98 
THE WATER-ELEPHANT 
it sank below the surface of the water. On the second occasion, 
he saw five of these animals on land and was able to look at 
them for fully one minute through his glasses and, as they 
were in tall grass 400 yards distant, he had a good opportunity 
to observe. He took a shot at one of them and hit it in the 
shoulder, but though he offered the natives an ample reward 
they never were able to recover it. 
Height at shoulder, 6 to 8 feet. Legs relatively short. 
Back curved, as in E. africanus. Tail not observed. Neck 
about twice the length of E. africanus with ears similar in 
shape to those of that species, but relatively smaller. Head 
most distinctly long and ovoid in form, with trunk only about 
2 feet in length. The shape of the feet was seen in the spoor 
on sand and showed four toes distinctly separated as in the 
hippopotamus, but the weight of the body seemed to be 
carried by the toes largely, while the plantar impression of 
the sole was not very pronounced. The ground was level 
where this spoor was seen. All the animals observed had no 
traces of tusks. Skin is apparently hairless, smooth and 
shiny resembling that of a hippopotamus, only darker. The gait 
was elephantine, and the last seen of those five water-elephants 
was their disappearance into the water, which was deep. In 
habit they are nocturnal, coming out to feed on strong rank 
grass after sundown. They spend the day in the water much 
as hippopotami do. The Babumas (fishing natives) know 
this animal well and have a name for it, ‘ Ndgoko na Maiji,’ 
meaning the water-elephant, and they fear it greatly as it is 
known to rise from the water and with its short trunk capsize 
canoes. It is also very destructive to the nets and reed fish- 
traps of the natives. Its locality is apparently very restricted, 
and the natives maintain they are not very numerous. 
The above description is certainly circumstantial, and 
M. Le Petit furnishes a similar account to the museum of 
Paris which I hear Mr. R. Lydekker (of the Natural History 
Museum) has referred to. Up till now, I believe, he has made 
no pronouncement on the new animal. 
Should a specimen be obtained it would certainly prove a 
new genus, and the discovery of such among the Proboscidea 
would create intense zoological interest. 
