326 



The Living Animals of the World 



Flioio bil York d: io/l] 



MALE AKD FEMALE HIPPOPOTAMUSES. 



llioUi,uj UUL 



A hippopcitanms is almost inseparable from the water ; it never goes farther away 

 tlian possible from a river or lalie. 



may seem when viewed from beliincl 

 the bars of its den in a zoological 

 garden, it is nevertheless true that, 

 when these animals have been 

 l^anished from an African river by 

 the progress of civilisation, that river 

 has lost one of its highest charms 

 and greatest ornaments. 



The Pygmy or Liberian Hippo- 

 potamus is confined to Upper Guinea, 

 and, compared with its only existing 

 relative, is a very small animal, not 

 standing more than 2 feet 6 inches 

 in height, and measuring less than 

 6 feet in length. In weight a full- 

 grown specimen will scale about 

 400 lbs. Bat little is known of 

 the habits of this rare animal, speci- 

 mens of wliich, I believe, have never 

 been obtained, except by the German 

 naturalists Herrn Biittikofer and 

 Jentink. When alive, the colour of 

 the skin of the pygmy hippojjotamus 

 is said to be of a greenish black, 

 changing on tlie under-parts to 

 yellowish green. The surface of the 

 skin is very shiny. This species, 

 unlike its giant relative, does not congregate in herds, nor pass its days in ri\ers or lakes, but 

 lives in pairs in marshes or shady forests. It sleeps during the dav, and at night wanders 

 over a great extent of country, eating grass, wild fruits, and the young shoots of trees. Its 

 flesh is said to be very succulent and much esteemed by the natives. 



A hi})poj)otamus, apparently of the same species as that now found in Africa, formerly 

 inhaliited the Thames Valley. Great cpiantities of fossil remains of another species are also 

 found in the island of Sicily. The bones found in England are mainly in the river gravel 

 and brick earth of the south and midland districts of England. This seems to show that at 

 the time when the animal existed our rivers must have been open all the year, and not 

 ice-bound, for it is certain tliat no hippopotamus could live in a river which froze in winter. 

 Yet among the remains of these animals are also found those of quite arctic species like the 

 Musk-ox and the Reindeer, togetlier with tliose of the Saiga Antelope, an inhabitant of the 

 cold plateau of Tibet. The prolilem is : How could these creatures, one a dweller in warm 

 rivers and the otliers inhabitants of cold arctic or sub-arctic regions, have existed together, 

 apparently on tlie same area of ground ? Tlie answer, wliicli does not seem to have occurred 

 to naturalists who have discussed the question, seems to be plain enough. Any one who 

 knows the conditions of the great rift valleys of Central Africa has the key to the solution 

 of the puzzle. There was probably a very great difference in the vertical plane. Deep in 

 tlie rift was probably a warm riser, while above it may have been mountains from 10,000 

 to 20,000 feet high, with snow on the summits and glaciers in tlieir valleys. On these cold 

 and arctic heights tlie reindeer and the musk-ox would find congenial homes. Thousands 

 of feet below, in the hot and narrow valley, the hippopotamus would revel in a warm and 

 steamy climate. This is what actually occurs in the rift valleys of Central Africa, where 

 the hiiipojiotamus swims in risers that are at no great distance from snow-covered and ice- 

 capped mountains. 



