Obaysch

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Crowds look on as Obaysch rests in the London Zoo in this 1852 photograph taken by Juan, Count of Montizón.

Hippopotamus Polka sheet-music cover

Obaysch (1849?-1878) was the first hippopotamus seen in England since prehistoric times, and the first in Europe since Ancient Rome. He was captured on an island on the White Nile when he was less than one year old. His name is derived from the name of the island.

The Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, Abbas Pasha, agreed with the British Consul General, Sir Charles Augustus Murray (later known as "Hippopotamus Murray") to swap Obaysch and some other exotic animals for some greyhounds and deerhounds. Obaysch was sent by boat down the Nile to Cairo, accompanied by a herd of cows to provide him with milk. He was sent by P&O steamer to Southampton, and he arrived at London Zoo on 25 May 1850. He was an instant sensation in London, attracting up to 10,000 visitors each day, and spawning a trade in hippo memorabilia and even a Hippopotamus Polka. The number of visitors to the Zoo in 1850 was double the previous year.^[1]

The hippopotamus was known from descriptions given by Herodotus and Pliny, but their details were not wholly accurate. According to Herodotus:

[the hippopotamus is] four-footed, with cloven hooves like cattle; blunt-nosed; with a horse's mane, visible tusks, a horse's tail and voice; big as the biggest bull. Their hide is so thick that, when it is dried, spearshafts are made of it.^[2]

Pliny adds that the hippopotamus walks backwards, to make him harder to track.^[3]

Abbas Pasha sent a second hippo to London in 1854, a female named Adhela. After a wait of over 16 years, the pair finally produced offspring in 1870, but the calf died after 2 days. A second calf died the following year, but a third in 1872 survived, a female named Guy Fawkes.