The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-19
THE HIPPOPOTAMUs GOING.
Extinction of the Huge Species at
Hand.

From the London Standard.
The last hippopotamus has been slaugh-
tered in Natal. All the larger and more
curious creatures are disappearing so fast
that this VIII be monotonous world, a,
any rate for naturaiists, in another cen
fury. Not so long ago the hippopotamus
haunted the rivers of Cape Colony ana
Natal, and ''lake-cow bacon" as the salt
ed layer of fat underlying the hide is call
ed, was favorite dish, but now this huge
creature has disappeared from both coun-
tries. The hunter has been it's enemy for
many century, but the rifle is a far
more deadly weapon than the assegai. The
animal has an appetite proportional to its
bulk, and can accommodate a good deal
OF vegetable produce. Besides this, il
Is a Wasteful FEEDER, trampiing down and
tearing up much more than it consumes.
ana II prefers cultivated plants TO wild
vegetation.
That has proved its doom in Natal. One
herd was left at SeacOW lake, a coast la
COON near Durham, and was protected by
the government. 1t consisted of parents
and family of five. Unfortunately, these.
like young peope all The world over. loved
''s%eeties, and made nocturnal raids on
The neighbOrng sugar cane plantations.
The owners peuioned the government, a
warrant OF execution was granted and the
parental bull, who must have been near
~ fifty years old, was the last TO fail.
ana Wiil hencefOrLn lie only an exhibit"
in the Durham Museum
So the strange creatures of the earth
disappear before the white man. the great
destroyer. The hoppopotamus the ele-
phant and the giraffe, TO speak only of
Africa, with many kinds of antelopes. are
rapidly diminishing in numbers. In an
Ciher century they may nave followed the
bldupok and the quagga of their own con-
thent, the northern sea-cow, the great
aux, the dodo, and the moa of other lands
Gunpowder has been their ruin They
have had heir foes from the first though
probably such heavy and well-protected
creatures as the hoopopotamus had lit
tie TO fear from proving varmvora, ex-
cept IN the weakness of youth or old age.
Man too, has hunted them for many a
long year, but spears of stone, or even
OF metal are not very effective agains !
such natural armor-plate as the hide OF
d hlppcpOtamus, a rhlnOceros, or even
an elephant and though traps were some
times more destructive, these creatures all
held their own in the world till the white
man came with his gun and it's more dead
ly development, the rife
The earlier Decentralization Bak-
er, even Se.ous an Southeastern Africa
great rivers; parts of the White Nile in the
dry season We're crowded with them Such
abundance was not always welcome for
there are times when the room of a hip
popotamus is better than its company.
Though generally timid, it occasionally be-
comes very pugnacious, particularly if
startled or infuriated by a wound In
Bakers words, there is no chance of es-
cape for the traveller by night on the Nile
in an ordinary boat, should a hippopota-
mus get the idea that this is an enemy A
snort is heard in the darkness a few
yards off, and the nexL moment the boat
is upset. On the White Nile a hippopota-
mus actually charged his steamer break
ing several blades of a paddle wheel and
knocking couple of holes in the side with
its tusks.
Worse than this, it is accused though
strictly herbivorous, of sometimes killing
the men as they swim for their lives 1t
needs but a glance at that huge cavern of
mouth, at The projecting canine teeth. at
the two long and strong incisors Of the
lower jaw, TO see chat one bite from hip
popotamIs would almost cut man in
two. Baker mentions an instance when
these creatures even attacked a herd of
cows, as the natives were swimming them
across the water. and dragged two or three
under water, not TO be seen again.
The hunter, particularly before the DAYS
of firearms did not find the hippopota mus
easy game. 1t spends most of the dav in
the water, emerging by night TO feed on
land In fact, these animals are almost
nocturnal in their habits, passing the dav
IN a more or less sleepy condition. But.