more violent, and consequently he receives a harder blow; and at length is either killed or knocked down, and dispatched by his pursuers.

JOB xl. 15-end.

"Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief

of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees cover him with their shadow, the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes; his nose pierceth through snares."

ISAI. xxiv. 17, 18.

Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit."-JER. xlviii. 43, 44.

The hippopotamus is nearly as large as the elephant. Its head is enormous-its jaws extend upwards of two feet, armed with four cutting teeth, each twelve inches long; its hide is so tough that it has resisted the strokes of a sabre, and it is thinly covered with light-coloured hair; its legs are three feet long; it moves slowly and heavily; swims well; has a tremendous voice, between the lowing of the ox, and the roar of the elephant; when angry he will furiously attack men and boats; his tail is extremely thick and strong, without hair; he feeds. on grass and vegetables, sleeping among the reeds.

This huge animal is very common in the rivers of Africa. The lake Muggaby" is nearly three miles long, and full half a mile broad; its banks are beautifully green, and its depth is very great; it contains hippopotami in great numbers, and every now and then their black heads appeared above the surface of the water."..

When at the Great Fish River, in South Africa, Mr. Barrow writes, "Towards the evening a vast number of hippopotami, or sea-cows, as they are called by the Dutch, were seen with their heads above the surface;

but, keeping close to the opposite shore, they were too far to be easily hit with a musket-ball. Several of the paths of these animals led from various parts of the river to a spring of fresh water about a mile distant. To this spring they go in the night-time to drink, the water of the river for a considerable distance from the mouth being salt. They also graze during the night, and browse among the shrubbery."

The elephant and buffalo are frequently caught by "deep pits made in the ground across the paths that led to their usual haunts. In this manner they sometimes took the hippopotamus; but the usual gait of this animal, when not disturbed, is so cautious and slow that he generally smelt the snare that was laid for him, and avoided it. The more certain method of destroying him was to watch at night behind a bush close to his path, and as he passed to wound him in the tendons of the knee-joint, by which he was immediately rendered lame and unable to escape. Numbers of this huge animal still remain in all their large rivers; indeed, they seem not very solicitous about destroying it. The tusks, though of the finest ivory, are too small for the usual purposes to which they apply this article."

66

Deep holes were dug along the side of the river in vast numbers, and most of them were covered over with so much care that they were not easily discoverable, which made it dangerous to ride along the sea-cow paths. One of our horses fell into a hole nine feet deep, which, fortunately, had no stake in it, otherwise he must inevitably have been killed. In what part soever we approached the river, hippopotami were snorting and playing in vast numbers. Of these animals our party killed four in one day. They were all very lean; a circumstance that was attributed to the locusts having devoured every green plant for a considerable distance from the banks of the river." (The usual weight of this animal is)" three or four thousand pounds."-Travels in Southern Africa.

ILLUSTRATION OF ISAIAH, xxiv. 17, 18.

Speaking of the robberies to which the inhabitants of African wilds are exposed, a traveller observes, "The inhabitants of these wilds cannot be induced to quit their present homes; and they patiently submit to have their flocks and children taken from them, and their huts burnt, rather than seek a more secure residence in the larger towns. They have, however, a manner of defending themselves against their invaders, which often enables them to gratify their revenge. The ground is covered by the high grass and jungle close to the banks of the rivers, and they dig very deep circular holes, at the bottom of which are placed six or eight sharp stakes, hardened by the fire, over the top of which they most artfully lay the grass so as to render it impossible to discover the deception. An animal with its rider stepping on one of these traps is quickly precipitated to the bottom, and not unfrequently both are killed on the spot.'

"The wood became much thicker, no pathway was to be discovered, and our guide declared that where we were he had not the least idea. A little further on we came to a complete stoppage; brambles were wound round the before thickly-clustered branches of tulloh and prickly acacias; and on removing, with great difficulty, some of those, we found the treacherous grass underneath merely covering blaquas (pits), large, deep, and well staked."

"In endeavouring to find a passage at a short distance, Dr. Oudney was very nearly precipitated, horse and all, into one of these graves for the quick. We were absolutely afraid to move."-DENHAM's Discoveries in Africa.

"The boar out of the wood doth waste it."

Presently we heard a hue and cry from all quarters, and soon perceived a large wild boar, with his bristles erect, beset by all the dogs; everybody running eagerly to the pursuit. He was found behind one of the tents; they chased him all through the camp, and two Arabs on horseback, with spears, soon joined in the pursuit. The animal, however, kept both men and dogs at bay, and finally got off with only one wound."

"We passed a valley grubbed up in all directions in furrows by the wild boars; the soil had all the appear