xxxn THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 411 



very small calves sit on the necks of the cows with 

 their " little saucy looking heads cocking up between 

 the old one's ears ; as they become older they sit on the 

 withers "(see p. 55). 



It is interesting to watch these huge animals at play, 

 splashing about the shallows and opening their huge 

 cavern-like mouths as if anxious to take in air by the 

 mouthful. Powell-Cotton watched a school of eleven 

 hippopotamuses at play in Lake Tsana ; among them 

 were two calves gambolling and trying to scramble on 

 the old one's back ; when they succeeded she would 

 quietly roll over and send them plump back again into 

 the water. There is something very human in this 

 kind of motherly fun. 



In the rivers and lakes of Eastern Ethiopia the 

 hippopotamus will defy extinction until this equatorial 

 region is civilised and the sudd obstructions in the 

 affluents of the White Nile are abolished : until then 

 its ugliness and corpulence will excite wonder ifi many 

 future generations of men, black and white. 



A thorn in the foot. This is seen 

 daily as a "living statue" in 

 Eastern Ethiopia. 



