XII 
THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 
2 
As the female hippopotamus generally produces 
one calf at a birth, these huge creatures do not 
multiply in any great degree, and their numbers 
in certain places, where they appear to have 
assembled in large herds, must be accepted as 
periodical gatherings, which are altogether excep¬ 
tional, and by no means represent the average 
area of a locality. 
I have seen a bend in the White Nile, during 
the dry season, which was literally crowded with 
hippopotami; and as the steamer was coming down 
the stream at about nine miles an hour, I thought 
it would be impossible to avoid a collision ; some¬ 
how they all made way for our passage, and we 
passed through a crowd of heads, some snorting 
and blowing jets, while others disappeared in their 
usual instantaneous manner. 
A hippopotamus differs from most aquatic 
animals, as it sinks backwards, and disappears 
by throwing its nose upwards; all other creatures 
dive head first. 
In such secluded places as the banks of the 
White Nile, where dense masses of high reeds 
fringe the course of the river, far away from any 
habitation, the hippopotami pass a considerable 
portion of their time in marshy retreats among the 
canes ; such dens would be impervious to human 
beings, and would not be observed unless from 
a vessel upon the river. The tangled mass of 
vegetation is pierced in numerous places by dark 
tunnels, which have been bored out by the bulky 
