<+> Fauna : Mammals 



perhaps nearly an inch in old males. They are almost smooth, 

 with scarcely any trace of the annulations characteristic of the 

 antelopes. This tiny Neotragus received the name of the 

 " Royal antelope " from Pennant in the eighteenth century, 

 under the impression that it was the " king of harts " referred 

 to by Bosman, though Bosman in taking up and repeating native 

 traditions about the beasts of Guinea was possibly referring in 

 his " king of harts " to the water chevrotain, which is renowned 

 in the folklore of West Africa for its extraordinary sagacity. 1 



The Vai call this animal san, whereas they apply the name 

 gberima to the water chevrotain. There is no doubt that it 

 exists in all the coast region of Liberia, though it is so shy, so 

 clever at hiding itself in the herbage, and able to take such 

 tremendous leaps when surprised that it is very rarely captured. 

 No specimen has yet been sent home from Liberia, but there 

 is little doubt that Biittikofer was correct in identifying the 

 animal known as san with the Royal antelope. Apparently the 

 range of the Royal antelope extends from Sierra Leone along 

 the West African coast-lands to the Niger Delta. It has not 

 as yet been recorded from farther east than Lagos or farther 

 west than the eastern part of Sierra Leone. 



It is probable that the West African waterbuck, Cobus 

 singsing, is found in the interior of Liberia, where the forest is 

 less dense. Pictures of it and drawings of the horns seemed 

 to be recognised by Mandingos and other natives of the interior 

 whom I questioned. But so far the existence of this antelope 

 has not been established by a recorded specimen. The same 

 may be said about the Roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus 

 gambianus), which seems to be present on the Mandingo Plateau. 



1 It is by no means certain, however, that Bosman did not really mean 

 Neotragus pygmaus. The natives seem to mix up both the Royal antelope and 

 the water chevrotain in their stones. 



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