32 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



ous by its absence, being represented by only a few species 

 of brambles and alpine shrubs. The forest is a mixture of 

 many species of trees, vines, and undershrubs. The chief 

 forest-trees are species of figs, olives, camphor, cloves, 

 sapote, and various genera related to the euphorbias, 

 acacias, and coffee. Various species of large vines link the 

 forest together, while prickly undershrubs allied to Acan- 

 thus add to the impenetrable nature of the tree growth. 

 In the higher altitudes the yew and juniper predominate 

 and give the elevated region a more northern aspect. Bor- 

 dering the forest at its upper altitudes is a dense zone of 

 bamboos, which at a distance has the appearance of fields 

 of tall grass. The bamboo Arundinaria alpina occurs from 

 nine thousand to ten thousand feet as a pure growth to the 

 exclusion of all other vegetation, not excepting under- 

 shrubs. It forms a waste quite uninhabited by animal life, 

 although elephant, and very rarely roan antelope, at times 

 penetrate it. 



The bamboo is lacking on Kilimanjaro and the high 

 mountains in its vicinity. In the Nile district of Uganda 

 and the Lado Enclave a lowland bamboo occurs, Oxytenan- 

 thera abyssinica, which is a member of another genus and 

 quite distinct from the peculiar high-mountain species 

 found on Kenia, the Aberdares, the Mau and Kikuyu 

 escarpments. Mount Elgon, and the Ruwenzori Range. 



Peculiar to the forest we have the bongo, the giant for- 

 est pig, and Abbott duiker. The dense nature of the 

 forest has made it possible for these animals to escape dis- 

 covery until within the last few years. They are still 

 nearly unknown to white hunters, being familiar only from 

 the specimens shot or pitted by the Wandorobo bushmen. 



