48 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
Still, I think in a general way they may be ac- 
cepted as faithful renderings of Gold Coast 
stories. The real defects and the removable 
defects, if the work were reprinted, are in re- 
gard to the transliteration of native words 
and the mistranslation of native terms for 
African animals. We have progressed far 
beyond such eighteenth-century monstrosities 
as 'Quarcoo' instead of Kwaku. While in 
regard to the names of the beasts that are 
brought into these stories, discredit is thrown 
on the veracity of the translation by introduc- 
ing such terms as 'wolf and 'tiger. ' The col- 
lector of the stories, Mr. Barker, has been a 
Government official at Akkra, and must have 
resided some time on the Gold Coast. He is 
a B.Sc. , and surely could not have imagined 
that there were tigers or wolves in that or any 
other part of the African continent. As the 
leopard himself comes into these stories, one 
is the more puzzled, since we know that in 
South Africa, where misnaming ran wild un- 
der the influence of the original Dutch sett- 
lers, the leopard is styled "tiger." But what 
in the case of the Gold Coast was the native 
word that Mr. Barker translated "tiger," and 
what was the equivalent of "wolf"? The 
"wolf" of South Africa is the brown or the 
spotted hyena, but hyenas are almost non- 
existent in the Gold Coast or any other part of 
forested West Africa, while jackals are simi- 
larly scarce, and do not enter much into 
native stories. Miss Sinclair's drawings are 
ingenious and are faithful to local conditions." 
THAT the Corporation of London is seriously 
considering the feeding of the Guildhall Yard 
pigeons at a weekly expenditure of 2/-. Really 
this is too silly for words. I am quite willing 
to pay that sum if it will relieve them of any 
responsibility. 
THAT the largest herd of buffalo in the world is 
now owned by Canada. The animals form a 
picturesque group as they roam over the new 
national reserve set apart for them near Wain- 
wright, Saskatchewan. Canadians recognised 
the need of action if the buffalo' were to be pre- 
served, and purchased practically an entire herd 
of 600 or 700 from Montana. The herd was 
transported across the international boundary 
line by train. The rounding up of these untamed 
animals and their young was no light task, and 
150 of the most unruly had eventually to be left 
behind. In addition, 75 buffalo now confined in 
the National Park at Banff will be sent to the 
Wainwright reserve. Increase of the herd has 
brought up the number to nearly 1,000. 
THAT the "Horseshoers Journal" gives the fol- 
lowing interesting illustration showing the in- 
telligence and sagacity of the horse : 
"Ambrose Perichon, a French soldier, 
was lying on the battlefield, his legs shattered 
by a German quickfirer. His comrades were 
unable to give him attention, owing to the 
fact that they were hard pressed. When 
night came on the soldier heard near him the 
heavy breathing of a great white horse, which 
was grazing on the short grass. The horse 
was riderless and Perichon whistled to it and 
began to stroke it kindly. The horse whin- 
nied with pleasure. Perichon was powerless 
to move his legs. The animal seem to under- 
stand, for it fell on its knees beside him, held 
its head over his breast, and remained motion- 
less. Then it got up and walked around the 
soldier. Suddenly it stopped, sniffed the 
wounded man all over, and then, seizing his 
leather belt in its teeth, it lifted him from 
the ground and walked off. 
"When the horse stopped in the advanced 
French lines at daybreak its human burden 
was little more than alive, but tender care 
has since brought him round and he is now 
convalescent. His sergeant says the animal 
which saved the soldier's life was before the 
war in a German circus, where it performed in 
the pantomime known as 'The Arab and His 
Faithful Steed'." 
THAT the arrivals have been practically nil this 
last month. The supplies have been kept up by 
private sales. It has now become the custom to 
dispose of large collections of birds. I am sorry 
that the Amateurs have allowed themselves to be 
intimidated by "panicky" legislation. Many 
general providers have now opened up Live 
Stock branches. At present we have Messrs. 
Whiteleys, Derry and Toms, Harrods, Gamage 
and Selfridges, the lattei , however, only stock 
dogs. The oldest General Provider is Messrs. 
Whiteleys who opened their live stock branch be- 
tween thirty and forty years ago. I wish all 
these firms every success. The Live Stock Busi- 
ness is a business in itself. A successful Live 
Stock Manager is hard to find — they are few 
and far between. 
THAT King Khama, with other South African 
chiefs, has once again received a visit from the 
Governor-General, and it will be interesting to 
see what gifts, in accordance with custom, he 
has bestowed upon the King's representative. 
When Lord Selborne received the famous 
chief some years ago he was presented with the 
rather embarrassing gift of a baby hippopota- 
mus, which was promptly transferred to the Zoo 
at Cape Town. Gifts with a zoological flavour 
like this would be far more acceptable to Lord 
Buxton,, a born zoologist with a strong leaning 
towards ornithology. On his present tour he 
camped by the Limpopo River, and enjoyed 
much fishing and shooting. 
Printed by W. J. Hasted & Son (T.U.), 306, Mile End Road. E 1., and Published by J. D, Hamlyn, 221, St. George's 
Street London Docks, E ] . 
