Cover for sheet music of the "The Hippopotamus Polka", published between 1848 and 1858 by W. Hall & Son, 259 Broadway, New York.
The song was by Louis St. Mars, while the illustration of the young lady dancing the polka with a hippo was by John H. Sherwin from the lithography studios of Napoleon Sarony.
The Polka was written to celebrate the arrival of Obaysch at the London Zoo in 1850.
Obaysch (1849?- 11 March 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.
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