HIPPOP 
conjectured that they had this appellation given them, on 
account of their fwiftnel's of foot. Mr. Pennant l'uppofes 
them to have been the inhabitants of the Bothnian Gulph, 
who wore fnpw-fhoes; which he thinks might fairly give 
the idea of their being, like horfes, hoofed and (hod. 
HIPPOPO'DIUM, f. in botany. See Buxbaumia. 
HIPPOPOT'AMUS, f [from .ttto:, Gr. a horfe, and 
7 To]oc[.io;, a river.] The River-horse,, or Sea-cow ; a ge¬ 
nus of quadrupeds belonging to the order of belluae, the 
characters of which are thefe : It has four fore-teeth in 
the upper jaw, difpofed in pairs at a diftance from each 
other; and four prominent fore-teeth in the under jaw, 
the intermediate ones being longeft there are two tylks 
in each jaw, thofe of the under one very long and ob¬ 
liquely truncated ; in both they Hand folitary, and are re- 
curvated : the feet are hoofed on the edges, and each 
hoof divided into four parts, unconnefted by any mem¬ 
brane, notwithstanding the amphibious quality of the ani¬ 
mal. Its voice is tremendous, between the lowing of an 
ox and the roaring of an elephant. There is but one 
known fpecies, viz. H. amphibius, correctly delineated 
in the annexed Engraving., 
The head of this animal is of an enormous fize, and the 
rncuth vallly.wide. The ears are frnall and pointed, and 
lined very thickiy with iliort- fine hairs. The eyes; and 
noftrils are Ihiall in proportion to the bulk of the animal. 
On-the lips are lome (h'ong hairs fcattered in tufts here and 
there. The hair on .the body is.'very thin, and icarcely 
difeernab.le at firth fight. There is no mane on the neck, 
only the hairs on that part are rather thicker. The (kin 
is-very thick and throng, and of a dutky reddifti brown 
colour. The tail is about a foot long, taper, comprefled, 
and naked. The legs are fhort and thick. In bulk it is 
fecond only to the elephant. The length of a male has 
been found to be feventeen feet, the circumference of the 
body fifteen, the height near feven, the legs three, the 
head above three and a-half, and the girth of- the head 
near nine. The mouth, when open, is above two feet 
wide. The cutting, and particularly the canine, teetli of 
the lower jaw, are very long, and lo hard that they ltrike 
fire with fteel. This circumftance, it is probable, gave 
rife to the fable of the ancients, that the hippopotamus 
vomited fire from his mouth. The grinders are lquare or 
oblong, like thofe of man, and fo large that a fingle tooth 
weighs three pounds. The talks, according to Dr. Sparr- 
man, are 27 inches long. With fuch powerful weapons, 
and fuch a prodigious ftrength of body, the hippopotamus 
might render himfelf formidable to every other animal. 
But he is naturally of a mild difpofition, and is only for¬ 
midable when provoked. His bulk is fo great, that twelve 
oxen have been found neceffary to draw one a (ho re, which 
had been (hot in a river near the Cape of Good Hope. The 
great fize of his belly renders his fpecific gravity nearly 
equal to that of water, and makes him fwim with eafe and 
dexterity. 
Thefe animals inhabit the rivers of Africa, from the Ni¬ 
ger to Berg River, many miles north of the Cape of Good 
Hope. They formerly abounded in the rivers nearer the 
Cape, but are now almoft extirpated ; and to prelerve the 
few which are left in Berg River, the governor prohibited 
the (hooting them without fpecial permiftion. They are 
not found in any of the African rivers which run into the 
Mediterranean, except the Nile; and even there only in 
Upper Egypt, and in the fens and lakes of Ethiopia, which 
that river paftes through. From the unwieldinefs of his 
body, and the (hortnels of his legs, the hippopotamus is 
not able to move faft upon land, and is then extremely ti¬ 
mid. When purfued, he takes to the water, nlunges in, 
finks to the bottom, and walks there at full eafe : he can¬ 
not, however, continue long without riling to the furface '; 
and in the day-time is fo fearful of being difeovered, that, 
when he inhales fre(h air, the place is hardly perceptible. 
In rivers unfrequented by man, he is lefs cautious, and 
•th'. lifts his whole head out of the water. If wounded, he will 
rife and attack boats or canoes with great fury, and often 
Vox.. X. No. 653. 
OTA M U S, 193 
fink them by biting large pieces out of the fides •. and fre¬ 
quently people are drowned by thefe animals ; for they are 
as bold in the water as they are timid on land. When he 
quits the water, he ufually puts out half his body at once, 
and fmeljs and looks round ; but fometimes rufhes out 
with great impetuofity, and tramples down every thing in 
his way. During the night he quits the rivers to depar¬ 
ture ; when he eats mgar-canes, millet, rice, See. confum- 
ing great quantities, and'doing much damage in the cul¬ 
tivated grounds. 
The hippopotami deep in the reedy ifiands in the mid¬ 
dle of the ftream, and on which they bring forth their 
young. A herd of females has but a fingle male : they 
bring only one young at a time, and that on the land, but 
fuckie it in the water. They are (aid to be capable of be¬ 
ing tamed and domefticated. In fome parts the natives 
place boards of (harp iron (pikes in the corn-grounds ; 
which thefe beads ftrike into their feet, and fo become an 
eafy prey. Sometimes they are ftruck in the water with 
harpoons fattened to cords, and ten .or twelve canoes are 
employed in the chace. 
Though mild and timid in its nature, the hippopotamus 
is nevertheless a dangerous animal to meet; for, if provoked, 
it becomes furious and implacable ; .and, from the amazing 
width of its mouth, is capable of biting a man in two hi 
an inftant; which many of the hunters have fatally expe¬ 
rienced. The.natives dig iarge holes or pits to catch them, 
on the fides of rivers where they are known to haunt. But 
they are fo extremely (hy of .making frefh roads, or paths, 
that the hunters are ufually prepared with the foot of a 
dead animal, with which they make tracks or prints on 
the ground leading from the river-fide immediately to the 
centre of the holes and pitfalls ; which being covered 
with jungle overlaid with mud and land, the unfufpeft- 
ing creature proceeds forwards till he falls in, and be¬ 
comes an eafy prey to the hunters, who either (hoot him 
with mu(ket-balls or kill him with fpears. 
The name J'ca-cow was probably given it from its hav¬ 
ing four (lomachs, as in that animal; and fea-horfe, from 
the neighing noii’e it makes, which, though Angularly 
(harp and-trenmious, refembles much the neighing of that 
more noble and valuable creature. In its form it relem- 
bles neither the horfe nor cow ; but much more nearly 
an overgrown wild boar of the foreft. 
The hippopotamus was known to the Romans. Scaurus 
treated the people with the fight of five crocodiles and one 
hippopotamus during his asdilelhip, and exhibited them in 
a temporary lake. Auguftus produced one at his triumph 
over Cleopatra. 
This animal is the behemoth of Job ; who admirably de- 
feribes its manners, food, anil haunts i “ Behold now be¬ 
hemoth, which I made near thee : he eateth grafs as an ox. 
Lo ! now his ftrength is in his loins, and his force is in 
the navel of his belly. His bones are as ftrong pieces of 
brafs; his bones are like bars of iron. He lieth under 
the (liady trees, in the covert of the reed and fens. Be¬ 
hold ! he drinketh up a river: he trufteth he can draw 
up Jordan into his mouth.” The firft verle, the learned 
Bochart oblerves, implies the locality of its fituation ; be¬ 
ing an inhabitant of the Nile, in the neighbourhood of 
Uz, the land of Job. The fecond deferibes its great 
ftrength ; and the third, the peculiar liardnels of its bones. 
The fourth indicates its refidence amidll the vaft reeds of 
the river of Egypt, and other African rivers overlhadowed 
with thick forefts. The fifth, the charafterillic widenefs 
of its mouth ; which is hyperbolically deferibed as large 
enough to exhauft fuch a ltream as Jordan. That fo for¬ 
midable an animal (hould be naturally mild and timid, and 
never dangerous but when hunted or provoked, muft be 
confidered as a bleffing to thofe countries where they 
abound. Bruce noticed many of them, quite harm lefs, 
while tracing the fource of the Nile ; and Park met with 
feveral herds on the banks of the Gambia, and always 
found them of a timid and inoffenfive difpofition. See his 
Travels, p. 6 
But 
