THE LISEEIAN HIPPOPOTAMUS. 35g 



; 'The diahbeeah rocked upon the waves raised by the efforts of so large an animal; this move- 

 ment rendered the aim uncertain. At length, apparently badly wounded, he retired to the-high grass ; 

 there he lay by the bank, at about twenty-five yards' distance, snorting and blowing. I could not dis- 

 tinguish him, as merely the head was above water, and this was concealed by the deep shadow thrown 

 by the high grass. Thinking he would die, I went to bed ; but before this, I took the precaution to 

 arrange a white paper sight upon the muzzle of my rifle, without which night shooting is very 

 uncertain. We had fallen asleep ; but in about half an hour we were awoke by another tremendous 

 splash, and once more this huge beast came charging directly at us as though unhurt. In another 

 instant he was at the diahbeeah ; but I met him with a ball in the top of his head which sent him 

 rolling over and over, sometimes on his back, kicking with his four legs above the surface, and aain 

 producing waves which rocked the diahbeeah. In this helpless manner he rolled for about fifty yards 

 down the stream, and we all thought him killed. 



" To our amazement he recovered, and we heard him splashing as he moved slowly along the river 

 through the high grass by the left bank. Ultimately he was killed, and on making a post-mortem the 

 following morning, I found he had received three shots in the flank and shoulder, four in the head, 

 one of which had broken his lower jaw, and another had passed through his nose, and passing down- 

 ward, had cut off one of his large tusks." 



The uses to which the Hippopotamus can be applied cannot be considered as many ; certainly the 

 flesh is much eaten by the natives of Africa, and even by Europeans it is not to be despised, although 

 travellers seem to disagree as to its merits. Gumming says the flesh is excellent eating, and Baker 

 appears to agree with him, while Dr. Livingstone speaks of it as being pretty good food when one is 

 hungry and can get nothing better, and that it is a coarse-grained meat, having something of the 

 flavour between pork and beef. Probably the Hippopotamus is of considerable use in clearing the 

 rivers of huge water-plants, which abound in African rivers, and which might otherwise in time so 

 choke them up as to convert them from running streams to little else than swamps. 



The whips made of Hippopotamus hide are in much request, and are highly esteemed in the 

 neighbouring countries for their elasticity and durability ; but the parts of the Hippopotamus most in 

 request, especially by dentists, are the canine teeth, no other ivory keeping its colour so well. 



THE LIBERIAN HIPPOPOTAMUS. The second living species of Hippopotamus (H. liberiensis) is 

 a much smaller animal than the common Hippopotamus ; according to Dr. Morton, not being larger 

 than a middle-sized heifer, though possessing the relative proportions of the common species. It 

 rarely attains a weight exceeding four hundred pounds, or a quarter of a ton, as distinguished 

 from the four tons' weight of Obaysch of whom we have already spoken. One of the more important 

 differences between them consists in the fact that the Liberian Hippopotamus possesses only two 

 incisors in the lower jaw. A young animal belonging to this species was brought over to Great 

 Britain in 1873, and is stated by Dr. Sclater to have been obtained on the AVest Coast, from the 

 little Scarcies Eiver. Unfortunately it died shortly after its arrival at the Zoological Gardens 

 in Dublin. 



The Hippopotamus ranged in the later Tertiary period far beyond its present home in the African 

 rivers. In the Pliocene age it was very abundant in Italy, and has been met with as far north as 

 Norfolk and Suffolk. In the succeeding, or Pleistocene age, also, it haunted the rivers of France and 

 of England, having been found from the valley of the Kibble northwards. Its remains are from 

 time to time dredged up from the bottom of the German Ocean, and are met with in the dens of 

 Hysenas, as, for example, at Kii-kdale, under conditions which prove that it fell a prey to the wild beasts 

 then inhabiting the country. Strange to say, remains of this animal, now flourishing only under a 

 tropical climate, are met with side by side with the remains of the Reindeer, which now flourishes only 

 in a cold temperature, under circumstances which compel us to believe that both animals wei-e living in 

 the same region at approximately the same time. This singular fact can only be accounted for on the 

 supposition that in those clays the summer heat was great, and the winter cold severe, such as we find 

 to be the case in Central Asia. These climatic extremes would allow of the same district being 

 inhabited by these animals at different seasons of the year. 



An extinct species of Hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon), which is characterised by the posse* 



