THE HIPPOPOTAMUS IN ENGLAND. 35] 



observer, and even points out with much truth the differences between the one he saw and those ht 

 had seen pictured on ancient works of art. 



The first Hippopotamus ever seen alive in Great Britain, or indeed in Europe in modern times, 

 was brought to England on the 25th of May, 1850, and placed in the Gardens of the Zoological 

 Society. Mitchell gives the following account of its capture and habits: "Since the Imperial 

 Exhibitions in the Circus of Rome, no living Hippopotamus has been imported into Europe, except 

 the young male which the Society possesses. The difficulty of obtaining such an animal may be 

 conjectured from the fact that after the Viceroy of Egypt had determined to present one to the 

 Society, it became necessary for his Highness to despatch an expedition to the Upper Nile for 

 the purpose of making the capture, and that success was only achieved after two thousand miles of 

 the river had been ascended. In the month of July, 1849, the chief huntsman of the party, in 

 searching the reedy margin of an island in the White Nile, called Obaysch, at last discovered a little 

 Hippopotamus calf, which, as he conjectured, had been born about two days. It was so small that, 

 in his delight at having accomplished the Pasha's order, he seized it in his arms, and would have 

 carried it to the boat which waited on him, had not the slimy exudation which is lavishly poured 

 forth from innumerable pores in the SKUI of the young Hippopotamus rendered it so slippery that 

 he was entirely unable to retain his hold. The animal having thus slipped from his grasp, all but 

 escaped into the Nile, where the mother doubtless was lying near at hand. The hunter, however, 

 with the presence of mind which characterises a good sportsman, seized his spear, and with the sharp 

 side-hook, which has been in fashion in Egypt for three thousand years or more, he succeeded in 

 arresting the headlong plunge of his prize, without inflicting greater injury upon him than a skin 

 wound, the scar of which he bore to the day of his death. The long voyage down the river was 

 successfully accomplished in a boat which had been built for the purpose by the Viceroy's order, 

 and ' Obaysch,' as they named the Hippopotamus, from his birthplace, was safely delivered in 

 November, 1849, after a journey of four months, into the care of the Hon. C. A. Murray, through 

 whose powerful influence the Viceroy had been prevailed upon to exert his power and assist the 

 Society in an object for which all exertions of their own had failed. Obaysch spent his first winter 

 in Cairo, under the charge of his intelligent keeper, Hamet Saaffi Canaana, a Nubian Arab, whom 

 Mr. Murray engaged for the purpose. In May, 1850, proper preparations were made, with the 

 obliging co-operation of the directors, in the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company's 

 ship Ripon, for the transport from Alexandria, and on the 25th of that month the first Hippopotamus 

 which had breathed on English soil within this period of history was landed successfully on the 

 quay at Southampton, and liberated in the Gardens from his travelling-house at ten o'clock the same 

 evening. On emerging from the door of it he followed Hamet, who had scarcely ever left him 

 during the whole voyage from Cairo, into the building which had been prepared for him, and instantly 

 indulged in a long-continued bath. The ten hours which elapsed between his removal from the 

 steamer at Southampton, and his arrival in the Regent's Park, is the longest period during which 

 he has ever been without access to water." 



For the first year Obaysch was fed almost entirely on Cow's milk and finely-ground Indian corn, 

 and as he grew older he consumed about 100 Ibs. weight of hay, chaff, corn, roots, and green food a 

 day. He rapidly grew, until he reached the enormous weight of about four tons, and he was one of the 

 chief attractions of the Gardens at the time of his death in March, 1878. 



In 1853 a young female, Adhela, was obtained from the same district, and in the spring of 

 1871 the first calf was born, and a second in January, 1872, both of which were lost shortly after 

 their birth, in spite of every care and precaution. The third was born on the 5th of November, 1872, 

 and called " Guy Fawkes," and has been successfully reared. Little Guy Fawkes sucked freely 

 shortly after its birth, and has continued to thrive up to the present time, now rivalling her mother 

 in size. When she chooses to disport herself in her huge tank, her vast bulk and enormous 

 gape combine to keep the crowd of onlookers in a proper state of subjection not unmixed 

 with awe. 



Hippopotami roam together in herds, and where they have not been disturbed come fearlessly 

 to the top of the water, often lazily basking on the surface, and on the banks ; but in places where 

 they have been hunted and shot at they become very wary, and content themselves by just showing 



