164 



THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 



The hippopotamus is a quadruped moreformidabk in 

 appearance than in disposition, though, as they gene- 

 rally reside at the bottom of rivers, it is rather diffi- 

 cult to ascertain their size : but an Italian surgeon, 

 ■who procured one from the Nile, assures us it was se- 

 venteen feet in length ; round the body~it measured 

 sixteen, yet was not more than seven in height: the 

 jaws, when extended, were two feet wide, and it had 

 four cutting teeth in each, a foot in length : the figure 

 of the animal was between an ox and a hog : and the 

 head alone measured near four feet : the tail was 

 short, flat and pointed, and the legs remarkably short 

 and thick : the skin, though less callous than that of 

 the rhinoceros, could not be penetrated either by the 

 stroke of a sabre or knife ; a few white hairs were 

 were thinly scattered over it ; and the feet resembled 

 the elephant's in shape. 



Though Nature has furnished the hippopotamus with 

 weapons calculated to attack the most formidable foes, 

 yet, from an excessive indolence or gentleness of dis- 

 position, it never is excited to contention or dispute, 

 unless forced from the element in which it resides, by 

 not finding in it a sufficient supply of food. The 

 Nile, the Niger, and the Zara, are the rivers where 

 these animals are chiefly to be found ; and seldom are 

 they known to quit their banks, unless they find them 

 yield a scanty fare ; in that case they make dreadful 

 havoc amongst the plantations, as they not only de- 

 vour an immense quantity of vegetable food, but de- 

 stroy even more than they are able to eat, by burying 

 the crops deep into the earth by the enormous pressure 

 of their ponderous feet. 



