THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. :ii:i 



with the Sennaar and Darfour caravans. To render the narrow strips pliable, they must In- nibbed 

 witli butter or grease. In Egypt, where they are in general use, ;mcl I, lie dread of every servant and 

 peasant, they cost from half-a-dollar to a dollar each. In colder climates, even in Syria, they become 

 brittle, crack, and lose their elasticity. 



Between the skin and the flesh is a layer of fat, which is salted and eaten as a delicacy by the 

 Dutch colonists of Southern Africa. Indeed, the epicures of Cape Town, as Dr. Smith says, do not disdain 

 to use their influence with the country farmers to obtain a preference in the matter of sea-cow's spec/c, 

 as this fat is termed, when salted and dried. The flesh, also, is excellent. The large; canines are 

 much valued by dentists, as they make from them better artificial teeth than can bo obtained from the 

 ivory of the elephant. 



The general colour of the hippopotamus is dusky, brownish red, passing on the sides and limb* 

 into a light purple, red, or brown; the under parts, the lips, and the eyelids, are light wood-brown, 

 with a tinge of flesh-colour ; the hinder quarters and the under surface are freckled with spots of dusky 

 brown ; the hairs of the tail and ears are black, those on the muzzle yellowish-brown. The male fin- 

 exceeds the female in size. The hippopotamus is gregarious, wary, and cautious. 



These animals, according to the high authority of Dr. Smith, feed chiefly on grass, resorting to 

 situations near the banks of rivers which supply that food. In districts fully inhabited by man they 

 generally pass the day in the water, and seek their nourishment during the night ; but in localities 

 differently circumstanced, they often pass a portion of the day as well as the night on dry land. In 

 countries in which the night-time constitutes the only safe period for leaving the water, l.hey are 

 exceedingly wary. 



In Dargola, a narrow strip of country lying on both sides the Nile, the harpoon with which the 

 natives attack the hippopotamus terminates in a flat, oval-shaped piece of iron, three-fourths of the 

 o\iter rim of which are sharpened to a very fine edge. To the upper part of this iron one end of a 

 long, stout cord is fastened, and the other is tied to a thick piece of light wood. The hunters attack 

 the animal either by day or by night, but the}- prefer the former, as it enables them better to escape 

 the assaults of their furious enemy. One part of the rope, with the shaft of the harpoon, the hunter 

 takes in his right hand ; in the left he holds the rest of the rope and the piece of wood. He now 

 cautiously approaches the animal when he is asleep during the day on some small island in the river, 

 or he looks for him at night, when the hippopotamus is likely to come out of the water to graze in the 

 corn fields. When the huntsman is about seven paces from the beast he throws the spear with all his 

 might, and, if he is a good marksman, the iron pierces through the thick hide, burying itself in the 

 flesh deeper than the barbed point. The animal generally plunges into the water ; and, though the 

 shaft of the harpoon may be broken, the piece of wood which is attached to the iron floats on the 

 surface, and shows what direction he takes. There is great danger should the hippopotamus spy tin- 

 huntsman before he can throw his spear. He then springs forward with the utmost fury, and crushes 

 him at once in his wide, open mouth. 



As soon as the animal is fairly struck, the huntsmen, in their small canoes, cautiously approach the 

 floating wood, and, after fastening a strong rope to it, they hasten with the other end toward the large 

 boat which contains their companions. The huntsmen now pull the rope, when the animal, irritated 

 by the pain, seizes the boat with his teeth, and sometimes succeeds in crushing and overturning it. 

 Meanwhile his assailants are not idle : four or five more harpoons are plunged into him, and every 

 effort is made to drag the beast close up to the boat, so as to give him less room to plunge about in. 

 Then they try to divide the strong ligament* that holds the head in its place, with a sharp weapon, or 

 to pierce his skull. Since the body of a full-grown hippopotamus is too bulky to be pulled out of the 

 water without a great number of hands, they generally cut him up in the river, and bring the pieres 



to land. 



On the 25th of May, 1850, the good ship "Ripon" steamed up to her berth in the 

 Water, and various strange sights did she present to inquiring eyes. The most striking was an 

 Arab of noble bearing, but by no means clean, looking calmly out of one of the ports ; and. nei i in 

 interest, a young one. who outdid all the boys on the quay could do. by drawing out of his ragged dress 

 plendid Cobra, whose hiss, and the spreading ,,f whose l,,,,,d, had 00 chance ofa parallel. 



* Ligameiitum inicliiv. 



