^ Fauna : Mammals 



they thought in that case that it certainly could not be the 

 siruku, and one man told me the latter was more like " a ^reat 

 dog." They were positive that the siruku had nothing to do 

 with the leopard, which animal they call " soli." 



Some months after these conversations were noted down, 

 I was reading the work De la Cote d'lvoire au Soudan, by Captain 

 d'Ollone. (Captain d'Ollone, together with M. Hostains, con- 

 ducted a remarkable journey of exploration through Eastern 

 and Northern Liberia in 1898-1900.) In this book, on p. 

 293, may be found the following statements: "II me faut 

 mentionner . . . I'existence de deux sortes d'hyenes [he is 

 writing of the Mandingo country, on or within the boundaries 

 of Liberia] beaucoup plus grandes, plus tortes et plus hardie, 

 que celles d'Algerie ou d'Orient. Mais Tune surtout, que 

 les indigenes appellent ' sowara ' (cheval-panthere) ^ serait formid- 

 able et inspire un tres grande terreur. Un sowara avait tue un 

 sergent fran^ais dans une case peu avant notre passage. Cette 

 hyene serait, parait-il, tachetee." 



Captain d'Ollone distinguishes this hysna as spotted, 

 whereas my Mandingo triends said it was striped. I have 

 noticed that in a variety of the spotted hyaena on the north- 

 eastern borders of the Congo Forest the markings are black, and 

 very distinct, and the spots run here and there into short 

 horizontal stripes. Can it be possible that the regions of the 

 Mandingo Plateau preserve a fifth species of African hyasna, 

 possibly something like the Cave hyaena of Inter-Glacial Europe } 



Although no specimen of Jackal has yet been sent home 

 from Liberia or recorded by collectors, the natives constantly 

 refer to a species of wild dog, possibly the side-striped jackal 

 of West Africa. This creature is called in the Vai language 

 " korigbere." 



' The " sowara " might, of course, be a large cheetah {Cy/UElunis). 



707 



