HAMLYN'S MENAGERIK MAGAZINE. 



37 



afternoon's effort, her mouth was distended to 

 its utmost capacity, and she looked for all the 

 world like an English bull dog. The head -and 

 mouth of Haplochromis are designed much on 

 the principle of the python that swallows a good- 

 ly sized pig and when carrying a spawning of 

 eggs, the female drops the lower portion of the 

 jaws and makes room, a sort of pantry or ante- 

 chamber. 



The eggs are carried during ; ncubation in the 

 mouth of the female, for a period lasting from 

 fourteen to fifteen days during which time she 

 abstains from all food. Then the young are first 

 hatched. I observed them wriggling about in the 

 mouth of the parent and the next morning saw 

 the whole school (about sixty in this spawning) 

 swimming freely about the" mother. 



As I approached the jar the entire brood 

 made a dash for the mother and with much excite- 

 ment she proceeded to take them into her mouth 

 for protection. The young were fed on infusoria 

 during the first three days and were then fed a 

 very fine daphnia and grew marvellously on their 

 new diet. So fast did they grow that it became 

 necessary to remove the mother- from them as it 

 caused considerable consternation when, after a 

 week she found she could only accommodate half 

 of her children, while the other half were madly 

 trying to gain entrance into her already crowded 

 mouths The young grew well without the parent 

 and shifted for themselves as soon as she was 

 removed. -As soon as the pair had fimshed 

 spawning, the male fish was removed to another 

 tank as his presence only seemed to bother the 

 female. 



A little trouble, a lot of patience, and some 

 luck, will give you a big thrill if you succeed in 

 breeding this interesting fish. 



03, 



African Monsters. 



'"The Observer" publishes the following in- 

 teresting letter from Mr. Dennis D. Lyell : — 



Sir, The article published in "The Obser- 

 ver" of November 23, written by Sir Harry John- 

 ston, with reference to a strange animal, is in- 

 teresting to field naturalists. 



In his article, Sir Harry Johnston discusses 

 the subject from the zoological point of view, and 

 he seems* to throw some doubt a.-, tc the existence 

 of such an animal; but I would be inclined to view 

 the story as bringing further evidence to prove 

 that there still exists a few survivals of some 

 strange prehistoric creature in the vast suamp^ 

 of Central Africa. 



For ten years I lived in Northern Rhodesia 

 and Nyasaland, and while in the former territory 

 I constantly heard rumours of the existence of a 



strange animal in the swamps of Lake Bangweolo 

 and Lake Mweru. 



In 1910 a friend told me that he had a "boy" 

 in his service who told him that he had seen such 

 an animal which was certainly not a hippopota- 

 mus. At the time he was in a boat (probably a 

 dugout) in Lake Bangweolo with Mr. Poulett- 

 Weatherley, who was an experienced hunter, and 

 an animal rose exposing a neck fully six feet in 

 length, which was profusely covered with hair 

 forming a mane. His master fired at the animal 

 and missed it, and it then disappeared and was 

 not seen again. 



This native stated that before the white 

 men came to Northern Rhodesia the natives oc- 

 casionally killed a few of these beasts. The one 

 he saw was near the village of Jeluwi, the head- 

 man of the village at the time being called 

 Mlongwe and Boolu. This village is situated 

 near where the Chambezi river flows into Lake 

 Bangweolo. 



The natives have two- names for such an ani- 

 mal in different parts of the country, and this 

 boy said that at Jeluwi the name it was known 

 by was Kapamba. In other places I have heard 

 it referred to as the Chimpeckwe. 



My friend offered to lend me this native if I 

 cared to take a trip to the place in qpest of the 

 animal, but at the time I was too ill with fever to 

 start on the trip, and, moreover, I was rather 

 sceptical as to the animal's existence, and, like 

 Sir Harry Johnston, I thought the animal was 

 probably a hippopotamus seen in a bad light. 



After that I was told that another white man 

 named Defries had seen the animal w'hich was 

 certainly not a hippo, as he was a most exper- 

 ienced hunter and was not likely to make such a 

 mistake. The spot" (tracks) of the animal has 

 been described to me as resembling that of a colos- 

 sal ostrich, as it showed three toes, but not hav- 

 ing hunted in its reputed haunts, I cannot, of 

 course, give any description of it. I have an ac- 

 count in the "Sunday Times' of November 16, 

 mentioning how Mr. Lepage, was chased by the 

 beast and w r hat it looked like, but what puzzles 

 me is why Lepage did not take careful and de- 

 tailed sketches of its tracks as this would have 

 confirmed his strange story. As the animal lives 

 in swamp and mud the ground must have been 

 highly suitable for the imprints of its feet. -By 

 omitting to do this Lepage has missed a great 

 opportunity of confirming his story. 



However, considering all the yarns I have 

 heard of this strange creature, this latest story (if 

 true) confirms the statements of the natives. 



What a pity it is that some really sound ob- 

 server cannot have such an opportunity, for when 

 anything interesting of this kind occurs, it seems 

 to happen to someone not capable of grasping the 



