THE VOICE OF THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 
HIPPOPOTAMUS 
Behemoth of the Book of Job is not, as most persons 
believe, the African hippopotamus in spite of the fact 
that the artist poet Blake so drew it. A recent author 
(the Rev. M. G. Watkins) has pointed out that Behemoth 
is clearly the same word as Mammoth, inasmuch 
as in the Arabic language “b” and ‘““m” are in- 
terchangeable. Furthermore in the Book of Job 
“Behemoth ”’ is said to “‘ move. his tail like a cedar,” 
“he eateth grass as an ox,” “he lieth in the covert of 
the reed and fens ” and lastly, “ he drinketh up a river.’’ 
Now all these phrases of description plainly point to 
an elephant rather than to an hippopotamus, especially 
the last, which might at first sight refer to the river 
horse. For the copious draughts of an elephant are 
familiar to those who know the beast, while the aquatic 
hippopotamus is not actually seen to drink at all. 
Having settled what the hippopotamus is mno#, let us 
inquire what it 7s. Linneus, as we have already 
mentioned in dealing with the tapir, confused it with 
that animal, which which it has only the remotest 
relationship. The hippopotamus, in fact, belongs to 
the Artiodactyle section of the Ungulates, and is near 
to the pigs. The dwarf hippopotamus of Liberia even 
approaches in its habits to the pig tribe ; for it eschews 
the river and wanders about through the bush. The 
term river pig would thus be much more suitable than 
river horse, the name which is given to it both in Eng- 
lish and Greek. Its voice has, it is true, been compared 
to the “‘ neigh ” of a horse ; it appears to us much more 
like a gruff version of the sound made by the horse’s 
poor relative. But this sound is only repeated once, a 
deep base ‘“‘ Hee-haw.” The outward aspect of this 
huge “ Pachyderm” is familiar even to those who 
have never seen the beast alive. The main points to 
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