_)
_Himalaya Mountains_.
Captain Gerard, in exploring these mountains, with a view to measurement,
had ascended to the height of 19,600 feet, being 400 feet higher than
Humboldt had ascended on the Andes. The latter part of Captain Gerard's
ascent, for about two miles, was on an inclined plane of 42 deg., a nearer
approach to the perpendicular than Humboldt conceived it possible to
climb for any distance together.--_Heber's India_.
_Hippopotamus_.
The head of a Hippopotamus has recently been brought to England, with
all the flesh about it, in a high state of preservation. This amphibious
animal was harpooned while in combat with a crocodile, in a lake in
the interior of Africa. The head measures near four feet long, and
eight feet in circumference; the jaws open two feet wide, and the
cutting-teeth of which it has four in each jaw, are above a foot
long, and four inches in circumference. Its ears are not bigger than
a terrier's, and are much about the same shape. This formidable and
terrific creature, when full-grown, measures about 17 feet long from the
extremity of the snout to the insertion of the tail, above 16 feet in
circumference round the body, and stands above 7 feet high. It runs with
astonishing swiftness for its great bulk, at the bottom of lakes and
rivers, but not with as much ease on land. When excited, it puts forth
its full strength, which is prodigious.
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