CHAPTER XIV 



NOTES ON THE FAUNA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA 



" Lep. What manner o' thing is your crocodile? 



Ant. It is shaped, sir, like itself; and it is as broad as it hath breadth : it is just 

 so high as it is, and moves with its own organs ; it lives by that which nourisheth it ; 

 and the elements once out of it, it transmigrates. 



Lep. What colour is it of? 



Ant. Of its own colour too. 



Lep. 'Tis a strange serpent. 



Ant. 'Tis so. And the tears of it are wet. 



Ccts. Will this description satisfy him ? " — Ant. and Cleop. ii. 7. 



" Nasals entering the nasal aperture ; splenial elements not entering the mandibular 

 symphysis, which does not extend beyond the eighth tooth. No bony nasal septum." 

 — The Crocodile according to Boulenger {Catalogue of Chelonia). 



Necessity for rapid marching interferes nnore with the study 

 of the habits of animals than with any other branch of a 

 naturalist's work. While traversing a country at the rate of 

 fifteen miles a day, there are few opportunities for the quiet 

 observation of animals or of their habits. Besides, in the 

 present condition of our knowledge of the African fauna, it is 

 generally more profitable to collect than to observe ; so to 

 avoid risking the loss of an animal, it is often necessary to 

 shoot or capture it at once, instead of quietly watching it at 

 work or at play. Unfortunately, too, the only groups of 

 animals of which I have any special knowledge are marine. 

 For these reasons the present chapter contains only a series of 

 somewhat disjointed notes and observations. 



Mammalian life is naturally the first object of interest. In 

 the African fauna it holds the most conspicuous position, 

 although perhaps not the most instructive. The mind at 

 once recalls the giraffe, elephant, lion, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, 



