144 ZOOLOGICAL RESEARCHES 



more of these missiles , rushes on through the forest , break- 

 ing off the shafts of the spears which latter , on account 

 of their heads being broader in front than behind , stick 

 fast in his body. 



The Elephant soon after falls down from loss of blood 

 and is easily found by the hunters, who follow him at 

 their leisure, cut out his tusks with axes and smoke his 

 flesh after having cut it into long strips. 



The St. Pauls River and its tributaries , like all Liberian 

 rivers, excel in delicious fish and a species of craw-fish 

 {Palaemon macrobrachion). The fish-fauna is richly repre- 

 sented by different species of Chromis and Hemichromis , 

 Mormyrops , Notopterus , Eutropius , Alestes and Brachya- 

 lestes , Clarias and , together with the latter , Malapterurus 

 electricus , more abundant in slowly running muddy bush- 

 creeks than in the main river. During the rains fishing 

 is stopped entirely, as there seems to be no possibility of 

 being repaid for the trouble. As soon, however, as the 

 dry season has set in and the water runs off, the natives 

 build weirs of lattice-work across the creeks, provided 

 with large fish-baskets to catch the fish which come down 

 with the falling water. Other fences, sometimes of great 

 dimension, are built along the rivers in the shallow water 

 near the banks. They have a trap-door at the waterside, 

 by which the fish enter the trap , attracted by some bait which 

 is in connection with a catch. As soon as the bait is 

 touched by the fish , which enter sometimes in large shoals , 

 the trap-door, weighted with a heavy stone, falls down 

 and the fish are caught. 



Another inhabitant of the rivers is an otter , about of 

 the same size and color as our Lutra vulgaris , which , 

 in spite of all our painstakings , never could be obtained , 

 as it is almost impossible to approach noiselessly the 

 banks of the rivers. A young live specimen, offered to 

 me for sale , had badly mutilated tusks and so exorbitant 

 a price was asked that I declined to purchase it. Another 

 inhabitant of the rivers is the Lamentine {Manatus sene- 



Notes from thie Leyden JMuseuEa , Vol. VII. 



