106 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
Again, if we are to believe the testimony of truthful and 
disinterested informants who have resided years on the coast, 
the missionaries have, so far, produced little or no impression 
on the savage nature of the inhabitants. This arises chiefly 
from the degraded state of the natives, but also to some 
extent from the want of unanimity and the sectarian spirit pre- 
valent amongst the missionaries themselves ; each denomina- 
tion representing its own as the only true Christianity. What 
may be the result of schools and missionary labours hereafter, 
it is impossible to say ; and perhaps when their teachings are 
supported by something better than the trader’s ram, and are 
no longer illustrated by a code of morals which can be studied 
to advantage on the qi lays of our large towns, then - efforts may 
be more successful; but at present fetish-worship and human 
sacrifice are carried on as openly as the day when the missionary 
first landed. 
From its human inhabitants we naturally descend (not a 
great way, however !) to the fauna of the coast and its vicinity. 
The description of these alone would fill volumes ; but our 
space will only allow us to name a few of the leading types. 
Amongst the Quadrumana we find several large fierce apes, 
at the head of which stands the gorilla, a creature with whose 
appearance the world has been familiarized through the 
account given of it by M. Du Chaillu. Very little is, however, 
known of the natural history and habits of any of these 
interesting animals. 
Bats are present in great numbers ; and amongst the Rodentia 
we have several species of squirrel. 
The leopard is the chief of the Carnivora, filling the place 
held by the lion and tiger in other parts of the tropics. It is 
accompanied in this group by the hyena, fox, &c. 
Of Ruminants there is a great variety, the most characteristic 
being the wild bull, antelope, and gazelle. 
But the most interesting, and by far the most useful, animals 
in this region, are found amongst the Pachyderms ; viz., the 
elephant, hippopotamus, and wild hog ; the two former yielding 
ivory and flesh-meat, and the latter affording a supply of food 
to the natives. 
A word concerning the elephant. At present it is mercilessly 
slaughtered by the natives for the sake of its valuable ivory ; 
but there is no doubt, that in so doing they are, to use a fami- 
liar expression, “ killing the goose for the sake of the golden 
egg;” and if this animal should not have been exterminated 
before civilization has planted its foot firmly upon these bar- 
barous shores, it will, doubtless, become as useful a beast of 
burden as it is in India, and will perform the labour at present 
imposed upon the women. 
