I I 2 Oxen
Western race. An analogous instance is afforded by the bush-pigs, of
which the West African species is red, while the southern one is dull
grizzled brown.
Distribution.—The West African forest region, extending from the
north bank of the Congo, through the Gabun, Lower Guinea, Togo,
Ashanti, and Liberia to the coast districts of Sierra Leone ; -in the interior
stated to extend up the Congo valley as far as Stanley Falls.
HabitsW-The Congo buffalo is described as being very shy and difficult
to approach, for which reason, as well as on account of the unhealthy
nature of the climate of most of its habitat, but little is known of its mode
of life. They apparently prefer districts covered with thick bush, especially
narrow valleys, to more open country ; and in such covert remain concealed
during the hottest part of the day.. Hills of about- a thousand feet
in height are their favourite resorts, and from these they descend before
daylight to drink, after which they gradually make their way up again,
feeding as they go. Although at times-_associating in herds, it M stated
that they are more commonly found in pairs, or even solitary. Although
harmless when undisturbed, native reports say they are given to charge
when wounded, and the experience of Major Arnold points to the probability
of this being correct.
e. L a k e T ch ad R a ceH -B os c a f f e r b r a ch y c e ro s
Bubalus brachyceros, Gray, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 587 (1837), List
Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 153 (1843), Attn. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xii.
p. 499 (1873), xiii. p. -258.(1874), Cat. XJngulata Brit. Mus. p. 24 (1852),
Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 10 (1872), Hand-list Ruminants Brit. Mus.
p. 81 (1873) ; Blyth, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 1 5 ^ 8
Bos brachyceros, Sundevall, K. Svenska Pet. Ak. Handl. for 1844, p. !53
(1846).
Lake Tchad Buffalo ” 3
Bubalus pumilus, Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1873, p. 482, 1875, p. 455,
in part.
S aw . “ Gray Buffalo,” Pechuel-Loesche, Zool. Ja h rb . Syst. vol. iii. p. 7 2 1,
pi. xxviii. fig, 5 (1888).
Characters.— Horns of adult bull less flattened and less approximated at
their bases than in the typical Congo form of nanus, with the smooth tips
shorter and curving markedly forwards so as to overhang the forehead, which
|| flattened. In the cow the horns are sub-cylindrical, curving regularly
upwards and inwards, without any sudden angulation or forward inclination.
Fits on the forehead of the skull very large. Colour not definitely
known, but not improbably gray.
This form, which is provisionally allowed sub-specific rank, 8s? typified
by two skulls with horns obtained by Captain Clapperton and Colonel
Denham1 from the neighbourhood of Lake Tchad and preserved in the
British Museum; the larger of these being figured by Sir V. Brooke in
the ProemdingS: of the Zoological Society for the year 1873, p. 478, as the
female o f B . pumilus. Both specimens were indeed regarded by Sir Victor
as referable to the female of the Congo race, but there is such a marked
difference between them that it appears most probable that whereas one
(the figured example) indicates a bull, the other belonged to a cow. Moreover,
the presumed male horns, in their forward inclination, are unlike any
specimens I have seen that can he definitely assigned to nanus; while the
large pits in the forehead of the skull are not observable in the latter. The
circumstance that Lake Tchad lies beyond the limits of the typical West
African forest region, and possesses a different fauna, including giraffes,
should likewise not be omitted from consideration. From all these circum-
stances taken together there seems a considerable degree of probability that
the Lake Tchad buffalo represents a race by itself, although additional
1 Narrative o f Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Tears 1822, ’23, and ’24,
by Major Denham, Capt. Clapperton, and Dr. Oudney, maps and plates, 2 vols. 8vo (1826).
Q