1905.] MAMMALS AND BIRDS OF LIBERIA. 199 



from the same Kelipo country, near the upper Cavally, a carious 

 statement I'egarding the existence in this forest of a large^ black 

 pig. The natives gave him circumstantial accounts of this pig, 

 which is said to be five or six feet long, and he was struck hj 

 the resemblance between this story and the description first given 

 in the ' Field ' newspaper of the Hylochcerus nieinertzhageni. At 

 the time he ^vrote to me he knew nothing about the interest I had 

 taken in the question of this giant pig of the Congo Forest, 

 nor did he indeed know that the pig had been discovered by the 

 Belgians in the north-eastern limits of that region. It was 

 the first description given in the ' Field ' of the discovery on the 

 slopes of Mount Kenia which appeared to him to fit in so nearly 

 with the stories of the natives of the Kelipo country of the pig in 

 their country, which was of similar appearance and dimensions. 



Mr. Pye-Smith also sent me native stories which he thought 

 also indica,ted the existence in Eastern Liberia of a Gorilla. I 

 mention this for what it may be worth ; but the skull which was 

 to support this theory never reached Mr. Pye-Smith, or at any 

 rate never arrived in England. I think, myself, that some of the 

 gorilla stories which i-each the coast from the interior of Liberia 

 axe referable either to big Chimpanzees or possibly to big specimens 

 of the Drill or Mandrill baboon. Nowhere, as yet, in Liberia 

 have either the Drill or Mandrill baboons been found, but I should 

 think it not improbable that they would make their appearance in 

 the mountainous country of the far interior. I have seen only one 

 species of baboon in this country myself. It is the common 

 Guinea Baboon of Sierra Leone and the Gokl Coast. A very 

 common type of monkey in this country is the Sooty Mangabey, 

 the manners and habits of which are very i-eminiscent of the 

 baboons. I would point out one trick that Baboons and Mangabeys 

 have in common, and that is the friendly greeting which they 

 make by smacking the lips. I have never noticed this trait in 

 any other monkey. 



The Potto and at least one species of Galago are sufficiently 

 common to have attracted the notice of the Americo-Liberians on 

 the coast. Colobus monkeys apparently of four species are 

 indigenous in this country ; but I myself, and those who have 

 been collecting information for me, have hitherto been able to 

 obtain only two species — Golohus ursinus and C. ferrugineus. 

 Biittikofer, however, seems to have obtained specimens of Colobus 

 polycomus and G. vents. The Bay-thighed Monkey {Cercopi- 

 thecits diana ignita) is very common. 



Bats are well represented, and amongst them are prominent as 

 regards frequency of appearance the monstrous-looking Fruit-Bats 

 of the genus Epomophorus. 



Among carnivorous mammals, the most interesting pei-haps, 

 from its relative rarity and its restriction to the West- African 

 forest-region, is the Golden Cat {Felis celidogaster). The range 

 of this cat has not yet been sufficiently determined, nor has a 

 decisive opinion been passed as to the marked variations in type 



