Liberia *- 



male it is a curved tusk of over an inch in length. Its shape 

 may he seen from my drawing of the skull. 



The size of this animal is perhaps in the full-grown male 

 about three feet long, from the tip of the snout to the end of 

 the rump, the fluffy tail being about another eight inches. Its 

 height at the shoulder is about two feet. It is quite the largest 

 member of the family, the Asiatic representatives dwindling 

 in size from that of a large rabbit to a tiny little creature, 

 smaller than the smallest toy terrier, and consequently quite 

 the most minute hoofed animal in existence. In coloration the 

 Water chevrotain is a rich brown, which is slightly darker in 

 the male than in the female, and this brown coat is marked 

 more or less vividly with horizontal white streaks and spots. 

 There is considerable individual variation in the arrangement of 

 the spots, but the horizontal white streaks are pretty constant. 

 The coloured drawing which I have made of this animal to assist 

 its identification in Liberia is done from skins seen in that 

 country and from the living example in the Zoological Gardens 

 obtained from Central Liberia. 



The Water chevrotain is still very little known in its habits 

 and geographical distribution by the scientific world. It has been 

 recorded hitherto from the southern portion of the Gambia 

 country, and thence through the coast regions of Guinea 

 past Sierra Leone and Liberia to the Ivory Coast. I believe 

 it has not yet been met with on the Gold Coast or recorded 

 from Lagos and the Niger Delta. The present writer found 

 traces of its existence, however, in the country behind Old 

 Calabar, and Mr. G. L. Bates has reported it to exist in the 

 Cameroons region. It is probably found throughout the 

 northern part of the Congo Basin, for Major Powell Cotton 

 has recently obtained an example from the Ituri District (not 

 far from Uganda). This is possibly a new species. 



726 



