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LETTER XXV. 



" 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." 



DEAR SIR, 



Jt 4 OR the subject of our correspondence I have cho- 

 sen another of the wonderful works of the Creator, 

 more rare than the rhinoceros, and equally worthy 

 of attention. The peculiar habits and disposition of 

 the animal I am about to describe, concur with the 

 remoteness of those solitudes which afford it an asy- 

 lum in throwing 'difficulties in the way of its investi- 

 gation. 



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 

 Kile, and exists in that part of it only which runs 

 through Upper Egypt, and the fens and lakes of Abys- 

 sinia and Nubia. 



This amphibious animal has been celebrated from 

 the remotest antiquity, and is mentioned in the book 

 of Job under the name of Behemoth; but although its 

 figure is found engraven on Egyptian obelisks and 

 Roman medals, it was imperfectly known to ancient 

 naturalists. Pliny, instead of correcting, has copied, 

 and even multiplied the errors of Aristotle, and the 

 example has been imitated by succeeding writers. 



As the hippopotamus mostly resides at the bottom 

 of great rivers, it is not easy to ascertain its size. M. 

 Vail Ian t informs us that one which he shot measured 

 from the muzzle to the insertion ot the tail tea feet 

 si-vvn inches, and eight feet in circumference, but 

 from the sumllness of its tusks be supposed it to be a 



