PLATE XII. 
HIPPOPOTAMUS AMPHIBIUS.— THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, OR SEA-COW. 
Zeekoe of the Cape Colonists.—mfoobo of the Kafirs and Bechuana. 
GENERIC CHARACTER. — Between four and five feet high at the shoulder, and from eleven to twelve in extreme length. 
Figure particularly massive and heavy. Body ponderous, and shapeless with fat. Neck brawny as in a stall fed bull; short, 
. voluminous, and rounded, with a colloped crest formed by a continuation of the arch of the back. Head thick and square. 
Muzzle broad, truncated, and furnished with a few detached pencils of split bristly hair. Gape wide. Lips full and bulging, so 
turned up towards the angles of the mouth as to impart to the face a quaint and waggish expression, enhanced both by the 
very elevated position of the diminutive eyes, which are seated in a pulpy prominence, and by the singular appearance of the 
rounded ears, which are approximated, and would seem to have been unsparingly cropped. Lower incisors long, and placed ho- 
rizontally. Canine teeth greatly developed; those in the lower jaw forming tusks, which, when the mouth is closed, are never- 
theless completely concealed by the overhanging lips. Legs so extremely short that the belly almost touches the ground. Feet 
disproportionably small, and terminating in four detached anterior toes, armed with hoofs. Tail twelve inches, flabby like that of 
a tortoise, and beset with bristles towards the extremity. Skin rough, hard, and remarkably thick; entirely destitute of hair. 
General colour dirty pinkish brown, waxing lighter on the belly and flanks, where the skin is clouded and freckled with a darker 
tint upon a blush or flesh coloured ground. 
Female differing little in point of appearance, but smaller than the male. Has an udder with two teats. Amphibious. 
Inhabits the rivers and lakes of the interior, and was once common within the Colony. 
