IN FOUR VOLUMES (1894–1900).
VOL. IV.
LONDON:
R. H. PORTER, 7 PRINCES STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, W.
1899–1900.
[Illustration: ALERE FLAMMAM.]
PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS,
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
CONTENTS.
VOL. IV.
Page
Subfamily VI. HIPPOTRAGINÆ 1
Genus I. Hippotragus 3
110. The Blue-buck.
_Hippotragus leucophœus_ (Pall.). [Plate LXXVI.] 5
111. The Roan Antelope.
_H. equinus_ (Desm.). [Plates LXXVII. & LXXVIII.] 13
112. The Sable Antelope.
_H. niger_ (Harr.). [Plates LXXIX. & LXXX.] 31
Genus II. Oryx 41
113. The Leucoryx.
_Oryx leucoryx_ (Licht.). [Plate LXXXI.] 43
114. The Beatrix Antelope.
_O. beatrix_, Gray. [Plate LXXXII.] 51
115. The Gemsbok. _O. gazella_ (Linn.). [Plate LXXXIII.] 57
116. The Beisa. _O. beisa_ (Rüpp.). [Plate LXXXIV.] 65
117. The Tufted Beisa. _O. callotis_, Thomas. [Plate LXXXV.] 73
Genus III. Addax 77
118. The Addax.
_Addax naso-maculatus_ (Blainv.). [Plate LXXXVI.] 79
Subfamily VII. TRAGELAPHINÆ 89
Genus I. Boselaphus 91
119. The Nilgai.
_Boselaphus tragocamelus_ (Pallas). [Plate LXXXVII.] 93
Genus II. Tragelaphus 103
120. The Decula Antelope.
_Tragelaphus decula_ (Rüpp.). [Plate LXXXVIII.] 105
121. The Harnessed Antelope.
_T. scriptus_ (Pallas). [Plate LXXXIX.] 109
122. The Cape Bushbuck.
_T. sylvaticus_ (Sparrm.). [Plate XC. fig. 2.] 117
123. Cumming’s Bushbuck.
_T. roualeyni_ (Cumming). [Plate XC. fig. 1.] 123
124. Delamere’s Bushbuck.
_T. delamerei_, Pocock 129
125. The Broad-horned Antelope.
_T. eurycerus_ (Ogilby). [Plate XCI.] 131
126. Angas’ Antelope.
_T. angasi_, Angas. [Plate XCII.] 137
Genus III. Limnotragus 149
127. Speke’s Sitatunga.
_Limnotragus spekii_ (Sclater). [Plate XCIII.] 151
128. Selous’s Sitatunga.
_L. selousi_ (Rothsch.). [Plate XCIV.] 157
129. The Congan Sitatunga.
_L. gratus_ (Sclater). [Plate XCV.] 165
Genus IV. Strepsiceros 171
130. The Greater Kudu.
_Strepsiceros capensis_ (A. Smith). [Plate XCVI.] 173
131. The Lesser Kudu.
_S. imberbis_, Blyth. [Plate XCVII.] 185
Genus V. Taurotragus 193
132. The Eland.
_Taurotragus oryx_ (Pall.). [Plates XCVIII. & XCIX.] 195
133. The Derbian Eland.
_T. derbianus_ (Gray). [Plate C.] 215
APPENDIX.
List of the Species and Subspecies of Antelopes described
as New during the progress of this Work 223
Index 229
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
IN THE TEXT.
VOL. IV.
Fig. Page
88. Frontlet of the Blue-buck 11
89. Horns of Baker’s Roan Antelope 25
90. Head of Roan Antelope 29
91. Head of Sable Antelope 38
92. A Leucoryx attacked by a Lion 48
93. Young Leucoryx 49
94. Female Beisa 70
95. Horns of male Addax 83
96. Horns of female Addax 83
97. Head of a female Addax 85
98. Skull and horns of an adult male Nilgai 100
99. Frontlet of an adult male Nilgai 101
100. Skull and horns of Cumming’s Bushbuck 126
101. Frontlet of Cumming’s Bushbuck 127
102. Delamere’s Bushbuck 130
103. The Bongo Antelope 134
104. Head and horns of the Broad-horned Antelope 135
105. Head and horns of Angas’ Antelope 140
106. Angas’ Antelope, ♂ & ♀ 146
107. Horns of _Tragelaphus_ sp. inc. 147
108. Speke’s Sitatunga in a Papyrus-swamp 153
109. Horns and feet of Speke’s Sitatunga 154
110. Speke’s Sitatunga, ♂ & ♀ 156
111. Outer view of right foot of Selous’s Sitatunga, ⅓ t. size 158
112. Horns of Congan Sitatunga 167
113. Head of the male Cgan Sitatunga,
from the specimen in the British Museum 169
114. Male and female Kudu 183
115. Horns of Lesser and Greater Kudus 188
116. Skull and horns of Livingstone’s Eland, ♂ 205
117. Horns of _Taurotragus oryx gigas_ 208
118. Abnormal horns of female Eland 209
119. Herd of Derbian Elands 218
120. Horns of Derbian Eland 219
121. Front view of the horns of the Derbian Eland 221
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES.
VOL. IV.
Subfamily VI. _HIPPOTRAGINÆ._
_General Characters._—Size large. Muzzle hairy. Anteorbital
glands absent. Tail long, more or less tufted. Mammæ 4.
Skull heavily built; without supraorbital pits, with small or no
lachrymal fissures, and without anteorbital fossæ. Molars very high and
broad, and with accessory internal columns; therefore very similar to
those of the Bovinæ, the subfamily containing the Oxen.
Horns long, straight, curved, or spiral; present and of approximately
equal dimensions in both sexes.
_Range of Subfamily._ Ethiopian Region—Africa south of Atlas
and Arabia.
This subfamily contains some of the largest and finest Antelopes
in existence. Three genera are usually recognized, which may be
distinguished as follows:—
A. Horns straight or curved, not twisted. Hoofs normal.
_a._ Horns placed above the orbits, starting nearly
vertically upwards and then curving strongly
backwards 1. Hippotragus.
_b._ Horns placed behind the orbits, slanting
backwards nearly in the line of the face 2. Oryx.
B. Horns spirally twisted, placed as in _Oryx_.
Hoofs broadly rounded. 3. Addax.
GENUS I. HIPPOTRAGUS.
Type.
_Egocerus_, Desm. Mamm. ii. p. 475 (1822) H. leucophæus.
(nec _Ægoceros_, Pall. Zool. Ross.-As. i. p. 224 (1811)
_Aigocerus_, H. Sm. Griff. An. K. v. p. 324 (1827) H. leucophæus.
_Hippotragus_, Sund. Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. H. leucophæus.
1844, p. 196 (1846).
_Ozanna_, Brehm, Thierl. iii. p. 227 (1880) H. niger.
(in synonymy)
Size large; form high and comparatively slender, less stout and bovine
than in the succeeding genera. Muzzle hairy. Tail long and tufted.
Mammæ 4. Large accessory hoofs present.
Skull proportionally long, its frontal region very convex upwards, the
large horn-cores rising almost vertically above the posterior half of
the orbits. Lachrymal fissures almost or quite obsolete. No anteorbital
fossa. Premaxillæ not reaching to the nasals.
Horns medium or long, slightly but evenly divergent, nearly vertical
basally, strongly curved backwards above; heavily ringed.
_Female_ with horns similar to those of the male, but shorter,
slenderer, and much smoother.
_Range of the Genus._ Africa south of the Sahara, but not
occurring in the great Congo Forest.
Of this genus, which contains some of the handsomest Antelopes in
existence, we recognize three species, one of them (alas!) now extinct.
The widely distributed Roan Antelope may be provisionally separated
into four local subspecies, which require further elucidation.
A. General colour greyish or pale brown. Horns not or but little longer
than the head.
_a._ Size smaller. Face without black markings.
110. _H. leucophæus._
_b._ Size larger. Face with strongly contrasted black and white
markings. 111. _H. equinus._[4]
_a1_. General colour greyish; ears shorter. (S. Africa.)
Subsp. _typica_.
_b1_. General colour pale rufous; ears shorter. (E. Africa.)
Subsp. _rufo_-_pallida_.
_c1_. General colour browner; ears longer. (N.E. Africa.)
Subsp. _bakeri_.
_d1_. General colour more fulvous; ears still longer. (W. Africa.)
Subsp. _gambiana_.
B. General colour black. Horns much longer than the head. 112. _H. niger_.
[Illlustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXVI.
_Wolf del. J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._
The Blue-Buck, ♂ and ♀.
HIPPOTRAGUS LEUCOPHÆUS.
_Published by R. H. Porter._
]
110. THE BLUE-BUCK.
HIPPOTRAGUS LEUCOPHÆUS (Pall.).
[PLATE LXXVI.]
_Blue Antelope_, =Pennant=, Quadr. p. 66 (1781).
_La Gazelle Tzeiran_, =Buff.= Hist. Nat. Suppl. vi. p. 168, pl. xx.
(1782).
_Blaauw-bok_, =Sparrm.= Voy. to Cape (Engl. transl.), ii. p. 219 (1786).
_Blawe Bock_, =Le Vaill.= Voy. à l’int. de l’Afrique, i. p. 58 (1790).
_Antilope leucophæa_, =Pall.= Misc. Zool. p. 4 (1766); =id.= Spic. Zool.
fasc. i. p. 6 (1767), fasc. xii. p. 12 (1777); =Erxl.= Syst. R. A. p.
271 (1777); =Zimm.= Spec. Zool. Geogr. p. 545 (1777); =id.= Geogr.
Gesch. ii. p. 106 (1780); =Gatt.= Brev. Zool. i. p. 78 (1780); =Schr.=
Säug. pl. cclxxviii. (1784); =Bodd.= Elench. Anim. p. 139 (1785);
=Gmel.= Linn. S. N. i. p. 182 (1788); =Kerr=, Linn. An. K. p. 306
(1792); =Donnd.= Zool. Beytr. p. 619 (1792); =Link=, Beytr. Nat. ii.
p. 99 (1795); =Dandin=, in Lacépède’s Buffon, xiv. p. 183 (1799);
=Bechst.= Syst. Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p. 641 (1800); =Shaw=, Gen.
Zool. ii. p. 355 (1801); =Turt.= Linn. S. N. i. p. 111 (1802); =Desm.=
N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xxiv. Tabl. p. 52 (1804); =G. Cuv.= Dict. Sci.
Nat. ii. p. 204 (1804); =Tied.= Zool. i. p. 408 (1808); =Thunb.= Mém.
Ac. Pétersb. iii. p. 313 (1811); =Licht.= Reise, i. p. 265, ii. p. 121
(1811–12); =G. Fisch.= Zoogn. iii. p. 416 (1814); Afz. N. Act. Ups.
vii. p. 219 (1815); =Desm.= N. Diet. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 204 (1816);
=G. Cuv.= R. A. i. p. 262 (1817); =Goldf.= Schr. Säug. v. p. 1183
(1818); =Gray=, Med. Repos. xv. p. 307 (1821); =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr.
i. p. 394 (1821); =Desmoul.= Dict. Class. i. p. 446 (1822); =H. Sm.=
Griff. An. K. iv. p. 176, v. p. 324 (1827); =Less.= Man. Mamm. p. 386
(1827); =J. B. Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 479 (1829); =Smuts=, En. Mamm.
Cap. p. 68 (1832); =Oken=, Allg. Naturg. vii. p. 1396 (1838);
=Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 618 (1841); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm.
ii. p. 440 (1845); =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 192 (1853); =Gieb.=
Säug. p. 295 (1853).
_Capra leucophæa_, =Thunb.= Resa, ii. p. 127 (1789); Engl. Transl. ii.
p. 113 (1793).
_Antilope_ (_Bubalis_) _leucophæa_, =Licht.= Mag. nat. Fr. Berl. vi. p.
159 (1814).
_Cerophorus_ (_Oryx_) _leucophæus_, =De Blainv.= Bull. Soc. Philom.
1816, p. 75.
_Antilope_ (Egocerus) _leucophæa_, =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 475 (1822).
_Aigocerus leucophæus_, =A. Sm.= S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 185
(1834); =Gray=, Knowsl. Men. p. 16 (1850); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt.
1, p. 177 (1869); =Huet=, Bull. Soc. Acclim. (4) iv. p. 483 (1887);
=Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 135; =id.= Cat.
Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (t. c. xi.) p. 166 (1892).
_Hippotragus leucophæus_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p.
197 (1846); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p.
148; Reprint, p. 72 (1848); =Kohl=, Ann. Mus. Wien, i. p. 83 (1886);
=Bryden=, Kloof and Karroo, p. 290 (1889); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 343
(1891); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 245 (1893); =Trouess.= Cat. Mamm.
fasc. iv. p. 952 (1898).
_Antilope capensis_, =P. L. S. Müll.= Natursyst. Suppl. p. 52 (1776).
_Cemas glaucus_, =Oken=, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 740 (1816).
_Antilope glauca_, =Forst.= Descr. Anim. p. 391 (1844).
Vernacular Name:—_Blawe-bock_ of Dutch (_Le Vaillant_).
Size much less than in the two following species; height at withers
from 45 inches (♂ in Paris) to 40 inches (♀ in Vienna). General colour
bluish grey. Forehead brown; upper lip and a patch in front of the
eye lighter than the general colour, but there are none of the marked
black and white contrasts so prominent in _H. equinus_. Ears not
so long or so pointed as in _H. equinus_, and without black tufts
at their tips. Mane on nape of neck short, inconspicuous, directed
forward; throat-mane almost or quite absent. Belly dull whitish, not
contrasted with the sides. Limbs with an inconspicuous darker line down
their anterior surfaces. Tail-tuft greyish, but little darker than the
general colour.
Skull probably merely differing from that of _H. equinus_ by its
smaller size, but, so far as is known, no museum possesses an example
of it.
Horns like those of _H. equinus_, but much smaller and more
slender; perhaps rather longer in proportion to the size of the animal.
Those of the Paris specimen (a male) measure 21½ inches in length round
the curve and have 28 rings upon them. The pair in the British Museum
are rather shorter.
_Hab._ Cape Colony only. (Exterminated at the end of the last century.)
The Blue-buck, like the Quagga (_Equus quagga_), belongs to the
category of larger animals that have become extinct within the historic
period. While the Square-lipped Rhinoceros (_Rhinoceros simus_)
and the Mountain Zebra (_Equus zebra_) are still occasionally
to be met with in one or two remote districts of South Africa, it
would seem that the Blue-buck and the Quagga, as living creatures,
have utterly perished from the face of the earth, and are only now
represented by a few specimens in some of the principal museums of
Europe.
Although the “Blaauwe-bok” or “Blau-bok” was long known to early
travellers at the Cape under its vernacular names, the great Russian
naturalist Pallas was the first to register it definitely in the
‘Annals of Science.’ Under the name _Antilope leucophæa_ Pallas
described it in 1766, in his ‘Miscellanea Zoologica,’ from a specimen
in the Leyden Museum[1], and placed it as the first species of his
genus _Antilope_. We have already, however (Book of Ant. III.
p. 3), given the reasons why another species—the Black-buck of
India—should be deemed to be the type of Pallas’s generic term
_Antilope_, and in accordance with ordinary usage we employ
Sundevall’s name _Hippotragus_ for the present species and its
allies.
The next author after Pallas to mention this Antelope appears to
have been Allamand, who made various contributions to an edition of
Buffon’s ‘Histoire Naturelle,’ issued in Holland by Schneider in 1766
and the following years. Allamand, however, carelessly confounded this
South-African Antelope with the _Gazella gutturosa_ of Siberia,
of which the native name is Tzeiran or Dzéren (see Book of Ant. III.
p. 84), and adopted the same name for it. Allamand’s figure of his
“Tzeiran” was taken from a mounted specimen in the Cabinet d’Histoire
Naturelle of J. C. Sylvius von Lennep, of Harlem, which on the death
of the owner had passed by bequest to the Société Hollandaise des
Sciences of that city. This specimen, when in skin, had been obtained
from a dealer who did not know whence it came, but from the mode of its
preparation it was believed by Allamand to have been brought from the
Cape.
Our countryman Pennant, in his ‘History of Quadrupeds,’ of which the
first edition was published in 1781, gave a third original description
of this species, which he called the “Blue Antelope.” It was taken,
he tells us, from a skin bought at Amsterdam, and said to have been
obtained from the Cape of Good Hope. Pennant fully recognized its
identity with Buffon’s “Tzeiran,” and remarked on the use of this
erroneous Asiatic name for it.
Sparrman, who arrived at the Cape in 1772 and subsequently made a long
journey into the interior, tells us in his narrative[2] of having
found a skin of the Blue-buck (which he identified with Pallas’s
_A. leucophæa_ and Pennant’s “Blue Antelope”) preserved at
“Krakeel-rivier,” but he does not appear to have met with it alive
himself.
But a rather later explorer of the Cape Colony, the well-known French
naturalist François Le Vaillant, author of the ‘Oiseaux d’Afrique’ and
many other ornithological works, was more fortunate. As Le Vaillant
appears to have been the only traveller known to have himself obtained
an example of this now extinct species, we will extract from the first
volume of his ‘Voyage d’Afrique’ what he has written on this subject.
On December 18th, 1781, Le Vaillant left Capetown to explore the
country to the east called “Hottentot Holland.” A few days later,
after crossing the river Sonder-end, and passing through the valley of
Soete-Melck, he arrived at a place called “Tiger-Hoek,” where he had
appointed some Hottentots to meet him, and went on the chase in their
company:—
“Nous eûmes bientôt joint quelques troupes de Gazelles; le
pays en étoit couvert; mais elles se tenoient toujours hors de
portée. Enfin, après avoir bien couru, mon chasseur m’arrêtant
tout d’un coup, me dit qu’il aperçoit un _Blawe-Bock_
(un Bouc bleu) couché. Je porte les yeux vers l’endroit qu’il
m’indique et ne le vois pas. Il me prie alors de rester
tranquille et de ne faire aucun mouvement, m’assurant de me
rendre maître de l’animal. Aussitôt il prend un détour, se
trainant sur ses genoux; je ne le perdois pas de vue, mais je
ne comprenois rien à ce manège nouveau pour moi. L’animal se
lève et bronte tranquillement sans s’éloigner de la place.
Je le pris d’abord pour un cheval blanc; car, de l’endroit
où j’étois resté, il me paroissoit entièrement de cette
couleur (jusques-là je n’avois point encore vu cette espèce
de Gazelle): je fus détrompé lorsque je vis ses cornes. Mon
Hottentot se trainoit toujours sur le ventre, il s’approacha
de si près et si promptement que mettre l’animal en joue et
le tirer fut l’affaire d’un instant; la Gazelle tomba du
coup. Je ne fis qu’un saut jusques-là et j’eus le plaisir de
contempler à mon aise la plus rare et la plus belle des Gazelles
d’Afrique. J’assurai mon Hottentot que, de retour au camp, je
le recompenserois généreusement. Je l’envoyai aussitôt chercher
un cheval pour transporter la chasse. L’intelligence de cet
homme et les divers moyens qu’il avoit employés pour surprendre
l’animal me rendoient son service important et précieux; je
me proposois bien de me l’attacher par tous les appâts qui
séduisent les Hottentots. Je commençai par lui donner une forte
provision de tabac et je joiguis à ce présent de l’amadoue, un
briquet et l’un de mes meilleurs couteaux. Il se servit de ce
dernier meuble et se mit à dépecer l’animal avec la même adresse
qu’il l’avoit tué. J’en conservai soigneusement la peau.
“Cette Gazelle a été décrite par Pennant, sous le nom
d’_Antilope bleu_; par Buffon, sous le nom de
_Tzeiran_. Ce dernier Naturaliste a donné la figure d’une
partie de ses cornes; elle est rare et très-peu connue. Lors de
ma résidence en Afrique, je n’ai vu que deux de ces Gazelles et
une autre qui fut aportée au Gouverneur, quelques années après;
pendant l’un de mes séjours à la Ville. Elles venoient, comme la
mienne, de la vallée Soete-Melk, seul canton qu’elles habitent.
On m’avoit assuré que j’en verrois dans le pays des grands
Namaquois; malgré toutes mes informations et perquisitions j’ai
été trompé dans cette attente. Tout les Sauvages m’ont assuré
ne point la connoître. On m’avoit encore attesté que la femelle
portoit des cornes ainsi que le mâle; je ne puis rien dire
là-dessus, puisque les seules que j’aye vues étoient toutes
trois de ce dernier genre.
“Sa couleur principale est un bleu léger, tirant sur le
grisâtre; le ventre et l’intérieur des jambes dans toute
leur longueur font d’un, blanc de neige; sa tête surtout est
agréablement tachetée de blanc.
“Je n’ai pas remarqué que cette Gazelle, vivante, ressemblât à
du velours bleu, et que, morte, sa peau changeât de couleur,
comme le dit M. Sparrman. Vivante ou morte, elle m’a paru
toujours semblable. La teinte de celle que j’ai rapportée
n’a jamais varié. J’en ai vu une autre à Amsterdam, que l’on
conservoit depuis plus de quinze ans. Il en étoit de même
de celle du Gouverneur du Cap; plus fraîche encore que la
mienne, dans tout le reste elles étoient pareilles. Je ne puis
m’empêcher d’ajouter ici que je ne reconnois pas beaucoup cet
animal dans les dessins et les gravures que j’en ai vus jusqu’à
présent. Dans mes descriptions, je donnerai celle que j’ai faite
de celui-ci, et le dessin très exact que j’en ai tiré sur les
lieux, avant qu’on le déshabillât.”
After Le Vaillant’s time little further addition was made to the
history of this Antelope until the publication (in 1811 and 1812)
of Lichtenstein’s ‘Travels in Southern Africa,’ in which several
allusions to it will be found. In the first of these Lichtenstein,
on the way from Swellendam to Algoa Bay in December 1803, tells us
that much game—Antelopes and Zebras—was met with in the mountains
near the Buffalo-jagt River, “but the beautiful Blau-bok (_Antilope
leucophæa_) is, as Barrow has correctly supposed, almost
exterminated. In the year 1800 one was shot, of which the skin is
now at Leyden, but since then no more have been seen.” In the second
volume of his ‘Reise,’ when on the Dweika, between Stellenbosch
and Graaf Reinet, in the following December, Lichtenstein informs
us that game was plentiful in the inner valleys of the mountains,
and continues:—“Here are still found the Zebra, the Bontebok,
and the Reh-bok in comparative abundance, and even the Blau-bok
(_Antilope leucophæa_, which is almost exterminated elsewhere,
is said to occur occasionally.” In his celebrated article upon the
genus _Antilope_, published in the ‘Magazin der Gesellschaft
naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin,’ two years subsequently,
Lichtenstein, after a description of this species from the specimen
at Berlin, continues as follows:—“The skin which I describe is,
unfortunately, the last that has been seen. Since 1799, when this
specimen was shot, no more have been met with, and it is known that
this Antelope was found only in the now well-populated district of
Zwellendam, and nowhere else. Apparently this beautiful animal is now
quite extinct.”
The animal having been thus exterminated towards the end of the
last century, its very existence became a matter of doubt to some
naturalists, who were inclined to consider the specimens of it left in
our museums as small or immature individuals of the nearly allied Roan
Antelope (_H. equinus_). This view was taken by Andrew Smith[3],
de Blainville, Gray, and even Harris, who, one would think, might have
learned better from the traditions on the subject prevalent among the
Boers. But the accurate Sundevall was strongly against this opinion,
and, after examining the specimens at Upsala, Stockholm, and Paris,
said decidedly “_Minimè animal fictum, ut credidit A. Smith_.”
Sundevall, however, failed to convert Gray on this subject, and Gray,
although, as he tells us, he had examined the specimen at Paris, chose
to unite this species to the Roan Antelope, and to call them both
_Hippotragus leucophæus_.
The most recent authority to vindicate the claims of the Blue-buck
to specific distinctness is Herr F. F. Kohl, of Vienna, who, in an
article upon new and rare Antelopes in the Imperial Natural History
Museum, published in 1866, after accurately describing the specimen in
that collection and pointing out its distinctive characters from _H.
equinus_, gave a full list of the various synonyms to be allocated
to these two species.
There can be little doubt, therefore, that _Hippotragus
leucophæus_ must be regarded as an extinct animal, of which at the
present time five mounted specimens only are known to exist. All these
we have already alluded to, but we may repeat that they are to be found
in the Museums of Paris, Leyden, Vienna, Stockholm, and Upsala.
Finally, however, we are glad to be able to add that, although our
National Collection does not contain a complete example of this
species, yet it possesses a frontlet and horns which, after careful
comparison, we have no hesitation in referring to _H. leucophæus_.
The horns (fig. 88, p. 11) are just 20 inches in length and 6·1 in
basal circumference; they have the characteristic ridging and curvature
of the horns of the male, and are obviously adult, but their size is
less than the horns of the female Roan Antelope. The frontlet on which
they are borne measures 3·85 inches between the orbits. The exact
origin of this frontlet is not known, but it has been long in the
Museum.
[Illustration:
Fig. 88.
Frontlet of the Blue-buck.
(From the specimen in the British Museum.)
]
Our illustration of the Blue-buck (Plate LXXVI.) was put upon stone by
Mr. Smit many years ago, from a water-colour sketch by Mr. Wolf, which
is now before us. This sketch was drawn by Mr. Wolf under Sir Victor
Brooke’s directions, probably from the specimen at Paris, which we
believe Sir Victor examined more than once, but we regret to say that
there is no certainty on this point. It should be mentioned, however,
that the elongation of the hairs on the neck shown in the Plate is
probably rather exaggerated, as this species, we are told by Sundevall,
had only a very short “neck-mane.”
_January_, 1899.
[ Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXVII.
_Wolf del. J. Smit lith._
_Hanhart imp._
The Roan Antelope.
HIPPOTRAGUS EQUINUS.
_Published by R.H. Porter._
]
[ Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXVIII.
_Waterhouse Hawkins del. J. Smit lith._
_Hanhart imp._
The Gambian Roan Antelope, ♀.
HIPPOTRAGUS EQUINUS GAMBIANUS
_Published by R.H. Porter._
]
111. THE ROAN ANTELOPE.
HIPPOTRAGUS EQUINUS (DESM.).
[PLATES LXXVII. & LXXVIIL]
Subspecies _a_. H. e. typicus.
_Antilope equina_, =Desm.= N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xxiv. p. 4, & Tabl. p.
32 (1804); =id.= op. cit. (2) ii. p. 204 (1816); =G. Cuv.= R. A. i. p.
263 (1817); =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 394 (1821); =Desmoul.= Dict.
Class, i. p. 446 (1822); =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 476 (1822); =Burch.=
List Quadr. pres, to B. M. p. 8 (1825) (Orange Free State); =H. Sm.=
Griff. An. K. iv. p. 177, v. p. 324 (1827); =Less.= Man. Mamm. p. 387
(1827); =J. B. Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 480 (1829); =Smuts=, En. Mamm.
Cap. p. 69 (1832); =Goldf.= in Schreb. Säugeth. iv. p. 1186 (1836);
=A. Sm.= Cat. S. Afr. Mus. p. 11 (1837); =Laurill.= Dict. Univ. i. p.
618 (1841); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 482 (1844), v. p. 435
(1855); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 441 (1845); =id.= Mou. Antil. p.
37, pl. xlii. (1848).
_Aigoceros equinus_, =A. Sm.= S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 185 (1834);
=Harris=, Wild Sports S. Afr. p. 379 (1839); =id.= Portraits Wild
Anim. S. Afr. p. 92, pl. xviii. (1840); =A. Sm.= Ill. Zool. S. Afr.
pl. xxvii. (1840); =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 132; =id.= Knowsl. Men.
p. 16 (1850); =Bly.= Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. p. 169 (1863); =Fitz.= SB.
Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 177 (1869); =Jent.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus.
Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 166 (1892).
_Hippotragus equinus_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 197
(1846); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 148;
Reprint, p. 72 (1848); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1868, p. 217; =Buckley=, P. Z.
S. 1876, p. 288; =Scl.= List An. Z. S. (8) p. 139 (1883), (9) p. 158
(1896); =Flow. & Gars.= Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 262 (1884); =Kohl=,
Ann. Mus. Wien, i. p. 85 (1886); =W. Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Cale. Mus. ii.
p. 156 (1891); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 343 (1891); =Nicolls & Egl.=
Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 51 (1892); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1893, p. 728 (Lake
Mweru); =Lyd=, Horns and Hoofs, p. 243 (1893); =Lorenz=, Ann. Mus.
Wien, ix., Notizen, p. 62 (1894); =Rendall=, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 362
(Transvaal); =Millais=, A Breath from the Veldt, p. 127 (1896)
(Mashoonaland); =Ward=, Horn Meas. (2) p. 181 (1896);
=Kirby=, Haunts of Wild Game, p. 548 (1896) (Transvaal); =Johnston=,
Brit. Centr. Afr. p. 318 (1897); =Trouess.= Cat. Mamm. fasc. iv. p.
951 (1898).
_Tackhaitse_, =Daniell=, Afr. Scenery, no. 24 (1804–8), whence
_Capra æthiopica_, =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 403 (1821).
_Capra jubata_, =Goldf.= Schr. Säug. v. pl. 287 c (1824).
_Antilope barbata_, =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. iv. p. 180, v. p. 325 (1827);
=Smuts=, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 70 (1832); =Jard.= Nat. Libr., Mamm. vol.
iii. p. 199, pl. xxiii. (1835).
_Aigocerus barbata_, =A. Sm.= S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 186 (1834).
_Antilope truteri_, =Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 478 (1829).
“_Antilope aurita_, Burchell,” =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. v. p. 325 (1827).
_Aegoceros leucophæus_, =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 158 (1843) (nec
Pall.); =id.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 232 (1846); =id.= List
Ost. B. M. pp. 58 & 145 (1847); =id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 102 (1852);
=Gerrard=, Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 239 (1862); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B.
M. p. 34 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 103 (1873); =Jent.= Cat.
Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 135 (1887); =id.= Notes Leyd.
Mus. ix. p. 173 (1887) (Mossamedes); =id.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus.
Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 166.
_Hippotragus leucophæus_, =Brehm=, Thierl. iii. p. 226 (1880); =Selous=,
P. Z. S. 1881, p. 755; =id.= Hunter’s Wanderings, p. 213 (1881);
=Flow. & Gars.= Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 262 (1884); =Bocage=, J. Sc.
Lisb. (2) ii. p. 26 (1890) (Mossamedes); =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 140
(1892).
Subspecies _b_. H. e. rufo-pallidus.
_Ægoceros leucophæus_, =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1864, p. 103 (Kazeh, _Speke_).
_Hippotragus bakeri_, =Jackson=, Big Game Shooting,
i. p. 292 (1894); =id.= P. Z. S. 1897, p. 454; =Matschie=, Säugeth.
Deutsch-O.-Afr. p. 134 (1895).
_Hippotragus equinus_, =de Winton=, P. Z. S. 1898, p. 127 (Brit. E. Afr.).
_Hippotragus rufo-pallidus_, =Neumann=, P. Z. S. 1898, p. 850 (German
and British East Africa).
Subspecies _c_. H. e. bakeri.
_Hippotragus bakeri_, =Heugl.= Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act.
Leop. xxx. pl. ii.) p. 16, pl. ii. figs. 6a & b (1863); =Baker=,
Nile Tributaries, pp. 475 & 545 (1867); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1868, p.
214, pl. xvi.; =Heugl.= N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 110 (fig. of head)
(1877); =Huet=, Bull. Soc. Acclim. (4) iv. p. 66 (1887); =Flow. &
Lyd.= Mamm. p. 343 (1891); =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 142 (1892);
=Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 246 (1893); =Trouess.= Cat. Mamm. fasc.
iv. p. 951 (1898).
_Aegoceros bakeri_, =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 177 (1869);
=Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 34 (1872).
_Antilope leucophæa_, =Schweinf.= Herz. von Afrika, i. p. 237
(fig. of head), ii. p. 533 (1874).
Subspecies _d_. H. e. gambianus.
_Aegoceros leucophæus_, var.?, “_Docoi_” or _Whitemouth_ of
Mandingoes, =Gray=, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 103 (1852), whence
_Aegoceros koba_, =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 35 (1872); =id.=
Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 103 (1873).
_Hippotragus koba_, =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 142 (1892);
=Matsch.= Mittheil. deutsch. Schutz-gebiet, vi. p. 17 (1893);
=Pousargues=, Ann. Sci. Nat. (7) iv. p. 131 (1896); =Trouess.=
Cat. Mamm. fasc. iv. p. 951 (1898).
_Hippotragus equinus_, =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1896, p. 983, 1898, p. 350
(Gambia) (_Llewelyn_).
Vernacular Names:—_Roan Antelope_ of English; _Bastard Gemsbok_
and _Bastard Eland_ of Dutch; _Qualata_ of Northern Bechuanas;
_Tai-hait-sa_ of Southern Bechuanas; _Ee-taku_ of Matabilis; _Ee-
pala-pala chena_ (White Sable Antelope) of the Makalakas; _Impengo
eetuba_ of Masubias; _Oo-ka-mooh-wee_ of Makubas; _Kwar_ of
Masaras (_Selous_); _Takayezi_ of Transvaal Zulus (_Rendall_);
_Palance_ in Angola (_Bocage_); _Kolongo_ of Kinyamwesi in E.
Africa (_Böhm_ fide _Matschie_); _Abu Maaref_ of Upper Nile Arabs
(_Heuglin & Baker_). _Anomm_ in Dinka; _Ommar_ in Djur; _Manja_ in
Bongo; _Bisso_ in Niam-Niam; _Wunnunguh_ in Golo; _Omahr_ in
Bellanda; _Dahngah_ in Ssehre (_Schweinfurth_).
Size very large, an adult male standing 56 inches high at the withers.
General colour greyish, browner in the two northern subspecies. Top
and sides of face black, contrasting markedly with the white muzzle
and lips and with a prominent patch just in front of the eyes. On the
lower half of this patch the hairs are elongated into a brush. Behind
the eyes a second less conspicuous white patch is present. The black,
however, is only developed in the adult, young specimens having the
face nearly uniform with the body. Ears very long, narrow, pointed,
their tips pencilled with black. Mane well developed, brown, directed
backward, except just on the withers, where there is a tendency for it
to be whorled. Throat-mane long and prominent. Belly white, its
definition laterally rather variable. Limbs brownish fawn, black
patches occasionally present on the outer sides of the shoulders and
forearms. Tail reaching to the hocks, its brush black.
Skull-dimensions of an adult male (of subspecies _H. e.
bakeri_):—Basal length 16 inches, greatest breadth 6·75, muzzle to
orbit 10·3.
Horns stout and strong, cylindrical, heavily ridged, evenly divergent,
curved backward; comparatively short for the size of the animal, good
specimens being only from 26 to 30 inches in length, and the longest
recorded only 33.
_Female_ similar to the male, but the horns more slender,
smoother, less heavily ridged, and less strongly curved backward, and
neck and body less robust.
_Hab._ Africa south of the Sahara, except in the Congo wood-region.
It is a well-known and generally accepted fact amongst naturalists that
animals which have a wide distribution have also a special tendency
to vary, and that if specimens of them from different parts of their
ranges are compared, such specimens are usually found not to agree
exactly, but to be distinguishable by differential characters more or
less evident. When these characters are easily observable and definable
their possessors are usually referred to different species, which are
supposed to “represent” one another in their respective areas, and are
hence often called “representative species.” When the distinguishing
characters are slight and less easily recognizable it has recently
become the practice, especially among American naturalists, to
designate their possessors as “subspecies,” and, in order to indicate
this, to add a third “subspecific” name to the ordinary generic and
specific terms. This plan we have already adopted in some cases in the
present work. But there are many cases in which, either from imperfect
evidence or from an insufficient supply of specimens, it is very
difficult to decide whether a “local form,” as it may be termed, is
better treated of as a species or as a subspecies. And in the present
instance we have one of these cases before us. The Roan Antelope is
very widely distributed in Africa. From the Cape Colony it extends
all up the eastern side of the continent to British East Africa and
Sennaar, and is also found on the west coast in Senegal, Togoland,
Nigeria, and Angola. Specimens from all these countries present a very
general resemblance, and have been considered by most authorities to be
identical. On the contrary, other writers have regarded the local forms
as distinct, and have separated them under different specific names.
We confess that we have not been able (mainly, no doubt, from lack of
sufficient specimens to consult) to come to a satisfactory conclusion
on this subject; but, for the present, we think it a more prudent
course to treat the local forms of this species found in the different
districts of Africa as only of subspecific rank, and to class them all
under the one specific head as _Hippotragus equinus_.
The Roan Antelope received its specific name as long ago as 1804,
when a short description of it was published by Desmarest in the
twenty-fourth volume of the first edition of the ‘Dictionnaire
d’Histoire Naturelle,’ taken from a specimen in the Paris Museum.
Desmarest designated it by the French name “Antilope Osanne,” but
added Geoffrey’s MS. scientific name “_Antilope equina_” which
must, therefore, be attributed to the former author, as having first
published it. Desmarest states that the exact locality of this
specimen was unknown, but we think it may be safely assumed to have
been from the Cape. Desmarest’s description is not very accurate, but
Desmoulins, who wrote the article “Antilope” in the subsequently issued
‘Dictionnaire Classique d’Histoire Naturelle,’ added a figure of the
head of Geoffrey’s type, which seems to prove that it could have been
of no other than the present species.
The first European explorer in South Africa to meet with the Roan
Antelope in its native wilds appears to have been Samuel Daniell,
who visited the Cape about the commencement of the present century
under the patronage of Lieut.-General Francis Dundas, at that time
Acting Governor. In his ‘African Scenery and Animals’ (of which the
original folio series was issued in parts in 1804 and the following
years) Daniell figured what was, there is little doubt, an example
of this Antelope under the name of “_The Tackhaitse_” (no. 24),
and informs us, in the accompanying letterpress, that he met with two
of these animals near Latakoo (or Kuruman) in Bechuanaland, where
“they are usually found grazing on the edge of the Karroo Plains near
the foot of the hills in small herds of five or six.” Upon Daniell’s
“Tackhaitse” Schinz founded his _Capra œthiopica_, Goldfuss his
_Capra barbata_, and Fischer his _Antilope truteri_; but all
these names are happily subsequent in date to the specific term usually
adopted for this Antelope, and need not concern us further.
After Daniell the next traveller to meet with the Roan Antelope appears
to have been Dr. Burchell, who was at the Cape from 1811 to 1815. In
his ‘List of Quadrupeds presented to the British Museum,’ as part of
the results of this memorable expedition, Burchell records a male of
_Antilope equina_, “shot at the Little Klibbolikhónni Fountain
in the Transgariepine” (now Orange Free State) in December 1812. In
Hamilton Smith’s fourth volume of the Mammals of Griffith’s ‘Animal
Kingdom’ a full description is given of this specimen (of which a pair
of horns now alone remains in the National Collection), accompanied by
a good uncoloured figure of it drawn by Thomas Landseer.
Sir Andrew Smith, whose journeys in the Cape districts took place from
1834 to 1836, published a coloured figure of this Antelope in 1840, in
his ‘Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa,’ and gives us the
following account of its distribution in those days:—
“The range of this species is very wide, and specimens have been
found wherever Southern Africa has been explored. Not very many
years ago the animal was frequently seen within the northern
boundary of the Cape Colony, and if we are to credit the
statements of the aborigines there was a time when it occurred
much more to the southward than even the locality alluded to, and
from which it has now in a great measure, if not completely,
disappeared. It is an animal which congregates, and commonly from
six to twelve individuals are found associated together. Herds of
this description are generally met in districts abounding with
small hills or hilly ridges, and to such elevations they appear to
resort in preference to the plains. The number of herds in any
given tract is comparatively small, so that the animal, though
generally diffused, is, nevertheless, nowhere abundant. Its pace
is a gallop, which, in appearance, is of a heavy character, but
its progress is amazingly rapid. It is an animal extremely
vigilant, and always appears to be in fear of enemies; hence it
comes seldom within the range of the hunter’s gun.”
The well-known sportsman and naturalist Sir William Cornwallis Harris,
whose expedition through the interior of the Colony up to the Tropic
of Capricorn took place in 1836 and 1837, writes in his usual charming
style of this favourite object of the hunter’s pursuit[4]:—
“Not less from its singular beauty than from its extreme rarity,
there were few game animals in the whole African catalogue that I
more eagerly sought for than the Roan Antelope—my hankering after
its gay spoils being moreover greatly increased by the
difficulties that I at first experienced in obtaining possession
of them. According to indications given by my kind friend Dr.
Smith, in whose cabinet I had seen this noble and imposing
Antelope, it was on an elevated tract of rocky table-land forming
a terrace on the mountains between Daniel’s Kuil and Kramer’s
Fontein, that I first disturbed a herd whilst wandering alone in
search of them along the ‘rigging’ of the hills. The thin covering
of earth supported only a scant and faded vegetation, together
with a few scrubby trees and bushes which grew from the fissures
of the rock. Surmounted by a pair of jagged ibex-looking horns,
the magpie-head of a sturdy old hull, protruded above a thin copse
of brushwood through which I was riding, was not to be mistaken. I
sprang from my horse, and as the whole bloom-coloured herd arose
to make its rush, sent a bullet spinning betwixt the ribs of their
gallant leader. But, although tantalized by an occasional glimpse
of his silvery form, I followed the bloody trail over hill and
through dale for eleven long hours, desisting only when the sun
had gone down and daylight would serve me no longer, I was finally
doomed to disappointment through lack of assistance. Not another
specimen was seen until we had reached the Limpopo, the elevated
tracts lying between which river and the Likwa divide the
principal waters of Southern Africa, and form the peculiar habitat
of this species. Even there it invariably resides in limited
families, which seldom contain more than one old bull—a dozen or
more of the younger males usually herding by themselves. Equal in
stature to the largest Arab horse, the whole structure—remarkably
powerful and muscular—is especially adapted for traversing the
rugged regions that it frequents. Not less vigilant than active,
its wary troops were ever most difficult to approach—the bare
mountains crowned with wooded terraces that form the stronghold
upon which, when disturbed, they invariably sought an asylum,
proving alike impracticable to the sportsman, whether equipped in
pedestrian or in equestrian order; and some time had elapsed
before I accidentally ascertained the species to be so utterly
destitute of _foot_—that if detected in the open glades, or among
the slightly wooded downs, to which morning and evening they
resort, the bulls especially may be ridden down upon an inferior
horse in a quarter of a mile! For this singular fact I was the
less prepared, from having previously ascertained the speed and
bottom of the true Gemsbok—an animal which is scarcely less
heavily built—to be unrivalled among the larger Antelopes.”
The Roan Antelope appears never to have existed south of the Orange
River, and in more recent days, we fear, has retired much further
into the interior than the localities specified by Andrew Smith and
Cornwallis Harris. Messrs. Nicolls and Eglinton, in their ‘Sportsman
in South Africa,’ tell us that it is “now very rarely found on the
upper and lower banks of the Botletle River about the Mababé Flats,
Great Makari-kari Salt-pans, and Chobe districts, while in the less
frequented portions of Matabeleland it is still fairly common, and
although once numerous in Mashonaland, is now only to be found there in
the low country towards the east coast.” Mr. Selous also states that
it is “tolerably plentiful” in parts of Mashonaland, and that he found
a good many in the Manica country, north of the Zambesi. Mr. W. L.
Sclater informs us that on the western side of South Africa it is still
to be found in plenty in Damaraland and Ovampoland.
In the Transvaal, Dr. Percy Rendall, writing in 1895, states that a few
of these fine animals were still to be found on the Oliphants River.
Herr Reiche, of Alfeld, informs us that, in his yearly importations
of animals from the Transvaal since 1887, he has received no less than
eight living examples of this Antelope, which have been disposed of to
various Continental Gardens. These, however, may have been obtained in
the adjoining Portuguese border-country to the north of that Republic.
But Mr. Kirby, in his ‘Haunts of Wild Game,’ tells us that, “although
very rare,” the Roan Antelope is still to be found in the north-eastern
parts of the Transvaal. “There are a few on the high stony ridges
across the Mehlamhali and about Maripi’s Berg and the Oliphants River,
but nowhere in large numbers.” In 1891 he shot two fine bulls on the
Nuanetsi, but they were wanderers.
It was across the Limpopo within the borders of Mashonaland that Mr.
John Millais came across this beautiful Antelope in 1893. Its head
forms one of the subjects of the cover of his enchanting volume ‘A
Breath from the Veldt,’ the pages of which contain several excellent
sketches of this splendid animal and much information on its habits. It
was near Eland’s Fontein, between the Rivers Bubye and Nuanetsi, that
Mr. Millais obtained his first specimen of the Roan Antelope, of which
he writes as follows:—
“On the Veldt the Roan has a fine and noble appearance, though it
does look a bit ‘front heavy,’ It carries its head very finely,
but not with the grace and the nobility of the Sable. In many
respects it resembles its handsomer cousin. Its habits are much
the same, being found alike in open or enclosed country, though on
the whole it evinces a greater predilection for the great plains
with scattered bush, while the Sable is fond of climbing about the
low rocky hills, or in bush at the base of kopjies. The Roan
Antelope is also a much more regular drinker than the Sable, which
can go for long periods without requiring water. A troop of the
former, if undisturbed, come every evening to about the same spot
on some favourite sluit of standing water, while the latter drink
irregularly and nearly always about daybreak.
“Although the Roan is a very large animal, standing about 5 feet
at the shoulder, the dull reddish grey of its hide makes it very
hard to distinguish in bush, and it would often be passed even in
the open lands but for its shy nature, which causes it to start
lumbering away as soon as it sees a man on a horse.
“The Sable will stand and stare at you quite close sometimes, as
much as to say ‘Who the devil are you?’ The Koodoo will creep
under the shadow of a thorn bush and hope to ‘Goodness gracious’
you won’t notice him; but the Roan will say ‘Good morning’ as soon
as he sees you.
“Roans seem to keep in much smaller parties than the Sables, about
a dozen cows being the limit, whilst the old males live much to
themselves, and are more difficult to find than they are to bag.
When running the Roans adopt single file, and each follows closely
the steps and movements of the old cow who generally leads. They
have a very fair power of endurance, but I think that any decent
horse, if properly handled, will run them to a standstill. All
hunters, however, are agreed that one should be careful in such
experiments, for this Antelope is doubtless the most dangerous of
all the tribe, there being plenty of authenticated instances of
the animals turning and charging furiously when merely pressed too
hard.”
Again, Mr. Millais writes:—
“The Dutchmen, who are generally pretty well at sea as regards the
names of wild game, have never quite made up their minds what to
call this animal. They consider that he has absolutely no claims
to legitimacy on any score, and half the members of that nation
whom you meet will christen it either ‘Bastard Eland’ or ‘Bastard
Gemsbok,’ both of which are equally ridiculous and inappropriate.
Though the animal, when viewed critically, is on the whole
imposing and even beautiful, when seen running it looks decidedly
clumsy, and wanting in both proportion and elegance; yet the head,
when well set up and viewed among other specimens of African
fauna, has a striking and pleasing appearance. The fine blending
of colours on the face, the white switches of hair over the
lachrymal glands standing out over the black of the cheeks, the
fine rough neck, and the long queerly-shaped ears, all tend to
give the head the wild game look it certainly possesses. The horns
themselves, though nothing compared with those of the Waterbuck,
Koodoos, and Sable, are beautifully annulated, and look quite in
proportion. Ward gives the maximum of males as 33 inches, and
females 30½ inches. I would call the attention of the reader, if a
naturalist, to the very peculiar shape of the ear, and to the way
that the white whisps drop from above the lachrymal sinus, making
the hairs stand out slightly as they do in life.
“Of all the larger Antelope, except perhaps the Eland, the Roan is
the easiest to kill. If the hunter follows a troop up they will
frequently stop and allow several shots to be fired at them; but
the hunter must above all things keep them in good view, for once
out of sight the Roans know they are likely to be followed up, and
it will be found next to impossible to approach them, their sense
of sight and smell is so keen, and they so commonly start running
long before you have spotted them.”
Another recent authority on the Antelopes of Mashonaland, Mr. J.
Ffolliott Darling, F.Z.S., has kindly favoured us with the following
notes:—
“Roan Antelopes are rather scarce over most parts of Mashonaland.
They run in small troops of from 3 to 6 or 8 in number. They vary
greatly in bulk and in size of horn; sometimes a big bull will
have a very poor head.