APPENDIX. 267 



LEOPARD. 



Native Names. 



Swahili Cluii. Kavirondo Kuach. 



Kikuyu Ngari. Kitaita Inge- 



Office Milildo. ,. . ( Ol-owaru-keri. 



.... *' , ,, , Masai \ ... 



Kikamba Ngc;. (.Ol-ogwaru-mara. 



Food. — The chief foods of the leopard arc baboon, monkey, suni, dik dik, guinea-fowl, and 

 rats and mice of all sorts. The animal is essentially a forest and bush animal, being practically 

 never seen in the open. Although they e.\ist almost in all localities where there is bush or cover, 

 they are practically never seen. The reason for this is that they are so wonderfully cunning and 

 wary, and moreover are very clever in making use of any cover that exists and in moving from 

 cover to cover. They lie very close and never give themselves away by moving. You may pass 

 within a few yards and a leopard will give no sign of its presence. 



A wounded leopard is, perhaps, more dangerous to follow up than a wounded lion, for it will 

 lie even closer than the latter, and is more difficult to detect and far more agile and active. 

 Although so seldom seen, leopards are really very plentiful, as may be noticed by their spoors, 

 for almost every path in bush-country is scattered with their droppings. They are nocturnal in 

 their habits, and at night use pathways extensively. They occasionally take to man-killing, and 

 may then continue in one locality for years, taking toll of human lives and defying all efforts 

 made to kill or capture them. A famous leopard used for many years to haunt the Sheikh Pass 

 in Northern Somaliland, and would drop from above on solitary passers-by. 



As these animals exist in nearly every bush and forest in British East .\frica and Uganda, 

 there is no need to enumerate the localities in which they occur. They are particularly plentiful 

 in the latter country, and are occasionally found in Zanzibar. 



Melanism. — Two cases of melanism, I believe, have been obtained in this country. 



In Uganda it is alleged that two varieties occur in addition to the typical leopard, viz., the 

 leopard of German East Africa, called suahilica, and the leopard of Ruwenzori, called ruwenzorii. 



LION. 



Native Names. 



Sw.ihili Simba. Luganda . . . Mporogoma, Empologoma. 



Kikuyu Ngatia. j^j^^. fOl-ngatuny. 



Kikamba Mwenyambo. ' ' ' ' lOl-lo-l'-masi (of the mane). 



Kavirondo Siburr. Ogieg Oingetundo (?). 



Kitaita Shimba. Ba (Enclave) . Kemi. 



Ogiek (Ravine) Ngatundo. 



Types. — The only type differing from the ordinary is the variety known as the maneless or 

 Masai lion. The question of varieties amongst animals is a very difficult one to decide. A 

 " variety " is supposed to be a type of animal dilTcring from the typical form, but not differing 

 sufficiently to form a se|)arale species. The formation of a variety is supposed to be a step in 

 the direction of the formation of a new species. When the variety is very constant and very 

 well delined it becomes no longer a variety, but a new species. Some peculiarity or irregularity 



