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Fauna : Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish 



The Vai, Basa, and Kru fishermen tell many stories of the 

 boldness and ferocity of these great fish, declaring that they will 

 sometimes leap out of the water and capsize the narrow fishing 

 canoes in order to snap up the fishermen. The sharks are 

 particularly in evidence at the mouths of rivers. They watch 

 the bars of these estuaries, no cioubt because it is easier in this 

 shallow water to catch the fish that are passing from sea to river 

 or in the reverse direction, while there is always a chance of 

 some canoes upsetting and their human occupants being caught 

 at a disadvantage. 



The Saw-fish {Pristis), sometimes attaining to a length of 

 twenty-tour teet, also frequents these coasts, and ascends the 

 rivers till it is stopped by rapids. It is most destructive to the 

 fishermen's nets. 



Whip or sting rays (Trygon) are also of common occur- 

 rence. They frequent the brackish lagoons a good deal, lying 

 half-concealed in the mud, ready to slash with their powerful 

 arnied tails at shoals of small fish passing overhead. In this 

 position they are often harpooned by the fishermen. 



The following Appendix, which has been prepared with 

 the help of Mr. G. A. Boulenger of the British Museum, 

 gives a list corrected down to date of the known Reptiles, 

 Amphibians and Fish of Liberia. It is based on the collections 

 of Professor Biittikofer and his companions, of the author, and 

 of Messrs. F. J. Whicker, John Gow, I. F. Braham, and other 

 servants of the British companies in Liberia. It is far from 

 being adequate or final, and if the reader misses therefrom the 

 enumeration of familiar West African forms, he need not con- 

 clude necessarily that these creatures are absent from Liberia, 

 but only that as yet their existence in that country or in the 

 adjacent seas has not been definitely established by collected 

 specimens. 



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