OCR Text |
Show insulanus, carrying its young on its back. The specimen had been presented to the Society by Mr. Henry Munt, F.Z.S. 184 LT.-COL. C. DELME-RADCLIFFE ON THE NATURAL [June 6 , Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell, the Secretary to the Society, read a, paper, illustrated by lantern-slides, entitled " On the Intestinal Tract of Mammals." This paper will be published entire in the ‘ Transactions.' The following papers were read :- 1. Rough Notes on the Natural History of the Country West of Lake Victoria Nyanza. By Lt.-Col. C. D e lm k - R a d c l i f f e , M .A ^ .O ., F .Z .S . [Received June 6, 1905.] These notes contain the general results of my observations on the Natural History of the region traversed by the Anglo-German Boundary Commission in the years 1902-4. Memoirs dealing more exactly with the collections that were made have already appeared in the ‘ Proceedings' of the Zoological Society (P. Z. S. 1904, vol. i. pp. 371, 459) and ‘ The Ibis' (1905, p. 199.). M am m a l s . Beginning with the larger mammals in the country under discussion, it may be stated that Elephants appear periodically in the swamps and forest near the mouth of the Kagera River on the northern side. These elephants stray in this direction, probably, at a time when it is dry in the interior. They come, no doubt, from the herds in northern Ankole and Toru. At no other point were traces of elephants seen except one single track go ins; from north to south from o © the Koki hills towards the Busenya forest. In the west, a few elephants were noticed near the shores of Lake Albert Edward, also probably stragglers from the herds further north. There was no evidence of elephants crossing from south to north, or vice versa, along the 1st parallel south latitude. It may perhaps be assumed that the herds of elephants reported by E. S. ( Irogan and other travellers in the Mfumbiro district belong to the forest-regions of the west. The herds of elephants on the east of Lake Albert Edward and Ruwenzori probably do not wander into the Congo forests. It has been noticed that the elephants to the west of the great line indicated by Lake 'Tanganyika, Lake Kivu, Lake Albert Edward, Lake Albert, &c., and the Nile differ in many particulars from those lying to the east of this line. At the same time, it must be remembered that large herds of elephants are in the habit of crossing the Nile to |