1905.] ON THE MAMMALS OP SOUTHERN CAMEROONS. 65 



3. Notes on the Mammals of Southern Cameroons and the 

 Benito. By George L. Bates *. 



[Received January 10, 1905.J 



It does not seem worth while to repeat here the description 

 of the Cameroons-Gaboon forest given in connection with 

 Dr. Shai-pe's paper on the Birds of this Region in ' The Ibis' (1904, 

 pp. 592-595). But it is necessary to bear in mind that the whole 

 face of the country is absolutely covered with forest, consisting of 

 tall trees standing close together, with the spaces between their 

 stems filled with saplings and underbrush, and the whole bound 

 together by vines and creepers, many of them thorny. This mass 

 of vegetation excludes the sunlight, except in rare openings or 

 rifts. Walking through it is difficult, except by following the 

 paths. Clearings have been made for villages and plantations, 

 and these when abandoned do not immediately return to forest, 

 but for several years are possessed by a thicket of grass, bushes, 

 and small trees of quick gi'owth. Thus in the more thickly 

 inhabited parts of the countiy there are considej-able areas 

 covered by this smaller growth instead of forest. But as these 

 are near villages of men, and are avoided by the large animals, 

 they may be almost ignored in considering the nature of the 

 country as a habitation for mammals, though they are the 

 favoui'ite haunts of many birds. 



The dense and impenetrable nature of the forest, with but few 

 human dwellings and paths, makes it an admirable hiding-place 

 for animals of all kinds. Furthermore, the fact that everything 

 larger than a mouse or a sparrow, whether beast, bird, or reptile, 

 is constantly hunted for food by the natives, makes the animals 

 afraid of man. Hence it comes that observation of animal life 

 is peculiarly difficult here. The statement is often made with 

 reference to the animals of West Africa, in books of Natural 

 History, that almost nothing is known of their habits in the wild 

 state, because travellers have failed to record their observations. 

 But the truth seems to be that travellers have seen little to 

 record. 



The remark has been made by more than one person who has 

 journeyed through this forest region, that animal life in it is 

 scarce ; yet it really abounds in wonderful variety. Com- 

 paratively few white men, and not all natives, have seen an 

 Elephant in this country ; yet their trails through the forest, 

 the broken and uprooted trees where they have been feeding, and 

 even the mud-puddles where they have wallowed, are often seen. 

 Leopards may be said to abound, judging, from their ravages 

 among domestic animals, and the frequency with which their 

 tracks or droppings or leavings of their prey are found in the 



* Communicated hy Olditeld Thomas, F.R.S., F.Z.S. 

 Proc. Zool. Soc— 1905, Vol. I, No. V. 5 



