The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-26

come from India. or some adjacent coun-
Try, fossil remains of balloons, giraffes
hippopotami, ostriches, antelopes OF an
American type and not improbable zebras.
having been discovered in the Tertiary de-
posts of India.
But If the animals Of Africa as whole
stand out i'm marked contrast to those of
the rest of the world. much more is This
the case when those characteristics Of GER
tain districts of that huge continent are
alone taken INTO consideration. And most
especially is this 50 with the Inhabitants
Oh the great tropical forest districts eX-
tending from the west coast far into the
! interior of the continent-reaching, in fact
the watershed between the basins of the
Congo and the Nile, in the neighborhoOd
OF Wadelai. Since a large number OF the
peculiar animals of this district are more
or less exclusively confined to the west
coast, extending from the Sierra Leone to
the Congo, the area is appropriately term
ed the West African subregiOn. II rs here
alone that We find the gorilla and the
chlmpanzee, the former being restricted
10 the neighborhoOd of the coast, whereas
the latter ranges far into The heart of the
continent. And this district is likewise the
exclusive home of the pretty little man
gaDys, or monkeys with white eyeiids. The
fgalages, which are near relatives of some
OF the lemurS OF Madagascar, extend
throughout the forest region; but the even
more curious pottos, or thumbless lemurs
are confined to the west coast. Huge and
forbidding foXbats some of them with re-
markable TUFTS Of long white hairs on the
shoulders, are likewise restricted to this
| portion of the tract, AS is the lnsectivorous
otter, first discovered during the travels
OF Du Chaillu The equatorial forest tract
IS also the sole habitao of the African fly
ing squirrels, distinguished from the very
different flying squirrels of Asia by the
| of bar of -,
der surface of che tail Dormice of pc
cuiiar types and lree mice are also very
characteristic OF this tract. But far more
generally interesting are the pygmy hip
popotamus of Lyeria, and the water chev-
rotains of the west coast an ally of the
true cheVrOtaIns of India and the Malay
countries. So far, indeed, as the equato-
rial forest tract of fauna has any repre-
Sentatives in other parts of the world, it
Is to the Malay peninsula and the islands
! that the resemblance is closest. Itis there
| alone that the other large man-like ape
! tho orang-dwells; and there is a group
| of brush-tailed porcupines common 10
these. two districts and unknown else
| where throughout the wide world Both
| faunas, however, in all probability trace
| their descent from the animals lnhabitng
! Europe during the pliOcene and miocene
| epochs, among which was an extinct spe-
| cies of water chevrotain.
| The other great sub-regions include the
/ open grazing grounds and mountains of
| South and East Africa, the fauna of
| which Is quite different from that of the
equatorial forest tract Minor divisions
may also be recognized In this area. the
| Cape having many animals not found
further north. Among the latter are the
| Cape sand-mOle, which, by the way, has
| nothing to do with true moles. being a
member of the rodent order. This tract,
| as whole, may be termed the east-Cen-
| trail sub-regiOn, and TO il belong the great
1 hosts of antelOpes, the zebras and the
| aard-wolf and hunting dog Very char
aeterishc Of the southern and eastern
! parts of this tract are the beautiful golden
| moles, unique among mammals for the
| lovely play of iridescent colors on the fur,
and which have comparatively nothing in
| common with the moles of Europe and
| Asia. To the nOrthWard, in Abyssina, this
| tract is the home of another very remark
| able animal, the great gelada balloon, cas-
| lily recognized by the lion-like mantle of
| long hair on the fore quarters, whose
| nearest relatives are the ordinary balloons
| of Africa.
| Whether Somaliland should be included
! in this area or should have division to
| itself, may admit of argument; but, at
| any rate, it has many peculiar animals,
| among which are a number of antelopes,
some of which have been but recently
| made known TO science.
| Lastly, we nave the SAHARA ouD-IeSiOll,
| which contains a comparatively limited
| fanuna passing by almost insensible de-
| grees into that of Northern Africa.
! In some respects, especially in it's gal
| agos, the fauna of Africa presents GER
tain resemblance to that of Madagascar;
but the connection between that island
and the mainland was evidently very re-
mote, and must have taken place before
| the great incursion OF antelopes, zebr1s,
| rhinoceroses, monkeys, elephants, etc,
from the north, as none of these are found
| in the island. Madagascar, therefore, is
best regarded as forming geological
| province of its own.
Within the limits of a single article 1t is
| manifestly impossible to give anything
like an adequate sketch of the fauna of
such an extensive area, but such points as
have been noted serves to show in some
faint degree it's richness in peculiar forms
| of animal ife