664 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



evidence of depletion, and no protective measures exist. (Colonial 

 Secretary's Office, in lift., July, 1937.) 



In Liberia it occurs sparingly on the Mahfa River, but more 

 commonly on the Manna and Solyman Rivers (Jentink, 1888, p. 20) . 

 A specimen was received by the Berlin Museum from the vicinity 

 of Schieffelinsville, but Buttikofer (1890, vol. 2, p. 376) could find 

 no trace of it there. 



In the Gold Coast it is "still plentiful and in no present danger of 

 extinction" (Director of Agriculture, Gold Coast, in Hit., January 

 22, 1937). It "has probably a similar range to that of the bongo 

 [northern edge of the forest country and the fringing forest of the 

 grass country in north and east Ashanti]. So far it has possibly 

 not decreased much, and it seems that it has never been really com- 

 mon. With the increasing demand for meat it is often killed at 

 night." (Asst. Conservator of Forests, Gold Coast, in litt., July 22, 

 1937.) 



"Herr Matschie has recorded its occurrence in Togoland" (Sclater 

 and Thomas, 1895, vol. 1, pp. 129-130). 



In the French Cameroons it is normally not common (Inspection 

 of Waters and Forests, Yaounde, in litt., January 12, 1937) . It is 

 without any special protection, except that only two head may be 

 killed in one day by a permit-holder (Paris Agency of Cameroons, 

 in litt., November, 1936) . 



"In Gabun I have met with this Duiker throughout the forest 

 zone, to which it is almost entirely confined. Its habitat scarcely 

 facilitates encounters, however abundant it may be in the forest, 

 where it lives by solitary couples. The natives capture a great many 

 in nets, to judge by the multitude of horns figuring in the 'medica- 

 ments' of hunting kinds of magic altars where the skulls of all the 

 animals captured are hoarded, in order to bring luck in hunting. 

 The various kinds of Duikers inhabit all the high secondary forest, 

 and probably the primary forest if there is any vestige of it left 

 in the interior, which I doubt. They are hunted very actively, and 

 their meat forms the base of the flesh diet of the forest populations. 

 Despite these inroads, the number of Duikers does not seem to de- 

 crease appreciably, owing to their prolificness and to the protection 

 afforded by their forest habitat." (Free translation of letter from 

 A. R. Maclatchy, February 5, 1937) . 



In the Ubangi-Shari Territory this Duiker occurs in a number of 

 the gallery forests south of latitude 7 N. in the Ubangi Basin, but 

 it is always rare. It is not threatened, and it ought to be common 

 throughout the Great Forest (Middle Congo and Gabun) . (L. Blan- 

 cou, in litt., December, 1936.) 



In the Congo Basin skulls are recorded from Ubangi and Uele, 



