent, that the steersman was 

 thrown completely out of the boat into the water, but was seized 

 and drawn in again before the hippopotamus could get at him. 



The extreme whiteness of the ivory obtained from the hippo- 

 potamus' teeth renders it peculiarly valuable for the delicate scales 

 of various philosophical instruments, and its natural curve adapts 

 it admirably for the verniers of ship sextants. The weight of a 

 large tooth is from five to eight pounds, and the value of the ivory 

 is from four to five dollars a pound. 



With these apparently combined teeth the hippopotamus can 

 cut the grass as neatly as if it were mown with a scythe, and is able 

 to sever, as if with shears, a tolerably stout and thick stem. 



Possessed of an enormous appetite, having a stomach that is 

 capable of containing five or six bushels of nutriment, and furnished 

 with such powerful instruments, the hippopotamus is a terrible 



