50 



ME. P. L. SCLATER ON AK [Feb. 5, 



4. On an apparently new Species of Zebra from the Semliki 

 Forest. By P. L. Sclater, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., 

 Secretary to the Society. 



[Eeceiyed February 4, 1901.] 



(Text-figure 7.) 



I have now had time to examine more carefully the two waist- 

 belts, made of skin, forwarded to me by Sir Harry Johnston, 

 K.C.B., ¥.ZB., and already exhibited at the meeting on December 

 ISth last (see P. Z. S. 1900, p. 950). I have come to the conclusion 

 that, whether the native account of the animal from which 

 they were taken is precisely correct or not, the specimens them- 

 selves cannot be referred to any of the known species of Zebra 

 and must belong to an undescribed animal, which I propose, pro- 

 visionally at least, to name after its discoverer, with the following 

 characters, until better specimens are obtained : — 



EqUUS (?) JOHKSTONI, sp. UOV. 



Supra saturate nigro-cinereus aut fulvus ; crurihus intus alhi- 

 cantibus, crurihus extus et lateribus fasciis nigris, utrinque 

 castaneo distincte Ivmbatis, ornatis ; capite longo extenso. 



Hah. in sylvis fluvio Semliki adjacentibus. 



The chief peculiarity in the two pieces of skin, which are all the 

 certain evidence we as yet possess of the existence of this Zebra, 

 is that the black bands, which are separated from each other by 

 pale buffy-white bands, as shown in the figures (text-fig. 7), are^ 

 distinctly edged on both sides with pale rtifous. 



The two bandoliers, vt'hich I again exhibit, have been apparently 

 taken from the external portion of the front or hind legs. The 

 hairs are very short, thin, and closely adpressed. Their lay is 

 ' downwards from the more regularly banded portion of the skins 

 (which I take to be the highest on the sides) to that less banded 

 (which I suppose to be low down on the legs). 



The bandoliers measure —specimen a about 36 inches, and 

 specimen h about 30 inches in length including the fringes. 



In order to make the subject complete I read again the portion 

 of Sir Harry Johnston's letter (dated Port Portal, Torn, Aug. 21, 

 1900) that refers to it :— 



_ "Pteading Stanley's ' Darkest Africa ' I noticed that he mentions 

 his Dwarf having a word for horse or ass, and stating that such 

 animals were found in their forests. As the ordinary Zebra type 

 of equine steadily avoids dense woodland, this statement seemed 

 to me a curious one. While I entertained for months the pigmy 

 band who had- been captured by a filibustering German (and the 

 restoration of w-hom to their homes was one of my motives for 

 going into the Congo Free State), I questioned them on this subject 

 and they were very explicit : they told me they called the animal 

 ' O'jApi' (', stands for a gasping sound like an aspirate or Arabic H). 

 They described it as being dun-coloured or dark grey over all the 



