Useful Knowledge: Volume 3. Animals / Or, a familiar account of the various productions of nature

by William Bingley

In the immediate vicinity of rivers, in several parts of Africa, even as far south as the Cape of Good Hope, the hippopotamus is occasionally seen. Notwithstanding his bulk and strength, he is an animal of considerable timidity; and whenever he is surprised, he plunges into the water, and walks about at the bottom with great ease, rising to the surface about once every ten minutes to breathe. He feeds on plants of various kinds, and sometimes proves very destructive in the plantations, not only by the quantity of food which he devours, but also by treading down and crushing with his feet much more than he eats.

The hippopotamus is one of those animals whose tusks are used as ivory; and, from their always preserving their original whiteness and purity, they are considered superior to the tusks of the elephant. They are each from twelve to fourteen inches in length, and weigh from six to ten pounds. Dentists sometimes manufacture them into artificial teeth, for which they are well adapted. Of the hide, which in some parts is nearly two inches thick, the inhabitants of Africa make excellent whips, which, after a little use, become very pliable.

The flesh, when the animals are in good condition, is said to be tender and well flavoured, particularly that of the parts near the breast. It is even sometimes admitted to the tables of the colonists at the Cape of Good Hope. The Hottentots consider it so great a delicacy that they eat it even in an half putrid state. Professor Thunberg states, that he one day passed a Hottentot's tent, which had been pitched for the purpose of consuming the body of an hippopotamus that had been killed sometime before; and says, that the inhabitants of the tent were in the midst of such stench, that the travellers could hardly pass them without being suffocated. The feet are considered peculiarly fine eating; and the tongue, when salted and dried, is in great esteem at the Cape.

116. The HOG (Sus scrofa, Fig. 16) is distinguishable by its prominent tusks, the flat termination of its snout, its feet being cloven, the fore part of its back being bristly, and the tail hairy.

The male is called boar, and the female sow. The appellations of swine and pig are given to the whole breed, though the latter is more peculiarly applicable to the young animals.

The parent stock of our domestic swine is the wild boar, which inhabits the forests of France, Germany, and other parts of Europe, as well as those of Persia and India.

Wild boars usually live in families, and are hunted, as an amusement, in all the parts of the world where they are found. The flesh of the wild animals, if they are not old, is said to be much superior to that of our domestic swine. That of the young ones is peculiarly delicate. Of an old wild boar the head only is eatable.

The advantages derived from the breeding of swine are very great. Their flesh, which has the appellation of pork, is in universal request; and is of peculiar importance in a commercial view, as it takes salt better, and is capable of being kept longer, than any other kind of meat that we are acquainted with. Pork, after having been salted, is sometimes hung up to dry in the open air; but, generally, it is smoked by being hung in a chimney. In this state it has the general name of bacon. What are called hams, are the thighs preserved in a similar manner. Westphalia hams are generally made from such animals as have been well fed, and allowed to range at pleasure in the extensive moorlands of that province; and they have a singular flavour, not so much from any great difference that there is in the salting of them, as from their being smoked in chimneys where only wood fires are burnt. The time of fumigation is from three to six months, according to their size. Pork, though a wholesome food, requires a strong stomach to digest it properly; and ham and bacon are highly improper for persons of weak and languid habits. Brawn is the flesh of the boar pickled in a peculiar manner, and is always better tasted according to the greater age of the animal of which it is made. After the boar is killed, the head and legs are cut off, and the bones are carefully taken from the remaining part. This, after having been properly salted, is rolled together as hard as possible. It is then boiled till it becomes so tender as to be pierced with a straw. It is afterwards set by till quite cold, and lastly is immersed in a pickle formed of salt and bran boiled together. The usual mode of curing pork is with common salt, or bay salt; but some persons add saltpetre or nitre, juniper berries, pepper, and other antiseptic substances.

The Jews and Mahometans abstain from this species of food from a religious principle, and even consider themselves defiled by touching it. The inhabitants of China, on the contrary, are so excessively fond of pork, that multitudes, from this partiality alone, are said to have been prevented from conversion to Mahometanism.

The fat of swine differs, in its situation, from that of almost every other quadruped, as it covers the animals all over, and forms a thick, distinct, and continued layer betwixt the flesh and the skin, somewhat like the blubber in whales ([118]). It is called lard, and is applicable to various uses, both culinary and medicinal; and particularly to the composition of ointments. The general mode of preparation is to melt it in a jar placed in a kettle of water; and in this state to boil it, and run it into bladders that have been cleansed with great care. The smaller the bladders are the better the lard will keep. The fat which adheres to the parts connected with the intestines differs from common lard, and is preferably employed for the greasing of carriage wheels. The blood, the feet, and the tongue, are all adopted for food.