| OCR Text |
Show 1876.] MR. P. L. SCLATER ON THE HORN OF A DEER. 179 Islands, where they used to be so numerous. Admiral Fitzroy found a party on James Island making oil in 1835. "In Abingdon Island, where they are not numerous, I believe they are doomed to destruction directly the orchilla-pickers are placed on the island; for a party of sixty or eighty men will soon hunt over this small island, and discover every individual on it. The meat is highly esteemed by the inhabitants; we found it rather tough and stringy ; but it makes excellent soup. " The tameness of the birds on the islands has been frequently noticed; it is certainly very remarkable, especially in Charles and Chatham Islands, which have been so long inhabited; the small birds of all kinds are so tame that they are easily knocked down with a switch; some of the men killed numbers of doves in this manner. "The rocks at Iguana Cove were thickly covered with the hideous black Iguanas mentioned by Admiral Fitzroy. We found them in numbers at the other places we visited, but nowhere else so numerous or so large in size. Here they were found to weigh from 20 to 22 lb., against 12 to 14 lb. from other localities." Mr. Frederick Selous, Jr., exhibited a series of horns of African Rhinoceroses in illustration of Mr. Drummond's paper read at the last Meeting of the Society. These horns had been" obtained in various localities in eastern Africa, and consisted of the following specimens :- 1. R. bicornis major 3. Shot at Tamasanka, Nov. 19, 1874, about lat. 19° 50' S., long 26° 10' E. 2. R. bicornis major 2 • Shot near the river Gwai, September 1873, about lat. 18° 50' S., long. 27° E. 3. R. keitloa $ • Shot on the southern edge of the marshes of the Chebe river, August 28, 1874, about lat. 18° 30' S., long;. 4° 50' E. ° 4. R. simus 2 • Shot on the border of the hills between the Gwai and Zambesi rivers, May 1874, about lat. 18° 40' S., long. 26° 30'E. & 5. R. simus $. Shot Oct. 1872, near the river Sech Wechive, north-east of the Matabili country, about lat. 18° 30' S., long-. 29° 50'E. & 6. R. simus $. Shot Nov. 15, 1874, about lat. 19° S., long. 26° E. 5 Mr. Sclater read the following extract from a letter addressed to him by Mr. Albert L. C. Le Sceuf, Hon. Secretary of the Zoological and Acclimatization Society of Melbourne, Australia:- " I send you the horn of a Deer we have in our gardens, and I shall be much obliged if you can let me know what variety it is. cannot find it described anywhere, although I do not doubt it will be familiar to you. The Deer were sent here some years ago bv Sir Henry Barkly, from the Mauritius. In appearance it is like the Sambur Deer, but smaller, say about three feet high or rather 12* |
