Page:Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man.djvu/198

180 He states that, when the Dutch first colonized the Cape of Good Hope, this animal abounded in all the great rivers, as far south as the land extends; whereas, in 1849, they had all disappeared, scarcely one remaining even within a moderate distance of the colony. He also tells us that this species evinces great sagacity in changing its quarters whenever danger threatens, quitting every district invaded by settlers bearing fire-arms. Bulky as they are, they can travel speedily for miles over land from one pool of a dried-up river to another; but it is by water that their powers of locomotion are surpassingly great, not only in rivers, but in the sea, for they are far from confining themselves to fresh water. Indeed, Dr. Smith finds it 'difficult to decide whether, during the daytime and when not feeding, they prefer the pools of rivers or the waters of the ocean for their abode.' In districts where they have been disturbed by man, they feed almost entirely in the night, chiefly on certain kinds of grass, but also on brushwood. Dr. Smith relates that, in an expedition which he made north of Port Natal, he found them swarming in all the rivers about the tropic of Capricorn, Here they were often seen to have left their foot-prints on the sands, entering or coming out of the salt water; and on one occasion Smith's party tried in vain to intercept a female with her young as she was making her way to the sea. Another female, which they had wounded on her precipitate retreat to the sea, was afterwards shot in that element.

The geologist, therefore, may freely speculate on the time when herds of hippopotami issued from North African rivers, such as the Nile, and swam northwards in summer along the coasts of the Mediterranean, or even occasionally visited islands near the shore. Here and there they may have landed to graze or browse, tarrying awhile and afterwards continuing their course northwards. Others may have swum in a few summer days from rivers in the south of Spain or France to