160 PACHYDERM ATA. 



three senses, and allows of respiration, with a very small portion 

 of the animal exposed, when it rises to the surface of the water. 



Two species are found in Africa, viz. : H. amphibius, (Gr. 

 nfujpt^avnphif double ; /9to<y, Moo, to live,) and H. Liberiensis, 

 (some consider these, however, one and the same species ;) the 

 latter is much the smaller of the two. They range from the 

 Cape Colony to 22o or 23o N. Lat., being found in the lakes and 

 rivers, but in, no rivers which empty into the Mediteranean, ex- 

 cept the Nile, and that part of it which flows through Upper 

 Egypt, or in the fens and lakes of Ethiopia. They inhabit both 

 fresh and salt water, but are retiring before the advance of civil- 

 ization. This animal is believed to have once existed in Asia, 

 but on that continent has now become extinct. 



The adult male of this species, H. amphibius, attains a length 

 of 11 or 12 feet, and is nearly the same number of feet in cir- 

 cumference. The height is seldom more than 4 J feet ; the 

 female is considerably smaller than the male. The water seems 

 the native element of the Hippopotamus, in which it swims and 

 dives like a duck, and taking into account its unwieldly bulk, in 

 a manner truly astonishing. When on land, with its dumpy 

 legs supporting so enormous a weight, its progress is anything 

 but rapid. Seldom does it wander far from water, to which it 

 immediately betakes itself when disturbed or alarmed. 



It is nocturnal, rarely feeding except during the night, for that 

 purpose taking to the shore, it being an herbaceous animal. It 

 appears rather nice in the selection of its food, which consists of 

 grass, young reeds and bulbous succulent roots. When near 

 cultivated districts, it ravages plantations of rice and grain, des- 

 troying as much by the treading of its enormous feet as by its 

 voraciousness. 



These animals are gregarious, being found in troops of from 

 six to thirty. It is said to be " amusing to watch them when con- 

 gregated ; to see them alternately rising and sinking, as if im- 

 pelled by some invisible agency, in the while snorting most tre- 

 mendously and blowing the water in every direction." Some- 

 times they continue perfectly motionless near the surface, with 

 the whole or part of the head out of the water. When in this 

 position, they are described as appearing, at a little distance, 

 "like so many rocks." By some zoologists, they are represented 

 as naturally mild and inoffensive. This may be true of them in 

 regions rarely visited by the foreign hunter and the firelock ; 

 but it is certain they have at times shown themselves to be most 

 ferocious and hurtful. Their memory seems good, and seldom 

 do they expose themselves to a second attack in the same place. 



