The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-05-23
Foutt'a department.
The Hippopotamus.
From the School Fellow.

From the School Fellow.
dare say you have read, either at church
= ut Sunday-school, the grand passage OF
Job -
Behold now Behcmoth, which made with
t.ee; he eateth grass as an OK. His bones
sc as strong pieces Of brass his bones are
Ike bars of IRON He lieth under the shady
.-oes, in the covert of the reed and fens. The
.lady trees cover him with their shadow the
,7;llows of the brook compass him about
.'ehold. he drinketh up a river he trusteth
hat he can draw up Jordan into his mouth"
l; is supposed that the brute which is here
allied Behemoth was the hippopotamus.
You have not seen hippopotamus. l sup
pose for none have ever been brought to this
country. They are only found in Africa, and
:: is very difficult indeed to catch the young
ones. Six or seven years ago. the chief rl-
!:r Of Egypt was very anxious to please his
friends, the English and was told that he
could do nothing they would like so well as
% make them a present of live hippopota-
nus. So he sent out party Of hunters, with
provisions and weapons, and babe them not
show their faces in Cairo till they had caught
young hippopotamus. They sailed away,
5or many DAYS and weeks. and, at last, after
NO thousand miles journey. they caught a
very young one, sleeping on the bank of the
Nile. The man who found him, picked him
up in his arms: but the skin Of the hippopo-
.amus is always greasy; it slipped through
his fingers and made for the river lie had
iust time to knock it over with boat hook
ne had in his hand. Securing it firmly with
cord, he carried it off safely. built boat for
its journey down the Nile, and in due time it
found its way to England, where much finer
residence had been built for it than poor men
can obtain. A few years aftcrward, another
ilippopo,amus-a'f cnale-was sent to Eng
land; and anothcr--which, however, soon
died-to France These, l believe, are the
only hippopctami which have emigrated from
Africa.
At home, in that country Of wild beasts, the
hippopotamus leads an idle, luxurious life
lie spends most Of the day in the water. ly-
ing at the bottom Of some shady pool, OR riH-
er; if YOU sail over the spot. You can some
times see his great blue body, like huge
stono, on the bottom. At night he comes out
to feed. lie gets grass and herbs: and, as
he requires about hundred weight of this
food every twcnty-fcur hours, and is. besides,
= very wasteful fellow, loving to lay his great
length down in the fields, and roll over in the
long grass. he is, YOU may fancy, a very UNI
pleasant neighbour The Egyptians, they say.
devised a droll method of Furnishing him for
DESTROYING their harvcsts. When they saw
races of his having visited them, they strew-
ID the path he had made for himself with
lard peas When Master Bchcmoth return
ID, next night. seeing these peas. he stopped
. lunch on them; they soon made him feel
thirsty. and he returned to the water to drink.
When he had drunk. the peas in his inside
began to swell, and before next morning. he
was sure to burst. l confess. for nv own
part, that l hardly believe this story.
Sometimes. when the hippopotamus is in a
wakeful humor, he will lie like log on the
top of the water African travellers tell us
that they have seen half dozen of them ly
ing together on the surface of rivers. and
looking. at distance, like rocks. But they
ore very wide awake, indeed. Their heads
ore so shaped that they can see, hear, and
smell, when the smallest tip Of their nose on
ly is out of water: when they hear anoise, one
and all plunge to the bottom. The natives
hunt them OH RATS made Of reeds, which float
down the stream with the current. The hun
tiers lie at full length On the raft the hippo
potamus sees it coming. but does not think it
worth while to move out Of the way of a mere
bundle Of reeds. On it comes, and the mo-
ment the raft touches the brute. the natives
spring up and harpoon him. Then away to
shore, in canoe as fast as possible: and
once on dry land, the harpoon rope i, made
fast to tree. Bchcmoth tugs and twists
but only tears his csh,without tearing out the
harpoon; when he grows tired, the natives
haul him in and lame him, or shoot him to
death.
suppose you are aware that the hippopo'
tamus is the largest brute Of Africa. next to
the elephant. When he is full-grown, he
measures twelve feet in length, and as much
in grth but his legs are very short, and the
skin of his belley touches the ground as he
walks In the water, he is very quick, indeed
on land, he is awkward and clumsy
As have told You that he lives upon grass
and herbs, need not say that he is not much
Of fighting character. He always tries to
run away when he can. Bat when he has
been wounded he is very terrible. His jaws
arc so large and strong ian old painter once
thought i, good idea to make them repre-
sent the jaws of he'll. in picture Of the Judg
ment Day. tina, wii!. one bite he can break {;
boat to pieces or crunch mans body Man,
q poor African has been killed when he was
no, quick enough in getting ashore after hav:
ing harpooned Behcmoth. But, until he ha,
been outragcously injured, the hirpopotamus
is member Of the Peace Society.
They tell story-l do not youch for it.