380 GIRAFFE GROUP 



south of the Tshuapa river, after which it inclines gradually somewhat 

 to the north, so as to pass on the northern side of Bolondo in the 

 direction of Coquilhatville. 



" Outside this boundary," continues Dr. Lonnberg, " there are many 

 forest - clad areas, but they are not extensive, and Lieutenant 

 Eriksson [from whom Sir H. H. Johnston obtained the first skin and 

 two imperfect skulls] does not believe that they are inhabited by the 

 okapi. The latter is an inhabitant of the great forest, in which 

 it does not live everywhere. Its regular pasture-grounds are open 

 glades in the forest, where rivulets with shallow water expand and 

 produce a rich growth of grass. The grass and the leaves of the 

 bushes and undergrowth beneath the trees, which are especially 

 luxuriant in such places, may form the chief food of the okapi. 

 Although a shallow sheet of water expands over the flat ground to a 

 greater or less extent in these glades, there are no swamps. The soil 

 is hard and firm, which explains the shape of the hoofs of the animal. 

 Lieutenant Eriksson has not seen the okapi in a living state in its 

 natural surroundings, as probably no white man ever has or is likely 

 to do. But he has, while on his marches at night, many a time heard 

 it run away when he passed glades such as those described above. 



" The okapi is extremely wary and shy, and nocturnal in its habits. 

 It lives singly, or perhaps in pairs, never in herds. The Negroes know 

 very little about it ; and, as a rule, it is only the Mobatti Dwarfs 

 who are able to kill it." 



The only exception that can be taken to this is that, from the 

 structure of its skull (in which the face is not bent down on the basal 

 axis as in sheep and goats), the okapi is probably more of a browser 

 than a grazer. This seems to be borne out by the following account 

 abbreviated from one published in German by Dr. J. David. 



" The okapi," writes this observer, " dwells in the most dense parts 

 of the primaeval forest, where there is an undergrowth of solid-leaved, 

 swamp-loving plants, such as arum, donax, and phrynium, which, with 

 orchids and climbing plants, form a thick and confused mass of 

 vegetation. The leaves of these plants are blackish green in the 

 gloom of the forest, grow more or less horizontally, and are glistening 

 with moisture. The effect of the light falling upon them is to produce 

 along the midrib of each a number of short white streaks of light, 

 which contrast most strongly with the shadows cast by the leaves 

 themselves, and with the general twilight gloom of the forest. On the 

 other hand, the thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground and the 

 bulk of the stems of the forest-trees are bluish brown and russet, thus 



