Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/31

 AXCfOLAN FAUNA. 15 the coast, althouj^h clown to the middle of this century they were still found along the seaboard. In 1804 the first explorers of the Cunene met them in such hirgo numbers that it was proposed to call this watercourse the " Klephant River." But being now driven from the plains, they have taken refuge in the uplands and in the Chella mountains, where they range over the slopes and highest summits. Lions also frequently prowled at night about the streets of the coast towns. After the rainy season especially they were very numerous, descending from the steppes and forests of tlie interior on the track of the antelopes which came to browse on the tender herbage of the lowlands. They often attacked man himself, and some thus acquiring a taste for human flesh, fell upon the shepherd in preference to his flock. They were regarded as animal fetishes, and no native would venture to speak of them without giving them the title of ngana, or "lord." At present these felines have become rare, while panthers, and especially hyenas of more than one species, are still numerous. The peixr-mul/ier, that is, " mer- maid," or manatee, appears to have disappeared from all the Angolan rivers, except the upper reaches of the Cuanza,.and the hippopotamus has withdrawn into the lateral lagoons of the rivers. But the jncarh, or crocodiles, still infest many of the streams, although sharks, so numerous north of the Congo, are never seen on the southern coast. In the provinces lying south of the Cuanza occur some animals unknown north of that river. But zebras, as well as certain antelopes belonging to the zone of the Orange and Zambese basins, are seen only on the verge of the great southern steppes. It was probably one of these antelopes that the traveller Brochado mistook for a dromedary, an animal that has not yet been introduced into the country. The order of birds is represented in Angola by a great variety of species, and a considerable traffic in songsters is carried on with Lisbon. The natives have great faith in the omens furnished by the flight or the songs of birds, and meeting a quioco {tclephonus erythropterus) is always regarded as of favourable augury. The corythrix pauliim, a lovely little creature which feeds chiefly on steds ana fruits, is looked on as a potent magician whose cry strikes terror into the stoutest heart. Houses and even 'whole villages have been deserted because this bird happened to perch on a neighbouring branch and utter its funereal note. The fowlers who go to capture it in the forests on behalf of the Portuguese dealers, are very careful to avoid ull villages on their return with their prize, for fear of being accused by the inhabitants of complicity in witchcraft. In another rcs|)ect this bird is very remarkable, the bright red colour of its wings being soluble in water and yielding a certain proportion of copper (Monteiro). Nearly all the forests of the interior are inhabited by the honey-bird {cuculua indicator), which, flitting from tree to tree, leads the honey-seekers to the hive, and then waits patiently perched on a neighbouring branch for its share in the plunder. Except in some districts snakes are not common, but some varieties are