I Ip
II
MAMMALIA.
T he vast herds of ruminants that once gave the Mammalian
fauna of the Transvaal such a distinctive feature have now passed
away, owing to ruthless and unrelenting destruction on the part
of man, and the Carnivora will soon share the same fate. The
lion is almost—if not entirely— confined to Zoutpansberg, and
is becoming scarcer every year, while a good leopard-skin is
much more difficult to obtain than was the case a few years
ago. I procured the perfect skin and skull of a very fine
young male lion, which was purchased in the Pretoria Market,
but as its exact locality is doubtful, I have not included it
in my list; and the same silence has been maintained as to
several other skins purchased, but which may have belonged to
animals killed by hunting-parties beyond the confines of the
Republic. I paid most attention to the smaller mammals found
near the town.
Excluding the valuable contribution of Prof. Stewart, the
specimens have all been determined by Mr. Oldfield Thomas,
and most of them I have placed in the collection of the British
Museum.
PRIMATES.
ON SIX CRANIA, PROBABLY BELONGING TO THE MAKAPAN
TRIBE, WATERBERG DISTRICT, TRANSVAAL, SOUTH AlFRICA.
b y .
C. STEWART,
Hunterian Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, and
Conservator of the Museum of the Royal College of
Surgeons; President of the Linnean Society, &c.
These six crania were obtained by Mr. W. L. Distant from
the Makapan’s Cave, in the Waterberg District, Transvaal, and
have been kindly presented by him to the Royal College of
Surgeons.