36 



The Journal of Heredity 



smaller than that of the large species, 

 whieh brings the c>'es nearer to the 

 median line of the skull. The lower jaw 

 of the Pygmy bears only two incisor 

 teeth, while the large species has four; 

 and while the orbits of liber tens is are 

 large, they are proportionally less 

 elevated than those of the large hippo. 

 As the latter swims nearly submerged, 

 the eyes seem to float on the surface of 

 the water like two shiny glass marbles. 

 "The color of the Pygmy is recorded 

 as 'slaty black' on the back, sides 

 greenish slaty gray, and under parts 

 grayish white. 



NOT TRULY AMPHIBIAN. 



"We await with keen interest Hans 

 Schomburgck's account of the habits, 

 and life history in general, of this rare 

 and strange animal. We have been in- 

 formed, however, that it makes its home 

 in swamps and wet forests, often at a 

 distance of several miles from the 

 nearest river or lake, and that it is not at 

 all dependent upon large bodies of 

 water, as its colossal relative always 

 seems to be. We may confidently expect 

 to hear that it subsists on fleshy and 

 tender plants and reeds, and grass that 

 is not too coarse and tough to be masti- 

 cated by small jaws." 



In the same issue of the Bulletin, the 

 capture of these animals is described by 

 Hans Schomburgck, Major and Military 

 Attache of the Liberian Legation at 

 London, who spent a year in Liberia 

 securing these hippopotami for Carl 

 Hagcnbeck. His story forms an in- 

 teresting chapter in the romance of 

 zoological and botanical exploration. 



"The greatest difficulty in hunting 

 the Liberian Hii)po]:»otamus," he says, 

 "is that, unHke their big cousins, they 

 do not frequent the rivers. They make 

 their home deep in the inhospitable 

 forest, in the dense vegetation, on the 

 l)anks of the small forest streams; but, 

 not satisfied with the protection the 

 forest affords them, they enlarge the 

 hollows which the water has washed out 

 under the banks, and in these tunnels, 

 where they are invisible from the l)ank, 

 they sleep during the heat of the day. 



' The native name of the hippopotamu.s. By English-speaking natives it is usually called 

 the Bush-CDW or Bush-pig. It is so diffcrtnt from the larger hippopotamus that some zoologists 

 have created it a distinct genus for it. 



ANIMALS CAUGHT IN PITS. 



"In spite of all difficulties, however, 

 I had not given up the idea of catching 

 a hippo alive. Wherever I found a 

 likely place I had a pit dug. It is easy 

 to catch the great East African Hippo, 

 which keeps continually in the same 

 water and tises the same tracks. With 

 the P}'gmy Hippo, it is very hard e\-en 

 to find a place where there is the 

 slightest chance of catching one, be- 

 cause this brute roams through the 

 forest like an elephant or a pig, mostly 

 goes singly, though sometimes in pairs, 

 and rarely uses the same track twice. 



" Meanwhile over a hundred pits had 

 been made by my men, all carcftilly dug 

 seven feet deep and covered so that not 

 the sharpest eye could detect any sign 

 of danger. 



"At last, two days after I shot my 

 first animal, and when I was still work- 

 ing on its thick skin, a boy rushed to 

 my tent breathlessly shouting from afar : 



" 'Alassa! Massal Dem Mwe done 

 catch!' 



"On Nea Tindoa. an inhabited island 

 in the Lofa river, a big bull had fallen 

 into one of my pits. My sergeant, 

 Momoro, started at once with a few 

 boys, to reach the place the same night, 

 and keep guard to prevent the meat- 

 hungry natives from killing the Hippo. 



"At last I had succeeded! Against 

 the prophecies of Europeans, Liberians 

 and natives! And only a few days be- 

 fore, Tawe Dadwe told me: 'It is im- 

 possible to catch a Mwe!'' It has never 

 been done, and they have only been shot 

 after they have been caught in the pits. 

 They are too dangerous. Many a 

 hunter has been killed. You white men 

 know a lot, but here you arc trying 

 something that is impossible.' 



ANIMALS EASILY HANDLED. 



"Early the next morning I reached 

 the i)lace. Before night a fence had been 

 built around the hole, and the animal 

 was let out. It was a beautiftil ftiU- 

 grown btill, in the prime of his life. 



"Nothing sticcecds like success! Six 

 days after that, the second one was 



