In about 500 b.c. the Carthaginian navigator Hanno brought back the first reports of the existence of gorillas in the forests of West Africa. They were doubtless known also to the early Portuguese and other voyagers along the Guinea coast and in 1590, Battel, who called them “pongos” to distinguish them from the smaller “engeco” or chimpanzee, described them with fair accuracy:—“exactly proportioned like a man, but he is more like a giant in stature for he is very tall and hath a man's face, hollow eyed, with long hair upon his brows…they sleep in the trees and build shelters from the rain. They feed upon fruit that they find in the woods and upon nuts for they eat no kind of flesh.”

“Gorongoza is, without any doubt, one of the most marvellous wild life sanctuaries in the world. The variety and abundance of animals is wonderful. Nobody should let slip an opportunity of seeing this place where old Africa has been safely preserved.”

These were the words of admiration which Mr. Victor Cahalane, chief biologist of the United States National Parks Department, entered in the visitors' book after his visit to the Gorongoza Park.

Near the northern border of Tanganyika lies the Serengeti National Park—an area of 4,480 square miles and one of the most important nature reserves of the world. It may be considered in three parts: the Western Serengeti, a corridor between the Grumeti and Mbalageti rivers which approaches Lake Victoria but does not quite reach it: the Central Plains: the Crater Highlands, including Ngorongoro.

The true domesticated cattle are the descendants of a group of races of Bos primigenius, the Urus or Aurochs, as this species is commonly called in Europe. Their economic importance has increased in the course of time as civilization advanced and to-day they are perhaps the most important of all domesticated animals, as producers of meat, milk and hides. It is certain that domestication was undertaken long before 3000 b.c., but nothing is known about its actual beginnings. Many theories have been developed to explain the differences of present-day breeds by deriving them from various types of wild cattle. It is possible also that interspecific crossing has played a part in the development of some of the eastern breeds.

This report is based on two and a half months' work along the western boundary of the park from Ziwani to Lake Jipe and in the adjoining area.

The Poachers.—The tribes reponsible for the poaching in this area are: Mtaveta, Wakamba, Wapore, Wanyasa, Teita. These people are found along the entire western boundary of the Jipe area. During eight months of the year there is not a drop of water inside this part of the park, and every animal must leave it to drink. Poachers are then able to kill game on their doorsteps with little danger of being caught, and the meat can be cut up and removed at once leaving no trace. During the rains, when waterholes are full and game scattered, small gangs operate far afield into the park.

Readers of Oryx, and members of the society who came to the Annual General Meeting in April, will realize the importance for the preservation of the red lechwe, of Lochinvar Ranch on the Kafue flats, Northern Rhodesia.

From earliest times man has taken an interest in animals, but our ancestors were mainly concerned with hunting them. The oldest documents dealing with hunting laws date from the eleventh century. In Russia hunting was never a privilege, the prerogative of princes or state, but the state was always concerned with the products of the chase. One of the first reserves was made in the seventeenth century to protect the eyries of the gyr falcon, much in demand for falconry. An early government monopoly in fur trading guaranteed some measure of protection for fur-bearing animals.

The Faunal Area of Lakeland comprises Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands. Relatively well defined, mainly by sea coast and lengthily by the Pennines, it originates in the central mountain mass cradling many broad waters, which is the Lake District of universal appeal. This lake and fell region and its surroundings extending to about two-thirds of the whole area, is the Lake District National Park, the first park to be designated by the National Parks Commission. During the present century, the National Trust has acquired many properties with a view to preserving their natural amenities. On the other hand, towns and villages have spread apace, following upon all those human enterprises which, through the ages, have transformed the land into its present state. Besides agriculture there are, for example, the sheep-rearing industry, with its effect on hill vegetation and bygone mining activities to which so much of the native tree growth was sacrificed. Now the work of the Forestry Commission is bringing a new aspect to parts high and low between the northern and southern limits of the area. Some older features remaining to be considered in relation to the wild animal life are the varied tree plantations on the landed estates, together with well wooded river valleys and still extensive birch and pine-fringed peat mosses. Sweeping though they have been down the centuries, the surface changes in Lakeland have had far from a completely adverse effect on the native mammals. While for some the fells have perhaps meant salvation, there are two of the most ancient residents which, from mere survival, have rather astonishingly increased and spread.