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Show 256 MR. A. D. BARTLETT ON THE [Mar. 7, the keeper entering the house, she rushed towards him in a perfect fury. Another sign of her temper was the fact of her not replying, as she usually does, to the call of the male, who being disturbed by her incessant movements continually called to her by his loud grunting roar, to which, in ordinary times, she is in the habit of responding. It was therefore evident to me that the event was close at hand. At last she selected a spot, upon which she carefully lay down, and for a few moments seemed quiet, when, by one sudden effort, the young Hippopotamus was shot head first into the world, as if by magic. The most remarkable feature respecting the birth was its startling quickness. The mother was on her legs at once, and turning round, with open jaws, rushed at the little one, taking him partly into her mouth. At this critical and exciting moment, I believe, had she seen or heard any one, she would have destroyed her offspring instantly. The keeper and I almost held our breaths; we watched her rolling eyes as she paused apparently listening and wondering what to do, when, to our great astonishment, on hearing the old male utter his loud call, the new-born animal answered him, and shook his ears as if to free them from water. At this moment the female drew back, and passed her large flat tongue over the body of the little one, which by this time began to move about and attempted to walk. In these attempts it was assisted by its mother's nose, which she kept close to the little one and sometimes used to push it along. In less than half an hour after its birth, it was walking and staggering about the house, closely followed and kindly attended by its mother. Towards dark it had found a comfortable warm bed on the short straw in the corner of the house, the mother lying down with the greatest care and keeping the young one in front of her. On the following morning the young one appeared much stronger, and walked about the house two or three times, and during the day responded to the old male's call several times, the female remaining silent: both the mother and young one slept the greater part of the day. The young one was never observed to suck ; but as no lights were exhibited after dark, we thought it probable the young one received its nourishment during the night. On Thursday morning the young one was apparently asleep, the mother seemed uneasy, and, as the day advanced, we saw the young one make an attempt to rise but seemingly unable to do so. Carefully noticing all the symptoms, I concluded that it was going wrong, and determined, if possible, to remove it from its mother - a task of considerable difficulty, and one not altogther free from danger. The keeper, Michael Prescot, was the first to enter the house, and having the gates open that lead into the tank containing the water, expected that he would be able to close the gates, and keep the mother in the bath until the young one had been removed. He made the attempt; she rushed at him and into the water ; but before he could close the gates she rushed out again, and stood before her young one, gnashing her teeth and threatening the keeper. |