Hippopotamus (Hippos amphibius).—There is only one species of the hippopotamus now living—that of Africa. It is nearly as tall as the rhinoceros—viz., about five feet; but it exceeds twelve feet in length. The eyes and ears are small, its neck short and thick, and its feet clumsy. Its incisor teeth grow from twelve to eighteen inches long, and weigh from two to six pounds. It is found in all lakes and rivers, and its principal food is grass; sometimes it commits great ravages in the plantations. It is by nature peaceful, but when provoked gets into a violent rage. Some consider its flesh savory. Its skin, when cut into strips, is manufactured into whips; its teeth are worked like ivory, and are especially used for the manufacture of artificial teeth.
Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros).—The Indian rhinoceros and that of Java have only one horn on the nose, while the African species has two. [204] The white rhinoceros of Africa is the largest, attaining to a length of over twelve feet, and a height of nearly six feet; but the black rhinoceros is best known. These awkward animals are enveloped in a wrinkled and bare hide, which may be compared to a coat-of-mail. They live either solitary or in small herds, in marsh and well-watered districts, and feed on grass, leaves, and roots. They only attack an enemy when provoked. Their horn is a terrible weapon. It is a bony excrescence, extremely sharp-pointed, and is used for ploughing up hard ground, or uprooting strong trees. When fighting with the elephant the rhinoceros attempts to rip up its enemy’s abdomen.
Tapir (Tapirus Americanus).—This denizen of South America lies concealed in the recesses of the forests during the day, but in the evening and early morning it frequents the marshes and rivers, where it wallows in the mud with its young. It feeds on the branches of trees, but also ravages the fields. All are bulky beasts, recalling somewhat the swine in appearance. They have the snout prolonged into a flexible proboscis with the nostrils at the tip. Their flesh is said to be good.
Wild Pig (Sus scrofa) lives in herds in the well-watered forests of central and southern Europe, in central and western Asia, and in north Africa. The adult males are called boars, the females wild sows, and the young shoats. They feed on the fruits of forest trees, roots, etc., and do great damage in the fields by raking up the earth for long distances. For this reason and also for the sake of their flesh they are hunted.
TOOTHLESS ANIMALS (Edentata)
Some of the animals belonging to this division have no teeth at all, and all are without the front incisors. They are slow, stupid animals, and work only in the night-time. They are all inhabitants of Brazil with the exception of two species. Nearly all are provided with very long claws. They live in trees or in subterraneous passages.
Ant-eater or Ant-bear (Myrmecophaga jubata) attains a length of six feet six inches, of which its long-haired, plumy tail takes twenty-eight inches. The color of its hair is blackish brown; it can project its worm-like tongue to a distance of sixteen inches. The Great Ant-eater is a native of Brazil and Guiana, and much the largest of all the species.
The ant-eater inhabits the same regions as the sloth. It feeds on ants and termites. Raking up the habitations of these insects with its sharp claws, it inserts its proboscis, and begins to work with its viscous (sticky) tongue, to which hundreds of ants remain sticking.
Armadillo (Dasypus peba).—A mammal peculiar to South America, consisting of various species, belonging to a family intermediate between the sloths and ant-eaters. They are covered with a hard bony shell, divided into belts, composed of small separate plates like a coat of mail, flexible everywhere except on the forehead, shoulders, and haunches, where it is not movable. The belts are connected by a membrane, which enables the animal to roll itself up like a hedgehog. These animals burrow in the earth, where they lie during the daytime, seldom going abroad except at night. They are of different sizes; the largest, Dasypus gigas, being three feet in length without the tail, and the smallest only ten inches. They subsist chiefly on fruits and roots, sometimes on insects and flesh. They are inoffensive, and their flesh is esteemed good food.
Pangolin (Manis longicaudata).—There are several species of these scaly ant-eaters. They are found in Africa and Asia, and are covered with dark brown scales, which are arranged one above the other like tiles. When danger approaches the pangolin does not run away, but rolls itself together into a ball like the hedge-hog.