?oo THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 



o 



thing is advanced by other authors. Though 

 Kolbe is more exact than ufual in his defcriptiorx 

 of this animal ; yet it is doubtful whether he 

 faw it fo frequently as he infmuates ; for the fi- 

 gure he gives is flill worfe than thofe of Colum- 

 na, Aldrovandus, and Profper. Aipinus, which 

 were all drawn from fluffed fkins. It is eafy to 

 perceive, that the defcriptions and figures in 

 Kolbe's works have not been taken on the fpot, 

 nor drawn from nature. His defcriptions are 

 written from memory, and moft of the figures 

 have been copied from thofe of other naturalifts. 

 The figure he has given of the hippopotamus 

 has a great refemblance to the cheropotamus of 

 Profper Aipinus *. 



Hence Kolbe, when he tells us that the hip- 

 popotamus inhabits the fea, has perhaps copied 

 Pliny, inftead of giving his own obfervations. 

 Moft authors relate, that this animal is only 

 found in frefli water lakes, and in rivers, fome- 

 times near their mouths, but oftener at great 

 diftances from the fea. Some travellers are 

 aftoniihed that the hippopotamus fhould have 

 been called the fea-horfe ; becaufe, as Merollo 



remarks, 



delicious. It is fo highly valued at the Cape, as to fell at 

 twelve or fifteen pence the pound. The fat fells as dear as 

 the fielh : It is very mild and wholefome, and ufed initead of 

 butter, &c. ; Defer ipt. du Cap de Bomie Efperance, par Kolbe, 

 torn. 3. ch. 3. 



* Note. The figures of the cheropotami of Profper Aipi- 

 nus, lib. 4. cap. 12. tab. 22. feem to have been drawn from 

 ItufFed fldns ot hippopotami, from which the teeth appear to 

 have been extracted. 



