VIEWS OF THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.
The hippopotamus is a most peculiar, unwieldy animal, found only in Africa. Numerous fossil remains that have been found in other parts of the globe, would tend to prove that this animal was more widely distributed in prehistoric times.
Until quite recently but one variety of the hippopotamus was known in Africa. A new and distinct variety has been found frequenting the large rivers of West Africa within the tropics. This differs from the other very materially in size. It is much smaller, in fact. It is said, also, to differ from the common hippopotamus and from all fossil specimens in having only two incisors, instead of four, in the lower jaw.
The hippopotamus is aquatic in its habits. It lives mostly in lakes or in rivers. Sometimes it is found in tidal estuaries, where the saltness of the water forces it to resort to springs in order to find water to drink. It has been found sometimes in the sea, but never at any great distance from the shore.
It may be said to be amphibious in its nature; for it spends most of its time in the water, but frequents the land in search of food, which consists of various plants that grow in shallow waters, or that may be found along the shores of lakes and margins of rivers.
The animal is of no little service in keeping the current of sluggish streams free from the luxuriant growth of tropical vegetation. Were it not that the creature browses upon this growth, the streams would soon become choked, and their beds would become dismal swamps, of the kind common to Africa.
When in want of food from the land these animals leave the water at night to feed along the banks, or to make havoc in the cultivated fields, as they trample down and devour the crops. As they always travel in herds of twenty or thirty, it is no small misfortune for a herd to visit any section under cultivation. It is little wonder, then, that war has been waged against them, until in some regions they have ceased to exist. Doubtless this accounts for the fact that they are no longer found in the districts of Lower Egypt, though found to quite a large extent farther up the Nile.
The common hippopotamus is one of the largest of all living animals. The bulk of its body is very nearly as great as that of the elephant. Its legs, being very short, give it a most ungainly gait as it tries to support its great bulk in walking. Unlike the elephant, it is not a very tall animal, its height rarely reaching above five feet.
The hippopotamus, like the elephant, belongs to the family of thick-skinned animals. The skin on its back and sides is more than two inches thick. The skin is described as dark brown in color, and almost destitute of hair. It is kept constantly lubricated by means of the numerous pores, which exude a thick, oily fluid in great abundance.
The neck of the hippopotamus is short and thick, while the head is very large. Its small eyes and ears are placed so high on the head that, in spite of the shortness of the neck, they can easily be kept above the surface of any body of water in which the animal may lie almost hidden from view. The muzzle is very large, with a rounded, swollen surface. The great ugly nostrils and huge lips, which conceal the large front teeth, give the animal a most unattractive and repulsive expression.
It can cut down grass or corn with its large front teeth as well as if it were done with a scythe. So great is the strength of the teeth that stems of considerable thickness can be easily and neatly bitten through like a blade of grass.
The legs of the hippopotamus are, as we have seen, short and thick. Its feet are divided into four toes of nearly equal size, each covered with a horny hoof. Its short tail and the shape of its skull remind one of the pig family.
It breathes very slowly, and hence is enabled to remain under water for a long time, coming to the surface only at intervals for air. It can swim and dive easily, and often amuses itself by walking along the bottom of the river or lake with its body completely under water.
It is very active and playful in the water, but it soon learns to hide away from man. If it cannot conceal itself among the reeds, it dives under water and remains there hidden from sight, raising only its nose above water, as it finds it necessary to take another breath. It is no unfrequent thing to see the mother hippopotamus swimming across a stream with her little one clinging to her back.
By nature the hippopotamus is rather an inoffensive animal. Occasionally it becomes greatly enraged, as when pursued by hunters in boats, and then may be well considered dangerous. Its voice, which is loud, harsh, and grating, has been likened to the creaking and groaning of a large wooden door upon its rusty hinges.
Like the elephant, the hippopotamus can be tamed. It then becomes much attached to man. In its wild state it commits such mischief among the crops of the fields and in sections under cultivation that it is closely hunted. Sometimes it is taken in pits which are dug along its usual tracks. Sometimes it is killed by poisoned arrows, or by pursuing it in canoes. The natives harpoon it or shoot it with rifles.
Its flesh is highly prized. Under the skin there is a thick layer of fat, which is considered a great African delicacy. This fat, when salted, is called "lake-cow bacon" at the Cape of Good Hope. The tongue is much esteemed, as is also a jelly made from the feet. The thick hide is used for a variety of purposes. The great front teeth are very valuable as ivory and form an important feature of African commerce.
Livingstone gives an interesting description of a tribe of hippopotamus hunters, whose ancestors for generations had followed the same pursuit:—
"They follow no other occupation, but when their game is getting scanty at one spot they remove to some other part of the Loangwa, Zambesi, or Shiré, and build temporary huts on an island, where their women cultivate patches. The flesh of the animals they kill is eagerly exchanged by the more settled people for grain. They are not stingy, and are ever welcome guests. I never heard of any fraud in dealing, or that they had been guilty of an outrage on the poorest; their chief characteristic is their courage.
"Their hunting is the bravest thing I ever saw. Each canoe is manned by two men; the canoes are long, light crafts, scarcely half an inch in thickness, about eighteen inches beam, and from eighteen to twenty feet long. They are formed for speed and shaped somewhat like our racing boats.
"The crew use broad, short paddles, and as they guide the canoe slowly down stream to a sleeping hippopotamus, not a single ripple is raised on the smooth water. They look as if holding in their breath, and communicate by signs only.
"As they come near the prey, the harpooner in the bow lays down his paddle and rises slowly up, and there he stands erect, motionless, and eager, with the long-handled weapon poised at arm's length above his head, till, coming close to the beast, he plunges it with all his might in towards the heart.
"During this exciting feat he has to keep his balance exactly. His neighbor in the stern at once backs his paddle, the harpooner sits down, seizes his paddle, and backs, too, to escape. The animal, surprised and wounded, seldom meets the attack at this stage of the hunt. The next stage, however, is full of danger.
"The barbed blade of the harpoon is secured by a long and very strong rope wound round the handle. It is intended to come out of its socket, and while the iron head is firmly fixed in the animal's body, the rope unwinds and the handle floats on the surface.
"The hunter next goes to the handle and hauls on the rope until he knows that he is right over the beast. When he feels the line suddenly slacken, he is prepared to deliver another harpoon the instant that hippo's enormous jaws appear, with a terrible grunt, above the water.
"The backing by the paddles is again repeated, but hippo often assaults the canoe, crunches it in his jaws as easily as a pig would a bunch of asparagus, or shivers it with a kick by his hind foot.
"Deprived of their canoe the gallant comrades instantly dive and swim to the shore under water. They say that the infuriated beast looks for them on the surface, and being below they escape his sight. When caught by many harpoons, the crews of several canoes seize the handles and drag him hither and thither till, weakened by loss of blood, he succumbs. This hunting requires the greatest skill, courage, and nerve that can be conceived."