Gl 
masses of comminuted grass which they had voided. Occasionally, a shapeless fellow might be seen basking in the sun, or 
wallowing near the shore amid ooze and mud—not less to elude the teasing attentions of the hunting population common to 
warm humid regions, than to free himself from the ticks and other parasitic vermin infesting the cavities of his ears, as well 
as the softer parts of his rank hide. But within inhabited districts especially, the ungainly beasts pass the greater portion of the 
day in the water, rising frequently to the surface — protruding the whole of their broad heads, blowing and bellowing so lustily, 
that they may be heard at a great distance. Their diet is entirely confined to coarse vegetable matter —the roots and bark of 
water trees, together with the succulent stems of aquatic plants, furnishing them with employment during the day. Grass, 
however, constitutes their chief food —and night the season of their activity. As evening draws on, quitting their watery re- 
treats and reed-grown coverts, they sally forth to graze —retiring with the approach of dawn, and never wandering to any great 
distance from the river, their place of refuge, and the stronghold to which they betake themselves on the smallest alarm, 
where plunging to the bottom, they remain perfectly secure from the assaults of their foes. During the bright moon-light 
nights, we not unfrequently detected the ugly monsters in the very act of making a sortie, their sleek slimy hides glistening 
like the back of a fish, as they emerged, dripping, under pale Cynthia’s beams, and waddled clumsily up the river bank. De- 
vouring at a single meal as much or more than a team of oxen, several bushels of chewed yegetable matter were usually 
found, on a post mortem examination, in the cavity of the stomach; whence it may reasonably be inferred, that the whole 
night is barely sufficient to admit of their laying in the supply requisite to keep up their ungainly obesity. 
The Hippopotamus not unfrequently resorts to the ocean, and to the mouths of those of her tributaries which are influ- 
enced by the tides; but he is more usually an inhabitant of muddy inland lakes, of reedy marshes, and of fresh-water rivers, 
whose 
Cavern'd banks, by the tenacious roote 
Of hoary willows urched— 
are overshadowed by impenetrable forests, Few of the rivers that we visited, possessed sufficient depth of water in all parts 
of the channel, to conceal so voluminous a beast. They more usually consisted of a chain of deep pools, termed by the 
Hottentots Zeekoe gatten, or Sea-cow's holes, from their having been gradually hollowed out by the trampling of the bulky 
tenants that they harbour; and whilst travelling from one to another of these, a huge back was often quite exposed, or so 
slightly covered by the water, that the eye could follow the progress of the corpulent owner, as he shuffled along the bottom, 
Notwithstanding this ability to walk with ease along the bed of the deepest river, or even in the sea, the animal cannot long 
remain without rising to the surface—squirting, grampus-like, a stream of water out of the truncated nose, whenever it is pro- 
truded; but the eyes, ears, and nostrils, being placed nearly on the same plane, it is necessary to expose a very small portion 
only of the face, in order to accomplish respiration. The great size of the colloped belly renders the specific gravity of the 
carease nearly equal to that of water; and being built without any angles, it slips glibly through the stream, and floats as 
cleverly as an old tub, or as a life buoy, which latter in general contour it closely resembles. 
PJ 
The Hippopotamus, amid the flood 
Flexile and active as the smallest swimmer 
Thoogh on the bank ill balanced and infirm, 
is vulnerable only behind the ear, or in the eye, which latter organ is placed in a pulpy prommence, so as to resemble the 
garret window of a Dutch house. He therefore requires the perfection of rifle practice, and after a few shots, performs the 
movements necessary for respiration, with extreme caution and sagacity — exhibiting his square muzzle only, and as instantly 
withdrawing it. If slain, the ponderous body rises incontinently to the surface; but it often happened after a severe day's ball 
practice, that the noisome and unseemly corse of some hapless fellow, that, despite of his skill in surgery, had contrived to die 
of his wounds, was seen drifting down with the current—the blue swollen carcase, and disgustingly freckled belly, inflated almost 
to bursting, serving as a raft to voracious alligators, as they Juxuriated on the dainty blubber among buzzing myriads of blue- 
bottle fites. 
Yielding the firmest and hardest of ivory, which never changes colour from exposure, the teeth of the Hippopotamus 
are extremely valuable. The dental formation is very singular, being equally adapted for uprooting, cutting, and bruising; the 
tusks, which are three-sided, and usually weigh from three to four pounds, crossing each other like a pair of shears, They 
are said to strike fire with steel —a circumstance which may possibly have given rise to the assertion of writers of antiquity, that 
the animal vomited forth flames! In the hide, however, is found the principal source of profit; since it fornishes some five 
hundred strips, three feet in length, each of which, when rounded to the size of a man’s finger, and tapered towards the 
point, forms a sjambok* a most indispensable piece of furniture to every boor proceeding either throngh his grounds, or on a 
journey. But setting aside the value of all these spolia, no occupation could be devised more perfectly in unison with the 
indolent habits of the sporting Hottentot, than the lying in wait for the Hippopotamus. Whilst blockading a pit which 
the beasts are known to infest, the pleasures of the pipe are interrupted only to fire an occasional shot from an over-loaded 
musket, when, ag our friend Andries had it, “de Zeekoes stick up dere snouts to blow demselves.” Nevertheless, our people 
* Under the denomination of corbaj, these implements are also in general use throughout Egypt and Ethiopia, as well for urging on the dromedary, as for 
chastising the delinquent peasantry. ‘By the taskmasters of old, the corbay was doubtless freely applied — among the sculptures of Thebes, an attendant is invariably 
represented carrying one behind the steward of an estate, 
