Chapter IV: Part 4

Amongst other plants of importance which are grown for industrial purposes is the _Cucurbita_ species, from which are manufactured by far the largest number of household vessels except those used for cooking. Besides the well-known _Cucurbita pepo_, which not only furnishes calabashes but also serves for the manufacture of floats, there is also the bottle-gourd, _Lagenaria vulgaris_, particularly trained as a creeper on houses or fences. Its fruit is of very many different shapes and this has led to different designations of the plant; however, it is merely one and the same species assuming various forms.

[Footnote 143: The names cited below are mostly taken from the specifications of a small collection of characteristic plants which I brought back with me from the Chad countries, and which were kindly identified for me by Professor Dr. Volkens. Other names are mostly to be found in Nachtigal, i. 554, and ii. 383; Passarge, p. 536; Foureau, _Doc. sc._, i. 391.]

[Footnote 144: In certain favourable places in Abyssinia, which is in about the same latitude as Bornu, Heuglin often met with a profusion of epiphytic orchids, the most characteristic plant of damp tropical regions. In Bornu one would seek such things in vain; they are not to be found even along the water-courses. Heuglin, _Reise nach Abessinien_, pp. 386 and 397.]

[Footnote 145: Foureau, _Doc. sc._, i. 452.]

[Footnote 146: [Paw-paws have been introduced into some of the larger towns in British Bornu, but do not flourish. From the ‘raphia’ comes piassava fibre.]]

[Footnote 147: Foureau, _D’Alger au Congo_, p. 771, and _Doc. sc._, i. 456 and 545; and Chevalier, _La Géographie_, ix (1904), p. 351, where _Coffea excelsa_ is also mentioned.]

[Footnote 148: Rohlfs asserts that there is a great ‘mimosa-forest’, i.e. a forest of trees of the acacia species, which passes north of Kukawa and appears to ‘extend like a ribbon, in many places four or five days’ journey broad, right across the African continent from the West Coast to the Red Sea’. Rohlfs, ii. 285.]

[Footnote 149: Lenfant, p. 152.]

[Footnote 150: Nachtigal, i. 558.]

[Footnote 151: Cf. Foureau, _D’Alger au Congo_, p. 576, where it is said that ‘the bark at the base of the trees is always thickened somewhat as a consequence of the frequency of these fires; it becomes wrinkled and thick like cork, and forms as it were a sort of protective cuirass for the trees’.]

[Footnote 152: It appears therefore that, as a matter of fact, the bush fires can do no great damage to the trees and shrubs. On the other hand, Chudeau asserts that the salt industry, which uses up a great deal of fire-wood, has absolutely denuded some parts of North-West Bornu of timber. _La Géographie_, xv (1907), p. 332.]

[Footnote 153: Denham, ii. 143, where the traveller says: ‘Not a fruit of any description can be found in the whole kingdom.’ [This is an exaggeration. Fruit is very scarce in Bornu, but water-melons, dates, paw-paws, and limes can sometimes be obtained. Possibly some of these have been introduced since Denham’s time. There are also _Kurna_ and other wild fruit-trees.]]

[Footnote 154: In Central Bornu I have even found during the dry season in sandy places a species of _Anastatica_, a typical desert plant.]

[Footnote 155: Rohlfs mentions that a whole district in Tripoli is called after it (Rohlfs, i. 31).]

[Footnote 156: Single plants reach a height of 5 metres; the stems covered with spongy bark are as thick as a man’s arm. Cf. Barth, ii. 197. [Kanuri, ‘kayo’, Hausa, ‘tumfafia’.]]

[Footnote 157: Nachtigal, i. 261; Chudeau, _La Géographie_, xv, p. 327.]

[Footnote 158: Cf. also Barth, ii. 319, and Nachtigal, i. 582.]

[Footnote 159: [Incorrect.]]

[Footnote 160: Barth, ii. 212 and 314.]

[Footnote 161: Barth, iv. 46 (German edition).]

[Footnote 162: Barth, moreover, mentions also a species of _Chamaerops_ indigenous to Bornu (Barth, iii. 170).]

[Footnote 163: Barth, iii. 96, 99, 100, 105; Nachtigal, ii. 322. Von Beurmann found in Bornu yet another unclassified species of _Phoenix_, vide _Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdkunde_, xv, p. 287.]

[Footnote 164: Barth, iii. 42-3 (Barth erroneously calls the plant ‘siwak’). Nachtigal, i. 414 and 555.]

[Footnote 165: Foureau, _D’Alger au Congo_, pp. 588 and 590.]

[Footnote 166: Barth, iii. 26.]

[Footnote 167: Cf. Nachtigal, i. 413, and Foureau, _Documents scientifiques_, i. 408.]

[Footnote 168: [Called in Kanuri ‘Kige̥’ or ‘Kighir’.]]

[Footnote 169: Barth, ii. 314.]

[Footnote 170: Cf. Foureau, _Documents scientifiques_, i. 441. In the same passage a whole number of other species of acacia are cited. [Cf. _Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, 1908, 6. 47 and 1910, 8. 352.]]

[Footnote 171: Barth, iii. 58 (there called _Mimosa ferruginea_).]

[Footnote 172: Nachtigal, ii. 487.]

[Footnote 173: Foureau, _Documents scientifiques_, i. 441.]

[Footnote 174: [Hausa ‘gawo’, Kanuri ‘Karage̥’.]]

[Footnote 175: Foureau mentions the same peculiarity for the _Acacia Trentiniani_, a smaller species belonging chiefly to Aïr, but found also in Bornu.]

[Footnote 176: Cf. also Nachtigal, ii. 383.]

[Footnote 177: Barth, iv. 87-8, and Chudeau, _La Géographie_, xv, p. 333, where it is said that the northern boundary of this plant is coterminous with that of the white-ant.]

[Footnote 178: Barth, iv. 118.]

[Footnote 179: _Petermann’s Mitteilungen_, Ergänzungsh., 34. p. 2, and Rohlfs, ii. p. 15. The latter says: ‘The stems of this plant are, when young, four-edged and pulpy, but later become rounded. At the base they are as thick as a man’s arm, and from their juice mixed with that of other plants is prepared the dreaded arrow-poison, the least drop of which, if introduced into a wound, causes almost instant death, according to native accounts.’ Passarge, however, on p. 162 of his book, when mentioning this plant, only states that it is used throughout West Africa as a medicine for gonorrhoea.]

[Footnote 180: Cf. Barth, ii. 371-2, and iii. 141 and 157. Nachtigal identifies this species with _Ficus sycomorus_. Nachtigal, i. 663. [For monographs on caoutchouc vid. list published by A. Challamel of Paris.]]

[Footnote 181: Nachtigal, ii. 269 [_Rehaina_].]

[Footnote 182: Denham, i. 76; cf. also Barth, iv. 66 (German edition).]

[Footnote 183: Barth, ii. 198. [In times of famine it is even pounded and eaten by the poor.]]

[Footnote 184: Barth, ii. 387; Rohlfs, ii. 30. In spite of careful inquiries during my stay in Bornu, I could not find this plant. [It is quite well known. Its root is shaped like a potato, with pulp like a radish, and milky juice.]]

[Footnote 185: Barth calls this plant ‘fogo’; Barth, ii. 408. [‘Fogo’ or ‘fowo’ is the Kanuri word, ‘marea’ the Budduma word, and ‘ambach’ the Arabic word. When dry the density of the wood is ten times less than that of water, and two and a half less than that of cork. It attains in two years a height of from 8 to 9 yards, with a diameter of from 12 to 15 inches. Cf. Tilho, _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, Sept. 1910. Barth states that canoes are made from ‘fowo’ wood, but this is not so. Cf. Benton, _Notes on Some Languages_, p. 51.]]

[Footnote 186: Barth, iv. 67 (German edition).]

[Footnote 187: Even in the lagoons and canals between the islands in the north-east of Lake Chad the vegetation has the same appearance. On the other hand the higher islands have bushes of the acacia species, _Crucifera_, _Balanites_, and _Calotropis_. Cf. M. Audoin, _La Géographie_, xii. 306.]

[Footnote 188: The _Nelumbium_ species, the true lotus plant, does not appear to have been yet found in Bornu.]

[Footnote 189: Passarge, p. 546.]

[Footnote 190: The _Ceiba_, moreover, extends pretty far north in favourable localities. Barth found trees of this species at Surrikulo in the most fruitful district of Northern Bornu. Barth, iv. 39.]

[Footnote 191: Nachtigal, ii. 628.]

[Footnote 192: According to Barth it is found even at Gadabuni. Barth, iv. 71.]

[Footnote 193: Foureau, however, met with this tree at Zinder, where in Barth’s time it was not to be found. _D’Alger au Congo_, p. 514.]

[Footnote 194: Barth, iii. 187; Stieber, _Kolonialblatt_, xvi. Jahrg., p. 83; Kund, _Mitteil. a. d. deutsch. Schutzgeb._, xix, p. 7.]

[Footnote 195: But Kund speaks of patches of dense forest, which he met with at Budugar on the Logone; _loc. cit._, p. 3.]

[Footnote 196: Whilst the name of one variety mentioned by Foureau, _Sarcocephalus esculentus_, allows one to conclude that its fruit is edible (_Doc. sc._, i. 406), other plants of this species are repeatedly referred to as being those from whose roots arrow poison is prepared. A confirmation of this is that one regularly finds on them the caterpillars of the _Daphnis Nerii_, which almost everywhere live only on strongly poisonous plants such as _Nerium_.]

[Footnote 197: _La Géographie_, ix, p. 354.]

[Footnote 198: The fruit of the _kola acuminata_, the ‘goro’ nut, is an indispensable luxury throughout the Sudan.]

[Footnote 199: Barth, ii. 411.]

[Footnote 200: Barth, ii. 458 (German edition); Nachtigal, i. 653. Cf. also Passarge, p. 463, where the view is expressed that in Mohammedan districts _Pennisetum_ is the commonest, while among the pagan tribes both _Andropogon_ and _Pennisetum_ are found.]

[Footnote 201: Nachtigal, i. 654.]

[Footnote 202: Passarge gives ‘Tchibe’ as the Kanuri term, p. 654. [‘Tchibe’, or ‘Chibe’, simply means ‘of the mouth’. ‘Sabadu’ is chewed by the natives like sugar-cane.]]

[Footnote 203: Cf. Barth, ii. 241; Rohlfs, ii. 69.]

[Footnote 204: Barth, iii. 161 ff.]

[Footnote 205: According to Nachtigal (ii. 374) it is next to ‘durrha’ the chief grain grown on the Chad Islands.]

[Footnote 206: Nachtigal, i. 654.]

[Footnote 207: According to Barth they were introduced into Bornu at the same time as the onion, about 100 years prior to his (Barth’s) visit. Barth, ii. 314.]

[Footnote 208: Barth, ii. 638 (German edition).]

[Footnote 209: [or benniseed.]]

[Footnote 210: Barth also mentions the existence of the _Vicia faba_ in Bornu, and even says that it is an important article of food. Barth, ii. 314. But this is a mistake.]

[Footnote 211: [Kanuri name ‘Lapsur’.]]

[Footnote 212: It is interesting that this plant, though only lately introduced—as one must assume—has a name of its own. If the paw-paw originates from America, as is now commonly assumed, it remains the more remarkable that it has already been long naturalized in Bornu, whilst the sand-flea or ‘jigger’ (_Pulex penetrans_)—which we know by experience has spread over Africa the most quickly of all American products—is nowhere yet to be met with in Bornu, and in Barth’s time appears not to have penetrated farther from the coast than Bagirmi. Barth, iii. 45.]

[Footnote 213: The pomegranate trees in Kukawa, of which Rohlfs speaks (i. 314), were apparently destroyed when the town was sacked.]

[Footnote 214: In considering the question of whether some plant or other is indigenous to the interior of the continent, much too little consideration is paid to the fact that—in spite of the presence of the Niger—the Central African countries were completely secluded from communication with the Atlantic up to the middle of the nineteenth century. It would be interesting to learn whether the adherents of the theory that such useful African plants as the ground-nut and the oil- palm were introduced from America, are aware of the fact that species of fauna, which are characteristic of South America, such as the neotropical _Eunica_ species which approximates very closely to the _Crenis_, an African species of _Lepidopiera_, and the _Urania_ species peculiar to both regions, are found in Africa.]

[Footnote 215: Barth, iii. 229; Stieber, _loc. cit._, p. 84; Kund, _loc. cit._, p. 29.]

[Footnote 216: Barth mentions that a stuff called ‘gabaga’ was manufactured from papyrus. Barth, iii. 298. [‘Gabaga’ is the ordinary Kanuri word for strips of cotton cloth.]]

[Footnote 217: Rohlfs, ii. 10.]

[Footnote 218: Barth, ii. 655. Denham even mentions cotton as growing wild; ii. 140.]

[Footnote 219: p. 463.]

[Footnote 220: Cf. Barth, ii. 539 and iv. 50; Kund, _loc. cit._, p. 29.]

VI

FAUNA

What holds good of the flora of Bornu, as regards its geographical distribution and composition, holds good also, but in a higher degree, of its animal world. The fauna of the country is a mixture of purely Ethiopian varieties and of such as are peculiar to the Mediterranean, i.e. the Sahara region, still the boundaries of the fauna overlap each other far more than is the case with the flora, owing to the easier possibility of distribution amongst animals. This holds good especially of the birds and of the winged insects; in fact the appearance of the fauna is temporarily strongly influenced by the European birds of passage who make a winter sojourn in Bornu. Again, the Ethiopian animals are a mixture of the fauna of East and West Africa. Whilst among the vertebrates the West African species prevail, it appears that the East African predominate among the invertebrates, in fact varieties appear here whose nearest known haunt lies thousands of miles distant in East or even in South-East Africa. In general the richest animal life is always displayed in the vicinity of water, firstly because the larger animals can come here to drink at all times of the year, and secondly because at the same time the richest vegetation is found here, on the existence of which the life of the smaller animals more or less depends. According to Nachtigal, the Chad islands alone must harbour a comparatively rich fauna, even as regards mammals.[221] The rocky country also, which almost always possesses a water-supply of one kind or another, and consequently a fresher and more varied vegetation, thus affording lurking-places of all sorts, is always preferred by the wild animals of the adjoining plain. The ‘Terminalia’ steppe of South Bornu appears at its poorest as regards animal life during the dry weather, under which circumstances an attentive observer may travel all day without seeing a single living creature save a few insects.

Of the mammals, the various kinds of monkeys in Bornu next deserve our particular attention: their numbers are exceedingly large and in spite of the most impudent raids on the cornfields they are scarcely interfered with at all; they venture into the closest proximity to man, and often display a boldness of behaviour that one hardly finds in any other mammal. Thus they enter even the towns themselves, climbing the walls with the utmost unconcern, bent on deliberate mischief.[222]

The _Cercopithecus_ species, or long-tailed monkeys, are very widely distributed over Bornu. For they do not belong especially to the hiding- places among the rocks as the baboons do. They are present wherever a fairly large and dense growth of trees affords them sufficient shelter, and so they are to be found right within the Sahara, in the hill country of Aïr, the most northernly place for Ethiopian fauna, where they are even represented by two different species.[223] They live always in troops and especially frequent the ‘bush’ in the neighbourhood of human habitations, where the millet and guinea-corn fields are their objective, in which in a short time they can cause incredible damage, in spite of all precautions by the owners. The best known long-tailed monkeys of Bornu are the _Cercopithecus viridis_, and the hussar monkey, _Cercopithecus ruber_,[224] the former belonging more to the flat regions of the north, and the latter inhabiting rather the ‘bush’ and the granite rocks of South Bornu.

The dog-faced apes, the baboons, appear to be distributed still farther to the north than the long-tailed monkeys; but they rather prefer rocky localities and for this reason are principally to be met with in the most northernly and the most southernly districts of Bornu, though they also frequent the plain, as Nachtigal was able to observe near the town of Affade. Where, however, one finds only a fairly considerable granite formation, there one may reckon with the greatest certainty on the presence of baboons. Considering the slight protection afforded by their surroundings, which often consists only in the similarity of colouring between their skins and the rocks they inhabit, the baboons (relying on their formidable teeth) display still greater boldness than the long- tailed monkeys, and only retire from the cornfields selected for plunder if energetically pursued, barking furiously, and with their cheek- pouches filled to bursting.[225] The only living thing that they fear is the leopard, their bitterest enemy. The commonest dog-faced monkey found in Bornu belongs to the species _Cynocephalus babuin_,[226] but there is another somewhat larger species in the higher mountains—whose males have a lion-like appearance owing to their thick manes—but this species is not yet definitely classified.

Analogous to the monkey tribe, one meets at Ulugo near Lake Chad and also in other places in the open acacia ‘bush’ a purely night-prowling beast, the ‘galago’, _Otolicnus galago_,[227] which is about the size of a squirrel. Among the numerous bats is included a very large light- yellow species, which one occasionally disturbs out of the trees during the daytime, also a flying dog, _Cynonycteris stramineus_,[228] of considerable size, which always appears in large numbers and flits round the fruit-bearing fig-trees or kuka-trees at sundown, but makes itself especially noticeable by its noisiness at the beginning of the rainy season.

Bornu is extraordinarily rich in beasts of prey, whose presence is explained by the abundance of game and the considerable flocks and herds owned by the natives. All the big feline species of Africa are found in Bornu. At the head of these stands the lion, which, owing to the smallness of the mane in the male, approaches the Senegal variety. In Bornu proper he is always rare[229] or perhaps often overlooked, though he is certainly distributed all over the country; but he naturally prefers to frequent the thick ‘bush’ of the river banks, where the game come to water, and he is always sure of a rich and certain prey. It is here also that he is most in evidence. He is most frequently met with on the north shore of Chad[230] and in the riverain district of the Shari and the Logone, where also other game is found in the greatest abundance. Dominik, who was able to certify to the presence of eight lions at a single spot on the Shari at the same time, relates that according to Arab reports the lions here hold regular ‘drives’ for game.[231] According to Kund, the quantity of lions in these parts has temporarily become so great, that some smaller hamlets have been compelled to shift their quarters.[232] The presence of the lions is so serious, that they not only endanger the herds, but even repeatedly attack human beings. Denham, for instance, relates that during his stay in Kukawa, a woman slave was seized by a lioness,[233] and in quite recent times men have been repeatedly carried off by lions in the districts near the Shari.[234]

The natives declare that the leopard, _Felis leopardus_, the second largest of the feline tribe found in the country, occasionally attacks human beings, and in view of the fact that similar depredations are reported from other parts of Africa, it can scarcely be doubted that they occur in Bornu. Whilst the Bornu lion prefers the plains, the leopard is rather a mountain animal, for the clefts in the rocks and the ravines thickly overgrown with vegetation furnish him with numerous lurking-places and also harbour large quantities of baboons, which form his principal prey.

Of the other feline animals the cheetah, _Cynailurus guttatus_, is the third largest; this is something like a dog and is often tamed, but it is distinctly rare. It seems to prefer very dry localities, whilst another species, the serval, _Felis serval_, with longer legs and larger ears, especially common near Lake Chad, has a predilection for swampy thickets, where it is very destructive to the wild-fowl. The last of the known species is the Summoli, _Felis caracal_, a true lynx with long prick ears; this appears to show all the characteristics of its European relative,[235] and like it too is only found very sporadically.

The wild dog tribe are likewise well represented in Bornu. At night-time may be heard everywhere the howl of the jackal, by far the commonest of the smaller beasts of prey. The jackal, _Canis mesomelas_, on the one hand, is useful by exterminating mice and removing carrion left lying about, but on the other hand is a nuisance, owing to the depredations which he commits in the poultry-yard, and by often dragging into the light of day corpses which have been only carelessly buried; in the latter respect he is a worse offender even than the hyena.

Remarkable for the similarity which the climate of Bornu has in many respects with that of the Southern Sahara, is the presence of so pronounced a desert animal as is the ‘Fenek’, _Canis cerdo_.[236] This was met with by Barth, not only in the northern districts round Munio, where its appearance would not cause especial astonishment, but also on the Shari.[237] Here also Dominik confirms the presence of that most interesting of the dog species of this region, the Hyena-dog, _Lycaon pictus_, which hunts in packs and forms the link between the dog proper and the hyena.[238]

As in all the ‘bush’ regions of Africa, so also in Bornu, there is no lack of hyenas; they have hitherto been classified under two species,[239] the smaller and very common striped hyena, _Hyaena striata_, and the larger and somewhat rarer spotted variety, _Hyaena crocuta_; they make themselves useful, like the vultures and the jackals, by the removal of carrion, but like the latter they leave no buried corpse undisturbed, unless prevented from doing so by every possible means. Although primarily a carrion-eater, the hyena by no means despises a living prey, and the countless bold seizures and attacks on cattle, of which the herdsmen of Bornu have to complain, more often fall to the guilty account of the hyena—who indeed draws the greater quantity of his carrion from the neighbourhood of the shambles—than to that of the lion or the leopard.[240] Whether they also attack sleeping men, as the natives assert, may be left undecided.

To what may be called the slinking variety of the cat tribe belongs the civet-cat, _Viverra civetta_, which is found all over Bornu, and is often kept as a domestic animal by the natives for the production of the civet, which is extracted in a pure state from the cuticle of the strong-smelling posterior gland of the _Viverra_.[241] Three other smaller beasts of prey, relatives of the civet-cat, which live in Bornu, are also here and there kept in captivity by the natives, apparently for the extirpation of mice; these are the furze-cat, _Genetta dongolana_;[242] the Ichneumon, _Herpestes ichneumon_; and the striped mongoose, _Herpestes taeniotus_; they are extraordinarily tame there.[243]

The animals of the marten tribe are less numerous in Bornu. Worthy of notice also is the existence of an otter, ‘Lutra’, with very handsome jet black fur, which is caught now and then in Chad by the Kanembu, and of the African skunk, _Putorius zorilla_. In Bornu as elsewhere the rodents are numerously represented. Rats and mice are a regular plague in the low-lying districts, especially where ‘firki’ soil alternates with sand-dunes; the rats, however, are caught by the Kotokos and brought to the markets to be sold as food.[244] A kind of burrowing mouse together with a species of hare[245] undermine the surface of the sand-dunes studded with ‘Calotropis’ and ‘Zizyphus’ trees, thus rendering it difficult for pedestrians as well as mounted men to cross such places. Of the porcupine tribe at any rate the _Hystrix cristata_ is found in Bornu; the fallen quills of this large rodent, whose colouring makes them unmistakable, are often found in the ‘bush’.

It is natural that in a land like Bornu, where ants and termites play so important a part, ant-eaters are not wanting.[246] Clear traces of this animal’s formidable digging-claws are to be found at practically every ant-hill, provided it is situated in the open ‘bush’. The ground-pig, _Orycteropus senegalensis_,[247] is certainly found, and very probably also one of the armadillos (‘Manis’) peculiar to the African ‘bush’ districts, though up to the present certain information of this has not been forthcoming. By far the most characteristic of the wild mammals whose tracks one meets in Bornu—one might almost say one is dogged by them—belong to the antelope family so rich in different species. The astonishing abundance of antelope in most districts of Bornu, not only of species, but also of individuals, is explained by Nachtigal on the ground that the great profusion of domestic animals suitable for the butcher renders it unnecessary to trap wild ones.[248] The most striking of all the antelopes, if one may reckon it among that tribe, is the giraffe, _Camelopardalis girafa_,[249] which is found, though somewhat rarely, in the great stretches of uninhabited ‘bush’, sheltered by the tall acacias, and which also wanders from here into the more settled districts. It belongs also to the tree-covered steppes to the north of Chad,[250] from whence its distribution extends far into the Southern Sahara, as well as all over Bornu.[251] The high granite hills to the south of Bornu form its first natural boundary.[252] The antelopes proper are found in Bornu at the present day partly sporadically and partly in regular herds, separated according to species, but similar in their habits. The great majority of the species belong equally to Bornu and to the Southern Sahara.[253] The best known or the most striking are: the widely-distributed Dorcas Gazelle, _Antilope dorcas_, often tamed as a pet—the Soemmering’s gazelle, _Antilope Soemmeringii_—the _Antilope arabica_—the Mpala, _Antilope melampus_—the Bubal Hartebeest, _Bubalis bubalis_—the red Hartebeest, _Bubalis caama_—the reed-buck, _Redunca eleotragus_—the water-buck, _Cobus ellipsiprymnus_—the beautiful horse antelope, _Hippotragus niger_—the sable antelope, _Oryx leucoryx_—the addax antelope, _Addax nasomaculata_—the Kudu, _Strepsiceros Kudu_—and the harnessed antelope, _Tragelaphus scriptus_, as well as a diminutive tufted duiker, _Cephalolophus spec._ As a rule only the addax antelope and the ‘mpala’ form themselves into largish herds, often a hundred strong. The former prefer dry localities; the latter, often in company with the water-buck, are especially fond of the swampy southern shore of Chad.[254]

Of other ruminants there is finally also found in Bornu the buffalo or bush cow, _Bos caffer_. Its favourite haunts are little-frequented places on the Chad shore and the swampy lowlands between the Logone and the Shari.[255]

The many-toed animals are represented in Bornu by all the giant species of Africa, as well as by the very small animals belonging to this family. Of those general in Bornu the elephant deserves by far the largest share of attention, owing not least to the tragic fate to which he is destined as a result of the ruthless pursuit to which he is subjected. Even if one always reckons that the number of these beasts is larger than it is in reality, one must add to this the fact that even travellers such as Barth were deceived as to their numbers owing to ignorance of the elephant’s habits of life. Dominik rightly emphasizes the point[256] that the activity of three elephants is enough to leave traces that easily lead one to the false assumption that they have been made by a larger herd of these pachyderms. Only thus is it to be explained that Barth speaks of thousands of elephants,[257] while the number of the largest herd which he himself observed only reached 96 head.[258] If one takes into consideration the elephants which Barth actually saw, it constitutes a diminution already considerable in the number of these giant beasts since Denham’s time, for the latter observed herds still numbering 150 or even 400.[259] Since then the number of elephants has steadily diminished, so that even the numbers of a herd alleged to contain 50 head, observed by the English members of the Anglo-German Boundary Commission in the winter of 1903-4, must certainly be taken as an over rather than an underestimate. Although Kund mentions at the same period the appearance of a herd 200 strong on the Shari,[260] his statement must certainly be grounded on greatly exaggerated reports from natives.

The favourite haunts of the elephant are the larger stretches of uninhabited ‘bush’ with suitable watering-places, which are to be found on the northern shore of Chad and along the rivers, especially the Shari and Logone, whose banks Barth reckons to be the places in Africa which are richest in elephants.[261] Starting from here the animals wander farther afield even into inhabited localities—making the paths in the soft soil impassable for pedestrians owing to their deeply-trampled footprints. So there is scarcely a district in Bornu where it has not been observed, except in the extreme north-west. Where the elephant is not hunted, it does not appear to be timid,[262] but this supposition becomes less and less tenable as the number of fire-arms increases.[263]

The second largest many-toed animal of Africa, the rhinoceros, _Rhinoceros bicornis_, belongs likewise to the fauna of Bornu, but is much rarer and has only a restricted area of distribution. Indeed, it is only indigenous in the low-lying country on the Shari and Logone, especially in the Kung ‘bush’, south of about 10° north latitude, where it would appear to be more numerous and to be dreaded on account of its malicious character.[264]

Wherever rock formations appear in Bornu and even where they are not very apparent, one is sure of finding the smallest of African creatures of this family, the widely-distributed dassie, _Hyrax abyssinicus_. Numerous wild boars inhabit the plains and must be exceedingly common on the Shari according to Nachtigal’s narrative, though he does not mention their species.[265] Where they are not hunted they appear to be far from timid, at least if one can credit Barth’s account. The latter expresses himself on this subject as follows: ‘A company of naked boys were splashing and playing about in the water and seemed on the best of terms with a number of wild boars; I have never seen these animals in such quantities in the Sudan as in the neighbourhood of the Shari. Calves and goats were feeding on the plain with wild boars in their midst.’[266] It has not yet been definitely settled whether one of the bush-pigs (_Potamochoerus_) is found in Bornu; it is nearly always confused even in trustworthy reports with the formidable and strange-looking wart-hog; _Phacochoerus africanus_, with its misformed head and terrible tushes, which may even reach a foot in length. This animal is found far inside the confines of the Sahara and is still common even in Aïr.[267]

Wherever fairly large rivers, or collections of water that outlast the dry season, exist, the inevitable river-horse, _Hippopotamus amphibius_, is never absent. Chudeau mentions the appearance of the river-horse even in the swamps of the Manga country.[268] Gerhard Rohlfs and his predecessors still report large herds—up to 100 head—of these pachyderms on Lake Chad,[269] but on the other hand a contagious disease, of which Nachtigal makes mention,[270] appears to have greatly thinned their numbers, at least temporarily, and even now one commonly finds tushes and other remains of these beasts on the shores of the lake. In the Shari-Logone region on the contrary the hippopotamus has always been equally common. Many places there ‘literally swarm’ with these animals.[271] What holds good of the tameness of the wild boar when not hunted holds good also under similar conditions of the harmless hippo.[272]

Finally, the most interesting of the mammals of Bornu is a water-mammal, for whose appearance, however, no definite proof appears to have been presented as yet; this is the ‘ngabara’ or _Manatus Vogelii_,[273] which was first named by Barth on the Shari and lately has again been mentioned by Chevalier as occurring in Lake Chad;[274] and it can scarcely be doubted that the existence of this animal, taking into consideration also the remaining water-fauna of the lake, must have some relation to the geological and hydrographical conditions of the Chad countries at an earlier epoch.

The birds of Bornu, so variegated and interesting, are as manifold and rich in species as the mammalia; not least are they interesting on account of the alternations introduced by the temporary sojourn of birds of passage. Not only the number of species but also the quantities of individual birds is remarkable. In early spring, when the acacias begin to blossom, the open ‘bush’ resembles in places a single great aviary, which re-echoes with the singing and chirping of its inmates.[275] But even during the most comfortless period of the dry weather one can perceive everywhere in tree and bush strange birds, whose variegated plumage stands out in most striking contrast to the dull yellowish-grey of their surroundings. The little that is known about the ornithology of Bornu allows one to perceive that, as in the case of the Mammalia, an intermingling of fauna has been brought about. A richer collection of material than is now forthcoming is necessary before a better account can be given of the birds of Bornu.

How easily even common and characteristic species may be overlooked by a non-expert traveller, even after staying a year in a country, is proved by Barth’s assertion that the parrot is not found north of 8° North Latitude—and therefore not in Bornu at all.[276] Yet at the present day not less than four varieties of parrots live in Bornu, of whom the lively emerald-green ring-necked parakeet, _Palaeornis cubicularis_,[277] reaches as far as Lake Chad, and during the dry weather nests in the sparse acacia trees, which are the sole vegetation bordering the turbid water-courses of the ‘firki’ districts. In South Bornu, where along the rivers the big forest-trees and the swampy stretches of meadow-land form a pleasant park-like landscape, the conditions are also favourable for the Senegal parrot, _Poeocephalus senegalus_, which extends from Adamawa as far as here, and is remarkable for its shrill screech as well as for its variegated plumage. It and the ring-necked parakeet, both equally good on the wing, vie with the monkeys, finches, and pigeons in plundering the cornfields and thus make constant vigilance necessary on the part of the natives, who try to scare the intruders off with various things for making a noise. Two species of green parrots, or dwarf parrots, who are likewise found here, with light-grey and red heads, and who are scarcely visible and noiseless when at work, content themselves with ransacking the thick crowns of the fig-trees for the diminutive fruit.[278]

The numerous family of the soft-billed birds is also represented in surprising and beautiful varieties throughout Bornu; it is just among them that many species new to Bornu will doubtless be discovered. Of the cuckoos, Barth mentions the honey-guide, _Indicator spec._, which is useful to the natives, and which is called ‘Schneter’ by the Shuwa Arabs—probably onomatopoetically.[279] In the low thick thorn bushes, which it scarcely ever quits, lives the brown lark-heeled cuckoo, _Centropus senegalensis_, worthy of notice owing to its splendid ruby- red eyes. In the crowns of those acacias which are especially much overgrown with Loranthus and thickly intertwined with the fat tendrils of the Cissus lives in little flocks the long-tailed _Colius macrurus_, remarkable for the peculiar mouse-like manner which it shows. With clumsy clapping of wings and jerky flight the rhinoceros-bird of these regions, i.e. the ‘Tok’ or red-billed hornbill, _Buceros erythrorhynchus_,[280] hurries from one group of trees to the next, and on the ground amongst the high ‘bush’ grass, the odd-looking ground hornbill, _Tmetocerus abyssinicus_[281] sets to work to poke about like a stork.

Equally remarkable for their big beak and pleasing colouring, the kingfisher and the halcyon also appear in Bornu. The commonest is the black and white _Ceryle rudis_, a species which is also found in the Mediterranean countries, and which one often sees hovering above a stream, ere it plunges into the water to strike at a fish. A species double as large is to be found here and there in the more secluded spots of the water-courses. A relation also of the European kingfisher, only much smaller and of a darker ultra-marine blue, often darts past like an arrow, only visible for a second or two above the water, whilst the shining cobalt-blue _Halcyon semicaeruleus_, or African white-headed kingfisher, allows us to admire his splendid plumage at quite close quarters.

Where the river during the dry weather has left the steep banks free of water, those countless reedy hollows appear, close to each other, which are the haunt of the beautiful bee-eater, who has established its nesting-places here after the fashion of the sand-martin.[282] The most beautiful and also the commonest is the _Merops nubicus_, or Nubian kingfisher, painted purple-red and turquoise-blue, numbers of whose noisy fledglings often gather thickly in the branches of the leafless trees along the banks and are visible from afar owing to their red plumage. The graceful flight of this beautiful bird cannot be fully appreciated till it has been seen in company with the kites pursuing like the swallows the swarms of locusts, chasing them through the ‘bush’-fires, yet without ever being singed by the flames.[283]

The beautiful blue long-tailed Abyssinian roller, _Coracias abyssinica_, builds in hollow trees, and does not allow itself to be disturbed in the least in its nesting arrangements by people resting for a while under the tree it has selected. The three varieties of nightjar found in the country, belonging chiefly to the southern districts, are distinguished less by the colouring than by the peculiar shape of their feathers. When the two most remarkable species, _Cosmetornis vexillarius_, or pennant- winged nightjar, and _Macrodipteryx longipennis_, or standard-winged nightjar, appear flitting about in the dusk, the peculiar extension of the feathers of the wing gives one the impression that they do not belong to the bird but are some undefined object trailing after it. The swift, which is related to the nightjar but flies by day, has the same rapid flight as its European cousin of the ‘Micropus’ species.

Woodpeckers also are to be found, especially in wooded country where the trees are high; they are, however, rare and insignificant in comparison with the European varieties.

The Bornu birds of prey show many very characteristic species. The tall ‘Borassus’ palms swarm with hawks, _Falco chiquera_,[284] who have selected the thick fan-shaped crowns of this tree as their eyry.[285] The various beautiful kinds of eagle are to be found in places, but only sporadically; they are immediately noticeable owing to their colouring or to some such peculiarity. Near water fringed with thick vegetation, but especially in the ‘ambach’ thickets of Lake Chad, lives the black crested eagle, _Spizaetus occipitalis_,[286] with powerful talons, which at the approach of man withdraws in short flights further and further into the sheltering thickets. The water-eagle on the contrary, _Haliaëtus vocifer_, with black, white, and chestnut-brown markings, displays like most of the fishing birds little timidity in the presence of man. For hours at a time this bird sits poised on some leafless branch overhanging the bank, watching from this look-out for its prey. Round the granite ridges of Mandara and the adjacent isolated peaks circles the useful Bataleur eagle, _Helotarsus ecaudatus_, which from a great height is able to detect the poisonous snakes in spite of their protective colouring, and which vies with the numerous varieties of kite in activity of flight. The most peculiar of the kite species is the swallow-tailed kite, _Nauclerus Riocouri_, with its deeply-forked tail. It is principally to be met with hovering over cultivated land, and is especially fond of perching on the long poles of the hydraulic contrivances by means of which the Kanuri market-gardens are irrigated. The commonest kite is the Egyptian kite, _Milvus aegyptiacus_, which is widely distributed over North Africa, is omnipresent and ever-hungry, and is to be met with wherever meat is slaughtered or set out for sale. It takes up its fixed position near the carrion-vultures, surpasses even the monkeys in unparalleled impudence, steals bits of meat literally from off the trencher, gobbling it as it flies, yet does not disdain to pursue the insects frightened by the ‘bush’ fires. The majority also of the scavenger vultures frequent the same kind of haunts as the Egyptian kites, i.e. the neighbourhood of human habitation. The scavenger- vultures, _Neophron percnopterus_ and _Neophron pileatus_, are semi- domesticated, and clear of refuse the streets, open spaces, and yards, where they mingle with the poultry; they not only remove carrion but also every kind of filth, and seeing that they often appear in hundreds, perform a very useful office. The walls of the town and leafless trees in the neighbourhood of the houses are where they chiefly congregate. But even carrion lying outside in the ‘bush’ is discovered, at any rate by the _Neophron pileatus_; often discernible only as a speck in the sky, it mounts to a considerable height, from whence no fallen wild animal escapes its sharp eyes. But the true vulture of the ‘bush’ is the big _Gyps Rüppelii_, or aasvogel, which loves to hover about the big ‘Gawo’ acacia trees along the water-courses, where the watering-places of the game assure it of the offal from the meals of the larger beasts of prey. Of the owls, which are not very common, it is worth noticing one species, which makes its nest flat on the ground among the tufts of high ‘bush’ grass.

In Bornu, as elsewhere in Africa, there are a very large number of different sorts of sparrows, represented by many varieties. They often appear in large flocks, and then almost always do great damage to the cornfields. The birds, which cheer the traveller with their song during the rains, belong nearly all to this family.

The song-birds are confined within narrower limits, and there is little to distinguish them in external appearance from their migratory relatives, who make a winter sojourn in Bornu, and with whom they may easily be confounded. Amongst the ‘Motacilla’ species which appear as migrants is included a beautiful black and white wagtail, peculiar to the Central Sudan.

The place of the European finches is taken in Bornu by the varied and many coloured family of the weaver-birds and the bright-coloured finches, the characteristic birds of Africa. They are ubiquitous even far within the oases of the Southern Sahara,[287] and where grass-seed or corn is plentiful, for this forms practically their exclusive food, their skilfully plaited nests, shaped like a pear or a chemical retort, are never missing, and many a tree, especially those of the villages, is hung with them all over as if with fruit. Almost all species belong to the worst class of pests of the cornfields, whose yield may be considerably diminished by their formidable numbers. The measures of defence adopted by the natives against unwelcome pillage are chiefly directed against the countless swarms of these little pests. While certain species appear only in pairs, the great majority of them are found in colossal flocks. The big fig-trees near Ulugo are so crowded with weaver-birds, that their droppings fall to earth from the trees like continuous rain. The true weaver-birds are peculiar in that the males during the dry weather wear the same homely sparrow-like plumage as the hens, while very early in the spring they flaunt in gorgeous feathers of crimson and gold. By far the most beautiful of the weaver- birds is the orange weaver-bird, _Euplectes franciscanus_, or _Pyromelana_, which builds in the high grass along the water-courses and whose cock-birds during the mating season wear a velvety plumage of jet black and brilliant scarlet, which makes the bird look like a little roundabout, as indeed he is. Owing to their enormously long cock’s-feather tails, the males belong to the Wida species. Although they mostly prefer the ‘bush’, still they are also frequently to be found in the neighbourhood of the towns; the _Vidua paradisea_, for example, builds right among the ruins of the town of Kukawa. Many of these finches, especially the little red or turquoise-blue Astrildae, are so tame that one can entice them near enough to catch them by scattering about a little food.

Equally gorgeous in plumage as the weaver-birds, but far surpassing them in tuneful ability, are the glossy starlings of Bornu, all distinguishable by their metallic blue or green feathers and their white eyes. The biggest representative of this family, the long-tailed _Lamprotornis aeneus_, is a never-failing phenomenon of the ‘bush’.

Everywhere, but especially in the plains, is to be found the ox-pecker, _Buphaga africana_,[288] which frequents big game or herds of cattle, and is a useful bird, for it rids the animals’ hides of all sorts of vermin. An occasional though always rare attendant of the scavenger- vulture is the black and white African crow, _Corvus scapulatus_, when there is carrion about.

Connected both as regards place and time with the presence of insects is the appearance of birds that live on them. In the thorn bushes of the undergrowth, especially in the neighbourhood of the water-courses, the golden-crowned shrike, _Laniarius barbarus_, attracts our attention not only by its melodious note but also by its beautiful black, gold, and blood-red colouring. In places, especially in damp localities, one sees swallows; in the neighbourhood of rock formations where there are springs the black-billed Paradise flycatcher, _Terpsiphone melonogastra_, appears, resembling the cock’s-feather-tailed Wida species, and also, if there are sufficient caterpillars, the _Oriolus bicolor_,[289] resembling its European relative, the yellow thrush, both in note and colouring, but surpassing it in beauty. In similar places is to be heard the song of the bulbul, _Pycnonotus xanthopygus_, which reminds one in many respects of the song-birds at home.

In every flowering bush are to be found the little sun-birds, wrongly classified as _Kolibris_, or humming-birds, adorned with the most gorgeous feathers of green, red, or blue, with a metallic shimmer. The flowers of the acacia, the ‘capparis’, and the tamarind are especially sought after by these charming birds. One of the most important varieties is the metallic sun-bird, _Nectarinia metallica_. The acacias, when in flower and frequented by buzzing insects, are also the resort of another striking bird, the long-tailed steel-blue ‘Baumhopf’, with its red curved beak. It regularly flies in advance of the caravan, perhaps because this furnishes it with prey, and mocks men with its peculiar laughter.

Everywhere in the woods and fields is to be heard the cooing and laughter of the many varieties of doves and pigeons both large and small.[290] The call of the turtle-dove, _Turtur risorius_, is one of the most commonly heard bird-notes in the Central Sudan, especially at the beginning of the rains. The _Treron calva_, the largest of the varieties found in Bornu, with green and yellow plumage, differs from other pigeons not only in colouring but also in its whole behaviour: like the dwarf parrot, it searches the crowns of the fig-trees in true parrot fashion for their tiny fruit. While the latter bird is comparatively timid, the doves are often extraordinarily confiding; by scattering a few breadcrumbs one can entice the little _Chalcopeleia afra_ just like the Astrildae right into one’s tent.

Of the game birds, only two species[291] have at present been recognized in Bornu, the double-spurred francolin, or ‘bush-fowl’, _Francolinus bicalcaratus_, and the ubiquitous guinea-fowl, _Numida meleagris_. The latter, which is widely distributed even in the Sahara, is to be found everywhere except in the rugged mountainous country, but it is especially fond of light sandy soil, where it can rake about. Perched in the big acacia trees in the neighbourhood of the dunes, one may often find in the evening large flocks of these birds, which are by no means timid.[292]

In many districts of Bornu, especially the drier ones, is found the greatest of African birds, the ostrich, _Strutio camelus_, often in the vicinity of antelopes, whose company it is fond of seeking.[293] It seems to appear in Bornu chiefly where the acacias predominate, and after that is scarcely known where the ‘Terminalia’ district begins. These birds are common also in Kanem, and Barth observed large flocks of them in the sterile country round Kukawa.[294] At the present day the ostrich is very often domesticated, especially in the larger towns, but ostrich-farming has hitherto been so insignificant as to be quite negligible.[295]

A country like Bornu, which exhibits vast stretches of pasture and numerous shallow water-courses with flooded meadows along the banks, offers all the conditions favourable for every kind of long-legged bird, who, as a matter of fact, are found in great variety and number. The sandy, heath-like flats around Lake Chad are inhabited by no less than three species of bustard, of which the huge _Otis Denhami_[296] is a stately bird similar to the European bustard.

Great is the number of species of plover and snipe (‘Tringa’), which meet one at every step along the water-courses; many of their varieties are found distributed as far afield as the Mediterranean. Thus the spur- winged plover, _Hoplopterus spinosus_, well known in Egypt, is one of the commonest birds seen along the water-courses that crawl through the ‘firki’ districts. On the other hand, the very characteristic white- crowned plover, _Xiphidiopteris albiceps_, noticeable for its two yellow patches in front of the eyes, prefers the sand-banks of the river, where also it makes its breeding-ground, which it vigorously defends against nest plunderers by means of the spurs which it, as well as the before- mentioned species, carries at the bend of the wing. Wherever there are crocodiles their faithful satellite, the crocodile-bird, is to be found. Snipe, which, thanks to their protective colouring, are often overlooked, are common, especially on Lake Chad, according to Denham; this traveller speaks of them as being ‘as numerous as swarms of bees’,[297] so that one may conceive from this statement some idea of the great and constant abundance of bird life.

Besides the very rare white ibis, _Geronticus aethiopicus_, there is also found in Bornu the much commoner black variety, _Geronticus hagedashia_, a bird that by its dissonant, far-sounding cry, gives the game seasonable warning of the approach of man.

The stork family in Bornu are distinguished by their beauty, and to some extent by their size. Certainly the most beautiful of them is the gorgeous, rosy-red glutton, the African wood ibis, whom we often find perched in whole rows on the horizontal branches of the big trees along the banks—where also it builds its eyry—in company with the black stork, _Ciconia abdimii_.[298] In the reed-beds along the banks, the largest of all the storks, the gorgeous ‘Jabiru’, _Mycteria senegalensis_,[299] gets to work, and with its enormous bill is able to render innocuous to itself large poisonous snakes, thus proving one of the most useful birds in the country. In the neighbourhood of human habitations along the rivers the marabou, _Leptoptilus crumenifer_, is found, and where it has not yet been snared by Europeans for the sake of its feathers, is half- domesticated; it lies in wait for offal of all sorts, watching the movements of men, motionless for hours at a time, and only flapping its wings so as to intercept as many as possible of the sun’s rays, which it loves.

The more secluded and thickly-wooded spots on the river banks afford good places for the big nests of the hammer-head, _Scopus umbretta_, and here also we meet with the majority of the herons. Their largest representative, the giant heron, _Ardea goliath_, is rare, but the small snow-white _Ardea bubulcus_ is an invariable attendant on the herds of cattle, whose intestinal worms form its chief food.

By far the most beautiful of all the long-legged birds living in Bornu is indisputably the crowned crane, or ‘Doboli’, _Balearica pavonina_,[300] which is widely distributed in tropical Africa. Flocks of these birds often ransack the Kanuris’ fields after harvest,[301] and where they have not been rendered mistrustful by European firearms, show not the least timidity of mankind. The same holds good of these birds, in so far as they have not been hunted, as Denham affirms to be the case regarding the Arcadian confidence of the water-birds of Lake Chad, when he says: ‘As I moved towards them, they only changed their places a little to the right or left.’[302]

Apart from domestic ducks, to which belongs the beautiful blue Allen’s gallinule, _Porphyrio Alleni_, the majority of the water-fowl are composed of web-footed birds, which in many places, especially on the open stretches of Lake Chad, absolutely cover the water. It is certainly no exaggeration of Rohlfs to say that ‘there are water-fowl of all sorts in such quantities as in no other place in the world’.[303]

Besides a large number of duck,[304] who would reward a special study, there are chiefly three species which are always remarkable for their numbers or their characteristic form or appearance, and are scarcely ever absent from one of the larger stretches of water. These are the spur-winged goose, _Plectropterus gambensis_, the Egyptian goose, _Chenalopex aegyptiacus_, and the pelican, _Pelecanus onocrotalus_. More remarkable for their peculiar habits are the scissor-billed tern, _Rhynchops flavirostris_, and the strange African darter, _Plotus Lavaillantii_. The former is remarkable for the way and manner in which it ploughs the water with its beak as it flies for the sake of catching food, the latter for the strangeness of its movements—whether on the water or on dry land—such as is displayed by none of its relatives or in general by any other bird.