TLhc journal
OF THE
East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society
November 1912
VOL. III.
No. 5
CONTENTS
1. OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
2 ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1911. By the Honorary Secretary .
3 NOTES ON COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA. By R . J.Cuninghame 4. THE THOWA RIVER. By Arthur M. Champion 5 EARLY MAN IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA. By C. W. Hobley
6. GAME OF N. KAVIRONDO, By C W. Woodhouse . . . ^
7. JORES’ METHOD OF PRESERVING NATURAL HISTORY SPECIMENS
By Dr. P. H. Ross and A. B. Percival . . . , . . • „
8. PRESERVATION OF SEA FISH IN JORES’ SOLUTION. By R, J
CUNINGHAME .........
9. SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA. By C. W. Hobley. .
10. LIST OF PLANTS AND TREES IN, V, C. S, GARDEN, NAIROBI
By E. Battiscombe and C. W. Hobley ....
NOTES
ON SPITTING COBRAS. By S. W. J. Scholefield DESTRUCTION OF MAIZE BY JACKALS. By C. M. Dobbs SOLITARY ELEPHANT IN KAVIRONDO. By C. W. Woodhouse NOTE BY COMMITTEE
37
EDITORIAL EVENING ME
ETINGS
ILLUSTRATIONS
BARRACUDA JSPHYRAENA.OP^YNfroa y
£§£Mp°aSa?£ W^a
ON THE^MUD^PA?.
RIVER BED AT
’ ’ | Frontispiece
KASILUNI 3 KWA'
_ PANS NEAR KILUMBI , _ . .
THE TWO AKAMBA HUNTERS SOLO AND MUNUBI . SKETCH MAP OF THE THOWA RIVER •
STONE IMPLEMENTS (OBSIDIAN) FROM BRITISH EAST
FIGS. I & II
Ill & IV
STONE IMPLEMENTS FOUND BY DR.S FELIX [OSWALD, Champion , . ...... •
AFRICA
By A. M
EDITORS
C. W. HOBLEY, C.M.G.
T.r J. ANDERSON, B.Sc.
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, NEW YORK, BOMBAY AND CALCUTTA Jill rights reserved
Ski
Additional copies: to members, Bs. ,3 (4j‘) ; to non-mefoberSy 3.: 4 1
mmm ■ H l \Aa^2Ciw8
BARRACUDA (SPHYRAENA, OP:) Weight 45 lbs., length 4 ft. 10 in., girth 1 ft. 8J in. March, 1912.
THE MOMBASA ‘ KOLI KOLI ’ (THYNNUS SP:) Weight 18 lbs. .Total length 3 feet 2 in. Mombasa, May 1912.
THE JOURNAL
OF THE
EAST AFRICA AND UGANDA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY
November, 1912. VOL. III. No. 5
Ipatr one
SIR E. P. C. GIROUARD, R.E., K.C.M.G., D.S.O. SIR JAMES HAYES SADLER, K.C.M.G., C.B.
SIR H. HESKETH BELL, K.C.M.G.
president
F. J. JACKSON, C.B., C.M.G., F.Z.S., F.L.S., M.B.O.U.
Uicc=ipresiDent
C. W. HOBLEY, C.M.G., M.R.Anthrop.Inst.
^Executive Committee T. J. ANDERSON, B.A., B.Sc.
A. G. ANDERSON
E. BATTISCOMBE, Assoc. Arbor. Society R. J. CUNNI.NGHAME, F.Z.S.
A. J. KLEIN
A. BLAYNEY PERCIYAL, F.Z.S.
R. J. STORDY, M.R.C.V.S., M.B.O.U.
R. B. WOOSNAM, F.Z.S.
IbonorarE {Treasurer
W. McGREGOR ROSS, B.A., M.Sc., B.E.
Ibonorarg Secretary JOHN SERGEANT
Ibouorarg Curators
E. BATTISCOMBE, Assoc. Arbor. Society R. J. CUNNINGHAME, F.Z.S.
1912
Vol. III.— No. 5.
2
LIST OF DONOES TO MUSEUM
Black, M. A., Reptile specimen.
Blanke, Reptile specimen.
Bool, E. A., Skulls of Forest Hogs, &c.
Champion, A., Reptile specimen.
Cunninghame, R. J., 300 small Mammals. A Collection of 150 Sea Fish from Mombasa, and 30 Books of Reference for the Library.
Dunman, H. B., a complete Elephant Skull.
Elkington, Mbs., Snake specimen.
Fairweather, F. A., White Ant specimens.
Fawcus, D., Reptile specimen.
Fischer, E. A., Birds and Reptiles.
Frick, C., Alcoholic Tanks and Cases.
Hampson, G., some Snakes and small Mammals specimens. Hobley, C. W., Snakes, Insects, and Human Crania.
Hollis, A. C., Anthropological Measuring Instruments for Crania, &c., Books for Library.
Holmes, Mrs., many Snakes and Reptiles.
Hunter, A. C., Reptile specimens.
Klein, A. J., Bird specimens.
Lane, C. R. W., a collection of Kikuyu Curios.
Luckman, Capt. A. 0., many Snakes and Reptiles. McLellan-Wilson, R., Snake specimens.
McMillan, W. N., Specimen Cases and Reptiles. Muggeridge, Mrs., New Zealand Curios.
Neave, S. A., a collection of Birds.
Newland, V. M., Native Curios.
Percival, A. B., a collection of some 900 identified Birds, 500 identified small Mammals, 250 identified ditto, many River Fish specimens, and some land Shells. Rainsford, R. F., Geological specimens.
Scholefield, S. W. J., Snakes.
Seth-Smith, M. P., Skins and Skulls of small Antelopes, Jackals, &c.
Turner, H. J. A., many Mounted Bird specimens.
Wilson, J., Bird specimens.
Woodhouse, C. W., Giraffe and other Skulls.
Woosnam, R. B., many Bird specimens, also Buffalo Skulls, Rhino Horns, and Reptiles.
REPORT
3
REPORT, 1911
Through the absence of several Members of the Committee from the country, and pressure of business and official duties upon others, the affairs of the Society during the past year, the Com- mittee regret to record, have been more or less at a standstill, and there has been a considerable falling off in Membership.
During the year the Society has been fortunate in receiving two handsome donations for the Museum, one of £100 from Mr. W. N. Macmillan and one of £25 from Mr. Gilbert Blaine. These generous donations will more than cover the cost of the cases which are now completed and installed in the Museum, and have also enabled the Committee to obtain from home setting-up material, mounting boards, preservatives, labels, bottles, botanical papers, &c. &c.
A considerable amount of material is now in the possession of the Society, and steady efforts will be made to arrange and catalogue the specimens in such a way as to render them accessible to Members for purposes of reference. When this is done it is believed that further material will flow in at an increased rate. The work of arrangement is being divided up amongst various Members of the Committee and others, and will, it is believed, be completed at an early date.
It is proposed to notify Members from time to time in the Journal as to what class of specimens is mostly needed to make our collection representative. At present anything and everything which can be obtained will be welcomed, if it is properly preserved and labelled with full data, &c. Ac.
It is gratifying to be able to report that His Excellency Sir Percy Girouard has asked Members of the Administra- tion to obtain specimens of heads of the greater fauna for the Society’s collection, and that he takes an interest in the Society’s progress.
Mr. McGregor Ross kindly gave a lecture in Garvie’s Hall on the evening of August 2, in aid of the funds of the Society, entitled ‘ Down the Tana River,’ illustrated by a series of lantern views, at which His Excellency the Governor and suite were present, and from which the funds of the Society received considerable benefit.
4
COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA
The publication of the second number of the 1911 Journal, No. 4, has been greatly delayed owing to the causes already referred to, the MS. having only been sent off a few weeks ago. Journal No. 5, the first number for 1912, is nearly complete and should be ready for the publishers in a short time.
It is not proposed at present to attempt to issue more than two numbers of the Journal per annum, as it is difficult to obtain articles or notes for more.
Proposals relating to the alteration of Rule 6 providing for the creation of a new class of Members to be termed Associate Members, whose subscription would be only Rs.7*50 per annum, are about to be laid before the Members, who will be asked to vote upon the proposals simultaneously with the voting for the new Committee.
The Society now exchanges publications with most of the principal Societies of a kindred nature in the world, and the Library is being continually augmented by their Reports and Periodicals. The British Museum Authorities have also presented the Society with Catalogues of their various sections, which should prove very helpful to our Members for reference.
John Sergeant,
Honorary Secretary.
May 14, 1912.
NOTES ON COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA1 By R. J. Cuninghame
During the months of March and April 1912, 1 was at Mom- basa making a collection of sea fish for the British Museum, but on my arrival at the coast all the native fishing population formed a ring to frustrate my object and I found it impossible to obtain a native boat or any assistance. I had every sympathy with their dogged opposition, for how can one expect a hybrid native to grasp the unlimited possibilities of scientific achieve-
1 Re-written from an address delivered at the Museum, Nairobi, on May 30, 1912.
COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA
5
ment or the ethics of sport? I had the active assistance of officials and residents at Mombasa, who endeavoured to explain to the fishermen my object in securing fish, but it was without avail. I was supposed to have arrived to inaugurate a white man’s sea-fishing commercial industry, and if that was founded they saw the extinction of their profession.
For ten days I played the well-known political game of ‘ wait and see.’ I took a fish tank down to the market and placed some fish into a preservative solution after having taken many measurements, tying on leather labels, and asking endless questions. I also paid well for my specimens. Very soon this began to appeal to them, and I came to be well known to many of the fishers. They concluded I was peaceably inclined but mad, and therefore certain concessions might be made to me, and in this way I at last made a bargain for a sort of dug-out with a crew of four professional fishermen.
Many of you may conclude that sea fishing in tropical seas is a very pleasant pastime, but I can assure you that, if you try, you will discover that the heat is most overpowering and the fierce glare from the shimmering water induces most violent headaches after being out, say, eight hours in a dug-out. Blue glasses give some relief, and should be worn constantly.
The Mombasa fishermen are wonderfully skilled and in- genious in their devices for capturing fish. They make their own lines, and most serviceable material it is. Their ‘ owzeeo,’ or fish traps, are the same as those found amongst all fishing communities in Africa, and the owners make a good living out of them. Then they have huge lobster-pots or creels of some seven feet in length, four feet broad, and two feet high. These they sink inside and outside the reef in some four or five fathoms of water. To lift them, two men go out in a dug-out, and on reaching a creel one of them dives to the bottom and makes inspection. If there are fish caught, the creel is hauled up and dexterously placed athwart the dug-out and balanced there, a feat which no white man can perform. The fish are prodded out with a pointed stick, fresh bait is inserted, and over slides the fish-pot again, often accompanied by a fisherman who guides it to a good position. The bait used is a seaweed, gathered from the reef at low tide.
COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA
These creels are made of coco-nut and palm-leaf strips, and are very durable, but must be thoroughly dried twice a month.
Then they have large drag-nets taking a dozen men to haul. These are made of the same material as the fish creels. They are put out from a boat in about five feet of water, in a semi- circle, and the total length of rope and net will be some eighty yards.
During the process of dragging the net in, three men go out to the furthest end and remain under water as much as possible, clearing the net from the coral boulders. I noticed that the variety of fish taken was always very poor, but the men were well repaid by the quantity.
I collected over 200 fish, each representing a different species, sub-species, or variety, but as I possess no particular ichthyological training my determinations in many cases may be wrong.
I take it that pronounced and recurrent differences in markings, such as maculation, lines of colour, and angle of gill slit, constitute what are termed good characteristics, and on this assumption I base my 200 or more distinct varieties of fish. I do not propose to enter into any minute description, but simply to give my general ideas and observations on some of the species found in Mombasa waters.
There are about twenty-two local or annual species which are always present in the vicinity of Mombasa. Then you have two great immigrations, one from the north with the north- east monsoon, and the other from the south with the south- west monsoon.
During the short time (a little over two months) that I was actively engaged in collecting, I secured 112 specimens of fish, which I believe to be part of the northern lot, and some 68 specimens which most undoubtedly arrived from the south shortly after the south-west monsoon broke.
The period of the north-east monsoon ranges from December to March, and that of the south-west monsoon from April to October, and it is during this period that the rainy season occurs.
The direct cause of any wide movement of animal life is
COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA
7
always of peculiar interest, and I took special notes regarding their maximum and minimum weights, for fish, I believe, migrate only for two reasons. Firstly, the fry of certain fish roam immense distances, seeking new feeding grounds and steadily increasing their size, and consequent ability of journey- ing greater distances in a reduced time ; and, secondly, when adult, they seek with their elders the suitable spawning grounds that may have been used for generations.
The native fishermen are well acquainted with the seasonal changes of fish life, but always refer to the southern immigration as ‘ when the wind comes with the rain.’
The methods of capture that I employed were hand lines, trammel-net, seine-net, and trolling. But few species (compara- tively speaking) are caught by hand lining, and the best places are situated in deep water of fifty to eighty fathoms, which renders the capture rather laborious. The trammel is certainly a failure in these waters, as the tides are uniformly far too strong and the bottom too rocky to allow the net to fish properly. The seine-net often catches quantities, but for collecting a good variety of specimens it is hardly worth the labour after having tried it some half-dozen times.
In the scores of fish-traps, both on the ocean front and in the lagoons around Mombasa Island, I procured many of my best specimens, and during suitable conditions of the tide I used to patrol the coast and look over eight or ten different catches in a few hours. Then the lobster-pots or creels gave me quite a few fish, which are not obtainable except by this method of capture. By the way I call them lobster-pots, but there are no lobsters on the African coast. The fish called lobsters are Cray-fish, of wThich there seems to be two species locally.
Now I should like to say a little about the Game fish. Unfortunately I arrived rather late in the fishing season to study fish from a sporting standpoint, and by the time I had about completed my collection the south-west monsoon had broken and it was impossible to go away out upon the ocean. I, however, had a little experience, and I have collected a good deal of what I believe to be reliable information from native sources.
When at sea I had often observed two quite different species
8
COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA
leaping away some four miles out from land, and one day I took a friend with a tarpon rod, reel, and line. We got well outside, and trolled with a small two -inch pike spinning- bait called a ‘ clipper spinner.’ When about three miles out, and in the hundred fathom-line, something took bait and for half an hour we had great sport ; the fish never showed himself, but his rushes wTere really serious during the beginning of the struggle. On being brought alongside and gaffed, his vitality was such that he bent a new strong steel gaff. This fish I believe to be the Barracuda and it weighed forty-five pounds ; the weight is not great, but the power of the fish far exceeds that of any salmon of similar weight.
The Barracuda is a cosmopolitan fish inhabiting the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans, and is often caught by the dhows when they are on passage from Muscat to Zanzibar.
Provided the boat is going at a sufficient rate of speed, say, about eight miles an hour, the Barracuda will take a piece of white cloth with a bit of red material sewn on it. Any silver spinning-bait with a red tassel seems effective ; also as a natural bait, Squid, or a fish very similar to Holacanthus diacanthus may be used. Its jaws have most formidable teeth and a steel trace is essential to prevent many disappointments.
In Mombasa waters they are fairly numerous, and at high tide I have seen large examples leaping ten feet out of the water opposite Kilindini pier. They come up the channel after the small sprats and remain in the inshore waters only about two hours, i.e. between the turning of the high tide.
The native name is the ‘ Unguo ’ and three species are recognised.
As a game fish he is well worth trying for, and he is literally found just off the pier head at Kilindini.
The Frontispiece shows the Barracuda caught at Mom- basa, and you will observe the great breadth of the tail in comparison with that of the body. The Barracuda, I may mention, is a resident of Mombasa waters.
Another sporting fish is the Dolphin fish or ‘ Faloosi ’ of the Swahilis, seen in the rough sketch. This is essen- tially a migrant and arrives from the north about December, and all have passed south by the end of March. They are
COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA
9
caught in large numbers by the natives, who troll for them with a single hook, baited with a piece of squid. On a fish being hooked they haul him up to within a boat’s length and then throw out three more previously prepared baited hooks. The result is that as the school passes, a catch of five or six Dolphin fish are unceremoniously hauled aboard. If trolled by rod and line of light make, say, a thirteen-ounce rod, very fine sport will be had ; the average weight is about eight pounds, but for ten minutes they develop the energy of a fifteen pounder. While playing them, they are as much out of the sea as in it, but when landing them a gaff should not be used as they have a strong leathery skin which even a gaff skates about on, and
Dolphin Fish or ‘ Faloosi ’ ( Cory'phaena , sp.)
Weight 26 lb. Total length 3 ft. 10 in. Mombasa, March 1910.
will not readily penetrate. A large-mouthed landing-net would meet the case.
The Dolphin fish will take a ‘ spoon bait ’ or a ‘ clipper spinner,’ but the palate has a bony surface and the mouth is relatively small ; therefore a triangle hook is of not much use. It should be single and long in the shank.
The largest of these fish I saw weighed twenty-six pounds. The natives recognise two varieties, but I very much doubt the correctness of this.
The ‘ Faloosi ’ is always on migration when in the neigh- bourhood of Mombasa, and goes about in shoals of fifty or more. It is a surface feeder, and, as far as my knowledge goes, spawns in the Persian Gulf and travels down the coast of Africa to the vicinity of Mauritius. After that it is never seen again on its return north. It probably seeks deeper waters and
10
COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA
returns whence it came after the manner of the common herring in the Atlantic.
Now I come to speculate a little. I well know that specula- tion is very bad science ; still I am not writing a scientific article about these Game fish, but speaking more from a general point of view.
My readers will be acquainted with the American Tuna of the Pacific coast, of which there are three varieties : Thurnus alalonga, with the very attenuated side-fins ; Thunnus thynus, which is the name of the giant Tuna; and Thunnus maculatus, or yellow-finned Tuna.
In the Mediterranean we again find the Tuna under the name of Tunni. This fish is T. mediterraneus and known in the Mediterranean as Thon. It has never been known to take any sort of bait and is there captured in wire nets.
Further East still, we find a fish apparently identical with T. alalonga , or long-finned Tuna, in the neighbourhood of Aden, where the Somalis fish for them and sun-dry them for commercial purposes.
Then again at Malindi, on the moufch of the Athi or Sabaki River, reports have reached me of a fish that most closely resembles a Tuna in appearance, habits, and behaviour when hooked.
Off Mombasa the same fish is known to be present from December to February.
My informants have given me minute descriptions of the methods they employ for their capture, and have identified the fish from large illustrations I have shown them. Apparently there are two species of Tunas to be found off Mombasa, the long finned (T. alalonga) known as ‘ Djodari ’ at Mombasa, and the yellow-finned Tuna (T. viaculatus) known as Sayhaywa.
At Mombasa they feed largely on flying fish, which is also their chief diet off the coast of California, where sportsmen resort in large numbers and use dead flying-fish as bait.
Most unfortunately I was not fishing at Mombasa during the months these fish were passing through those waters, so that all I have to tell you about them is open to a certain amount of doubt ; but at the same time I feel convinced that a true Game sporting type of ocean-going fish awaits anyone who
COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA
11
can afford the leisure to try various forms of bait with rod and line.
The Sayhaywa, i.e. T. maculatus or yellow-finned Tuna, are present till the beginning of March and are always found in deep water, about three to five miles out at sea. They range in size from twelve to eighty pounds and their length runs from two to four feet, but they increase very disproportionately in girth as they develop. They are often seen jumping after flying fish, and they clear a height out of the water of some five to six feet.
With regard to the native method of capture, the fishermen first catches about ten pounds’ weight of a Sardine-like fish called ‘ Seemu,’ with a hand seine -net. As they are released from the net they are transferred into a special basket covered with sacking, which is secured to the gunwale of the boat, and immersed in the sea. When the desired amount of fish have been caught they proceed to sea, and when far enough out lower sail and mast and drift with the tide. A few of the live Sardines are then let loose and a handful more are taken and mushed up in the hands under the water.1 This is done to create a smell of oil. The process is kept up at intervals of a quarter of an hour ; and, when Tuna shows up, one Sardine fish is quickly placed on a hook by passing the same through both eyes, and is cast out. A live bait, so secured, will remain alive for about half an hour, and as long as it is alive there is a chance of a Tuna taking it, but they never take a dead natural bait.
When hooked, the Tuna never shows himself, but rushes straight away, though without any sound.
There is about 240 fathoms of strong line coiled in the boat and about three-quarters of this is allowed to run out. Then pressure is applied by hand and the fish is checked, and, if possible, hauled in a bit. When a rush is made again the line is let go, and so it goes on for two or three hours with a big fish.
Often they think the fish is lost, but it is only rushing towards the boat, and the surprise is very sudden to him who is handling the line.
1 I believe this is also practised in California and termed ‘ Chumming.’
12
COLLECTING SEA FISH AT MOMBASA
Sometimes the men, by putting on a careful strain, manage to get the Tuna to tow the boat about.
To get a Tuna aboard, a harpoon is used to spear him when alongside ; he is then roughly hauled up to the boat’s side and struck on the head till quiet.
Another way of catching Tuna is to troll for them, with a good breeze at, say, six miles an hour. The same hook and line are used, and the bait may be a triangular piece of squid or a bit of white cloth.
Both the Mombasa Tuna are greedy for flying fish, but it is next to impossible to secure that bait ; but if when a Tuna is caught it is cut open there is always the chance of finding a freshly swallowed flying-fish. If so, use it.
The natives recognise three species of Tuna, two of which they call 4 Say hay wa,’ and the other 4 Djodari ’ ; the latter is the largest and scarcest, and all seem to have traces of yellow on the fins and tail, but this colouration varies according to species. I could not determine exactly the individual distinc- tion of colour, as the native mind cares but little for the exact areas of pigmentation found on the fish he catches.
Two more Game fish deserve notice, which are named the 4 Tangessi,’ and the 4 Koli Koli ’ ( see Frontispiece). The Tangessi are a pike-like fish and are present throughout the year. They apparently spawn in these waters, but do not take a bait until they are about fifteen pounds in weight, while a large fish will scale forty pounds.
They may be caught both inside and outside the reef. For bait employ squid or a silver spoon, and sail at a good rate. When hooked they jump vigorously, but are not strong fighters.
The 4 Koli Koli ’ at first sight reminds one of Tuna alalonga , the long- finned variety, but though belonging to the same genus they are vastly inferior from a sportsman’s point of view.
These fish are present in Mombasa waters during nine months of the year, being absent in August, September, and October. In size they run from two pounds to fifty pounds, which indicates that they spawn in these waters.
For bait a live Perch, resembling a sea Perch and called ‘ Tawa ’ by the Swahilis, is the best ; the hook is passed
THE THOWA RIVER
13
through the dorsal fin, allowing the bait to swim alive for nearly an hour.
They can be caught with a piece of squid by trolling, and on taking the bait they rush straight away at a great speed, but apparently do not make a good fight.
They are never seen leaping at sea, and during May they are very plentiful and can be caught inside the reef. When the north-east monsoon blows they are always found out in the ocean.
Considering that indications of the presence of big Game fishes are to be found off Mombasa, I can only hope that some- one with sufficient leisure may soon undertake to give the capture of them by means of rod and line a fair and exhaustive trial. To do this successfully the use of a motor-boat is, in my opinion, essential. The local craft of all shapes and sizes are quite un- suited for the attempt, except in the inshore waters. The tides are comparatively strong, and during the best fishing months, December to March, the wind is very fitful and moderate, and causes hours of delay in reaching the outside fishing grounds where the big fish may be found.
As regards the question of the preservative I employed, and the results in my hands, I refer the reader to page 39 of this Journal, where a short article I have written on the subject will be found.
In a later issue I hope to chronicle a list of the fish in my collection, coupled with a few individual notes.
THE THOWA RIVER By Arthur M. Champion
The course of this river had for some years been a subject of much dispute, at any rate among those who have had any connection with the Kitui district. Opinions varied so widely that by some it was held to be in the Tana basin, whilst others maintained that it joined the Tiva and eventually flowed into the Sabaki.
14
THE THOWA RIVER
Some years ago Captain Aylmer led an expedition down the Tiva, and, though he was unable to get as far as he intended, obtained quite conclusive evidence that the river was absorbed in the sands of the Nyka. He also ascertained from the natives that the Thowa pursued an easterly course and was terminated by a lake of some size.
During a residence of more than two years in Kitui the natives had given me such conflicting information with regard to this river, that I naturally became more and more anxious to find out for myself, and so make an end to these disputes and conjectures. My work had frequently taken me to regions traversed by this river in its upper course, where it flows through a well-populated and not unfertile valley. During the rains I had found it to contain a great volume of water which not infrequently overflowed the channel. The muddy waters swept past me with no uncertain current, bearing along huge logs of dead wood and other debris. It seemed hardly credible that such a quantity of water could be absorbed before reaching the sea.
Some years ago Mr. Lane, when District Commissioner at Kitui, followed the river some thirty miles east of Mutha, and quite recently Mr. Scholefield has done the same. Both reported a well-defined broad channel running due east.
Judging from reports some difficulty with the water-supply might be expected, and so it was considered best to set out as soon after the cessation of rains as possible. The November- December rain in the Kitui district had not been good, so that arrangements were made for carrying two days’ water if neces- sary. In spite, however, of a rather late start, this provision was found unnecessary.
Mutha was reached by January 14 and here I found that the Chief Ngovi had already picked me out thirty of his strongest men, besides eight reserve men who, in addition to their bows and arrows, were armed with large knives for cutting the bush, which report said was very dense. Two old elephant hunters were also enlisted : Solo, an intrepid pursuer of all game, with a reputation of two hundred elephants to his poisoned shafts ; and Munubi, who had retired from the profession years past, and who was a man of extreme caution. After leaving Mutha
THE THOWA RIVER
15
we could hope for no supplies, as the country was reported to be quite uninhabited as far as the banks of the Tana, except for hunting parties of Galla and Ariungula. We did not, however, meet a human being from the day we left Mutha to the day we got back.
At sunrise on the following day we set out, a safari of fifty men in all, and reached Tulima, where a small pool of surface water was found. Tulima, as its name infers, is a little hill composed of granite-gneiss and is the most easterly of the great north and south dykes that constitute the hills of the Kitui district. Eastward the country was quite flat, with a straight and uninterrupted horizon of brown scrub.
At Lane’s Camp we first struck the Thowa, which was found to be about eighty yards broad, with a dry and sandy bed. Water of an excellent quality was, however, found at a depth of one foot. Up to this point the bush had been very thick, and, though we had followed an old track, considerable cutting was necessary before porters with loads could pass. The river banks were low and fringed with gigantic acacias known to the Akamba as * Mimina.’ In places a few rocks were exposed, and these consisted of banded gneisses and other Archaean rocks, all very hard and compact. Owing to the existence of so much bush and the entire flatness of the country, exposures of rock were quite insufficient for anything like a geological survey of the country. Judging from the sand and soil I think one may safely say that all the rocks belong to the Archaean Age, and that they lie for the most part in a practically horizontal position. Nowhere did we come across sedimentary rocks of any kind, except a few very recent river and lake deposits. A few loose fragments of phonolite were found lying about, but not seen in situ. These rocks I have also found north-east of Endau.
The third day after the Thowa had been crossed and left on our right, we encountered more open country and had no difficulty in following a track which had been kept more or less open by the passage of elephants. This led us into quite a hospitable-looking country, well provided with pools of water. It was by the side of one of these, known to the hunters as Eyani Mutumbi, that the camp was pitched. This pool was
16
THE THOWA RIVER
about eighty yards across and about two or three feet deep, and should provide water for, certainly, two months after the cessation of rains.
Up to this point we had seen no game, though Spoor of elephant, giraffe, oryx, and buffalo had been plentiful. A herd of five giraffes, delightfully unconscious of the camp, came down in the evening to drink at this pool. From this day onwards we were continually amongst game, though the fact was not so obvious in the bush country as on the open plain. On leaving this camp we soon emerged from the well-watered region and struck into a scrub — thick, thorny, and fearfully dry. Twelve miles of this were traversed before we could reach the river Thowa. We crossed it immediately, the breadth here being fifty yards, and encamped. This camp I have called the Thowa River Camp, as I could find no name for the locality. To the south lay an open alluvial plain, on which were to be seen eland, oryx, zebra, and Peter’s gazelle.
Beyond this point the general aspect of the country under- went a considerable change. The bush became more open, except for the forest fringe on either side of the river. These gigantic acacias and dom palms (Hyphcene thebaica) still held sway, protecting an entangled undergrowth, the home of count- less elephants. These beasts, it appears, shelter here in the heat of the day, browsing off the green vegetation, and only at night come out to wander afield. On one occasion only did I see an elephant in the open scrub country, but all day long they were to be heard within the fringe of forest. From the sounds themselves and the devastated condition of these same forests, I should say there must have been hundreds. Grass became very scanty giving place to large open spaces (vide photo) or mud-pans. In some places this mud was smooth and firm with a surface like asphalt, in others sun- cracked. Oryx, eland, lesser kudu, and gerenuk became quite numerous, and in the early morning were to be seen standing about on these open places.
Henceforward we followed the river for three days, at times pushing our way through the forest belt, at others making good pace over the mud-pans. At Watolo, where there is a large pool, the river divides, one arm running northwards and
DOM PALM IN THE KATHUA RIVER BED AT KASILUNI KWA MAHUNDU
ON THE MUD PANS NEAR KILUMBI.
THE THOWA RIVER
17
losing itself in an extensive swamp known as the Kamaka forest, a spot beloved by the old elephant-hunters. The southern arm, which is the main river, is very difficult to follow ; but on being joined by the Ngutu river reasserts itself in a remarkable manner, and runs in a broad and well-defined channel as far as Mutila. Beyond this point I am told it again divides, but at Kauti I found only one channel and that com- paratively narrow. From Kilumbi to Mutila the forest belt is much wider and abounds with elephants, but I did not see any very big tuskers. The largest that I saw might have scaled 70 lb., but the owner had but one.
From Kauti onwards the river became steadily narrower, but the heavy quartz sand, met with above, had for the most part given place to a fine mud, which set fairly hard and made walking much less arduous.
On January 25 we reached Muthungui, where the river loses itself in sand and mud. This spot is covered with trees of some size, thick undergrowth and rank grass, and during the rains must be very swampy. This was the farthest point reached, and, according to my fixing, measures eighteen miles from the Tana at a point called Marumbini ; there I climbed a tree, one of the highest, but could see no signs of the Tana River. Eastwards the Thowa was no more, and the country presented an unbroken horizon of brown scrub. Turning west I could see the course of the Thowa, well-defined by the green belt of trees fringing either bank. The aneroid recorded an elevation of 360 feet above sea-level.
The guides said that there was no water between Muthungui and the Tana, but that there existed a waterhole dug by the Galla people. It was doubtful if we should find water there. Moreover it appeared to be out of the direct line, so that two days would be required to reach the river. Shortage of supplies compelled us to relinquish the attempt to reach the Tana.
From Kauti, by way of varying the return route, we struck north-west till we met with the Kathua.1 This river we intended to follow up to its source, which the guides said was in the Endau range. A five-hour march brought us to a very small and dry
1 Ka is a Kikumba diminutive, Kathua therefore means small Thua. Thowa should, I think, be spelt Thua, but I have adhered to the old spelling.
Vol. III.— No. 5 0
18
THE THOWA EIYEE
watercourse, up which we worked our way. The width gradually increased, and we were soon astonished to find our- selves in a bed as broad as that of the Thowa, and fringed with large trees and dom palms. Water was found at a depth of about four or five feet in the sand.
The next day we continued up the river to a spot called Kasiluni Kwa Mahundu. In times past the guides told me Mahundu had been a mighty hunter and this was his favourite haunt. In fact, I was shown a gnarled old tree much disfigured by Mahundu in his efforts to make a suitable platform from which to shoot down at the elephants as they came to drink. Solo also seemed well up in the geography of the neighbourhood, and volunteered to go on up to another waterhole and see if water was obtainable. He returned early next morning, but his news was not encouraging, so we struck back on to the Thowa again and pursued our old track back to Mutha.
Though we failed to reach the Tana, the main object of the trip had been performed, namely, the determination of the course of the Thowa. Furthermore, I am convinced that Captain Aylmer’s information was, in the main, correct. From the general appearance of the country between the Thowa Eiver Camp and Kauti, and especially from the existence of these mud-pans, I am of the opinion that during the rains that region is for the most part under water : in this I am also supported by the evidence of the natives I had with me. From the appearance of the higher ground it would seem that the rainfall in these parts is very small. The flood must be entirely derived from the rains that fall on the hills which compose the centre and inhabited parts of the Kitui district.
At Muthungui there was a marked tree which, I was in- formed, stood at the termination of the river, but owing to exceptionally heavy rains, which occurred some years ago, this seems to have been extended so that the waters have now been pushed on several hundred yards.
The whole country, with the exception perhaps of a few hundred yards on either side of the river, is, I should say, entirely worthless. If the flood could be controlled, a limited cultivation might be possible, but at present I understand that the entire lack of water, even in the river bed during
THE TWO AKAMBA HUNTERS SOLO AND MUNUBI.
Note. — According to Kikamba custom the end of the trunk was cut off before life was entirely extinct.
THE THOWA EIVEE
19
the drought, precludes the possibility of European or even native occupation.
The Akamba consider the Thowa Eiver Camp as the extreme eastern limit of their territory, and the guides became quite anxious beyond this point, lest we should be attacked at night by hunting parties of the Galla. From what they said it would seem that the locality had been the scene of many fights between rival hunting parties of Galla and Akamba for possession of each other’s ivory.
As far as the Thowa Eiver Camp we had followed along an old track which at times became quite lost, but the guides, never losing their bearings, took direction from one marked tree to another. These seemed to be well-known landmarks to a number of the men. Beyond, no path existed ; but so skilfully did these men march from one landmark to another that the absence of the path caused no anxiety or delay.
In the inhabited parts of Kitui the Baobab trees frequently serve as convenient landmarks, but here they were entirely absent. The scrub presents an infinite variety of bushes, some dry and thorny, others with a soft green foliage, and a few bearing eatable berries. Three kinds of fibre were met with, but in small quantities only.
No tsetse flies were seen, though some other species of biting flies were secured. Butterflies were conspicuous by their absence.
The game encountered were such as have been mentioned above, with the addition of rhinoceros and a gazelle, which I took at first sight to be an immature gerenuk owing to absence of horns, but which, on closer inspection, I believe to be of another species. Greater kudu was reported, but I was only shown the spoor, with which I was not familiar. The horns of a waterbuck were picked up near Mutila.
Judging from spoor, the game must be very plentiful. But in a bush of this sort, one’s field of vision is so limited that one might be led to suppose that game were very scarce. A pair of lions were heard one morning, but that was all we heard or saw of lions or leopards.
Game birds are not plentiful and become scarcer as one goes east. They include guinea-fowl (vulturine with blue
20
EARLY MAN IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA
breast), francolin, sand-grouse, snipe, and lesser bustard. Other birds are comparatively scarce.
Throughout the trip, which extended over twenty-eight days, I enjoyed the companionship of Mr. Lindblom, to whom I am indebted for one of the photographs here reproduced. Attached also is a sketch map, on much reduced scale, of the route taken and the course of the river.
EARLY MAN IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA By C. W. Hobley.
One would expect to find relics of prehistoric man in Africa, perhaps more than anywhere on the globe, because it is the general opinion of geologists that the heart of the Continent has been continuously above the sea for a very long period, geologically speaking.
This hope has not been altogether disappointed, for stone weapons and implements have been discovered in different parts of the Continent, widely apart. The two areas in which most finds have been made are South Africa and the Nile Valley.
Artificial stone implements from Africa were probably first noticed in Egypt, being first accidentally found in the course of excavations for Egyptian antiquities, and owing to the extraordinary preservative qualities of the desert sand many bones, and other more or less perishable things, have come to light. In South Africa the first recorded implements were discovered about 1866, and since then many thousands have been picked up from Cape Colony to Rhodesia ; other evidences of culture, such as pottery, have been found, but they are rare. A few human remains have been found, but not to any great extent. Stone implements have also been recorded from Somaliland, Darfur, the Congo, and other places. In Europe and other parts of the world we owe a great deal to the wide occurrence of limestone deposits in preserving relics of early man, for two reasons. Limestone rocks easily weather into caves or large cavities, formed in it by the solvent action of
Lee scrub
ETCH M A
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5 O
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9 J
EARLY MAN IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA
21
rain water charged with carbonic acid gas. Early man in- habited these caves and often died there. In course of time layers of stalagmite were deposited over his remains, his imple- ments, and the bones of the animals he ate, and we often have preserved for us a fairly complete record of his life.
Taking Africa as a whole, limestone is rare and the convenient limestone cave does not often exist, and there- fore the chances of the preservation of natural museums are remote.
The central portion of Africa was probably much thinner populated in early times than South Africa, for where thousands of implements have been found there, only dozens have been found here. Of course. South Africa has been occupied by Europeans much longer than East Africa, and much more development has been done, excavation and such like; but for all that, one would think that more should have been found. It is, however, too early to come to definite conclusions on this point.
Possibly the intense volcanic action which took place in the heart of British East Africa, and which continued up to a very recent geological period, so terrified early man that he rather avoided the area and preferred countries less liable to violent eruptions and their attendant discomforts, or again it may be possible that the more savage fauna were too numerous for him to cope with : little, however, is to be gained by mere theorising. The first stone implements in British East Africa were discovered by Professor J. W. Gregory in 1892 at Gilgil, and were described by him in his delightful work ‘ The Great Rift Valley ’ (Murray).
The writer found a well-worked obsidian arrowT-head some years ago a few miles north of Kisumu, many miles from any obsidian in situ ; another one of white chalcedony was obtained from among the magic stones of a Kikuyu medicine- man, and it was said to have come from the Tana Valley.
Dr. F. Oswald reports having found a number of rude scrapers near Karungu, close to the shore of Lake Victoria. One of those curious perforated stones, known in South Africa as Kwe, was found a few years ago at Mwatate by Mr. Skene.
22
EARLY MAN IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA
A similar one, but broken in half, was found on a Fibre Estate at Voi..
A rude stone bowl (or mortar) was dug up a few miles south of Naivasha Station.
This and the Kwe from Mwatate were figured in the writer’s book on the 4 A-Kamba,’ p. 160.
Recently, beautifully worked arrow-heads were discovered in Kyambu district, on Kinangop Plateau and at Njoro, by Messrs. Montagu, Chesnaye, and Tunstall.
Njoro appears to be a very promising place, for Mr. W. Tunstall has sent in a small collection of worked obsidian stones, all of which he found in the vicinity. Two very perfectly rounded quartz spheres have been found, one on the top of a kopje in the Tsavo Valley and one in a cutting on the Magadi Railway. These were probably originally reduced, roughly, to their present shape by water action in pot-holes, but were picked up by early man and used as mullers for grinding and crushing roots, &c., and thus gradually assumed a more perfectly spherical shape. The specimen from Magadi was found some distance below the surface in a recent volcanic area, and there are no pot-holes within many miles. It is said that similar round stones are used to this day by the Masai to polish their new spears, and also to sharpen or put a gritty edge on the stones on which native meal is ground.
As far as is known no early pottery has yet come to light, no bone tools, and no cave drawings. More unfortunate still, no early skulls have yet been found ; but as before explained unless there is lime about, human bones very soon disintegrate and disappear. No ancient middens or rubbish heaps have yet been discovered.
The materials used for the implements discovered up to date are usually obsidian, but the scrapers found by Dr. Oswald were made of basalt. As above mentioned, one arrow-head of chalcedony or agate has been recorded. The perforated stone Kwes and the Naivasha mortar were of basalt and phonolite respectively.
The collections found in British East Africa are not yet large enough, and collateral evidence is too scanty, to enable any real attempt to be made at systematic classification, as
Fig. I. STONE IMPLEMENTS (OBSIDIAN) FROM B.E.A.
1. From Kinsbofi ( Chesnaye).
2. From Kyambu (Montagu).
3. From Njoro (Tunstall).
Fig. II. STONE IM PLEMENTS (OBSI DIAN) FROM B.E.A.
All from Njoro ( Tunstall)
EARLY MAN IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 23
has been done in Europe, and, to some extent, in South Africa.
In Europe the works of Stone Age man have been divided into some seven periods, commencing with the Chellean as the oldest and ending with the Azilian. Anthropologists have, however, only been able to do this on the grounds of differences in the associated faunal remains, which differences were partly due to changes of climate and partly due to the natural progress of development. In South Africa up to now the experts have not been able to correlate these European divisions with the various deposits found in that area, although they have found the remains of Mastodon, extinct form of bubaline antelope or hartebeest ; Bubalus baini, an extinct buffalo whose horns are much larger than anything now in existence, e.g. fourteen feet on the curve ; an extinct horse called Equus capensis, and traces of hyaena.
In East Africa the only animal remains found in associa- tion with stone implements were found in the Morendat Valley, near Naivasha, and consisted of a fragment of the jaw of an extinct horse named Equus hollisi, by Professor Ridgeway (‘ Proceedings Zoological Society,’ October 1909) ; it was found in beds of volcanic ash deposited in late Tertiary times under the waters of Naivasha Lake, which during that period covered a much greater extent than at present.
Any attempt to correlate the periods of a Stone Age in Africa with those of Europe is undesirable, for to do so one would have to work on false premises. As one well-known authority says : ‘ There never can be universal contemporaneity of an industry, and any attempt to make similar “ cultures ” of the same age over widely separated areas will receive but little support from facts in the field.’
Taking the Stone Age in Africa generally, there is little doubt that it continued on into fairly recent times and lived side by side with the use of iron. Many good authorities maintain that the art of working in iron had its birthplace in Africa, and if we accept this belief we can legitimately argue that when it appeared, or where it early obtained a firm root, it conflicted with the development of the stone-working industry, crushed it out of existence, and thus prevented its ever reaching its
24
EARLY MAN IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA
higher stages such as are represented by the beautiful polished celts, &c., of later Neolithic times in Europe.
It must also be remembered that in Europe a Bronze Age intervened between the last stone implement period and the coming of iron. There is no record of such a period in Africa, but it is believed that the natives of the South Congo worked the great copper deposits of the Katanga region longer than we are apt to think. Another factor which had a profound influence in Europe was the occurrence of the Ice Age, wdiich could not have appreciably affected the human inhabitants of Central Africa.
The South African implements have been divided by Dr. Peringuey into three groups which may be termed :
Type 1. — Palaeolithic.
Type 2. — South African Neolithic.
Type 3. — Later Neolithic — which corresponds to what has generally become known as the true Neolithic in Europe.
Type 1 will probably be found in East Africa and Uganda, and possibly the basalt scrapers recently discovered by Dr. Oswald near Karungu will be found to belong to this period.
The majority of the implements discovered in East Africa, howrever, appear to belong to Type 2, and consist of arrow-heads and scrapers. It is curious that no bouchers or primitive stone axes have been found, as they are well known in South Africa ; but they will doubtless turn up as more people turn attention to the quest for these relics.
With regard to Type 3, it is represented in Europe by beautifully worked arrow-heads, with tangs and stone axes, or celts ground or rubbed down until a smoothly worked edge was obtained, and also sometimes perforated for the handle.
The only articles found in British East Africa which con- form to this type are the two perforated stones called Kwe in South Africa, and which have been previously mentioned, and the stone bowl (or mortar) found at Naivasha. Certain old steatite pipe bowls still occasionally seen, the possession of chiefs in Kavirondo, may be survivals of this class of industry ;
Fig. III. STONE IMPLEMENTS (OBSIDIAN) FROM B.E.A.
All from near Kikuyu Sta.
The stone marked A is a core from which flakes have been struck.
Fig. IV. STONE ARROWHEAD (OBSIDIAN).
Found near Kyambu by Mr. Montagu. Enlarged znew of No. 2 0/ Fig. /.
EARLY MAN IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA
25
also the stone weights still worn in the ears of the Masai, the stone-headed clubs used by the tribes on the south and east of Kenya, stone anvils and the primitive grinding-stones still used everywhere for making meal from maize or millet. It is quite natural to find that the use of these implements has sur- vived up to the present day in the remoter parts of the country. In the caves and middens of South Africa many flat beads have been found, made of fragments of the shell of an ostrich egg, bored and rubbed down to a roughly circular shape. As far as is known no such ornaments have been found in East Africa in association with stone implements, but among the Turkana these beads are found in use at the present day, and this may be quoted as rather an interesting example of the survival of a prehistoric industry.
The perforated stones, previously referred to, deserve some notice ; they are very well known in South Africa, and are there called Kwe or Tikoe.
Their range is enormous, for they are of common occurrence in Cape Colony, Orange River Colony, but rarely found in the Transvaal ; some 800 of them have been found in South Africa. They are recorded from the Tanganyika Plateau, from Kiliman- jaro, and also from near Khartum and from South Kordofan. As previously mentioned, two have been found in this country and, doubtless, more will be discovered. Similar implements are found in Europe, and they have even been recorded from Chili.
In Europe they are associated with polished stone axes, and are of true and rather late Neolithic type. They are usually five or six inches in diameter with a perforation about one inch to one and a quarter inches in diameter.
It has been proved in South Africa from the evidence of early travellers and bushman drawings that they were used both as weights for digging-sticks, and were fastened on sticks and used for clubs. It is probable that the stone-headed clubs, still used by some of the tribes around Mount Kenya, are survivals of the Kwe.
Most of the obsidian arrow-heads and scrapers which have been discovered are evidently made from natural splinters or flakes of the rock, because numerous natural flakes are found
26
EARLY MAN IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA
in the Rift Valiev and other places alongside worked pieces ; but a core from which flakes have been artificially removed has been recently discovered. The implements are usually wrorked on one side only, and are classed as monohedral ; occasion- ally one finds one which is holokedral, or worked on all sides. These were almost certainly contemporaneous, but fashioned by workers wrho were specially adroit at the industry. The better specimens are usually found singly, and are probably the heads of arrows lost in the chase. If a quantity of worked stones are found in association, they are probably a collection of the wasters or failures ; no stone arrow-head with a tang has yet come to light.
The Kikuyu people have a legend of a former race called the Gumba, of pigmy stature, and they say that the sites of their old villages can be traced ; two localities are mentioned, one near Kikuyu Station and the other in Kenya Province, near the Tana Valley, and it is said that fragments of their pottery are sometimes found when cultivation is going on. Now near Kikuyu Station numerous worked flakes are to be found ; no pottery has yet come to hand, but it is possible that the Gumba legend is a traditional record of the existence of the Stone Age men.
In Kavirondo, and a few other places, certain jasper beads have, been found, and one might jump to the conclusion that these were relics of the Stone Age. So they are, in the sense that all stone beads are examples of early industries ; but the beads in question have, it is believed, wandered down from ancient Egypt and were made by skilled workmen of a com- paratively high plane of culture, for it is inconceivable that a Stone Age savage, who had only discovered how to chip rude obsidian implements, could accurately bore a truly circular hole of small diameter through an extremely hard material such as jasper. There is another very interesting point about these beads, and that is that they were made from pebbles, and besides being bored are frequently roughly ground or rubbed down into either six-sided prisms or a double six- sided pyramid, and this is believed to be mimetic of a com- mon natural crystalline form, the six-sided quartz prism or pyramid.
STONE IMPLEMENTS FOUND BY DR. FELIX OSWALD.
EARLY MAN IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 27
It is unfortunate that the evidence is as yet so scanty, but this sketch may perhaps induce residents to look out for, and collect relics of, the handicraft of early man. It is hoped that some of the many caves in the country will be systema- tically explored. In the event of a discovery, great care should be taken to collect the bones of any mammals found in caves in association with stone implements, as by this means we may be able to reconstruct the early history of man in this part of the African Continent and correlate his progress with that of his congeners living at that time in the Northern Hemi- sphere and in South Africa, to the record of which such careful study has been devoted by many brilliant students in Europe.
A great deal of valuable information on the South African Stone Age will be found in a paper by Dr. Peringuey, Director, South African Museum, in Vol. VIII. of the Annals of the South African Museum, published 1911.
Description op Plate
The stone implements figured in the plate (two-thirds of the actual size) were found by me on the surface of the Lower Miocene deposits which are exposed in the terraced gullies of Nira and Kachuku, about five miles south-east of Karungu, on the east coast of the Victoria Nyanza. They are arranged on the plate in the same relative position, the apex pointing downward in each case ; the photograph shows the flaked side of the implements, the reverse displaying the bulb of percussion. In Nos. 5, 9 and 10 the tip is broken off, but the fracture is very old, for the brown patina extends equally across it.
The greater number, viz. Nos. 1 to 9 and 12, consist of a black flint with brown patina, Nos. 10 and 11 are of sandstone, No 18 is of quartzite with veins of quartz, No. 14 is of quartz- porphyry, and No. 15 is of quartzite with crimson stains of hematite. The flint-implements must have been brought from a considerable distance, perhaps from the southward, for I did not find any similar rock or pebbles during my march eastwards to Kisii and thence to Homa Bay and Kendu.
28 THE GAME OF THE NORTH KAVIRONDO
The quartzite of Nos. 18 and 15 doubtless comes from the quartzite of the Kisii Highlands, probably from pebbles brought down by the Kuja river. In No. 15 this is cer- tainly the case, for the reverse side shows the natural rounded surface of the pebble with only secondary chipping round the edge.
No. 14 is a quartz-porphyry, rather similar to the quartz- porphyry of Najanja at the south-east angle of Homa Bay.
Nos. 11 and 12 were found at Nira ; all the remainder come from Kachuku.
Felix Oswald, D.Sc., F.G.S.
THE GAME OF THE NORTH KAVIRONDO DISTRICT, NYANZA PROVINCE
By C. W. Woodhouse
The North Kavirondo district is not noted for the abun- dance of game it contains, but many interesting mammals inhabit it.
The boundaries of the district are, roughly, the Yala River to the Lake ; the Lake shore to the mouth of the Sio River ; thence for about twenty miles up the Sio River, and from there to the Malaba River which it follows to Elgon ; about half of Elgon ; and the Nandi Escarpment down to the Yala River.
This large area differs considerably in the character of the country, and from a zoological point of view may be conveniently divided into three divisions.
Division 1. — The greater portion of the district consists of rolling grass-clad downs, with scattered bushes and small trees. Here and there are outcrops of rock and occasional copses, or woods of thorn bush and timber trees.
Nearly every valley is swampy during the rains. The grass, which mainly consists of spear-grass and red top, grows to a length of about five feet. This land is fairly thickly populated and does not hold much game, an occasional duiker or reedbuck (Ward’s Bohor) being seen. Game birds are
DISTRICT, NYANZA PROVINCE
29
fairly plentiful, such as snipe, quail, guinea-fowl, pigeon and an occasional francolin.
Division 2. — The swamps surrounding the Lake and the mouths of the various rivers such as the Yala and Nzoia, includ- ing the larger rivers themselves — these hold a variety of animals, such as hippopotami, situtunga, otter, crocodile, and such birds as egret, duck and geese.
Division 3. — The hills along the Nandi Escarpment, the valley of the Lusumu between these hills, the Nandi Escarp- ment, and the country from the Nandi Plateau to Elgon, all along the eastern boundary of the North Kavirondo district. Included in this division is Mount Elgon and its slopes. There are two large forests partly in this division, the fauna of which is fairly distinctive, viz. Kakamega and Elgon. The hills are all covered with small trees, and the grass is three to four feet long. The greater majority of the game inhabit this third division of the district towards Mount Elgon and north of the Nzoia ; on the eastern side it becomes plentiful. The head of game is doubtless maintained by migration and stragglers from the uninhabited country to the north-east of the Nyanza Province and north of the Uasin Gishu.
The natives inhabiting the northern and eastern portion of the North Kavirondo district consist of the Nyarusi and cave- dwellers — Kitosh people (Bantu who circumcise), Tatzoni, and Uasin Gishu, Masai, who appear to have a good many Nandi living with them.
All these tribes possess and use bows and arrows and spears for hunting game, and are often assisted by their pariah dogs. They dig an extensive and elaborate system of pit-falls, often extending for over a mile in a curve, with a pit every few feet. Eor some reason these pits are now falling into disuse, but formerly they must have accounted for many beasts. They are very cunningly situated in the exact place where an animal would turn aside to avoid a bush — in fact so well situated are they even now, when the covering has disappeared, that on riding across country without following a native path the traveller’s mule or one of his boys will suddenly vanish, and, in the case of an animal, be extricated only with difficulty.
The Bantu natives, inhabiting the first division of these
30 THE GAME OF THE NORTH KAVIRONDO
notes, are very skilful in trapping birds such as quail, snipe, and even guinea-fowl. In the case of quail, a most familiar sight on the country side are the poles on which are hung the decoy quails (in baskets) to attract their kindred to the snares. The quail and snipe are migratory. They are said to arrive when the wimbi is harvested. A few residents stay throughout the year. The flocks of guinea-fowl break up and pair about the beginning of April, and nest during that and the following months. Poults have been observed at the beginning of June and end of May. They are trapped by the natives with running nooses of string (sinew) set above or among grain placed to attract the birds. The noose is supported on a grass blade some inches from the ground, and attached to a piece of a small branch or pegged into the ground.
The game animals observed in this district are as follows :
Monkeys
Colobus. — The ordinary Colobus monkey of East Africa is common in the Kakamega and Elgon forests. In the latter, the Dorobo and forest- dwelling Nyarusi state that it is migra- tory. It is said to come in large numbers, when the bamboo shoots are growing, to feed on them.
The Grey Monkey (Cerco'pithecus griseoviridis (?) ) occurs in the forests and along the rivers, and is also found in the small copses.
Blue Monkey ( Cerco'pithecus sykesi var. (?) ) — There are two or three varieties of the blue monkey in the district. They are all confined to the Kakamega and Elgon forests. The three varieties are : —
1. The blue monkey, showing a dirty white patch on the side of the face and on the side of the buttocks. A more or less reddish triangular patch, apex upwards, on the loins. The fur of this variety is rather short. Habitat, Kakamega forest.
2. The blue monkey from the lower slopes of Elgon. Both sexes have dark blue fur. No reddish patch. The face and ‘ whiskers ’ black.
8. The blue monkey from the higher slopes of Elgon, with long
DISTRICT, NYANZA PROVINCE
31
blue fur, slightly yellowish in the male, face black, whiskers dark blue ; found up to about 11,000 feet. This animal grows to a considerable size. Kaross, sewn of the skins of this animal, appear to form part of the insignia of a headman. Many sub-chiefs and headmen may be seen wearing these robes, both Masai and Kavirondo. They do not appear to be worn by inferiors, but this may be due to the price requested by the seller, viz. an ox is given by the purchaser to the Nyarusi or Dorobo who sell the skin. A goat is stated to be returned by the vendor by way of change. At least two species of Hyrax are found on Elgon : the ordinary 4 Rock Rabbit ’ and a tree Hyrax farther up the mountain. The fur of this Hyrax is not so full or thick as the specimens found on the Mau. It is not very common.
Ungulates
Bhinoceros. — A single rhinoceros is stated to be living in Ngonga’s country (Yala River). Originally there were two, but one was destroyed. They are stated to have strayed there. The natives state that a very occasional rhinoceros is seen in Division 3, obviously stragglers who have lost their way or are following some forgotten migratory route. Rhinoceros horn rungus are not uncommon among the Masai and Nyarusi, but are stated to have been brought from a distance.
Hippopotamus is common in the larger rivers and ascends up them to near the Nandi Escarpment. They ascend the rivers during the rains, in flood water. Many stay during the dry season in the pools — in fact, nearly every large reach con- tains one or two hippo. They do an enormous amount of damage to the crops of the natives, who constantly cultivate a strip along the rivers. Except where they have been molested, they show little fear of man and may occasionally be seen feeding as late as 10 a.m. This may be due to the fact that many of them appear to be blind either in one or both eyes. In un- disturbed pools (except for the odd poisoned arrow of the hunter), they will rise and sink in the water all day or lie up in the reedbeds. If, however, they are driven out of these they usually show great curiosity as to what has disturbed them.
82 THE GAME OF THE NORTH KAVIRONDO
This curiosity appears to be a well-marked trait ; if an animal which is known to inhabit a pool is not visible, a succession of whistles will usually make it 4 show up.’ This fact may he tested any day in the Nzoia, in undisturbed places. On the other hand, where the hippo has been fired at, or molested in any way, the beast will show marvellous ingenuity in concealing itself from dawn till about 5.80 p.m. Breathing is performed under cover of an overhanging branch, an overlapping shelf of bank, or in the cover of the reeds ; and were it not for the occasional slight sound of an expiration, the observer would state that the pool was entirely uninhabited by animal life. The native name (Iffufo) is imitative of this sound. In the lake and at the mouths of the rivers, hippopotami are very numerous, living in large schools.
The Elephant occurs in the Elgon forests to the east of the mountain, and they migrate to and from the country north of the Uasin Gishu. Formerly they had a much greater range of country. A single elephant is resident in Ngonga’s country near the Sarnia Hills. He has been seen by Europeans, and is stated to be the survivor of three who crossed the lake at the mouth of the Kavirondo gulf. This is, of course, a straggler.
Buffalo ( Bos caffer) occur on the lower slopes of Elgon. As rinderpest has broken out in villages in the vicinity of which they graze, a mortality among these animals may be expected.
Hartebeest (Bubalis Jacksonii) occur over the whole of Division No. 8, in herds of five or six. North of and near the Nzoia they are common in this division. Their colouring appears to be of a deeper red and they appear to show more black on the skin at the fetlock than specimens in the Rift Valley and Mau slopes.
Waterbuck (Kobus defassa ) are fairly common in the same neighbourhood. Some of the males carry very large horns. They appear to be very tame.
Thomas' Kob ( Kobus Thomasi) occur in the same division from near the Kakamega forest to the foot of Elgon, usually in herds of ten or twelve does and a buck. Solitary bucks are often encountered. In the parts stated above, it is common.
DISTRICT, NYANZA PROVINCE
38
According to native report, a similar animal, only darker and with white ears, occurs on the western boundary of the district. This may be Kobus Leucotis , but the natives may mean in Uganda.
Oribi are common in division No. 3. They may be observed with young at foot in May.
Duiker ( Cephalophus grimmi (?)) occur throughout the whole district, even near villages whose inhabitants will consume any form of meat (excepting crocodiles and marabout). This buck will probably be the last survivor among wild African ungulates, centuries hence.
The blue duiker (Ce'phalo'phus (?)), or Uganda blue buck, occurs in large numbers in the Kakamega forest where it is regularly hunted by the natives (with bows and arrows) for its meat. No use appears to be made of its skin. It is rare to see clothes made of it.
The reedbuck (Cervicapra redunca wardii) occurs throughout the whole district in limited numbers. Its habits here are shy and retiring. It appears not to move before dark and to return before the dawn.
The bushbuck ( Tragelaphus scriptus var. (?)) occurs in the Kakamega and Elgon forests. It does not appear to be very common. A tendency to increase the white markings on the head and body appears to be shown. This may possibly be a transitional stage towards the West Coast type.
The situtunga ( Tragelaphus spekii) probably occurs over a large area in scattered bands. It is well known to the natives living near the Vala swamps. It occurs (on the evidence of its spoor1) in the Nzoia Valley (North Kavirondo district), and there it is said by the natives to have been more plentiful formerly.
Many of the larger papyrus swamps, if they could be properly driven, might give evidence of its presence. The pig family are represented by the giant pig (Hochoerus) and the bush pig ( Potamochoerus ). An occasional wart-hog (Phacochoerus) may stray over the eastern boundary, but is very rare, although the tusks of this animal are greatly prized as ornaments by the Kavirondo.
1 The spoor was well known to a native hunter (Dorobo).
Vol. III.— No. 5. d
84 THE GAME OF THE NOETH KAVIRONDO
The giant pig occurs in considerable numbers in the Elgon forests. The skins are valued for shields, but both this and the bush pig are treated with considerable respect by the inhabitants.
The bush pig occurs both in Kakamega and Elgon forests.
Carnivores include among their representatives otter, lion, leopard, serval cat, gennet and hyaena ( crocuta and striata).
Otter are common on the rivers and in the lake. Their spoor is frequently seen, but the animal itself but rarely. The skins are valued by the Kavirondo who capture them in their fish traps. Its diet appears to include the fresh-water crabs common in all streams, but the claws are usually left intact and rejected.
The lion is scarce but occurs along the eastern boundary and in division No. 8 of the district. They are much feared by the Kavirondo.
The leopard is scantily distributed over the whole district, occurring occasionally in very unexpected places. Probably these occurrences are due to a travelling animal.
In the Elgon forest the leopard appear to be common, those on the higher slopes developing magnificent fur. They have practically finished the goats of the forest- dwelling Nyarusi. They may be heard any night when the traveller is camped in the vicinity of the mountain.
The serval cat appears at intervals whenever there is suffi- cient bush for cover. It draws a great part of its food from the hens of the natives. It is easily killed with the aid of dogs, as it will ascend a tree on being attacked.
The common gennet ( Genetta vivena) likewise is widely distributed.
The most plentiful carnivore is undoubtedly the spotted hyaena (. H . crocuta), who is ubiquitous. They do not confine their attentions solely to carrion, but will attack and destroy a lost calf or sheep. Recently, while cattle have been dying of rinderpest, their call is very much in evidence near infected villages. They are greatly disliked by the natives.
In the Tatzoni country, near the Nzoia, the striped hycena (. Hyaena striata) occurs.
DISTRICT, NYANZA PROVINCE
85
The peculiar cry has been heard and the animal seen, though by moonlight. The Tatsoni themselves have a special name for it, viz. Sirgoin, the common hyaena being called Iffisi. They state the animal comes down from the Nandi hills.
The crocodile is common in all large rivers and in the lake. Those in the Lusumu river bear a specially bad reputation, probably as more accidents have occurred there. Individual crocodiles appear to favour certain rocks, which are known to the natives, for the purpose of sunning themselves. The traveller is constantly being told of certain crocodiles who have been known for long periods to frequent the same pool or reach of the river. The natives’ stories seem to have some foundation.
The district contains many game birds as stated above, such as guinea fowls, quail, snipe, francolin, pigeon and parrot.
The 'pigeon comprise : (1) The large blue pigeon, common in forests in East Africa, with a yellow bill and cere, and white ‘ chequers ’ on the scapulars ; (2) the large blue pigeon (Columba guinea) with red cere and wattles ; red scapular with white ‘ chequers.’ These occur near the Elgon and Kakamega forests ; and the green pigeon, Kakamega.
The African turtle-doves are distributed over the whole province. The rosy breasted turtle and the laughing turtle (?) both occur.
Parrots are represented by the grey parrot ( Psittacus erythicus) and a small green Pococephalus, similar, but smaller, to the Jar dine parrot of the West Coast.
Marabout storks occur in twos or threes near any carrion and are widely distributed.
The lesser egret is fairly common.
The Nzoia, Yala, and Lusumu rivers contain a most sporting cyprinoid fish who will freely rise to the natural fly (and probably to an imitation dressed to suit the local conditions). The first rushes of this fish, on being hooked, are within comparing distance of a trout.
A list of the Kavirondo and Tatzoni names of animals is appended.
36
THE GAME OF NORTH KAVIRONDO
English
Name
Colobus monkey Blue monkey
Hyrax
Rhino
Hippo
Elephant
„ tusks Buffalo Hartebeest Kobus Thomasi Waterbuck Oribi Duiker Reedbuck Situtunga Bushbuck Pig (wart-hog) Giant Pig Bush Pig Otter
Marabout Stork Lion Leopard Serval Cat Ferret
(Mongoose (?)) Hyaena, spotted ,, striped Crocodile
|
Bantu Kavirond6 |
Tatsoni |
|
Name |
Name |
|
Ndivisi |
Ndivisi |
|
Eshima |
Esobole |
|
(monkey (?)) |
|
|
— |
Kenewa kel goynyi. |
|
Translation (?) : The runner |
|
|
into rocks on Elgon |
|
|
Kiveo |
Kiveo |
|
Iffufo (monkey (?)) Iffufo (said explo- |
|
|
sively) |
|
|
Nsofu |
Nsofu |
|
Luika |
Msanga |
|
Mbogo |
Mbogo |
|
Esuma |
Konguna |
|
Esululume |
Esunu |
|
Eholu |
Eholu |
|
Hatsusu |
Ehissi |
|
Eweh |
Eweh |
|
Epore |
Injia |
|
Mbongo |
Mbongo |
|
Sembereri |
Sembereri |
|
Mbitzi |
Mbitz |
|
Injiri |
— |
|
Mbiri |
— |
|
Endoholu |
— |
|
Ololoi |
Chemonoi |
|
Talaing |
Talaing |
|
Ingwe |
Ingwe |
|
Imbwe |
Imbwe |
|
Disimba |
Disimba |
|
Iffiss |
Iffisi |
|
— |
Sirgoin |
|
Ekwena |
Ekwena |
JOKES’ METHOD OF PRESERVING TISSUES 87
THE APPLICATION OF JOKES’ METHOD OF PRESERV- ING TISSUES IN THEIR NATURAL COLOURS TO NATURAL HISTORY SPECIMENS
By Dr. P. H. Ross and Mr. A. Blaney Percival
Jores’ method of preserving tissues in their natural colours consists in placing the specimen in the following fixing solution :
Sodium chloride Magnesium sulphate Sodium sulphate Distilled water Formalin
1*0
2*0
2-0
100-0
*5 to 10 parts
In this solution the specimens are left for a time, depending on their size, the larger the specimen the longer being the time. In this solution the colour gradually becomes grayish, but on transferring the specimen to methylated spirit for from one to six hours the original colour returns, and the specimens are then put into a mixture of equal parts of glycerin and water, in which they are preserved. At no time during the course of the preparation are the specimens washed in water. Plenty of the fixing solution should be used.
Some seven or eight years ago it occurred to one of us (P. H. R.) to try whether the ordinary methods of preserving pathological specimens in their natural colours could not be applied to natural history specimens. A large brilliantly coloured praying mantis was prepared according to the method of Jores (‘ Centralblatt f. path. Anat.’ Bd. VII. 1896, S. 184), and sent to the British Museum. Judging by the description of the colours on arrival at the British Museum, the method was entirely successful, so far as concerned the preservation of the colour.
Objections are raised against the use of formalin for natural history specimens, on the grounds (1) that the specimens become too stiff for examination ; (2) that though the colour may be retained, the markings are lost ; (8) that the specimens finally perish in formalin.
88 JOKES’ METHOD OF PRESERVING TISSUES
This may be true for specimens that are kept altogether in formalin, but does not appear to apply to specimens pre- served by Jores’ method. Some months ago specimens of Tilayia mozanibica, brought by Mr. Graham from Lake Magadi, were preserved, some by this method and some in alcohol. At the present time the Jores’ specimens are as fresh as when received, their markings and colour being as clear as ever, while the alcohol specimens have lost all their freshness and most of their colour.
More recently one of us (A. B. P.) collected a large number of specimens from the Northern Uaso Nyiro and district, some in alcohol, some in a mixture of salt solution and 5% formalin, the proper mixture of salts not being obtainable at the time. In these solutions the specimens remained for up to four months, and, on return to Nairobi, the formalin specimens were put through the spirit into glycerin and water (equal parts). All specimens appear as fresh as when caught, and such specimens, as fish, are no stiffer than when landed. The spirit specimens, on the other hand, have most obviously deteriorated in colour, even in these few months.
The final value of the method can only be told when suffi- cient time has elapsed for us to see the degree of permanence of the colour, but the marked superiority of the formalin over the spirit specimens after a few months is most marked, and the convenience of the Jores’ method can only he appreciated by one who has tried carrying round quantities of spirit in a hot country, where transport is a constant difficulty and every pound has to be considered. The salts can be carried dry, the formalin in its usual form as 40% formaldehyde. Distilled water does not appear to be essential since the last specimens collected do not appear to have suffered from the salts and formalin having been mixed with whatever happened to be the drinking water of the place where the specimens were collected.
Naturalists, who intend making collections of fish, are strongly recommended to give this method of preservation a trial, as the results are most satisfactory.
THE PRESERVATION OF SEA FISH
89
CONCERNING THE PRESERVATION OF SEA FISH BY A FORMALIN AND SODA SOLUTION, COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS 4 JORES’ SOLUTION ’
By R. J. Cuninghame
I believe I am correct in stating that what is known as 4 Jores’ ’ preservative solution has been but seldom employed for the preservation of sea fish weighing upwards of half a pound to ten or fifteen pounds, and as I am at present com- pleting the preparation of a large collection of sea fishes made at Mombasa, British East Africa, the following remarks and observations may be found useful to others contemplating the employment of this chemical solution.
The formula for 4 Jores’ ’ solution, and comments thereon, may be found in 4 The Principles of Pathological Histology,’ by H. R. Gaylord, M.D., and Ludwig Aschoff, M.D., and I quote the more essential information concerning the action of the formula.
On page 45 will be found Section VIII, on methods for the preservation of the natural colours of the tissues, and the following extract has been made :
4 It is occasionally desirable to preserve the colour in micro- scopic specimens for future reference. . . . The tissue is hardened in Formaline to which are added various salts, and in this it takes on a grayish appearance. After being suffi- ciently hardened, the necessary time depending on the size of the preparation and its consistence, the specimen is trans- ferred to weak alcohol, in which it recovers its original colour, when it is transferred to a preserving fluid in which it is kept. Preparations which have been kept in the preserving fluid for a period of time, and have lost their colour, may be restored by returning them to alcohol. . . .
4 Plenty of fixing solution should be employed and the preparation must be placed in the position it should occupy after hardening. . . .
4 The length of time required for fixation in the case of small
40
THE PRESERVATION OF SEA FISH
specimens is about twenty-four hours, larger organs requiring from two to eight days, the length of time during which the preparation should be exposed to the action of the alcohol varies from one to six hours. At no time during the steps of the process is the specimen washed in water. Both the Forma- line salt-fixing solution and the alcohol may be used repeatedly.
4 2. Jores 1
(A) Fixing solution : Sodium chloride Magnesium sulphate
Sodium sulphate .
Aqua dest. ....
(B) Alcohol.
1-0
2*0
2-0
5 to 10 parts
(C) Preserving fluid, Glycerine and water (equal parts).’
It will be seen from the above that this process was primarily designed and intended for the fixation of the original colours of such delicate substances as tissues, membranes, and com- paratively thin sections of the organs of animals, and for such it seems to be eminently successful ; but when we come to employ it for the treatment of such large masses as a five-pound fish, the question of handling becomes somewhat altered.
For the collection and preservation of fishes in any con- siderable numbers, three or five gallon tanks and one large tank up to forty gallons capacity should be utilised.
When a large quantity of sea fish are placed in one tank the formalin soda solution will become greasy, opaque, greenish in colour, and a very considerable amount of debris remains in suspension. If the specimens are allowed to remain undisturbed for a week or ten days in such a solution, many of them will become discoloured permanently ; while in others (especially the more scaleless fishes) the skin becomes impreg- nated with minute green particles. These particles are deposited on the fish on placing a newly collected specimen into an old solution, the action of the formalin hardens up the skin en- closing the green particles, and so far I have been unable to dislodge those particles without serious injury to the specimen. Freshly caught fish must be placed in new or fairly newly
1 Ibidem, Bd. VII, 1896, S. 134.
THE PRESERVATION OF SEA FISH
41
made solution. After they have been well acted on, they may be transferred to the old or stock tank, but I consider it most important to remove all specimens from the stock tank once a week, take out the solution, and return same through four layers of thick house flannel. The process is most laborious, but it renders the old stock solution practically free from debris, and materially diminishes the chances of staining or discolouring the specimens.
As regards the preparation of fish over half a pound, before they are placed in the solution certain details must never be omitted.
The main object is to allow the introduction of the solution (and this applies not only to the formalin and soda, but to any liquid preservative agent) into the entire mass of animal matter which is being preserved as speedily, liberally, and uniformly as possible, and this is of much importance in tropical climates.
There are three methods of effecting this, which I will describe.
For instruments you require only two knives ; one of these should have a blade of about two inches and the other four inches, fitted into a thin handle like a scalpel. The blade of the two-inch knife should not exceed three-eighths of an inch in breadth, and that of the other about half an inch, but they must be sharpened on both sides, thereby forming a sort of spear without a high median ridge.
With fish from half a pound to, say, three pounds, being of normal fish proportions, and not semicircular or round as a plate as many tropical fish are, you simply insert the knife through the ventral orifice upwards to the dorsal line. Draw the blade tailwards about one inch, and then manipulate it so as to free all flesh from the backbone and the spinal processes. Having thoroughly done this, perform the same operation all round the shoulders. When doing this, great care should be exercised not to damage the internal organs : but at the same time, after all the flesh has been separated on one side, a small incision should be made from the ventral orifice forwards for not more than half an inch, to allow free ingress of the solu- tion. Now turn the specimen over, and with the small knife treat the side that has not been separated from the bone.
42
THE PRESERVATION OF SEA FISH
Begin near the gills, and insert the blade carefully under a scale and plunge it in till it meets the backbone or a rib. Do not move it laterally nor raise or depress the blade, as this will break up the edges of the scales ; simply raise the scale with the point, plunge in the blade and then withdraw it. Do this at, say, the four corners of every square inch of skin surface, being careful not to puncture the intestinal area. Then rinse this specimen in water and immerse in the formalin solution.
The second method is used when treating fish of deep girth or round-shaped tropical fish weighing from four to ten pounds.
Make a line of three or more incisions two and a half inches long, and the same distance apart, right along the middle of the fish between the gill cover and the tail on the top of the back- bone; then insert the knife and free all the flesh as before explained ; make a one-inch opening in the vent, turn the fish over, and puncture it under the scales deeply as mentioned above.
The third method is simply to puncture the fish under the scales on both sides and make the ventral incision. This practice is quite reliable for fish up to five pounds and produces unblemished specimens, but when it comes to handling heavy fish I much prefer the second method of free incisions.
Many fish show a decided tendency to float in the solution and some refuse to sink at all. With all fish the air should be expressed by hand-pressure on their being placed in the solution. If after that they do not remain below the surface, place a small flat piece of stone in one of the incisions, never employ any metal or coins. It is essential that the specimens remain completely submerged, as the portion remaining out of the solution will inevitably lose all its colour very shortly, though complete preservation will most probably take place.
If the fish are overcrowded in a tank and freshly caught specimens are introduced, there is also a danger of partial and local loss of colour, through some portion of the fresh specimen being kept in close contact with an old specimen in the tank I have seen specimens ruined, as regards colouration, in twenty- four hours by overcrowding.
THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA 48
When transportation takes place every individual specimen must be wrapped in butter muslin, otherwise the fins and tails will be frayed and often broken.
Every specimen should be labelled by a leather tag, numbered, and noted up in the collector’s catalogue.
As regards the preservation of the colours of the sea fish, I have not been very successful if the specimens are left over two months in the formalin soda solution. The best results seem to be obtained by leaving the specimens in the formalin for about two weeks and then transferring to alcohol for about half an hour, and then place them permanently in glycerine and water, equal parts of each.
Like many other good things this ‘ Jores’ ’ method is very expensive, and properly to handle and preserve a large collection of, say, 250 fish ranging in size up to ten pound specimens, the cost for solution alone may come to £25.
Warning. — It should be remembered by those who work with ‘ lores’ ’ solution, when using it in bulk, that the continual daily submersion of the hands and arms in the tanks, sometimes for over an hour at a time, renders the collector very liable to toxaemia. The skin absorbs a large quantity of the salt contained in the solution, and after some weeks of work a severe rash breaks out not only on the hands and arms but on many parts of the body and legs. This form of drug poisoning is most disagreeable, and I strongly advise all who employ ‘ Jores’ * solution in large quantities to provide themselves with long india-rubber gloves reaching well above the elbow.
THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA By C. W. Hobley
If one thinks of the matter it will be generally admitted that a knowledge of the snakes of this country is a matter of importance to all who are resident in it. From an economic point of view snakes have a value, for they kill and eat large numbers of rodents which damage gardens and crops, some
44 THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA
even feed on termites or white ants. Unfortunately some snakes are poisonous and occasionally bite man or domestic animals, and it is desirable that all should be able to distinguish the poisonous from the non-poisonous.
Most people wage war on all snakes on the principle that there is no good snake but a dead one ; but it is admittedly stupid to kill non-poisonous snakes and much better policy to allow them to live and prey on rats, mice, moles, &c., which damage our economic products or our gardens.
The object of this article is to assist members to differentiate between poisonous and non-poisonous snakes and to induce a proportion to study this order and to assist in making a complete reference collection for the Society’s Museum.
Quite a number have already come in, and it is hoped will shortly be classified and named.
The list of snakes now given is a precis of the description of the snakes recorded as having been collected in East Africa, and is taken from the ‘ Catalogue of Snakes,’ by Mr. G. A. Boulen- ger, which was kindly presented to the Library of the Society by the Trustees of the British Museum. For a further and more technical description the volumes should be consulted.
The' figures in this article will give an idea of a few typical classes of well-known snakes, and one is what may be termed an index diagram, as it gives the technical names of the various scales in a snake’s body, the accurate description of which is the main means of scientific identification. Some of these illustra- tions are reproduced from the ‘ British Museum Catalogue ’ and others from Vol. iii. of the ‘ Report of the Wellcome Laboratory,’ Khartum, who have kindly given permission to reprint them.
Some forty-one species of snakes have been described from British East Africa and only ten of these are dangerous to man. This percentage gives, however, no index of the numerical proportions of the poisonous and non-poisonous species, and certain powerful members of the cobra group are, moreover, said to be of an aggressive nature.
The snakes of East Africa have never been systematically collected all over the country, and it is highly probable that if this is done a number of new species may be brought to light.
THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA 45
Ophidia or Snakes recorded from British East Africa and Uganda
Provisional List
Family I .—TYPHLOPIDAE.
Genus Tyyhlops. —
Mucruso. — Total length 1 foot 7 inches. Yellow, or pale olive above. Snout very prominent, scales with dark borders, tail as broad as long ending in spine.
Unitaeniatus. — Total length 1 foot 2£ inches. Snout very prominent, hooked, tail very short. Black, with yellow verte-
Typhlops Comorensis x 5.
From B. M. Cat. of Snakes.
bral stripe three scales wide, a stripe on the rostral, lower surface of snout and lips brownish-yellow. Found at Mombasa and Kibwezi.
Pundatus. — Total length 2 feet. Specimen from Mkno- umbi. Dark brown above, each scale with a small yellowish spot ; each ventral scale yellowish in the centre and brown on the borders.
Specimen from Laikipia — dark brown above, each scale with a small yellowish spot ; ventral scales uniform yellowish.
Schlegelii. — Total length 1 foot 8 inches, reaches a length of 2 feet 8£ inches. Uniform olive brown above, or parti- coloured yellow and olive brown, the latter colour forming irregular blotches ; lower parts uniform yellow. Found at Laikipia.
46 THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA
Family II. — GLA U CON1DAE.
Genus Glauconia —
Conjuncta. — Total length 6 inches blackish above, whitish
Glauconia Emini x 8.
From B. M. Cat. of SnaJces.
below. Snout rounded. Five small teeth lower jaw. Four- teen scales round body. Found at Kilimanjaro.
Family III. — BOIDAE.
Genus Python —
Sebae. — Said to attain 28 feet. Pale brown above with dark-brown, black-edged, more or less sinuous cross-bars, continuous or interrupted sinuous dark stripe running along each side of the back, side with large spots, and finely dotted with black ; a large triangular dark-brown blotch occupies the top of the head, bordered on each side by a light stripe beginning at the end of the snout, above the nostril, and passing above the eye, a dark stripe on each side of the head and a dark sub -triangular blotch below the eye ; upon surface of tail with a light stripe between two black ones ; belly spotted and dotted with dark brown.
THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA 47
Genus Eryx —
Thebaicus. — Total length 2 feet 2\ inches. Tail 2 inches, pointed. Yellowish or greyish above, with large, irregular, dark-brown or blackish spots separated by narrow interspaces ; lower parts uniform white. Found at Taita, East Africa.
Family VII .—COLUBRIDAE.
Series A. — Aglyyha. Sub-Family II. — Colubrinae. Genus Tro'pidonotus —
Olivaceus. — Total length 1 foot 11 inches. Tail 5f inches. Olive or brown above, with a more or less distinct darker vertebral band, four or five scales wide, bordered on each side by
Tropidonotus asperrimus
From B. M. Cat. of Snakes.
a series of whitish dots ; flanks and ends of ventrals olive ; upper lips yellowish, the sutures between the shields black ; ventrals yellowish, sometimes edged with olive. Found at Ngatana.
Genus Boodon —
Lineatus. — Total length 2 feet 10| inches. Tail 4J inches. Brown above, uniform or variegated with yellow, with or without a yellow lateral streak ; side of head light, the brown of the upper surface ending in a point on the snout, with a dark brown lateral streak passing through the eye, and brown
48 THE SNAKES OE BRITISH EAST AFRICA
spots on the labials, or head dark brown with two more or less distinct light lines on each side ; lower parts yellowish. Found at Kilimanjaro, Mombasa and Ngatana.
Genus Lycophidium —
Jacksoni— Total length 1 foot 9| inches. Tail 2| inches. Olive grey above and beneath, the scales with or without whitish dots. Found at Kilimanjaro, Lamu.
Capense . — Total length 1 foot 5| inches. Tail If inches. Brown, purplish, or olive above ; sides of head speckled or vermiculate with whitish. Found at Mkonumbi and North Giriama.
Genus Chlorophis —
Neglectus. — Total length 2 feet 7| inches. Tail 9 inches.
Green above, yellowish-green beneath ; some purplish-brown blotches may be present on the anterior part of the body.
Lycophidium Abyssinicum. From B. M. Cat. of Snakes.
Chlorophis Emesti.
From B. M. Cat. of Snakes.
THE SNAKES OE BRITISH EAST AFRICA 49
Irregularis. — Total length 2 feet 8| inches. Tail 9J inches. Green or olive above, scales often with a white spot at the base, with or without a black upper border ; interstitial skin black ; sometimes with black spots or irregular cross bands on the anterior part of the body ; greenish-yellow inferiorly. Found at Taita, Lamu, Witu, Nairobi, and Meru.
Genus Philothamnus —
Semivariegatus. — Total length 8 feet 11 J inches. Tail 1 foot 5f inches. Green or olive above, with or without black spots or cross-bars ; greenish-yellow inferiorly. Found at Kilimanjaro, Milindi.
Genus Bhamnophis —
Jacksonii. — Total length 5 feet 6 inches. Tail 1 foot 8 inches. Uniform black above and underneath. Found at Kavirondo.
Genus Coronella —
Semiornata. — Total length 2 feet. Tail 6 inches. Olive- brown above, with black transverse lines on the anterior portion of the body ; these lines indistinct or broken up in the adult ; upper lip prae- and postoculars yellowish ; ventrals yellowish, uniform or edged with black. Found at Mombasa.
Genus Zamensis —
Florulentus. — General colour is greyish-yellow, sand colour, with transverse markings on the back, two alternating series of roundish spots on either side, and a third series of less defined spots at the lateral ends of the ventrals. All these markings are pale reddish-brown, but across the hind neck is a transverse semilunar spot of quite dark-brown or blackish, and a band of similar colour extends across the head over the middle of the parietals from one comer of the mouth to the other. The greater part of the tail is unspotted. Lower parts yellowish-white. Found north of Guaso-Nyeri.
Genus Thrasops —
Bothschildi. — Described by Mocquard. Bull, d’hist. nat. Paris, 1905, p. 287. Found at Meru.
Vol. III.— No. 5.
E
50 THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA
Sub-Family III. — Bhachiodontinae.
Genus Dasypeltis —
Scabra. — Total length 2 feet 6 inches. Tail 4| inches. Generally pale olive or pale brown above, uniform or with dark- brown spots, usually disposed in three longitudinal series ; an A-shaped dark marking on the nape preceded by one or two on the head ; the latter may be broken up into spots ; upper labials with brown vertical bars ; belly yellowish uniform or dotted or spotted with brown or blackish.
Specimens found at Kilimanjaro and East Kikuyu. — A dorsal series of large squarish or rhomboidal dark spots, separated by light intervals, alternating with a lateral series of spots or cross-bars ; belly spotted or dotted only at the sides. Another specimen found at Kilimanjaro no spots or markings of any kind.
Sub-Family V. — Dipsadomorphinae.
Genus Tarbophis —
Semiannulatus. — Total length 2 feet 3| inches. Tail 4| inches. Yellowish or pale brown above with twenty-four to thirty-four dark-brown and blackish transverse rhombial spots or cross-bars on the body ; head without any spots or markings, yellowish- white underneath. Found at Mombasa.
Guentheri. — Total length 8 feet 5J inches. Tail 6| inches. Pale bluff or sandy grey above, uniform or with ill-defined brown variegations or cross-bars ; lower parts white. Found at Ngatana, East Africa.
Genus Leptodira —
Hotamboeia. — Total length 2 feet. Tail 8J inches. Scales smooth or faintly keeled, in nineteen (exceptionally seventeen) rows. Brown, olive or blackish above, uniform or with whitish dots which may form cross-bars, a black band on the temple, usually connected with its fellow across the occiput ; belly whitish. Found at Kilimanjaro and Meru.
Genus Hemirhagerrhis —
Kelleri. — Total length lOf inches. Tail 3J inches. Greyish or yellowish-brown above, with a dark-grey or olive, black-
THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA 51
edged vertebral band and another on each side, passing through the eye ; head lineolated with blackish ; upper lip blackish ; lower parts with brown longitudinal lines disposed in pairs. Found at Mombasa and East Kikuyu.
Genus Trimerorhinus —
Tritaeniatus. — Total length 2 feet 5| inches. Tail 5J inches. Greyish or pale brown above, with two or three dark-brown, black-edged bands originating on the head and extending to the end of the tail, the outer passing through the eye, the vertebral sometimes rather indistinct or absent ; a fine yellowish line sometimes divides the vertebral band ; the sides below the bands white, with a pale brown or red streak running along the outer row of scales ; upper lip and lower parts white. Found in Kibibi basin, East Africa.
Genus Bhamjphio'phis —
Bubro'punctatus. — Total length 3 feet 3| inches. Tail 1 foot 1J inches. Brown or reddish-brown above, uniform or dotted with red ; head reddish, without dark markings ; upper lip and lower parts yellowish. Found at Kilimanjaro.
Genus Psammo'phis —
Punctulatus. — Total length 5 feet 5 inches. Tail 1 foot 10§ inches. Yellow or brownish-white above, greenish or greyish on the sides, and beneath head and nape olive grey or reddish speckled with black ; then black stripes along the body, the median broadest and bifurcating on the neck, its branches extending, as brown streaks to the end of the snout after passing through the eyes ; the stripes on the body may be reduced to vertebral.
Sibilans. — Total length 3 feet 11 J inches. Tail 1 foot 4 inches. Coloration very variable.
Specimen found at Kilimanjaro. — Brown above, with lateral streaks and head markings ; vertebral line absent or reduced to a serial of yellow dots, one on each scale ; upper lip with brown or black dots ; lower parts, including lower half of outer row of scales, white, with a continuous or inter- rupted black longitudinal line on each side of the belly.
Specimen found at Kilifi. — Uniform brown above, with
52 THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA
more or less distinct traces of the markings on the head ; upper lip yellowish, with brown dots ; lower parts, including lower
third or lower half of outer row of scales yellowish, with a brownish line on each side of the belly.
Specimen found also at Juja, near Nairobi, and at Njoro and north of Guaso Nyiro.
Biseriatus. — Total length 4 feet 7J inches. Tail 1 foot 3| inches. Greyish or pale brown above, with a darker verte- bral band and two series of reddish-brown or black spots ; head with dark-brown or reddish-brown black-edged spots, and usually a dark cross-band on the occiput ; a dark streak on each side of the head, passing through the eye ; lips with black or brown spots, belly greyish, speckled with black and spotted with white, sometimes with a rusty median stripe. Found at Kurawa, Njoro, and north of Guaso Nyiro.
Genus Thelotornis —
Kirtlandii. — Total length 8 feet 10 inches. Tail 1 foot 3| inches. Greyish or pinkish-brown above, uniform or with
PSAMMOPHIS SIBILANS.
From Report of Wellcome Lab., Khartum, Vol. III.
THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA 58
more or less distinct darker and lighter spots and cross-bands ; head green above, with or without some patches of pinkish speckled with black and a pinkish-black dotted streak on each side of the head, passing through the eye. Sometimes head uniform green above and on the sides, and black blotches usually forming cross-bands on the neck. Upper lip cream colour, or pink, uniform or spotted with black ; one or several black blotches on each side of the neck ; greyish or pinkish beneath, speckled or striated with brown.
Genus Ajparallactus.
Jacksonii. — Total length 5 feet 10 J inches. Tail Ilf inches. Pale reddish-brown above, with a black vertebral line ; upper surface of head and nape black, the nuchal blotch edged
Aparallactus werneri.
with yellow and extending to the sides of the neck. A pair of yellow spots behind the parietal shields ; sides of head yellow, the shields bordering the eye black ; lower parts uniform yellowish. One specimen only found at foot of Kilimanjaro.
Concolor. — Total length 1 foot 6| inches. Tail 4f inches. Uniform dark brown or black, somewhat lighter underneath. Found in the Boran country.
Series C. — Proteroglyrpha. (Poisonous.)
Sub-Family VIII. — Elayinae.
Genus Naia —
Nigricollis. — Total length 6 feet 6 inches. Tail Ilf inches. Coloration very variable. Specimen from Lake Rudolf. Uniform brown above, yellowish beneath ; lower surface of neck brown in the adult ; young with a broad black ring round the neck.
54 THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA
Melanoleuca. — Total length 7 feet 9f inches. Tail 1 foot 3f inches. Coloration very variable. Sides of head yellowish or whitish, some or all of the labials with posterior black edge.
Naia or Naja nigricollis.
From Report of Wellcome Lab., Khartum, Vol. III.
Haiae. — Olive grey above with a broad brownish-black patch, not extending to the lower side, behind the neck, and somewhat further back another broad blackish band which extends all round the body ; between these there is a lighter space with a few black spots. Found at Thika River.
Genus Dendras'pis —
Jamesonii. — Total length 6 feet 10 inches. Tail 1 foot 10 inches. Olive green above, uniform on each scale, brown at the end ; head-shields finely edged with blackish ; lips yellowish, the shields edged with black ; belly yellowish, the shields finely edged with brown or black ; tail yellow, scales and shields edged with black. Young with chevron- shaped black cross-bars. Found at Kavirondo.
Angusticeps. — Total length 6 feet 6 inches. Tail 1 foot 5 inches. Green, olive or blackish, uniform, or some of the scales edged with black ; yellowish or pale green underneath ; caudal scales and shields not black- edged. Found at Kilifi,
Taveta, south of Kiboko and Mombasa.
THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA 55
Family IX, — VIPEBIDAE. (Poisonous.) Sub-Family I. — Vi'perinae.
Genus Causus —
Bhombeatus. — Total length 2 feet 8§ inches. Tail 8 inches. Olive or pale brown above, rarely uniform, usually with a dorsal series of large rhomboidal or V-shaped dark-brown spots which may be edged with whitish ; usually a large dark A-shaped marking on the back of the head, the point on the frontal, and an oblique dark-edged streak behind the eye ; labials usually dark-edged ; lower parts yellowish- white or grey, uniform or the shields edged with black Found in Kavirondo, also in Limoru Road, near Nairobi.
Besimus. Total length 1 foot 6J inches. Tail 1 foot 8f inches. Greyish olive above, uniform or with curved
Causus resimus.
From Report of Wellcome Lab., Khartum, Vol. III.
or chevron-shaped cross-bars pointing backwards ; uniform white underneath. Found at Ngetana, Mkonumbi, and Lamu.
Defili'p'pii. Total length 1 foot 8f inches. Tail § inches. Grey or pale-brown above, vertebral region darker, with a series of large rhomboidal or V-shaped dark-brown markings on the occiput, the point on the frontal ; an oblique dark streak behind the eye ; upper labials black-edged ; yellowish- white beneath, uniform or with small greyish-brown spots. Found in Rabai.
Genus Bitis. ( Puff Adder) —
Arietans. — Total length 5 feet 5 inches. Tail 6J inches.
56 THE SNAKES OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA
Yellowish pale brown, or orange above marked with regular chevron-shaped dark-brown or black bars pointing backwards or black with yellow or orange markings ; a large dark blotch covering the crown, separated from a smaller interorbital blotch by a transverse yellow line ; an oblique dark band below and another behind the eye ; yellowish-white beneath, uniform or with small dark spots. Found at Kilimanjaro, Nairobi, and Guaso Nyiro.
Genus Atradaspis —
Hildebrandtii. — Total length 1 foot 5f inches. Tail 2 inches. Uniform dark brown. Found at Mombasa.
Atradaspis Microlepidota. — Total length 21 J inches. Tail If inches. Snout very short, prominent, subcuneiform.
Atkactaspis microlepidota.
From Report of Wellcome Lab., Khartum, Vol. HI.
Portion of rostral visible from above nearly as long as its distance from the frontal ; suture between the internasals as long as that between the praefrontals ; frontal a little longer than broad, much longer than its distance from the end of the snout, longer than the parietals. Scales in twenty-nine to thirty-seven rows. Uniform dark brown. Found in East Africa.
LIST OF PLANTS
57
LIST OF PLANTS AND TREES GROWING IN THE PROVINCIAL COMMISSIONER’S GARDEN, NAIROBI
By E. Battiscombe and C. W. Hobley
The following is a list of plants and trees in the garden of the Provincial Commissioner, Nairobi.
Some few of the specimens are indigenous, but the great majority are exotics. The garden may be visited by any member of the Society upon application to the occupier.
|
Botanical Name |
Natural Order |
Common Name, if any |
Description |
♦ |
|
Acacia Cunninghamii |
Leguminosae |
Golden Wattle |
Small tree |
G. |
|
A. dealbata |
Silver ,, |
99 9 9 |
G. |
|
|
A. decurrens var. normalis |
Black „ |
99 99 |
G. |
|
|
A. resinifera |
99 |
99 9 9 |
G. |
|
|
A. retinodes |
Mimosa |
9 9 99 |
G. |
|
|
Acalypha macrophylla |
Euphorbiaceae |
Fol. shrub |
G. |
|
|
A. marginata |
99 |
99 99 |
G. |
|
|
A. microphylla |
99 |
9 9 9 9 |
G. |
|
|
Adansonia digitata |
Bombaceae |
Baobab |
Tree |
B. |
|
Adenium coetaneum |
Apocynaceae |
Fol. shrub |
M. |
|
|
Agapanthus umbellatus |
Liliaceae |
99 99 |
G. |
|
|
Agave Americana |
Amaryllideae |
Century Plant |
99 99 |
G. |
|
A. sisalana |
99 |
Sisal Hemp |
99 99 |
G. |
|
A. vivipara |
99 |
Striped leaved |
||
|
Aloe |
99 9 9 |
G. |
||
|
Ailanthus glandulosa |
Simarubae |
Tree of Heaven |
Tree |
G. |
|
Albizzia fastigiata |
Leguminosae |
Mukurue |
99 |
I. |
|
Allamanda nerifolia |
Apocynaceae |
Climber |
Pre. con. |
|
|
Aloe sp. |
Liliaceae |
Fol. plant |
I. |
|
|
Alstroemeria sp. |
Amaryllideae |
„ my |
G. |
|
|
Alternanthera versicolor |
Amarantaceae |
Variegated |
||
|
edging pi. |
G. |
|||
|
A. rubra |
9 9 |
G. |
||
|
Althea rosea |
Malvaceae |
Hollyhock |
Fol. plant |
G. |
|
Anacardium occidentale |
Anacardiaceae |
Cashew nut |
Tree |
Pre. con. |
|
Ananas sativa garden |
||||
|
varieties |
Bromeliaceae |
Pine apple |
Fruit |
G. |
|
Anona muricata |
Anonaceae |
Sour sop |
Fruit tree |
G. |
|
Antirrhinum major |
Scrophulariaceae |
Snap dragon |
Fol. plant |
G. |
|
Aquilegia sp. garden |
||||
|
variety |
Ranunculaceae |
Columbine |
99 99 |
G. |
|
Asparagus officinale |
Liliaceae |
Vegetable |
G. |
|
|
A. plumosus |
Climber |
I. |
||
|
A. sp. |
” |
” |
I. |
* G. — Good. B. — Bad. M. — Indifferent. I. — Indigenous. Pre. con. — Early to judge.
E 3
58
LIST OF PLANTS
|
Botanical Name |
Natural Order |
Common Name, if any |
Description |
|
Bauhinia purpurea |
Leguminosae |
Orchid tree |
Fol. tree |
|
Begonia sp. garden var. |
Begoniaceae |
,, plant |
|
|
Bixa orellana |
Bixaceae |
Annatto |
Shrub |
|
Boehmeria nivea Bombax or Eriodendron |
Urticaceae |
Ramie |
Fibre plant |
|
anfractuosum |
Malvaceae |
Silk cotton tree |
Tree |
|
Bougainvillea glabra |
Nyctaginaceae |
Climber |
|
|
Brachylaena Hutchinsii |
Compositae |
Muhugu (kik.) |
Tree |
|
Convolvulus sp. |
Convolvulaceae |
Yellow convol- vulus |
Climber |
|
Cyphomandra betacea |
Solanaceae |
Tree tomato |
Fruit tree |
|
Dahlia sp. |
Compositae |
Fol. plant |
|
|
Dalbergia sissoo |
Leguminosae |
Sishim of India |
Tree |
|
Datura Knightii |
Solanaceae |
Fol. shrub |
|
|
Delphinium sp. |
Banunculaceae |
Larkspur |
„ plant |
|
Dianthus sp. |
Caryophyllaceae |
Carnation |
99 9 9 |
|
Digitalis purpurea |
Scrophulariaceae |
Foxglove |
99 9 9 |
|
Dolichandrone Hildebrandtii |
Bignoniaceae |
Muho (kik.) |
Tree |
|
Dombeya nairobensis |
Sterculiaceae |
Mukao (kik.) |
Shrub |
|
Dracaena reflexa |
Liliaceae |
Dracaena |
Tree |
|
Eriodendron anfractuosum |
Bombaceae |
Silk cotton tree |
9 9 |
|
Eucalyptus citriodora |
Myrtaceae |
Lemon scented Gum Blue Gum |
|
|
E. globulus |
99 |
99 99 |
|
|
E. robusta |
99 |
||
|
Ficus nr. capensis |
Urticaceae |
Mukuyu (kik.) |
„ |
|
F. carica |
99 |
Edible Fig |
,, |
|
F. elastica |
India-rubber |
||
|
F. exasperata |
99 |
Msasa (swa.) |
Shrub |
|
F. nr. natalensis |
| „ |
Mugumu (kik. ) |
Tree |
|
Freesia refracta alba |
Iridaceae |
Fol. plant |
|
|
Fuchsia sp. garden var. |
Onagraceae |
Fol. „ |
|
|
Furcraea gigantea |
Liliaceae |
Maur. Hemp |
Fibre ,, |
|
Gerbera Jamesonii |
Compositae |
Barberton Daisy |
|
|
Gladiolus sp. garden var. |
Iridaceae |
„ ,, |
|
|
Godetia sp. garden var. |
Malvaceae |
9 9 99 |
|
|
Grevillea robusta |
Proteaceae |
Silky Oak |
Tree |
|
Grewia pilosa |
Tiliaceae |
Shrub |
|
|
Haemanthus multiflorus |
Amaryllidaceae |
Fol. plant |
|
|
Hakea laurina |
Myrtaceae |
Hedge „ |
|
|
Helianthus sp. garden vars. |
Compositae |
Sunflower |
Fol. „ „ shrub |
|
Hibiscus sinensis |
Malvaceae |
||
|
Impatiens Oliverii |
Geraniaceae |
Balsam |
Fol. plant |
|
I. sultani |
99 |
99 99 |
|
|
I. Holstii |
99 |
99 99 |
|
|
Iris sp. garden var. |
Iridaceae |
Fleur de lis |
G.
M.
G.
G.
M.
G.
I.
G.
G.
G.
G.
I.
I.
G.
G.
G.
G.
G.
G.
M.
Gk— Good.
B. — Bad.
M. — Indifferent.
I. — Indigenous.
Pre. con. — Early to judge.
do g ddd ►nddd^gdd
LIST OF PLANTS
59
|
Botanical Name |
Natural Order |
Common Name, if any |
Description |
* |
|
Jacaranda mimosifolia |
Leguminosae |
Palixander |
Tree |
G. |
|
Juncus Fontanesia |
Juncaceae |
Ndago (kik.) |
Rush |
G. |
|
Juniperus procera |
Coniferae |
Cedar |
Tree |
I. |
|
Lantana salvifolia |
Verbenaceae |
Shrub |
I. |
|
|
Lathyrus odorata |
Leguminosae |
Sweet Pea |
Climber |
M. i |
|
Lavendula vera |
Labiateae |
Lavender |
Fol. plant |
M. |
|
Leonotis Elliottii |
99 |
99 99 |
I. |
|
|
Liliastrum sp. |
Liliaceae |
99 99 |
I. |
|
|
Lobelia Stuhlmannii |
Lobeliaceae |
Giant Lobelia |
99 99 |
G. |
|
Lophospermum erubescens |
Scrophulariaceae |
Climber |
G. |
|
|
Mandevillea suaveolens |
Apocynaceae |
99 |
G. |
|
|
Mangifera indica |
Anacardiaceae |
Mango |
Tree |
Pre. con. |
|
Manihot dichotoma |
Euphorbiaceae |
Jequie’sRubber |
99 |
G. |
|
M. glaziovii |
,, |
Ceara Rubber |
,, |
M. |
|
M. sp. |
99 |
Coral Tree |
Shrub |
m. i |
|
Marsdenia sp. |
Asclepiadaceae |
G. i |
||
|
Mathiola sp. garden vars. |
Cruciferae |
Stock |
Fol. plant |
M. 1 |
|
Melia azedarach |
Meliaceae |
Persian Lilac |
Tree |
G. |
|
Mirablis jalapa |
Nyctaginaceae |
Marvel of Peru |
Fol. plant |
G. |
|
Morus alba |
Urticaeae |
Japanese |
||
|
Mulberry |
Small tree |
G. |
||
|
Musa Livingstonia |
Scitaminaceae |
Wild Banana |
Tree |
I. |
|
M. sapientium vars. |
Nyctaginaceae |
Edible Banana |
Fol. plant |
G. |
|
Nerium oleander |
Apocynaceae |
Oleander |
Shrub |
G. |
|
Olea crysophylla |
Oleaceae |
Wild Olive |
Tree |
I. |
|
Papaver sp. |
Papaveraceae |
Poppy |
Fol. plant |
M. |
|
Parkinsonia aculeata |
Leguminosae |
Tree |
M. |
|
|
Passiflora edulis |
Passiflorae |
Passion Flower |
Climber |
G. |
|
Pelargonium multibrac- |
Geraniaceae |
Geranium |
99 99 |
I. |
|
teatum |
||||
|
P. sp. garden vars. |
,, |
99 |
99 99 |
G. |
|
Pentas parviflora |
Rubiaceae |
Fol. plant |
I. |
|
|
Petunia sp. garden vars. |
Solanaceae |
Petunia |
,, ,, |
G. |
|
Phoenix dactylifera |
Palmae |
Bate Palm |
Tree |
B. |
|
P. reclinata |
,, |
Wild „ |
99 |
I. |
|
Physalis Peruviana |
Solanaceae |
Cape Goose- |
||
|
berry |
Fol. plant |
G. |
||
|
Plumeria acutifolia |
Apocynaceae |
Frangipani |
Shrub |
G. |
|
Poinciana regia |
Leguminosae |
Flamboyant |
Tree |
B. |
|
Poinsettia pulcherrima |
Euphorbiaceae |
Poinsettia |
Fol. plant |
G. |
|
Psidium cattleyanum |
Myrtaceae |
Guava |
Tree |
M. |
|
Punica granatum |
Lythraceae |
Pomegranate |
Shrub |
G. |
|
Pygeum africanum |
Rosaceae |
Mueri (kik.) |
Tree |
M. |
|
Pyrethrum sp. |
Compositae |
Pyrethrum |
Fol. plant |
G. |
|
Quercus robur var. pedun- |
||||
|
culata |
Cupuliferae |
Oak |
Tree |
B. |
* G. — Good. B. — Bad. M. — Indifferent. I. — Indigenous. Pre. con. — Early to judge.
60
LIST OF PLANTS
|
Botanical Name |
Natural Order |
Common Name, if any |
Description |
* |
|
Raphia raffia |
Palmae |
Mwali (Swa.) |
Tree |
M. |
|
Reseda odorata |
Resedaceae |
Mignonette |
Fol. plant |
G. |
|
Rhus villosa |
Anacardiaceae |
Shrub |
i. |
|
|
Robinia pseudoacacia |
Leguminosae |
False Acacia |
Tree |
B. |
|
Rosa canina garden vars. |
Rosaceae |
Briar |
Shrub |
G. |
|
R. sp. garden vars. |
99 |
Rose |
,, |
G. |
|
Russellia juncea |
Scrophulariaceae |
Antigua Heath |
Fol. plant |
G. |
|
Salvia splendens |
Labiateae |
Salvia |
99 99 |
G. |
|
S. patens |
Blue Salvia |
M. |
||
|
Sanchesia nobilis |
Acanthaceae |
,, Shrub |
G. |
|
|
Sanseviera Ehrenbergii |
Liliaceae |
Sanseviera |
Fibre plant |
M. |
|
S. guineensis |
99 |
99 |
99 99 |
M. |
|
S. cylindrica |
„ |
99 |
99 99 |
M. |
|
Schinus molle |
Anacardiaceae |
Pepper Tree |
Tree |
G. |
|
Smilax kaussiana |
Liliaceae |
Smilax |
Climber |
I. |
|
Solanum campylanthum |
Solanaceae |
Ndulele (kik.) |
Fol. plant |
I. |
|
S. Melongena |
99 |
Egg Plant |
Vegetable |
G. |
|
S. robustum |
99 |
Small tree |
G. |
|
|
Spathodea nilotica |
Bignoniaceae |
Tree |
G. |
|
|
Strychnos Elliottii |
Loganiaceae |
Muteta (kik.) |
„ |
I. |
|
Syringa vulgaris |
Oleaceae |
Lilac |
Small tree |
Pre. con. |
|
Tagetes erecta |
Compositae |
African Mari- |
||
|
gold |
Fol. plant |
G. |
||
|
Tecoma stans |
Bignoniaceae |
Shrub |
G. |
|
|
Thunbergia erecta |
Acanthaceae |
Small shrub |
I. |
|
|
Toddalia lanceolata |
Rutaceae |
Munderendu |
||
|
(kik.) |
Tree |
I. |
||
|
T. unifoliata |
99 |
99 |
99 Fol. plant |
I. |
|
Tradescantia discolor |
Commelinaceae |
G. |
||
|
Tristania conferta |
Myrtaceae |
Brush Box |
Tree |
G. |
|
Tropaeolum majus |
Cruciferae |
Nasturtium |
Climber |
G. |
|
Vanguiera edulis |
Rubiaceae |
Mubiru (kik.) |
Small tree |
I. |
|
Verbena sp. |
Verbenaceae |
Verbena |
Fol. plant |
G. |
|
Vinca minor |
Apocynaceae |
99 9 9 |
G. |
|
|
Viola odorata sp. |
Violaceae |
Violet |
9 9 9 9 |
G. |
|
V. tricolor garden vars. |
99 |
Pansy |
99 99 |
M. |
|
Warburgia ugandensis |
Rutaceae |
Muziga (kik.) |
Tree |
I. |
|
Widdringtonia Whyteii |
Coniferae |
Mlanji Cedar |
99 |
M. |
|
Wistaria sinensis |
Leguminosae |
Wistaria |
Climber |
Pre. con. |
|
Zinnia garden vars. |
Compositae |
Fire Ball |
Fol. plant |
G. |
* G. — Good. B. — Bad. M. — Indifferent. I. — Indigenous. Pre. con. — Early to judge.
SPITTING COBRAS
61
NOTES
ON SPITTING COBRAS By S. W. J. Scholefield
The blackish-grey cobra snake is well known to the Akamba as a spitting snake. It is called Kiko by them. They have three snakes all called Kiko, all of which are hooded and all of which spit.
Another ‘ Kiko 5 is a shiny black one with, as far as I remember, a yellowish throat. One of these I killed in the boys’ quarters of the ‘ Paper House ’ at Nairobi after it had put two boys hors de combat with its saliva.
I did not see it extend its hood, as I was looking for no trouble in the rather dark boys’ room where the snake had taken up its quarters underneath a bed. It was coiled up when I fired and it was picked up in three pieces. All the natives present told me it was a cobra, i.e. that it was a hooded snake. It was about five feet long and fairly thick.
The olive-brown cobra (I think it is the same as the South African Ringhals) I have myself seen spit.
When I was in occupation of Mr. Fletcher’s House just beyond the Polo Ground, Nairobi, my boy told me there was a snake at the annexe. I took a revolver, and as it wriggled along the verandah I fired, breaking its back and sending it off the verandah. On approaching, it deliberately spat at me, but being a young snake and with its back broken, the saliva only reached about two feet.
The Ringhals of South Africa attains a much greater length than the five feet mentioned by Mr. Hobley as being the length of Niger nigricollis. If I recollect rightly, two shot in the Kalahari measured 7 feet 10 inches and 8 feet 2 inches respectively.
The brown mamba attains a length of much more than 10 feet. One killed in an ant-heap which had been scooped out to make an oven at Old Palla Camp on the Crocodile (Limpopo) River was, if I recollect rightly, over 14 feet. The pace at which they travel is, or seems to be, tremendous.
The Akamba name for the olive-brown or copper-coloured
62
DESTRUCTION OF MAIZE BY JACKALS
cobra is Kinga. Can any reader of the Journal give any information as to the means by which some natives make themselves immune to snake bites ?
I have seen one or two natives handling cobras and puff- adders without the slightest fear, and I allude to wild, not captive snakes. It is true I have never seen one bitten, but they are bitten if report speaks correctly.
Unfortunately my own particular snake-boy, to whom we were looking forward for a collection of native snakes, has been smitten by local female charms and has eloped with another man’s wife and the contents of the husband’s cash box.
It may be of use to note that a weak solution of perman- ganate of potash in warm water considerably alleviates the pain, should a snake unfortunately spit in one’s eye. At least I found this was the case with the two boys at the Paper House.
I can only recollect one case of snake-bite in this country. I treated the boy with a hypodermic injection of strychnine, applied ligatures, lanced the bite, jammed in permanganate of potash and gave him two or three stiff pegs. He was bad for two or three days but recovered and is still living.
The snake which bit him was the snake described as the earthy-grey cobra, Naja haiae (?).
DESTRUCTION OF MAIZE BY JACKALS By C. M. Dobbs
To one who has spent all his time in the Nyanza Province it comes as a great surprise to find that the destruction of maize by jackals is anything out of the ordinary. As, however, it appears to be peculiar to this part of the Protectorate and to be unknown in South Africa, perhaps the following notes on the subject may be of interest :
The natives in Kisii District used frequently to complain about the amount of damage done to the maize by an animal that lived in the bush and barked like a dog, but it was not till I came to Kericho District that I had personal experience of
DESTRUCTION OF MAIZE BY JACKALS
63
what these animals could do. Whole shambas have this year been practically ruined by their devastations, and even a thick thorn fence round the prison maize shamba has failed to prevent them doing a very considerable amount of damage. They have pushed their way through the fence in several places, and in other parts where it was not very high they have jumped over. They seem to like the maize just before it begins to ripen and while it is still soft, and as far as I can see they first break down the stalk and when it is lying on the ground eat the cob. At first I tried trapping them but the trap I used was not strong enough and they escaped. I then placed small pieces of meat among the maize poisoned with strychnine, and up to date have killed ten of these animals in the prison shamba alone.
A post-mortem examination of one showed the presence of partially digested maize in the stomach. It is also quite easy to recognise the presence of the maize in the excrement of the jackals which is frequently found along native tracks. It seems this is the first year that they have seriously taken to maize in this particular district, and whether the reason is that they have only just discovered that it is good to eat or whether they find that their regular means of subsistence is running short I cannot say. At any rate unless they can be killed off or kept out of the shambas they will be a very serious menace to the maize crop here in the future. It is, I believe, often not good policy to exterminate one particular kind of animal, harmful though it may be, as it may lead to a large increase in the number of some other vermin originally preyed on by the first. I do not know whether there is any danger of this happening should jackals be exterminated, but it would be as well to find out first.
I am not sure to what particular species these jackals belong. The colour seems to vary to a certain extent. I have before me a skin measuring thirty-five inches from the tip of nose to the base of the tail. The tail is about 15 inches long. The animal stands about 16 inches high. The colour is grey on the back of neck and dark brown along the back. It is dirty yellow underneath. The legs are fawn-coloured. The tail has a black tip with a few white hairs at the end. The back of the ears are dark brown.
64
THE SOLITARY ELEPHANT
THE SOLITARY ELEPHANT in ngonga’s country near the yala swamp, nyanza
PROVINCE
By C. W. Woodhouse
The history of this beast, a cow, is as follows : —
Some time ago three elephants (and according to some stories a calf as well) having been harried in Kisii or South Kavirondo, crossed the lake at the mouth of the Kavirondo gulf. One turned back, one was exhausted on arrival and was slaughtered by the natives on landing, and the third went up to the Yala swamp. Some accounts say the calf was drowned in the lake.
The elephant has taken up its permanent residence in some thick scrub on the Otodwa Stream, close to the Yala. This retreat it leaves to raid the numerous native shambas, but is said never to be away for more than five days at a time. It also feeds on the bush near the Yala at the mouth of the Otodwa. It has lost all fear of man, and the natives say if it meets any of them it chases them. It has terrorised all the neighbouring villages and done a very great deal of damage. The natives state that the surest way of finding it is to go into the bush, when it will charge. Needless to say they evince little or no curiosity to see it. The place where the natives state is its permanent home fully bears out their statements. The quantity of dung, trampled grass and broken trees might have been caused by a large herd of elephants. The day the writer inspected the site, the elephant was raiding some villagers’ crops on the south bank of the Yala. The beast’s tusks are said to only project some two feet from the lip, and are thin.
There is no doubt this animal is a most dangerous ‘ rogue,’ and if not destroyed or removed will probably in the near future commit culpable homicide.
There are no other elephants in the Nyanza Province north of the Kavirondo gulf nearer than Elgon, and possibly the same distance away in Uganda.
NOTE BY COMMITTEE
65
NOTE BY COMMITTEE
The Society, through the medium of the Journal, wishes to express its indebtedness to Mr. H. J. Allen Turner, taxidermist, for the many bird and small mammal specimens which he has mounted and presented to the Museum, and also for the valuable assistance he has rendered the Museum in the preparation and arrangement of its specimens.
The committee also desires to express its gratitude to Mr. R. J. Cunninghame for the work he has done in cataloguing, labelling, and arranging the exhibits in the Society’s Museum.
EDITORIAL
It is necessary to remind members that the supply of material for the Journal is still not as ample as could be wished. Advice will be freely given to intending contributors if desired.
First-hand notes of personal observations are especially sought.
As the Society has no clerical staff, it is hoped that when- ever possible, all communications will be typewritten and in duplicate. Articles and notes should be illustrated if possible.
MEETINGS
A series of evening meetings of Members has been held in the Museum building, Nairobi, as follows : —
May 80. — Two papers were given, the first being * An Introduction to the Study of Butterflies ’ by the Vice-President, the Hon. Mr. C. W. Hobley, C.M.G. ; and the second,1 4 Sea Fishes ’ by R. J. Cunninghame, Esq. The interest in these papers was considerably enhanced by specimens which were
1 This paper will appear in a later number of the Journal.
66
MEETINGS
handed round, those of curious forms of Sea Fishes being extremely interesting.
July 5. — A lecture was given on ‘ Insects and Disease ’ by Mr. T. J. Anderson, B.A., having special reference to the disease-carrying propensities of the common house-fly.
August 8. — Some practical demonstrations in Taxidermy were given by Mr. A. J. Klein, comprising the skinning of a bird and the preparation of the skin for a study skin, and the skinning and temporary preparation of the head skin of a Thompsoni Gazelle.
All these meetings have been satisfactorily attended, an average of fifty members and friends being present at each meeting. The short discussions which have followed each paper, lecture, or demonstration, have added considerable interest to the proceedings.
It is hoped that it will be possible to continue these meetings, if not monthly, certainly at reasonable intervals.
Ube journal
OF THE
East Africa and Ugand Natural History Society
July 1913 Vol. III. No. 6
CONTENTS
^ PAGE
1. OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY ; . 1
2. THE MIOCENE BEDS OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA. By F. Oswald,
D.So. . , . . . . > . ' > • 2
3. THE ORGANIC CELL (PART I), By Dr. E. Wynstone-Waters . , 9
4. PEOPLE OF S.E. SLOPES OF MT. ELGON, By 0. W. Woodhouse , 16
5. THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT. By R. B, Woosnam, F.Z.S. 25
6. THE EVOLUTION OF THE ARROW. By 0, W. Hobley . , , 31
7. KIKUYU CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIES. By A. R. Barlow , . 41
8. NESTING HABITS OF SOME EAST AFRICAN BIRDS, By W. M,
Congreve, M.B.O.U. . . . . . • • . , 44
9. SOME UNIDENTIFIED BEASTS. By 0. W. Hobley . . , ,48
NOTES
AN UNKNOWN BEAST SEEN ON MAGADI RAILWAY, By G, W,
Hiokes , , . . . - . , . . . . .53
RETICULATA GIRAFFE. By A. B. Percival , 55
LIONS KILLING GIRAFFE. By 0. W. Woodhouse . . . . ,55
NESTING OF SOME BIRDS. From Journal, British Ornithologists’ Club 56 A NEW SPECIES OF OLIGONEURIA. By Rev. A. E. Eaton . . , 58
AFRICAN FISH AND ARTIFICIAL FLIES. By C. M. Dobbs . . .59
A BONGO KILLED AT KERICHO, By C. M, Dobbs ... 59
A STONE AXE. By C. W. Hobley , . , . . . - 60
THE TREE - OR GREEN MAMBA. By C. W, Hobley . . . . .61
MEMBERS* NOTE BOOK. By Editor . ..... 62
EXTRACTS FROM MEMBERS’ NOTE BOOK, By Various Members , , 62
NOTE. By Hon, Secretary . . , , , , . ,69
LIST OF MEMBERS .70
ILLUSTRATIONS
RETICULATA GIRAFFE Frontispiece
THE MIOCENE BEDS OF NIRA & KACHUKU , . . . 4&G
TYPES OF ARROW ( Woodcuts ) . 32-40
FOOTPRINT OF MAGADI BEAST (Woodcut) . . . . . . 49
OLIGONEURIA DOBBSI ( Woodcut ) . 58
BONGO SKIN AND HEAD ...... ... 59
STONE AXE .......... , 60
EDITORS
C. W, HOBLEY, C.M.G. T. J. ANDERSON, B.Sc
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO,
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, NEW YORK, BOMBAY AND CALCUTTA
Jill rights reserved
Additional copies: to members, Bs. 3 (4/-) ; to non-members , Bs, 4 (5j4)<
GIRAFFE
var : reticulata.
From a, photograph by A. Blayney Per civ ah
THE JOURNAL
OF THE
EAST AFRICA AND UGANDA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY
July, 1913. VOL III. No. 6
patrons
H. C. BELFIELD, Esq., C.M.G.
SIR Es P. C. GIROUARD, R.E., K.C.M.G., D.S.O. SIR JAMES HAYES SADLER, K.C.M.G., C.B.
SIR H. HESKETH BELL, K.C.M.G.
Ifrresfoent
SIR F. J. JACKSON, K.C.M.G., C.B., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U, t)ice=f>restoent
C. W. HOBLEY, C.M.G., M.R.Anthrop.Inst. Bjecutive Committee T. J. ANDERSON, B.A., B.Sc.
A. G. ANDERSON
E. BATTISCOMBE, Assoc. Arbor. Society R. J. CUNINGHAME, F.Z.S.
S. L. HINDE A. J. KLEIN
A. BLAYNEY PERCIVAL, F.Z.S.
R. J. STORDY, M.R.C.V.S., M.B.O.U.
R, B. WOOSNAM, F.Z.S.
1bonoran> {Treasurer
W. McGREGOR ROSS, B.A., M.Sc., B.E.
IfoonorarE Secretary JOHN SERGEANT
Ifoonorarp Curators
E. BATTISCOMBE, Assoc. Arbor. Society R. J. CUNINGHAME, F.Z.S.
1918
Vol. III.— No. 6.
2
THE MIOCENE BEDS OF
THE MIOCENE BEDS OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA.
By Felix Oswald, D.Sc.
In 1909 Mr. G. R. Chesnaye, at the close of a prospecting expedition down the Kuja valley, came across some bones of fossil turtles and crocodiles in the low cliffs of Karungu Bay below Nira Hill. On his return to Nairobi he showed the fossils to Mr. C. W. Hobley, who induced the late Mr. D. B. Pigott to undertake a search for further specimens. His interesting discovery of part of the lower jaw of a Dinotherium in these beds near Karungu has already been referred to in this Journal (Vol. II, No. 4, July 1912, p. 109 and text-figure) by Dr. C. W. Andrews, F.R.S., who appropriately named the specimen Dinotherium Hobleyi, and ascribed a Lower Miocene (Burdigalian) age to the strata. Owing to the unfortunate demise of Mr. Pigott little or nothing was known of the circumstances of his discovery ; accordingly I offered to utilise my leave in making a geological investigation of the locality and in collecting fossils for the British Museum, and I arrived at Karungu at the end of November 1911. In the meantime Dr. A. D. Milne had visited Nira Hill, and just before my arrival Mr. R. J. Cuninghame, in conjunction with Mr. G. R. Chesnaye, had procured several specimens of chelonian and crocodilian remains.
To some extent a disappointment awaited me, for, contrary to my over-sanguine expectations, there was no bone-bed, nor was there any chance of obtaining complete skeletons, for the bones only occurred isolated at wide and uncertain intervals and usually in a shattered condition. Moreover, the outcrop of the Miocene beds is unfortunately extremely restricted, for they appear to view only in a few places along the southern margin of a large volcanic plateau, of which Gwasi is the central point, rising nearly 8,000 feet above the Nyanza. Their outcrop is still further diminished by a thick mantle of black ‘ cotton-soil ’ or regur, derived from the decom- position of the nepheline-basalt. They are exposed to view at the base of Nira Hill and to the eastward in the gullies of
THE VICTORIA NYANZA
3
Kachuku and at the base of the basalt cliffs of East Kachuku and Kikongo.
Broadly speaking, these Miocene sediments, brought down by a large river and deposited in the lake, may be classified into three groups, which I divided into 37 beds : —
1. An Upper Series (Beds 1-12), about 70 feet thick, of grey and brown clays and shales, with occasional beds of grey sandstone and thin seams of travertine.
2. A Middle Series (Beds 13-25), about 30 feet thick, of variable red and grey clays with white sandstones in the lower half.
3. A Lower Series (Beds 26-37), about 35 feet thick, of buff sandstones, calcareous conglomerates, and torrential gravels (containing the Dinotherium zone), passing down into clays and marlstones.
Travertinous beds occur at frequent intervals throughout the whole succession of strata, which do not exhibit any unconformity.
At Nira the Miocene beds rest on an uneven floor of a fine-grained amphibolite (hornblende-rock) belonging to the ancient gneisses and schists which are so widely distributed on the eastern and southern coasts of the Victoria Nyanza. At Kachuku, however, the lowest beds lie on a quartz-ironstone breccia which faces the Kuja plain in a low cliff. Probably this breccia of angular fragments of quartz embedded in limonite represents the weathered detritus of old amphibolites or hornblende-schists composing the original land-surface which was invaded by the advancing waters of the lake in Lower Miocene times.
The initial depression of the land must have taken place with relative rapidity, for the lowest bed (No. 37) is not a gravel or a sandstone but a fine clay, indicating that it was deposited in fairly deep water at a considerable distance from land. This mottled crimson and yellow clay becomes wholly red in colour in the proximity of a quartz- vein, which has not only traversed the underlying platform of hornblende-rock, but has even forced its way into this red clay ; and the red colour, penetrating every crack and joint of the clay, is probably
4
THE MIOCENE BEDS OP
due to hot ferruginous water connected with the injection of the quartz-veins.
The earth movements which gave rise to the deepening of the lake were doubtless responsible for the great activity of calcareous springs depositing frequent beds of travertine above the red clay (e.g. at Kachuku). Whenever the travertine became mingled with clay deposited at the same time, bands of hard, brown marlstone (Nos. 32 and 34) were the result, alter- nating with brown clay and enclosing shells of Ampullaria ovata , Lanistes carinatus and Cleopatra bulimoides.1 Whilst these beds are very clayey at Nira they are represented at Kachuku by pebbly sandstones, showing that the river which brought down the sediments must have flowed from east to west, and in all probability it followed a very similar course to the present Kuja River.
The most important beds of the whole series are the torrential and current-bedded sandstones and gravels of No. 31, which are particularly well displayed in the gullies of Kachuku (Fig. 4), for they comprise the zone in which I found bones of Dinotherium Hobleyi (mandible, tusk, &c.), and of Anthracotheres of different sizes, some allied to Hyopotamus (humerus, tibia, rib, and tusk) and probably leading a very similar existence to the present hippopotamus, and a small mandible of a form similar to Ancodus, a tooth of the hornless rhinoceros (Aceratherium) , the mandible of a small cat-like carnivore closely allied to Pseudaelurus, the astragalus of a Creodont, part of the carapace of a giant tortoise, scutes of Trionyx , teeth of crocodile, &c., and a very few landshells (Cerastus cf. Moellendorffi and Limicolaria), as well as the lacustrine Ampullaria ovata and Cleopatra bulimoides.
The upper limit of these bone-bearing beds is readily recognisable, for it is formed by a thick conglomerate (No. 30) of white calcareous nodules (with concentric coats) from an inch or two up to 2 feet in diameter.
The currents must have been particularly strong at this time to keep such large nodules in active motion, so as to permit the formation of this exceptionally coarse oolite in
1 The vertebrate remains which I collected have been named by Dr. C. W. Andrews, and the mollusca by Mr. R. Bullen Newton.
Fig. 1. HEAD OF GULLY AT NIRA, LOOKING N.E. BY E.
B, basalt of Nira Hill.
— 16
Fig. 2. HEAD OF GULLY AT KACHUKU, LOOKING N.E.
The basalt peak of Nundowat in the distance, b, black earth.
THE VICTORIA NYANZA
5
the lime-laden waters of the lagoon or shallow gulf of the Victoria Nyanza. It was succeeded by another well-marked torrential period, during which the river deposited coarse gravels (Nos. 26-29), with a calcareous cement, deriving their constituents from gneiss, andesite, jasper, and quartz, occurring in situ in the country 20 to 80 miles to the eastward, and especially derived from the volcanic agglomerate of Metamala.
During the period represented by the Middle Series (Beds 18-25) the river-system was becoming mature, so that torrential beds were exceptional and temporary, and are confined to the lower half, whilst in the upper half red clays predominate, interrupted by occasional seams of travertine, often mixed with clay. A thin, orange gravel (No. 24) near the base of the series (Fig. 2) is of special importance on account of the number of teeth it contains, comprising those of Dino- therium, rodents (probably ancestral to the cane-rats), crocodiles, and of the lungfish Proto'pterus (hitherto unknown in a fossil condition). One of the white sandstones (No. 22) is so hard that the fossils it contains are exceptionally well preserved, in particular a Proboscidean tibia, perhaps of Dinotherium or Tetrabelodon, and a complete carapace of Trionyx.
Intercalated among the upper red clays (Fig. 8) is a thin grey sandstone (No. 16), containing a few small jawbones which Dr. C. W. Andrews has determined to belong to a remark- able form, related to Hyrax, with some rat-like characteristics doubtless due to convergence. Still higher in the series a hard red marlstone (No. 14), often travertinous, contains abundant casts of the shells of Ampullaria ovata (with opercula) and Lanistes carinatus with fragmentary crocodilian and chelonian remains. This bed forms a remarkably persistent horizon and is readily recognisable from its tendency to form a wide terrace (as at Nira) and the edge of a cliff (Fig. 2). The red colour of this marlstone and of its associated clays (Nos. 13 and 15) diminishes towards the east and has become greenish-grey at Kikongo, five miles east of Nira. Their red- ness may perhaps indicate the activity of ferruginous springs at the time of deposition. Discontinuous layers of calcareous concretions occur in the clays and probably owe their irregular
6
THE MIOCENE BEDS OF
and sometimes fantastic shapes to the action of gentle currents disturbing the uniform deposition of the travertine.
Finally the Upper Series (Nos. 1-12), although equal to the combined thickness of the Middle and Lower Series, consists mainly of grey and brown clays and shales with scarcely a trace of fossils. It is only in the lowest bed (No. 12) that fossils are still present to any extent, e.g. a river-crab (Thel'phusa), bones and scutes of crocodile, &c. At Kachuku I found crocodiles’ teeth with Ampullaria ovata in the grey clay of No. 5, but this was the highest level at which vertebrate remains occurred.
These clays were evidently deposited at a time when the rivers had nearly reached their base-level, and were normally only able to deposit fine mud which was probably derived mainly from the much-weathered and decomposed gneiss of the Kamagambo peneplain. Thin seams of travertine are frequently intercalated with the clays.
It needed some exceptionally wet season to bring down coarse sandy material in order to form the grey, current-bedded sandstones, which occur at rare intervals and often pass laterally into grey clay. The only one of these bands (No. 8) that persists throughout the area is about 6 feet thick ; it forms a noticeable ledge in the upper part of the main gully at Nira (Fig. 1) and is composed of quartz-grains with plates of biotite and small crystals of augite. At Kikongo I found it to contain a few land-shells ( Tro,pido/p}iora nyasana, Limi- colaria, and Cerastus).
In the topmost bed of grey clay (No. 1) the petrified stems of extinct species of trees occur, allied to Bornbax, laurels, &c., and are particularly well preserved at Kikongo. They were the result of quite unusual circumstances by which water- logged trunks were calcified by the agency of calcareous springs, the wood being replaced by lime, particle by particle, so that when thin slices of the fossil stems are prepared and placed under the microscope the most delicate cell- structures are revealed as clearly as if the sections had been made from living plants.
It is somewhat surprising that the fossil shells consist entirely of gasteropods to the complete exclusion of bivalves. This would seem to indicate that the strata were laid down so
16 —
17-
x8 —
Fig. 4. LOWER PART OF GULLY AT KACHUKU, LOOKING N.E.
The basalt peak of Nundowat in the distance.
D, Dinotherium zone.
EASTERN PART OF GULLY AT KACHUKU, LOOKING S.E.
The basalt cliff of East Kachuku in the distance.
THE VICTORIA NYANZA
7
far away from the land as only to permit of the inclusion of chambered shells capable of floating and drifting for a con- siderable distance before becoming waterlogged and sinking to the bottom. Whilst sailing on the Victoria Nyanza gasteropod shells may be frequently observed floating at a considerable distance from the land, and they may be driven by winds and currents for many miles before they finally sink.
As Dr. Andrews has pointed out, the vertebrate fauna of these Miocene beds is closely similar to that occurring at Mogara in the Libyan Desert and presents affinities to the fauna of beds of similar age in Beluchistan.
At all the outcrops, from Nira to Kikongo, the dip of the Miocene beds is constant, viz. 8° N. by W. This up tilting may be due to the sagging down of the earth’s crust in this region by the enormous weight of the thousands of feet of lava which have been poured out and piled up by the volcanic vents of Gwasi. It is true that Captain H. G. Lyons has come to the conclusion that the northern coast of the Victoria Nyanza is gradually sinking — to the extent of 80 cm. in nine years at Entebbe — but this depression can hardly be connected with the uptilting of the Miocene beds near Karungu, or else we should expect to find the Kavirondo Gulf increasing in depth. It is, however, well known to be steadily becoming shallower.
Owing to this northerly dip the Miocene beds soon disappear completely beneath the basalt plateau of Gwasi. No trace of them was visible even in the deep and wide meridional valleys of Kitama and Kikongo, which must have been excavated in the soft deposits prior to the outflow of the nepheline-basalt.
To the south the uptilted beds are thinning out rapidly, and, moreover, in this direction they would naturally occur at a higher and higher level, but they have been completely denuded away when the lake stood higher than at present, and there was not the smallest trace of them in the hills of granitic gneiss to the south of the wide Kuja valley. The only chance of finding any further outcrops lay in my searching along their line of strike, viz. to E. by N., but to the east of Kikongo the basalt no longer rested on the Miocene deposits, but on an ancient augite-andesite, from which the Miocene strata had previously been denuded away excepting for a small
8
MIOCENE BEDS OF VICTORIA NYANZA
patch of the upper series on the left bank of the Kuja, near the Ogo ford, 15 miles inland from the lake. Here the grey shales and clays are identical in character with the typically unfossili- ferous upper beds ; they occur on the same line of strike as Kachuku and approximately at the same level and they exhibit the same dip, viz. 8° N. by W.
It is a remarkable instance of the persistence of freshwater forms that although the vertebrate remains clearly indicate the Lower Miocene age of these deposits the fossil shells without exception belong to species which are still living in Equatorial Africa. Ampullaria ovata, however, is the only one of these Miocene shells that occurs in the Victoria Nyanza at the present day. Lanistes carinatus is not found nearer than the Tana River, whilst the nearest recorded localities for Cleopatra bulimoides are at Mombasa and in the Lake Rudolf region.
Every year a greater area of the fossiliferous beds will be exposed, for the heavy rains not only wash away the soft black cotton-soil overlying the beds, but the gullies are tem- porarily filled with swollen torrents, which scour away the soft clays so as to undercut the sandstone ledges, which break away into slabs when unsupported. Thus fresh specimens of fossils will continually become exposed to view. Dr. Andrews has already indicated in his article in this Journal the importance of these isolated and scattered bones, and how they can throw light upon the early distribution of animals in Africa as well as upon the origin of the present fauna. Very valuable results may be attained if any visitor to Karungu will turn aside to inspect the gullies of Nira and Kachuku and to secure for the British Museum any fossil bones or teeth which he may discover, noting carefully and photographing the exact bed in which they occur.
THE ORGANIC CELL
9
THE ORGANIC CELL
Part I. — Its Methods of Division and Status in the Process of Heredity
By E. Wynstone-Waters, E.R.S.Edin., &c., Late Senior Demonstrator of Anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons , Edinburgh
The term * cell ’ is a biological misnomer, which, however, shows little sign of dying a natural death. Literally speaking a cell means a hollow chamber, bounded by distinct walls. It is only rarely we come across such hollow cells in organic life, the cell as found in Nature consisting essentially of a mass of protoplasm, a substance well described by Huxley as ‘ the physical basis of life ’ and admitted by all competent thinkers to be the field in which all vital phenomena are exhibited. However much cells may differ in appearance according to the particular tissue or organ they may go to form, they still possess features common to them all. In the higher organisms we have a composite structure built up of millions of units (cells).
There is, however, at the very bottom of the organic ladder a whole series of lowly forms, both plant and animal, consisting of a single cell, the type of which is the same as in the cells which go to build up the complex higher multicellular forms.
Examples of these one-celled organisms will be found in the infusoria, diatoms, and bacteria.
In these lower forms all the phenomena of life are exhibited by the single cell, while in the higher forms certain groups of cells perform certain definite functions, giving rise to the ‘ physiological division of labour ’ by which alone can be attained the most perfect exhibition of vital phenomena. To understand the complexity of cells forming the multicellular organism, one must go back to the single cell.
4 It is to the cell that the study of every bodily function sooner or later drives us. In the muscle-cell lies the problem of the heart-beat, and that of muscular contraction; in the gland-cell reside the causes of secretion ; and the secrets of
10
THE ORGANIC CELL
the mind are hidden in the ganglion-cell. ... If then Physiology is not to rest content with the mere extension of our knowledge regarding the gross activities of the human body, if it would seek a real explanation of the fundamental phenomena of life, it can only attain its end through the study of cell-physiology.’ 1
It seems strange that the above conceptions of the cell, originated by Schwann and elaborated by Kolliker, Virchow, and Hackel, did not for many years affect the speculative aspect of biology. In that great work ‘ The Origin of Species,’ published in 1859, Darwin does not mention it except in regard to his provisional theory of pangenesis, about which I shall have more to say later.
The factor which brought the cell theory into line with the evolution theory was the series of researches (made twenty years later) on the early history of the germ cells, and the result of the union of the germ and sperm cells. Through the agency of these researches it became for the first time apparent that phenomena associated with embryology, heredity, and evolution are closely connected with cell structure ; and that a full understanding of them can only be attained by the closest and most careful cytological research. Shortly after this it was clearly demonstrated that the nucleus of the cell contained the substance of inheritance, and at very nearly the same time the classical researches of van Beneden on the early changes taking place in the animal egg opened up a wide field for original work on the various details of cell phenomena.
To form an estimate of the full value of the discoveries made during this brilliant period it will be useful to very briefly examine the earlier opinions on embryology and inheritance. The modern thinker looks upon the germ as 4 simply a detached portion of the substance of a pre-existing living body ’ carrying with it a definite structural organisation characteristic of the species. By the earlier embryologists, however, the matter was very differently regarded ; for their views in regard to inheritance were vitiated by their acceptance of the Greek doctrine of the spontaneous generation of life. The great Harvey himself did not escape from this error. His 1 Verworn, Allgemeine Physiologie (1895), p. 53.
THE ORGANIC CELL
11
mind was obscured by the fallacy of spontaneous generation. Neither could he have had any true idea of the nature of the egg, for the cellular structure of living things was not under- stood until two centuries later. For a century after Harvey’s time desperate efforts were made to solve the mystery of the origin of the individual life. The extremists evolved what is known as the Preformation theory, which taught that the germ, whether ovum or sperm, contained a miniature organism, already preformed though invisible, which, on becoming unfolded, revealed the perfectly developed animal.
The egg was thus supposed to contain a minute model of the chick, which in its turn contained still minuter models ad infinitum. One enterprising fanatic calculated that Mother Eve must have contained at least 200,000 million homunculi. The ‘ Ovists,’ believing that the ovum contained the miniature, held fierce discussions with the ‘ animalculists ’ who championed the claims of the sperm.
This long-lived theory of Preformation received its death- blow when Caspar Wolff in 1759 demonstrated his theory of ‘ epigenesis ’ by which he sought to show that there was a gradual development from a simple rudiment to a form of greater complexity. Wolff clearly showed in the chick the process of development from a simple rudiment, but having no idea of the uniqueness of the germ cells, was forced to fall back on the postulate of a vis corporis essentialis.
Thus the external nature of development was determined, but the structure of the egg and the process of inheritance remained in the dark for yet another century. Schwann and his followers, in 1889, established the fact beyond the possibility of doubt that the egg is a cell, having the same fundamental structure as other cells of the body. Then dawned the striking truth that a single cell may contain within itself the sum-total of the heritage of the species. It was in regard to the female sex that this conclusion was first arrived at ; but the doctrine was soon extended to the male as well. Leeuwenhoek in 1677 showed that the fertilising fluid contained numberless minute motile bodies, possessing as a rule very active move- ment, and for this reason described by the early observers as parasites or infusoria, an idea which caused the origin of the
12
THE ORGANIC CELL
term ‘spermatozoa’ by which they are even now generally spoken of.
An Italian naturalist (Spallanzani) showed that the fertilis- ing power existed in the spermatozoa, and not in the medium in which they move, because, on filtering, the spermatic fluid loses its power.
The next step was the demonstration of the fact that the spermatozoa take their origin directly from the cells of the testis, that they therefore are not parasitic, but, like the ovum, are directly derived from the parent.
A little later it was shown that the spermatozoon consisted not only of a nucleus, but also contained cytoplasm. Its purely cellular nature was thus clearly shown, that though of extreme minuteness, and possessing a long tail and con- siderable motive power, still morphologically it was as true a cell as the ovum. Ten years later (1875) Hertwig showed that when fertilisation of the egg occurred this phenomenon was the result of its union with one spermatozoon, and only one. Thus in the process of sexual reproduction each parent supplies a single cell of its own body, which on uniting produce the offspring — a practical corroboration of the conclusions drawn by Galton and Darwin, that the sexes perform equal though not identical parts in the process of hereditary trans- mission. It is therefore evident that the questions of fertilisation and inheritance are cell problems.
The question now arises : How do the cells of the body originate ? As early as 1885 it was known that cells arose by the division of pre-existing cells. There were two different methods by which cells were supposed to come into existence : (1) by division of a pre-existing cell ; and (2) by what was known as 4 free cell formation,’ which supposed that cells could crystallise out from a nutritive substance called the 4 cyto- blastema,’ and, strange to say, this latter method was supposed to be the more typical. After some years it was proved that 4 free cell formation ’ was a fallacy and that such a method did not exist in Nature. In 1855 Virchow upheld the universal nature of cell division, stating clearly that every cell is the result of a pre-existing cell, concluding his statement with the now famous biological aphorism 4 omnis cellula e cellula.’
THE ORGANIC CELL
18
The most recent research has placed this conclusion on an immovable foundation, and its absolute truth can be accepted unreservedly.
The first stage in development is the division of the egg into two portions, each of which is a perfect cell in every respect. The two divide to form four, these again to form eight, sixteen, and so on, until at last the original cell or egg comes to be divided up into a host of cells, each one of which is as perfect as the original egg from which they all arose. It is from this mass of cells that the embryonic rudiment is built and, finally, the foetus, and then the full-grown individual. This splitting of the egg is called cleavage or segmentation. It must be remembered that cell-division does not begin with cleavage, but can be traced back into the foregoing generation, for it has been shown that the germ of the female and the sperm of the male arise by the division of cells pre-existing in the parent body. The germ and the sperm are therefore ‘ derived by direct descent from an egg-cell ’ or testis cell of the foregoing generation, and so on ad infinitum.
Thus we arrive at the conception of an endless series of cell divisions extending far back to the very commencement of all life. The body must be looked upon as an excrescence growing out from this ‘ endless chain, whose end is but to die,’ the germ- cells, however, living on and on, ‘ carrying with them the tra- ditions of the race from which they sprang, and handing them on to their descendants.’ This is the modern standpoint of the problems of heredity and development.
The whole teaching of evolution rests on two factors, viz. variation and heredity. Variation causes the appearance of new characters, and by heredity these are carried on to future generations. In the ‘ Origin of Species ’ Darwin accepted two modes of variation in formulating his doctrine : (1) Inborn variations, which appear at birth, without having in any way been affected by environment ; (2) Variations resulting from environment and produced during the individual life, e.g. the effects of use, disuse, &c. This second class of variation was accepted without hesitation by Lamarck, fifty years before Darwin, and is often spoken of as the Lamarckian factors. Around the question of the inheritance of the Lamarckian
14
THE OEGANIC CELL
factors has raged a severe straggle. Darwin accepted the theory of their being inherited ; and, as an explanation of howT it was possible for the effects of use and disuse, &c., to be in- herited, he formulated his ingenious provisional hypothesis of pangenesis. This theory suggests that the germ-cells receive minute gemmules from every part of the body, and on this assumption explained the transmission of both inborn and acquired characters. This theory was the most speculative of all Darwin’s writings, and, though discarded, it must always remain of interest from the wonderful skill used in its construction.
Brooks, in 1888, attempted to rejuvenate the theory of pangenesis. In the above year Professor A. Weismann startled the scientific world by issuing a sweeping challenge of the whole of the Lamarckian factors.1 ‘ In my opinion this [the hereditary substance] can only be the substance of the germ-cells ; and this substance transfers its hereditary tendencies from genera- tion to generation, at first unchanged, and always uninfluenced in any corresponding manner by that which happens during the life of the individual which bears it. If these views be correct, all our ideas upon the transformation of species require thorough modification, for the whole principle of evolution by means of exercise (use and disuse) as professed by Lamarck, and accepted in some cases by Darwin, entirely collapses.’ Professor Weismann continues by stating the impossibility of the transmission of acquired traits, for it seems impossible to understand that changes in the body should affect the plasm of the germ cells so as to bring about corresponding changes in the offspring.
Weismann asserts that not a single case of transmission of acquired characters will stand a rigid scrutiny. Inheritance does not take place from the body of the parent to that of the child. ‘ The child inherits from the parent germ cell, not from the parent-body which bears it,’ and the germ cell owes its characteristics not to the body which bears it, but to its descent from a pre-existing germ cell of the same kind. Thus the body is, as it were, an offshoot from the germ cell (see diagram).
1 See Essays upon Heredity, vol. i., by A. Weismann (Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1891).
THE ORGANIC CELL
15
4 As far as inheritance is concerned, the body is merely the carrier of the germ cells, which are held in trust for coming generations.’ 1
As an axiom in Weismannism let it be remembered that germ-plasm may be, and is, converted into body-plasm ; but body-plasm can never become germ-plasm. In this simple statement lies the explanation of what is gradually becoming an accepted fact, viz. that any change affecting the body cells,
Diagram illustrating Weismann’s theory of inheritance. G, the germ cell which by division gives rise to the body or soma (S) and to new germ cells (G) which separate from the soma, and repeat the process in each successive generation.
but not the germ cells, cannot be transmitted to future generations. Thus acquired characters (the Lamarckian fac- tors) cannot be inherited. ‘ The germ-plasm of one generation being passed on to the next, and so on and on,’ influences from without cannot reach them, they being far too deeply buried to be reached by such superficial influences ; and thus acquired characters which cannot impress their influence on the germ cells cannot be inherited.
We must therefore look upon the body as a new formation, which soon ceases to exist, but which passes on to its offspring a portion of the original germ-plasm, the germ-plasm itself having existed far back through the ages that have been to the very commencement of all life.’ 2
In the next article in this series I propose dealing with the cell from its microscopical aspect.
March 2, 1913.
1 The Cell in Inheritance and Development, by E. B. Wilson.
2 Mendelism in Theory and Practice, by E. Wynstone-Waters.
16
THE PEOPLE ON THE SOUTH-EASTEEN
THE PEOPLE ON THE SOUTH-EASTEEN SLOPES OF ELGON
(From the Kwiwa to the Muberi)
By C. W. Woodhouse
As is common near large isolated mountains which offer a certain amount of shelter and protection to fugitives, the volcanic mass known as Elgon presents a considerable variety of race and language among the residents on its slopes.
On the south-eastern portion of the mountain and its lower foothills, which are being considered in these notes, the population may be conveniently placed into five divisions which comprise : —
1. (a) The 4 El-geborit ’ dwelling at the foot of Elgon from the Kwiwa to the Kumelil. (b) The El-kabeywa, Dorobo-like people who are closely allied to the 4 El-geborit,’ many of this tribe being among them.
2. The Kipsatok or Elakassissi’s people.
8. The Kitosh settlers living among the El-geborit.
4. A few Uasin-Gishu Masai settlers.
5. The Esomek, comprising the cave-dwellers at the foot of Elgon. These, as far as their history and the settlements of the other tribes, were there as far back as tradition relates.
On taking the other histories of these tribes in the above- mentioned order they appear to be as follows : —
El-geborit
The history of this tribe appears to go back for some 150 years, but this may be overestimated.
The number 150 was arrived at by allowing twenty-five years for each person in the genealogy of the tribe down to Tendet, who is now about twenty-five years old and has children of his own.
The founder of the tribe (as stated by the present chief) was a man named Sangut, who fled from the Kamasia country somewhere within touch of the large river running into the lake near the El-keyo, probably the Kerio river. The cause of his
SLOPES OF ELGON
17
departure was that his people had been raided and severely- beaten by a tribe from the north vaguely called Koromoja people.
Sangut fled to Elgon to somewhere near the Kipkolkol river, and apparently lived the life of a hunter. He was very successful with elephants and selling the tusks, obtained a wife from the Esomek (cave-dwellers), and at the time of his death possessed a certain amount of stock, cattle, goats, &c.
He was succeeded by his son Kipsambo who was succeeded by his son Kitariah Kapsangut. By this time the tribe was growing in wealth and importance and were strong enough to beat off most of their invaders. They had, of course, been joined by various refugees. They were said to have lived an entirely pastoral life, subsisting on blood, meat, and milk. Their country was among the lower slopes on the east of Elgon, above the Omasa Keliondet, a very fine grazing country. They were not great hunters but obtained their ivory and honey from the Dorobo.
Kitaria was succeeded by Kipitek, who appears to have been the most prominent man of war the race had produced. His central village was on the Rongai river, a tributary of the Keliondet. He successfully raided the Sabei, the Kitosh, and the Lago (or Lako), capturing much booty. This period appears to have been the zenith of the tribe. In his old age he suffered a very severe reverse at the hands of the Koromoja, most of the warriors being absent raiding. A great many cattle, women, and children were captured, many of the latter being slain.
The reverse was so severe that the tribe was driven from the neighbourhood of the Rongai to their present location. He was succeeded by the present chief Kiptolulia (Arap Kipitek), who is now an elderly man.
Kiptolulia’s half-brother Arap Sangalu is considered chief of the El-kabeywa and Chebogo’s people, forest -dwellers and hunters on Elgon.
Kiptolulia’s sons include Tendet, the eldest, Arap Kembe, and others. Both of these men have children.
During the outbreak of rinderpest of some years ago their cattle were largely destroyed, and at this period they were
VOL. III.— No. 6.
c
18 THE PEOPLE ON THE SOUTH-EASTERN
forced to adopt the practice of the Bantu natives and cultivate shambas , which they still do, although they have a fair number of cattle, sheep, and goats. The fields in which they cultivate eleusine, matema, and maize are carefully fenced in with branches of trees to protect them in some measure against the attacks of game, &c.
Elephants occasionally visit the shambas and do a con- siderable amount of damage.
Their habits at the present day are very similar to other members of the Masai-Nandi stock.
The huts are made in the Masai fashion, plastered with cowdung and inclosed within a fence composed of interlaced branches. The grain stores are after the Kavirondo (Bantu) pattern, being supported on posts and having the usual conical removable lid. They are often placed outside the protecting fence.
If an ox is captured by the warriors it is taken to a tem- porary hut built away from the village and there slaughtered and eaten (recalling a Masai custom). There appears, however, to be no restriction made about other people eating meat in the village, except that the animal must be slaughtered away from the boma.
Milk, porridge, blood, and the flesh of game are also con- sumed. The El-geborit are clever cattle-men and appear to understand cattle, in contra-distinction to the Bantu native. The young calves, goats, and the sheep are herded separately from the adult animals, usually by a very small boy. They keep fowls but do not appear to have any dogs.
All adults are circumcised. They state that in former years they held circumcision feasts every five years after harvesting the crops (August).1 For a considerable time before the actual circumcision the boys and girls about to be operated on assemble at the chosen spot, and spend most of the day (and night, too, if it is not raining) in dancing and singing. The operation itself is said to be performed by a Dorobo.
The arms of the tribe include both the Masai form of spear and the small, leaf-headed, ‘ long-necked ’ spear. The edge of
1 Before they cultivated crops they used to buy grain for beer each year.
SLOPES OF ELGON
19
the latter is protected by a narrow rawhide covering similar to the Suk.
Their shields are of the Nandi and also Kitosh patterns. They have bows and arrows, the latter tipped with the keliot poison. The usual type of Dorobo elephant spear, weighted at both ends, is found among them. The enemy they consider most to be reckoned with are the Koromoja, small parties of whom have been seen south-east of Elgon within the year.
At the present time they are very anxious to return to their old country on the Rongai and Keliondet rivers, as they are getting uncomfortably crowded by the Kitosh settlers and the grass is getting eaten down. Up till now, by the exercise of a rigorous quarantine, they have entirely escaped the present outbreak of rinderpest.
This may have been due to the expressed intention of Kiptolulia of slaughtering any animals brought near his own.
A very noticeable feature of the tribe, although they are hardly touched with civilisation, is their courtesy and politeness.
Their speech appears to be Nandi or very closely allied to it. Masai and Bantu Kavirondo are also spoken and understood by nearly all the tribe.
A genealogy of the chiefs is appended :
Sangufc
Kipsambo
I
Kitariah Kapsangut Kipitek
Kiptolulia (Arap Kipitek) present chief Arap Sangalu
j (by another wife)
Tendet Arap Kembe others bas sons
has issue (young)
The El-kabeywa and Chebogos
These people, of whom Arap Sangalu is the recognised head, comprise a rather heterogeneous lot of tribes. They are all forest-dwellers with the habits and speech of Dorobo.
20
THE PEOPLE ON THE SOUTH-EASTERN
Included among them probably are aboriginal Dorobo, but many are, or their fathers or grandfathers were, refugees and stragglers from other tribes, i.e. El-geborit, Nandi, El-keyo, El-kony, Sengwerr, Kasmania, Uasin-Gishu Masai, Kisartok, Sabei, and possibly even Suk.
They have been forced to adopt a Dorobo’s life from either poverty caused by famine, disease, or war, or have fled from their tribes for some other reason.
Their speech appears to be a Nandi dialect similar to that spoken on the Mau, though some words are not the same, i.e. kebau, their word for rhinoceros — as opposed to kichanet, and the word used for leopard appears to be chablcmget, which is Nandi, the Mau Dorobo word melilda not being understood. (The Mau Dorobo use both words.)
There are, as among all Dorobo, different degrees of skill in hunting in different members of the tribe. The game mostly sought for are rhinoceros and elephant, although giraffe, buffalo, and even buck, such as hartebeeste, are successfully killed. A certain number of giant pig are killed by them. The staple food is honey, the forest being all portioned out in areas, the said areas belonging to certain families. Good beehives are constructed, and wild honey, especially at the foot of the mountain, is very plentiful. Arap Sangalu stated that his family take ten to eleven nests of bees every day to support themselves, but this may be an exaggeration. Bee stings have apparently no effect on these people, and it is apparently immaterial whether they use smoke or not in extracting the honey. The head, however, is usually covered with the fur cape, as they state that they are afraid of getting their eyes stung.
In the forests an animal much sought after for its flesh is a variety of Sykes’s monkey, which is very plentiful.
They are skilful weavers of wicker-work, and after the people at the foot of Elgon have harvested their grain the El-kabeywa bring down baskets constructed of bamboo slips in exchange for flour. Their dwelling-places are the usual temporary Dorobo form of hut, but Arap Sangalu, who is the possessor of some cattle and goats which are kept above 10,000 feet, has several large flat huts constructed of interlaced
SLOPES OF ELGON
21
split bamboos and divided inside by partitions. The outside is plastered with clay and eowdung, the roof similar and flat, and any interstices ‘ chinked ’ with moss or lichen as some protection against the bitter wind. A remarkable sight at Arap Sangalu’s main residence is the occurrence of a small cultivated patch of stunted tobacco, curious on account of the altitude and inclemency of the climate.
The keliot poison is prepared from the branches of the Akokanthera tree, but great care is exercised in choosing the special tree from which the branches are cut. A leaf from each of a large number of trees is tasted, the tree having the most bitter flavour being selected. Afterwards the poison is prepared in the usual way.
Elephants, buffaloes, and rhinoceros are hunted with the usual weighted spear with the detachable shaft and head. The hunter on approaching the game (keeping very carefully to leeward) strips himself of everything and creeps up to the nearest animal, always keeping as far from the head as possible. On getting to within three to four yards he rises to his feet, takes a couple of short steps to gain impetus, and hurls the spear at the buttocks or flank of the quarry. He has previously chosen his line of retreat, and, without a glance at the success of his aim, turns and flees at the top of his speed, not pausing till the coign of vantage — river-bed, tree, or rock — previously chosen is reached. He then waits, and in an hour or two cautiously investigates by a circuitous route. If the animal has run; as is usually the case, he follows at a respectful distance until death takes place. As he follows he frequently ascends a tree to view the surrounding country. In the case of elephant or rhinoceros they state that they get the beast in one day if they are lucky, but two or three days is more common.
In the open country the arrival of the vultures informs them of the death of the elephant or rhinoceros. In these cases a man is usually dispatched to some prominent hill in the neighbourhood, whence he watches for the birds. They state they can see vultures at what to a European equipped with binoculars appears to be an incredible distance.
Monkeys, giraffe, and buck are attacked with the usual
22 THE PEOPLE ON THE SOUTH-EASTERN
poisoned arrow. They seem to be far better marksmen than the Mau Dorobo.
Pitfalls are dug, the pitfall designed for leopard being very ingenious. A small boma or zeriba is built, with a passage leading up to the entrance; and a goat placed inside. The pit is dug in the passage, and on the leopard entering to obtain the goat he falls into the pit. This is only employed by people like Arap Sangalu who have a few goats, and in the case of a leopard who has taken to regularly killing their stock.
These people are said only to marry among themselves ; the women of the people below Elgon are said to die on the mountain, not being able to stand the exposure.
The price paid for a wife is said to be five goats and five bags of honey.
Arap Sangalu was raided by Koromoja a few years ago and states he lost forty head of cattle. The El-kabeywa dislike intensely coming down into the Kitosh plain, as they state they get sick, probably from malaria.
Arap Sangalu’s sphere of influence is said to extend from the Turkwell (Suam) to the Elgumi people.
The Kipsatok
There are two villages on the Kitaban river belonging at present to Elakassissi, who is government headman for this district.
The history of these people appears to be as follows :
Arap Kembe, the father of Elakassissi, left the Sabei country some fifteen or twenty years ago, owing to having been beaten and chased by some northern tribe. During their flight over Elgon they are said to have been pursued and many killed and wounded. Severe weather when they were crossing the higher slopes decimated the remaining fugitives, who were worn out with travel and war and died of cold and exposure.
Arap Kembe came to Kiptolulia and asked his permission to settle. Kipitek may, or may not, have been alive at this time, but was an old man. Arap Kembe received permission and built near the large caves on the side of Elgon (Kitabau
SLOPES OF ELGON
28
River). In the course of time Arap Kembe was succeeded by Elakassissi, who is ambitious and shrewd.
He quickly realised that his position in the country was not prominent and was not likely to be unless some change took place. He presented some ivory (which the El-geborit say he stole and he says he bought) to Mumia. He then organised two successful raids against small chiefs of the Elgumi, and obtained about two hundred and fifty cattle. A present of cattle wTas sent to Mumia. He made himself of use and help to any white men who wished to climb Elgon. (The trail which crosses the mountain from north to south comes past his village.)
Finally, when Mumia was asked by the administrative officer who was the head of the tribes at the foot of Elgon (Masai-Nandi), Elakassissi was named and wTas made headman.
Lately he has been visited by rinderpest, and has at present ten cattle of his own left. His brother has only five. His manner of living and habits are similar to the El-geborit, although some of the huts in his village are of Kavirondo pattern.
The Kitosh Settlers
Every year more and more of the Kitosh people (a Bantu- speaking race which appears to have a strong leavening of Nilotic (Nandi) blood) move up from their plains and settle near Elgon.
Their habits and customs are well known and have been described, but one or two notes are of interest. All males are circumcised. They make very strong villages defended by a large mud wall and a deep ditch. They were apparently formerly more addicted to stock-keeping than agriculture, although at present they are starting to grow large areas of sim-sim as well as their ordinary food-stuffs.
Many of their customs and habits appear to be copied from the Nandi, i.e. the cap made of the stomach of a goat, the method of dressing the hair, the ear ornaments, the distension of the lobe of the ear, and their arms and their ornaments (arm clamps, &c.).
24 THE PEOPLE ON THE S.E. SLOPES OF ELGON
They are an enterprising race and are bound, now that war and raiding are eliminated, to increase very materially in the next few years. At present they envelope and are crowding out the El-geborit.
The Uasin-Gishu Masai.
A few villages of Masai are scattered haphazard among the above tribes. They are all fugitives from the time when the tribe was broken up and destroyed by the pastoral Masai.
They do not call for any comment except for the fact that they are all becoming very rich in cattle. They own some faint allegiance to Nyakuli.
The Esomek.
These are the cave-dwellers who have inhabited the large and numerous caves found in the first cliffs at the foot of Elgon. They may be closely allied to the El-kony, many of whom are living in the open now.
Their lives until lately have not been happy. Each passing raiding party would usually pay a visit and endeavour to smoke them out.
If they came down from the caves they were always in danger of being cut off, as in most cases the cave is approached by a tortuous path, in one case so steep and narrow that the observer wonders how the cattle get up and down. In this instance the rock passage through which the path runs is worn into a series of depressions made by the feet of cattle.
The entrance to the caves is strongly defended by a palisade, and the interior is divided up into cattle and goat pens, cubicles for the owners, store-rooms, &c., in a very ingenious manner* They have been often described and so call for little comment here.
Two caves are uninhabited owing to the millions of fleas in them. The story related in connection with this is that a heifer was bought from the Kitosh on the plains and brought up. The heifer had fleas on it and these, finding the floor of the cave (composed of several feet of cowdung) a most congenial spot, bred and multiplied enormously and drove the owner
THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT 25
out. In the interior of this cave is a pit which is visited by natives who brave the fleas, as the earth in this pit is saline and salt is extracted.
In these notes in many names both the English and native article has been used for the sake of clearness, i.e. ‘ the ’ El- geborit, ‘ the ’ El-kabeywa. It would probably be more correct to say ‘ The Geborit,’ 4 The Kabeywa.’
THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT By R. B. Woosnam, F.Z.S.
It was suggested to me that it might be of interest to some of the members of this Society to hear something of the results of an attempt which I have made to acclimatise the wild melon of the Kalahari Desert (Cucumis coffer ) in the Southern Game Reserve of this protectorate. There is always an element of doubt in the introduction of any new plants into a country strange to them. But although the first seeds of this melon, which were planted last year, practically came to nothing I am glad to say that the second attempt during the present year has met with quite encouraging results.
Before I tell you of the progress of the experiment I ought perhaps to give you some idea of the kind of country and general conditions under which this melon flourishes in its native wilds.
The Kalahari desert, wrhich forms the stronghold of this wild melon, may roughly be said to be comprised by the north- western part of South Africa and extends from Lake Ngami, down past Kuruman and Prieska and Kenkart to the Orange River. This wild melon is, I believe, only found in any quantity in the northern parts of the Kalahari in N.W. Bechuanaland and the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and it is here that I have met with it. It is called by the Bechuanas hengwe and by the Dutch and English soma. In size it varies from an orange up to a man’s head or larger, and is of a dark green colour banded with lighter green stripes, and when fully ripe
26 THE MELON OE THE KALAHAEI DESERT
it turns to an almost uniform bright yellow. It is of the taste and consistency of a cucumber, but some are intensely bitter, and it is full of small, very hard, brown seeds.
The word ‘ desert ’ usually calls to the mind of most people a vast expanse of perfectly flat, bare, yellow sand, with here and there a gaunt isolated palm tree and perhaps a missionary on the sky line, and of course no water.
The Kalahari is not a desert of this kind, in fact it is doubtful whether it is not an injustice to call it a desert at all. It consists of a vast extent of comparatively flat or gently undulating country of soft deep red or grey sand, and is not open but is covered all over with kamel thorn forest, in parts very dense, or with low scrub and thorn bush, beneath which there is an ample supply of grass. There is no permanent water other than native wells long distances apart. The Kalahari under- goes much the same seasonal changes as the Athi Plains, except that the rains only come once a year, from December to April, and during these months and for the month or six weeks following numerous * salt-pans ’ or shallow, brackish pools of rain-water are to be found widely distributed over the whole desert. After this period there is no water to be had except at very few places, great distances apart ; and against this long drought, until the next rains, Nature has made a most wonderful provision in the form of this wild melon. During the rains the Kalahari produces a luxuriant crop of grass and herbs, and at the same time the melons grow. They do not grow uniformly all over the desert but in patches. Sometimes ten, twenty, or thirty miles or more will be passed without a single melon being seen, and then suddenly, for no apparent reason (although of course there must be one), the traveller comes upon a patch of melons, sometimes only a few hundred yards in extent, sometimes reaching for many miles. In places I have seen the sama lying so thickly on the ground that it is difficult to believe they have not been collected there by natives, and it is a curious fact that in these patches sweet and bitter melons are to be found all growing together, but I was never able to decide definitely whether they grow upon the same plants, although the bushmen assured me that they do.
THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT 27
During the long dry season, the sama forms the mainspring of life in the Kalahari. Upon it not only the game but the bushmen and the herds of cattle of the Bechuanas subsist to a great extent and in some places entirely, for it supplies both water and food. The species of game which I know to rely entirely upon sama are Oryx and Eland, for I have seen them in places where there was no water obtainable within a hundred miles in any direction, and I have found the stomachs of Oryx entirely filled with sama. Greater Kudu eat it readily, but I believe are generally, not entirely, out of reach of water. Hartebeeste and Wildebeeste I have also seen at great distances from water in places where there was plenty of sama. It is eaten by cheetahs and jackals and numerous small birds. The bushmen burn the grass and then collect great numbers of the melons which are thus exposed to view. They eat them in several ways. Generally they cut them up into strips and dry them on the bushes and afterwards boil them up into a paste. They eat them raw and they also collect the seeds and roast them and then grind them up into a porridge. It is a diet upon which human beings cannot exist without some training, for, being of a very low order of nutriment, it is necessary to consume enormous quantities, and the figures of the bushmen during the time they are feeding upon sama bear very evident witness to this fact in their abnormally protruding stomachs. The melons, I have been told, remain intact on the ground for as long as two years, but I think they must be useless as a water-supply after about ten months, for they have by then become woolly and lost much of their moisture.
I have been fortunate enough to make two expeditions into the Kalahari and had ample opportunity of observing the phenomenon of this wonderful provision of Nature.
On the second occasion I took a wagon and eighteen oxen and two horses across to the German border and up through the desert to Lake Ngami. The oxen, although not accustomed like those which live in the desert to eating sama, were able to thrive for long periods without water, living entirely on the sama. After very little difficulty the horses were taught to eat it, and on one occasion on arrival at water, after a long trek of ten days through waterless country in which sama had
28 THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT
been particularly plentiful, neither horses nor oxen would drink the water, which happened to be, for an exception, particularly good and fresh.
I myself and a friend who accompanied me used the sama on many occasions. By cutting it up into lumps and boiling it in a pot it appears to melt ; the fibrous and more solid parts can then be strained out and the syrupy liquid which remains can be used for making tea, porridge, and boiling meat — to which it gives rather a pleasant sweetish flavour.
Sama tea I cannot honestly recommend — it gives one the sensation of being what the Dutch call ‘ dik,’ and one has no inclination for either food or drink for about twenty-four hours afterwards, as well as other less pleasant sensations. When necessary I always eat it raw, and in this way a white man, provided he does not walk about too much in the hot sun, can sustain life on sama, but it is not a pleasant experience, and one is conscious of a continual desire for a good long drink. But the Bushmen can live for months with no water other than sama .
With regard to the acclimatisation experiments which I have rather neglected so far, it occurred to me that it would be of great value and interest if this wild melon could be introduced into the Southern Game Reserve in British East Africa, for, as all of you probably know, during the dry season the greater part of the Athi Plains across to the German border is extremely waterless, in fact in bad drought years the Southern Game Reserve becomes a veritable Kalahari desert, and I thought that if this wild melon would grow there it would help very considerably to solve the problem of water and food for the game and also for the Masai cattle — for it is both. I therefore, after considerable difficulty, obtained from a friend in Bechuanaland about 10 lb. of sama seed from the Kalahari. It arrived in good condition and was planted over a considerable area of the Reserve in October 1911, but the rains, although fairly plentiful in some parts of the Protectorate, were almost a failure over this area of the Game Reserve, and no sign was to be found of the sama.
At the same time I gave some seed to Mr. C. A. Hill of Machakos, who planted it on his farm. At first he told me that
THE MELON OF THE KALAHARI DESERT 29
this also had been a failure, but later be found some small striped melons among the grass which I have no doubt were sama. This was most encouraging, for I was very much afraid that the seed must have been taken from unripe melons and was useless. Some of the melons on Mr. Hill’s farm have been left on the ground, and it will be interesting to see whether they will grow again of their own accord.
This year in April I planted another lot of the same seed in the Reserve from Athi River down to Simba Station, and as the rains were abnormally heavy I was in great hopes that successful results would follow, and I am glad to say that in some places the melons have grown and produced fruit. On the Athi and Kapiti no signs of the sama could be found,