THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, OR RIVER-HORSE.
(Hippopotamus amphibius.)
This animal lives as well on land as in water, and yields in size to none but the elephant: he weighs sometimes more than fifteen hundred pounds. His skin is naked, and of a blackish brown colour, tinged with red about the muzzle and on the lower surface of the body. The head is flattish on the top, about four feet long and nine in circumference; the lips are large, the jaws open about two feet wide, and the cutting-teeth, of which it has four in each jaw, are nearly a foot long; he has broad ears, and large eyes, a thick neck, and a short tail, tapering like that of a hog. He grazes and eats the leaves and young branches of trees on shore, but retires to the water if pursued, and will sink down to the bottom, where he can remain five or six minutes at a time. When he rises to the surface and remains with his head out of the water, he makes a bellowing noise which may be heard at a great distance. The female brings forth her young upon land, and it is supposed that she seldom produces more than one at a time. The calf at the instant that it comes into the world, flies to the water for shelter, if pursued; a circumstance which has been noticed as a remarkable instance of pure instinct. Fine specimens of this remarkable animal are to be seen in the Zoological Gardens in London; and in Paris they have been known to breed twice, but on both occasions the mother destroyed her offspring, either intentionally or by accident. The Hippopotamus is supposed to be the Behemoth of the Scripture. See Job, chap. xl.