592 Dr. R. B. Sharpe on Birds 



which he has sent to me on the Accipitres of Efulen and the 

 neighbourhood, thus bringing the record of his collections up 

 to date. It has been a privilege to name several species in 

 honour of this industrious and observant naturalist, whose 

 labours in the cause of science are gratefully acknowledged 

 by zoologists. 



Mr. Bates sends me the following notes on the features 

 of the Bulu country and of the Fang country, which lies 

 to the south of it : — 



u The most striking feature of this country is the com- 

 pleteness with which the face of the earth is covered by the 

 forest. The only breaks in this forest-covering, apart from 

 those made by clearings for human habitations and farms, 

 are such as are caused by the passage of streams more than 

 fifty feet wide. If they are below that width, the forest meets 

 above them from the two banks and arches over the stream. 

 There are also occasionally large bare rocks or cliffs to be 

 seen. A temporary rent or chasm is also often made in the 

 expanse of tree-tops by the fall of a large tree carrying with 

 it a mass of smaller trees and vines. Except in such places, 

 there is scarcely more light than that of twilight, even on 

 the brightest day. The trees stand so close together that 

 their foliage is blended into one cover, and their stems are 

 like pillars supporting a common roof. But the space near 

 the ground between the tree-stems is also filled with foliage 

 — that of small shrubs and seedling trees, and especially of 

 numberless vines, many hearing thorns, that form a tangled 

 mass hard to penetrate. This tangled growth near the 

 ground becomes less, however, where the mass of tree-tops 

 above is very dense, and is really impenetrable only in old 

 clearings where the large trees have been chopped away 

 in previous years." 



" Apart from the German government road, the paths are 

 little better than the trails of animals, and often follow for 

 long distances the beds of streams, which form a natural open 

 way through the undergrowth and vines. People who have 

 travelled over these forest-paths have often remarked on the 

 .silence and the absence of signs of animal-life. But though 



