270 
Mr. W. P. Lowe on the 
[Ibis, 
here I settled down to work—chiefly oil Tasso Island,—blit 
paying a few short visits to Yatward, Mayahgba, Rotoombo, 
and other islands, as well as a day’s sail up the Rokelle River 
to Mabile, where the river becomes more narrow and difficult 
of passage on account of the large rocks in the river-bed. 
It was here that I saw on 16 April a Kori Bastard, which 
almost without doubt was Otis kori struthiunculus. So far as 
I know, no Kori Bustard has been recorded from the West 
Coast, and it is therefore possible that, had I obtained a 
specimen, it would have proved to belong to an undescribed 
race—possibly a dark form of the North-African Kori 
Bustard. I also came across a small dry pond where the bird 
dusted itself, and was able to examine many feathers from 
the wings. 
On my return I stayed at Mahera, and it was here I 
discovered the new Giant Swift ( Micropus cequatorialis loicei ), 
which Mr. Bannerman has described, in abundance. 
I shall now confine myself chiefly to Tasso Island. It 
may be of interest to say that the word Tasso means te a 
resting-place,” where all the native boats stop on their 
journeys up and down the river waiting for wind and tide. 
Mayahgba means “ shaky island ”—possibly on account of 
the wind ; Yatward was named after a chief of the island ; 
whilst the large long island of Rotoomba,. which swarms 
with game and is nearly all covered with thick bush, means 
“ goat island,” on account of the so-called “ Bush-Goats ” 
(Cephaiopus niger), which seem to occur here and not on any 
of the other islands. 
The rather important village of Tasso is at the north¬ 
west corner of the island, and is one of the few spots not 
surrounded by a dense belt of mangroves. It was, no 
doubt, like Bense Island, a stronghold of the Dutch and 
Portuguese slavers—as the still remaining old cannons half 
buried in sand prove. The island is roughly about three by 
four miles in extent and distant a mile from the mainland 
It is probably about 60 ft. high and, like the mainland, of 
volcanic origin. It has a light sandy soil, and is for the 
most part covered with low scrubby bush, which is burnt 
