CHASE OF THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 49 1 



raft, and chase is given to the poor brute, who, so soon as he comes to 

 the surface to breathe, is saluted with a shower of light javelins. Again 

 he descends, his track deeply crimsoned with gore. Presently — and 

 perhaps at some little distance — he once more appears on the surface, 

 when, as before, missiles of all kinds are hurled at his devoted head. 

 When thus beset the infuriated beast not unfrequently turns upon his 

 assailants, and either with his formidable tusks, or with a blow from his 

 enormous head, staves in or capsizes the canoes. At times, indeed, not 

 satisfied with wreaking his vengeance on the craft, he will attack one or 

 other of the crew, and with a single grasp of his horrid jaws either ter- 

 ribly mutilates the poor fellow, or it may be, cuts his body fairly in two. 

 The chase often lasts a considerable time. So long as the line and the 

 harpoon hold the animal cannot escape, because the ' buoy ' always marks 

 his whereabout. At length, from loss of blood or exhaustion, Behemoth 

 succumbs to his pursuers." 



When an animal is killed the rejoicings are great, for not only is the 

 ivory of great commercial value, but the flesh is very good eating, and 

 the hide is useful for the manufacture of whips and other instruments. 

 The fat of the hippopotamus, called by the Cape colonists " zee-koe 

 speck," or sea-cow bacon, is held in very high estimation, as is the tongue 

 and the jelly which is extracted from the feet. The hide is so thick that 

 it must be dragged from the creature's body in slips, like so many planks, 

 and is an inch and a half in thickness on the back, and three-quarters of 

 an inch on the other portions of the body. 



The Hippopotamus may be seen in many zoological gardens. These 

 specimens have all been captured when young after the death of their 

 mother. The Roman emperors had some specimens, but from the time of 

 Heliogabalus down to the year 1850 only one hippopotamus reached 

 Europe. In the year 1849 the British consul in Egypt expressed to 

 Abbas Pasha a desire to have a hippopotamus. Orders were sent to the 

 governor of Nubia to forward one to Cairo. He sent some troops up 

 the river to procure the desired animal. The troops did not fall in with 

 their prize till they had reached a distance of fifteen hundred miles above 

 Cairo. A large female hippopotamus being wounded, was in full flight 

 up the river ; but presently a ball or two reached a mortal part, and then 

 the maternal instinct made the animal pause. She fled no more, but 

 turned aside, and made toward a heap of brushwood and water-bushes 

 that grew on the banks of the river, in order (as the event showed) to 



