Society. The second is likewise a cow from Sierra Leone, which was
living in the Zoological Gardens at Antwerp in 1875, and is figured
(together with the head of an immature bull) by Sir V. Brooke in the
Proceedings o f the Zoological Society for the year 1875. The general
colour is described as bright yellow. On the shoulders and anterior parts
of the body there is a strong tingelgf'ibrown, caused by an- intermixture
of brown and yellow hairs. On the flanks' and belly the yellow shades
gradually into deep rufous. Upper-parts and' sides of the head and
neck pure yellow, lower surface of head and neck paler. Entire upper
and lower lip, fore-legs from above the knee, and hind-limbs from the
hock downwards black. Hair on the upper rim of the inside of the ear
yellow, on the lower rim and tip black ; as isfalso the tail-tuft. The
horns are widely separated on the forehead, and directed to a considerable
extent outwards at. first starting, and have i a .sudden inWardJbend at the
tips, being apparently not unlike some specimens of plahicerop,- The animal
was, however, not an aged one, being-only about three yearsjpbld ; 1 and
it is possible that if - its life had been prolonged the hornllmight have
approximated at their tips.
In the British Museum mounted female from Nigeria the horns are
of a somewhat similar type, being well flattened at the base but not bent
in at their tips. This animal was, however, still younger than the last,
all the milk-teeth except the first pair of incisors being retained,® that
the immaturity question again Comes in ; but it is* noticeable that in a .
series of horns from the same district sent homeBRMajor Arnold (one
of which is shown in fig. 2 2 ) ';none'; exhibit the marked . inbending of
the typical Congo form. The same isBlso the egse with the Togo
specimens figured by Dr. Matschie. The hair in the British Museum
specimen is very sparse, and less red than in many other examples. The
height at the shoulder is 3 feet 8 inches.
1 All the milk-teeth had been replaced shortly before its death.
Of four skulls obtained from the Congo by M. Dybowski and preserved
in the Pari# Museum, two are those of males and two of females.
The horns of the adult bull are strongly convergent, and much resemble the
type pair, but those of the second and younger bull are not distinctly
convergent at the tips. The horns of one of the female skulls are of
nearly similar curvature to those of the adult male, but much thinner,,
and nearly cylindrical, while those of the second are more expanded and
flattened.
Specimens are urgently needed before the variations according to age,
sex, and locality of the horns of this race can be fully workedBut ; but it
ap p e a l to be the case that horns preCisel|f comparable to those of the type
"specimen are to be met with only in the Congo and perhaps Lower Guinea,
and thaf ai-we advance towards Sierra Leone thegfjiappendages apparently
tend to become more divergent, and OEnsequently more like those of the
Senegambian race. Hence it may be inferred that the type specimen was
in all probability obtained somewhere between the Congo; and the mouth
of the Niger.
The leading characteristic#!# f the race are to be found in the genera]
yellow coloration,- the yellow inner surface of the:' ear, save, for a black
patch on the lower margin, and the black muzzle, mane, tail-tuft, and legs.
Taken by itself, there would be no question that the Congo buffalo should
be regarded as specifically distinct from its).gigantic black relative of the
Cape ; but it appears in the northern part of its range to pass imperceptibly
into the larger variety planiceros, which again is ||||f|ly allied to the still
larger cequinSctialis ; while the latter in turn in East Central Africa not
improbably passes into the typical Cape form.
It has been remarked that blackness in animals "is very generally associated
with hot damp climates ; but it is; evident that the Congo buffalo
forms an exception in this respect, the allied race inhabiting the open
^plains of the Cape being black, while redness is characteristic of the