11. The fauna is especially interesting because it presents an ancient facies, more like that of a bygone age than of the present, In fact Sir Harry Johnston refers to it as being of the Miocene type. There are at least a dozen species of apes and monkeys, among which the most interesting is the chimpanzee; there are many species of bats of all sizes, some being insectivorous and others eating fruits; there are a variety of wild cats, including the leopard, and the natives make a specialty of killing them for their spotted skins; two species of mongoose are found; the red river hog is abundant; four species of manis, with curious overlapping scales, able to roll themselves up into a ball something like an armadillo, are among the curious forms; the most interesting animal in the fauna perhaps is the water chevrotain, a creature of no great size, but which presents a curious intermediate or connecting form between the pig and camel on the one side and the deer, giraffe, and antelope on the other; true antelopes are numerous in many species, some of which are dainty little creatures; the buffalo, perhaps the most dangerous animal of Africa, occurs; elephants are still found, and ever since the traders first visited the Grain Coast, ivory has been to some degree exported; the most famous of Liberian animals, however, is the pygmy hippopotamus, just like the larger species, but weighing perhaps only four hundred pounds when fully grown. 12. Bird-life, too, is abundant. There are naturally great numbers of water birds, both swimmers and waders--such as egrets and other herons, ibis, and the strange finfoot; hornbills are common; eagles and vultures occur; one of the commonest and most striking of the birds is the black and white crow; brilliant of plumage is the plantain-eater, but the parrots of the country are dull and inconspicuous. Of reptiles there are plenty. The python is the largest snake, and grows to a length of thirty feet; there are many species of serpents, including ten which are poisonous; lizards are common, among them the chameleon with its varying color and its strange, independently movable eyes; crocodiles are common in all the rivers. There are fish in plenty, but the most curious certainly is the little bommi fish which comes out of the water, jumps about upon the bank, and even crawls among the branches and bushes near the water; in appearance and movement it is so like a frog that one at first does not realize that it is in reality a fish.