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Show 1 9 0 5 .] ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE OKAPI. 309 2. Notes on the Geographical Distribution of the Okapi. By Dr. E inar L onnberg, C.M.Z.S. [Received August 28, 1905. j I have had the pleasure recently of meeting my compatriot Lieutenant Karl Eriksson, who delivered to Sir Harry Johnston the first skull and skin of the Okapi. I took this opportunity of asking Lieutenant Eriksson about the distribution of this remarkable animal, and his reply was that he believed it to be distributed practically over the whole of the " equatorial forest " of the Congo Free State. He showed me on the map of the Congo basin appended to Mr. Boulenger's work, ‘ Les Poissons du Bassin du Congo' *, the approximate limits of this area of distribution. If we begin at the River Ubangi in the west about midway between Mobena and Jmese, from there the limit extends northeast towards Businga at the River Likame or somewhat north of that place, and then more east to the River Uele just before it joins the River Ubangi. From that place and eastward the River Uele is the northern limit to a point about midway between Amadi and Suruaugo. From there it turns south-east, passing somewhat east of Mawambi, and continuing to a point a little west of Karimi. Not much south of this, the most eastern point of the great forest, the boundary-line turns westward again and crosses the great Congo River at Ponthierville, and continues westward a little south of Tschuapa River, but bends by-and-by a little north, so that it passes on the northern side of Bolondo towards Coquilhatville. It is evident that this is only a rough outline of the area of distribution of the Okapi, but it may hold good in a general way. Outside this boundary-line there are many forest-clad areas, but they are not extensive, and Lieutenant Eriksson does not believe that they are inhabited by the Okapi. It is an inhabitant of the great forest, but does not live everywhere in it. Its regular pasture-grounds are open glades in the forest, where rivulets with shallow water expand and produce a rich growth of grass. This grass and the leaves of the bushes and undergrowth under the trees, which are especially luxuriant in such places, may form the principal food of the Okapi. Although a shallow sheet of water expands over the very flat ground to greater or less extent in these glades, there are no swamps. The soil is hard and firm t, which explains the shape of the hoofs of the animal. Lieutenant Eriksson has not seen the Okapi in a living state in its natural surroundings, as probably no white man ever has or is likely to do. But he has, while on liis marches during the night, * Bruxelles, 1901. f Because gravel or hard red earth lies quite near the surface. |