202 
In the Heart of Africa 
acquainted with the name of this singular mammal. It is only 
a few years back that a Scandinavian, Lieutenant Erikson, in 
the Belgian service, discovered the existence of an antelope-like 
animal, which was named “Okapi” by the forest dwellers. He 
was also fortunate enough to secure a skin. Through the 
mediation of Sir Harry Johnston, Governor of Uganda, the skin 
reached London, where it excited great comment amongst the 
savants on account of its unique quality and markings. Soon 
after it was acquired at a very high price for the Tring museum. 
Kuhnert’s picture is more instructive than pages of description. 
The striking markings on the legs, the length of the neck, the 
high withers, and the colour of the head may be regarded as 
the main characteristics of the creature. The height of the 
withers corresponds to that of a large ox. 
The most remarkable part of it is how a mammal so con¬ 
spicuous in character could have remained concealed until com¬ 
paratively recently in a territory which has been under European 
administration for over twenty years, and in which over i,ooo 
white men live. This circumstance may well lead to the con¬ 
clusion that the exploration of this vast forest region, which 
comprises an area several times the size of Germany, is by 
no means exhausted. 
The bagging of an okapi by a European can only occur by 
accident. A systematic pursuit of this excessively shy creature 
would be almost useless. The density of the forest, the tread 
of heavy boots, the rustling of the clothes against bushes, would 
invariably frustrate the attempts of any European hunter. The 
difficulties may best be illustrated by the fact that in 1905 Major 
Powell Cotton, at Makala, farther westward in the forest, de¬ 
voted six months to the chase of the okapi, and only obtained 
one animal-—and that through the pygmies. At least he had the 
satisfaction of viewing the much coveted game immediately after 
it was killed—a privilege accorded to few. 
Our own hopes of getting a shot at an okapi sank very 
rapidly when we got a closer glimpse into the positively un¬ 
fathomable tangle of the forest. We soon discovered that the 
