26o NATURAL SCIENCE. April, 



mammals of the Kilima-njaro district, though no attempt was made 

 to form a scientific collection. In the vicinity of what is well 

 termed the "hunter's paradise" of Taveta, situated at an elevation 

 of about 2,400 feet on the south-eastern slope of the great moun- 

 tain, antelopes and other large " game-animals " were abundant. 

 Speaking of one of his excursions from their headquarters, Sir John 

 Willoughby says : " The grassy plain through which we marched 

 was simply crawling with hundreds of Gazella granti, Wildbeest, 

 Hartebeest, and Zebra." At that time, "any amount of game" 

 was to be seen there, although these days are, we fear, already past 

 and gone for ever. During their four months' stay in this earthly 

 paradise, some 350 head of large " game " were obtained, amongst 

 which were no less than 66 Rhinoceroses. The most abundant 

 Antelopes in the district appear to have been the Coke's Hartebeest 

 {Bnhalis cohei), the Grant's Gazelle [Gazella granti), the Mpallah 

 (Aipyceros mclampus), and the Waterbuck (Cobiis ellipsiprymnns) . 



The Hartebeest was " quite the most common Antelope on the 

 plains, being found everywhere in immense herds." Grant's Gazelle, 

 perhaps the finest species of this beautiful group, was also " common 

 everywhere on the open plains," one male being accompanied by as 

 many as from ten to fifteen females. The Mpallah is stated to be 

 abundant in the bush as well as on the plains, and the Waterbuck to 

 be "found everywhere near the rivers and marshes." Of other 

 Antelopes met with by these fortunate sportsmen, we find the Eland 

 (Taiirofragus areas) mentioned as "rather local." Both males and 

 females in this district are more or less striped. The large Kudu 

 (Stnpsiceros kudu) was only seen on two or three occasions, and the 

 Lesser Kudu (5. imhevbis), though found in the bush near Taveta, is 

 not common. 



A very charming species, of which Sir Robert Harvey and his 

 party were, I believe, the first to obtain perfect specimens, is Thom- 

 son's Gazelle, discovered by Mr. Joseph Thomson during his journey 

 through Masailand in 1883, and discriminated by Dr. Giinther from a 

 pair of horns. This handsome little Gazelle was " found in large 

 numbers in the plains to the south-west of the mountain, and occa- 

 sionally mixed with herds of Gazella granti. Another graceful 

 Antelope, "plentiful on the plains, and in thin thorny bush near 

 Taveta," was the Oryx of the district. In his notes on the animals 

 met with, Mr. Hunter refers to this Oryx as the Beisa [Oryx beisa); 

 but, as has been recently shown by Mr. Thomas (6), the Oryx of 

 Kilima-njaro is not the true Beisa, Imt an allied species, distinguished 

 by its pencilled ears and different markings. Altogether, examples of 

 sixteen species of Antelopes were obtained by Sir John Willoughby 

 and his friends in the vicinity of Taveta, besides one or two others 

 observed or heard of. At that epoch also the Giraffe and Zebra were 

 very common in the plains near Taveta, and the Elephant was found in 

 the forest of Kilima-njaro. Mr. Hunter's Appendix to " East Africa 



