132 



Avhile fresh, is cul up into long thongs, and dried in the sun for 

 future provision. Had we known in the Guzerat campaign that 

 an elephant's foot was esteemed a luxury, we might often have 

 been regaled when so many were left on the field of battle. 



What a beautiful description does the book of Job give us of 

 the hippopotamus, under the name of Behemoth. " Behold now be- 

 " hemoth which I have made, he ealeth grass as an ox; his strength 

 "is in his loins, and his bones are like bars of iron; he moveth 

 " his tail like a cedar, and his sinews are wrapped together: the 

 " mountains bring him forth food; he lieth under the shady trees, 

 " in the covert of the reeds and the fens: the shady trees cover 

 " him with their shadow, and the willows of the brook compass 

 " him about; behold, he drinkelh up a river, and hasteth not; 

 " he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth!" 



As the hippopotamus is undoubtedly the behemoth, so the 

 rhinoceros is supposed to be the unicorn of scripture: these ani- 

 mals attain a prodigious size in Africa, and are said to be the mosi r 

 powerful of the savage tribe; it is not naturally ferocious, but its 

 coat of mail affords a complete defensive armour, and its horn is; 

 so formidable a weapon of offence, that he generally remains un- 

 molested by the lions, tigers, and other beasts of prey. Here, as 

 well as in Hindostan, I found many extraordinary virtues attri- 

 buted to the horn of the rhinoceros, especially in drinking out of 

 it as an antidote to poison. It feeds upon grass, sugar-canes, and 

 esculent plants found in its haunts. 



Many improbable stories are circulated at the Cape of the 

 camelo-pardalis, or giraffe, which is certainly one of the most sin- 

 gular animals we are acquainted with; its height is often magni- 



