LIST OF SPECIES COLLECTED
SPECIES OF INTEREST
This was, under the circumstance of soldier life, but a small collection, but it is interesting to note that they proved useful and of interest. Dr. Hartert wrote concerning them:
“Nos. 1 and 26. It is surprising that a new species should still be found in British East Africa. It seems, however, probable that the specimens mentioned by Reichenow from Ugogo as probably—judging by the somewhat poor description and figure in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society—being Serinus donaldsoni, are not the latter, but this new species, which I have described as Serinus buchanani at the January meeting of the British Ornithological Club, 1919. I have compared the specimens with the types and other examples of S. donaldsoni in the British Museum, from Somaliland, and it is evident that S. buchanani differs by its larger and less curved bill, longer wing, and more yellowish colour, especially the sides being yellow with faint stripes, not green with black streaks.
“The nest of S. buchanani was found at Maktau in the fork of a thorn tree about eight feet above the ground, on 26th September, 1915. It is a somewhat flat structure of fibres and rootlets, interwoven with cobwebs and wool. The three eggs are pale blue with purplish black dots and short lines around the wide pole. They measure 20 by 14·8 and 19·3 by 14·7 mm. They closely resemble the eggs of the Trumpeter Bullfinch.
(init.) “E. H.”
“No. 13, Oenanthe oenanthe (European Wheatear) collected at Maktau, B.E.A., on 28th September, 1915. This appears to be an early date for the occurrence of the European Wheatear so far south.
(init.) “E. H.”
“No. 36. Colius leucocephalus (White-headed Coly). This species is still very rare in collections. It is at once distinguished from all other colies by its well-marked white head. The first example was obtained by Fisher at Wapokomo, B.E.A., in 1878, and long remained a unicum. The trader Abdu Jindi sold a skin from Bardera to the Paris Museum. The British Museum possesses specimens obtained on the Guaso Nyero, B.E.A., by Lord Delamere, and by Atkinson at Logh, Somaliland. The late Baron Erlanger collected five specimens in Southern Somaliland. The bird is figured in Coliidae, Genera Avium VI, 1906. Quite recently Zedlitz received three males and one female from Afgoi, South Somaliland.
(init.) “E. H.”
“No. 105. Laniarius funebris degener (Lesser Sombre Shrike), collected at Moschi, Kilimanjaro Area, is from a locality that is remarkable. Hitherto only known from South Somaliland, but agrees perfectly with degener, being smaller than atrocaeruleus, and much less deep black than L. funebris funebris.
(init.) “E. H.”
“Nos. 115, 116. Treron calva brevicera (Hartert’s Green Pigeon). In Novitates Zoologicae, XXV. 1918, I have, with the help of Arthur Goodson, reviewed the African Green Pigeons of the calva group. We were able to distinguish not less than nine sub-species, and there seem to be one or two other, still doubtful ones, in N.E. Africa. In the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum all these nine forms were united, while Reichenow separated two, and recently four different ones. The specimens from East Africa have given us the greatest trouble. It is evident that a distinct form with a very short naked ‘cere’ or basal portion of the beak, and with a sharply defined lavender-grey nuchal collar, is found in East Africa around Kilimanjaro and thence to the Athi River, Machakos, Matabato Hills, and to the Kikuyu Mountains and Escarpment. This form we called Treron calva brevicera.
(init.) “E. H.”
“No. 152. Motacilla clara (Long-tailed Pied Wagtail). This is the bird which used to be called for many years Motacilla longicauda, but as this name had been preoccupied, Sharpe named it Motacilla clara in the fifth volume of the Hand-list of Birds.
(init.) “E. H.”
PLANTS COLLECTED
I collected also during our travels some specimens of plants for Dr. A. B. Rendle of the British Museum, and was fortunate to secure some interesting species, four of which were new, and not formerly recorded, and have been described in the Journal of Botany (October, 1916), while others, unfortunately, were too fragmentary to determine, or to give more than a genus name, though nine of them are possibly new species.
The East African plants obtained were:
- CAPPARIDEAE
- Cleome hirta Oliv.
- PORTULACACEAE
- Talinum cuneifolium Willd.
- TILIACEAE
- Grewia canescens A. Rich.
- GERANIACEAE
- Pelargonium sp.
- LEGUMINOSAE
- Vigna fragrans Bak. fil.
- Rhynchosia sp.
- RUBIACEAE
- Pentas carnea Benth. (forma)
- Oldenlandia Bojeri Hiern
- COMPOSITAE
- Erlangea Buchananii S. Moore (sp. nov.)
- Vernonia Hoffmanniana S. Moore
- Vernonia lasiopus O. Hoffm.
- Ageratum conyzoides L.
- Notonia abyssinica A. Rich.
- Wedelia abyssinica Vatke
- Melanthera Brownei Sch. Bip.
- Senecio disciflorus Oliv.
- Berkheyopsis diffusa O. Hoffm.
- Aspilia, sp.
- Achyrocline luzuloides Vatke
- Zinnia multiflora L. (New World plant; an escape from gardens.)
- Erythrocephalum longifolium Benth.
- Triplocephalum Holstii O. Hoffm.
- Mikania scandens Willd.
- Pluchea dioscoridis D. C.
- Polycline (sp. nov.?)
- OLEACEAE
- Jasminum Buchananii S. Moore (sp. nov.)
- APOCYNACEAE
- Adenium coetaneum Stapf
- ASCLEPIADACEAE
- Daemia extensa R. Br.
- Sarcostemma viminalis R. Br.
- BORAGINACEAE
- Cynoglossum lanceolatum Forsk.
- CONVOLVULACEAE
- Ipomaea Wightii Choisy
- Hewittia bicolor Wight
- SOLANACEAE
- Solanum panduraeforme E. Mey.
- SCROPHULARIACEAE
- Rhamphicarpa Heuglinii Hochst.
- Rhamphicarpa serrata Klotzsch. var. longipedicellata Engl.
- Striga elegans Thunb.
- GESNERIACEAE
- Streptocarpus caulescens Vatke (Ulugúru Mts.)
- Streptocarpus sp. (Ruwu River)
- PEDALINEAE
- Sesamum (sp. nov.?)
- ACANTHACEAE
- Thunbergia affinis var. pulvinata S. Moore
- Thunbergia alata Bojer
- Barleria maculata S. Moore (sp. nov.)
- Ruellia, sp.
- Eranthemum Hildebrandtii C. B. Clarke
- Ecbolium namatum C. B. Clarke
- Barleria, spp.
- Barleria ramulosa C. B. Clarke
- Somalia (sp. nov.).
- Blepharis linariaefolia Pers.
- Justicia Fischeri Lindau
- VERBENACEAE
- Priva leptostachya Thunb.
- LABIATAE
- Leucas, sp.
- Erythrochlamys spectabilis Gürke
- Coleus decumbens Gürke
- Plectranthus buraeensis S. Moore (sp. nov.)
- Leucas leucotricha Baker
- NYCTAGINEAE
- Boerhaavia plumbaginea Cav.
- Boerhaavia pentandra Burch.
- AMARANTACEAE
- Aerua lanata Juss.
- Aerua brachiata Mart.
- Digera arvensis Forsk.
- Centema rubra Lopr.
- CHENOPODIACEAE
- Chenopodium album L.
- EUPHORBIACEAE
- Phyllanthua amarus Schum. & Thonn.
(Species possibly new when genus only is given.)
A. B. Rendle.
British Museum (Nat. Hist.) 30th May, 1916.
In collecting in this way, in odd hours, one was constantly moving about, and to that, strange as it may seem, I ascribe my good fortune in keeping fit and free of sickness during the first two years of service in the tropics. I feel sure, even if one feels listless and exhausted, that it is a mistake to lie about camp in the oppressive heat when off duty, pestered by flies and camp dust, and brooding over your discomforts. Some of the men of the battalion became interested in this searching for curious things, and, after a time, it was noticeable that they were the ones most contented with the hardships they endured, and among the fittest on trek. Africa had undoubtedly the power to depress men’s spirits in no light manner, and thus, to find something to do and think about, in any interval of idleness, was a good thing.
PESTS OF CAMP AND TREK
Lastly, I will refer to the pests of camp-life and trek.
The common house-fly was a terrible pest at all times. They swarmed over everything, and were a particular source of annoyance when food was being prepared, or being eaten. It was impossible to take steps to reduce their number in the limitless areas through which we were constantly passing, and there was nothing for it but to endure the plague, while, whenever camp was established for a few days, all rubbish was scrupulously burned or buried so that they would have as little to attract them to our neighbourhood as possible.
A large glossy “blue-bottle”—following the ghastly trail of dying transport animals, was also a common and disease-carrying pest. When the elephants—mentioned previously—were shot in the Ulugúru Mountains, they were miles from any habitation, and in vague bush country, which one would judge was no habitat of “blue-bottles,” yet in an hour they were in millions on the dead carcases—so many that the standing grass was weighed down with the blackness of flies settled on each stem. The sense that brought such swarms to one small centre in so short a time is beyond understanding. Should a horse die on the roadside, but a day will elapse before it becomes a seething mass of “blue-bottle” larva and terrible to look upon.
Mosquitoes, in regard to their irritating bite and their nocturnal activities, were, on the whole, not very troublesome, and in no instance have I a record of their being particularly bad, but they carry the malaria germ, and, in that they did so, they were our most deadly enemy. As protection against them everyone was supposed, by S.M.O. order, to sleep beneath mosquito net, but that was often quite impossible when trekking, and our kit miles in rear.
In some parts we passed through, especially if riding, the tsetse fly was a terrible pest, for they bite hard and deep, and follow you persistently on your way for many miles. It is that fly which is credited with carrying the germ of that dread disease sleeping sickness—while, as is well known, its bite is particularly fatal to imported horses and mules, and, in lesser degree, to cattle.
ANTS AND BEES
Ants, too, were among our enemies. And once you have been amongst red fighting ants in long marsh grass you are never likely to forget them. Sometimes, too, those species trek during the night, and I have seen a sleeping camp turned out in the middle of the night by those insects swarming over everyone and biting furiously. And, after a day of hard trekking, this kind of disturbance is very far from pleasant, as may be judged by the vicious exclamations of abuse that arise out of the darkness. These red ants were the worst of their tribe, and many an uncomfortable experience we had with them. Again, there was a tiny species of ant that was always with us. It infested every article of our belongings, and particularly anything edible, and on that score was a great nuisance, though quite harmless otherwise. As if there was not enough to plague the life of man, spiders, tarantulas, and scorpions on occasions found their way into your blanket, and they were insects that were dreaded, for their stings were very painful and poisonous and inflamed and irritated the part afflicted for days.
There are a great many bees in East Africa, and the natives place hives for them in the trees and collect the wild honey from time to time. These bees, if annoyed, are the most dreadful insect in Africa. On two occasions hives were disturbed by our battalion, and swarms of the annoyed inmates descended to inflict terrible punishment on all those in the neighbourhood. On the first occasion their attack was more than human flesh could endure, and an entire company was routed in disorder from the neighbourhood. I have never before seen bees attack with such ferocity nor sting so poisonously. On the first occasion of attack one unfortunate man was completely overcome, and lay on the ground groaning and screaming, while bees were apparently biting him to death. From this he was rescued, but not before he was mentally unbalanced, and had to be removed to hospital. On the second occasion of attack another individual suffered almost equally severely.
Many snakes were killed about camp, but no one of our battalion, so far as I know, was ever seriously bitten by one. One python was killed and a number of puff-adders, and a great many of the smaller grass snakes. I have seen men, when sleeping in the open, awake at daylight to find a snake, 4 to 6 feet long, curled against their body for warmth, but, on being disturbed, they slid off quietly into the grass, and were gone without attempting to be antagonistic.
At Kissaki camp we experienced a bad plague of mice. At the time we were there, the entire neighbourhood had been burnt out by the natives in clearing their cultivated ground of undergrowth, and this had driven the mice into camp. There were thousands of them—they lived in your grass roof by the score, they scuttled about the floor of your hut o’ nights, and while you slept they played “hide and seek” over your blankets. It was a common thing for half a dozen biscuit-tin traps—make-shift traps made by ingenious Tommies—to catch a hundred mice in a night.
Those are but brief references to the forms of Nature that were closely associated with the campaign; some giving us pleasure, some adding to our trials and discomforts—but all memorable to those who have bivouacked and trekked under the tropic sun.