136 MAMMALIA. 



animal tries to defend itself. In its sudden action it sometimes 

 overturns the boats containing its enemies. Occasionally, des- 

 perate fl'itli rage at being wounded, it tries to tear the boats to 

 nieces with its formidable tusks. Woe betide the men then who 

 are on board ! With one bite it could cut through the middle of 

 the body of a full-grown man. 



The natives of Africa hunt the Hippopotamus, first to obtain 

 the ivory furnished by its tusks — an ivory which, without being 

 f'O good as that of the Elephant, is nevertheless a valuable com- 

 modity in the trade of the two hemispheres. The skin, or hide, 

 which is very thick, is also employed in the manufacture of various 

 instruments. The flesh of the HiiDpopotamus is also very much 

 esteemed. It is sought after in South Africa as a delicate morsel. 

 The epicures of the towns in the Cape Colony do hot hesitate 

 to em])loy their influence with the farmers of the interior of the 

 jVfrican continent to obtain a quarter of a Sea-cow ( Vache de Mer). 

 The parts of the skin of the animal covered with fat are salted 

 and dried like bacon. Such are the inducements which threaten 

 with comijlete and s^jeedy destruction one of the zoological types 

 the most curious, if not one of the most elegant. On account of 

 llie perfection to which fire-arms have been brought, hunting 

 i'oi' these animals is much more easy than it was formerly, and 

 e^oi-ything announces that this species will very soon become 

 extinct. 



The inhabitants of equatorial Africa catch the Hippopotamus 

 in a trap. Knowing the paths taken by the animal on leaving 

 the ri\-er to go along the bank, they hang in a thicket, with the 

 help of long poles kejit in equilibrium, a stake terminated in a 

 steel j)oint. The Hippopotamus, in traversing the thicket, deranges 

 the poles, and the sharp instrument, falling from a great height 

 on the animal's head, kills or wounds it so seriously that it can 

 easily afterwards be apjDroached and despatched. 



The history of the Hippopotamus for a long time reposed on 

 very vague notions. Herodotus attributed to it a tail furnished 

 with hair analogous to that of Horses ; Aristotle gave it a name; 

 and Pliny reproduced these two assertions without commen- 

 tary. 



The artists of antiquity, more faithful to nature than the his- 

 torians and the naturalists, have left good representations of this 



