THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 147 



were not being hunted, no one was allowed to meddle with them, 

 and anyone who did so was severely punished. 



Although we may not like the pig, we cannot deny that it is 

 very serviceable to us in many different ways. It is not only 

 useful as an article of food, but many parts of its body can be 

 used for other purposes. We melt a certain fat portion down, and 

 so get lard, which we find useful in cooking. We soak the hide in 

 hot water, so as to loosen the bristles, and then it is "tanned" into 

 leather. This is so good and hard that the best saddles are made 

 from it. And we do not throw away even the bristles, but make 

 them into many kinds of brushes. 



A steel ring is often passed through a pig's nose. This is done 

 in order to prevent the animal from burrowing in the ground. 

 When it is wild it feeds partly upon roots, which it digs up with 

 its snout. But when we keep it in our fields, we do not want it 

 to burrow, and so we put this ring through the snout. The ring 

 has sharp points upon it, which do not hurt the pig unless it begins 

 to dig. 



In some countries pigs are kept in large herds, and are let out 

 every day into the woods to feed. All day long they wander 

 where they like, and feed on acorns, beech-nuts, and anything 

 else they can find. When evening comes, the swine-herd blows 

 a horn, and soon all the pigs come running back, eager to get 

 to the good supper and warm bed which they know await them. 



THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 



One of the largest of living animals is the well-known 

 Hippopotamus, or River Horse, of Africa. It is not very tall, 

 for it seldom attains to a height of more than five feet. But its 

 body is often eleven or twelve feet in length ; and it is so heavily 

 built that in bulk it is little inferior to the elephant. 



This enormous quadruped is never found very far from water, 

 and is abundant in many of the African rivers. It is not entirely 

 confined to fresh water, however, but is occasionally seen in the 

 sea. It lives in herds, consisting of from five or six to thirty or 



