THE SMALLEB FAUNA OE MOUNT ELGON 95 
your wrists, and as this animal is the host of many parasites, 
these latter busy themselves by crawling up your arms and 
tickle you everywhere. You are often perplexed to decide 
whether to finish a cut you are making or to stop and scratch 
yourself. For unpleasantness of skinning it comes a good 
second to the Apteryx of New Zealand. That bird may be 
described as a saturated solution of lice. One becomes accus- 
tomed to a good many disagreeables in collecting work, but 
I never again want to skin an Apteryx. The tickling and 
creeping sensation of the Apteryx lice remained with me 
no less than four days afterwards, in spite of many baths and 
washes. 
A Buganda boy, whom I had, volunteered the information 
that he knew of the existence of a ‘ small white animal ’ on 
the western summit of Elgon. He pointed to white paper or 
cotton-sheeting and said, ‘ the same as that.’ He furthermore 
indicated the size of trap necessary for them. From which I 
concluded that a white mouse or rat or perhaps a weasel or 
stoat does exist on the summit of Elgon. I was sorry to leave 
the mountain without being able to investigate this point ; 
but it must be for some future worker better equipped with 
reliable carriers. 
But the chief prize of the expedition so far has come from 
the Kakamega or Nandi Forest. It is the Potto, a lemur- 
like animal of a genus hitherto only known as inhabiting 
West Africa. This is a fine new species and a good specimen. 
Messrs. Maturin and Brett of Mumias very kindly gave it to 
me for the collection, and a right welcome gift it proves to be. 
Mr. Brett obtained it at Kakamega and sent it through alive 
to Mr. Maturin at Mumias, carefully imprisoned in a box. 
Maturin tied a string to it and let it climb up a gum-tree to 
sleep. On the following morning it was quite out of reach. 
Then Maturin very kindly gave me leave to take possession. 
I had to get it down somehow. I was in rather a hurry because 
a force of twenty porters was waiting ready with loads to take 
me through to Nandi and the sun was getting well up. In the 
end we had to shoot the poor little Potto. I skinned him that 
night half-way between Mumias and the place he originally 
came from, Kakamega. Now he reposes as a dry specimen 
