884 
FOREST AND STHEAM.-^ 
[Nov. i6, 1901. 
— » 
The Okapi. 
The London Times has this description of the okapi, 
the newly discovered African antelope: That extraordi- 
nary new mammal, the okapi, discovered by Sir Harry 
Johnston in Central Africa, is now to be seen at the 
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, on the ground 
l^oor. The skin brought home by Sir Harry has been 
admirably mounted by Mr. Rowland Ward, and the 
public have now the opportunity of forming their own 
conclusions as to this singular animal, which, after re- 
maining hidden from the gaze of naturalists, hunters, and 
the civilized world generally until the beginning of the 
twentieth century, has suddenly been broi:ght to light. 
Having had considerable experience of African animals 
in the wild state, the writer was naturally anxious to ob- 
tain an early view of the new animal. It is beyond all 
doubt a most curious beast, one of the very oddest forms 
of animal life in a country teeming with strange and 
singular creattires. To any one who knows the fauna of 
Africa, the okapi gives at once the impression of being a 
blending of three different mammals — antelope, giraffe 
and zebra. Its shape and general body coloring remind 
one very much of the members of that well-known group 
of antelopes, which includes the hartebeests and bastard 
hartebeests; its head is distinctly giraffe-like, and the 
curious, horizontal stripings upon the forelegs and hind- 
quarters are, again, very zebra-like. Yet the okapi is, 
beyond all doubt, a true 
species, and is not a hy- 
brid or a "sport" of any 
kind. That the new ani- 
mal has affinities with 
the antelopes and the 
giraffe cannot be doubt- 
ed for a moment by any 
one acquainted with 
these animals. That — 
in spits of its stripings 
— it has any kind of re- 
lationship with the ze- 
bras, as was supposed 
•when pieces of the skin 
were first brought to 
Europe, cannot, on the 
other hand, be imagined 
for a moment. The ze- 
bra-like markings are a 
mere chance resem- 
blance, and the okapi 
has no sort of kinship 
with the splendid 
striped equidas peculiar 
to Africa. 
The impression one 
gains of this strange 
creature, after a pro- 
longed examination, is 
that it is decidedly more 
akin to the antelopes 
than to the giraffe. 
Standing some 5 feet in 
height at the withers, 
the new specimen gives 
one very much the im- 
pression, as I have said, 
of being allied to the 
bastard hartebeests and 
hartebeests. It has the 
same high withers, and 
slopes away toward the >-i 
tail in just the same ' , 
drooping, ungainly fash- 
ion. Its body coloring 
resembles most nearly, I . 
think, that particular 
group of antelopes 
known as the bastard 
hartebeests, called by 
naturalists damaliscus. 
In this group are to be 
found the korrigum, or Senegal hartebeest, the topi of 
East Africa and tiang of Senaar, Kordofan and Bahr-el- 
Ghazal provinces, the bontebok, blesbok and tsesseby of 
South Africa, and Hunter's antelope, another _ East 
African species ; and of these animals the okapi in its 
body coloring most nearly resembles the tsesseby (the 
bastard hartebeest of the Boers) and the topi and tiang 
of East Africa and the Sudan regions. The body color- 
ing is, in effect, of a deep chocolate or reddish brown, 
the forehead somewhat brighter in hue, as are the large 
and singularly broad ears, which remind one in shape 
very much of the koodoo. I should judge that the okapi, 
like the koodoo, is a beast of preternaturally quick hear- 
ing and of singtllarly vigilant and suspicious habits. 
The antelope-like character of the okapi is again to be 
noticed in the clean and shapely legs, which look like 
carrying the animal, nathless its forest surromidings, 
at as good a pace as that compassed by many of the fleet 
antelopes of the Dark Continent. The stripings — 
purplish-black on a creamy ground — are found on the 
upper portions of the forelegs, while on the hindquarters 
they extend from the root of the tail to the hocks. 
The lower portions of the legs — the forelegs especially — 
are curiously pied and marked in black and white, re- 
minding one somewhat of the bontebok, or pied ante- 
lope of South Africa. The hoofs, like the legs, more 
nearly resemble those of the antelope's than of any other 
animal. The stom.ach is blackish. 
The dark chocolate-hued neck is fairly long, but cer- 
tainly bears no great resemblance to that of a giraffe; 
in fact, it resembles much more nearly that of an ante- 
lope than of the tallest quadruped in the world. When 
we come face to face, however, we are at once con- 
fronted by distinctly giraffe-like characteristics. The 
cheeks are of a yellowish-white, or cream, color, and the 
reddish coloring of the forehead is succeeded by a dark 
line, which runs down the center of the face. The 
muzzle is sepia colored. Not in the coloring, but in the 
conformation of the head, however, is the okapi's resem- 
blance to the giraffe conspicuous. The long, prehensile 
muzzle and lips, the narrow, elongate nostrils, and the 
general look and shape of the head remind one wonder- 
fully of the giraffe. As with the giraffe, the prehensile 
upper lip is manifestly exactly fashioned for browsing 
upon the leafage of trees and bush. The giraffe plucks 
its nourishment from the spreading acacia tree which 
bears its name (Acacia giraffa:) ; the okapi doubtless 
gathers its food from bushes and shrubbery and po,s- 
sibly the lower branches of .squat trees. Wandering as 
it has done during long ages of the past in the dark and 
remote forests of the Congo Hinterland, the okapi has 
iTndoubtedly sought and found its food supplies from 
these sources for uncountable generations. Its lips are 
the lips of a woodland feeder and not of a grass-cropping 
denizen of the open plains. And yet, during all these 
ages, the animal has retained the coat of a tsesseby, 
which, as all African sportsmen know, is an animal of 
the sunlight, a denizen of open plains, checkered With 
bush. One cannot account for this fact, or for the 
bizarre stripings, or, in fact, for the new animal's 
strange and somewhat contradictory appearance. 
The giraffe has been well called "a most fantastic form 
of deer" ; the okapi may be designated with equal truth 
"the most fantastic form o£ antelope." Although, as 
I have said, the head is in some respects strongly giraffe- 
like, the eye of the okapi scarcely bears out this resem- 
blance. The giraffe's eye is large, tender and melting, 
soft brown in hue. and shaded by long lashes. The eye 
of the okapi is, on the contrary, .small, dark, protruding 
and inilovely. It has none of the beauty of the giraffcV 
liquid eye, and is set somewhat lower in the head. 
Ages ago Pliny remarked that from Africa there is 
THE OKAPI, THE NEWLY DISCOVERED AFRICAN MAMMAL. 
The mounted specimen in London. 
always something new. The Dark Continent continues, 
to the latest hour of its history, to maintain this pre- 
eminence. It will be extremely interesting to hear 
further facts concerning the habits and life-history of this 
strange animal. At present we are very much in the 
dark as to the range and manner of life of the new 
species. It may be hoped that Sir Harry Johnston, to 
whom we are all indebted for this new and most in- 
teresting form of animal life, will shortly be able to 
procure what the lawyers term "further and better par- 
ticulars." 
Upon the whole Okapi johnstoni, as the scientists 
have labeled it, can scarcely be called a handsome con- 
trbiution to the fauna of Africa. It lacks the magnificent 
appearance of the eland, the koodoo, the sable and roan 
antelopes, the gemsbok and others of the nobler forms 
of antelope. It lacks, too, the unique and stately beauty 
of the tall giraffe. Its prototype would seem to have 
been some creature of the long remote past, when the an- 
cestors of the giraffe and antelopes were much more 
nearly allied than are these animals at the present day. 
It may, perhaps, like the tapir, be looked upon as a 
singular and bizarre instance of arrested development. 
Albino Sqaittels, 
Mr. Jesse S. Keys, of Madison, N. J., has sent to Mr. 
Fred Sauter, of this city, for mounting, three albino red 
squirrels. The animals are perfect specimens of albinos, 
two of them being a beautiful snow-white, without a 
speck of color. The other is not quite so clean in appear- 
ance; the skin is of a grayish-white color, but also with- 
out a spot. They were killed in New Jersey. 
G. F.p. 
All communications intended for Forer and. Stkkau should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., and 
not to any individual connected with the paper. 
Adventures in Tropical America* 
V, — Experiences with Wild Animals, 
Camping in the jungles of Central America one is cer- 
tain to encounter wild animals. Of these only the jaguars 
and sometimes the panthers are dangerous, and the In- 
dians tell many stories of wild encounters. From their 
description, an old female jaguar, with an acquired, dis- 
criminating taste for human blood, must be a creature 
dreadful indeed. 
During a journey in Spanish Honduras, some com- 
panions and myself were forced to remain about three 
months at a deserted lumber camp in the very center of 
the jungles. Here every night jaguars, panthers and 
tiger cats came prowling about the camp, filling the air 
at intervals with their strange cries. The tiger cats were 
not dangerous, but the jaguars and panthers caused us 
some alarm. Of all the sounds in the tropical forests, the 
cry of the jaguar is the most awe-inspiring. From all 
the tangled growth of the jungle, a myriad of minor 
voices constantly fills the early hours of the night ; then 
a volume of sound breaks in on the harmony of sound; 
a roar ending in a sudden choking and all is still; from 
the forest no sound arises, the jaguar has cried out on 
his pathway, and all nature pauses as if in fear, then, re- 
assured, the voices of the minor animals begin again, and 
presently are heard as before. 
One night I heard the voice of an unusually large 
jaguar coming nearer and nearer to camp; then presently 
its deep ci-y was heard close by the houses, and all was 
still. It was probably coming in, but where? Of course 
not from the place 
where it had last cried 
out; perhaps it would 
sneak along the river 
front, or come crawling 
in through the long 
grass of the savannah. 
While I waited listening 
a soft footfall was heard 
just by the house, and 
then a stealthy step com- 
' ing through an open 
room or piazza. It is 
preparing to attack, was 
my first thought. My 
„ 18,4 most exposed — 
** ' '"-•'-'-^^ in fact, nothing but a 
door covered with 
cheese cloth to keep out 
the mosquitoes, separat- 
ed me from the piazza. 
I sat up listening and 
fancied I heard a deep 
breathing. I called softly 
to my companions, got 
up, found my pistol and 
stood waiting. Every- 
thing was still. Then I 
whispered, "Let's go out 
and try for a shot." 
My companion whis- 
pered assent, and then 
said he would open the 
door, and cautioned me 
to be ready if the jaguar 
should spring through 
it. Then he whispered, 
"Ready?" opened the 
door and — ^got behind it. 
A breath of fresh air 
blew in my face, a 
shiver went down my 
back. That was all. An 
instant I stood waiting, 
and then stepped out. 
But the animal had gone 
as stealthily as it had 
come. Then out came 
my companion, all big 
words and flourish. To- 
gether we went about 
the camp for a time, 
hoping for a shot. Then 
the mosquitoes drove us in and we went to bed again. 
As time passed, wild animals became more troublesome. 
One night we were awakened by a great outcrying and 
cursing coming from the cook's quarters, and on hurrying 
out found the cook with a big club in his hand, and two 
or three frightened Indians standing behind him. 
"Them animals beats everything I did see," he said, as 
we came runnig up. "But the cheek of the brute ! It 
sneaked right past my mosquito net and went to eating at 
the meat I had saving for breakfast. I drove at it with 
this club and it got away, through a hole, I take it." 
"What was it?'' we all asked. 
"Panther — yellow and big enough for me anyway," and 
the cook looked at us as if to say, "Those animals are not 
dangerous; it's all Indian talk." We advised him not to 
attack panthers with a club at night, but if the thing came 
again to call us. Then, after talldng a little, we hursied to 
our mosquito bars, not having noticed till then how the 
insects were swarming around us. 
Next morning the cook said to me: "Mr. Frank, I 
thought it was a lot of rats or I wouldn't have done it, but 
I ain't telling that to them men," pointing to my com- 
panions. 
The next night, shortly after we went to bed, we heard 
the cook calling again, and hurried from our quarters to 
his aid. As we came running up his voice greeted us 
from under the mosquito bar, saying, "That panther has 
come again, bigger this time, and it's gone in the cook 
house." 
We went cautiously and stood looking in at the open 
door, where there was quite a large room, now perfectly 
dark. We stood there a moment, then I told the engineer 
to hold a torch over ray head and I would go in the room 
and try^ for a shot at the panther. There was but ,one 
door, and I felt sure of a shot this time. 
The engineer called me a blank, blank fool, a kid, a 
tenderfoot, and said he would hold no light at that door. 
"Well," I said, "I'm not going to miss this chance. I'll 
go in without a light" 
