4o8 EASTERN ETHIOPIA xxxii 



attack and overturn a canoe or a l)oat ; it will also 

 perforate the boat with its teeth, and sometimes bite 

 pieces out of it. 



Hippopotamus-ivory was formerly used for making- 

 artificial teeth. Sportsmen often keep the incisors and 

 canines as trophies, and natives split large tusks and 

 wear them as ornaments or as charms. 



On land the hippopotamus is an ugly and apjjarently 

 awkward brute ; its legs are very short in proportion to 

 its body, which resembles a black hogshead on short 

 supports. The feet are short and broad ; the toes, 

 unequal in length, are furnished with rounded hoofs, 

 all of which reach the ground in walking and leave 

 easily recognised marks in soft, sticky mud. The broad 

 feet do immense damage to the growing crops of the 

 natives, especially as hijDpopotamuses live in herds 

 consisting of twenty to forty individuals. They eat 

 grass in enormous quantities, which they are able to 

 crop quite close. The stomach is complex, and capable 

 of holding five or six Ijushels of grass and aquatic 

 plants. 



In spite of apparent clumsiness the hippopotamus 

 can make its way up a steep bank with remarkable 

 quickness. In the favourite haunts a hippopotamus 

 track is often a tunnel through reeds, papyrus a,nd 

 brushwood on the banks of a river, lake, or back-water. 

 These animals feed principally at night, and sportsmen 

 take advantage of this fact to shoot them, for when 

 killed in deep water they sink, but after two hours 

 or more, when the gases of decomposition accumulate 

 in the belly, the carcase floats, and can be towed into 

 the shallows and rolled ashore. 



The body of a hippopotamus is useful to the natives. 

 Its flesh is eaten, often uncooked. The skin is thick, 

 and almost hairless. There are tufts of hair on the 

 lips, around the margin of the ears, and at the tip 

 of the tail. The hide is often two inches thick ; it is 

 used for making whips, bridles, hobbles, etc. The 



