Notes on the Antelopes of Central South Africa,” read before the
Zoological Society, described the present abode of the Hartebeest as
follows:--“The range of this Antelope is very similar to that of the
Gemsbuck. It is still found in Griqualand West, in some parts being
fairly plentiful. All along the eastern border of the Kalahari desert
it is also to be found, and extends as far east as the river Serule on
the road from Bamangwato to Tati. In the neighbourhood of the salt-pans
lying between the Botletlie river and the road from Bamangwato to the
Zambesi it is very plentiful and may be met with in large herds. It
does not, however, extend its range to the north of these salt-pans,
and is unknown in all the country between the Chobe and Mababe rivers,
as it is also in the Matabele and Mashuna countries. It is very fleet
and enduring, and only second in these particulars to the Tsessebe.”
Our figure of this species was lithographed on the stone by Mr. J. Smit
from a sketch made by Joseph Wolf, but we have been unable to ascertain
from what exact specimen the sketch was taken.
There is a stuffed example of the Cape Hartebeest in the British
Museum, obtained by the late Sir Andrew Smith during his journey
to the Cape, probably the individual from which his figure in the
‘Illustrations’ was taken. There are also other specimens in the same
collection, including the head of the curious hybrid between this
species and the Sassaby (_Damaliscus lunatus_) described by Mr.
Selous in 1893.
The Cape Hartebeest, though occasionally seen in zoological gardens,
has never been a common animal in captivity. The Zoological Society
of London received a single example in 1851, and a fine male in 1861,
presented by Sir George Grey, then Governor of the Cape Colony. In 1869
a pair were obtained by purchase.
In May 1890 the Society acquired a good pair of Hartebeests imported
from the Transvaal by the well-known dealer, Mr. C. Reiche, of Alfeld,
in Hanover. These are still living in the Regent’s Park Gardens.
_May, 1894._
7. JACKSON’S HARTEBEEST.
BUBALIS JACKSONI, THOS.
(?) _Alcelaphus bubalis_, =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 296
(1859) (Bahr-el-Ghazal).
_Antilope caama_, =Schweinfurth,= Herz. von Afrika, i. p. 212
(woodcut) (head, ♂), ii. p. 533 (1873) (Niam-Niam); =id.= op.
cit. Engl. transl. ii. p. 509 (1873).
“_Hartebeest_,” =Speke=, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 3 (no doubt _B.
cokei_ is also referred to).
_Boselaphus_, sp., =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1864, p. 103.
_Acronotus caama_, =Heugl.= Reise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 123, pl.
lower figure (horns) (1877) (White Nile).
_Alcelaphus caama_, =Thomson=, Masai-land, p. 469 (1885)
(Elgeyo).
_Bubalis jacksoni_, =Thos.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) ix. p. 386
(1892) (Kavirondo); =Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 58, fig. (skull and
head) (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 196 (1893); =Jackson=,
Big Game Shooting, i. p. 291.
_Bubalis caama_, =Junker=, Travels in Afr. iii. p. 172 (1892)
(?).
_Alcelaphus jacksoni_, =Lugard=, E. Africa, i. p. 532, and pl.
p. 448 (head) (1893).
VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Ssongoro_ in Niam Niam; _Nakibbih_ in
Monbuttu (_Schweinfurth_); _Alwalwong_ of Djeng, White Nile
(_Heuglin_); _Ngazi_ in Uganda (_Lugard_).
Similar in most essential characters to _B. caama_, but the face
is entirely without the black blaze always found in that species, being
rufous like the rest of the head, and the horns are not so abruptly
bent backwards above, the back of the last bend forming an even open
curve. The body-colours of _B. jacksoni_ are, however, not yet
accurately known, so that it is possible that other differences will
hereafter be found to exist.
Skull: basal length 16 inches, greatest breadth 5·7, orbit to muzzle
12·7; facial length 17·5, breadth of forehead 4·2.
_Hab._ Interior of British Central Africa, north of Lake
Baringo; Uganda; and probably extending northwards to the White
Nile, and westwards into North-east Congoland.
This Hartebeest, which is the northern representative of _B.
caama_, has been most appropriately named after Mr. Frederick John
Jackson, F.Z.S., the successful conductor of the expedition of the
Imperial British East African Company to Uganda in 1889 and 1890[5],
and the discoverer of the species, which, when previously met with,
had always been confounded with other members of the genus. It should
be recollected that, besides his merits as a geographical explorer,
Mr. Jackson is an ardent zoological collector and observer. The
splendid series of birds which he obtained during the expedition just
spoken of, and which embraced examples of nearly 300 species, has
been described by Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe in five papers published in
‘The Ibis’ for 1891 and 1892. Dr. Sharpe’s account of this remarkable
collection is rendered still more complete by Mr. Jackson’s excellent
field-notes which accompany it. Mr. Jackson has also published some
very interesting remarks on the Antelopes of British East Africa in one
of the recently issued volumes of the Badminton Library upon ‘Big Game
Shooting.’
If we assume, as is probable, that the Hartebeest of the Bahr-el-Ghazal
belongs to this species, the first examples of it sent to Europe would
be those obtained by Petherick in 1859, which were referred by the
late Dr. Gray to the Bubal of North Africa. Of these specimens the
only one retained by the British Museum is the skull of a female.
Another similar specimen from the Bahr-el-Ghazal was sent to the
British Museum in 1884 by the German collector Bohndorff. Heuglin also
(Reise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 123) has spoken of the occurrence, on the Kir
and Sobat rivers, of a Hartebeest allied to _B. caama_ of South
Africa. It is quite clear, therefore, that either Jackson’s Hartebeest
or a species closely allied to it is found in the White-Nile district,
although we must await the arrival of fresh specimens from this
country and further information before we can decide exactly what this
Hartebeest is.
It is also probable that the “Central African Hartebeest” of Dr.
Schweinfurth’s ’Im Herzen von Africa,’ and Junker’s “_Bubalis
caama_,” met with in the Niam-Niam country, on the northern
tributaries of the Congo, should both be referred to _Bubalis
jacksoni_.
Thomas’s original characters of _Bubalis jacksoni_ were based on a
specimen transmitted by Mr. Jackson to Messrs. Rowland Ward & Co., shot
in November 1889 in Northern Kavirondo, which is now in the British
Museum. In a note accompanying the specimen, in which he expresses a
sagacious doubt as to “its being the same as the South-African animal,”
Mr. Jackson adds:--“Up north all along the top of the Elgeyo Escarpment
(continuation of Mau) into Turquel to the north and north-east of Mount
Elgon it is very common, and takes the place of _B. cokei_. Round
Baringo it is fairly plentiful, but some marches south of Njemps _B.
cokei_ takes its place.”
Mr. Ernest Gedge, who accompanied Mr. Jackson in his adventurous
expedition, has kindly furnished us with the following excellent
field-notes on this Antelope:--
“The first specimens of Jackson’s Hartebeest were obtained on the Mau
plateau in British East Africa. This plateau extends in a northern and
southerly direction through the Masai country, and varies from 8000 to
9000 feet in elevation.
“West of Lake Naivasha the plateau is covered for the most part with
dense, almost impenetrable forests, but farther north the scenery
becomes more park-like, the forest clumps being intersected with grassy
ranches, which open out on to the broad expanse of the Angata Nyuki,
the latter extending right up to the eastern boundaries of Kavirondo.
The whole of this district is frequented by _B. jacksoni_, which
is also found north of Lake Naivasha in the localities bordering
on Lakes Nakuro and Baringo north and west of these points; again,
it inhabits the Suk country, Chibchangnani, Turquel, Karamojo, and
possibly Turkana; whilst farther west it is common in the district
round Mount Elgon, and is generally met with throughout Upper
Kavirondo, Usoga, and Uganda, wherever the conditions are favourable.
“I have seldom encountered _B. jacksoni_ in large herds, though
in habits it differs very little from other species of Hartebeest.
More frequently it is met with in small groups, in twos and threes,
or singly. It would appear to change its locality to a very great
extent according to the seasons. Thus, during the dry months of the
year it will be found plentifully scattered over the highlands, from
whence it retreats to the low country at the approach of the rains.
In illustration of this, I would mention that when on my journey to
England in 1892, in the month of December, the lowlands at the foot
of the escarpment were almost entirely deserted, whilst on the high
plateau above I met with these Antelopes in great numbers.
“On my return journey in the month of July of the following year the
Angata Nyuki had become very swampy, owing to the heavy rains, and
was entirely deserted, save by one or two odd specimens, whereas the
district around Lake Nakuro, in the low country, was fairly overrun by
these Antelopes.
“When herding together these animals are commonly found (like _B.
cokei_) in company with Zebras and other Antelopes, and I have
frequently come across and shot Topi (_Damaliscus jimela_) amongst
them, the latter being very numerous in the province of Buddu in Uganda.
“Like all Hartebeests, _B. jacksoni_ is, as a rule, very shy
and difficult to approach--though, on one occasion, having gone
considerably to the south of the ordinary caravan-route across the
Angata Nyuki, I not only met with them in great numbers, but they were
so little alarmed by my appearance in so unfrequented a locality, that
they allowed me to walk right up to them, and even when fired at only
ran for a short distance. They do not appear to patronize the bush
country like _B. cokei_, though they frequent its vicinity.
“I remarked this specially when in Uganda, for on the only occasions on
which I encountered _B. jacksoni_ there it was confined to certain
open portions of the country bordering the Nile and a flat open plain
of some 10 miles in diameter to the south of the Katonga River in the
Buddu district, where I found it accompanied by Topi, Waterbuck, and
Kob.
“It also, from all accounts, frequents the open tablelands bordering
Unyoro and the Albert Nyanza, as well as the province of Bulamweze in
Uganda, which presents somewhat similar characteristics.
“In appearance _B. jacksoni_ is larger and more strongly built
than _B. cokei_, and varies in colour from a light golden brown
to a dark tawny red, its coat being beautifully fine and glossy. It is
easily distinguished by the great length of its head and the peculiar
set of its horns, which rise almost perpendicularly from the frontal
bones, and curve sharply backwards near the tips at almost a right
angle.
“These Antelopes possess great tenacity of life, and I have known one
to get clean away though struck with two 577 express bullets. On the
other hand, if fairly hit in a vital spot they die very easily. The
cows calve in November and December, and, so far as one can judge, give
birth to only one at a time. The calves themselves are very hardy and
vigorous little animals; and I have known of one, which could not have
been born more than a week or so at the most, completely out-distance
one of my men who tried to run it down in the open--and this in spite
of the fact that one leg was partially deformed; but this may have been
an exceptional instance.
“The Wa-Soga and Wa-Ganda dress the skins of these Antelopes very
cleverly, turning them out as soft as wash-leather, and quite equal to
anything that can be done in the London market.”
[Illustration: Fig. 5.
Front view of head of Jackson’s Hartebeest. 1/7 nat. size.]
As already pointed out, the horns of _B. jacksoni_ present a very
general resemblance to those of its southern ally _B. caama_, and
are at once distinguishable from those of the other members of the
genus by the extreme elongation of the pedicle. But the horns of _B.
jacksoni_ are not quite so abruptly bent backwards as those of
_B. caama_, and its head is at once distinguishable from that of
the Cape species by the entire absence of black on the face.
No complete specimen of the skin of _B. jacksoni_ having as yet
been received, we are unable to give a coloured figure of this animal;
but the accompanying woodcut (fig. 5, p. 43) represents the typical
skull of this species in the British Museum.
There are no other specimens of this Antelope in the National
Collection, except the doubtful heads of Petherick and Bohndorff
already referred to.
_May, 1894._
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES. PL. V.
_Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._
Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest.
BUBALIS LICHTENSTEINI.
_Published by R. H. Porter_]
8. LICHTENSTEIN’S HARTEBEEST.
BUBALIS LICHTENSTEINI (PETERS).
[PLATE V.]
_Antilope lichtensteini_, =Pet.= Mitth. Ges. nat. Fr. Dec. 18,
1849; =id.= Säug. Mossamb. p. 190, pls. xliii. (skull) and xliv.
(animal) (1852); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Supp. v. p. 445 (1855);
=Gieb.= Säug. p. 298 (1859).
_Bubalis lichtensteini_, =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 195 (1853);
=Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 63, fig. (horns) (1892); =Nicholls & Egl.=
Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 46, pl. iv. fig. 14 (head) (1892); =Thos.=
P. Z. S. 1892, p. 533 (Nyasa), 1893, p. 504; =Scl.= P. Z. S.
1893, p. 506; =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 198 (1893); =Barkley=,
P. Z. S. 1894, p. 132 (Pungwe R.); =Jackson=, Big Game Shooting,
i. p. 290.
_Alcelaphus lichtensteini_, =Gerrard=, Cat. Bones Mam. B. M.
p. 243 (1862); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 44 (1872); =id.=
Hand-l. Rum. p. 115 (1873); =Buckley=, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 454
(distribution); =Selous=, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 763 (distribution);
=id.= Hunter’s Wanderings, p. 224, pl. vii. figs. 3 & 4 (head)
(1881); =Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 139
(1887); =Crawshay=, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 662 (Nyasa); =Lyd.= Field,
lxxvii. p. 858 (1891); =Lugard=, E. Afr. i. p. 532, pl. p. 440
(head) (1893).
_Boselaphus lichtensteini_, =Kirk=, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 660
(Shupanga).
_Alcelaphus caama_, =Noack=, Zool. JB. ii. p. 208 (1887); =id.=
op. cit. vii. p. 593 (1893).
_Alcelaphus caama_ and _A. lichtensteini_, =Noack=, JB. Mus.
Hamb. ix. p. 11 (1891).
_Bubalis leucoprymnus_, =Matsch.= SB. nat. Freund. 1892, p. 137
(?).
VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Konze_ of Masubias; _Inkulanondo_ of
Mashunas (_Selous_); _Gondo_ in Tette; _Gondongo_ at Sena and
Boror; _Vacca de mato_ of Portuguese (_Peters_); _Nkozi_ of
Ahenga; _Kangosa_ of Awanyakyusa (_Crawshay_).
Size rather large; height at withers about 48 inches. General colour
fulvous, deeper and more rufous along the back. Chin, the usual
tail-crest, and the front of the lower part of all four limbs black.
Lower part of rump white or pale yellowish, contrasting markedly with
the dark rufous of its upper surface. No anteorbital tuft present.
Hairs of face reversed upwards from muzzle to horns, except on a median
patch, about four inches long, between the eyes, where they slant
downwards.
Skull with but little frontal elongation, the elevation bearing the
horns much broader and shorter than in the majority of the true
Hartebeests; on the other hand, the muzzle is unusually lengthened, so
that the total facial length is about equal to that of _B. caama_.
Basal length 14·7 inches, greatest breadth 7·2, muzzle to orbit 11·5,
length of face 17, breadth of forehead 6·1.
Horns comparatively short and thick, curved first outwards, then
upwards and inwards, and finally abruptly bent backwards, their
terminal portions nearly or quite parallel with each other, and
comparatively close together. The largest horns are just 20 inches in
length.
_Hab._ East Africa, north of the Sabi River, throughout
Nyasaland and Mozambique to Usagara, opposite Zanzibar.
The late Dr. Wilhelm Peters, a distinguished zoologist, who explored
different parts of the Portuguese territory of Mozambique from 1842
to 1848, was the discoverer of this Antelope, which he named after
Lichtenstein, his not less celebrated predecessor in the keepership
of the Royal Museum of Berlin, and a former well-known authority on
this group of mammals. Peters gives as its locality the provinces of
Tette, Sena, and Boror, from the 16th to the 18th degree of south
latitude; and Sir John Kirk, in his notes on the ‘Mammals of Zambesi,’
published in 1864, says that “it is very common during the dry season
in the forest of Shupanga and in Inhamunha, in small herds.” South of
the Zambesi Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest appears to extend as far as the
Pungue and Sabi Rivers. Messrs. Nicholls and Eglinton tell us that
it is plentiful on the eastern course of the Sabi; and Mr. Buckley
met with it in the rough grassy plains of the Upper Pungue Valley, in
herds sometimes of considerable size. Mr. Buckley always observed these
Antelopes on the open veldt, and found that they kept clear of the more
hilly and timbered country.
The great hunter, Mr. F. C. Selous, met with this Antelope only on
the open downs of the Manica plateau, north of the Zambesi, where it
is called the “Konze.” He was a little doubtful about its identity
with the “Inkulanondo” of South-eastern Mashunaland; but we believe
that both the native names last mentioned refer alike to _Bubalis
lichtensteini_. Mr. Selous makes the following remarks upon this
species (P. Z. S. 1881, p. 764):--
“The Konze very closely resembles the Hartebeest of South Africa; the
horns, however, are shorter and flatter at the base, and the forehead
is not nearly so elongated. The black mark down the front of the face
of the Hartebeest is also wanting in the Konze, where the colour is
of a uniform light red. The general colour of the animal is a little
lighter than that of the Hartebeest, the tail, knees, and front of all
four legs being black. As in the Hartebeest, there is a patch of pale
yellow on the rump; and the insides of thighs and belly are also of a
very pale yellow. One old bull that I shot was of very rich dark red
colour all along the back and the upper part of the sides. About a
hand’s breadth behind each shoulder was a patch of dark grey about six
inches in diameter. A female that I shot also had these grey patches
behind the shoulders. In two other full-grown males these patches were
wanting.”
Throughout Nyasaland, so far as it has yet been explored,
Lichtenstein’s Antelope appears to be an abundant species; and Mr. R.
Crawshay, our principal authority on the Antelopes of this country,
tells us (P. Z. S. 1890, p. 663) that it is very generally met with
in the hills, if not too steep and rocky, and also in the plains, but
appears to prefer a flat or undulating woody district with intervening
open glades. Mr. Crawshay adds the following account of his personal
experience with this Antelope:--
“In 1883 I first met with this Antelope on the plains between the
Kiwira and Insesi Rivers, in Makyusa’s country, at the north-west of
the lake; there were just three in the troop, and with the help of
another gentleman I was lucky enough to kill one--a nearly full-grown
bull. In 1885 I saw several herds of these animals to the south-east of
Nyasa, and between it and Lake Shirwa, and from all accounts they must
be plentiful in the Yao country, to the east of the lake.
“On the West Coast, later in the same year, I came across a good many
on the Kanjamwana River, and between Amuwa and Mpemba’s: here they
usually consorted with Impalas; but on the same plains there were
also to be seen in their company, from time to time, Water-bucks,
Reed-bucks, and occasionally Koodoos and Elands. Inland from Bana to
the north again, I was told there were Hartebeests, and I saw some
heads of animals said to have been killed there.
“In 1889–90 I repeatedly saw a few in the low red-sandstone hills to
the north of Chombi, between Makwawa’s and Afunanchenga’s, on the
Hara River; here they generally went in company with Water-bucks or
Zebras, and once I noticed three Hartebeests herding and feeding in the
midst of some thirty or forty Water-bucks, all cows. Between Nkanga
and Karonga’s, on the coast-line, and in all the intervening country
between that and the Anyika Mountains, Hartebeests are commonly met
with, notably at Vuwa, Mrali, and Taowira. At Nkanga, during my stay
there, a cow was killed in a game-pit, and of this animal I secured the
horns and frontal bone. As a rule, I have seen Hartebeests in herds
numbering from half a dozen or even less to perhaps fifteen or twenty,
but I never remember having come across more than that number. This
Antelope possesses extraordinary vitality, and in this respect is very
little behind the Water-buck.”
Mr. B. L. Sclater, R.E., who has recently passed two years in the Shiré
Highlands, and has traversed nearly every part of that district[6],
informs us that he considers this Hartebeest to be the commonest of
the larger Antelopes there, after the Waterbuck. He met with it in all
parts of the country, more frequently in the open districts, but also
in the wooded valley of the Shiré, sometimes singly, and at other times
in larger or smaller herds. On the Tochila plains under Mount Milanji,
at an elevation of about 2000 feet, in November 1891 he saw a large
herd of this Antelope mixed with Zebras.
From Nyasaland, so far as we can make out, Lichtenstein’s Antelope
extends northwards to the plains of the Wami River opposite Zanzibar,
where Sir John Kirk procured specimens, which are now in his
collection. In the hills of Usagara, north-east of this district,
_B. lichtensteini_ is replaced by _B. cokei_, as already
mentioned in our article on the latter species. Herr P. Matschie,
of Berlin, considers the Hartebeest of German East Africa, which he
says extends as far north as the Pangani River, to be different from
_B. lichtensteini_ (although he admits that the horns of the two
species very closely resemble each other), and proposes to call it
_B. leucoprymnus_. We are not, however, with due respect to Herr
Matschie’s views, yet prepared to recognize _B. leucoprymnus_
as distinct from _B. lichtensteini_, though we fully admit the
possibility of being obliged hereafter, by future evidence, to alter
our opinion on this point.
[Illustration: Fig. 6 _a_.
Skull of _Bubalis lichtensteini_, ♂.
(Brooke.)]
The main distinguishing feature of Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest is the
short and thick basal portion of its horns, which induces us to place
it in a section by itself, and which renders it easily recognizable
from the seven preceding species of this genus. This character is well
shown in the accompanying woodcuts (figs. 6 _a_ and 6 _b_).
Figure 6 _a_, prepared under the superintendence of Sir Victor
Brooke, shows the skull of a male of this species; fig. 6 _b_,
p. 50 (which has been kindly lent to us by the Zoological Society of
London) represents, as we now believe, the skull of a female, though
originally supposed by Mr. Crawshay to belong to a young male.
[Illustration: Fig. 6 _b_.
Skull of _Bubalis lichtensteini_, ♀.
(P. Z. S. 1890, p. 662.)]
Our coloured figure of this Antelope (Plate V.) was prepared by Mr.
Smit from a male specimen (now in the British Museum) which was shot on
the River Sabi by Mr. Selous in July 1885. Besides this, the National
Collection contains a stuffed female from the same locality, and a
series of skulls and skins from Nyasaland, transmitted by Mr. H. H.
Johnston, C.B., F.Z.S., and other specimens from the Manica plateau
(_Selous_) and Usagara (_Kirk_).
_May, 1894._
GENUS II. DAMALISCUS.
Type.
_Damalis_, =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 233
(1846), et auctorum plurimorum, nec Ham. Sm. =D. LUNATUS.=
_Damaliscus_, nomen novum =D. PYGARGUS.=
Similar in most essential characters to _Bubalis_, but distinguished by
the frontals being quite normal, and not drawn upwards and backwards
to form a horn-support. As a result the parietal surface of the skull
faces upwards instead of backwards, and is easily visible between the
horns in a vertical view of the skull.
The horns practically form a single simple or slightly lyrate curve in
all the species, except _D. hunteri_, and in this, although there
is a double sigmoid curve, no approximation is shown to the peculiarly
abrupt double curvature characteristic of _Bubalis_.
_Range of the Genus._ Africa south of the Atlas.
As in the previous genus, the species of _Damaliscus_, seven in
number, may be divided into groups based on the curvature and direction
of the horns, as follows:--
A. Horns with a double curve, slanting outwards and upwards, then
bending slightly downwards almost at once, while their long
points are again directed upwards 1. _D. hunteri._
B. Horns evenly curved backwards or slightly lyrate; the tips only
recurved upwards.
_a._ No white blaze on face 2, 3, 4. _D. korrigum_,
_D. tiang_, _D. jimela_.
_b._ Face with a white blaze 5, 6. _D. pygargus_,
_D. albifrons_.
C. Horns starting laterally outwards, with a single lunate curve
upwards and backwards 7. _D. lunatus._
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES. PL. VI.