Prowess of the German Naturalists 357 



had but lived in the present epoch, and had collected 

 specimens of small birds to the bulk of that Griffon's 

 skin, which must have been such a trouble to them 

 to transport, we should now know the secret of the 

 Great Sahara and what birds flourish there. The French 

 have held the Western Soudan for many years, but as 

 regards Ornithology at least, I am not aware of one 

 single fact that has been recorded for our benefit. The 

 same may be said with truth of most of our British expedi- 

 tions, but it is quite another thing when one speaks of 

 Germany. The birds of all the German colonies from 

 Togo-land to the Victoria Nyanza have been scientifically 

 collected, and the world has had the advantage of my 

 colleague Dr. Reichenow's excellent Memoirs. The same 

 can be said with regard to the Cameroons, whence the Berlin 

 Museum has received valuable collections from Dr. Zenker, 

 containing numbers of new species, at present unrepresented 

 in our National Museum. In South-western Africa the 

 Germans show the same activity, while a work of the 

 highest importance on the Natural History of German East 

 Africa has been issued by the Berlin Museum. One of the 

 first results of surrendering Madagascar to the French has 

 been the closing of this interesting field of research to British 

 Zoologists, while the difficulty of collecting in any part of 

 Africa other than British is notorious. It is nothing less 

 than a national disgrace, that where the Pax Britannica 

 prevails, the first to take advantage of our conquests are 

 the naturalists of other countries, and but for the interest 

 taken in Natural History by some of our British officers, like 

 Mr. Frederick J. Jackson, Dr. Hinde, Sir Harry Johnston, 

 and other men imbued with the British esprit de corps, the 

 entire scientific results of our extension of empire would 

 have been reaped by the enterprising Germans. 



Thus I have to record that nothing certain is known of 

 the natural history of the Sahara Sub-Region, except on its 



