396 



ZOOLOGY 



climbing a tree, flings its body backwards and remains perfectly immobile, 

 with the short front legs tucked up, whilst the tail is firmly pressed 

 against the tree-trunk. The sharp toothed edges of the scales press 

 into the bark, and with the hind feet maintain the creature in position. 

 The body may fall back to an angle of 30° from the vertical tree- 

 trunk. In this attitude the nianis resembles exactly the grey, scaly 

 commencement of a branch which near its junction with the trunk has 



r . 11 MALE OF UKANT > 



been broken off. The manis naturally attracts a great deal of attention 

 from the natives, enters into their stories, and is one of the totems of 

 the Baganda clans. 



The Uganda Protectorate is very rich in birds. In no part of Africa 

 that I have ever visited has bird life seemed so abundant and so omni- 

 present. In attempting to describe the landscapes in the first chapters 

 of this book it has been constantly necessary to refer to the bird element 

 in the scenery. The least observant European sojourner in the Eift Valley 



