﻿RESEARCH IN BRITISH WEST AFRICA. 183 



" The district is a mass of hills, interspersed with valleys, ravines and rivers. 

 Everywhere loom up the granites, schists and gneisses of the ancient Oban 

 rocks, rising 3,000 feet high, some of them extraordinarily picturesque and 

 grand for their size. Except to the south of Oban there is hardly a level spot. 

 The main water-shed stretches across the country from east to west at about the 

 latitude of 5° 30', north of which the streams flow into the Cross River, and to 

 the south combine to form the Calabar, Kwa and Akwayafe Rivers. Many of 

 the largest rivers rise on opposite sides of the same hill, such as the Calabar and 

 the Kwa, the Akwayafe and the Akarram. None are navigable within the 

 district except the lower reaches of the Kwa. With the exception of the village 

 clearings and a few farms, hidden away here and there, the country is covered 

 with dense forest — the Ekoi Forest. 



" The rainy season lasts from May to November, and the annual rainfall is 

 exceptionally heavy, probably well over 150 inches. Travelling in the northern 

 parts is arduous owing to the rocky ground and to the fact that the paths go up 

 and down over hills 1,000 and 2,000 feet high. 



" Hunting is the chief occupation of the people. The men are splendid hunters 

 and many of them devote all their time to the chase. Each town has its own 

 special part of the bush reserved for its inhabitants." 



The district abounds in game of all kinds. Elephants roam about in large 

 herds, especially in the rainy season, generally retiring to the Kameruns in the 

 dry season. Lions are said by the natives to come sometimes down as far south 

 as this in pursuit of game ; leopards are everywhere. The forest is full of bush- 

 cow, water-buffalos, wild pig, many kinds of antelope, such as the harnessed 

 antelope, the smaller bush-buck, the black-backed and yellow-backed duiker, 

 baboons, etc., etc. Malaria, elephantiasis, and dysentery are very common. 

 The only blood-sucking insects so far recorded from this region are Chrysops 

 silacea, Tabanus fasciatus, T. obscurcfumatus, Glossina fusca and G. tabani- 

 formis, in addition to a new species of Tabanus not yet described ; but this is 

 undoubtedly far short of the actual number. 



A systematic examination of this region would certainly reveal many rare 

 species, in fact, from the five recorded above, one, T. obscurefumatus, has not 

 been recorded from elsewhere in Southern Nigeria, while the only other locality 

 in which G. tabaniformis has been found is Ikom, which is part of the same 

 topographical unit. Here we might expect to find an intermingling of the true 

 Congo forms with the undoubted Coast forms. 



IV. Records of Blood-sucking Insects and other Arthropods 

 from Southern Nigeria. 



The records of the various blood-sucking insects and ticks found in Southern 

 Nigeria have been detailed in the preceding pages in connection with the different 

 regions discussed. At the same time it is considered advisable to tabulate these 

 in their orders and families, as hitherto no complete list has been attempted. It 

 will be seen from this list that our knowledge of the species of this region has 

 considerably increased, even since the publication of Austen's " African Blood- 

 Sucking Flies" in 1909, while a study of the narrative in this report will 

 serve to show the enormous advance made in our knowledge of the distribution 

 of the various species. 



