Main features of the Falls--The return commenced--Frank
Oates attacked by fever--Course of the illness; improvement
and relapse--His death--Dr. Bradshaw takes his effects to
Bamangwato--His favourite dog--Arrival of W. Oates and Mr.
Gilchrist in Natal--Conclusion.
It is to be regretted that, from the time of his reaching the Zambesi
till the date of his death five weeks afterwards, the entries in
Frank Oates’s Journal are of the scantiest description. Indeed, the
whole time that he was actually at the Falls he made no entries in it
whatever. This may have been partly owing to the depressing condition
of the atmosphere near the river at that time, which would make any
exertion--even that of writing--burthensome; and partly from his
relying on his memory for a faithful recollection of a scene at once
so novel and so impressive. “After breakfast,” he writes on New Year’s
Day, 1875, “I visited the Falls--a day never to be forgotten.” This is
the sole entry in his Journal till the 14th of the month, when he was
again back at the Pantamatenka.
And what gives especial cause for regret at the absence of any further
entries in his Journal of this period is the fact that all the accounts
of the Falls yet published have been given by those who visited the
river in the dry season of the year. Of this number Edward Mohr may
have suffered least from this disadvantage, for he was there in June
1870. Baines and Chapman were there together during parts of the months
of July and August 1862; Livingstone was there, his first visit, in
November 1855, his second in August 1860; and Baldwin, at the time of
Livingstone’s second visit. On both occasions when Livingstone was at
the Falls, the river, he remarks, was very low; and Chapman mentions
that, when he and Baines were there, the water had recently fallen as
much as seven feet. It remained for Frank Oates to visit the river at
its fullest; at the very height, in fact, of the rainy season; but,
unhappily, we are left without any results of his experience, except
in the shape of a few pencil and two water-colour drawings he made
upon the spot. The two latter have been selected for representation in
this volume--one of them coloured, the other in the form of a woodcut.
Before offering any explanation regarding these, it may be well to
recall to the memory of the reader the main features of the Falls, as
described by previous writers.
The river for some distance--at least two miles--above the Falls is of
great width, and, flowing between hills some three or four hundred feet
in height, presents to the eye a smooth open surface, dotted over by
a number of picturesque, tree-covered islands. Where the Falls occur
the river is upwards of a mile in width, and the Falls extend the whole
of this distance, their line broken at intervals by dark projecting
buttresses of rock, forming, some of them, small islands with trees
upon their tops; whilst others, of much less size, present merely a
bare and jagged surface. The Falls are occasioned by what appears to
have been a rift in the original bed of the river--a rending asunder
of the rock in the river-bed, over the edge of which the whole waters
of the Zambesi are poured down into a deep, narrow gorge below, its
width varying from something like eighty to a hundred yards. The water
escapes from this deep abyss, where it boils and foams tumultuously
after its descent, by a still narrower channel of from twenty to thirty
yards in width, and apparently about the same depth as the fissure into
which the water falls, the waters of the river being thus suddenly
compressed into this narrow limit immediately after flowing through a
bed upwards of a mile in breadth just above the Falls. The river after
this proceeds by a zigzag course from east to west for about five
miles, through a continuation of this narrow cutting, before it finally
flows away in a more direct line eastwards. This outlet, Livingstone
informs us,[60] is about 1170 yards from the western and 600 from the
eastern end of the abyss, the river at the Falls flowing nearly due
north and south, whilst the fissure which receives the water lies
nearly east and west. At this point the rushing waters from either side
unite after they have fallen. “The stream ...,” writes Chapman, in
his account of the Falls, referring to this portion of the river,[61]
“which here slackens its speed before the entrance, steals slowly
round, at the solemn pace of a funeral procession, before it escapes
from its confinement between the massive columns of rock.” The water
here is of “that sombre green,” says Baines in his description,[62]
“which indicates great depth; the moderate rapid formed in the narrow
turn below the entrance rolling in that smooth, glassy swell, almost
destitute of foam, which seems so gentle and proves so overpowering
when one tries to stem it.”
[Illustration: VICTORIA FALLS, ZAMBESI (THE OUTLET).]
It is the view from this point--“one of the prettiest and most
comprehensive” that can be obtained of the Falls, says Chapman--that
is represented in the preceding woodcut; in the foreground are seen the
gliding waters flowing through the escape-channel, the spray of the
falling cataract rising up beyond; whilst on the horizon, above that
section of the Falls which is visible from here, extends the distant
outline of one of the river’s banks. “This point,” writes Baines, “is
the only spot, with the exception of the west end in calm weather, that
is free enough from spray to allow the use of water-colours.”
And this brings us to our second illustration of the Falls, the
coloured one, which is taken from the other point here mentioned--the
west end of the cataract. In this picture is represented the first
portion of the Falls, at the western extremity of the abyss, where
the flow of the water over the edge is more broken than it is in many
places further on (in at least one of which it continues, says Chapman,
with “very little interruption” for a distance of a quarter of a mile
or more), and apparently before the water in the bottom of the channel
has commenced that tumultuous course which it afterwards pursues as
it gathers volume further eastward. In the foreground and on the high
land to the right is seen some of that brilliant tropical vegetation,
the absence of which, except the evergreen part of it, was so regretted
by Chapman at the time of his visit. “We see the scenery,” he wrote in
July 1862, “at a great disadvantage just now, as this is the time of
the ‘sere and yellow leaf.’” In January, when Frank Oates was there,
the vegetation of course was at its best. The trees on the right in
this picture, though looking little larger than bushes when viewed from
this side, rise in reality--again to quote the authority of Chapman,
who penetrated their shade--to a majestic height of from eighty to
ninety feet, and constitute a dense forest, always moistened by the
spray from the Falls.
The remaining most characteristic feature of the Falls represented
in this drawing is that of the double rainbow spanning the abyss.
The marvellous colouring of these rainbows, which are frequently
visible here, has struck all who have beheld them; their “tints,” says
Baines, “more beautiful than in England’s clouded climate one can
ever dream of.” Whenever the sun falls upon the clouds of spray these
rainbows are always present, sometimes two, sometimes three in number,
and the brilliancy of their colouring can scarcely be exaggerated.
“Rainbows,” writes Chapman in his description of the Falls, the first
day he saw them, “so bright, so vivid, are never seen in the skies.
The lower one in particular [on this occasion], probably from the
contrast with the black-looking rocks below, was _too_ vivid,
nay, almost blinding, to look upon, defying imitation by the most
skilful artist and all the colours at his command, yet imparting its
heavenly tints to every object over which it successively passed.”
So marked a characteristic of the spot are these rainbows that it
appears, according to Livingstone, the early native name of the Falls
was “Chongwe,” signifying the Rainbow, or the Place of the Rainbow; a
name, however, which has since given place to others. Frank Oates’s
boys spoke of the Falls as Metse-a-tunya, a compound word, signifying
“water-sounding;” whilst the name which Livingstone received for
them, as used by the Makalolo at the time of both his visits, was
not dissimilar, viz., Mosi-oa-tunya, or “smoke-sounding,” from the
smoke-like appearance of the columns of spray which rise above the
cataract.
[Illustration: VICTORIA FALLS, ZAMBESI.
(WESTERN EXTREMITY.)]
With regard to the other general features of the Falls not referred to
above but little remains to be added. Their actual height, as estimated
by Livingstone, is about 360 feet from the top of the precipice to
the surface of the water in the abyss; the columns of spray, which
are driven upwards by the rush of air from the channel as the water
descends into this narrow space, ascending to a height variously
estimated by those who have seen them--and no doubt varying with
the state of the atmosphere and the volume of water in the river at
different times--at from six to eight hundred feet, or something over.
It is these vapour clouds which, visible at a distance of upwards of
twenty miles, as distinctly observed by Livingstone, mark the position
of the Falls long before the traveller approaches them. Frank Oates,
as seen in the preceding chapter, distinguished them at a distance of
about eighteen miles, and his followers heard the roaring of the water
at that distance, though he was not sure of doing so himself. Chapman,
after he had left the Falls, heard them, he relates, “at a distance of
fifteen miles on an elevated region in the south.”
Comparing the Falls with those of Niagara, Livingstone points out
that they are twice the height of the latter; whilst, “in the amount
of water, Niagara,” he says, “probably excels, though not during the
months when the Zambesi is in flood.” It is unfortunate that no general
view of the Falls, except a bird’s-eye one from the high ground some
miles distant, can be obtained, owing to the vegetation on the south
side of the fissure and the dense clouds of spray rising from the
chasm. “But for this,” says Chapman, “the Victoria Falls, presenting
one unobstructed view, would not alone have been the most magnificent,
but the most stupendous, sight of the kind on the face of the globe.”
* * * * *
And now, resuming our story, the remaining incidents are soon related,
the material for its completion being somewhat scanty. From the
time of his arrival at the Falls till the date of his return to the
Pantamatenka, Frank Oates made, as has been stated, no entries in his
Journal. Again at the Pantamatenka, however, on the 13th, he made a
few brief notes, remaining there till the 19th of the month, when
Mr. Westbeach, now back from the Zambesi, also started southwards,
accompanied by Dr. Bradshaw. Two of Frank Oates’s native servants were
already by this time ill with fever, taken, no doubt, on the Zambesi,
but the rest of the party so far continued well.
On the 25th, however, at the “pan” called Geruah, the beauty of which
had struck him on his journey north, Frank Oates himself complained to
his companions--for his own waggon and that of Mr. Westbeach were never
far apart as they advanced--of slight headache, the usual precursor
and accompaniment of African fever. In a couple of days, however, he
was better again, so that he even went out hunting. But this apparent
improvement unhappily proved delusive, and it soon became evident that
he was suffering from an attack of fever. And now he continued for some
days, with slight fluctuations, better and worse till the 29th, when
his condition became alarming. Throughout his entire journey up country
from the Makalakas as far as the Pantamatenka he had been engaged in
taking careful observations of the country, and noting the various
watering-places along the road, and this he continued to do on his way
back, to check his former notes. His regular Journal had been again
discontinued on the 22d, but he still made some brief jottings of the
route until the 31st of the month, when, such was his condition, even
these had also to be abandoned, and he continued very ill till the
morning of the 5th of February, when there was a decided change in him
for the better.
During the whole of this time Dr. Bradshaw had remained with or near
him, and Mr. Westbeach had kindly lent him the services of one of
his own boys, who could speak a little English. There was now every
reason, so far as the traveller was himself concerned--and had been
ever since he first showed signs of illness--for the party to make all
speed upon their journey south. Once at Tati he would be in a place
of comparative civilization, affording greater comfort for an invalid,
and in a far better climate. Travelling is also usually found to be
beneficial in most stages of this fever. They were, therefore, all now
pushing forward to the Tati with the least possible delay.
On the morning of the 5th of February, as just stated, Frank
Oates’s condition was much more favourable, and there may still
presumably have been hope of his recovery, when, unfortunately, a
point being reached during the day where some of his boys had to be
paid off and discharged, the annoyance and excitement contingent on
this circumstance--for at such times the boys always manage to be
troublesome--brought on a relapse, and towards the afternoon of that
day he again got worse. The party, as it chanced, were then in a
part of the country where there was no water for the oxen, and were
travelling with all haste to reach a place where they could get some;
yet so alarming were Frank Oates’s symptoms, that towards evening Dr.
Bradshaw, who was with his waggon, was obliged to order a halt. This
occurred at a certain point in the journey, a little north of the same
Makalaka kraal at which the traveller had already experienced so much
trouble. He was now much exhausted, and Dr. Bradshaw got him to take
some soup and a little brandy, and then left him for a few minutes to
go to the other waggon. He had not been gone, however, many minutes,
when Mr. Westbeach’s English-speaking boy, who had been left in charge,
hurried after him, begging him to return at once, as a sudden change
appeared to be taking place. This Dr. Bradshaw did--but only in time to
find his companion sinking. Frank Oates tried to speak, but in so low a
whisper that the other unhappily failed to catch his meaning, and a few
minutes afterwards--about a quarter of an hour before sunset--the brave
spirit sank peacefully to rest.
At this point in the journey it so happened that the ground was very
hard and stony, and, even had it been otherwise, there was no spade
or other implement at either of the waggons with which a grave could
have been made; so, hearing that Piet Jacobs, the Dutchman, was near at
hand, having been at a neighbouring kraal that morning buying corn, Dr.
Bradshaw sent to him for assistance. Several others of the party were
by this time ill with fever, and the man who took this message--John
Mackenna--was so reduced that he was scarcely able to sit the horse he
rode upon.
Jacobs, in reply, sent back word for the others to come on further,
where the ground was less stony, and that he would meantime find
a place suitable for the grave. With this suggestion Dr. Bradshaw
willingly complied, and, travelling in the night, met Jacobs early the
following morning about an hour’s journey at the other side of the
kraal. Here the Dutchman, who was familiar with the country, had by
this time found a spot well suited for the purpose. This was a disused
game-trap, some eight feet in depth, at no great distance from the
waggon-road so often traversed by the deceased, and placed by the side
of a small stream or river flowing south. And here, in the deep repose
of this silent spot, the traveller’s remains were laid in their last
resting-place. His was a burial which well became in its simplicity a
true lover, like himself, of Nature and her wilds.
This ended, it now devolved on Dr. Bradshaw to convey the waggon
and effects of the deceased to Bamangwato, where he left them in
charge of the Rev. John Mackenzie, himself returning soon afterwards
to the Zambesi district. His attentions to the deceased during
the last days of his illness must have materially added to the
latter’s comfort, whose friends have reason to be thankful that he
chanced thus accidentally to have been thrown into the company of
a fellow-countryman at the close of his two years’ wanderings. His
interesting collections, moreover, of natural history, a part of which
he now had with him, might readily have been dispersed, and his goods
plundered, had his death occurred amongst unfriendly natives, with no
one at hand to be responsible for their custody; whilst, as it was,
all these, with his waggon and outfit, and personal effects, were
faithfully delivered by Dr. Bradshaw into the charge of Mr. Mackenzie
at Bamangwato, there to await instructions from his relatives in
England.[63]
One incident of Dr. Bradshaw’s journey should not be here omitted. It
appears that many miles after they had left the grave, one of Frank
Oates’s pointers--his favourite “Rail”--was found to be missing,
and boys were sent back in search of him. These men sought long and
wandered far in vain, till at length in their pursuit they got back
even to the grave, and there, patiently watching, they found the
devoted creature laid. A little longer, and he must inevitably have
fallen a prey to lions or other wild beasts, but now he was taken
down with his companion to Bamangwato, whence they were subsequently
conveyed to England. And thus it happened that, whilst Frank Oates’s
friends at home were rejoicing at the speedy prospect of his return,
and wholly unsuspicious of the truth, this faithful dog was watching,
the sole mourner, by his grave.[64]
The very day of Frank Oates’s death his brother William--returned from
his yachting trip to Spitzbergen--sailed from England for South Africa,
to join him, accompanied by Mr. Gilchrist, the gentleman already
mentioned in these pages, whom the brothers had met when they first
reached Durban two years previously, and had afterwards travelled with
in the interior, William Oates having returned with him to England.
The day these two sailed from England--about an hour before the vessel
left--letters were brought to them on board from Frank Oates, which
had only just reached the country, giving a full account of all his
plans, and of his wanderings up to the end of the October previous.
The two friends reached Durban on the 15th of March, and at once
commenced preparations for proceeding up country to meet the returning
traveller. Mr. Selous, who had met Frank Oates at Tamasancha, as
mentioned in the previous chapter, had now come down from the interior,
and reported having seen him early in December, then on his way to the
Zambesi and in perfect health. There was indeed just at this time, as
it happened, a report at Pietermaritzburg that the traveller had died
of fever in the interior, but--as subsequently proved by a comparison
of dates--this report had certainly no foundation in the actual fact,
and was found on enquiry at the time to be unsupported by any reliable
evidence. The preparations already in progress for a speedy start
into the interior, to meet him on his way back, were therefore still
proceeded with, and waggons, oxen, and all the necessary outfit got
ready for the purpose.
Another week and William Oates and his friend would have started on
their way northwards, when--on the 1st of April, a fortnight only after
their arrival--authentic intelligence reached them of Frank Oates’s
death in the interior. The object of proceeding on the journey was now
therefore completely changed, and, to enable William Oates to return at
once to England and there offer to his bereaved mother such comfort
as he might be able, his friend Mr. Gilchrist, in no common spirit
of self-sacrifice, himself insisted on taking the sad journey alone
into the interior--to bring down thence and convey to England all
the deceased’s effects; to hear such particulars as he could of his
death, for the satisfaction of his friends at home; and if possible--a
service attended with especial difficulties--to visit the grave, and
place over it, to mark the spot, a stone prepared for this purpose in
Pietermaritzburg.
Gratefully availing himself of this generous offer, William Oates
sailed for England on April 22d, having first seen Mr. Gilchrist
leave Pietermaritzburg with two waggons, on his way up country; a
sort of departure very different from that which either of them had
anticipated. The journey undertaken by Mr. Gilchrist--under any
circumstances a laborious and trying one enough--was rendered doubly
so by the sad object with which he started; nor did he return till
every purpose of the journey had been fulfilled. For not only did he
bring safely to the coast--and subsequently to England--the large
collections of natural history specimens and curiosities, and the notes
and journals of his travels which Frank Oates had made, as well as his
two pointers, “Rail” and “Rock,” but, in spite of the obstacles opposed
to his progress at the Tati, he even proceeded to the spot where the
traveller’s remains had been laid, and on his way back succeeded in
obtaining an interview on the Ramaqueban River with Dr. Bradshaw, from
whom he learnt the few additional particulars of his death which
could be supplied, and which have been embodied in the preceding
narrative.[65]
For this twofold purpose--of reaching the grave and seeing Dr.
Bradshaw--Mr. Gilchrist, on reaching Bamangwato, had gone on thence
with both his waggons as far as the Tati settlement, where he arrived
on the 18th of July. There he found the same difficulty of proceeding
further which Frank Oates himself had often previously encountered, a
great fear still prevailing amongst the natives of “red water”--the
Natal cattle disease--being brought into their country, and Lobengula
having recently sent strict orders to the kraals on the outskirts of
his territory to keep all waggons from Natal from attempting to cross
their boundaries. Fortunately, however, it happened that the Dutchman,
Piet Jacobs, was now at Tati, who had not only selected the spot for
the late traveller’s grave, but was also intimately acquainted with
the whole of the surrounding district, and who had, besides, a general
permission from the king to enter his country when, and as often as,
he pleased; for keeping, as he did, his oxen standing at Tati, when
he was not out with them in the veldt himself, there was little fear
of his introducing the dreaded disease into the country. With him
therefore, as guide, Mr. Gilchrist was speedily enabled to make a start
northwards; and, on the afternoon of the fifth day from the date of
their leaving Tati, came to the point in the waggon-road where they
had to leave it, in order to go down to the river’s side to reach the
grave. Mr. Gilchrist found it placed about six hundred yards to the
left of the road, in a situation of much natural beauty, surrounded
by low picturesque hills, and with trees of varied growth and foliage
scattered at intervals over the grassy sward. The grave itself, over
which a number of large stones had been placed when it was first made,
was found quite undisturbed, and amongst these Mr. Gilchrist now
inserted at its foot the small white stone, neatly cut, which he had
brought from Pietermaritzburg for the purpose, bearing this simple
inscription--“Frank Oates, F.R.G.S., of Meanwoodside, Leeds, England;
died 5th February 1875, aged 34 years.” Then, the task of friendship
faithfully performed, he returned without delay to England.
Nor had this journey, painful in its objects and associations,
been entirely free, on Mr. Gilchrist’s part, from privations and
anxieties of a graver kind. Water upon the road had many times been
scarce (on one occasion he was without any for his oxen--twenty-nine
in number--for as much as seventy hours); the season was one of
exceptional heat and drought, and the time occupied on the journey was
unavoidably considerable.
And here, before concluding, it may be mentioned that at Tati,
Bamangwato, or wherever he met those who had become acquainted with
Frank Oates in this country, Mr. Gilchrist found but one opinion
expressed concerning him. Many were the kindnesses treasured in
men’s minds and now related, which he had rendered to those he had
encountered in his travels; whilst, on the other hand, he had himself
apparently been no less fortunate in the kindly services he had
received from others. Friends had arisen where he least expected
them, beyond the pale of European civilization, from each of whom he
parted in turn with a consciousness of mutual regret. Such was the
way in which he drew all hearts towards him; and after his death, the
good offices of those who loved or esteemed him in his lifetime were
generously placed at the service of his family. Conspicuous amongst
this number stood the Rev. John Mackenzie, of Bamangwato, and Mr. F.
A. Hathorn, of the Standard Bank, Pietermaritzburg, the former of whom
undertook the duties of executor for the arrangement of his affairs in
the interior, whilst a like responsibility was accepted by the latter
for the settlement of matters in Natal. Nor was it only what these
two gentlemen did, but even more the manner of their doing it, which
placed the traveller’s relatives under a lasting sense of obligation to
them, and served not a little to soothe the first bitterness of their
affliction.
And now this brief history of the efforts and too early extinction of a
devoted life, otherwise it may be conjectured destined to have rendered
no mean service in the extension of scientific knowledge and research,
may be concluded with a few words, written soon after his death by
Mr. Mackenzie to one of his brothers with reference to the position of
his grave. “Lonely the spot, no doubt,” he writes, “is, in a certain
sense; but, in another, your brother’s grave is surrounded by all the
activities of the great Creator and Father of all. Flowers will blossom
around it, though not planted by mortal hand; birds will sing over it,
and never weary in repeating the sweet notes which Nature has taught
them. I have not been there myself, but I have no doubt the naturalist
would not think your brother’s grave a lonely spot; whilst to the
Christian such a spot is the quiet resting-place to which the body sank
when the spirit was called away by God the Father.”
[Illustration: “RAIL.”]
APPENDIX.
I.
ETHNOLOGY.
By GEORGE ROLLESTON, M.D., F.R.S.
Linacre Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the
University of Oxford.
The following human bones--viz. four skulls, six lower jaws, four
cervical vertebræ, one large and one small sized scapula, two small
sized and fragmentary humeri, a fragment of a very slight but adult
ulna, four cervical vertebræ, and five more or less fragmentary
ribs--have been put into my hands by Mr. C. G. Oates, with information
to the effect that they had belonged probably to a Bushman horde
massacred somewhere between the Tati and Ramaqueban rivers, in S. lat.
20° 54′, and long. 27° 42′. With these human bones came some bones of
_Equus_ (_caballus_ or _zebra?_); also of one large ruminant (_Bos
taurus_ or _Bos caffer_), and one smaller; and part of the skull of an
ostrich (_Struthio camelus_); and, later, the feet-bones of an elephant
(_Elephas africanus_). All these bones had been collected by my former
pupil, Mr. Frank Oates, of Christ Church, Oxford. The four skulls had
not their lower jaws assigned to them; but to three of them jaws were
assignable, which in all probability had really belonged to them, being
very exactly coadaptable, to say nothing of their having been sent in
company with them and with certain cervical vertebræ. These six lower
jaws are by far the most important bones as regards the question of the
nationality of the entire “find.” If, indeed, these half dozen lower
jaws had been brought to me with no other accompaniments and with no
other information than that they had been all brought from one spot in
Africa, I think I should have been justified in saying that they had
belonged to no other known African race than the Khoi-Khoin, or its
Central African representative, the Akka. For they all six alike show
the following distinctive and eminently significant peculiarities--viz.
lowness of coronoid process, smallness of absolute size, and all but
complete obsolescence of chin. Upon this I have already commented
in _British Barrows_, pp. 706, note 1, 707, 716, _ibique citata_,
comparing these lower jaws with the jaws of certain other confessedly
“priscan” races, which differ from them in little but in being larger
in size. It is, or should be, a commonplace among craniographers that,
whilst the lower jaw is a more important bone for their purposes than
any other single bone of the skeleton, and even than the pelvis itself,
it is often more distinctive, if not more valuable, than at least the
entire _calvaria_. Certainly this is the case with African skulls;
for though it is possible enough, as was long ago pointed out by
Professor Owen (see _Osteological Catalogue, Royal College of Surgeons
of England_, 5385, p. 838, 1853, and for a contradictory statement
Retzius, _Ethnol. Schriften_, 1864, p. 149), and as has recently been
reaffirmed by Dr. Hamy in Paris, to find brachycephalic skulls among
those of undoubted Negro races, and though, as I can aver from my
knowledge of the collections in the Oxford University Museum, it is
by no means always possible to distinguish either such brachycephalic
Negro skulls, or certain other Negro skulls of the dolichocephalic type
more usual amongst such skulls, from Bushman skulls of the respective
proportions, both of which are represented in this latter series, it
is within my knowledge always possible to do this if the skulls under
comparison are in possession of the lower jaws belonging to them.
The Negro’s lower jaw may or may not have the poorly-developed chin
so constant in the lower jaws of the Bushman, and but rarely seen in
the lower jaws of higher races; it may or may not have its anterior
teeth sloping forwards in correlation with a prognathic upper jaw; it
may or may not, I apprehend, though I have not met with such cases,
be as a whole as small and feeble as the jaws of the Bushman have,
with my knowledge, invariably been; but it never has shown, so far
as I know, the low coronoid process, the shallow signoid notch, and
the wide ramus so very commonly, or indeed all but invariably, found
amongst not only the Bushman but the Eskimo race. The existence of
this peculiarity not only in these two races so widely separated in
space, though so nearly on a level in certain linguistic as well
as certain other points of degradation, but also in so many of the
lower jaws of the earliest representatives of our species, gives it
a great morphological importance; and this morphological importance
is not a little enhanced when we consider a second fact, drawn from
a wholly alien line of contemplation, that, namely, which shows us
that teleological adaptation to special needs, or necessities rather,
as to dealing with food, has nothing to do with it. The fact of six
lower jaws all alike exhibiting this striking peculiarity, which may
be shortly described by saying that it resembles the conformation
seen in the Gibbon, whilst the larger anthropoid apes show the
coronoid developed into a prominence which comes much more nearly
into resemblance with that usual in our own species, is to my mind
very strong evidence to the effect that we have here six Bushman jaws
before us. In all of these lower jaws we find the angle roughened and
projecting outwards in correspondence with the insertion of fibres of
the masseter, and thereby giving a greater width to the lower portion
of the face; whilst, internally, the surface below the inferior dental
foramen is remarkably concave, owing in some cases to a general though
slight inversion of the lower portion of the ramus, and in others to a
thinning of the bone in the region between the alveolar process, in
the region of the last molar, and the angle thickened at once by the
insertions of the masseter and of the pterygoid. Of the four skulls
one only fails to find a lower jaw which will in any way admit of
coadaptation to it, and this skull being exaggeratedly dolichocephalous
as well as of much larger size and proportions than the other three,
may very well be supposed to have belonged to one of the attacking and
not to one of the attacked tribe; for I apprehend that in massacres,
at least of Bushmen, the killing is not usually all on one side. The
“reports,” indeed, both of their enemies and of their friends, assure
us that a Bushman at bay is a foe by no means to be despised, and that,
though little, he is fierce. And I can say for those three crania that
their _tout ensemble_, as compared with that of Abantu skulls placed
alongside of them, impresses me with the same kind of feeling which,
after detailed measurements, I have felt in comparing the crania of
Lapps with those of races such as the Finns living close to them. They
appear to me, in fact, to indicate that their owners were of a smaller
race than the owners of the skulls beside them, though the Bushman is
not always a mere dwarf, as is sometimes stated. The feebleness of the
two humeri, and even more notably of the fragment of ulna, and the
small size of the cervical vertebræ, and of one of the two scapulæ
accompanying these bones, tells in the same direction, but does not
prove feebleness of mind.
For purposes of comparison with these three presumably Bushman crania,
I have had three other crania at hand from the University Museum, of
the genuineness of which there can be little doubt. One of these was
presented to the University Museum by the late and much-lamented Dr.
W. H. J. Bleek, to whose labours[66] in elucidating the language and
rescuing the folklore of the Bushman tribe from perishing we owe so
much. This skull, which was brought to England by Mr. Alfred Hughes of
St. Asaph, bears a label, “Eland’s Bun, nr. Schintpriten,[67] Bushman’s
skull,” and was handed over to me by that gentleman at the desire of
Dr. Bleek. A second skull came into my hands through the kindness of
W. G. Marshall, Esq. of Colney Hatch, having been entrusted to him by
George Dunsterville, Esq., of Port Elizabeth, Algoa Bay, S. Africa,
who was for some years surgeon to the hospital at Port Elizabeth.
This skull, which, like the preceding, belonged to an exceedingly old
man, carries the following labels:--“From the Transvaal, S. African
Republic;” “Of an original Bosjesman, a tribe of small Hottentots, now
nearly extinct; over age; height, 4 ft. 4 in.” The evidence for the
authenticity of the third Bushman cranium which was in the University
Museum previously to the arrival of Mr. Oates’s consignment, is even
more irrefragable. This cranium was procured for the University through
the kindness of H. N. Moseley, Esq., F.R.S., from Mr. Fairclough of
Cape Town, and with the cranium came a knife, a poison-pot, a quiver,
a poisoned arrow, and an ivory wrist-protector which had belonged to
the owner of the skull. This skull belonged to a man past the middle
period of life, and is remarkable for its absolute height, no less
than 5·⅖ in.; which, however, falls short of its absolute width, which
is no less than 5·6 in., by which inferiority the tapeinocephalic or
platycephalic character which Mr. Busk (_Journal Ethn. Soc._, London,
Jan. 1871) insisted upon as existing in Bushman crania, is preserved in
it as well as in the two other crania just specified.
Retzius, in a paper first published in Swedish in 1856, subsequently
in German in Müller’s _Archiv._ for 1858, and fully republished in the
posthumously issued (1864) _Ethnologische Schriften_, p. 149, after
saying that he had before him only a single skull of a Hottentot,
and the figures which Blumenbach and Sandifort had published of
Hottentot and Bushman crania, declares himself unable to detect any
essential difference between such skulls and those of true Negroes. His
great authority, therefore, should not be quoted to the disfavour of
craniological evidence in this or any other similar question, inasmuch
as he only speaks, and avowedly, from very scanty materials.
If we begin our comparison of these two sets of crania by a reference
to the great distinction pointed out by Retzius himself, of
brachycephalic from dolichocephalic crania, we have in the first place
to demur to the statement, “In Afrika, fehlt, so viel man bisher weiss,
jede Spur brachycephalischer Bevölkerung.” Against it have to be set
in the first place Professor Owen’s words in the old _Osteological
Catalogue_ 1853, p. 838, 5385, already referred to, and in the second,
Professor Flower’s measurements (as recorded in the new _Catalogue of
the Specimens illustrating the Osteology and Dentition of Vertebrated
Animals_, pt. i. 1879, p. 232, 1238), of the “articulated skeleton of
a Negress, born in the United States of North America, and about 16
years of age,” who was said, presumably by the donor, Professor L. J.
Sanford of Yale College, “to have presented all the external characters
indicating purity of race,” the cephalic or latitudinal index of the
crania belonging to this skeleton being no less than ·811. But though
this be so, there is no doubt, firstly, that the immense majority of
Negro, and of Caffre and Abantu crania are dolichocephalic, and some
such, for example as the Mozambique skull, casts of which were given
by the late J. South, Esq., F.R.S., to many museums, exaggeratedly so;
and secondly that the cephalic index of the Bushman is considerably
higher on the average than that of the Negro. One of my six Bushman
crania (that named No. 1, Mr. F. Oates, 788e), has a cephalic index
of ·81, being equal to that of the Negro girl just mentioned in the
College of Surgeons’ Museum; and though one of the six has but ·70 for
its cephalic index, still the average of the six is as much as ·75,
and Professor Flower’s six give us an average of ·768 as against one
of ·731 for the circumambient “Zulus and Kaffirs,” and against one of
·736 for “African Negroes of various tribes.”
The altitudinal index is as significant as, if not more significant
than, the latitudinal; and the tapeinocephalic or platycephalic
character of the Bushman as compared with the two other assemblages
of Africans just mentioned, is expressed by the figures ·716, as
against altitudinal indices for them of ·741 and ·735 respectively. The
average of the altitudinal indices of my six Bushman crania is ·72, the
height exceeding the breadth in two cases only, and in each of them by
one-tenth of an inch only.
As important a question to ask about a skull as either of the two
relating to the two indices just mentioned, is, to my thinking, the
question, does the cranium when resting, in the absence of its lower
jaw, with the grinding surfaces of its teeth on a flat surface, touch
that surface posteriorly with its occipital condyles, or with its
inferior occipital squamæ? Accordingly as the former or the latter
portions of the occipital bone give support posteriorly to a skull
so placed, is the cranial curvature lesser or greater, and with it
the antero-posterior arc described by the brain it contains. Tried by
this test, first suggested by Prof. Ecker (_Archiv. für Anthrop._,
iv. 1870, p. 288), the six Bushman crania in the museum whence I
write, have four of their number resting on the occipital squamæ, as
opposed to two which show the lesser curvature. I incline to think
that this is a higher average than West Coast Negro crania would show,
but Abantu skulls are very frequently so well developed as to have a
considerable interval left between their occipital condyles and a flat
surface, touching anteriorly the grinding surface of their teeth, and
posteriorly their _conceptacula cerebelli_.
Another important point given us in that most instructive of _normæ_,
the _norma lateralis_, is that of the junction or non-junction of
the squamous to the frontal. This question is easily answered, as in
no single one of my six Bushman crania does the squamous approximate
itself at all more closely to the frontal than it would do in an equal
number of European crania. Indeed, in all but one of these crania
the alisphenoid is wide from before backwards, as though to furnish
adequate lodgment for the temporo-sphenoidal lobe of the cerebrum,
which, we know, alike from Gratiolet (_Mémoire sur les Plis Cérébraux_,
p. 97), and Professor John Marshall (_Phil. Trans._, MDCCCLXIV, p.
510), to take a large development in the Bushman race.[68]
I have in the next place to draw attention to a striking qualitative
or morphological peculiarity observable in no less than three out of
my six Bushman crania; this being the presence either of a perfect,
or of a rudimentary division of the malar bone into two distinct
parts. The skull presented by Dr. Bleek presents us with a perfect
rectangular suture, bilaterally symmetrical, as is usually the case
with this suture both when it is and when it is, as here, not,
rudimentary. In the two skulls, 788_e_ and 788_g_, collected
by Mr. Frank Oates, the suture is rudimentary, being represented in
each skull by a bilaterally symmetrical fissure running horizontally
forwards from the zygomatico-malar articulation.[69] When I add to
these observations the fact that similar sutures have not within
my knowledge and research been observed in other African crania of
any of the varieties living on that continent, it will be seen that
the presence of them in these skulls goes a considerable way, when
coupled with other considerations, towards making it pretty certain
that they were of Bushman nationality. Further investigation of the
distribution and non-distribution of this most significant suture
amongst the several typical races of men, lends some additional force
to this argument, and is besides not a little suggestive as to other
views. In the Oxford University collection of crania I have not found
any traces of it amongst 47 Australian, nor amongst our five Tasmanian
crania, nor amongst our Stone age crania, a series well represented
here. The only other race of indisputably pristine and very pristine
habits, in which I have observed it to exist, is the Eskimo, and out of
a large number of such skulls I have only noted it once, in the form
of bilaterally symmetrical fissure. The other skulls which this museum
contains possessing this suture either well or rudimentarily developed,
are six in number. Four are presumably either of the Malay or of the
Chinese race, as two were collected by Captain Elmhirst of the 9th
Regiment, from the sea-shore of an island in the Chinese Seas, out of
a great quantity which were lying about unburied, and were supposed to
have belonged to Chinese pirates, and were finally presented to the
University museum by the Rev. H. Hansell, Fellow of Magdalen College;
as a third was the skull of a female Moro, collected in the mountains
of Sulu, and presented by Captain Chimmo, R.N.; whilst the fourth was
purchased from Mr. Cutter, the dealer in Natural History specimens,
as being a Borneo pirate. The other two are from Ceylon, one being a
Tamil from Central Ceylon, presented by Mr. B. F. Hartshorne, who was
himself for a considerable time resident in the island, and has written
upon its ethnology; the other being a “Malabar.” As the absence of
this suture from the Zulu and Negro series gives additional importance
to its presence in the Bushman, so its absence, which I have noted in
a considerable number of Præaryan skulls, such as those of the Coles
and Moosahurs, procured for me by William Duthoit, Esq., D.C.L., gives
additional importance to its presence in “Malabars,” “Tamils,” Malays,
and Chinese. Of course further research may discover this suture in
other races of mankind; as the matter stands at present I am tempted
to think that there is possibly some significance in its having been
noticed in the Eskimo, the Bushman, in certain races of the Eastern
Archipelago, and in Tamil skulls, as well as in the fact of its having
been found to be absent in certain other skulls also of ancient races,
such as the Kolarian and the Australian.[70]
The main sutures I think have perhaps something peculiar about them,
this consisting in their being made of denticulations which are complex
but shallow, contrasting thus with the complex but deep denticulations
of well developed European, and the coarse but shallow ones of
Australian, crania.
The verticality of the forehead observable in so many Bushman, and,
indeed, in so many other African crania, is correlated with the
comparative feebleness, and consequent lightness, of their lower jaws,
which renders it unnecessary[71] that the brain and brain case should
be rotated backwards to counterbalance the facial skeleton and to
maintain the visual axis in a horizontal or semihorizontal plane.
I have appended to this paper the measurements given by Professor
Flower, in his recently issued (1879) _Catalogue_, of the six
Bushman crania in the College of Surgeons’ Museum, pp. 246, 247, and
also the same measurements, as taken by myself, of the six Bushman
crania in the Oxford University Museum. The very close correspondence
of the two sets of measurements will strike any one who will compare
the columns which give the averages of the two sets. The fact may be
expressed in technical language by saying that both lists coincide
pretty nearly in showing that, as Professor Flower has phrased it
at p. 255, _l.c._, the Bushman cranium is “mesaticephalic,”
“orthognathous” (or, at least, mesognathous, my average being 98,
which is “mesognathous,” as against Professor Flower’s 97·8, which is
just below the limits of mesognathy), “platyrrhine,” “microseme,” and
“microcephalic.”
By a comparison of my measurements, not with those of Professor
Flower, but with my own records of the history of each skull, an
even more surprising and more important fact, in the way, however,
not of coincidence but of the reverse, is brought to light. The most
aberrant of the six in the matter of measurements is the very skull
about the authenticity of which there is the most perfect certainty.
This is the skull presented by Mr. Fairclough, with which were sent
the articles specified above, as the characteristic of the Bushman
race. But the skull itself is, in almost every important particular,
different from the five other crania here measured with it. Its
circumference and cubical capacity, its length, breadth, and height,
and their indices, its orbital and nasal indices, are all alike
aberrant from the average. It certainly would not have entered into
the head of any craniographer to refer this skull to the Bushman
variety of our species, unless he had been informed of the character
of its accompaniments. A morphological point which might have served
to indicate the character of its owner--I mean the feebleness of the
nasal spine, a shortcoming more or less evident in all, or nearly all,
Bushman crania--does not help us here; for we observe in this skull
that the line of symphysis of the two halves of the upper jaw rises
here anteriorly, as it does sometimes in European jaws, into a raised
double ridge, which, though it slopes gradually into the plane of the
alveolar border, and does not rise into a sharply-defined angular
spine, and so far falls short of the typical “anterior nasal spine,” is
yet a very different thing from the very feebly-developed bifid process
of ordinary Bushmen, and many other African and other savage jaws.
The question arises, how are we to interpret these facts? We may
explain them by saying that the elasticity and plasticity of the
type is such as to admit of the escape of an exceedingly aberrant
individual, and its homogeneity and plasticity, nevertheless, also
such as to allow of its walls joining again, and restoring the perfect
circumscription which is implied in our speaking of the race as
possessing well-defined limits. Or lovers of logical consistency, who
may not be extensively acquainted with the width over which variability
may extend itself, may prefer to suggest that some kind of error may
attach or have been attached to the identification of this particular
cranium. It is possible, I suppose, that a runaway Caffre, or even an
outcast white man, may have betaken himself to some horde of Bushmen,
and identified himself with their manners and customs, and adopted
their dress and equipment. Such voluntary degradations are known
to have taken place, with the consequence of the refugee becoming
not merely “half a savage,” but rather, as shown by the place and
precedence given to him, “a savage and a half;” or, finally, the owner
of this skull may really have been a cross between a white man and a
female of the Bushman stock. To this last explanation I myself incline.
As regards the condition of the teeth, the skull presented by Mr.
Fairclough, though referred by me to a man in the middle period of
life, has only some seven or eight teeth, comparatively little worn,
left _in situ;_ the rest have been lost, and traces of two or three
large alveolar abscesses, and great absorption elsewhere of the
alveolar processes are very evident. Alveolar abscesses have similarly
left their traces in the skull presented by Dr. Bleek, in which,
however, the teeth have been very much worn down, though only one or
two have been lost during life. The skull presented by Mr. Dunsterville
had lost all its teeth, save the two central incisors, during life, and
the alveolar processes have suffered a very large amount of absorption
in this senile skull.
Of the entire series, as the figures giving the length of the
circumference and the cubic capacity show most plainly, we can
predicate smallness; the average of the latter measurement being but
1285 as against 1485 cub. cent. obtained by Professor Flower for the
cubage of seven Caffres and Zulus, and, indeed, as against 1330 from
his measurement of his available Bushman crania.
With this small capacity is combined, which is by no means always
the case in crania of races low in the scale of human life, a
short basi-cranial axis, with an average length of no more than 93
millimetres.
In none of these six skulls is the patency of the frontal suture,
which corresponds very usually to a wide receptacle for the frontal
lobes of the brain, observable. On the other hand, the zygomata do
not come into view, when the skull is held out so as to present its
norma verticalis at arm’s length to one eye of the observer, with the
invariability which might have been expected. In two only of these
six skulls are both zygomata seen at the same time when the skull is
held in this position; in three the zygoma of the left side only is
seen; and in one neither zygoma comes into view. But these skulls,
as is often the case in skulls of flesh-eating savage races, are of
considerable density, and a greater thickness of walls as well as a
greater development of the contents of a skull may prevent it from
being phœnozygous. One other condition indeed, that of considerable
development of the malar arch, which produces phœnozygy, is present in
Bushmen, as in the skulls of other races exposed to the sun and glare,
and other irritants of the eyes; but its working is countervailed
by that of thickness of the cranial walls. All the Bushman skulls
examined by Dr. Fritsch were broad in the sphenoparietal diameter (see
his _Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrika’s_, 1872, p. 413). With two
exceptions, those constituted by the skull procured by Mr. Fairclough
and that presented by Dr. Bleek, the supraciliary ridges and glabellæ
are comparatively feebly developed.
The parietal tubera, or the spots on the external surface of the
cranium corresponding to them, are placed far back in all these
crania, and what I have elsewhere spoken of at some length[72] as the
antero-posterior index, is consequently high. The same remark, however,
may be made of Zulu and other Abantu crania.
It has often been stated that the ears in Bushmen are huge, misshapen,
and outstanding. According, however, to trustworthy accounts of
Professors Marshall and Flower, and Dr. Murie and Professor Wyman
_(Proc. Boston Nat. History Soc._, ix. 1862, p. 56), the small
size of the lobule appears to be the only constant character of this
organ which is distinctive. (See Fritsch, _l.c._, p. 410.) Much
that has been written on the peculiarity known as “steatopyga” in our
own species might have been spared if what the great naturalist Pallas
had written on the similar development called by the same name in one
of the most widely spread varieties of the sheep, had been studied in
the wonderful eleventh Fascicle of his _Spicilegia Zoologia_,
from p. 63 to p. 69. I will quote only a few of the sentences of
Pallas’s account, p. 64:--“In his quidem generalioribus, præsertim
deformatione caudæ et auribus pendulis greges omnes conveniunt quas
Nomades diversarum gentium Asiæ possident. Sed varias a temperie
cœli, pascuis, aliisque causis vel cultura apud varias hasce gentes
mutationes passæ sunt et ad Russos translatæ patiuntur. In Tatariæ
Magnæ desertis occidentalibus, a Volga usque ad Irtin et Altaicum
jugum, pascua maximam partem sunt aridissima, abundant vernalibus
plantis acribus et liliaceis; postea æstate in elatis locis quæ maxime
lanigerum pecus amat præter siccissima gramina, stipas similiaque,
nil nisi artemisias amaras aromaticas, camphorosmam et salsolas succo
et salibus abundantes servant. Ubique simul abundant lacunæ natroso,
culinari, glauberianoque sale efflorescentes, et aquæ in desertis
iisdem raræ plerumque iisdem salibus fœtæ sunt. Quæ quidem omnia ovium
corpulentiæ maxime convenire pastores Europæi quoque norunt. Accedit
vitæ genus et cultura.”...
Page 67.--“Sequitur ex istis deforme istud pulvinar sive uropygia
quod in locum caudæ apud hanc varietatem ovium successit maximeque
constantem ejus characterem prœbet superfluæ generatione pinguedinis
ortum debere atque in campis salsuginosis Tatariæ occidentalioris
primam patriam habuisse. In genere videmus certas corporis partes,
illas puto præsertim, in quibus lentior sanguinis circulus obtinet,
collectioni pinguedinis in textu cellulose maxime favere.”
Page 68.--“Orta ilia semel circa caudam collectio pinguedinis, veluti
genialis morbus per generationes sensim adauctus fuit.”
As regards the distinctiveness of steatopyga, or, in other words, as
regards the reason which by polygenist writers it was supposed to
furnish for considering the Hottentot and Bushman races as specifically
distinct from other human beings, there is no need to refer to the
analogy which the steatopygous sheep suggests. For as Hartmann (_Die
Nigritier_, p. 489, 1876) states, it is found also among Berber and
Negro tribes, such as the Maqwa the Denqa, and the Bonqo, and, it may
be added, that it may be seen figured in the English translation of
Schweinfurth’s _Heart of Africa_, by Ellen E. Frewer, vol. ii. p.
121.
As against the ethnological significance of the hypertrophy of the
nymphæ, which constitutes the “viel besprochene Hottentotten-Schurze,”
the case is still stronger. For not only may this peculiarity be found
amongst other African races, such as the Berber, Egyptian, and Negro
(according to Hartmann, _l.c._ p. 489), and the Abantu and Sudan
natives (according to Fritsch, _Die Eingeborenen_, pp. 282, 283),
where its presence might be reasonably explained by reference to
peculiarities of diet or climate, but it may, according to Hartmann, be
paralleled by observation carried on in the very different surroundings
of North Europe. The words of the last-named authority, whose intimate
acquaintance at once with Africa and Prussia will not be questioned,
are to the following effect: “Die viel besprochene Hottentotten-Schurze
ist für Jemanden welcher fleissig die geburtshülfliche Station oder
den Secirsaal einer grösseren Universität, z. B. Berlin besucht, auch
Berber, Aegypter, und Nigritierfrauen ganz nackt gesehen hat, kein
auszeichnendes Rassenmerkmal mehr.”[73]
The old view which ascribed a Mongolian origin to the Khoi-Khoin races
is now pretty generally given up. A more important subject would, if I
had space, be furnished me for discussion in the recent discoveries in
Central Africa,[74] which appears to point to the existence of kinship
between the pigmy Akka and Obongo tribes and the Bushman.
The main points which appeared to former writers to indicate Mongolian
affinities are the yellow as opposed to the black colour of the skin,
the prominence of the cheek bones, and the supposed obliquity of the
opening of the eyelids. This last peculiarity, as Fritsch (_Die
Eingeborenen Süd-Afrika’s_, p. 286) has shown, is due simply to the
disagreeable necessity of keeping the eyelids constantly half-closed,
owing to the glare and, as others have pointed out, the sandflies, to
which these homeless savages are self-exposed. The Swiss Professor,
Schiess-Gemuscus, of Basle, has similarly explained the causation of
snow-blindness (see _Archiv. für Ophthalmologie_, xxv. 3, p. 173),
by reference to the blepharospasmus and conjunctivitis, produced by
the dryness and the glare of the upland snowfield; and I apprehend
that the osseous structures underlying the organs protecting the eye
may be reasonably supposed to undergo some modification in correlation
with the increased demand for work, which “blepharospasmus” expresses
as being thrown upon the muscular structures which they support. Thus
the prominent malar arch and the forwardly projecting outer segments
of the orbit, as seen alike in the Mongolian of the treeless steppe,
in the Eskimo of the snow-desert, and the Bushman of the sun-burnt
South African uplands, may receive a physiological as opposed to a
morphological explanation. But, when we come further to consider the
structure and composition of the various segments of the orbital ring
in these races, we find combined with this physiologically explicable
similarity a very considerable morphological difference. This is
constituted by the conformation of the nasals, which in the Bushman
form invariably an all but level plane between the nasal processes of
the maxillaries, and contribute, being narrow, but a small factor to
the interocular space, which, when the soft parts are _in situ_,
appears disproportionately wide as compared with the same area in other
races. In Mongols, Eskimos, and Australians the nasals very ordinarily
form a more or less elevated arch, and they are not by any means so
narrow as they are almost always in the Bushman race. In this latter
these bones not rarely lose not only their characteristic arch-shape
but also their individuality, and anchylose with each other mesially.
It is, however, right to add that nasals of the Bushman type are not
rarely, though by no means invariably, to be found in Negro and Caffre
crania.
As regards the yellow hue of the skin, the likeness to the Mongolian
races proper is perhaps less disputable, but with the skin we are
bound to consider the hair, the peculiarities of which, as seen in the
Bushman, are as different from those seen in the Mongolian variety of
mankind as it is possible for two varieties of human hair from the same
area to be. “The thinnest and flattest hair is that of the Bosjesmans,
Papuans, and Negroes; the most cylindrical being that of Polynesians,
Malays, Siamese, Japanese, and Americans. Europeans are between the
two.” Such are the microscopic characters of the hair in the several
great divisions of our species, according to Topinard (“Anthropology;”
translated in _Library of Contemporary Science_ by Dr. Bartley),
and it is needless to contrast the spirally contorted and tufted dark
hair of the Hottentot or Bushman with the coarse wire-drawn straight
black hair of the Mongolian or Eskimo. It is curious, however, if
indeed not otherwise significant, that the Central African “Bushmen,”
if so we may call them, of Ashango, occasionally bury their dead in a
temporarily diverted stream-course, much as was done in the case of
Attila, and, according to Mr. Wood, _l.c._, “in various parts of
the world from the earliest known time.”
The Bushman race, as is well known, have strong proclivities in the
direction of musical performances. The same, however, may be said of
other priscan races as well as of them and the Mongolian and Kalmuck
tribes,[75] and we cannot therefore lay any weight upon this point of
similarity.
The custom, however explained, which the Khoi-Khoin races have of
cutting off one or more joints of the little and ring fingers might,
but with no great amount of probability, be taken to point to the
existence of an affinity to races as far dislocated in space as the
inhabitants of certain islands in Oceania, both Papuan and Malay. The
Papuans, according to Sir John Lubbock (_Prehistoric Times_, 1869,
p. 445), cut off the end both of the little toe and the little finger
as a sign of mourning. The Friendly Islanders (Cook’s _Voyages_,
vol. i. 222; Williams’s _Missionary Enterprise_, 547, 548) cut
off one or two joints of their little fingers, and the inhabitants of
Tracy Island, which was colonized from Samoa, do the like, according
to the Rev. S. J. Whitwell (Petermann’s _Mittheilungen_ for
1871, p. 203). One form of the solemnization of matrimony amongst the
Australians consists in the biting off by a woman of a bit of the
little finger of the left hand. I do not know that the fact, deposed
to by F. Müller in his contribution to the _Memoirs on the Voyage of
the Novara_, p. 6, to the effect that Caffre women, when a child
is sick, or when they themselves become widows, have a piece of their
little fingers cut off, need be taken as indicating anything more than
the exceeding contagiousness of bad and foolish customs, of which the
old anthropologist and zoologist Zimmermann (_cit._ “Address to
Biological Section of British Association Meeting at Liverpool,” see
_Report_ for year 1871) spoke so caustically. Several instances
of such adoption and borrowing, on the part of the Abantu tribes, from
the conquered and persecuted Khoi-Khoin, might be adduced, and might be
paralleled, at some distance, by the fact embodied in the two lines of
Horace--
“Græcia captu ferum victorem cepit, et artes
Intulit agresti Latio.”
MEASUREMENTS OF SIX BUSHMAN CRANIA, AS GIVEN BY PROFESSOR
FLOWER, F.R.S., IN CATALOGUE OF SPECIMENS ILLUSTRATING
OSTEOLOGY AND DENTITION, ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF
ENGLAND, 1879, p. 246.
Part 1 of Table.
+----------------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| NAME OF SKULL. | C. | L.| B.|BI.| H.|HI.|BN.|BA.|AI.|
+----------------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|1300--O.C. 5357}| | | | | | | | | |
|Adult Male. }| 500 |175|134|766|128|731| 91|...|...|
+----------------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|1301. }| | | | | | | | | |
|Young Female. }| 486 |171|134|784|124|725| 91| 90|989|
+----------------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|1302. }| | | | | | | | | |
|Young Female. }| 477 |170|130|765|125|735| 90| 87|967|
+----------------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|1303. }| | | | | | | | | |
|Male Bushman, }| | | | | | | | | |
|aged. }| 522 |185|140|757|134|724|103|...|...|
+----------------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|1304. }| | | | | | | | | |
|Young Female. }| 503 |180|137|761|125|694| 92| 90|978|
+----------------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|1305 ... | 480 |171|132|772|119|696|...|...|...|
| |[19·2]| | | | | | | | |
+----------------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Averages... ... | 494 |175|134|767|125|717| 93| 89|978|
+----------------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
Part 2 of Table.
+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+----+
| NAME OF SKULL. |NH.|NW.|NI.|OW.|OH.|OI.| CA.|
+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+----+
|1300--O.C. 5357}| | | | | | | |
|Adult Male. }| 46| 29|630| 38| 29|763|1260|
+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+----+
|1301. }| | | | | | | |
|Young Female. }| 44| 24|545| 37| 32|865|1250|
+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+----+
|1302. }| | | | | | | |
|Young Female. }| 44| 27|604| 38| 31|816|1170|
+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+----+
|1303. }| | | | | | | |
|Male Bushman, }| | | | | | | |
|aged. }| 48| 29|604| 40| 30|750|1400|
+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+----+
|1304. }| | | | | | | |
|Young Female. }| 43| 25|581| 34| 30|882|1360|
+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+----+
|1305 ... |...|...|...|...|...|...|1075|
| | | | | | | | |
+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+----+
|Averages... ... | 45| 26|594| 37| 25|815|1252|
+----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+----+
MEASUREMENTS OF SIX BUSHMAN CRANIA IN OXFORD UNIVERSITY MUSEUM.
Part 1 of Table.
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| NAME OF SKULL. | C. | L. | B. | BI. | H. | HI. | BN. |
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| 788 _d._ }| | | | | | | |
|Mr. F. Oates, No. 1, }| 18·8| 6·5| 5·3| ·81| 4·9| ·75| 3·6|
|Male, c^{a. } 25 æt. }|(475)|(165)|(135)| |(125)| | (93)|
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| 788 _e._ }| | | | | | | |
|Mr. F. Oates, No. 2, }| 19·2| 6·9| 4·9| ·70| 5·05| ·71| 3·9|
|Male, middle life }|(485)|(175)|(124)| |(128)| | (94)|
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|788 _f._ Mr. F. Gates, }| | | | | | | |
|No. 3. Probably }| 18·6| 6·5| 5· | ·73| 5·1| ·78| 3·95|
|female. 25–30 æt. }|(475)|(165)|(125)| |(130)| |(100)|
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|788 _a._ Dr. Bleek’s }| | | | | | | |
|gift. Aged }| 18·9| 6·6| 5·2| ·77| 4·7| ·70| 3·4|
|Male. }|(480)|(169)|(131)| |(120)| | (86)|
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|788 _b._ Mr. Dunster-}| | | | | | | |
|villa’s gift. Aged }| 19·4| 6·8| 5·2| ·75| 4·2| ·65| 3·85|
|Male. }|(490)|(173)|(131)| |(113)| | (98)|
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|788 _c._ Mr. Fair- }| | | | | | | |
|dough’s gift. Male, }| 20·3| 7·1| 5·6| ·78| 5·4| ·76| 3·5|
|middle age. }|(515)|(180)|(142)| |(137)| | (89)|
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Averages | 486 | 171 | 131 | ·75| 125| ·72| 93 |
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Part 2 of Table.
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
| NAME OF SKULL. | BA. | AI. | NH. | NW. | NI. | OW. | OH. | OI. | CA. |
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
| 788 _d._ }| | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. F. Oates, No. 1, }| 3·6| 100 | 1·6| 1· | ·62 | 1·7 | 1·3 | 76 |1142·5|
|Male, c^{a. } 25 æt. }| (93)| | (41)| (25)| |(43) | (33)| | |
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
| 788 _e._ }| | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. F. Oates, No. 2, }| 3·8| 97 | 1·8 | 1·5 | ·60 | 1·5 | 1·5 | 100 |1179·8|
|Male, middle life }| (96)| |(46) | (38)| |(38) |(38) | | |
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
|788 _f._ Mr. F. Gates,}| | | | | | | | | |
|No. 3. Probably }| 3·9| 100| 1·6| 1· | ·62 | 1·45| 1·2 | 82 |1142·5|
|female. 25–30 æt. }| (99)| | (41) (25)| | (37)| (30)| | |
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
|788 _a._ Dr. Bleek’s }| | | | | | | | | |
|gift. 788 a. Aged }| 3·3| 97| 1·6| 1·0| ·62| 1·5| 1·3| 80 |1106·0|
|Male. }| (83)| | (40)| (24)| | (36)| (33)| | |
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
|788 _b._ Mr. Dunster-}| | | | | | | | | |
|villa’s gift. Aged }| 3·6| 93 | 1·55| 1·1| ·70| 1·7| 1·25| ·73|1179·8|
|Male. }| (91)| | (39) (28)| | (43)| (32)| | |
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
|788 _c._ Mr. Fair }| | | | | | | | | |
|dough’s gift. Male, }| 3·6| 102| 1·9| 1·0| ·52| 1·5| 1·4| 91 |1419·5|
|middle age. }| (91)| | (48)| (25)| | (38)| (36)| |
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
|Averages | 92 | 98 | 42 | 27 | ·61 | 39 | 33 | 83 | 1285 |
+----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
II.
ORNITHOLOGY.
By R. BOWDLER SHARPE, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Etc.
Senior Assistant, Zoological Department, British Museum.
(PLATES A, B.)
The Collection of Birds made by the late Mr. Frank Oates was formed by
that gentleman with the greatest care, and it is seldom that it falls
to the lot of the naturalist to examine a series of birds in which the
particulars of capture are so carefully noted on each specimen as in
the present instance. For this reason alone, therefore, the collection
is of great importance; but, besides this, it represents without doubt
a very fair idea of the avifauna of the parts of the Transvaal and
Matabele countries through which Mr. Oates travelled. Of the birds of
the former province Mr. Ayres has published several accounts in recent
volumes of the “Ibis,” and in the same journal for 1874, Mr. T. E.
Buckley gave a list of the birds met with by him on his journey through
the Matabele country, where he travelled for some part of the time with
Mr. Oates: but as Mr. Buckley did not get beyond Tati, it has been left
for Mr. Oates to give us the first account of the birds which are to
be met with between that place and the Zambesi. His untimely death was
a great loss to science, for, after his long journey to that river,
he had at last reached a _terra fere incognita_ to the ornithologist,
where there is little doubt that further researches would have crowned
his efforts with the discovery of many new and important facts. The
avifauna of the Zambesi region is almost unknown, Dr. Kirk being the
only naturalist who has written upon the birds, and the species which
he has recorded are sufficiently interesting to arouse our interest in
the further exploration of the locality. As far as one can judge from
the materials at present existing in museums, the birds of the Zambesi
region would appear to have their nearest affinities in those of
South-western Africa, that is, the provinces of Benguela, Mossamedes,
and the Ovampo country to the north of Damara Land. Thus it is that
_Accipiter ovampensis_ of Gurney, discovered in Ovampo Land, is now
known from the Zambesi (_Mus. Brit._), and, on the other hand, the
Zambesi Kestrel (_Cerchneis Dickinsoni_) occurs also in South-western
Africa. Instances of this kind might be multiplied to a greater extent,
but an exact comparison cannot be made until the two regions have been
more thoroughly explored. The Victoria Falls, up to the present time,
constituted the only locality whence the peculiar Babbling-Thrush
(_Pinarornis plumosus_) and Shelley’s Wheatear (_Saxicola Shelleyi_)
have yet been found, but one of these has now been discovered by Mr.
Oates in the Matabele country. Future research may increase the known
range of the other Zambesi birds in a southerly direction, and it seems
unlikely that the Zambesi region possesses a peculiar bird-fauna.
On its arrival in England Mr. Oates’s collection was placed in the
hands of my friend Captain G. E. Shelley for determination, and the
species were in nearly every case identified by him. My task has
therefore been a very light one. All the field-notes in the following
pages are taken from Mr. Oates’s labels, and I am responsible only
for the remarks placed between brackets “[].” A reference is given
to my new edition of Layard’s _Birds of South Africa_ as far as
published, to the first edition of that work, to my _Catalogue of
African Birds_, and to standard works, such as Finsch and Hartlaub’s
_Vögel Ost-Afrika’s_, Gurney’s edition of Andersson’s _Birds of
Damara Land_, etc.
The following LIST of LOCALITIES, alluded to in the ensuing
pages, where specimens were obtained by Mr. Oates, will enable
the reader, by a reference to the general map in this volume, to
determine the position of each locality indicated:--
Lat. Long.
Bamangwato 23.1 S. 26.45 E.
Bisschop’s Farm, Transvaal 26.7 S. 29.12 E.
Blauw Krans River, Natal 28.55 S. 29.48 E.
Branslow’s Farm, Transvaal 26.4 S. 29.9 E.
Crocodile River 25.34 S. 28.28 E.
Daka River 18.45 S. 25.57 E.
Dry River (Sakasusi) 21.9 S. 28.10 E.
Durban 29.51 S. 31.0 E.
Eland’s River 25.19 S. 28.3 E.
First Makalaka kraal on Zambesi road,
(Wankee’s Kraal) 20.33 S. 27.26 E.
Geruah 19.19 S. 26.30 E.
Gokwe River 22.8 S. 27.36 E.
Gubuleweyo 20.23 S. 28.50 E.
Gwailo River 19.14 S. 29.49 E.
Hendrik’s Vlei 18.57 S. 26.26 E.
Hex River 25.20 S. 28.4 E.
High Veldt, Transvaal 26.35 S. 29.40 E.
Holfontein 24.26 S. 27.46 E.
Hope Fountain 20.22 S. 28.51 E.
Impakwe River 21.4 S. 27.54 E.
Inchlangin 19.42 S. 29.14 E.
Inkwesi River 20.55 S. 28.0 E.
Inquinquesi River 19.42 S. 29.13 E.
Inyati 19.41 S. 29.15 E.
John Scott’s Farm, Transvaal 26.11 S. 29.23 E.
Kaar Kloof Heights, Pietermaritzburg 29.19 S. 30.2 E.
Ladysmith 28.37 S. 29.38 E.
Lion Camp, Crocodile River 24.18 S. 27.48 E.
Makalapsi River 22.58 S. 26.54 E.
Matengwe River 20.24 S. 27.28 E.
Meriko River 24.10 S. 27.30 E.
Metli River 22.55 S. 26.56 E.
Mopani Pan 21.18 S. 27.50 E.
Motloutsi River 21.52 S. 27.41 E.
Nata River 19.53 S. 27.4 E.
Newcastle 27.47 S. 29.50 E.
Palatswe River 22.38 S. 27.16 E.
Pantamatenka River 18.39 S. 25.41 E.
Pietermaritzburg 29.34 S. 30.24 E.
Pilandsberg 25.12 S. 27.35 E.
Pinetown 29.50 S. 30.50 E.
Pretoria 25.42 S. 28.50 E.
Ramaqueban River 21.11 S. 27.52 E.
Retief’s Drift, Vaal River 26.50 S. 29.58 E.
Sand Spruit, Transvaal 27.11 S. 30.18 E.
Second Makalaka kraal on Zambesi road
20.31 S. 27.26 E.
Semokwe River 21.7 S. 28.17 E.
Seruli River 22.32 S. 27.29 E.
Shashe River 21.34 S. 27.44 E.
Sibanani 19.45 S. 26.58 E.
Sunday’s River, Transvaal 28.21 S. 29.49 E.
Tamasancha 19.32 S. 26.40 E.
Tamasetsie 19.10 S. 26.28 E.
Tati 21.28 S. 27.45 E.
Tchakani Vlei 22.48 S. 27.5 E.
Tibakai’s Pan 18.52 S. 26.18 E.
Touani River 22.52 S. 26.59 E.
Umvungu River 19.21 S. 29.41 E.
Victoria Falls, Zambesi 17.57 S. 25.48 E.
Witfontein 24.28 S. 27.46 E.
Order ACCIPITRES.
Sub-order FALCONES.
Family VULTURIDÆ.
1. OTOGYPS AURICULARIS (Daud.): Sharpe, ed. Layard’s_Birds of
South Africa_, p. 4. Eared Vulture.
_a_. Shot at dead elephant, near Umvungu River, about the middle
of November 1873. Iris dark hazel; bill pale horn-colour, bluish grey
at base; head and neck livid and red (scabby); legs and feet pale
bluish grey; claws black.
2. NEOPHRON PILEATUS (Burch.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 7. Hooded
Vulture.
_a_. Ramaqueban River, August 6, 1874. Iris dark; bill neutral
tint; head and neck pale dirty blue, tinged with pink on the cheeks;
legs pale dirty blue; claws black. A female, I am nearly sure.
3. CIRCUS RANIVORUS (Daud.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 14. South
African Marsh-Harrier.
_a_. ♂ Near Pretoria, June 22, 1873. Iris bright chrome; legs pale
yellow. Ball of hair in stomach; mouse or rat skin in crop.
4. MELIERAX CANORUS (Rislach): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 17. Chanting
Goshawk.
_a._ ♂ Bush veldt, between Pretoria and Bamangwato, July 1873.
Iris bright raw sienna; base of beak orange (?); legs red. Crop and
stomach very full, containing large ants, rat, lizard, etc.
5. MELIERAX GABAR (Daud.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 19. Red-faced
Goshawk.
_a._ ♀ (adult.) Lion Camp, Crocodile River, July 1873.
_b._ (juv.) Second Makalaka kraal on Zambesi road, September 3,
1874. Iris deep orange, approaching burnt sienna; bill black, orange
all round the nostril and base; skin round eye pale blue; legs fine
reddish, clouded and spotted with dusky black; claws black.
6. ASTUR POLYZONOIDES (Smith): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 22.
Many-banded Goshawk.
_a._ ♀ (adult.) First Makalaka kraal on Zambesi road, August 22,
1874. Iris rich deep orange; bill black, pale bluish at base; skin
round base yellow (pale); skin round eye pale bluish, inclining to
yellow; claws black. Lizard in stomach.
_b._ ♂ Hendrik’s Vlei, December 18, 1874. Iris crimson; bill
black, becoming pale blue just under nostril; cere and gape and skin
round eye yellow; legs orange-yellow; claws black. In stomach large
insects and lizard (?).
[This pretty little Goshawk is rare in South Africa, but appears to
increase in numbers towards the Zambesi, whence I have recently seen a
series collected by Dr. Bradshaw.]
7. BUTEO JACKAL (Daud.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 26. Jackal Buzzard.
_a._ ♂ Newcastle, June 4, 1873. Iris pale golden hazel.
8. MILVUS ÆGYPTIUS (G.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 49. Yellow-billed
Kite.
_a._ ♂ (testes well developed.) Ramaqueban River, September 17,
1874. Iris bright hazel; bill golden yellow, inclining to horn-colour
on upper and lower mandibles, but bright at the base and nostrils; legs
golden yellow, somewhat dusky; claws black. Lizards in stomach; very
fat.
_b._ ♂ Tati, October 1874.
9. ELANUS CÆRULEUS (Desf.); Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 52.
Black-shouldered Kite.
_a._ ♂ (?) (imm.) Hex River, July 1873. Iris bright raw sienna.
Mouse or rat in stomach.
_b._ (adult.) Not labelled.
10. FALCO MINOR, Bp.: Sharpe, _t. c._, p. 57. South African
Peregrine Falcon.
_a._ (adult.) Not labelled.
11. FALCO BIARMICUS (Temm.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 58, pl. ii.
South African Lanner.
_a._ ♂ Newcastle, June 3, 1873. Iris very dark. Remains of mouse
or rat, and a great many grasshoppers’ heads, in the stomach.
12. CERCHNEIS RUPICOLA (Daud.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 62. South
African Kestrel.
_a._ ♂ Newcastle, June 3, 1873. Iris very dark.
_b._ ♀ Newcastle, June 3, 1873.
_c._ Not labelled.
13. CERCHNEIS TINNUNCULOIDES (Temm.) _Cerchneis naumanni_,
Sharpe, _t. c._, p. 64. Lesser Kestrel.
_a._ ♀ (adult.) Holfontein, November 25, 1873. Iris dark hazel.
14. CERCHNEIS AMURENSIS (Radde): Sharpe, _t.
c._ p. 66. Eastern Red-footed Kestrel.
_a._ ♀ (adult.) Between Sibanani and Tamasancha, December 9, 1874.
Iris hazel; skin round eye yellow; skin at base of bill orange; bill
dark greyish blue, pale yellow at base, the yellow colour predominating
over the blue on the lower mandible; legs and feet orange; claws pale
dusky orange. In stomach flying ants, which it was catching in the air,
amongst many other birds, when shot. The male, I think, is less, and
more distinctly marked.
[Dr. Kirk was the first to discover this Kestrel in the Zambesi region,
and there were specimens in Dr. Bradshaw’s collection.]
Sub-order STRIGES.
Family BUBONIDÆ.
15. BUBO LACTEUS (Temm.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 71. Verreaux’s
Eagle Owl.
_a._ ♀ (adult.) Inkwesi River, August 5, 1874. Iris dark (? dark
blue), but much sunk in when I got it; bill very pale blue; claws dusky
black.
16. BUBO MACULOSUS (Vieill.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 73. Spotted
Eagle Owl.
_a._ Not labelled.
17. SCOPS LEUCOTIS (Temm.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 74. White-faced
Scops Owl.
_a._ ♀ (adult.) Near Umvungu River, November 3, 1873. Native name,
“Secova.” Iris deep orange. Ova size of mustard seed. Remains of small
rat in stomach. Sitting on nest, made, I think, in an old one, as there
were many similar ones, as of a colony of birds, in the trees about.
Three well-grown young ones in nest, very fierce, as was the old one.
18. GLAUCIDIUM PERLATUM (Vieill.): Sharpe, _Cat. B._ ii. p.
209. _Carine perlata_, Sharpe, ed. Layard, p. 77. African
Pearl-spotted Owlet.
_a._ ♀ Tati, August 29, 1873. Iris chrome yellow.
_b._ ♂ Tati, October 10, 1874. Iris bright yellow; bill whitish.
_c._ Not labelled.
19. ASIO CAPENSIS (Smith): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 78. African
Short-eared Owl.
_a._ Pietermaritzburg, about the beginning of May 1873. Iris dark
brown.
_b._ ♂ Marsh near Newcastle, June 1, 1873. Iris deep orange. I
saw several of these Owls whilst snipe-shooting. Another shot was much
softer in plumage, like a young bird.
Family STRIGIDÆ.
20. STRIX CAPENSIS, (Smith): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 81. South
African Grass-owl.
_a._ Sand Spruit, Transvaal, June 8, 1873. Iris very dark.
21. STRIX FLAMMEA, L.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 82. Barn Owl.
_a._ ♀ (old bird probably). Tati, September 18, 1874. Iris very
dark hazel; bill pale flesh-colour.
_b._ ♀ (?. Tati, September 18, 1874. Very fat. Iris very dark
hazel; bill pale flesh-colour; feet whitish; claws black.
_c._ ♂ (?) (undeveloped). Tati, October 3, 1874. Remains of rat in
stomach.
Order PICARIÆ.
Family CAPRIMULGIDÆ.
22. CAPRIMULGUS EUROPÆUS, L.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 83. European
Nightjar.
_a._ Not labelled.
23. CAPRIMULGUS RUFIGENIS, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 85.
Rusous-cheeked Nightjar.
_a._ ♀ Semokwe River, September 24, 1873.
_b._ ♂ Semokwe River, October 1873. Iris hazel.
_c._ ♀ Tati, March 21, 1874.
_d_. ♀ Tati, October 1, 1874. Iris hazel; legs pale brown.
_e_. ♀ Tati, October 1874.
24. CAPRIMULGUS MOSSAMBICUS, Peters: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 88.
Mozambique Nightjar.
_a._ ♀ Tati, March 21, 1874. Iris dark hazel. Stomach very full of
beetles, moths, and other insects.
_b._ Not labelled.
25. COSMETORNIS VEXILLARIUS (Gould): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 89.
Standard-winged Nightjar.
_a._ ♂ (juv.) Victoria Falls, Zambesi, January 2, 1875. Iris dark
hazel; upper mandible and tip of lower one dusky, the base of the
latter flesh-colour; legs dirty flesh-colour. Large winged ants and
large beetle in stomach.
Family CYPSELIDÆ.
26. CYPSELUS APUS (L.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 90. Common Swift.
_a._ ♀ (adult.) Between Sibanani and Tamasancha, December 9, 1874.
Iris hazel; bill black; legs and feet dirty flesh-colour, dusky towards
the tips and on the claws. Flying ants in stomach.
Family MEROPIDÆ.
27. MEROPS APIASTER, L.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 96. European
Bee-eater.
_a._ ♂ Crocodile River, November 15, 1873. Iris crimson.
_b._ ♀ (juv.) Inchlangin, about the beginning of December 1873.
Iris pale crimson.
_c_. ♀ (?) Hendrik’s Vlei, December 18, 1874. Iris crimson; bill
black; legs brown; claws whitish.
28. MEROPS SUPERCILIOSUS, L.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 97.
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater.
_a._ ♂, _b._ ♀ Hendrik’s Vlei, December 18, 1874. Iris crimson; bill
black; legs brown; claws whitish. In stomach large flying insects (?
dragon-flies).
29. MEROPS NUBICOIDES, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 99, pl. iv.
fig. 2. Carmine-throated Bee-eater.
_a._ Daka River, January 20, 1875. Iris dark hazel; bill black;
legs neutral tint, marked with greyish white; claws dusky. Beetles,
etc., in stomach.
_b._ ♂ Geruah, January 24, 1875. Iris dark hazel; bill black;
feet, legs, and claws, dark neutral tint; legs and feet covered with
whitish scales. Beetles, wasps, etc., in stomach.
30. MEROPS BULLOCKOIDES, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 99, pl. iv.
fig. 1. White-fronted Bee-eater.
_a._ Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris hazel.
_b._ ♂ Crocodile River, November 9, 1873. Iris hazel.
31. MEROPS PUSILLUS, P. L. S. Müll.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 100.
Little Bee-eater.
_a._ Tati, March 24, 1874. Iris crimson; bill, legs, and claws
black. Stomach not at all muscular, containing remains of insects like
beetles.
_b._ Tati, March 24, 1874. Soft parts as above. Stomach contained
winged insects.
_c_. Tati, March 24, 1874.
_d_. ♂ (?) Tati, March 26, 1874. Iris crimson. Stomach contained
remains of insects--winged, I think.
32. DICROCERCUS HIRUNDINACEUS (Vieill.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 101.
Swallow-tailed Bee-eater.
_a._ ♂ Near the Pantamatenka River, January 12, 1875. Iris
crimson; bill black; legs dark neutral tint; claws black. Flying
insects in stomach.
Family CORACIIDÆ.
33. CORACIAS GARRULA, L.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 102. European
Roller.
_a._ ♀ (adult.) Tati, March 26, 1874. Extremely fat. Iris hazel,
darker round pupil, then light.
_b._ Tati, March 28, 1874. Sex undeterminable, the bird being
apparently young. Very fat, as was the hen bird skinned before. Stomach
full of huge grasshoppers.
34. CORACIAS NÆVIA, Daud.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 103. White-naped
Roller.
_a._ ♀ (I believe.) First Makalaka kraal on Zambesi road, August
24, 1874. Iris pale hazel (a dark ring round the pupil?); legs dull
orange, inclining to olive; bill and claws black. Grasshoppers or
locusts in stomach.
_b._ ♂ Second Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, September 9, 1874.
Iris hazel, dark round pupil, then pale; legs pale greenish orange.
Stomach contained remains of beetles.
35. CORACIAS CAUDATA, Vieill.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 104.
Lilac-breasted Roller.
_a._ ♂ Holfontein, November 25, 1873. Iris light hazel.
_b._ ♂ First Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, August 18, 1874. Iris
deep hazel round the pupil, outside this very pale; legs olive; claws
and bill black. Stomach very large, but not muscular, containing a
snake about a foot long, and remains of grasshoppers. Head very large
for size of bird.
_c._ ♂ First Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, August 24, 1874. Iris
hazel; bill and claws black; legs pale dirty orange with an olive
tinge. Lizard and grasshoppers or locusts in stomach.
_d._ ♀ Between the Pantamatenka River and Zambesi, January 11,
1875. Iris hazel; bill black; legs pale greenish orange; claws black.
In stomach centipedes (?).
_e._ ♀ Geruah, January 24, 1875. Iris hazel; bill black; legs
yellowish blue; claws blue. Soft ants in stomach.
_f._ Not labelled.
36. EURYSTOMUS AFER (Lath.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 106. Cinnamon
Roller.
_a._ ♂ Near Umvungu River, November 3, 1873. Native name
“Tchegala.” Iris hazel, not dark; bill bright yellow. Stomach muscular,
containing remains of beetles.
Family ALCEDINIDÆ.
37. CORYTHORNIS CYANOSTIGMA (Rüpp.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 108.
Malachite-crested Kingfisher.
_a._ Sibanani, December 11, 1874. Iris hazel; bill and legs
vermilion.
38. CERYLE RUDIS (L.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 110. Pied Kingfisher.
_a._ ♂ Meriko River, November 17, 1873. Iris dark hazel.
_b._ ♂ High Veldt, Transvaal, December 7, 1873. Iris dark hazel.
39. CERYLE MAXIMA (Pall.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 111. Great African
Kingfisher.
_a._ ♀ Matengwe River, December 2, 1874. Iris hazel; bill dark
slate-colour; legs slate-colour.
40. HALCYON SEMICÆRULEA (Forsk.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 114.
African White-headed Kingfisher.
_a._ ♀ (?) Geruah, December 15, 1874. Iris dark hazel; bill
orange-red, black at tip and base; legs and feet dark purplish-brown,
orange at back of legs and on soles.
41. HALCYON ALBIVENTRIS (Vieill.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 115. Brown
hooded Kingfisher.
_a._ ♂ (?) Crocodile River, July 1873. Beetles and grasshoppers in
stomach.
42. HALCYON CHELICUTENSIS (Stanl.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 117.
Striped Kingfisher.
_a._ ♂ Crocodile River, July 1873. Stomach contained grasshoppers.
_b._ ♀ Crocodile River, July 1873. Beetles and grasshoppers in
stomach.
43. HALCYON CYANOLEUCA (Vieill.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 120. Angola
Kingfisher.
_a._ ♀ Crocodile River, November 15, 1873. Iris hazel.
_b._ ♂ Nata River, December 5, 1874. Makalaka name “Gogoda.” Iris
hazel; upper mandible deep carnation, black at tip and gape; under
mandible black; legs black. Stomach empty, but for a few remains of
insects. This species has a twittering cry; they say it stays in the
mopani.
_c_. ♂ Nata River, December 6, 1874. Iris hazel; upper mandible
deep carnation, black at tip and gape; lower mandible and legs black.
_d_. ♂ Nata River, December 6, 1874. Iris hazel.
Family BUCEROTIDÆ.
44. TOCKUS FLAVIROSTRIS (Rüpp.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 130.
Yellow-billed Hornbill.
_a._ ♂, _b._ _c._ ♀ Near Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris very pale
ochre. Flying ants in stomach.
_d._ ♀ (juv.) Motloutsi River, August 24, 1873. Iris ochreous.
45. TOCKUS NASUTUS (L.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 133. African Grey
Hornbill.
_a._ Not labelled.
Family UPUPIDÆ.
46. UPUPA AFRICANA, Bechst.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 134. South
African Hoopoe.
_a._ ♀ Between Pretoria and Bamangwato, July 1873. Iris hazel (?).
In stomach, a tick and seeds.
47. IRRISOR ERYTHRORHYNCHUS (Lath.) Red-billed Wood-Hoopoe.
_a._ ♂, _b._ ♀ Crocodile River, November 1873. Iris hazel.
_c_. ♀ (?) Tati, June 26, 1874. Shot out of three by Cornelis,
who saw them hopping about oddly on the road. Iris dark hazel; bill
and legs bright orange-red; claws black. Stomach containing large
chrysalides and a grasshopper.
_d_. ♀ First Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, August 30, 1874.
Iris dark hazel; bill and legs vermilion, the latter less bright and
inclining to orange; claws black. Stomach small and not muscular,
containing remains of small insects and large grubs. This bird has a
peculiar chattering note, often repeated. There were three or four of
them when this was shot, climbing about on tree trunks like Creepers.
48. RHINOPOMASTES CYANOMELAS (Vieill.) Scimitar-billed
Wood-Hoopoe.
_a._ ♂ Near Metli River, August 10, 1873. Iris hazel. Stomach large,
containing flying ants and large insects.
_b._ ♂ Seruli River, October 18, 1873. Iris hazel.
_c._ ♂ Palatswe River, October 20, 1873. Iris hazel.
_d._ ♂ Tati, October 1874.
_e._ Not labelled.
Family MUSOPHAGIDÆ.
49. SCHIZŒRHIS CONCOLOR, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 144. Grey
Plantain-eater.
_a._ Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris deep grey.
_b._ ♂ Transvaal, December 1873. Iris hazel.
Family COLIIDÆ.
50. COLIUS STRIATUS, Lath.: Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 12. South
African Coly.
_a._ Not labelled.
51. COLIUS ERYTHROMELON, Vieill.: Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 12.
Quiriva Coly.
_a._ ♂ (?) Makalapsi River, August 8, 1873. Iris dark; bill black;
base and skin round eyes madder; claws madder.
Family CUCULIDÆ.
52. CUCULUS CLAMOSUS, Cuv.: Sharpe, ed. Layard, p. 150. Black
Cuckoo.
_a._ ♀ Crocodile River, November 9, 1873. Iris light hazel.
53. CUCULUS CUPREUS, Boddaert. _Chrysococcyx cupreus_, Sharpe,
_t. c._ p. 153. Golden Cuckoo.
_a._ ♂ Crocodile River, November 8, 1873. Iris scarlet.
_b._ ♀ Crocodile River, November 9, 1873. Iris light brown.
54. COCCYSTES CAFER (Licht.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 158. Le
Vaillant’s Cuckoo.
_a._ Crocodile River, November 14, 1873. Iris light hazel.
_b._ ♀ (?) Tati, October 17, 1874. Iris hazel; bill and legs black.
55. CENTROPUS SENEGALENSIS (L.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 162.
Lark-heeled Cuckoo.
_a._ ♀ Tati, August 28, 1873. Iris crimson.
_b._ ♂ Ramaqueban River, September 4, 1873.
56. CENTROPUS SUPERCILIOSUS (H. and E.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 163.
White-eyebrowed Lark-heeled Cuckoo.
_a._ ♀ Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris crimson.
Family INDICATORIDÆ.
57. INDICATOR SPARMANNI (Steph.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 166.
White-eared Honey-guide.
_a._ ♀ Holfontein, July 1873. Iris light brownish hazel.
_b, c._ Not labelled.
Family CAPITONIDÆ.
58. POGONORHYNCHUS LEUCOMELAS (Bodd.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 173.
Pied Barbet.
_a._ ♀ Pretoria, July 24, 1873. Iris very dark. Stomach large, thin,
and full of fruit; a good deal of flesh about the head.
_b._ ♀ Pretoria, July 1873. Iris dark hazel.
_c._ Tati, October 6, 1874. Bill and legs black.
59. TRACHYPHONUS CAFER (Vieill.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 178. Le
Vaillant’s Barbet.
_a._ ♀ Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris red.
_b._ ♀ Crocodile River, November 15, 1873. Iris crimson.
_c._ ♂ Crocodile River, November 30, 1873. Iris crimson.
_d._ Not labelled.
Family PICIDÆ.
60. CAMPETHERA BENNETTI, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 181.
Bennett’s Woodpecker.
_a._ Second Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, September 7, 1874. Iris
lake; bill blackish slate-colour; legs and claws slate-colour, inclined
to olive.
61. CAMPETHERA ABINGTONI, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 182.
Golden-tailed Woodpecker.
_a._ Not labelled.
62. CAMPETHERA SMITHII, Malh.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 184. Smith’s
Woodpecker.
_a._ Tati, October 6, 1874. Bill dusky slate-colour; legs pale
whitish olive.
_b, c._ Not labelled.
63. DENDROPICUS NAMAQUUS (Licht.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 188.
Bearded Woodpecker.
_a._ ♂ Motloutsi River, August 23, 1873. Iris crimson lake.
_b._ ♀ Ramaqueban River, July 30, 1874. Iris lake; bill slate-colour;
legs dark greenish slate-colour; claws dark. Stomach containing large
caterpillars.
_c._ ♂ Ramaqueban River, August 2, 1874. Iris lake; bill slate-colour;
legs dark greenish slate-colour; claws black. Stomach containing large
caterpillars.
64. DENDROPICUS CARDINALIS (Gm.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 190.
Cardinal Woodpecker.
_a._ ♂ Between Pretoria and Bamangwato, July 1873. Iris deep
crimson.
_b._ ♂ Ramaqueban River, September 4, 1873. Iris crimson.
_c._ ♀ Tati, October 7, 1874. Iris red (?); bill and legs dark
slate-colour (?).
65. IYNX PECTORALIS (Vigors): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 191.
Red-breasted Wryneck.
_a._ Blauw Krans River, Natal, May 22, 1873. Iris red-brown; legs
pale greenish grey.
Family PSITTACIDÆ.
66. PSITTACUS ROBUSTUS, Gm.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 194. Le
Vaillant’s Parrot.
_a._ Not labelled.
67. PSITTACUS MEYERI (Rüpp.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 195. Meyer’s
Parrot.
_a._ Witfontein, July 1873.
_b._ ♂ Holfontein, July 1873. Iris very light hazel. (Another ♂
shot, brighter in plumage, had the iris hazel round pupil, then burnt
sienna.)
_c._ ♀ Second Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, September 4, 1874.
Iris hazel round pupil, then orange; bill blackish slate-colour; legs
and claws dusky black.
_d._ ♂ Tati, October 7, 1874. Bill and legs dark slate-colour.
_e._ ♀ Tati, October 9, 1874. Bill and legs dark slate-colour.
Seeds in stomach.
Order PASSERIFORMES.
Family TURDIDÆ.
68. TURDUS LITSITSIRUPA, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 198, South
African Thrush.
_a._ ♂, _b._ ♀ Pair of thrushes shot together near Eland’s River, July
1873. Iris hazel.
_c._ ♀ (Ovary very rudimentary). Tati, March 19, 1874. Iris dark hazel;
upper mandible dusky black, under one orange; legs flesh-colour.
_d._ ♂ Tati, October 1874.
69. MYRMECOCICHLA FORMICIVORA (Vieill.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 231.
Southern Ant-eating Wheatear.
_a_, _b._ ♂ Near Newcastle, May 30, 1873. Iris hazel. Stomach very
muscular, containing seeds and beetles. Found perching on ant-hills,
from which it rises with a hovering flight, something like a Skylark.
70. SAXICOLA GALTONI (Strickl. and Sclater): Sharpe, _t. c._ p.
234. Familiar Chat.
_a._ ♂ (?) Ladysmith, May 25, 1873. Iris dark hazel.
_b._ ♂ Inyati, October 2, 1873. Iris rich hazel-brown. Native name
“Envachli.”
71. SAXICOLA PILEATA (Gm.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 238. Capped
Wheatear.
_a._ Pietermaritzburg, about the beginning of May 1873.
_b._ ♂, _c._ ♀ John Scott’s Farm, Transvaal, June 19, 1873. Iris dark
hazel.
72. SAXICOLA SHELLEYI: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 246. Shelley’s
Wheatear. (Plate A.)
_a._ Ramaqueban River, a few miles above the drift, on the way
to Gubuleweyo, June 24, 1874. Iris dark hazel; bill, legs, and claws
black. Gravel and beetles in stomach. This bird seems to have a habit
of climbing about in trees.
_b._ (♀ probably, on account of the very bare breast.) Near
Sibanani, December 8, 1874. Iris hazel; bill and legs black.
[This fine species was hitherto known from a pair of birds only, which
were purchased a few years back from a dealer by the British Museum,
and were stated to have come from the Victoria Falls. Mr. Oates has now
established the Zambesi region to be the habitat of the species, and
has also procured it 300 miles off the place whence the first specimens
were obtained. The occurrence of Shelley’s Wheatear so far south as the
Ramaqueban River is very interesting, as we may now expect that it will
be found still farther to the southwards.]
73. SAXICOLA LEUCOMELÆNA, Burchell: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 247.
Burchell’s Wheatear.
_a._ Desolate part of High Veldt; found on walls round corn and
peach fields, June 15, 1873. Iris hazel. Beetles in stomach.
74. MONTICOLA EXPLORATOR (Vieill.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 220.
Sentinel Rock-Thrush.
_a._ Kaar Kloof Heights, near Pietermaritzburg, May 19, 1873. Iris
hazel.
Family TIMELIIDÆ.
Sub-family PYCNONOTINÆ.
75. PHYLLOSTROPHUS CAPENSIS, Sw.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 203. Cape
Bristle-necked Thrush.
_a._ Not labelled.
76. PYCNONOTUS LAYARDI Gurney: _Ibis_, 1879, p. 390. Layard’s
Bulbul.
_a._ Durban, April 23, 1873. Iris bright hazel.
_b._ ♀ (probably.) Between Pretoria and Bamangwato, July 1873.
Iris hazel. Fruit and seeds in stomach.
77. PYCNONOTUS NIGRICANS (Vieill.): Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p.
23. Le Vaillant’s Bulbul.
_a._ ♀ Crocodile, July 1873. Iris deep crimson; skin round eye
orange. Large seeds in stomach.
Sub-family TIMELIINÆ.
78. CRATEROPUS BICOLOR, Jard.: Sharpe, ed. Layard, p. 210. Pied
Babbling Thrush.
_a._ ♂ Tati, October 2, 1874. Iris bright orange; bill and legs
black.
_b._ ♀ Tati, October 7, 1874. Iris bright orange; bill and legs
black.
_c._ ♂ (?) Tati, October 1874.
79. CRATEROPUS JARDINII, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 212.
Jardine’s Babbling Thrush.
_a._ ♀ Inkwesi River, October 8, 1873. Iris orange, with crimson
rim.
_b._ ♀ Meriko River, November 18, 1873. Iris orange, with crimson
rim.
_c._ ♀ Tati, October 3, 1874. Iris orange, with outer ring of
crimson.
_d._ ♂ Tati, October 9, 1874. Iris orange, surrounded by crimson ring;
bill black; legs dark slate-colour. Stomach muscular, containing
insects.
80. COSSYPHA NATALENSIS (Smith): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 223. Natal
Chat-Thrush.
_a._ Durban, April 23, 1873. Iris bright hazel (?).
81. AEDON LEUCOPHRYS (Vieill.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 252.
White-eyebrowed Warbler.
_a._ ♂ Transvaal, November 1873. Iris hazel.
82. CISTICOLA CURVIROSTRIS (Sund.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 263.
Brown Fantail Warbler.
_a._ Tibakai’s Pan, January 21, 1875. Iris pale red-brown; upper
mandible of bill dusky, lower one bluish white; legs flesh-colour;
claws dusky.
83. CISTICOLA TINNIENS (Licht.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 265. Le
Vaillant’s Fantail Warbler.
_a._ Marsh near Newcastle, June 1, 1873. Common in marsh.
84. CISTICOLA CHINIANA (Smith): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 268. Larger
Grey-backed Fantail Warbler.
_a._ ♂ (?) Tati, March 23, 1874. Native name, “Ynete.” Iris pale
hazel-brown; upper mandible dusky, under one and legs flesh-colour.
_b._ ♀ (slightly developed). Tati, March 23, 1874. Iris (I think)
tawny red; upper mandible dusky black, under one dusky orange; legs
yellowish flesh-colour; thighs very fleshy--these, as well as the
belly, very bare of feathers. Stomach containing grubs and other
insects.
_c._ ♂ (well developed). Tati, March 24, 1874. Iris pale
red-brown; upper mandible dusky black, under one dusky orange; legs
yellowish flesh-colour; thighs very fleshy. Stomach somewhat muscular,
containing remains of insects.
_d._ Between Sibanani and Tamasancha, December 9, 1874. Iris pale
reddish brown; upper mandible dusky, under one dirty flesh-colour; legs
brownish flesh-colour.
85. CISTICOLA ABERRANS (Smith): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 271. Smith’s
Fantail Warbler.
_a._ Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris lake.
86. CISTICOLA CURSITANS (Frankl.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 275.
Common Fantail Warbler.
_a._ Near Newcastle (?) about the end of May 1873. Iris very pale.
Stomach of this and the reed species contained remains of beetles.
87. BRADYPTERUS GRACILIROSTRIS, Sund.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 287.
White-breasted Reed-Warbler.
_a._ Not labelled.
88. SYLVIETTA RUFESCENS (Vieill.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 303.
Short-tailed Bush-Warbler.
_a._ ♂ (?) Tati, October 13, 1874. Iris pale burnt sienna; bill
dusky, dirty flesh-colour at base (?); legs pale red-brown. Stomach
rather muscular, containing large grubs.
Family NECTARINIIDÆ.
89. NECTARINIA FAMOSA (L.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 306. Malachite
Sun-bird.
_a._ Natal, 1873.
90. CINNYRIS GUTTURALIS (L.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 311.
Scarlet-chested Sun-bird.
_a._ Semokwe River, September 1873.
_b._ ♂ Impakwe River, February 12, 1874. Native name, “Bola-la-maholi.”
Iris dark hazel. Stomach very thin, containing remains of good-sized
insects, some spiders amongst them. Shot creeping amongst tall-stalked
flowers.
_c._ (Sex doubtful.) Tati, March 21, 1874. Iris dark hazel; bill,
legs, and claws black. Stomach not at all muscular, containing remains
of soft insects.
_d._ Not labelled.
91. CINNYRIS AFER (L.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 313. Greater
Double-collared Sun-bird.
_a._ ♂ (?) Mossel Bay, Cape Colony, April 11, 1873. Iris dark
hazel. Stomach very small, not muscular, apparently containing insects;
no gravel.
92. CINNYRIS MARIQUENSIS (Smith): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 319.
Southern Bifasciated Sun-bird.
_a._ Makalapsi River, August 7, 1873. Iris dark brown.
_b._ Inkwesi River, October 1873.
_c, d, e, f._ Not labelled.
Family PARIDÆ.
93. PARUS AFER, Gm.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 329. South African
Titmouse.
_a._ ♂ Inyati, September 27, 1873. Iris dark hazel.
_b._ ♂ Semokwe River, October 1873. Iris burnt sienna.
94. PARUS NIGER, Vieill.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 331. Southern
Black-and-white Titmouse.
_a._ ♂ Ramaqueban River, September 4, 1873. Iris hazel.
_b._ ♀ (?) Ramaqueban River, June 12, 1874. Iris dark hazel; bill,
legs, and claws black. Stomach containing sand and insects.
_c._ ♂ (?) Tati, October 13, 1874. Iris hazel; bill and legs black.
Family MUSCICAPIDÆ.
95. PRATINCOLA TORQUATA (L.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 250. South
African Stone-chat.
_a._ ♂ Durban, April 23, 1873.
_b._ ♂ Pietermaritzburg, May 2, 1873.
_c._ ♀ Near Newcastle, May 31, 1873. Iris very dark hazel.
_d._ ♂ (well developed). Tati, October 15, 1874. Iris hazel.
_e._ ♀ Tati, October 15, 1874. Iris hazel.
_f._ ♀ (?) (young bird in pen). Tati, October 15, 1874. Iris
hazel. Don’t remember to have seen this species here before. Is it just
arrived, or merely passing as a bird of passage from the south?
96. PARISOMA SUBCÆRULEUM (Gm.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 332.
Red-crested Fly-catcher.
_a._ ♂ (?) Ladysmith, May 25, 1873. Iris pale grey, nearly white.
_b._ ♀ (?) Tati, September 24, 1874. Iris very pale straw-colour; bill
and legs black.
_c._ ♂ Tati, October 3, 1874. Iris pale straw-colour. Singing a
short sweet note, and moving about amongst the bushes after the manner
of a Willow-wren, looking for insects.
97. BATIS MOLITOR (Hahn and Küst.): Sharpe, _Cat. B._, iv. p.
137. Eastern Yellow-eyed Fly-catcher.
_a._ ♂ Dry River, October 1873. Iris golden yellow.
_b._ Mopani Pan, near Ramaqueban River, June 25, 1874. Iris bright
yellow; legs and claws black.
_c._ ♀ Tati, October 16, 1874. Iris yellow; bill and legs
black. Stomach muscular, containing remains of large insects like
grasshoppers; also green shoots (?).
_d._ Not labelled.
98. TERPSIPHONE PERSPICILLATA (Sw.): Sharpe, _Cat. B._, iv. p.
357. South African Paradise Fly-catcher.
_a._ ♂ (highly developed). Tati, October 4, 1874. Bill dark
cobalt. Insects in stomach.
Family HIRUNDINIDÆ.
99. HIRUNDO PUELLA, Temm.: Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 47.
Smaller Striped-breasted Swallow.
_a._ Tati, October 4, 1874. Iris hazel. Sex indistinguishable,
but Thomson had similar specimens, which were females and
well-developed males. A similar one shot by me was a male, and well
developed.
_b._ Tati, October 5, 1874. Iris hazel.
100. HIRUNDO CUCULLATA, Bodd.: Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 46.
Large Striped-breasted Swallow.
_a._ ♂ Tati, October 4, 1874. Iris hazel.
101. HIRUNDO RUSTICA, L.: Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 45. Common
Swallow.
_a, b, c._ ♂ Tati, October 17, 1874. Cold, wet day, after very hot
weather. These birds came into the houses and were easily caught. The
other species seem to have gone away; these have been here about a week.
102. HIRUNDO SEMIRUFA, Sund.: Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 45.
Red-breasted Swallow.
_a._ Inchlangin, about the beginning of December 1873. Iris dark hazel.
Many small beetles in stomach. Another I shot was either a young one or
in moult.
_b._ ♀ Tati, October 4, 1874. Iris hazel.
Family LANIIDÆ.
103. DRYOSCOPUS BOULBOUL (Lath.): Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 48.
South African Puff-backed Bush-Shrike.
_a._ Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris hazel.
104. DRYOSCOPUS CUBLA (Lath.): Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 48.
Pied Puff-backed Bush-Shrike.
_a._ ♂ Tati, August 28, 1873. Iris crimson.
_b, c._ Not labelled.
105. LANIARIUS BAKBAKIRI (Vieill): Layard’s _B. S. Afr._, p.
161. Bakbakiri Bush-Shrike.
_a, b._ ♂ Mossel Bay, Cape Colony, April 11, 1873. Iris dark grey.
Remains of beetles and seeds in stomach.
_c._ ♂ Ladysmith, May 25, 1873. Iris dark grey.
106. LANIARIUS SULPHUREIPECTUS (Less.): Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._
p. 49. Yellow-breasted Bush-Shrike.
_a._ ♂ Motloutsi River, October 15, 1873. Iris dark hazel.
107. LANIARIUS ATROCOCCINEUS (Burch.): Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._,
p. 49. Crimson-breasted Bush-Shrike.
_a._ ♂ (?) Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris, outside violet, inside
crimson.
_b, c._ ♂ Near Eland’s River, July 1873. Iris, outside violet,
inside crimson. Insects, beetles, and grasshoppers in stomach.
_d._ Makalapsi River, August 8, 1873. Iris violet and crimson.
_e._ ♂ Tati, September 2, 1873. Iris neutral tint.
_f._ ♂ Tati, October 2, 1874. Iris slate-colour; bill and legs black.
Insects (principally beetles) in stomach.
_g._ ♂ Tati, October 21, 1874. Iris slate-colour; bill and legs black.
108. LANIARIUS SENEGALUS (L.): Red-winged Bush-Shrike.
_a._ Second Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, September 3, 1874. Iris
hazel; bill black, base of upper and a good deal of base of under
mandible bright slate-colour; legs pale slate-colour; claws rather
darker.
_b._ ♀ Pantamatenka River, January 18, 1875. Iris dark hazel; bill
black; legs pale slaty blue; claws dusky.
109. LANIARIUS TRIVIRGATUS (Smith): Gurney in Anderss. _B. Dam.
Ld._, p. 151. Three-streaked Bush-Shrike.
_a._ Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris hazel.
_b._ ♀ Near Metli River, August 10, 1873. Iris dusky hazel.
_c._ Not labelled.
110. LANIUS MINOR, Gm.: Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 51. Lesser
Grey Shrike.
_a, b._ ♂ Tati River, where Makalaka road leaves it, going north,
November 19, 1874. Iris hazel; bill lilac, tinged on top of upper and
end of lower mandible with black; legs dark brown. Beetles in stomach.
111. LANIUS COLLARIS, Gm.: Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 51.
Collared Shrike.
_a._ ♂ Durban, April 1873. Iris hazel.
_b._ ♀ Pietermaritzburg, May 2, 1873. Iris dark hazel.
_c._ ♀ (?) Mossel Bay, Cape Colony, April 11, 1873. Iris dark hazel.
Stomach full of remains of beetles; no gravel.
112. LANIUS COLLURIO, L.: Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 50.
Red-backed Shrike.
_a._ ♀ Meriko River, November 18, 1873. Iris hazel.
_b._ ♂ (slightly developed). Tati, March 21, 1874. Iris dark
hazel; bill deep violet, pale at base; legs black.
_c._ ♀ (?) Tati, March 21, 1874. Iris dark hazel; bill dusky
lilac; legs and claws black.
_d._ ♂ (?) Sibanani, December 11, 1874. Iris hazel; bill dark
slate-colour, violet at base; legs blackish slate-colour.
_e, f._ Not labelled.
113. UROLESTES MELANOLEUCUS (Jard.): Gurney in Anderss. _B. Dam.
Ld._, p. 130. Black-and-white Long-tailed Shrike.
_a, b._ ♂ Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris hazel (?). Large ants
in stomach.
_c._ ♀ [brown variety]. Near Hex River, July 1873. Iris ochreous
hazel. Shot by Bell, who says the note is different from that of the
black one, which is plentiful. This is the only brown one seen. He says
it whistles. Large gnats and other insects in stomach.
_d._ ♂ Tati, October 13, 1873. Iris dark brown.
_e._ Tati, March 25, 1874. Iris dark hazel. Stomach slightly muscular,
full of remains of large insects.
_f._ ♂ First Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, August 20, 1874. Iris
hazel; bill, legs, and claws black. Ants in stomach.
Family PRIONOPIDÆ.
114. EUROCEPHALUS ANGUITIMENS, Smith: Sharpe, _Cat. B._, iii. p.
279. Smith’s Wood-Shrike.
_a._ ♂, b. ♀ Tati, March 23, 1874. Iris dark hazel; bill and legs
black. Stomach muscular, containing a number of large hard seeds and
one or two beetles.
115. PRIONOPS TALACOMA, Smith: Sharpe, _Cat. B._, iii. p. 321.
South African Helmet-Shrike.
_a._ ♂ Near Metli River, August 10, 1873. Iris gamboge; skin round
eye dentated, orange-yellow; legs pale vermilion.
_b._ ♀ Holfontein, November 25, 1873. Iris chrome yellow.
_c._ ♂ First Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, June 21, 1874. Iris
chrome yellow; skin round eye bright orange; legs and feet orange-red;
claws dusky black. Stomach pretty fleshy, and containing remains of
grasshoppers and beetles.
_d, e._ ♂ (?) First Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, June 21, 1874.
Iris chrome yellow; skin round eye light bright orange; legs and feet
orange-red; claws dusky black.
116. BRADYORNIS OATESII, sp. n. Oates’s Wood-Shrike. (Plate B.)
_a._ ♂ (adult.) First Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, August 20,
1874. Iris dark hazel. Stomach full of ants.
_b._ (juv.) Geruah, January 25, 1875. Iris hazel; bill and legs
black.
_c._ (adult.) Not labelled.
[Similis _B. pallido_ sed cineraceus; gulâ conspicue albâ: pectore
et corporis lateribus pallide cinerascentibus: subcaudalibus albis.
_Adult male._--General colour above ashy; the head slightly
browner, with indistinct brown shaft-streaks; least and median
wing-coverts like the back; the median and greater coverts brown,
edged with ashy brown, a little reddish on some of the outer greater
coverts; quills brown, externally ashy or fulvous brown, the primaries
and some of the innermost secondaries edged with pale whity brown;
tail-feathers ashy brown, the feathers edged with paler brown; lores
and a small patch above and below the eye dull white; in front of the
eye a dusky spot; ear-coverts brown, slightly washed with fawn-colour,
and contrasting with the ashy grey head; cheeks ashy grey, like the
sides of the neck; entire throat white, strongly defined; remainder of
under surface pale ashy brown; whitish on the lower abdomen, vent, and
under tail-coverts; under wing-coverts and axillaries pale ashy like
the breast, the lower coverts slightly tinged with fawn-colour; quills
dusky brown below, pale ashy fulvous along the inner web. Total length
7·5 inches, culmen 0·55, wing 3·85, tail 3·1, tarsus 0·85.
After a careful comparison of specimens I have come to the conclusion
that the present bird is new to science. At first I thought it would
be _B. murinus_, Finsch and Hartl., but the ear-coverts in that
species are described as being like the sides of the neck and crop,
whereas here the ear-coverts are in strong contrast; the under wing
coverts also are not fawn-colour in Mr. Oates’s specimens. Having
compared it with all the other species of _Bradyornis_ represented
in the British Museum, I modify the “Key to the species,” given in my
_Catalogue of Birds_, vol. iii., p. 308, as follows:--
_a._ Upper surface ashy or clear brown, not black.
_a′._ Above light reddish brown, uniform; throat white, like the rest
of the under surface; under wing-coverts white.--_mariquensis._
_b′._ Above ashy; throat white, contrasting with the ashy under
surface; under wing-coverts like the breast.--_Oatesii._
_c′._ Above light brown, uniform; throat white, contrasting with
the fawn-buff breast; under wing-coverts fawn-colour.--_pallidus_,
_modestus_, etc. etc.
The fawn-coloured under wing-coverts of _B. pallidus_, the
ashy brown throat and chest of _B. chocolatinus_, the reddish
brown upper surface, and entirely white under surface of _B.
mariquensis_, successively prevent _B. Oatesii_ from being
considered synonymous. A bird, determined as _B. murinus_, F. and
H., from the Congo (Sharpe and Bouv., _Bull. Soc. Zool. France_,
1877), would appear to be the same as _B. Oatesii_, but is in worn
plumage.]
Family DICRURIDÆ.
117. BUCHANGA ASSIMILIS (Bechst.): Sharpe, _Cat. B._, iii. p.
247. African Drongo.
_a._ ♀ Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris crimson. Beetles and
grasshoppers in stomach.
_b._ ♀ Tati, October 11, 1873. Iris crimson.
_c._ Ramaqueban River, August 2, 1874. Iris deep red; bill, legs,
and claws black.
Family ORIOLIDÆ.
118. ORIOLUS GALBULA, L.: Sharpe, _Cat. B._, iii. p. 191. Golden
Oriole.
_a._ ♀ Meriko River, November 16, 1873. Iris crimson.
Family CORVIDÆ.
119. CORVUS SCAPULATUS, Daud.: Sharpe, _Cat. B._, iii. p. 22.
White-backed Crow.
_a._ Ladysmith, May 27, 1873. Iris hazel.
_b._ Seruli River, October 17, 1873. Iris dark hazel.
Family STURNIDÆ.
120. BUPHAGA AFRICANA, L.: Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 57.
African Beef-eater.
_a, b._ ♀ Semokwe River, September 1873. Iris orange.
121. DILOPHUS CARUNCULATUS (Gm.): Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 56.
Wattled Starling.
_a._ ♂ Ramaqueban River, September 4, 1873. Iris hazel.
_b._ ♂ Second Makalaka kraal, Zambesi road, September 1, 1874. Iris
hazel; bare skin about the eye yellowish; bill dirty flesh-colour, base
and tip dusky; legs, feet, and claws dusky brown. Stomach not very
muscular, containing beetles and sand.
_c._ ♂ (fully developed). Tati River, where Makalaka road leaves
it, going north, November 18, 1874. Iris hazel; bill white, tinged with
lilac; legs dark brownish flesh-colour; bare skin of head deep black
in front, bright yellow behind; round the eyes a small bluish patch.
Stomach muscular, containing beetles and grasshoppers.
122. AMYDRUS BICOLOR (Gm.): Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 55. Brown
Starling.
_a._ Mossel Bay, Cape Colony, April 11, 1873. Iris pale grey with
orange rim. Contents of stomach miscellaneous.
123. AMYDRUS MORIO (Daud.): Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p. 54. Cape
Starling.
_a._ Not labelled.
124. PHOLIDAUGES VERREAUXI, Bocage: Sharpe, t. c. p. 54.
Verreaux’s Glossy Thrush.
_a._ ♂ Near Umvungu River, October 31, 1873. Iris hazel round pupil,
and bright yellow round the hazel. Stomach containing remains of
insects, and a number of large white berries, and sticky yellow matter
with the berries; the latter said to be used for bird-lime, the berries
said to grow on trees.
_b._ ♂ (?) Near Umvungu River, November 12, 1873. Iris deep olive
round pupil, and round the olive a bright yellow ring. Stomach not
muscular, containing a few remains of small insects, but principally a
quantity of vegetable matter like fine grass.
125. LAMPROTORNIS AUSTRALIS, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 56.
Smith’s Glossy Thrush.
_a._ ♂ Crocodile River, December 1, 1873. Iris hazel.
126. LAMPROTORNIS MEVESI, Wahlb.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 56. Meves’s
Glossy Thrush.
_a._ ♂ Nata River, December 5, 1874. Iris hazel; bill and legs black.
Stomach containing ants.
127. LAMPROCOLIUS PHŒNICOPTERUS (Sw.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 55.
Red-shouldered Glossy Thrush.
_a._ Blauw Krans River, Natal, May 22, 1873. Iris bright orange.
_b._ ♂ Tati, October 11, 1873. Iris orange.
_c._ ♀ Crocodile River, November 8, 1873. Iris orange.
_d._ ♂ Meriko River, November 18, 1873. Iris orange.
Family MOTACILLIDÆ.
128. MOTACILLA AGUIMP, Temm.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 73. African
Pied Wagtail.
_a._ Durban, April 23, 1873.
_b._ Crocodile River, July 1873. Iris hazel. Insects in stomach.
_c._ Not labelled.
129. MOTACILLA CAPENSIS, L.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 73. Cape Wagtail.
_a._ Durban, April 23, 1873.
_b._ ♂ Pietermaritzburg, April 30, 1873.
_c._ Inyati, October 3, 1873. Iris dark hazel. Native name “Umvemve.”
130. ANTHUS PYRRHONOTUS, Vieill.: Gurney in Anderss. _B. Dam.
Ld._, p. 113. Cinnamon-backed Pipit.
_a._ Kaar Kloof Heights, near Pietermaritzburg, May 19, 1873. Iris
hazel.
_b._ Not labelled.
131. ANTHUS CAFFER, Sund.: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 72. South African
Pipit.
_a._ Pietermaritzburg, about the beginning of May 1873.
132. MACRONYX CAPENSIS (L.): Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 73. Cape
Long-claw.
_a, b._ ♀ (?) Between Ladysmith and Newcastle, about the end of May
1873. Iris hazel.
_c._ ♂ Pretoria, December 7, 1873. Iris hazel.
Family ALAUDIDÆ.
133. CERTHILAUDA SEMITORQUATA, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 71.
Grey-collared Lark.
_a._ ♂ Transvaal, December 18, 1873. Iris hazel.
134. MIRAFRA AFRICANA (Smith): Sharpe, _P. Z. S._, 1874, p. 642.
South-African Lark.
_a._ ♂ Tibakai’s Pan, December 19, 1874. Iris pale reddish hazel; bill
dirty flesh-colour; top of upper mandible dusky; legs flesh-colour.
Insects and seeds in stomach.
135. MIRAFRA SABOTA (Smith): Sharpe, _P. Z. S._, 1874, p. 645.
Sabota Lark.
_a._ ♂ Tati, October 25, 1874. Iris bright light brown; upper mandible
dusky, under one dirty flesh-colour; legs pale brown. Stomach muscular,
containing large hard seeds.
_b._ Not labelled.
136. TEPHROCORYS CINEREA (Gm.): Sharpe, _P. Z. S._, 1874, p.
633. South African Rufous-capped Lark.
_a._ ♂ Pietermaritzburg, May 2, 1873.
Family PLOCEIDÆ.
137. SYCOBROTUS BICOLOR (Vieill.): Sharpe, _Cat. Afr. B._, p.
60. Natal Black-and-yellow Weaver-bird.
_a._ Not labelled.
138. TEXTOR ERYTHRORHYNCHUS, Smith: Sharpe, _t. c._ p. 58.
Red-billed Black Weaver-bird.