11. Arriving at Dongola,' the commander summoned his chief officers and captains of the Nubian hosts to a council of war on the subject of the hippopotamus hunt, on the result of which, he intimated, several heads were at stake, besides his own. A similar communication was speedily forwarded to the chief officers of the right wing of the army, quartered in their tents at Sennaar.2 The picked men of all the forces having been selected, the two parties met in boats at an appointed village on the banks of the Nile, and there concerted their measures for the expedition.

50. THE HIPPOPOTAMUS-CONTINUED.

HE commander divided the chosen body into several parties,

of the river, beyond the point where it branches off into the Blue Nile and the White Nile. Good fortune at length befell one of the parties; but this cost much time, and many unsuccessful efforts-now pursuing a huge savage river-horse, with rifle-balls and flying darts; now pursued by him in turn, with foaming jaws and gnashing tusks—all of which may readily be conjectured, from the fact that they did not fall in with their prize till they had reached a distance, up the White Nile, of one thousand five hundred miles above Cairo. In the doublings and redoublings of attack and retreat, of pursuit and flight, and renewed assault, they must, of course, have traversed in all at least two thousand miles.

2. Something pathetic3 attaches to the death of the mother of " our hero," something which touches our common nature. A large female hippopot'amus being wounded, was in full flight up the river; but presently a ball or two reached a mortal part, and then the maternal instinct made the animal pause. She fled no more, but turned aside, and made toward a heap of brushwood and water-bushes that grew on the banks of the

'Dongola (dong'go lå), a province of Upper Nubia.— Sennaar (sånnår'), a State in northeast Africa, forming a part of Nubia.—3 Pa thểt'ic, feeling; compassionate.

river, in order, as the event showed, to die beside her young one. She was unable to proceed so far, and sank dying beneath the

water.

3. The action, however, had been so evidently caused by some strong impulse and attraction in that direction, that the party instantly proceeded to the clump of water-bushes. Nobody moved—not a green flag stirred; not a sprig trembled; but directly they entered, out burst a burly young hippopotamuscalf, and plunged head-foremost down the river-banks. He had all but escaped, when, amid the excitement and confusion of the picked men, one of them, who had "more character" than the rest, made a blow at the slippery prize with his boat-hook, and literally brought him up by burying the hook in his fat black flank. Two other hunters, next to him in presence of mind and energy, threw their arms around the great barrelbellied infant, and hoisted him into the boat, which nearly capsized' with the weight and struggle.

4. In this one circumstance of a hippopot'amus being ordered by his Highness Abbas Pasha, has been pleasantly shown the ease and brevity with which matters are managed by a despotic2 government. We complain at home-and with how much reason everybody knows too well-of the injurious and provoking slowness of all good legislative acts; but here we have a beautiful little instance, or series of little instances, of going rather too fast. Things are settled instantly in the East by a royal mandate, from the strangling of a whole seraglio, to the suckling of a young hippopotamus.

5. Returning down the Nile with their unwieldy prize, for whose wounded flank the best surgical attendance the country afforded was of course procured, it soon became a matter of immense importance and profound consultation as to how and on what the innocent young monster should be fed. He would not

'Cap sized', upset.-2 Des pot' ic, absolute; supreme; without control. - Man' date, command.- Seraglio (se rål' yo), the palace of the Sultan in which are kept the females of his household; here means the women that occupy the seraglio.- Flånk, the fleshy or muscular part of the side of an animal.— Surgical (sår' ji kal), relating to a surgeon, a part of whose business is the curing of wounds. A physician gives medicine; a surgeon attends to outward remedies.

touch flesh of any kind; he did not seem to relish fruit; and he evidently did not, at present, understand grass. A live fish was put into his mouth, but he instantly gave a great gape, and allowed it to flap its way out again, and fall into the water.

6. Before long, however, the party reached a village. The commander of the army saw what to do. He ordered his men to seize all the cows in the village, and milk them. This was found very acceptable to their in'teresting charge, who presently dispatched a quantity that alarmed them, lest they should be unable to keep up the due balance of supply and demand. The surplus' milk, however, they carried away in gourds and earthen vessels. But they found it would not keep: it became sour butter, and melted into oil. They were, therefore, compelled, after a milking, to carry off with them one of the best cows.

7. In this way, they returned fifteen hundred miles down the Nile, stopping at every village on their way-seizing all the cows and milking them dry. By these means, they managed to supply the "table" of the illustrious captive, whose capacities in disposing of the beverage appeared to increase daily.

THE hunting division of the army, headed by the commander

in-chief, arrived at Cairo with their prize on the 14th of November, 1849. The journey down the Nile, from the place where he was captured, viz., the White Nile, had occupied between five and six months. This, therefore, with a few additional days, may be regarded as the age of our hippopotamus on reaching Cairo. The color of his skin, at that time, was for the most part of a dull reddish tone, věry like that (to compare great things with small) of a naked, new-born mouse.

2. The commander hastened to the palace to report his arrival with the prize to his royal master, into the charge of whose officers he most gladly resigned it. His Highness, having been informed of the little affair of the succession of "cows," deter

'Surplus (ser' plås), what is not wanted, or used.

2

mined to place the vivacious, unweaned "infant prodigy" in the hands of the British consul without a moment's delay. The announcement was accordingly made with oriental formality by the chief officer of Abbas Pasha's palace, to whom the Honorable Mr. Murray made a suitable present in return for the good tidings.

3. A lieutenant of the Nubian army, with a party of soldiers, arrived shortly after, bringing with them the animal, whose renown had already filled the whole city. He excited full as much curiosity in Cairo, as he has since done here, being quite as great a rarity. This will be easily intelligible when the difficulties of the capture and the immense distance of the journey are taken into consideration, with all the contingencies of men, boats, provisions, cows, and other necessary expenses.

4. The overjoyed consul had already made all his preparations for receiving the illustrious stranger. He had, in the first place, secured the services of Hamet Safi Cannana, well known for his experience and skill in the care and management of animals. A commodious apartment had then been fitted up in the court-yard of the consul's house, with one door leading out to a bath. As the winter would have to be passed in Cairo, proper means were employed for making this a tepid or warm bath. Here then our hippopotamus lived, "the observed of all observers," drinking so many gallons of milk a day (never less than twenty or thirty quarts) that he soon produced a scarcity of that article in Cairo.

5. Meanwhile active preparations were making for his arrival in Alexandria, to be shipped on board the Ripon steamer. The vessel was furnished with a house on the main-deck, opening by steps down into a tanks in the hold, containing four hundred gallons of water. It had been built and fitted up at Southampton from a plan furnished by Mr. Mitchell, Secretary of the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park, to whose energies and

'Vi và' cious, full of life. Prod' i gy, something very remarkable and uncommon.-3O ri ent' al, eastern.- Con tin' gen cies, events that happen or are about to happen.- Tånk, a large basin or cistern for holding water. Zo o log' ic al Gardens, are those in which all kinds of curious and rare animals are kept.

foresight we are indebted for the safe possession of this grotesque, good-tempered, and unique monster. The tank, by various arrangements, they contrived to fill with fresh water every other day. A large quantity was taken on board in casks; a fresh supply at Malta; and, besides this, which was by no means enough, they made use of the condensed3 water of the engines, which amounted to upward of three hundred gallons per day.

6. As there are some hippopotami who enjoy the sea on certain coasts of the world, it is not improbable but our friend would soon have got used to sea-water; but Mr. Mitchell was determined to run no risks, prudently considering that, in the first place, the strength of the salt water, to one whose mother had been accustomed, and her ancestors for generations, to the mild streams of Nilus, might disagree with "young pickle;" and secondly, if he chanced to take to it amazingly, how would he bear the change when he arrived at his mansion in the Regent's Park. Fresh water, therefore, was provided for his bath every other day throughout the voyage.

7. The British consul began to prepare for the departure of his noble guest at the end of April; and in the early part of May, the consul took an affectionate leave of him, and would have embraced him, but that the extraordinary girth of his body rendered such a demonstra'tion impossible.

8. During the voyage, 66 our fat friend" attached himself strongly to his attendant and interpreter, Hamet; indeed, the devotion to his person which this assiduous1 and thoughtful person had manifested from his first promotion to the office, had been of a kind to secure such a result from any one at all accessible to kindly affections. Hamet had commenced by sleeping side by side with his charge in the house at Cairo, and adopted the same arrangement for the night during the first week of the voyage to England.

9. Finding, however, as the weather grew warmer, and the hippopotamus bigger and bigger, that this was attended with some inconvenience, Hamet had a hammock slung from the

'Grotesque (gro těsk'), singular, or odd in shape.- Unique (yu něk), the only one of its kind; unequaled.- Con densed', made thick or close. Steam may be condensed into water by cold. As sid' u ous, constant: faithful.