RIVER-HORSE. 125 



template the difficulty of procuring and taming it without 

 regret. It has been said, indeed, that a set were once 

 yoked to the coach of the king of Portugal; but that they 

 could never be divested of their native ferocity and inde- 

 pendence of spirit. So that, with all the arts of man, it 

 seems as if the zebra can never be perfectly reclaimed 

 and numbered with our beasts of draught or of burden. 



The zebra is chiefly a native of the southern regions of 

 Africa, and whole herds of them are sometimes observed 

 feeding in those extensive plains that lie north from the 

 Cape of Good Hope. Their vigilance, however, is so 

 extreme, that they will suffer nothing to approach them ; 

 and such is their fleetness, that they soon leave every pur- 

 suer behind. 



THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, OR RIVER-HORSE. 



This is a large and formidable animal, in magnitude only 

 inferior to the elephant. A full-grown male will measure 

 seventeen feet in length, from the extremity of the snout to 

 the insertion of the tail, seven feet in height, and fifteen 

 in circumference. The head is enormously large, and the 

 jaws extend upwards of two feet. The body is of a lightish 

 colour, thinly covered with hair, which at first sight is 

 scarcely perceptible. Though amphibious, the hoofs, 

 which are quadrifid, are unconnected by membranes; 

 and the whole figure exhibits something like a mixture 

 between an ox and a hog. Indeed, its voice too bears 

 some mingled resemblance to the bellowing of the one, 

 and the grunting of the other. 



This quadruped, which is thought to be the Behemoth 

 mentioned in the book of Job, resides chiefly at the bot- 

 toms of the great rivers and lakes of Africa, from the 

 Niger to the Cape of Good Hope. It is found also in 

 Upper Egypt, and in the lakes and fens of Ethiopia. 

 Being fond of ease, it seldom exerts its might, excepting 

 when prompted by the calls of hunger, or in its own 

 defence. Its usual food is fish ; but, when this fails, it 

 leaves its watery retreats, and lives on the spontaneous 

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