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Show 342 EECENT EXPEDITION TO BEITISH CENTEAL AFEICA. [May 7, I found amongst the smaller mammals an Arvicanthis, allied to A. abyssinicus, Riipp., Georychus ochraceo-cinereus of Heuglin, a Bendromys allied to D. mystacalis of Heuglin, a Mus allied to M. lateralis, Heuglin. I have to thank Mr. Oldfield Thomas for naming these Rodents and for other kind assistance. _ Leopards are very common and a terrible scourge in the eastern valleys of Ruwenzori. In some cases the natives keep within their bomas after 3 P.M. on account of them. One very dark evening tw7o of m y men were very severely hurt by them. The animal, after tasting the blood of one of them, leaped in amongst the camp-fires and seized a second. Lions are also common in the lower ground about Kasagamas. They hide in the neighbourhood of the plantations and carry off the women or solitary m e n when they come to work. With regard to birds, I have only brought a few specimens. Of these there are two species of Nectarinia. One of them (N. kili-mensis) is found amongst the bananas at from 5500 to 6600 feet in the valleys along the mountain. It seems to feed entirely on the flowers of the banana, and has a very beautiful reddish-bronze tint. The other, which is much smaller and more gaily coloured, occurs up to 11,000 feet, and seems to feed chiefly on a large Acanthaceous flower which grows in enormous profusion at that height; it also feeds on other characteristic shrubs of that region, chiefly of the same order. The Crowned Crane is extremely common all round Ruwenzori, but particularly in the Semliki valley. With regard to Reptiles and Amphibia, I understand from Dr. Giinther that amongst m y specimens there is a new Chameleon represented. Turning to the insects, a very curious Beetle (Heliocopus colossus) of enormous size seems to be very common along the East Ruwenzori in places where Elephants exist. It is found only in their dung, in which it lays its eggs. I also found examples of another species, H. hamadryas. Perhaps I may be allowed to say that, taking the remarks which I have obtained from those who have looked at m y zoological specimens, tbe general impression seems to be that there is at Ruwenzori a meeting-point of two very distinct faunas, one western and the other Abyssinian and Cape. This coincides very closely with m y own impressions of the flora. From the mountains of Abyssinia along the east coast-keeping, i. e., at an altitude of 4000 feet-down to Mashonaland there is a flora which becomes gradually more and more like that of the Transvaal. The Shire Highlands' plants are much nearer those of Mashonaland than one would suppose. The West-African and Congo flora seems to have mingled with this northern flora at Ruwenzori, where one of the valleys, the Wimi, contains many western forms. I think there is some reason to suppose that the Uganda plateau, or, one might say, the range of Jackson's Hartebeest, is a minor offshoot of this Abyssinian-Cape affinity, of which Somaliland (with Swayne's Hartebeest) represents another offshoot- |