Correspondence — Major H. W. Feilden. 235 



ensis. Of other vertebrae from the Forest-bed, one, a caudal, was 

 referred to Balcena ; another, from the lumbar region, to Balcenoptera. 



The following specimens were exhibited : — 



A series of Plant-remains from the Cromer Forest-bed, exhibited 

 by Clement Reid, Esq., F.G.S. 



Specimens from the Shell-beds in British Columbia, exhibited by 

 G. W. Lamplugh, Esq., in illustration of his paper. 



Specimens from the "Forest-bed," exhibited by James Backhouse, 

 Esq., and E. Tulley Newton, Esq., in illustration of their papers. 



COIRIRIESIPOIIsriDIEIISrCIE. 



ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF HIPPOPOTAMUS AMPEIBIUS. 



Sir, — I have lately read with great pleasure Dr. Henry Wood- 

 ward's interesting and instructive article, on " Recent and Fossil 

 Hippopotami," published in Dec. III. Vol. III. 1886, pp. 114-118, 

 of this Magazine. In that paper, Dr. Woodward assigns to the two 

 species of Hippopotamuses the tropical or warmer parts of Africa as 

 their present habitats. As a generalization of their present distribu- 

 tion, this statement may be accepted as strictly correct, but during my 

 journeyings in South Africa, in the upland regions of Natal, the 

 Orange Free State, and elsewhere, I was surprised to find some of 

 the reedy "vleys" or lakes called " Leekoe Vley" Such a name is 

 in itself evidence that the Boer immigrants, or early settlers, found 

 Hippopotamuses in such localities ; indeed, I have been informed by 

 old settlers that such had been the case in their own knowledge, or 

 else that the natives had told them of the former existence of the 

 animals in such places. I have been credibly informed that 50 

 years ago Hippopotamuses were abundant in the Umzinduzi river, 

 close to where now the city of Pietermaritzburg in Natal is built. 

 The fact of these animals having inhabited localities in the uplands 

 of Natal, and the Free State, is I think beyond question, and as those 

 districts are at times subjected to very inclement weather, it raises 

 the question whether the Hippopotamus amphibius is not capable of 

 enduring far greater changes of temperature than is usually 

 supposed. I was encamped in the vicinity of Newcastle, Natal, 

 on the borders of the Transvaal, in the winter of 1881 (i.e. the 

 summer of our northern hemisphere), and we experienced very 

 severe weather. Water froze in the buckets left outside the tents at 

 night, the snow lay deep over the country, herds of sheep and cattle 

 were buried and frozen to death in the snow. Many farmers 

 suffered great loss in stock. In the highlands of the Orange Free 

 State, across the Natal border, the losses of flocks and herds from 

 the snowstorms were greater than in Natal. The question arises, 

 whether Hippopotamuses were denizens of these upland lakes and 

 rivers, or only summer visitors. If residents, they must have been 

 subjected at times to extraordinary changes of climate. I regret 

 that during my residence in South Africa, I did not pay more 

 attention to this interesting subject. 



