The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 12, No. 334, October 4, 1828 by Various
page 35 of 56 (62%)
page 35 of 56 (62%)
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were obliged to change the direction of the road for nearly a quarter of
a mile, to avoid the offensive effluvia. It rotted so completely, that not a vestige of bone remained.--(_C. Telfair, Esq. to R. Barclay, Esq. of Bury Hill._) _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°, 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 |
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