Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/477

FAUNA OF THE OGOWAY EEGION. 893 this formidable anthropoid ape extends from the San-Benito to the Loango ; on the upper Ogoway he is very rare, and nowhere met in the Congo basin, although according to some authorities he is found in the Niam-Niam country. He was known only by vague reports before 1847, when the American missionary Savage discovered a skull of this animal in the Gaboon. Some ten years afterwards Du Chaillu met and hunted the terrible apes in their native forests, although his descriptions of their strength and ferocity were certainly exaggerated. From later accounts the gorilla appears to be rather a timid animal, easily tamed if taken young, and about 5 feet high, although one seen by M. Ponel, near Bowe, had a height of no less than 5 feet 9 inches, which is above that of the average European. This animal has disappeared from several of the forests where he was met by the first explorers, and is no longer found in the island of Cape Lopez. The chimpanzee, also an inhabitant of West Central Africa, occurs especially in the Ogoway and Kwilu basins, but rarely in the vicinity of human dwellings. Being also a more active climber, he is more difficult to capture than the gorilla, but domesticated with equal ease. Of the chimpanzee there are several varieties, such as the nshfego mbuve {Troglodytes calvus), who builds strong nests in the trees, and the kula (kulu), which of all apes appears to approach nearest to the human type. The Colobus tholonij a new species of monkey, has also been dis- covered in the Ogoway basin. In the western districts there are no lions, and the panthers and other felidai seldom attack man. The elephant, said b}^ Du Chaillu to be a distinct species, is withdrawing to the interior, so that ivory, as in the Cameroons, is becoming an object of luxury instead of regular traffic. The animals most dreaded by the natives are the buffaloes, and the white-faced wild-boar {PotamocJuerus alhifrons)^ which leaps streams several j^ards wide at a bound. The hippopotamus still abounds in the rivers, and Is even met In the saline estuaries about Cape -Lopez. The crocodile frequents the lagoons of Loango, where he never attacks man. In the forests dwell numerous rodents, such as the Kendo, smallest of squirrels, and the Mboko {Sciunis ehorivorus), which gnaws ivory. Here have been found several new species of birds, reptiles, fishes, and insects. Of birds the most remarkable are the Chrysococcyx smaragdinens, all burnished gold with emerald tint, and the Souimanga magnijicus, a merle of metallic lustre rivalling in beauty the Senegambian variety. The shondo, a fish in the Ogoway, with its horny beak excavates perfectly regular cup-shaped spaces in which Its eggs are deposited. In the shallows of the island of Corisco occurs a species of proteus, and electric fish frequent the Kwilu waters. Most of the snakes appear to be venomous, and some of the ants, such as the ferocious bashikwe, are far more dreaded than the beasts of prey. According to Compiegne, spiders, almost unknown in the Cameroons, are here represented by an incredible number of species ; " but the great scourge of the country is the jigger {Pulex jmtetrans) imported from Brazil. 89— AF