HIPPOPOTAMUS. 



143 



tliev make dreadful havoc, as they not only devour 

 an immense quantity of vegetable produce, but de- 

 gtroy still more by their feet, which support so enor- 

 mous a ponderosity of body. 



Professor Thunberg was informed by a respectable 

 person at the Cape of Good Hope, that as he and a 

 party were on a hunting expedition, they perceived 

 . female hippopotamus come out of one of the rivers, 

 and retire to a little distance, in order to calve. They 

 concealed themselves among some bushes till the calf 

 find its mother made their appearance, when one of 

 them fired and shot the latter dead on the spot. The 

 Hottentots, supposing they might now seize the calf 

 alive, immediately ran from their hiding-place; but 

 the young animal, though only just brought into the 

 world, eluded their pursuit, and plunged safely into 

 the river. This the professor justly observes, was a 

 singular instance of mire instinct, for the creature un- 

 hesitatingly ran to tne river, as its proper place of se- 

 curity, without having received any previous instruc- 

 tion from the actions of its parent. 



It is said that these creatures are capable of being 

 tamed ; and Belon asserts that he has seen one so gen- 

 tle as to be let out of a stable, and led by its keeper, 

 without attempting to injure any one. 



The flesh of the hippopotamus is tender and well 

 tasted, and by the colonists of the Cape settlement es- 

 teemed exceedingly wholesome. The gelatinous part 

 of the feet and the tongw, when dried, are considered 

 as great delicacies. 



Thus, my dear Sir, you see that these sequestered 

 animals, although inhabiting the solitary recesses of 

 the largest rivers in the most unfrequented parts of 

 the globe, are not devoid of utility to man. 



Thus far I have been occupied in performing a task 

 equally delightful to myself, and conducive to your 

 instruction and amusement. In surveying those nu- 

 merous tribes of animals, of which some are so per- 

 fectly adapted to afford us their assistance in labow, 

 or to supply us with food and clothing; and others EO 

 admirably calculated to gratify our curiosity and ex- 



