THE BRONTOSAURUS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1712, 31 December 1919, Page 6

THE BRONTOSAURUS.

BRITISH 11IJNTLRS’ QUEST. LONDON, Dec. 14. Amongst the. British big-game ljunters leaving m quest ot the Lironiosaurtts is Cap tain Lester Stevens, who is taking his great dog Laddie, half sheepdog and half wolfs Tho dog became famous during dlie war lor carrying messages trjim the trenches. Mr Walter Winans, a famous shot, who intends tr hunt the brontosaurus, -believes that the reptile lives in a subterranean lake. Two descriptions of ibe so-called “brontosaurus,” a monster wliieh is reputed to inhabit the swamps of Central Africa, have ah;pady been cabled. T bey (idler considerably. Mi- John Jordan, a big-game hunter, stated that lie encountered a brontosaurus hj tho vicinity of Lake Victoria Nyanza in 1907. ft had a lionlike head, and walrus fangs, was 13ft in-length, and was covered with settles with leopard-like spottings. Capelle, a- Belgian hunter, stated that dining an expedition into the inteiior of the Congo ho followed a si range spoor for 12 miles, and sighted a beast certainly of the rhinoceros order. It had large scales reach ing far down, a very thick kangaroo-liki tail, a horned snout, and a hump on its back. Ib> fired shots at the monster, which threw up its head and disappeared in the

swamp. The identification of such a c-rcaturo with tho brontosaurus seems a fantastic specula lion. The brontosaurus was a huge reptile, which existed during the Jurassic period, before tho tiSe of* the mammals to theii present predominance. According to do duct ions made from fossil remains, the bron tosaurus measured from 17 to 25 yards m length. It, had st small head, neck, and

long tail, and apparently walked on four logs. Each of its massive limbs had Jiv* roes, of which three bore outwardly curved toes. Tho story of the discovery of tin brontosaurus is regarded in London wit!, mingled amusement and scepticism. Scientists, however, have not finally consigned tho reports to the realms of fiction Professor Chaliner.-; Mitchell says: “Tin discovery is possible, though unlikely. Similar stories have previously been current Tho ex-Kaiser supplied the last when, visit ing (ho London Zoo. he described the oxistenee of a , similar pro-historic monster in German East Africa. Tito brontosaurus may bo living in tho Congo to-day, but I would fool safe in offering £IOOO to a halfpcnm that it is not. Professor Smith Woodward, of tiie British Museum, is equally sceptical Ho believes that tho brontosaurus finally disappeared with fhe arrival of tho creta coous period.