bull and four cows, in the morning soon after sunrise, on an open
plain; they allowed my companion to shoot the bull from the road:
we put him on a wagon and went on to camp at a stream a few miles
further on. During the day the four cows came along and grazed
with our oxen within a few hundred yards of where we were camped.
When the boy went to bring in the oxen, I went with him and I
walked up to within 75 yards of the Roans before they showed any
signs of uneasiness; then they looked awhile, kicked their heels
in the air, and galloped off a bit and had a little fight in play,
came back again and continued playing about there while the oxen
were being inspanned.
“On another occasion, in November, I found a cow and calf by
themselves in the middle of the day, on an open flat. I sat down
on the top of an ant-hill to watch, and presently, after
inspecting me carefully at 800 yards distance, the cow lay down on
the top of another ant-hill, the better to keep me in view, while
the calf played about and nibbled the grass; after half an hour or
so the cow got up and they moved off leisurely to the hills.”
Passing to the north of the Zambesi we have already recorded the
occurrence of the Roan Antelope on the Manica Plateau in the Barotse
country on the testimony of Mr. Selous. Herr Lorenz. in his list of
Dr. Holub’s Mammals, also catalogues a male specimen obtained by that
traveller in the same district. Further north it was found by Mr.
Alfred Sharpe to be abundant near Lake Mweru, and five heads of it
were sent home by him in 1895. Mr. Sharpe, on his journey from Lake
Nyasa to Mweru in 1892, first met with the Roan Antelope after crossing
the Saisi, which flows into Lake Rikwa (see P. Z. S. 1895, p. 723).
In the Protectorate of Nyasaland this Antelope would appear to be not
so common, and Mr. Crawshay did not include it in his list. But it
occurs, according to the late Capt. Sclater, in the Shiré Highlands on
the Tochila Plains between Blantyre and Milanji (see P. Z. S. 1895, p.
728), and Major Frank Trollope is stated to have shot specimens on the
east coast of Lake Nyasa (Johnston, Br. Centr. Afr. p. 318).
On the Nyasa-Tanganyika plateau between the two lakes, according to
information supplied to us by Mr. James B. Yule, the Roan is one of the
most abundant Antelopes, and is met with in herds of from 20 to 30.
Passing on northwards we now come to German and British Eastern Africa,
on specimens from which countries Herr Neumann has lately based his
_Hippotragus rufo-pallidus_. As already stated, we regard this
local form, so far as present evidence goes, as at most not more than
a subspecies of _H. equinus_. As regards its alleged variation
in colour, it should be recollected that an excellent observer, Mr.
Selous, tells us that these Antelopes “differ very much one from
another in colour, some being of a strawberry-roan, others of a deep
dark grey or brown, and others again so light as to appear almost white
at a distance”[5].
In this part of Africa the Roan Antelope appears to have been first
observed by Speke, who met with it in swampy ground near Kazeh in
Uniamwesi “in considerable numbers,” and sent home a single head. Herr
Matschie records it as observed by Böhm in Uganda. Herr Oscar Neumann
kindly informs us that during his two years’ journeyings in East Africa
he only met with one herd of this Antelope, out of which he shot five
specimens, all females. This was on the 24th of September, 1893, on
the upper River Bubu, halfway between Irangi and Mount Gurui. “When
approached, the herd did not go off at full speed, but trotted away and
then broke into a slow canter.” Herr Neumann believes he could have
shot more of them if he had not been exhausted by hard running.
Herr Matschie kindly furnishes us with the following additional
localities for this Antelope in German East Africa:—Upper Pangani
River, south of Kilimanjaro (_Kaiser_ and _Schillings_);
between Lumbwa and Kavirondo (_Schillings_); and Ufipa in Ukonongo
(_Hösemann_).
In British East Africa, likewise, this Antelope appears to be local
and rather rare. Mr. Jackson believes that he saw it on the northern
slopes of Mount Elgon (Big Game Shoot, i. p. 292), and, more recently,
has recorded that Capt. F. S. Dugmore, R.N.R., shot a male on the Athi
Plains in July 1896[6]. Mr. Jackson also writes to us from the Ravine
Station on the Uganda Road as follows:—
“In April last, two marches from here, I saw a herd of 7 Antelopes
much resembling the Roan. They were about 800 yards off, and I had
a good look at them with a powerful telescope before commencing a
stalk, which, I regret to say, was unsuccessful through one of
them, that I did not notice, seeing me. There were four cows, one
bull, and two half-grown calves. In colour they were like an Oryx,
and not unlike it in shape, though larger and longer on the leg.
The back of the neck was arched, like a Sable, and appeared to
carry a short dark zebra-like mane. The ears were very long and
tufted, and the horns of both the bull and cows were thick in
proportion to their length, the bull’s perhaps 20 inches or more,
and curved backwards like a Roan. With the exception of one calf
they were all standing under a big tree in the shade, and as they
were all broadside on to me I could not make out what the facial
markings were like. As the calf stood facing me, its ears stood
out almost at right angles to its head, with a slight droop
towards the tips. They appeared to me to be not large enough for
Roan (I have only seen those in the Natural History Museum), and I
believe that they are more likely to be _H. bakeri_. I feel sure
that they are of the same species as that I saw on the northern
slopes of Mount Elgon in 1890.” (See P. Z. S. 1897, p. 454.)
Finally, on March 1st last year, Mr. W. E. de Winton at a meeting of
the Zoological Society exhibited a head-skin of this Antelope, brought
home from Machakos, on the Uganda Road, by Mr. S. L. Hinde, which had
been obtained from the Collector at that station.
From the slopes of Mount Elgon we will now proceed further northwards
to the swamps of the Bahr el Ghazal and the plains of the Atbara
and Blue Nile. Here we find the Roan Antelope, or at all events its
nearly allied representative, long ago recognized, and dedicated, as
a new species, to the memory of the well-known British sportsman and
traveller the late Sir Samuel Baker. Heuglin, who was the author of
the name “_bakeri_,” though well acquainted by report with this
species (which he says occurs in herds in the open districts of Galabat
and on the Atbara), tells us that he had only once seen it himself,
and had derived most of his information on it from Baker, who, in his
‘Albert Nyanza,’ vol. i. p. 340), speaking of the Latooka country on
the right bank of the White Nile, between 4° and 5° N. lat., writes as
follows:—
“I saw varieties of Antelopes, including the rare and beautiful
_Maharif_; but all were so wild, and the ground so open, that I
could not get a shot. This was the more annoying, as the _Maharif_
was an Antelope that I believed to be of a new species. It had
often disappointed me; for although I had frequently seen them on
the south-west frontier of Abyssinia, I had never been able to
procure one, owing to their extreme shyness, and to the fact of
their inhabiting open plains, where stalking was impossible. I had
frequently examined them with a telescope, and had thus formed an
intimate acquaintance with their peculiarities. The _Maharif_ is
very similar to the Roan Antelope of South Africa, but is mouse-
coloured, with black and white stripes upon the face. The horns
are exactly those of the Roan Antelope, very massive and
corrugated, bending backwards to the shoulders. The withers are
extremely high, which give a peculiarly heavy appearance to the
shoulders, much heightened by a large and stiff black mane like
that of a hog-maned horse. I have a pair of horns in my possession
that I obtained through the assistance of a lion, who killed the
_Maharif_ while drinking near my tent; unfortunately the skin was
torn to pieces, and the horns and skull were all that remained.”
The well-known scientific traveller Dr. Schweinfurth also met with this
Antelope in several localities in the course of his journeys (1868–71)
among the upper affluents of the Bahr el Ghazal, and furnishes us with
a long list of the vernacular names by which it is known among the
various native tribes of that country. In the first volume of his ’Im
Herzen von Afrika’ (p. 237) he gives a good figure of its head, and
tells us how, as he was one day deeply engaged in botanizing in the
forests of Bongo, a fine full-grown specimen of this stately beast
suddenly appeared close to him, and fell a victim to two well-directed
shots, to the great joy of the accompanying natives.
[Illustration:
Fig. 89
Horns of Baker’s Roan Antelope.
(From P. Z. S. 1868, p. 216.)
]
Dr. William Junker, who visited the same district of Africa in 1882,
also met with this Antelope in Zemio’s territory upon the upper
affluents of the Welle, where he tells us (‘Travels in Africa,’ Keane’s
translation, iii. p. 144) that his hunter brought in a “Bastard”
Chamois (_Antilope leucophæa_). Of this animal a figure is given
which seems decidedly to belong to this species.
In 1868 Sclater gave an account before the Zoological Society of
London of a young male Equine Antelope of this form which he had
observed in the King of Italy’s Menagerie, and illustrated it by
exhibiting a coloured photograph of the animal, which was subsequently
reproduced in the Society’s ‘Proceedings.’ The animal had been received
from Dr. Ori, the King’s agent at Khartoum, and on its death was
deposited in the Royal Zoological Museum of Turin. Sclater’s paper
was supplemented by some field-notes on this Antelope contributed by
Sir Samuel Baker, who also sent for exhibition the fine pair of horns
of the typical specimen described by Heuglin, then in his collection.
A figure of them is likewise given in Sclater’s article in the
‘Proceedings,’ which, by the kind permission of the Society, we are
enabled to reproduce in these pages (fig. 89, p. 25).
On Nov. 24th, 1878, the Zoological Society of London acquired a
young male Equine Antelope from Mr. C. Hagenbeck, who stated that he
had received it along with other animals from Upper Nubia. If this
statement was correct, which there is no reason to question, this
animal was, no doubt, an example of _Hippotragus equinus bakeri_,
although it was never recognized as such. It lived in the Regent’s Park
Gardens until February 23rd, 1889.
There was also, about twenty years ago, an Equine Antelope, obtained
from the same source, living in the Zoological Garden at Berlin. Mr.
Clarence Bartlett has kindly lent us an excellent water-colour drawing
of this specimen taken by the late Stanley Wilson. It represents, no
doubt, the same local form of this Antelope. Mr. Hagenbeck informs
us that the Berlin specimen was also received by him in one of his
consignments from the Egyptian Sudan.
That a representative of the Equine Antelope is likewise found in
West Africa on the open country traversed by the Upper Gambia has
been known since Whitfield, as recorded by Gray in 1852, brought home
specimens of its head and horns. Gray did not then consider these to
indicate any difference from the Cape specimen of this species in
the British Museum. In a subsequent journey Whitfield also brought
home for the Derby Menagerie two, or perhaps three, living examples
of this Antelope. These were figured by Waterhouse Hawkins in three
water-colour drawings forming part of the two volumes of original
sketches by Waterhouse Hawkins and Wolf which are now in the Library
at Knowsley, and which, by the kind permission of the present Earl
of Derby, were exhibited and described by Sclater at the meeting of
the Zoological Society on December 15th, 1896[7]. From the MS. notes
written on these three drawings we learn that they were made on board
the S.S. ‘African’ on Sept. 11th and 12th, 1848, and represent
the adult female and young male of this Antelope—the “_Dacris_”
of Whitfield.
By the kind permission of Lord Derby we now give an exact copy,
slightly reduced in size, put upon the stone by Mr. Smit (Plate
LXXVIII), of Waterhouse Hawkins’s drawing of the “Dacris,” which forms
one of the figures of plate 5 of the second volume of this valuable
series, and is stated to represent an adult female. This figure will be
observed to differ from that of the male (Plate LXXVII.) in its much
lighter and more reddish colouring, and especially in the longer ears
of the Gambian animal.
One of the young specimens brought home by Whitfield is now stuffed in
the Derby Museum at Liverpool. As we learn from the label, it died in
London on its way to Knowsley.
More recently heads of this Antelope have been obtained on the Gambia
by Dr. Percy Rendall, F.Z.S., and by Sir R. B. Llewelyn, the present
Governor. The latter were exhibited by Sclater at a meeting of the
Zoological Society on May 3rd, 1898[8], when attention was called to
the large number of fine Antelopes that occur in the Gambia Colony,
and to the desirableness of procuring further information about them.
According to the notes supplied to us by Sir R. B. Llewelyn, the Roan
Antelope, which is the “_Da Kevoi_” of the Mandingos, is found in
some places in Jara and Kiaung, and is common in Eastern Niammina.
The horns in question are those of a not fully adult animal, measuring
26½ inches along the curvature. They do not present any noticeable
features to distinguish them from those of _Hippotragus equinus
typicus_ of South Africa.
The existence of this Antelope in West Africa has been further
confirmed by Herr Matschie, who has included it in his list of Mammals
of the German Protectorate of Togo, on the Gulf of Guinea, where it
occurs on the uplands of the interior. Herr Matschie kindly informs
us that the Berlin Museum has received from that locality a defective
head and skin without horns from Misa-höhe, transmitted by Herr
Baumann, and two skulls of females from Bismarckburg (_Kling_ and
_Conrad_). In the collection of the British Museum there are
also a scalp and skull of a young male of the Roan Antelope obtained
at Balaga, Beaufort Island, on the Niger, and presented by Capt. A. J.
Richardson.
Lastly, we may add that there is a fine young male Roan Antelope now
living in the Zoological Garden, Antwerp, which is stated to have
been received from Senegal, and, if so, would probably belong to the
subspecies now under consideration.
As regards the name to be used for this local form or subspecies of the
Roan Antelope a few words are necessary. Gray, in his ‘Catalogue of the
Ruminants,’ published in 1872, proposed to call it “_koba_”—no
doubt because of Whitfield’s assurances that it was the “Kob” or “Koba”
of the Jolliffs, and, as will be seen by our list of synonyms, several
subsequent authors have followed Gray’s lead. But we have already fully
discussed the question of this much-vexed name (see Vol. I. p. 60), and
have shown that it is hopeless to attempt to refer the “Koba” of Buffon
satisfactorily to any of the species with which it has been identified.
It follows that the Latin specific term “_koba_,” founded on
Buffon’s name, must also fall to the ground. Under these circumstances
we propose to designate the western form of the Roan Antelope
_Hippotragus equinus gambianus_, as being the representative of
this species in the Gambia.
South of Togo, along the West-African coast down to the Congo and in
the great Congo valley itself, we are not aware of the Roan Antelope
ever having been met with; nor is it likely to occur there, as the
uniform dense forest which covers these districts would be little
suited to its habits. But when we proceed further south to Mossamedes
and the interior of Angola, where the country becomes drier and more
open, the Roan Antelope is again found. Dr. Jentink mentions it in
his article on the mammals collected in Mossamedes by Mr. P. J. van
der Kellen (Notes Leyd. Mus. ix. p. 173); and Prof. J. V. Barboza du
Bocage includes it in his catalogue of the Mammals of Angola, published
in 1892, as having been received from Golungo Alto in the interior,
where, along with the Sable Antelope, it is known by the native name of
“Palanca” or “Malanca” (Jorn. Ac. Sc. Lisboa, 2, ii. p. 26). We presume
that the Angolan representative of the Roan Antelope will be found
to belong to the typical South-African form _Hippotragus equinus
typicus_.
The specimens of the Roan Antelope in the British Museum consist of a
mounted adult male and a young one, and the skeleton of a male, from
Mashonaland, presented by Mr. F. C. Selous (exhibited in the gallery);
an adult male presented by Sir Andrew Smith, being the specimen figured
in his ‘Illustrations,’ as above referred to; a female presented by
Lord Derby; and a skin and skull of an adult from Lake Mweru, presented
by Mr. Crawshay. There are also several pairs of horns, one of which
was received from Dr. Burchell. These specimens all belong to the
typical form.
Of the East-African _H. equinus rufo-pallidus_ the British Museum
has only the scalp and skull from Machakos (_Dr. Hinde_) above
referred to.
[Illustration:
Fig. 90.
Head of Roan Antelope.
]
Of _H. e. bakeri_ the British Museum has two skulls (♂ et ♀) from
the Atbara, obtained by the collector Essler.
Of the West-African _H. e. gambianus_ the series in the National
Collection comprises a pair of frontlets (♂ et ♀) from Gambia
(_Whitfield_) presented by Lord Derby, a scalp and skull from the
Upper Gambia presented by Dr. Percy Kendall (above referred to), and
the specimen from the Niger presented by Capt. Richardson.
This series, as is evident, is quite insufficient to solve the vexed
question as to the amount of distinctness of the four geographical
forms or subspecies, which must remain open for future investigators.
Our illustration of the adult male of this Antelope (Plate LXXVII.)
was put on the stone by Mr. Smit, about twenty years ago, from a
water-colour sketch by Mr. Wolf. It is now impossible to ascertain from
what specimen this sketch was taken, but it is conjectured to have been
from a skin and skull procured by Mr. Selous in S.E. Africa. At the
same time a wood-block of the head (fig. 90, p. 29) was drawn, which
shows well the essential differences between the Roan Antelope and the
Sable Antelope (see fig. 91, p. 38).
_January,_ 1899.
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXIX.
_Wolf del. J. Smit lith._
_Hanhart imp._
The Sable Antelope.
HIPPOTRAGUS NIGER.
_Published by R.H. Porter_
]
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXX.
_H. Leutemann del. J. Smit lith._
_Hanhart imp._
The Sable Antelope, ♀ _et vit_
HIPPOTRAGUS NIGER.
_Published by R.H. Porter_
]
112. THE SABLE ANTELOPE.
HIPPOTRAGUS NIGER (Harr.).
[PLATES LXXIX. & LXXX.]
_Aigocerus niger_, =Harris=, P. Z. S. 1838, p. 2 (Jan. 9); =id.= Tr. Z.
S. ii. p. 213, pl. xxxix. (1838); =id.= Portr. Wild Anim. S. Afr. p.
126, pl. xxiii. (1840); =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 158 (1843); =id.=
Knowsl. Men. p. 17 (1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850, p. 133; =id.= Cat.
Ung. B. M. p. 104 (1852); =Harris=, Wild Sports S. Afr. (ed. 5) pp.
216 & 349, pl. xxii. (1852); =Gerrard=, Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 240
(1862); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1864, p. 103 (Kazeh, _Speke_); =Kirk=, P. Z.
S. 1864, p. 658 (Zambesia); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 177
(1869); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 35 (1872); =id.= Hand-1. Rum. B. M.
p. 103 (1873); =Huet=, Bull. Soc. Acclim. (4) iv. p. 480 (1887);
=Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 135 (1887); =id.=
Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 166 (1892).
_Antilope nigra_, =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat., Suppl. i. p. 265 (1840);
=Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 618 (1841); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug.,
Suppl. iv. p. 484 (1844), v. p. 436 (1855); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii.
p. 442 (1845); =id.= Mon. Antil. p. 38, pl. xliii. (1848); =Peters=,
Säug. Mossamb. p. 190 (1852).
_Hippotragus niger_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 197
(1846); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 148;
Reprint, p. 72 (1848); =Hengl.= Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop.
xxx. pt. 2) p. 16 (1863) (Shilluk Co.); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1868, p. 218;
=Buckley=, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 288; =Bocage=, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 745
(Mossamedes); =Brehm=, Thierl. iii. p. 227 (1880); =Selous=, P. Z. S.
1881, p. 756; id. Hunter’s Wanderings, p. 214 (1881); =Scl.= List
Anim. Z. S. (8) p. 139 (1883), (9) p. 158 (1896); =Flow. & Gars.= Cat.
Coll. Surg. ii. p. 263 (1884); =Johnston=, Kilimanjaro, p. 354;
=Crawshay=, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 660 (Nyasa); =Bocage=, J. Sci. Lisb. (2)
ii. p. 26 (1890) (Mossamedes); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 343 (1891);
=Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 137 (1892), (2) p. 178 (1896); =Nicolls &
Egl.= Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 50 (1892); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1893, p. 504
(Zomba); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 245 (1893); =Lugard=, E. Afr. i.
p. 533 (1893); =Jackson=, in Badm. Big Game Shooting, i. pp. 285 & 293
(1894); =Lorenz=, Ann. Mus. Wien, ix., Notizen, p. 62 (1894);
=Rendall=, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 362 (Transvaal); =Matsch.= Säug.
DeutschO.-Afr. p. 134 (1895); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1896, p. 506 (Zomba);
=Thos.= P. Z. S. 1896, p. 797 (Nyasaland); id. P. Z. S. 1897, p. 939
(Zomba); =Troness.= Cat. Mamm. fasc. iv. p. 952 (1898).
_Aegoceros niger_, var. _kirkii_, =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 35 (1872)
(Zambesia).
_Ozanna nigra_, =Brehm=, Thierl. iii. p. 227 (1880).
_Aigocerus harrisi_, =Harris=, Wild Sports of S. Africa, (ed. 1) pp. 261
& 378 (1839).
Vernacular Names:—_Sable Antelope_ or _Harris_-_buck_ of English; _Zwart
Wit Pens_ of Dutch; _Potoquane_ of Southern Bechuanas; _Qualata inchu_
of Bamangwatos and Makalolos; _Umtjiele_ of Matabilis; _Pala_-_Pala_
of Makalakas; _Impengo_ of Masubias; _Ookwa_ of Makubas; _Sulvpe_ of
Masaras (_Selous_). _Inguarato_ and _Marabulla_ of Mashoonas
(_Darling_). _Mbarapi_ of Ajawa; _Mpala_-_Mpala_ of Anyanja, Angonis,
and other Nyasa races (_Crawshay_). _Palla_-_Halla_ in Swahili
(_Matschie_).
Size rather less than in the Roan Antelope; adult male about 52 inches
at the withers. General colour a rich glossy black, at least in adult
males, only relieved by the white of the face-markings, of the inner
surface of the ear, and of the belly. Centre line of face black,
outside which there is a white streak reaching from the bases of the
horns to the muzzle, succeeded again on the cheeks by a black band.
Lips and region of lower jaw white. Ears of ordinary length, their
tips not pencilled. Mane well developed, the hairs directed backward.
A throat-mane present. Belly and back of hams sharply defined white.
Limbs black, the inner sides of the thighs white. Whole of tail black.
Skull-dimensions of an adult male from Nyasaland:—Basal length 15·7
inches, greatest breadth 6·55, muzzle to orbit 11.
Horns much longer than in _H. equinus_, compressed laterally,
their longitudinal much greater than their transverse diameter, heavily
ringed, boldly curved backward. In length they are often 43 or 44
inches long round the front curve, the record being 46 inches.
_Female._ Similar to the male, but more or less brownish in
colour; horns (just as in _H. equinus_) more slender and smooth,
less curved, and rather shorter than in the male.
_Hab._ Eastern Africa, from the Northern Transvaal to
German East Africa.
The distinguished traveller and sportsman Sir William Cornwallis Harris
whose works we have so often quoted in these pages, was the discoverer
of this Antelope, which was characterized by Gordon-Cuming—the great
African hunter—as “one of the loveliest animals which graces this fair
creation.” Harris writes in one of his works that “the desire nearest
to his heart” from the beginning of his journey had been to “discover
something new”; and in the present instance he certainly succeeded. But
we will let him tell his story in his own words.
When encamped on the Cashan Mountains in what is now the north-western
part of the Transvaal, in 1836, as he writes in his volume on ‘Wild
Sports in Southern Africa,’ he achieved his success as follows:—
“My doubled-barrelled rifle having again suffered in a fall with
my horse, I took the field on the 13th December with a heavy
weapon constructed upon the primitive principle of flint and
steel, which, as a _pis-aller_, I had obtained at the Kuruman.