WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



How it differed from it in minor points we could not 

 determine then and there, because we had no Arabian 

 specimens for comparison. I could not send the ani- 

 mal to Europe, and my claim to have found the Hycsna 

 striata represented in East Africa was not considered 

 as fully established. 



It was declared that the absolute scientific proof was 

 still lacking. I then baited my traps systematically for 

 this species, and I succeeded in collecting sixty-six skins 

 and skulls, and also some complete skeletons, and de- 

 spatched them to Europe. All doubts and objections 

 were now removed. I was overjoyed when a letter 

 from Professor Matschie informed me that this hyena 

 had been classified as Hycuna Schillingsi liltsch. All this 

 goes to show how difficult it is to investigate the fauna 

 of a new country, and to prove beyond a reasonable 

 doubt the existence of many new species. One might 

 think that this should have been easy with an animal 

 like the hyena, which goes out hunting every night, 

 and which was apparently well known to natives. But 

 to believe there is, and to prove there is, such and such 

 a species in a given place, are two very different propo- 

 sitions. For instance, the later - discovered okapi in 

 West Africa has never come under the personal ob- 

 servation of Stuhlman, who spent a long time at the 

 Semliki; so, also, some species of antelopes, like the 

 Damaliscus huntert, the Tragelaphiis euryceros, and 

 others, have become known to us only of late. 



270 



