Cuninghame,J. R.

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THE WATER-ELEPHANT 97
of theyolk-sacktheymoveinto theshallowestwaterpossible,
from oneto half an inch in depth.
After passingthroughthe fry stage,the slightly bigger
fish betakethemselvesto the reedsand grassgrowingin the
springsandwhennearlyadultcomeoutintotheopenandmove
aboutwith theshoals.
Theirfood,besidesovaandfry, appearsto consistof water
fleas(Cyclops)andvegetablema.tter. Therebeinga very large
numberoffishin eachspring,foodmaterialisapparentlysoarce.
This fact and the restrictedareaof their habitat appear
to accountfor the fact of their stuntedgrowth,three to
threeandahalfinchesbeinganexceptionallylargefish. Their
adaptabilityto the strength(in soda)andtemperatureof the
wateris alsoworthyof note.
In conclusion,everycredit is due to Mr. F. W. Graham
whofirstbroughttheoccurrenceof thesefishto notioe.
THE WATER-ELEPHANT
By R. J. CUNINGHAME
M. Le Petit, whois at presentin Nairobi,wasfor a period
of fiveyearstravellingin theFrenchCongo,and:hehaskindly
furnishedmewith a somewhatdetailedaccountof theWater-
Elephant.
The first timehe sawonewasthreeanda half yearsago
(about June 1907)whentravellingdown the River Comgo,
nearthejunctionof theRiver Kassaiwith theRiver Congo.
The secondoccasionwasin the swampycountrybetween
Lake Leopold II and Lake Tumbanearto wherethe M'fini
River findsits exit from Lake LeopoldII. This is in what
is knownas the LukenyeDistrict.
His first viewof a water-elephantwasthat of a headand
neckonly,at Someconsiderabledistance,appearingabovethe
surfaceof thewater; andhe,beinginaboatornative' dug-out
canoe,'thought it was a big tree-snag. The nativeswith
him told him it wasa.water-elephant,andshortlyafterwards
n2
98 THE WATER-ELEPHANT
it sankbelowthesurfaceof thewater. Onthesecondoccasion,
he sawfiveof theseanimalson land andwasableto look at
themfor fully one minutethroughhis glassesand, as they
werein tall grass400yardsdistant,hehada goodopportunity
to observe. He took a shotat oneof themandhit it in the
shoulder,but thoughhe offeredthe nativesan amplereward
theyneverwereableto recoverit.
Height at shoulder,6 to 8 feet. Legs relatively short.
Back curved,as in E. africanus. Tail notobserved. Neck
abouttwice the lengthof E. africanuswith earssimilar in
shapeto thoseof that species,but relativelysmaller. Head
mostdistinctlylongandovoidin form,with trunkonlyabout
2 feetin length. The shapeof the feetwasseenin the spoor
on sandand showedfour toesdistinctlyseparatedas in the
hippopotamus,but the weight of the body seemedto be
carriedby the toeslargely,while the plantar impressionof
the sole was not very pronounced.The groundwas level
wherethis spoorwasseen. All the animalsobservedhad no
traces of tusks. Skin is apparentlyhairless,smooth and
shinyresemblingthatof a hippopotamus,onlydarker.Thegait
waselephantine,andthelastseenof thosefivewater-elephants
wastheir disappearanceinto the water,whichwasdeep. In
habit they arenocturnal,comingout to feedon strongrank
grassaftersundown. They spendthe dayin thewatermuch
as hippopotamido. The Babumas(fishingnatives)know
this animalwell andhavea namefor it, •Ndgokono.Maiji,'
meaningthe water-elephant,and they fear it greatlyas it is
knownto risefrom the waterandwith its shorttrunkcapsize
canoes. It is alsovery destructiveto the netsandreedfish-
trapsof thenatives. Its localityis apparentlyveryrestricted,
andthe nativesmaintaintheyarenot very numerous.
The above descriptionis certainly circumstantial,and
M. Le Petit furnishesa similar accountto· the museumof
Paris which I hearMr. R. Lydekker(of the NaturalHistory
Museum)hasreferredto. Up till now,I believe,hehasmade
no pronouncementon the newanimal.
Shoulda specimenbe obtainedit wouldcertainlyprovea
newgenus,and the discoveryof suchamongtheProboscidea
wouldcreateintensezoologicalinterest.
REPORT ON A SKULL FROM B.E.A. 99
ProfessorOsborn(ofAmericanfame)wrotea treatiseon
the developmentof elephantsfromprehistorictimes,and
the author(I amspeakingfrommemory)depictsthe earlier
formsasanimalsomewhatresemblingthepresent-daytapir
(Tapirus terrestris).Evolutionproceededand the animal
changedstructurallyinmanyways,butduringthecontinuance
of ma.nyradicalchangesthesamelong-shaped,ovoidtypeof
skull retainedits essentialcharacteristics,andthe cervical
vertebrmwereantero-posteriorlymuchlongerthanis nowthe
casein modemelephants.Thesetwocharaoteristiosarevery
markedin the water-elephants,and M. Le Petit is most
emphatiothat the headsremindedhim moreof enormous
tapirsthanof anyotherexistinganimal.
REPORT ON A SKULL FROM BRITISH EAST AFRICAl
By W. L. H. DUCKWORTH, M.D., So.D., UniversityLecturer
in PhysicalAnthropology,Cambridge
1. INTRODUOTORY
The skull andscapulato be describedin the following
paragraphsweresubmittedto mefor examinationby the
CounoiloftheEastAfrioaandUgandaNaturalHistorySociety.
I desireto tendermycordialthanksto theSocietyfor their
kindness,andin particulallI mustexpressmygratitudeto
H.M. SeniorProvincialCommissioner,C. W. Hobley,Esq.,
C.M.G.,whohasinterestedhimselfin thematternotonlyby
makingthe arrangementsnecessaryfor the transmissionof
the specimens,but alsoin providingdetailedinformation
relatingto thecircumstancesof theirdiscovery.2
Mr.Hobleyhasthusascertainedthattheskullandscapula
werefoundbyanItalianmissionaryatanaltitudeof8000feet
I Repririted.fromJO'UmalofAMtomgand PhyBiologg,voL xlvi. bykindper-
missionof Dr:.Duckworth.
2 Mr. J. W. T. McClella.nkindly presentedthe specimento theSociety's
Museum.


The Water Elephants

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The Water Elephants

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