3 IO 
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 
vestiges of the second and fifth metacarpal and metatarsal bones are lost, and 
even the false hoofs representing these missing toes are often flattened and 
reduced in size (so that some Duykers are almost completely two-toed), yet in 
other respects they may be regarded as a low type of antelope not far removed 
from the central stem from which the ring-horned ruminants branched out. 
The nose is quite naked and irresistibly suggests a resemblance to that feature 
in the pig-like Dorcatherium of West Africa, which is the nearest living repre¬ 
sentative of the type from which all existing ruminating Artiodactyles sprang. 
I believe some anatomists have discovered minute traces of an upper canine 
which does not pierce the gum in the young of Cephaloplms. The species of 
DIAGRAM SHOWING ORIGIN AND RELATIONSHIPS OF MODERN GROUPS OF HORNED RUMINANTS 
this genus which is found in Nyasaland is the common Duyker, Ccphalopkus 
grimmi. 
A remarkable little antelope of the genus Raphicerus was recently discovered 
by Mr. Sharpe at the south end of Lake Nyasa and sent home. It proved 
to be a new species of Steinbok and was named R. sharpei after its discoverer. 
It is illustrated in the Zoological Society’s Proceedings of April 1st, 1897, and 
is closely allied to the Steinboks of South Africa. 
The little Klipspringer is found in all rocky places and upon high mountains 
like Mlanje. The stories told of its jumps are almost as marvellous as those of 
the Ibex and Chamois. I have not myself witnessed any of these wonderful 
leaps but it is quite conceivable that they occur. Exaggerated stories are told 
of its being able to place all four feet together on a space not larger than a 
crown piece. Of course this is impossible, but it can stand with all of its four 
