2 
Mr. G. L. Bates— Field-Notes on the 
Country, where I reached the village of Bezara. On this trip 
most of my time Tvas spent in travelling, and I got but few 
birds and nothing new. After returning to the coast at Kribi, 
I went back to the neighbourhood of the Ja, and settled at 
the village of Bitye, which has been my headquarters since 
December 1905. In 1906, and again in 1907,1 proceeded to 
the coast, and on both trips spent some time in collecting 
between Efuleu and Kribi. In April 1908 I went to the coast 
once more to take the steamer for England. The places 
where I collected are marked on the map which appeared 
in 'The Ibis' for October 1908 (p. 558, pi. xi.) by a line 
drawn under the name. 
My specimens were obtained in various w r avs. The least 
effective way, so far as the mere procuring of the birds was 
concerned, was shooting them myself. Still, I have always 
done this to some extent, for the sake of a better acquaintance 
with the birds in life. Certain natives have often been en¬ 
trusted with my guns to shoot specimens. Many of the 
larger forms have been shot by my hunter, when his principal 
object was four-footed game for meat. Some birds I have 
bought (with little trade-articles) from natives, who shot 
them with their own guns in the days when they could get 
powder. Now that is no longer possible, for the German 
Government has shut off the supply. I am the less sorry 
for this, as it has caused the native hunters to return to their 
crossbows and little arrows, which do not damage specimens 
so much as shot. The bows they hold out in front of 
them w r hen they shoot, at arm's length (see text-fig. 1, p. 3), 
sighting along the shaft or stock, on which is laid the tiny 
arrow. These arrows are made of the split dry stalks of the 
Raphia- palm—the same that are used here in building houses. 
They are only about eight inches long and little larger than 
a knitting-needle. I never cease wondering at the skill dis¬ 
played even by boys, who can send one of these little splinters 
through the body of a bird no bigger than the thumb, often 
from a considerable distance. The same little arrows, when 
poisoned, are used to kill monkeys, and even the large apes. 
For birds they are not poisoned. The bow and little arrow's 
