19341 Hatt, African Manatees 555 



Gambia 

 Listed by Trouessart. Mr. Robert Rockwell informs me that while a 

 member of the Blossom Expedition he heard definite reports of the occur- 

 rence of manatees in the Gambia River. 



Sierra Leone 

 1737. — Atkins (p. 42) notes the manatee in the Sierra Leone River. 

 1846? — Clarke (p. 128) lists " fishes" commonly taken in Sierra Leone and among 

 them mentions the manatee. 



1881. — Flower (p. 454) quotes the journal of one R. B. Dobree who was shown 

 places in which the manatees came ashore between Kikonkeh and the sea. Though 

 such a statement cannot be construed as good evidence for the occurrence of manatees 

 in the rivers of Sierra Leone, it seems to be probable that these animals do occur there. 



Liberia 



1885. — Biittikofer (pp. 144-147) recounts the capture of a manatee in Fisher- 

 man's Lake behind Cape Mount, and states that this animal is found in Liberian 

 rivers up to the rapids. 



1890. — Biittikofer (II, pp. 392-393) further records the occurrence of the manatee 

 in the vicinity of Millsburg, below the last cataract of the Saint Paul River, and adds 

 that in 1887 two were shot in the Missunado River. 



1892. — Jentink (p. 199) records the presence in the Museum des Pays-Bas of 

 Biittikofer's Cape Mount specimen. 



Ivory Coast 



Caracalla River: 1848. — Perkins (pp. 198-199) records a manatee from the 

 Caracalla River, 20 miles east of Cape Palmas. This specimen, the type of M. 

 nasutus Wyman, is now in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 



Slave Coast 



1893. — The manatee is listed by Matschie (p. 180) in his ' Mammals of Togoland.' 

 1897. — Thomas and Lydekker (p. 596) record specimens in the British Museum 

 from Lagos and Benin. 



Niger River System 

 Manatees are known from three parts of the Niger system: the 

 lower reaches near the coast, the upper section above Timbuctu, and 

 from the river Benue. 



Lower River: 1728. — Labat (p. 337) records that the "manaty" was often 

 taken in the Niger. His is perhaps the first picture of an African manatee. 



1857. — Baikie (p. 68) collected a specimen from the mouth of the Niger, and 

 Maclaud (1908, p. 289) writes that there is a Niger River specimen in the Paris Mu- 

 seum, though the section of the river is not stated. 



Upper Niger River: Though there appears to be no record of a manatee ever 

 brought out from the upper Niger River where it is bordered by great, marshy lagoons, 

 several reports make it seem almost certain that the animal is found in that region. 



