Büttikofer, of the Leyden Museum, who made two zoological voyages
to Liberia in 1880 and 1886. In Dr. Jentink’s list of the Liberian
mammals obtained by Mr. Büttikofer and his fellow collectors in Liberia
(Notes Leyden Mus. vol. x. p. 20) it is recorded that _Cephalophus
sylvicultrix_ is said to occur sparingly on the Jackson and Mahfa
rivers in that country, but to be more common on the Manna and Solyman
rivers. But Mr. Büttikofer, in spite of all his efforts, did not
succeed in obtaining specimens.
[Illustration: Fig. 16 _a_.
Skull of _Cephaloplms sylvicultrix_, jr.
(P. Z. S. 1871, p. 594.)]
Although, as already stated, originally discovered in Sierra
Leone, the Yellow-backed Duiker seems to have a somewhat extended
distribution along the western coast of Africa, reaching altogether
from Liberia to the Congo. A pair of mounted specimens and a skeleton
in the British Museum were transmitted from Fantee by the native
collector Aubinn. The same collection also contains skins from Lagos,
procured by Sir Alfred Moloney, and two skulls and a skin from Gaboon,
brought to England by Mr. DuChaillu on his return from his celebrated
gorilla-hunting expedition. Upon one of these skulls in 1865, Dr. Gray
established his _Cephalophus longiceps_, and upon the second skull
and the skin which accompanied it, in 1871, the same author based his
_C. melanoprymnus_. Thomas has shown (P. Z. S. 1892, p. 416) that
both these names are merely synonyms of, _C. sylmcultrix_[12].
We may add we have as yet no information as to the range of this
species into the interior, except that Herr Matschie has recorded its
occurrence in Togoland; but it must be explained that our knowledge of
the distribution of West-African mammals is still woefully deficient.
As the same gentleman informs us, there is, besides several skins
from Togoland, a stuffed example in the Berlin Museum sent by Herr
Pechuel-Loesche from Longobondo.
Our illustration of this species on Plate XIII. is copied from a
watercolour drawing taken in April 1894 by Keulemans, from a fine
male specimen living in the Zoological Gardens of Rotterdam. As this
animal was received from the Congo in June 1891 (presented by Heer A.
de Bloeme) it must be necessarily quite adult. Mr. Keulemans’ notes on
it are as follows:--“Head dark grey; neck grey, shading into brownish
and becoming blackish near the shoulders; hairs of neck and head very
short and glossy; general colour dark brown, with a bluish gloss,
getting blacker on the buttocks, where the hairs are long; tail short
and black; large plaque on the back and buttocks and tuft between
the horns brownish ochre.” Our second figure (Plate XIV. fig. 2),
which was prepared by Mr. Smit under Sir Victor Brooke’s directions,
probably represents a young male of this species; but we do not know
for certain from what specimen it was taken. The figure of Gray’s
_C. melanoprymnus_ in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for
1871 (pl. xliv.) was drawn from a still younger animal, probably of
about the same stage as the figure of “_C. punctulatus_” in the
‘Knowsley Menagerie.’ It will be observed how greatly the colour of the
back varies in these specimens of different ages.
_May, 1895._
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XV.
_Smit del. et lith._ _Hanhart imp._
Jentink’s Duiker
CEPHALOPHUS JENTINKI.
_Published by R. H. Porter._]
20. JENTINK’S DUIKER.
CEPHALOPHUS JENTINKI, THOS.
[PLATE XV.]
_Antilope (Terpone) longiceps_, =Jent.= N. L. M. vii. p. 272,
pl. x. (animal) (1885) (_nec_ Gray).
_Terpone longiceps_, =Jent.= N. L. M. x. p. 19, pl. i. (horns,
♀) (1887); =id.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p.
158 (1892); =Büttik.= Reiseb. a. Liberia, ii. p. 374 (1890).
_Cephalophus jentinki_, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 417; =Lyd.=
Horns and Hoofs, p. 213 (1893).
Size large, though smaller than _C. sylvicultrix_; form stout.
Ears short, broad, and rounded. Colour of head, ears, neck all round
as far back as the withers, throat, and a narrow sternal line deep
uniform black; of body above and beneath coarsely grizzled grey, the
hairs ringed with black and white. Lips and chin, a line all round the
fore-quarters separating the black from the grey, axillæ, groins, fore
and hind legs whitish; a rather darker mark running across the outer
side of the forearm.
Skull much longer in proportion to the size of the animal than in _C.
sylvicultrix_, agreeing, in fact, precisely in size with that of the
larger species. In other respects also it agrees so closely with that
of _C. sylvicultrix_ that, had the external characters not been
known, the two species would have been hardly supposed to be different.
Such differences as there are, however, have been fully pointed out in
Thomas’s monograph.
Horns long, tapering, placed in the line of the nasal profile,
divergent as in _C. sylvicultrix_, those of female 6·1 inches
long, base not specially thickened, basal diameter going about 5½ times
in the length.
Dimensions:--♀. Height at withers 30 inches, ear 4, hind foot 12.
Skull (♀): basal length 10·5 inches, greatest breadth 5, muzzle to
orbit 6·5
_Hab._ Liberia.
The present Duiker nearly equals the preceding species in size, but,
as will be seen by the Plate, is immediately distinguishable by marked
differences in colour, its black head and neck rendering it very
conspicuous. Its discovery is due to Mr. F. X. Stampfli, a naturalist
who made two expeditions to Liberia, in 1884 and 1886, to collect
specimens for the Leyden Museum. In the first of these he was alone;
in the second he was accompanied by Mr. Büttikofer, the well-known
Conservator of that institution.
The Black-headed Duiker was first described by Dr. Jentink, the
Director of the Leyden Museum, in 1885, from a single female specimen
procured near Schieffelinsville, on the Junk River, by Stampfli in the
preceding year. Unfortunately Dr. Jentink referred the specimen to
_C. longiceps_ of Gray, a species based on a skull brought home
from Gaboon by Mr. DuChaillu. In doing this he was perfectly justified,
on account of the extraordinarily close resemblance of its skull to
that of _C. longiceps_. But Thomas subsequently showed that
DuChaillu’s Gaboon skull (as already mentioned above) is undoubtedly
referable to the nearly allied _C. sylvicultrix_. Under these
circumstances it became necessary to give another scientific name
to the present species, and Thomas selected the appropriate term
_jentinki_; as it was Dr. Jentink’s “carefulness, led astray by
Dr. Gray’s serious mistakes,” that had “caused him to make the venial
error just referred to.”
During his second expedition, in 1887, Mr. Stampfli procured two more
examples of this Antelope on the Farmington River. Like the first, both
these were females, and, as we are told by Dr. Jentink, do not differ
in colour from the typical specimen. Mr. Stampfli’s notes on this
Antelope are as follows:--
“A little below Schieffelinsville, in the triangle between the Junk
River on one side and its two confluents, the Du Queah and Farmington
Rivers, on the other, a wooded eminence called ‘Sharp Hill’ rises in
the middle of the marshes, to which, according to the testimony of the
natives, these animals are restricted. As in the dry season the marshes
cannot be traversed in canoes, and yet are not sufficiently dry to be
passed on foot, these Antelopes can only be obtained in the rainy
season, and it is said to be quite an exception for a specimen to be
procured except during that period.”
In the second volume of Mr. Büttikofer’s ‘Reisebilder aus Liberia,’
which contains a complete account of the explorations and discoveries
of himself and his companions in that country, will be found some
additional details on this Antelope. Mr. Büttikofer calls particular
attention to the large size of the inguinal glands between the belly
and the thigh in this Antelope. They are so large that they will easily
contain a lemon. These are said to be fat-glands, from which the beast
extracts fat with its muzzle to lubricate its short, shining, hairy
coat. Mr. Büttikofer also says that this Antelope, although only
obtained from Sharp Hill, certainly occurs in other parts of Liberia.
Our figure of this Bush-Duiker (Plate XV.) has been prepared by Mr.
Smit from the mounted specimen in the British Museum, which is the type
of the species. It is one of the three specimens obtained in Liberia by
Mr. Stampfli, the other two remaining at Leyden. We believe that these
are the only three specimens of this rare Antelope existing in any
European museum.
_May, 1895._
21. ABBOTT’S DUIKER.
CEPHALOPHUS SPADIX, TRUE.
_Cephalophus spadix_, =True=, Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. xiii. p. 227
(1890); =id.= op. cit. xv. p. 473, pl. lxxviii. (animal), pl.
lxxix. (skull) (1892); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 418; =Lyd.=
Horns and Hoofs, p. 209 (1893); =Jackson=, in Badm. Libr. Big
Game Shooting, i. p. 285 (1894).
Size comparatively large. General colour dusky chestnut-brown
without spots or bands, and not lighter on the belly. Forehead dusky
brown, like body; chin and throat pale greyish brown. Hairs of crest
chestnut-red at the base, and tipped with black: mingled with them are
some hairs which are dusky throughout, and others pure white. Anterior
surfaces of the legs somewhat lighter than the posterior surfaces. Tail
dusky, except at the tip, where there are a few pure white hairs.
Skull elongate; muzzle slender; frontal region strongly convex.
Horns “directed backwards, and lying below the plane of the upper
surface of the skull”; those of male 4½ inches long; slender, straight,
not thickened at the base in front.
Dimensions:--♂. Head and body 38 inches, ear 4¼, hind foot (hoof to
hock) 9½.
Skull: basal length, from occipital condyle, 8·5 inches; greatest
breadth 4; nasals, length 3·7.
This description has been compiled from Mr. True’s two notices and from
his figures of the animal and its skull, as we have not as yet had any
opportunity of seeing examples of the species, of which no specimen has
come to Europe.
_Hab._ East Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, at high elevations
(_Abbott_).
We now proceed to consider the smaller Duikers of the section with
horns slanting backwards. These are generally of a rufous colour,
varied by more or less intense dark markings on the face and dorsal
line, only _C. doriæ_, which we place by itself, having the back
transversely barred.
Sir John Willoughby’s volume on ‘East Africa and its Big Game’ gives an
excellent account of the adventures of himself and a party of friends
during a shooting-expedition to the hunting-grounds of Kilimanjaro and
its neighbourhood, and of the great variety and enormous quantity of
the larger mammals to be met with, a few years ago, in that district.
In an appendix to the volume, contributed by Mr. H. C. V. Hunter,
F.Z.S., is added a systematic account of the principal mammals met with
on the plains round Kilimanjaro and on the mountain itself, amongst
which we find recorded such splendid Antelopes as the Eland, Koodoo,
Oryx, Hartebeest, Gnu, Pallah, Waterbuck, Reedbuck, and three kinds of
Gazelle. At the close of the list Mr. Hunter notes the occurrence, high
up on Kilimanjaro, of a species of _Cephalophus_ “of a dark red
colour, much larger than the Common Duiker (_C. grimmi_). A male
of this probably new Antelope, it is stated, had been killed by Dr.
Abbott.” This, so far as we know, is the first published mention of the
species of which we now speak as Abbott’s Duiker.
Dr. W. L. Abbott, who is thus alluded to, is an American naturalist
and explorer who passed nearly two years, in 1888 and 1889, collecting
objects of natural history in the district of Kilimanjaro. On his
return to America Dr. Abbott presented his whole collection to
the National Museum, which is under the charge of the Smithsonian
Institution at Washington. Mr. Frederick W. True, the Curator of the
Department of Mammals, to whom was assigned the task of describing
the collection, speaks of it as “one of high scientific value.” “The
specimens,” he says, “have been prepared with much care, the skins
being almost invariably accompanied by the skulls, and furnished with
labels giving the locality and date of capture, the sex, and other
data.” It included altogether about ninety skins and an equal number
of skulls representing some thirty-eight species. Amongst these was
a single male example of the present Antelope, no doubt the specimen
alluded to by Mr. Hunter which is stated to have been killed at a high
altitude on Kilimanjaro. As there is no specimen of this Antelope
available for our use, we have, as already stated, extracted the more
essential characteristics from Mr. True’s two accounts.
Mr. True was of opinion that _C. spadix_ is closely allied to
_C. niger_, and even possibly identical with it. We think,
however, that its nearest relatives are probably _C. natalensis_
and _C. harveyi_, from which it is at once distinguishable by its
larger size.
_May, 1895._
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XVI.
_Wolf del. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._
The Natal Duiker
CEPHALOPHUS NATALENSIS
_Published by R. H. Porter._]
22. THE NATAL DUIKER.
CEPHALOPHUS NATALENSIS, A. SMITH.
[PLATE XVI.]
_Cephalophus natalensis_, =A. Smith=, S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii.
p. 217 (1834); =id.= III. Zool. S. Afr., Mamm. t. xxxii. (1841);
=Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 166 (1846); =id.= Knowsl.
Men. p. 10 (1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850, p. 123; =Turner=, P. Z.
S. 1850 p. 170; =Gray=, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 85, pl. x. fig. 1
(skull) (1852); =Gerr.= Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 236 (1862);
=Blyth=, Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. p. 168 (1863); =Fitz.= SB. Wien,
lix. pt. 1, p. 166 (1869); =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 598; =id.=
Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 27 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. p. 96 (1873);
=Drummond=, Large Game S. Afr. p. 391 (1875); =Scl.= List Anim.
Z. S. (8) p. 146 (1883); =Scl.= f. Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p.
168 (1891); =Jent.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.)
p. 162 (1892); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 419; =Nicolls & Egl.=
Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 23, pl. i. fig. 2 (head) (1892); =Ward=,
Horn Meas. p. 77 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 209 (1893).
_Cephalophorus natalensis_, =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 163
(1843).
_Sylvicapra natalensis_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Hand-l.
1844, p. 190 (1846); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand.
Beitr. ii. p. 142; Reprint, p. 66 (1848).
_Antilope (Cephalolophus) natalensis_, =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Supp.
iv. p. 453 (1844), v. p. 426 (1855); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 321 (1859).
VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Incumbi_ of Swazis and _Mangule_ of
Shangaans (_Rendall_); _Roode-bok_ of Dutch.
Size rather small. Form slender. Colour bright rufous chestnut all
over, without marks or stripes of any kind, except that there is a
faintly marked red superciliary line. Back of neck greyish brown. Chin
and throat whitish. Tail slender, rufous at base; brown, tipped with
white, at its extremity.
Horns set parallel to nasal profile; those of male conical, much
thickened at their bases; their greatest basal diameter going about
three times into their length; length about 3 inches in an old
specimen: those of female similar, but smaller and more sharply
pointed, 1·5 inch in length.
Skull--frontal region roughened and convex; anteorbital fossæ of medium
depth; edge of median posterior palatal notch but little anterior
(about ¼ inch) to the lateral notches.
Dimensions:--♀. Height at withers 17 inches, length of ear 2·5, hind
foot 7·6.
Skull ♂: basal length 5·6 inches, greatest breadth 2·8, orbit to muzzle
3·15.
_Hab._ Natal, Transvaal, and Mashonaland.
The Natal Duiker, which is perhaps a southern representative of the
next species, is, like it, of a nearly uniform bright bay colour,
rather paler below, and with some inconspicuous darker markings on the
vertical crest. Our figure of this species (Plate XVI.) was put on the
stone by Mr. Smit from a sketch prepared by Mr. Wolf, and was probably
taken from one of the specimens in the British Museum; but of this, we
regret to say, there is no certain record.
The discovery of the Natal Duiker is due to Sir Andrew Smith, who met
with it in the forests of Natal and first described it in 1834 in one
of his articles on African Zoology published in the ‘South African
Quarterly Journal.’ Sir Andrew afterwards figured it in the volume of
Mammals of his ‘Illustrations of South African Zoology,’ where the
following notes are given on its habits:--“Both _C. cæruleus_ [=
_C. monticola_, nob.] and _C. natalensis_ inhabit the African
forests; the former towards the Cape of Good Hope, the latter to the
eastward about and beyond Port Natal. They both feed partly upon the
grass which occurs among the underwood, and partly upon the young
leaves and shoots of the brushwood and small trees which exist in the
situations they inhabit; and to obtain the latter they may occasionally
be seen scrambling among shrubs, or ascending the stems of sloping
trees, so as to reach what they cannot attain while they are on the
ground.”
Beyond a reference to its name in various lists and catalogues, we find
little more recorded concerning this Antelope until modern days, when
several experienced observers have mentioned it. In his ‘Rough Notes on
the Game and Natural History of South and South-east Africa,’ published
in 1875, the Hon. W. H. Drummond mentions the “Red-buck,” as he calls
it, as one of the two species of _Cephalophus_ that inhabit the
jungles of Natal, the other being “the Blue-buck” (_Cephalophus
monticola_). Of these, Mr. Drummond says the Red-buck “is the larger
and also the least common. It is, as its name denotes, of a light
yellowish-red colour, mingled with grey on the lower parts, and its
chief peculiarity is a tuft of hair growing out of the forehead, which
gives a curious appearance to the hornless does, while it partially
conceals the small horns of the bucks. Its flesh is anything but good,
and it is difficult to shoot, from the tremendous rushes it makes when
disturbed. So fast and heedlessly does it run, that I once saw a buck,
that had passed me while I was loading, entangle itself in a mass of
creepers, from which, despite its struggles, it was unable to escape
until I released it with the help of my knife. It was quite uninjured,
and I kept it in confinement for some weeks, but, like most Antelopes
when caught full-grown, it ultimately pined away and died.”
Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington, in their ‘Sportsman in South Africa’
(1892), tell us that this Antelope is found only in Zululand, Natal,
and the southern portions of Swaziland, but is everywhere very scarce.
It is, however, stated on good authority to have been found recently in
South-eastern Mashonaland. In habits, these authors say, it resembles
the Common Duiker, except that it chooses dense forest as a residence.
So far as we know, but one specimen of the Natal Duiker has ever been
brought to Europe alive. This was a male which was purchased in 1880
(March 14th), by the Zoological Society of London, of Mr. Charles
Jamrach, for the sum of £6 10_s_., and lived some months in the
Menagerie.
Besides the skin of an adult female of this species, received from Sir
Andrew Smith as the type of _C. natalensis_, there is a mounted
pair in the National Museum, collected by Dr. A. Krauss, and received
in exchange from the Stuttgart Museum. There are also skins of adults
of both sexes and accompanying skulls in the same collection from the
Transvaal, obtained by Dr. Percy Rendall, C.M.Z.S., in 1893 and 1894.
Dr. Rendall has kindly favoured us with the following notes upon the
present species of Duiker:--
“The local Colonial name for this Antelope is the ‘Lesser Red-buck.’ To
the Swazis it is the ‘Incumbi,’ and to the Shangaans the ‘Mangule.’
“Its occurrence I found confined to a very limited area, _i.e._
the slopes of the Makongwa Mountains, which are locally termed
‘Moodie’s Concession,’ in the Barberton portion of the Transvaal,
adjoining Swaziland. Here it was not uncommon in places; its resorts
being always the wooded creeks or ‘dongas,’ where there is dense cover.
“Its habits are so skulking that it is extremely hard to procure
specimens, even when the hunter is aware of its existence in a
particular locality. Nothing but a well organized beat with natives and
dogs will make these animals break cover from the bush and long grass
they frequent.
“I never heard of one being seen or shot in the open, and their spoor
and droppings are only seen just on the outskirts of the cover, where
they feed at night.
“The way in which they double and dodge the dogs and beaters in full
cry is inimitable, and to an onlooker is most entertaining. Their
vitality is wonderful, and their power of endurance before dogs
considerable, especially considering their comparatively small size.
There is little difference between the respective weights of the sexes
when adult, as I was surprised to find when I put them into the scale.
“The female is always horned, and in two specimens that I dissected
each was found to be carrying a quarter-grown (hairless) fœtus, in the
month of April. A wounded animal that I saw pulled down by a dog gave
vent to a prolonged squeal, not unlike a rabbit or hare does under
similar circumstances, though fainter in volume.
“The long tuft of hair around and between the horns is always more
marked in the male, and practically masks the horns. The flesh is not
appreciated by a European palate, though the reverse is the case with
the Swazis, as I have noticed.
“_Measurements taken of three Adult Specimens, 15th April, 1894._
+---------------------------+-----------+-------------+-----------+
| | | | |
| | 1. (♂.) | 2. (♀.) | 3. (♀.) |
| | | | |
+---------------------------+-----------+-------------+-----------+
| | in. | in. | in. |
| Height at shoulder | 17¾ | 18 | 16¾ |
| | | | |
|Circumference of barrel } | | | |
| behind shoulder } | 18¾ | 18¼ | 17¼ |
| | | | |
| Point of shoulder to nose | 12¼ | 14 | 12¾ |
| | | | |
| Circumference of neck | 10 | 9¼ | 9¼ |
| | | | |
| Nose to tail | 36¼ | 38 | 39¼ |
| | | | |
| Weight | 26 lbs. | 27½ lbs. | 25½ lbs.”|
+---------------------------+-----------+-------------+-----------+
_May, 1895._
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XVII.
_J. Smit del et lith._ _Hanhart imp._
Harvey’s Duiker.
CEPHALOPHUS HARVEYI.
_Published by R. H. Porter._]
23. HARVEY’S DUIKER.
CEPHALOPHUS HARVEYI, THOS.
[PLATE XVII.]
_Cephalolophus natalensis_, =Noack=, Humboldt, v. pt. 9, p. 6,
fig. 5 (animal) (1886); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 419 (in part,
_nec_ A. Smith).
_Cephalophus nigrifrons_, =True=, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xv. p. 476
(1892) (Taveta) (_nec_ Gray).
_Cephalophus harveyi_, =Thos.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) xi. p. 48
(1893); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 210 (1893); =Jackson=, Badm.
Libr. Big Game Shooting, i. pp. 167, 285, 308 (1894); =Thos.=
Ann. Mus. Genov. (2) xv. p. 6 (1895) (Somali).
Size and general coloration almost exactly as in _C. natalensis_,
but with a brown or blackish blaze on the face as in _C.
nigrifrons_, extending from the nasals to the occiput, and expanding
on the forehead. Feet slender; hoofs not specially elongated.
Skull much roughened and swollen in the frontal region; muzzle rather
short and conical; median notch of palate but little deeper than the
lateral ones.
Horns (♂) conical, very thick at the base, their greatest basal
diameter going barely two and a half times in their length, which in an
old individual is 3·1 inches.
Dimensions:--Skull, basal length 5·9 inches, greatest breadth 3, muzzle
to orbit 3·3.
_Hab._ British East Africa (Kilimanjaro district) and Southern
Somaliland.