222 Proceedings of the Itoyal Physical Society. 
regarding the early stages of the development of the Pleuro- 
nectidfB. 
II. Notice of the Cranium of a Manganya Negro, brought by Dr Kirk 
from East Tropical Africa. By William Turner, M.B., F.R.S.E. 
The cranium of the Manganya negro, to which I am about 
to direct the attention of the Society this evening, was given 
to me a short time ago by Dr John Kirk, the enterprising 
and experienced African traveller, the friend and companion 
of Livingstone in his last expedition. To this able and 
accomplished naturalist science is indebted for many valu- 
able observations and discoveries of new facts illustrating 
the natural history of East Tropical Africa. Amongst the 
objects which he has brought to this country are several 
crania of the Manganya tribe of negroes, a people in w^hose 
country Kirk and Livingstone travelled for a considerable 
period. When they first visited them, they found a large 
and important tribe living on the banks of the river Shire, 
in lat. 16° S., and long. 35° W. Dr Kirk tells me that they 
may be taken as a good type of the natives of the North 
Zambesi region, and of the lake Nyassa, or southern lake. 
The Manganya, as they call themselves, or the Wanyassa, 
as they are named by the slave-dealers of Ibo and Zanzibar, 
must not be confounded with the Zulus of the South, or the 
Makoa of Mozambique, but are almost identical with the 
Maravi mentioned in Gamitto. The hair is crisp and w^oolly, 
but abundant ; the colour of the skin is sepia ; the stature 
is commonly under that of the English. 
In an interesting address delivered before the Members 
of the British Association at the meeting in Bath in 1864, 
Dr Livingstone described the country of the Manganya, and 
gave many interesting facts connected with their habits. 
They were a people who cultivated the soil, w^ere very eager 
traders, and were so far advanced in the useful arts, that 
near many of the villages furnaces were erected for smelting 
iron from the ore, and excellent hoes were made cheap. 
The country w^as thriving and prosperous when Kirk and 
Livingstone first entered it, but soon afterwards the slave- 
