Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/281

Rh ZOOLOGY.] AFRICA 259 iceitivora. id North African, and is also found wild on the opposite coast at the Rock of Gibraltar. In Madagascar the place of the true monkeys is supplied by the peculiar tribe of the true Lemurs or makis. Many species have close affinities with those of Asia; thus the orang-outang of Borneo is represented in Africa by the chimpanzee. The gibbons are entirely wanting. Of the larger Carnivora the bear is almost entirely wanting, and occurs only sparely in the Atlas Mountains in Barbary. The true martens are unknown, but otters occur. Of the Canis family the jackal is characteristic, and roams over the whole of Africa; it differs from the Asiatic species in its paler skin, which approaches the colour of the prevailing deserts. The wolf and fox do not extend beyond the northern margin of Africa. Hyaenas are true African tenants; the striped hyaena extending from Asia over North Africa, the spotted hyaena over the remainder of the con tinent; in the southmost part of the continent the brown hyaena is also found, and with it the aardwolf, or earth wolf of the Cape colonists, allied to this genus. Africa is the chief home of the lion, which there remains undisturbed as king over the lower animal creation, though it has been driven inwards from the more settled portions of the coast- land; while in the extreme south-western parts of Asia, to which it is now confined, its power is divided with that of the tiger. The leopard, serval, caracal, chaus, and civet cat (the locality of the true civet being North Africa), are the other principal representatives of the cat tribe. The herpestes or ichneumons have the same distribution as the civets; the species which destroys the eggs of the crocodile is found in Egypt and the North of Africa. Of wild horses the asinine group is characteristic of Asia, and the hippotigrine of Africa. The quagga, exclu sively African, inhabits the most southern parts of the continent, and is scarcely found north of the Orange river, but occurs in great herds, associated with the white-tailed gnu; the zebra (JEquus Burchellii}, or zebra of the plains, is widely distributed over Africa, from the limit of the quagga to Abyssinia and the west coast; the zebra of the mountains (Equus zebra), more completely striped than the rest, is only known in South Africa. The true onager or aboriginal wild ass is indigenous to North-East Africa and the island of Socotra. A species inhabiting the high land of Abyssinia is distinct from these. The horse, domesti cated in other parts of Africa, excepting the region of forests, is not found in the eastern iutertropical region; and, for some cause not yet clearly ascertained, it appears to be impossible to acclimatise it there. The single humped camel or dromedary is used over the whole of North Africa, as far south and west as the river Niger and Lake Chad. The Indian buffalo has spread by introduc tion to North Africa; the Cape buffalo, a species peculiar to Africa, reaches as far north as a line from Guinea to Abyssinia; the Bos Brachycerus is a species peculiar to West Africa, from Senegal to the Gaboon. Of sheep, the Ovis Tragelaphus is peculiar to North Africa; the Ibex goat extends into Abyssinia. The family of the antelopes is essentially African, fiTe-sixths of the species composing it being natives of that country, and chiefly of the portion lying south of the Sahara, occurring in dense herds. Lastly, the giraffe, one of the most celebrated and characteristic of African quadrupeds, ranges from the limits of the Cape Colony as far as the Sahara and Xubia. Of Edentata the seven species known to occur in Africa are also peculiar to it. The aardwark (Orycteropus capensis) is essentially burrowing in its habits; and the burrows formed by these animals are the source of frequent danger to the waggons and horses of the Cape colonists. A genus of moles is met with in South Africa, but is not found in the tropical regions. The Cape or gilded mole, chryso-chlore, is so called from its iridescent glossy fur; two or three species of hedgehog occur in the continent, and Madagascar has a peculiar family resembling these in appearance, but without the power of rolling up into a ball for defence. Bats are numerous in Africa, but few are peculiar to it. Of Rodents the burrowing kinds prevail. The African liodenti; species of porcupine are known in the northern and western coast-lands and in Soiith-Eastern Africa. The hyrax ex tends over Eastern Africa and a portion of the west coast. Hares are only known in the countries north of the Sahara and in the Cape colony. Among squirrels, those with bristles or spines in their fur are peculiar to the southern regions of the continent. The ornithology of Africa presents a close analogy in Birds, many of its species to those of Europe and South Asia. Thus, on its northern coasts, there is scarcely a single species to be found which does not also occur in the other countries bordering on the Mediterranean. The ornitho logy of the region of the Nile and the northern coasts is identified with that of Arabia, Persia, and Spain. The deserts are inhabited by species adapted to its solitudes; while Southern Africa presents different species. The ostrich, the hugest of birds, which has been described as the feathered camel, or the giraffe among birds, is found in almost every part of Africa. But its chief home is the desert and the open plains; mountainous districts -it avoids, unless pressed by hunger. The beautiful white feathers, so highly prized by the ladies of Europe, are found in the wings of the male bird. The chase is not without its difficulties, and it requires the greatest care to get within musket-shot of the bird, owing to its constant vigilance and the great distance to which it can see. The fleetest horse, too, will not overtake it unless stratagem be adopted to tire it out. If followed up too eagerly, the chase of the ostrich is not destitute of danger; for the huntsman has sometimes had his thigh-bone broken by a single stroke from the leg of a wounded bird. The large messenger or secretary-bird, which preys upon serpents and other reptiles, is one of the most remarkable African birds. It is common near the Cape, and is not seldom domesticated. Of gallinaceous fowls, adapted to the poultry-yard, Africa possesses but a single genus, the guinea- hens, which, however, are found in no other part of the world. These birds, of which there are three or four dis tinct species, go in large flocks of 400 or 500, and are most frequently found among underwood in the vicinity of ponds and rivers. There are, besides, many species of partridges and quails in different parts of Africa. Water fowl of various species are also abundant on the lakes, and river?, as are likewise various species of owls, falcons, and vul tures, the latter of which are highly useful in consuming the offal and carrion, which might otherwise taint tLe air and produce disease. Among the smaller birds of Africa are many species re markable for the gaudiness and brilliancy of their plumage, or the singularity of their manners and economy. Of the former kind may be mentioned the sunbirds, the lainpro- tornis, the bee-eaters, the rollers, the plantain-eaters, the parrots, the halcyons, and numerous smaller birds that swarm in the forests. Of the latter kind it will be suffi cient to mention the honey -cuckoo (Cucuhis indicator}. Though Africa is not exempt from the scourge of veno- Reptiles. mous or dangerous reptiles, still it has comparatively fewer than other tropical countries, owing to the dryness of the climate. The reptiles harboured by the desert regions consist chiefly of harmless lizards and serpents of a small size, though often venomous. The frog and tortoise tribes are represented in but few species and numbers.