386 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
their encounter had taken place during the early morning; for, had the 
fight occurred in the night, the Hyzenas would have devoured them.” 
The author states (at p. 224) that during his travels in Eastern 
Africa, he met with five different species of Lions. For “species,” 
no doubt, we should read “varieties,” and even then the variation 
must be regarded as dependent in a great measure upon age and 
sex. The colour and length of the mane goes for very little; and 
the best authorities of the present day seem to be agreed that 
there is only one species of Lion in Africa. 
To the naturalist who may desire information concerning the 
fauna of the Transvaal this book will be disappointing, inasmuch 
as the author, although an intrepid hunter and a good shot, shows 
so little acquaintance with Natural History as to be unable to 
distinguish a deer from an antelope, and often failed to identify 
the animals he killed. Nor does he furnish recognisable descrip- 
tions. At page 67 he writes, “ The deer or stag of Eastern Africa 
is twice the size of the European stag, and its horns differ con- 
siderably.” There is nothing in the description which follows to 
enable an identification of the species, the only clue which he 
gives being the allusion to size, from whence it may be presumed 
that the Eland is intended. Elsewhere he speaks of seeing the 
horns of fallow-deer hanging up with other horns in a kraal which 
he visited ! 
His description of the largest Elephant procured by his party 
is somewhat startling. It is well known that the African Elephant 
attains a much greater height, and carries larger and heavier tusks, 
than the Indian Elephant. Mr. Sanderson, in his excellent book 
on the ‘ Wild Beasts of India,’ says (p. 55), “ There is little doubt 
that there is not an Elephant ten feet at the shoulder in India”; 
and he gives the exact measurements of some of the largest he 
ever saw. Sir Samuel Baker, writing of the African species in 
his ‘ Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia,’ states that both sexes average 
about one foot taller than the Asiatic Elephant. Now what does 
Senhor Das Neves say ?— 
“During a hunting expedition which I made between Sofala and 
Inhambune, in the year 1864, I had the curiosity to measure the first 
Elephant killed on that occasion, and which proved the largest of all we 
destroyed. From the sole of his foot to the top of his back he measured 
thirty-eight palmos (spans of nine inches). As I had to get up on the top 
of his trunk to measure him, I may have made a mistake of four palnos, 
