ANIMAL GIANTS 9 



remember that at one period in our remarkable history, the huge 

 creature now under review occupied a place in the fauna of our 

 country. 



The particular specimen shown in Fig. 4 has died since its 

 photograph was taken, and I handled its enormous skull at a soirde 

 of the Selborne Society in 1909. An old favourite at the Zoo — it 

 had been an inhabitant of the Gardens for over thirty-five years — 

 there was a touch of remorse in handling the skull of a once living 

 animal, whom it was always interesting to watch and feed. It 

 is pleasant, however, to have one of the last photographs taken of 

 our old friend, and his place is now occupied by a comparatively 

 young Hippopotamus which, as Fig. 5 portrays, is making very 

 rapid progress. 



The baby shown has already become very tame, and quite 

 recently I helped to appease her prodigious appetite by shovelling 

 dead leaves into her capacious mouth ! Still she clamoured for 

 more, and in spite of a cargo of leaves, sugar, monkey-nuts and 

 other tit-bits, she refused to close her mouth until she realized that 

 her human friends were of opinion she had had a good meal and 

 was sufficiently "full inside"! 



There are two kinds of Hippopotamus known to science, one 

 small and rare species hailing from West Africa, known as the 

 Pigmy or Liberian, and the common and larger species coming from 

 other parts of Africa, and particularly from the upper tributaries 

 of the Nile. 



Next to the Elephants, Hippos are the largest living terres- 

 trial animals. They belong, however, to a different sub-order, 

 claiming kinship with the even-toed Ungulates, and are not very 

 distantly related to the Pigs. 



The reader will, on first acquaintance, probably be attracted by 

 the huge barrel-shaped body, large head and mouth, short and 

 thick legs and small eyes. Although the latter are not of large 

 dimensions, they project prominently from the forehead and thus 

 aid the animal in locating anything, especially when lying almost 

 immersed in water, the top part of the head alone being visible. 



The Hippo seems for the most part to take life very soberly, 

 and when walking down to its water-tank does not make any 

 commotion or splashing, but approaches the water quietly and 

 then slowly immerses its huge body. After a short time spent 

 underneath — some two or three minutes is the usual limitation — 



