HIPPOPOTAMUS. 239 



the man, just as he cleared the entrance of the show, 

 or most probably he would have lost his life. A year 

 after, at the same place, the joker again went to see 

 the elephant, with one pocket full of good nuts, and 

 the other with nuts of pepper. He gave the animal 

 some of the first, and then presented him with one that 

 was hot. The moment the elephant tasted it he seized 

 the coat-tails of the man, and lifted him from the 

 ground, when the cloth giving way, he dropped down, 

 half dead with fright, and his coat reduced to a jacket. 

 The elephant retained the skirts, inserted his trunk 

 into the pockets, and devoured the good nuts in the 

 most leisurely manner, after due examination. These 

 done, he trampled upon the others till he had reduced 

 them to a mash, then tore the coat-skirts to rags, and 

 threw them to the owner. 



We must not omit to mention the remarkable par- 

 tiality of the elephant for brandy, rum, or arrack, either 

 of which will tempt him to make extraordinary exer- 

 tions, and which seem almost unnatural in so simple a 

 feeder. 



HIPPOPOTAMUS. 



WHEN all London and half England have been to see 

 the Hippopotamus at the Zoological Gardens, I feel as 

 if a work on animals, written at the present moment, 

 would be incomplete unless it contained some notice of 

 this animal. Nevertheless, in spite of research into old 

 and new books, into private reminiscences and personal 

 recollections, I find it difficult to raise him to the intel- 

 lectual place of those which have been or will be treated 



