THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 83 



less the means whereby the roots of subaqueous 

 plants are collected ; but viewed when the creature 

 opens the vast, yawning, pink chasm in which 

 they are set, they present an appearance at once 

 interesting and impressive. The enamel upon 

 these teeth is extremely hard, and the ivory of 

 which they consist of so fine a grain that many 

 years ago it commanded a high price, and was 

 much esteemed by dentists for the manufactm-e 

 of artificial teeth. 



The hippopotamus, as I think I have men- 

 tioned elsewhere, is greatly, and far from unjustly, 

 dreaded by the natives for the stupid habit he 

 has formed of at times upsetting their boats and 

 canoes. Journeying by these means, as I have 

 often had occasion to do in the rivers of Zambezia, 

 sometimes it has been with the utmost difficulty 

 that the paddlers could be induced to pass these 

 animals, and then they would only do so as close 

 to the bank as possible. Although I have never 

 sustained any inconvenience in this way, I have 

 seen canoes upset, and I am acquainted with 

 persons who have suffered considerable losses from 

 this cause. I can imagine no position more 

 desperate than to find oneself suddenly and with- 

 out warning in the heart of Africa, stripped of all 

 one's belongings — firearms, medicines, and pro- 

 visions — ^by the overturning of a canoe in the deep 

 and rapid streams one is obliged occasionally to 

 cross in that country ; and one's appreciation of 

 the crushing misfortune is by no means increased 

 by the reflection that it may have resulted from 

 the perpetration of a practical joke. This sup- 



