19 

 INTRODUCTION. 



Previous to 1861, little was known of South African Annelids. 

 During the three centuries which had elapsed since the skilful 

 Portuguese navigator, Bartholomew Diaz, made Europeans 

 acquainted with the Cape of Good Hope, or, even during the 

 somewhat shorter period since his countryman, Vasco de Gama, 

 rounded the Cape, this group of marine invertebrates remained 

 in obscurity. It is true that Pallas made known, by the aid of 

 intelligent ship-captains and others, a few of its Annelids, such 

 as Pcctiuaria capcnsis and Lcpicloiiofiis ]Valilberifi (which he 

 included under Lepidonoiiis sqiiauiatiis — his Apjirodifa sqitanuita, 

 and a form closely allied to Lepidonotiis clava, Montagu). In 1854, 

 an account of some Annelids, from the east coast at Mozam- 

 bique, was published by W. C. H. Peters, but the descriptions 

 are not sufficiently minute for accurate diagnosis. It was not, 

 however, till the publication of Schmarda's work, in 1861, that 

 the richness of the region in this group was disclosed. The 

 Austrian naturalist described no less than about 50 Marine 

 Annelids (Polych<neta) from the Cape, and everyone of which 

 he made a new species. About 18 families of Annelids were 

 represented in this treatise, which marked an era in the literature 

 of the subject. Unfortunately, the inferiority of his instruments, 

 or the lack of artistic accuracy in delineating structure, makes it no 

 easy task to diagnose some of the species, though the majority are 

 recognizable — either by description or figures. Kinberg 

 further added to the information concerning the Annelids of 

 the region, including Port Natal, in his account of those 

 collected during the voyage of the Swedish frigate " Eugenia." 

 A few others were described by Grube from the Austrian 

 "Novara" Expedition. The voyageof the German ExploringShip 

 '* Gazelle," enabled Grube to extend his list of African Annelids 

 — mostly from the region of- the Congo and West Africa, 

 but also from Table Bay at the Cape. Amongst these were 

 several European forms, such as Sigalioii Edivardsi (Madeira), 

 Glycera convoluta, Kefertein, and Pista crisiata, O. F. Miiller. 

 The " Challenger," again, considerably extended the information 

 on the subject by obtaining 23 species, nine of which were 

 dredged south of the Cape, in 98 to 150 fathoms, and the rest 

 were collected between tide-marks at Sea Point, Cape Town, 

 and at Simon's Bay. 



Since the voyage of the "Challenger," Marenzeller has con- 

 tributed a notice of the Annelids of Angra Pequena-Bucht, 

 that is, a bay on the western coast of Africa, considerably to 

 the north of the Cape (Great Namaqua Land). Khleis, some 



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