DERIVATION OF THE FAUNA 27 



limit. The southern hmits of the range of a northern carni- 

 vore, the striped hyena, coincides with that of the two 

 antelope, but the gerenuk is stopped by the highlands of 

 Kilimanjaro. Extending northward and meeting this fauna 

 in German East Africa we find two characteristic Zambesi 

 antelope, Lichtenstein hartebeest in the Rift Valley and 

 the sable on the coast slope, the latter penetrating as far 

 north as Mombasa. 



The Nile watershed comprises all the country west of 

 the Mau escarpment or its continuation northward into 

 Abyssinia. The Mau proper is a high plateau extending 

 from the German border northward to the vicinity of 

 Mount Elgon, retaining an elevation of from eight thou- 

 sand to ten thousand feet unbroken. North of Elgon in 

 the latitude of Lake Rudolf it falls away and loses its char- 

 acter both as an escarpment and a faunal barrier. It rises 

 again in the Aybssinian highlands and effectually prevents 

 the desert lowlands of the Red Sea coast from coming in 

 contact with the Nile lowlands. The Nile faunal area is 

 better characterized by what it lacks than by any peculiar 

 animals it possesses. The kobs, genus Adenota, and the 

 Bubalis lelwel type of hartebeest are common to the whole 

 area, besides which there are a considerable number of dis- 

 tinct species peculiar to certain parts of the drainage sys- 

 tem. In contrast to the coast slope it lacks the dikdiks, 

 wildebeests, oryx, steinbok, rock reedbuck, gerenuk, and 

 impalla. Gazelles occur only in its lower desert levels on 

 the northern frontier. 



Two fairly well-marked regions may be defined within 

 this area due to differences in altitude and moisture. The 

 higher or Uganda region comprises the Victoria Nyanza 



