INTRODUCTION. XIU 



miles of Ogbomoso, wliicli is surronniled tor miles by :v well cultivated c<iuiitiy. Tliero arc several smaller 

 animals of the cat-tribe, some of wliieh are spotted like Leopards. 



Elephants arc common on the prairies of Yoruba, and still more numerous in the forests (5f Burba. 

 They seldom intrude into the farms, and arc not regarded as mischievous animals ; but the people have 

 considerable aversion to meeting them on the plains. The hippopotamus is confined to the deep waters 

 of the Osa and the Niger. I believe the rhinoceros is never seen in this region ; but the people have 

 hoard of it as existing somewhere in the interior. There are two species of wild boar, the larger of which 

 is said to be very fierce ; the smaller kind is frequently killed by men who make hunting their 

 occupation, and brought into market. A species of Hyrax, different from that uf the Cape, but uttering a 

 similar shrill cry, is common among the mountains. 



This country nourishes several species of Antelope, some of which are very small, while others arc 

 twice the size of the common American dCer. A species of Buffalo, called in Sierra Leone the "jack-ass 

 cow," is frequently seen in Yoruba, sometimes singly, but commonly in small droves of ten or twelve. 



Birds are very numerous. Among them may be mentioned, a large and a small eagle, both rare ; 

 several kinds of hawks and falcons, some of which are migratory ; a booted owl ; two species of vulture, 

 one quite large; orioles; red and parti-colored sparrows; a blackish mocking-bird with an orange breast, 

 a beautiful songster ; swallows ; several species of the whip-poor-will family, including the curious long- 

 shafted "goat-sucker" of Sierra Leone; larks; various creepers ; crows; sunbirds ; kingfishers, one small 

 species of which feeds on butterflies ; horn-bills ; parrots ; two species of Guinea hen ; a large and a 

 small partridge ; quails ; several species of doves ; storks and adjutants. 



I have seen but one species of Tortoise, a small kind, eight or ten inches in length, which lives in the 

 prairies. According to the natives, there are two species of crocodiles. The several specimens which I 

 have seen appeared to be intermediate between the true crocodile and the alligator. One of them, seen 

 in the Ogui) river, was probably twelve feet or more in length. Lizards are very numerous ; some of 

 them, analogous to the iguana, are two feet long. I have caught several Chameleons. They creep along 

 very slowly, as if wounded and in pain ; but their form is not quite so ungainl}^ as those of Arabia, and 

 their eyes are less prominent. None of the lizards are thought to be poisonous by the natives. 



Snakes are not numerous. The largest is the python, which, I believe, never attains a greater length 

 than about fifteen feet. The natives speak of another species nearly as large. There are no water-snakes. 

 A green snake and a black viper are the only ones said to be poisonous. 



I have seen two kinds of Snails, one of which, the Achatina, is found seven or eight inches in length. 

 Good Oysters are found on the sea-coast ; in some localities they attach themselves to the roots of the 

 mangrove trees, presenting a curious spectacle. The principal fresh water shell-fish are a Muscle, 

 resembling that of the United States, and another, found in the rapids of the Oguq river, precisely similar 

 in appearance to the oyster. The taste is very unsavory. 



Insects, and especially flies, fleas, and mosquitoes, are not so numerous as might perhaps be expected. But 

 ants of several species are in abundance. One species, which the natives call 9ta, the stinger, is frequently 

 useful as an enemy of the termes, which devours every dry vegetable substance within its reach. Another 

 species very like the ota is called "the driver" in Liberia, and idza]9, the fitjhter which makes one go, in 

 Yoruba, because it moves in countless multitudes, and attacks every living thing in its way with the 

 utmost fury. 



There are two species of Scorpion, the black, about seven inches in length, and the yellow or brown, 

 which is much smaller, but is said to be more dangerous. After being stung three times by yellow 

 scorpions, and knowing others to be stung by both species, I regard them as far less poisonous than some 

 liave reported. Centipedes are seen in Yoruba, but I have nej^er known a person to be stung by them. 

 Tlie natives affirm that the Spiders of that country are entirely hai'raless, and I have never seen one of 

 that hideous kind, resembling a tarantula, which is so nnich dreaded in the Mendi countrv, -west 

 of Gallinas. 



As the Landers passed through the Iketu country, they saw iunmnerable swarms of Butterflies. I ha\'e 

 once seen the same myself in the same region, and nowhere else. On one occasion, when descending the 

 Ogur) river, we met millions of Dragonflies, about one-fourth of an inch in length, making their way up 

 the country by following the course of the stream. Li order to observe all the phases of animal life 

 which this region exhibits, a man must reside there for several years, and visit the forests, mountains, 

 and plains at difterent seasons. The same remark applies equally to the vegetation of the country. 

 When we arrive at the highest lands between the sea and the Niger, we enter a new climate, and a new, 

 or at least a modified, zoological and botanical region. 



The climate of the different sections of Yoruba extending from Lagos to Xufe, though ^imilar in its 



