1896.] ZOOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO MADAGASCAR. 973 
very successful, thanks chiefly to the cooperation of the 
natives, Betsileos and Betsimisarakas; but the French never 
came. The result was, that in the beginning of September 1895, 
after having despatched my collections via Ambositra, I returned 
to Sirabé and searched earnestly for the “pyornis—at the best 
time, with regard to the condition of the marshes; at the worst, 
with regard to that of the country generally. Three times I was 
compelled to interrupt the work, once for a whole week. To 
make up for lost time, I engaged in the intervals as many 
workmen as presented themselves, generally more than fifty. 
When at last the rainy season stopped the business, I found that 
after all the result was more than I had expected; my collections 
were far superior to what any previons collector had brought 
together in many years. I have to acknowledge with thanks the 
Rey. Mr. Rosaas’s friendly help at this place, especially in using 
his influence with the natives on our behalf. 
The rest of the Odysey can be told in a few words. First a 
forced stay of nearly two months in the capital; a short sojourn 
of some weeks in the forest of Ankeramadinika, at a day’s journey 
to the east, where not much was to be done, owing chiefly to the 
growing unfriendliness of the Hovas towards all Europeans. Still 
some good things, including a new Lemur, were secured here. 
Later on, I travelled south again, settled in the old place Ampi- 
també, with equally good results as the first time; the work, however, 
was unfortunately interrupted by the unsafety of the place. 
Lastly, a lengthened sojourn was made in a more southern 
region, viz. near Vinanitelo, in the forest of the independent 
Tanalas, 30 miles south of Fianarantsoa. Here some attempts 
to make excavations were without result; but good work was 
done in collecting recent mammals, as the following statement 
may show:—at the end of my first stay at Ampitambé 804 
specimens of recent Mammals had been collected; when I left 
Vinanitelo this figure had been more than doubled. 
Some general remarks on the results of my excavations at Sirabé 
may not be out of place here. The mammalian remains found were 
few, and on this account the locality cannot be said to be a very 
favourable one; besides there were difficulties of various kinds 
connected with the excavations and more or less inherent to the 
locality. The predominant feature of the fossil fauna of Sirabé 
in general is the great rarity of strictly terrestrial vertebrates. 
Apart from the Hippopotamus, which is numerous in the 
superficial deposit as well as lower down, the only mammalian 
remains found are a lower jaw of a Centetes, scanty remains of 
Rodents (which, to judge from a pelvis, belong toa Murine of con- 
siderable dimensions), some bones referable to Potamocherus, and 
finally the remains of two species of a remarkable new family of 
Monkeys, chiefly represented by an incomplete skull, part of a 
lower jaw, milk-dentition, humerus, &c., some of which I have 
preliminarily described in the October number of the ‘ Geological 
9 
Magazine’ under the name of Nesopithecus. It will be more fully 
