THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
567 
The Hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius) is ugly enough to seem 
terrible, although it appears to be almost entirely an eater of herbs, and more 
frequently injures man by destroying his crops than by inflicting any personal 
damage. To the African the hippopotamus is valuable mainly for its ivory, 
although the flesh is regarded as esculent. An allowance of several pounds of 
ivory for each tusk specially excites the cupidity of man and leads him to 
practise dentistry upon a large scale. Africa has become the land for adven¬ 
ture, and the experiences of Livingstone, Baker, Stanley and many another bold 
explorer are the entertainment of those who widen their horizon by adding to' 
their purely individual surroundings all that others have found in distant coun¬ 
tries. African exploration has special charms because the motive has a more 
permanent value than any that can attach to the simple hunting of tigers in 
India. Geographical science is the cause in which so many courageous and 
capable men have enlisted, and to this are subordinated the contests with wild 
peoples and fierce beasts—for the progress of science, and not simply as a grati- 
fication of a 
taste for ad¬ 
venture, have 
these men un¬ 
dergone every 
trial, privation 
and danger, 
and thus their 
adventures are 
not simply 
strange and 
thrilling, but 
they are en¬ 
nobled by the 
motive which 
prompts them, 
and the ends 
in humanity’s 
progress which 
they are yet 
to serve. 
The hippopotamus is wholly African and is frugivorous. It is easily irri¬ 
tated and then becomes dangerous, as it never hesitates to begin an attack. Its 
only vulnerable spots are the eye and behind the ear, the tough hide serv¬ 
ing as a protection against the bites of insects, and the attack of any enemies. 
When wounded they will attack and upset canoes, so that the natives prefer 
to use none but the smallest, lightest and most speedy dug-outs. The flesh 
tastes like pork and adds to the incitement caused by the ivory of the tusks.- 
Generally sociable and peaceful among themselves, they sometimes indulge in 
the most bloodthirsty battles, and most hippopotamuses that have been killed 
or captured bear marks of having at some time suffered from the anger of 
their kind. 
A hippopotamus which had been harpooned, charged out of the water on to 
the land six several times and was driven back by the sand thrown into its eyes, 
HIPPOPOTAMUS. 
