OVERLAPPING OF FAUNAS. 399 



samodendron, Cratgeva, and Combretum, the following genera 

 are found here : — The Protea of Abyssinia, Anona, Hexalobns, 

 Coffea, Dracaena, and, above all, miles of banana plantations. 

 As the Victoria Nile forms a boundary between the languages 

 of the northern Negro races and those of the Bantu tribes, so 

 also it marks the line where the cultivation of corn in the 

 north ceases, and sweet potatoes becomo the foundation of 

 human sustenance. Generally speaking, the "flora of the region 

 under consideration forms an integral part (as Grant's collec- 

 tions in particular show) of the large and yet so uniform vege- 

 tation of the North African region, which fact explains, for 

 instance, the remarkable scarcity of palms in this country, the 

 common Phoenix, Borassus (rarer in general towards the equa- 

 tor), and Calamus being the only palms known at present. 

 But a number of West African varieties also occur, probably 

 attaining here their eastern limit, and marking out this country 

 as a region of transition. 



This position, however, is more unmistakable as regards the 

 fauna. Unfortunately, little is known of Mammalia ; it may 

 therefore be sufficient to allude to the frequent occurrence of 

 Aonyx, and to mention that during my sojourn in Uganda 

 and Unyoro I was repeatedly told of a large anthropoid ape, 

 which the Waganda called masiki, and the Wanyoro Tcin- 

 yabantu. But as, in spite of all my efforts, I did not succeed 

 in obtaining a specimen, its existence in the Nile basin proper 

 remains unverified. The case is different with birds. Besides 

 the species and forms distributed generally over the East 

 African sub-region, a large number of distinctly western kinds 

 are found, of which I will mention Campcphaga phcenicea, Sw. ; 

 Tricholais caniceps, Cass. ; Telephonies minutus, Hartl. ; Tricho- 

 phorus jlavigida, Cab. ; Spermestes cucullatus, Sw. ; Agapornis 

 pullaria, L. ; and in particular the very common Psittacus ery- 

 thacus, L. While it is thus sufficiently proved that the West 

 African fauna extends to this country, we find, on the other 

 hand, a number of true East African types which seem not to 

 appear- again farther westwards. I will only mention Coracias 

 caudata, L.; Phyllostrephus Sharpei,Sh..; Buceros cristate, Biipp.; 

 Pionias mtftventris, Piipp. ; Schizorhis leucogastra, Riipp. ; and 

 Francolinus Grantii, Hartl. The district between the lakes must, 



