but their wings are still more reduced than those of the nandou. They
are only slightly distinct, and can not be seen when the bird holds
them close up to its body. In the _Apteryx_, the name of which, from
the Greek, means without wings, the organs of flight are hardly
apparent, and consist simply of a very short stump bearing a thick and
hooked nail. The _Apteryx_, which is also called _Kiwi_, a native of
New Zealand, is the most singular of living birds. The neck and the
body are continuous, and the moderately sized head is furnished with a
long beak resembling that of the ibis. Having long hairs similar to
the mustaches of cats at its base, it is different from the bills of
all other existing birds in possessing nostrils that open at its upper
point. Although the _Apteryx_ can not fly, it runs very fast, despite
the shortness of its legs, and can defend itself very effectively
against assailants by the aid of its long-nailed and sharp-nailed
feet. The tail is absent like the wings. The very pliant feathers are
extremely curious, of the shape of a lance-head, pendent, loose,
silky, with jagged barbs, and increase in length as they go back from
the neck. The bird is of the size of a fowl, and when in its normal
position stands with its body almost vertical, and carries the
suggestion of a caricature--resembling, we might say, a feathered
sack, with only a long-billed head and the claws projecting, and one
beholding it feels that he is looking at some unfinished creature. It
is a nocturnal bird, of fierce temper, and has become rare in
consequence of the merciless war that is made upon it. Everything is
strange about it, even the single egg it lays, which weighs about a
quarter as much as its body.
Together with the _Apteryx_, there lived in New Zealand a bird that
reached the height of nearly twelve feet--the _Dinornis_. It and the
_Phororhaces_ and the _Brontornis_, which have been recently exhumed
in Patagonia, might be regarded as the giants of birds. This bird was
known to the natives as the _Moa_, and lived in troops like the
ostriches. Its organization was very much like that of the _Apteryx_,
from which it was, however, distinguished by its great size, long
neck, and short beak. It seems to have had the aspect of an ostrich,
with a feathered neck and no wings or tail. The feet of the
_Dinornis_, with their three large toes, were really enormous.
Isolated fragments of its bones suggest very large mammals, rather
than birds. The femur and tibia are larger than those of a bear, the
tibia alone being about four feet long, and the thickness, in the
narrowest part, of the width of a man's hand, while it was more than
seven inches in the thickest part. The sternum, on the other hand, was
small, convex, and longer than broad. The wing could not have been
visible on the outside of the body, for the bones that constitute them
are proportionally smaller than those of the _Apteryx_. There was,
therefore, a maximum reduction of the wing in this bird.
The _Dinornis_ was covered with a rich plumage, and this was doubtless
what led to its destruction, women preferring its plumes to all other
ornaments. The large number of bones which have been discovered in the
alluviums, the caves, and the peat bogs of New Zealand authorize the
thought that the island was once inhabited by a considerable number of
these birds, which were able easily to repel the attacks of other
animals by means of their big feet. But they could stand no chance
against Nature's more terrible destroyer--man--who, when seeking the
gratification of his taste and fancy, does not hesitate to exterminate
whole species. The natives of New Zealand still recall the history of
these singular birds; their extermination seems to have occurred about
the time the island was visited by Captain Cook (1767-1778). Moreover,
some of the bones collected in later years still had animal matter
upon them. Even parts of the windpipe have been discovered, mixed with
charcoal, and evidences of cooking have been found.
A near relative of the _Dinornis_, which the Maoris regard as extinct,
is the _Notornis_, of which only four living specimens have been found
since 1842, the last one having been captured in the latter part of
1898.
The eggs of the _Dinornis_ were very large, having a capacity of about
a gallon and being equivalent to eighty hen's eggs. Still larger eggs
than these, however, are known. In 1851 Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
exhibited, in the French Academy of Sciences, eggs of a bird
coming from Madagascar that had a capacity of two gallons. Some
specimens of these eggs may be seen in the galleries of the Paris
Museum, and still larger eggs have been found. The museum in London
has one with a capacity exceeding eleven quarts, or equivalent to two
hundred and twenty hen's eggs, or more than seventy thousand humming
birds' eggs. It was thought at first that the bird which laid these
gigantic eggs was still living, for natives of Madagascar spoke of
having seen a bird of colossal size that could throw down an ox and
make a meal of it. Such, however, were not the ways of the bird called
the _Epiornis_, which had no talons or wings, and fed on vegetable
substances. The description by the celebrated traveler Marco Polo of a
great flying bird of prey, called a roc, has no reference to the
_Epiornis_. M. Grandidier has demonstrated that this bird no longer
exists in Madagascar, and that if man ever knew it the stories with
marvelous details which the savages hand down from generation to
generation make no mention of it. We owe to M. Grandidier, M.
Milne-Edwards, and Major Forsyth what is known of the history of this
large wingless bird, which resembles the _Dinornis_ in several points.
If its size was proportioned to that of its eggs it should have been
twice as large as the _Dinornis_. It was not, however, but constituted
a family represented by very diverse forms and of variable size,
though never much exceeding eleven feet. The head was similar in
appearance to that of the _Dinornis_, but the surface of the forehead
was furrowed with wrinkles and cavities, indicating the presence of a
crest of large feathers. A curious peculiarity was the opening of the
Eustachian tube directly on the exterior. The cervical vertebræ are
very numerous, while the sternum is much reduced. It is a flat bone,
broad but very short, especially in the median part. The wing also has
suffered a great regression, for it comprises only a thin, short rod,
the humerus, and a small osseous mass representing all the other bones
of the wing stuck together. The _Epiornis_ had no wings externally
visible. The bones of the feet were, on the other hand, of
considerable size, and indicate that the bird that possessed them was
larger than the _Dinornis_.
The _Epiornis_, according to M. Milne-Edwards, frequented the borders
of waters, keeping among the reeds along lakes and rivers, for its
bones are found associated with those of turtles, crocodiles, and a
small hippopotamus. It most probably nested in the low plains around
lakes.
Just as the _Apteryx_ among birds, and the bison and the beaver among
mammals, so the _Dinornis_ and the _Epiornis_ have been destroyed as
man has extended his abode and his domination.
When we regard the fauna of Madagascar and of New Zealand we are
struck by the great resemblance between them, from the points of view
of their recent and ancient vertebrate fauna. These resemblances
suggest the past existence of relations between these two lands now
separated by a wide expanse of sea, and this agrees with geological
observations.--_Translated for the Popular Science Monthly from La
Nature._
SKETCH OF FREDERICK C. SELOUS.
The description of Selous, in Men and Women of the Time, as "explorer,
naturalist, and sportsman," is suggestive of the manner in which his
career has been developed and his fame has grown. Beginning his active
life as a mere hunter of big game in the wilds of South Africa, and
known at first only as a sportsman, he has become recognized as one of
the leading, most intelligent, and most efficient explorers of his
time, and is accepted as the most eminent authority respecting what
relates to the large and important region of Mashonaland.
FREDERICK COURTENAY SELOUS was born in London, the son of a father of
Huguenot extraction and of a mother who, descended from the Bruces of
Clackmannan, could count Robert Bruce among her ancestors, and was
also related to Bruce, the Abyssinian traveler. He was taught at Bruce
Castle, Tottenham, and then went to school at Rugby, where he
distinguished himself by his activity, which was displayed in his high
spirits and love of violent mischief and by his personal courage to
such an extent that his schoolfellows wittily nicknamed him "Zealous."
Leaving Rugby when sixteen or seventeen years old, he spent two years
in Switzerland and Germany, studying at Neufchâtel and Wiesbaden. His
hardy activity seems to have been as marked in Germany as at Rugby,
for it is recorded of him that he attracted some notice in the papers
by jumping into the Rhine in winter after a wild duck which he had
shot. He was not dressed for a swim, and, his great coat and top boots
becoming filled with water, he had much difficulty in getting to shore
with his game. His determination to achieve a career in South Africa
by hunting and collecting specimens was apparently reached while he
was still a youth, and at nineteen years of age he sailed from
England, to land at Algoa Bay in 1871. Hunting was his object, as is
substantially confessed in the title of his first book, A Hunter's
Wanderings in Africa. The book won instant recognition as a story of
sport and a hunter's prowess, and was regarded in that light by the
critics and the general public. The Royal Geographical Society,
however, perceived other qualities in the story he had to tell, and
gave him successively honorable mention, the Cuthbert Peake grant,
and, in 1883, the Founder's Gold Medal, the highest honor it had to
bestow.
Among the earliest testimonials paid by this society to the value, as
yet not generally appreciated, of Selous's work was that given by Lord
Aberdare, president, in his anniversary address, delivered in May,
1881, to the services rendered to geography in the regions west of
Lake Nyassa by Mr. Selous, who had "hitherto been known as a mighty
hunter of large game.... This gentleman, we learn, in 1878 penetrated
for one hundred and fifty miles the unknown country north of the
Zambezi, in the direction of Lake Bangweolo. He has since crossed in
various directions the Matabele country south of the Zambezi,
discovering two new rivers and defining the course of others which had
previously been laid down from vague information." Selous's Notes on
the Chobi, it appears, had already been published by the Geographical
Society.
Mr. Selous has spent most of his time since he began his African
wanderings in 1871, except for occasional visits to England, in
traveling and hunting over that part of the African continent with
which his name as an explorer is associated. In 1877 he and some
companions penetrated into Matabeleland to hunt elephants. Relating
the story of his wanderings in an address to the Royal Geographical
Society in 1893, he described his experiences with fever and ague, the
attacks of which began in Griqualand in 1872, but came on only when he
halted anywhere a few days. North of the Zambezi he made several
journeys among the Balongas, and spent a wretched rainy season, almost
without equipment, on the Manica table-land, of the luxuriant
vegetation of which, with sweet-smelling flowers after the rains, he
gave a glowing description in his address. Interesting observations
were made on some of the northern rivers. The curious phenomena of the
steady rise of the waters of the Chobi and Machabi--an outlet of the
Okavango--was observed from the first week in June till the last week
in September, when the flood began to recede.
From 1882 the journeys acquired additional geographical importance,
and Mr. Selous proceeded to rectify the maps of Mashonaland made by
earlier travelers, taking constant compass bearings, sketching the
courses of rivers, and fixing the positions of tributaries. The value
of this work was made manifest in a magnificent large scale map of the
country.
This map, which was published in 1895, was intended, first and
chiefly, to illustrate the work done by Mr. Selous while in the
service of the South African Company; and, secondly, to embody, as far
as possible, the knowledge possessed of the entire region extending
from Fort Salisbury to the northward as far as the Zambezi, and to the
eastward as far as the lower Pungwe. Mr. Selous's manuscript
originals, deposited in the map room of the Royal Geographical
Society, comprise a compass survey, showing the routes during a year's
employment in the service of the British South African Company,
September 1, 1890, to September, 1891, on a scale of 1:255,000; a
sketch map, showing the route of the Manika Mission from Fort Charter
to Umtassa's and thence to the camp near Mount Wedza, and also the
routes taken by Mr. Selous from the camp near Mount Wedza to Makoni's,
Mangwendi's, Maranka's, and back to Makoni's, on a scale of 1:255,000;
a sketch of routes from Umtali to Mapanda (Pungwe) and back, in 1891,
on the same scale; a sketch of Mashonaland, showing tribal boundaries,
on the same scale; a rough survey map of the countries ruled over by
the Makorikori chiefs, for which a mineral concession had been granted
to the Selous Exploration Syndicate, on a scale of 1:210,000; and
about thirty sheets of manuscript maps and rounds of angles, utilized
in the compilation of the first four maps of this list.
Although Mr. Selous did not determine latitudes or longitudes, his
long-distance compass bearings enabled him to lay down a network of
triangles connecting Fort Salisbury with Masikesi. These triangles
included Fort Charter, Sengedza, and Mavanka's in the south, Mount
Mtemwa in the north, and Mount Dombo in the east; and it turns out
that the distance between Fort Salisbury and Masikesi, as resulting
from this triangulation, differs to the extent of only about a mile
from that obtained by careful astronomical observations made at the
two terminal points. The greater part of Mr. Selous's compass bearings
were taken during the rainy season, when the air was very clear and
landmarks could be seen at great distances. Mr Selous's determinations
of altitude were not so accurate, and those obtained with the aneroid
were characterized by himself as "of little value."
During all of his twenty years' wanderings Mr. Selous represented in
his address to the Royal Geographical Society, with the exception of a
treacherous night attack made upon his camp by the Mashuku-Sumbwe, led
by a few hostile Marotse, in 1888, he had never had any serious
trouble with the natives. He had gone among many tribes who had never
previously seen a white man, and was always in their power, as he
seldom had more than from five to ten native servants, none of whom
were ever armed. Mr. Selous's pioneer work began in 1889, when he
conducted a gold-prospecting company through eastern Mashonaland. The
journey took the party to the Portuguese settlements on the Zambezi,
where those people were found to have a full appreciation of the
richness of the gold region.
The British South Africa Company, or "Chartered Company," as it is
sometimes called, was incorporated about the same time (October,
1889), with power to occupy and possess the large domains that
constitute what is now called Rhodesia. The return of Mr. Selous to
the Cape of Good Hope with the report of what he had observed had the
effect of determining the company to speed its operations so as to
anticipate the Portuguese. Mr. Selous entered the service of the
company, and, although he was not yet an explorer in the scientific
sense, the accurate memory of his early wanderings over the region
enabled him to guide successfully the pioneer expedition that took
possession of Mashonaland.
One of the sensational incidents of this campaign was the refusal of
Lobengula to allow the pioneer force to use the road that led through
Buluwayo, his capital, the only existing wagon road from the British
frontier to the Mashonaland plateau. A new road was cut, under the
guidance and superintendence of Mr. Selous, through four hundred and
sixty miles of wilderness, the whole work being accomplished in two
months and a half.
Among the chiefs who submitted to the British occupation after the
seizure of Gonvola was Moloko, ruler of the country north of Manica,
who made a treaty with Mr. Selous. After two years spent in various
operations for opening up the country and securing treaties with the
native chiefs, Mr. Selous returned to England in December, 1892, and
put the narrative of his adventures to press, but was called back in
August, 1893, returning at very short notice, on account of the
threatening attitude of the Matabele chief Lobengula and the
consequent risk of interruption in the development of the country. The
tribes had risen against the assumption of the company to claim as a
territorial cession what they had regarded as simply a grant of mining
and exploiting privileges. Mr. Selous engaged actively in the
campaign, in which he is credited with having fought with great
gallantry by the side of the colonists, and was wounded while
protecting some negroes who had been surprised by the enemy.
Returning again to Mashonaland, he reached there in time to witness a
second outbreak of the natives, vexed by the triple plague of locusts,
rinderpest, and the stringent regulations of the Chartered Company's
government with respect to cattle. His own cattle were stolen, and he
headed a company of volunteers that went out to check the insurgents
and protect the people who were still on their farms.
The fruits, in acquisition to geographical knowledge, of Mr. Selous's
adventures and explorations are to be found, mingled with much about
sporting and exciting incident, in his books: A Hunter's Wanderings in
South Africa, already mentioned; Travel and Adventure in Southeast
Africa (1893); Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia (1896); and in lectures
to the Geographical Society and periodical contributions concerning
Mashonaland.
These books abound in observations on natural history, often
constituting real contributions of new facts or new demonstrations to
the science, usually occurring incidentally in the narrative of
adventure, but sometimes given in more formal shape. The author avows
that his conclusions respecting animals are drawn from personal
experience of the beasts, and are not influenced in any way by the
stories of old hunters, Dutch or native. Among these notices are
original observations on the giraffe and its habits, notes on
buffaloes and their disposition, and remarks on variations in the
types of South African lions. Of this animal, while some authors would
make three species, the author believes there is only one. "As out of
fifty male lion skins," he says, "scarcely two will be found exactly
alike in the color and length of the mane, I think it would be as
reasonable to suppose there are twenty species as three." So in Notes
upon South African Rhinoceroses, a paper read before the Zoölogical
Society of London in June, 1881, and reprinted in this volume, Mr.
Selous gives his reasons for affirming that there are only two species
of rhinoceros in South or in all Africa--the square-mouthed or white
_Rhinoceros simus_ and the prehensile-lipped or black _Rhinoceros
bicornis_--while the supposed _Rhinoceros keitloa_, or blue rhinoceros
of the Boers, is merely a variety of the _bicornis_, the distinction
between the two being based only on differences in the relative length
of the horns. Another paper from the Proceedings of the Zoölogical
Society, reprinted here, is Notes on the South Central African
Antelopes, embodying again only the results of the author's own
observations. In this paper twenty-two species are described by their
scientific, native, Dutch, and English names, and their
characteristics, habits, appearance, and distinctions are indicated.
In the preface to his Travel and Adventure in Southeast Africa Mr.
Selous tells how he had determined, in 1881, upon visiting the ostrich
farm of his friend Frank Mandy, to settle down in Africa for a quiet
life. Then he went home and spent a few months in England. Visiting
the Natural History Department of the British Museum, he was shown by
Dr. Gunther and his associate how old and dilapidated some of the
specimens were, and how many noble forms were not represented at all.
He took note of what he ought to get should he visit the interior of
Africa again. Next we find him in South Africa, not quiet on a farm as
he had intended to be, but in the wilderness, where he spent six years
(1882-'87) engaged principally in collecting specimens "of the
magnificent fauna which once abounded throughout the land," but many
forms of which were now becoming scarce and some were verging on
extinction. He shot and preserved a great many fine specimens of the
larger antelopes, some of which may be seen in the New Natural History
Museum at South Kensington, while others are in the collection of the
South African Museum at Cape Town. Besides the stories of specimen
hunting and adventures with the lions that are always to be found
where game is abundant, the volume contains much matter of more
general interest, such as notes of personal experiences among the
Boers; accounts of two expeditions sent against the Batauweni by
Lobengula; the devastations committed by the Matabele in Mashonaland;
valuable notes on the Bushmen or Masarwas; accounts of journeys beyond
the Zambezi to the countries of the Machukulumbwi and Barotsi tribes;
and a review of the past history and present condition of Mashonaland.
We find here also a notice of the caves of Sinola, with a subterranean
lake in the principal cave having water marked by a deep-blue color
like that of the blue grotto of Capri, an account of which was
published by Mr. Selous in the Proceedings of the Geographical Society
of London for May, 1888. An account of Mr. Selous's Twenty Years in
Zambezia was published in the Geographical Journal in 1893.
Mr. Selous has done more than any other man to bring Mashonaland into
notice, and is credited, together with Cecil Rhodes, with having
contributed most to the creation of Rhodesia. The first comprehensive
account of Mashonaland was given by him in the Fortnightly Review for
May, 1889, when he described the country as a land of perennial
streams in which thirst is an unknown quantity; with its high plateau,
standing at an elevation of from four thousand to forty-six hundred
feet and forming a very important watershed, endowed with a network of
important streams, the springs supplying which, welling out from the
highest parts of the downs, were capable of being applied to the
irrigation of an enormous area, and having a salubrious climate, the
continuous southwest wind giving cool breezes in summer and cold ones
in winter. The high plateaus were further of much ethnological
interest, in that they gave shelter to the very few remnants of the
peaceful Mashonas who had escaped extermination at the hands of the
Matabele.
Editor's Table.
_SCIENCE AND THE SCIENTIFIC MIND._