CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 11. PACHYDERMATA. 041 



ones are much longer than the others, and those of the lower jaw project forward considerably. 

 The canines are very large in the lower jaw ; they are always worn away at the point by rubbing 

 against one another. The molars are six or seven in number on each side, both above and below ; 

 they are of a quadrangular form, and exhibit at first numerous triangular tubercles, which, when 

 worn down, leave peculiar isolated spots of enamel on the surface of the teeth. The whole form 

 and structure of this creature is heavy and unwieldy, even among the Paehydermata ; it is covered 

 with a very thick naked skin, which only bears a few bristles upon the lips and at the tip of the 

 very short tail. The general color is a leaden brown ; the skin habitually secretes drops of cinna- 

 mon-colored sweat. The legs are short and stout, and the feet have four toes, each terminated 

 by a hoof. The eyes and ears are small. 



The hippopotamus is exclusively an inhabitant of Africa, in many of the rivers of which con- 

 tinent it is tolerably abundant. It is a large animal, the males, according to some travelers, 

 attaining a length of fourteen or fifteen feet. It feeds entirely upon vegetable substances, crop- 

 ping the herbage and bushes on the banks of the rivers, and occasionally visiting the cultivated 

 grounds during the night, when it does great damage. It passes most of its time in the water, 

 where it swims and dives with great ease, and is said even to walk at the bottom. "When the 

 head of the animal is below the water it rises frequently to blow it out from its nostrils, making- 

 it ascend in two jets. On shore, it trots heavily, but with considerable rapidity, and when two 

 of them meet on solid ground they frequently fight ferociously, rearing up on their hind-feet, 

 and biting one another with great fury, so that, according to African travelers, it is rare to find a 

 hippopotamus which has not some of his teeth broken, or the scars of wounds upon his body. 

 When not irritated they appear to be quiet and inoffensive ; but a very trilling irritation is suf- 

 ficient to rouse their anger, when they attack the offender most furiously with their teeth ; a hip- 

 popotamus which had been touched accidentally by a boat has turned upon it and torn out several 

 of the planks, so that it was with difficulty the crew got to shore. A hippopotamus has also been 

 known to kill some cattle which were tied up near his haunts, apparently without the slightest 

 provocation. 



The flesh of this unwieldy animal is said to be very good, and not unlike pork; it is in high 

 esteem with the inhabitants of South Africa, both native and European. The feet, the tongue, 

 and the tail are the favorite parts, and a thick layer of fat which covers the ribs is held in great 

 esteem when salted and dried. It is called Zeckoe-zpcck ; the name given to the hippopotamus 

 by the Dutch colonists being Zeekoe, or Sea-cow. The skin is cut into whips, which are highly 

 prized, and the large canine teeth are sometimes used instead of ivory. Specimens of the hippo- 

 potamus have been in the London Zoological Gardens and the Garden of Plants at Paris, and in 

 other collections. 



In Harris's Sports of South Africa we have the following accurate account of the habits of the 

 hippopotamus: "This animal abounds in the Limpopo, dividing the empire with its amphibious 

 neighbor the crocodile. Throughout the night the unwieldy monsters might be heard snorting 

 and blowing during their aquatic gambols, and we not unfrequeutly detected them in the act of 

 sallying from their reed-grown coverts, to graze by the serene light of the moon ; never, however, 

 venturing to any distance from the river, the stronghold to which they betake themselves on the 

 smallest alarm. Occasionally, during the day, they were to be seen basking on the shore, amid 

 ooze and mud; but shots were most constantly to be had at their uncouth heads, when protruded 

 from the water to draw breath ; and, if killed, the body rose to the surface. Vulnerable only 

 behind the ear, however, or the eye, which is placed in a prominence, so as to resemble the 

 garret window of a Dutch house, they require the perfection of rifle practice, and after a few 

 shots become exceedingly shy, exhibiting the snout only, and as instantly withdrawing it. The 

 flesh is delicious, resembling pork in flavor, and abounding in fat, which in the colony is deserv- 

 edly esteemed the greatest of delicacies. The hide is upward of an inch and a half in thickness, 

 and being scarcely flexible, may be dragged from the ribs in strips like the 'planks from a ship's 

 side." 



Cumming says that the track of the hippopotamus may be distinguished from any other animal 

 by a line of unbroken herbage which is left between the marks of the feet of each side, as the 



Vol. I.— 81 



