40 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



in Algeria died after a few days; another which he 

 dislodged from amongst some stones near Batna on 

 June 8th, 1881, could not be taken at all, though it 

 stood on its hind legs pertly watching him with 

 erected ears at a distance of several yards. Perhaps 

 with very great care and a continual supply of insect 

 food (mealworms) live macroscelides might be 

 brought over to Europe. In 1903, no less than four 

 Cape jumping shrews were safely brought to England, 

 while, twenty years previously, a bluish shrew ^ 

 (Crocidura ccerulescejis) bore the long journey from 

 India very well, and was purchased (on April 19th, 

 1883) for the Zoological Gardens. The experiment 

 would be well worth trying on the Algerian species. 



In 1903 the present writer traversed the high 

 plateaux of Algeria, the home of the elephant shrew. 

 This region, lying between the fertile littoral of 

 the Tell and the arid wilderness of the true Sahara, 

 presents on either side a series of terraced gradients 

 more or less covered with stunted scrub. Several 

 salt lakes occur in the plateaux region. In spite of 

 the rugged barreness of the surrounding country 

 these "chotts" are very interesting from the number 

 of waterfowl which frequent them, and from the 

 picturesqueness of the surface, due to the blue tint 

 of the saline water. In travelling between El Guer- 



1 The bluish shrew is, however, hut remotely related to tiie macrosce- 

 lides. It possesses in {greater degree the musky odour alrejidy mentioned 

 as common amongst Insectivora ; and hence is known to Anglo-Indians as 

 the "nmsk rat." 



