thorn-tree, especially where there is an undergrowth of the _hig_
or slender-pointed aloe, which is of a light green colour and
grows from four to six feet high. This Antelope may also be found
hiding in dense thickets of tamarisk in the river-beds. It is not
met with in the open grass plains, and I have never seen one in
the cedar-forests on the top of the Gólis. Its favourite haunts
used to be along the foot of this range, and I do not think its
numbers have been much diminished of late years. By far the best
Lesser-Koodoo ground I have ever visited is the thick forest on
the banks of the Webbe, near Imé and Karanleh. These Webbe
specimens are different from those found under Gólis, as they are
smaller, have shorter horns, are still more brilliantly marked,
and have hoofs nearly twice as long. The hoofs of a Webbe Lesser
Koodoo are, like those of a Webbe Bushbuck, of extraordinary
length.
“The Lesser Koodoo likes to be near water, and, living as it does
amongst the densest thickets, has its ears wonderfully well
developed. It has powerful hind-quarters, and is a strong leaper,
the white bushy tail flashing over the aloe-clumps as it takes
them in great bounds. They are very cunning, and will stand quite
still on the farther side of a thicket listening to the advancing
trackers, then a slight rustle is heard as they gallop away. The
best way to get a specimen is to follow the fresh tracks of a
buck, the sportsman advancing in a direction parallel with that of
the tracker, but some fifty yards to one flank and in advance; a
snap-shot may then be got as the Koodoo bounds out of the farther
side of a thicket, but you may be months in the country before
getting a really good buck. They go in herds of about the same
number as do the Greater Koodoos. Old bucks are nearly black and
the horns become smooth by rubbing against trees; and scars of all
sorts remain on the neck, being the result of wild rushes through
the jungle and fights with other bucks. The average length of a
good buck’s horns is about 25 inches from base to tip. The longest
I have shot or seen was between 27 and 28 inches in length in a
straight line. The horns are very sharp, but I have never seen a
Lesser Koodoo attempt to charge.”
Lt.-Col. H. O. Olivier, R.E., who has lately made a short hunting-tour
in Somaliland, sends us the following field-notes on the Lesser Kudu:—
“The Lesser Koodoo is, I consider, a more difficult animal to
circumvent than the Larger Koodoo. They are met with in thick
scrubby jungle and are extremely wary. I found that when once they
had seen us it was almost hopeless to get a shot, as they have a
habit of standing in deep shade looking back over a fork of a tree
or through the top of a bush along their back track, and one
cannot evade their eyesight, however quietly one moves. Moreover,
they constantly go off down-wind.
“They seem to be partial to moving in a restricted range, for I
found that when following their tracks they always worked round in
a circle. They are also very partial to disused zarebas, which
they visit for the sake of the grass found there, and the finest
animal I ever saw was observed sunning itself in the middle of
such a zareba about 9 o’clock in the morning. Naturally I had not
my rifle, and my shikari, who had it, did not see the Koodoo, and
though I followed it for some six hours I never got a chance at
it; but it was a real beauty.
“I was fortunate in twice getting shots at animals before they saw
me by coming unexpectedly on them and not tracking them, which
latter operation is a weariness to the flesh and exasperating to
the temper. I found the Lesser Koodoo at the foot of the Golis
Range, and in considerable numbers on the Farfan and Dachato
Rivers; also to the west of Hargeisa, and indeed in the Hargeisa
jungle itself. They seemed to go in very small parties; I never
saw more than two together, and at the time I was in Somaliland,
_i.e._ from May to August, the tracks were always solitary.
“They appear often to fall victims to wild beasts, more often than
most Antelopes. I found one killed by a lioness, another by a
panther, and a third by wild dogs. Both the last were bucks—in
fact I came across many more males than females, but this may have
been chance.
“Their coat of slaty grey with irregular stripes harmonizes
wonderfully with the foliage, and, as in the case of the Cheetah
in India, exactly reproduces the chequered shade of sunshine
through leaves.”
We have already spoken of the occurrence of the Lesser Kudu on the
Brava Coast in Southern Somaliland, and this species is stated by Mr.
Hunter to be one of the commonest Antelopes on the Tana River. The
same writer informs us that it is also found in the bush round Taveta,
and on the Kikavo River near the Sogonoe Hills, but is seldom met with
near Kilimanjaro. As Mr. F. J. Jackson writes (‘Big Game Shooting,’
vol. i. p. 304), the Lesser Kudu is confined, in British East Africa,
principally to the belt of dry bush-country which extends from the
coast to 100 miles inland. Mr. Jackson continues his remarks with the
subjoined interesting notes on this species:—
“I was told by Messrs. Hobley and Bird-Thompson, on their return
from a trip up the Tana river in 1891, that many of these
Antelopes had fallen victims to the cattle disease (anthrax), and
that they found several dead in the bush between the river and the
northern boundaries of the Elkambani. These beautiful beasts are
bush feeders. They should be sought for in the early morning and
again in the evening, in the open bush which usually fringes thick
bush, in which they take up their quarters for the day. They are
generally found in small parties of two or three does and a buck,
though, like the Bushbuck, both single bucks and does are often
seen by themselves. At Marereni, in 1886, I witnessed a fight
between two bucks. On emerging from the bush, I suddenly came
across them, and watched them for about a quarter of an hour as
they fought with great fury, in spite of my being to windward of
them, and not more than 400 yards off at the time. They fought so
furiously, and kept their heads together so long, that I thought
they had got their horns locked together, and I attempted to take
advantage of them whilst in this position, and ran across the
sandy open space intervening between us, but before I got within
range they separated and bolted. The jumping powers of the Lesser
Kudu are simply marvellous. When I first went to Africa, I kept a
record of the length of the strides of the various game-beasts
when at full gallop, but unfortunately lost it, and never took the
subject up again. I remember, however, measuring the jump of one
of these beasts, which struck me at the time as being very
wonderful. She had been chased by a hyæna along a narrow footpath
in a dense bush. In the middle of a path was a thick green bush
about 5 ft. high, round which the path took a turn, and then went
straight on again. The Kudu had taken a flying leap over this
bush, and the distance between the spoor of her hind feet where
she took off and the edge of the bush was 15 ft. The diameter of
the bush was 6 ft., and the distance from the edge of the bush on
the further side to where she landed—_i.e._ to the spoor-marks of
her hind feet—another 10 ft., in all 31 feet. The hyæna had given
up the chase some 30 yards further on, where the Kudu had entered
the bush. The note of alarm of this beast is a distinct and loud
bark, much resembling that of an ‘old man’ baboon. Lesser Kudu
appear to bark only when they scent danger but are unable to see
it. As I have said before, many natives will not touch the flesh
of this beast, as it causes them great pain in the mouth and
gums.”
We have already mentioned the fact that a living pair of the Lesser
Kudu was received at the Château Beaujardin, Tours, from Somaliland,
by Mons. Cornély in 1884. In April 1886 Mons. Cornély was kind enough,
having lost the female of a pair of these Antelopes then in his garden,
to part with the solitary male in favour of the Zoological Society
of London. This was the first specimen received in England; but in
April 1889 a second example, likewise a young male, was presented to
the Society’s Collection by Mr. George S. Mackenzie, F.Z.S. In July
1898 a third young male was obtained by purchase. But none of these
individuals, we regret to state, can be said to have done well in the
Regent’s Park. We are not aware of any specimen of this Antelope having
been received in any of the many continental Gardens.
In the British Museum, besides the old stuffed specimen received
from the East Indian Museum, which may be considered the real type
of Blyth’s species, there is mounted in one of the large glass-cases
in the Gallery the young male presented by Mons. Cornély to Sclater
and figured in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings,’ as already
mentioned. This was subsequently presented by Sclater to the National
Collection. In the same glass-case there are also mounted a fine adult
male from Somaliland, presented by Mr. R. McD. Hawker, and a female
from British East Africa, presented by Mr. Rowland Ward. There are also
skins and skulls in the Museum presented by Sir John Kirk, Col. Paget,
Capt. Swayne, and other donors.
Our drawing of this beautiful Antelope (Plate XCVII.) was put upon the
stone by Mr. Smit from the sketch made for Sir Victor Brooke by Wolf in
1875, of which we have already spoken.
_April,_ 1900.
Genus V. TAUROTRAGUS.
Type.
_Oreas_, =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 471 (1822)
(_nec_ Hübner, 1806) T. oryx.
_Taurotragus_, =Wagn.= Schr. Säug., Suppl.
v. p. 439 (1855) T. oryx.
_Doratoceros_, =Lyd.= Field, lxxviii. p. 130 (1891) T. oryx.
Very large, heavily-built, bovine Antelopes, differing from the rest of
the Tragelaphinæ in the presence of horns in both sexes. Horns longer
than the face, arising well behind the orbits and directed backwards in
the plane of the nasal bones, massive (in the male) and furnished with
a strong but close spiral twist in the basal half; the anterior crest
large, making a complete circuit of the horn and reappearing on its
anterior surface near the middle when the horn is unworn, and always at
some distance from the tip.
Hair on the forehead longer than on the rest of the head, and forming,
in old males, a thick and stiff mat; hair on the nape forming a short
mane reversed in the direction of the growth, the parting close to the
withers. Throat furnished with a flap of loose skin, or dewlap, which
bears a beardlike tuft of hairs.
Tail reaching to the hocks, covered with short hair, but tufted at the
tip.
_Female._ Like the male, but slighter in build; without the thick
frontal mat of hair; horns longer, thinner, less strongly crested, and
usually much less twisted. Mammæ 4.
_Range of the Genus._ Africa south of the Sahara, from Senegambia
and the White Nile in the north to Cape Colony in the south.
The two species of this genus may be shortly diagnosed as follows:—
A. Ears narrow and pointed; neck brown like the body. 132. _T. oryx._
B. Ears large and expanded; neck black, with a white posterior margin. 133. _T. derbianus._
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XCVIII.
_Smit del. et lith._
_Hanhart imp._
The Eland.
TAUROTRAGUS ORYX.
_Published by R. H. Porter._
]
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XCIX.
_Smit del. et lith._
_Hanhart imp._
Livingstones’ Eland.
TAUROTRAGUS ORYX LIVINGSTONII.
_Published by R. H. Porter._
]
132. THE ELAND.
TAUROTRAGUS ORYX (Pall.).
[PLATES XCVIII. & XCIX.]
Subspecies _a._ Taurotragus oryx tyficus.
_Le Coudous_, =Buffon=, Hist. Nat. xii. p. 357, pl. xlvi. b (horns).
_Le Canna_, =Allamand=, in Buff. H. N. (Schneider’s ed.), Suppl. v. p.
16, pl. vii. (1781); =Buff.= H. N. Suppl. vi. p. 116, pl. xii.
(1782).
_Kaapsche Eland_, =Vosmaer=, Regn. An. tab. xvii. (1783).
_Antilope oryx_, =Pallas=, Misc. Zool. p. 9 (1766); =id.= Spic. Zool.
i. p. 15 (1767); =Müller=, Natursyst. Suppl. p. 55 (1776); =Erxl.=
Syst. R. A. p. 275 (1777); =Zimm.= Spec. Zool. Geogr. p. 539 (1777);
=Gatt.= Brev. Zool. i. p. 79 (1780); =Sparrm.= Reise, p. 504, pl.
xii. (1784); =id.= Engl. Transl. i. p. 131, & ii. pp. 96 & 204, pl.
i. (1786); =Lath. & Davies=, Faunul. Ind. p. 4 (1795); =G. Cuv.=
Tabl. Elém. p. 163 (1798); =Licht.= in Förster’s Descr. Anim. p. 33.
n. 379 (1844).
_Taurotragus oryx_, =Lyd., Selous, & Penrice=, in Ward’s Great and
Small Game of Afr. pp. 421–439, pl. xii. figs. 1–3 (1899).
_Antilope oreas_, =Pallas=, Spic. Zool. xii. p. 17 (1777); =Zimm=.
Geogr. Ges. ii. p. 109 (1780), iii. p. 269 (1783); =Schreb.= Säug.
pl. cclvi. (1784); =Bodd.= Elench. Anim. p. 139 (1785); =Gm.= Linn.
S. N. i. p. 190 (1788); =Kerr=, Linn. An. K. p. 317 (1792); =Donnd.=
Zool. Beitr. i. p. 639 (1792); =Lath. & Davies=, Faunul. Ind. p. 4
(1795); =Link=, Beytr. Nat. ii. p. 100 (1795); =Bechst.= Syst.
Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p. 642 (1800); =Shaw=, Gen. Zool. pt. 2, p.
319, pl. clxxxv. (1801); =Turt.= Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 115 (1802);
=Desm.= N. Dict. d’H. Nat. vi. p. 376 (1803), xxiv. p. 32 (1804);
=G. Cuv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 244 (1804); =Thunb.= Mém. Ac. St.
Pétersb. iii. p. 314, fig. p. 106 (1811); =Licht.= Reise, i. p. 155
(1811), ii. pp. 39 & 646 (1812); =G. Fisch.= Zoogn. iii. p. 422
(1814); =Afz.= N. Acta Upsal. vii. p. 220 (1815); =G. Cuv.= R. A. i.
p. 263 (1817); =Burchell=, List of Quadr. p. 7 (1817); =id.=
Travels, i. p. 245 (1822); =Goldf.= Schreb. Säug. v. p. 1153 (1818);
Gray, Med. Rep. xv. p. 307 (1821); =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 396
(1821); =Desmoul.= Dict. Class. d’H. N. i. 447 (1822); =J. B.
Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 477 (1829); =Masson=, Cuvier’s R. A. i. p. 317
(1836); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 449 (1845); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 200
(1853); =Drumm.= Large Game, pp. 137 & 425 (1875); =Huet=, Bull.
Soc. Acclim. (4) iv. p 471 (1887).
_Capra oreas_, =Thunb.= Resa, ii. p. 66 (1789); =id.= Engl. Transl,
ii. p. 58 (1793).
_Antilope (Bubalis) oreas_, =Licht.= Mag. nat. Freunde, vi. p. 153
(1814).
_Antilope (Buselaphus) oreas_, =Reichenb.= Säug. iii. p. 142 (1845).
_Antilope (Boselaphus) oreas_, =Desm.= N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 201
(1816); =A. Sm.= S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 222 (1834); =Less.=
Compl. Buff. x. p. 302 (1836); =Wagn.= Sehr. Säug., Suppl. iv. p.
465 (1844).
_Antilope (Addax) oreas_, =Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H. N. p. 620
(1861).
_Antilope (Oreas) oreas_, =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 471 (1822); =Schinz=,
Nat. Abbild. Säug. p. 301, pl. cxxvii. (1827); =id.= Mon. Antil. p.
45, pl. 1. (1848); =Less.= N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 181 (1842).
_Antilope (Taurotragus) oreas_, =Wagn.= Schr. Säug., Suppl. v. p. 439
(1855).
_Cerophorus (Boselaphus) oreas_, =Blainv.= Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p.
75.
_Damalis (Boselaphus) oreas_, =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. v. p. 364 (1827).
_Damalis oreas_, =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. v. p. 355, pl. (1827); =Sund.=
K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. lxv. p. 199 (1846); =id.= Hornsch. Transl., Arch.
Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 150; Reprint, p. 74 (1848).
_Boselaphus oreas_, =Smuts=, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 90 (1832); =Harris=,
Wild Anim. S. Afr. p 24, pl. vi. (1840); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat.,
Suppl. i. p. 267 (1840); =Jard.= Nat. Libr. xxii., Mamm. p. 177, pl.
xix. (1845); =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 155 (1843); =id.= Cat. Ost.
B. M. p. 59 (1847); =id.= Knowsl. Menag. pls. i. & ii. (1850); =A.
Sm.= Ill. Zool. S. Afr. pls. xl. & xli. (1859); =Fitz.= SB. Ak.
Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 179 (1869); =Brehm=, Thierl. iii. p. 245, fig.
(1880) (_Busephalus_).
_Cemas alces_, =Oken=, Lehrb. Nat. iii. p. 735 (1816)
_Damalis canna_, =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. iv. p. 357 (1827).
_Damalis (Boselaphus) canna_, =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. v. p. 365 (1827).
_Antilope (Oreas) canna_, =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 471 (1822); =Less.=
Man. Mamm. p. 384 (1827).
_Boselaphus canna_, =Smuts=, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 91 (1832); =Gray=, List
Mamm. B. M. p. 155 (1843).
_Antilope (Boselaphus) canna_, =A. Sm.= S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p.
223 (1834).
_Antilope (Buselaphus) canna_, =Reichenb.= Säug. iii. p. 145 (1845).
_Oreas canna_, =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 143; =id.= Ann. & Mag. Nat.
Hist. (2) viii. p. 225 (1851); =id.= Knowsl. Menag. p. 27 (1850);
=id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 134, pl. xvii. figs. 3, 4 (1852); =Gerr.=
Cat. Bones B. M. p. 244 (1862); =Wood=, Ill. Nat. Hist. i. p. 665,
fig. (1862); =Kirk=, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 659; =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M.
p. 47 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. p. 118 (1873); =Flower=, P. Z. S.
1875, p. 186 (skull char.); =Buckley=, P. Z. S. 1876, pp. 284–292;
=Garrod=, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 4 _et seq_. (anatomy); =Max Schmidt=, P.
Z. S. 1880, p. 307 (duration of life); =Selous=, P. Z. S. 1881, p.
749; =id.= Hunter’s Wand. p. 204 (1881); =Scl.= List An. Z. S. 1883,
p. 138, 1896, p. 160; =Flow. & Gars.= Cat. Ost. Coll. Surg. p. 258
(1884); =Bryden=, Kloof and Karroo, p. 291 (1889); =Scl.= fil. Cat.
Mamm. Calc. Mus. p. 152 (1891); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mammals, p. 348
(1891); =Nicolls & Eglington=, Sportsm. in S. Afr. p. 54 (1892);
=Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 165 (1892), p. 211 (1896); =Lyd.= Horns and
Hoofs, p. 258 (1893); =id.= Royal Nat. Hist. ii. p. 269, fig.
(1894); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1896, p. 506; =Pousargues=, Ann. Sci. Nat.
iv. p. 81 (1897); =Trouess.= Cat. Mamm. ii. pt. 4, p. 962 (1898).
_Oreas oreas_, =Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p.
140 (1887); =id.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 172
(1892).
_Antilope triangularis_, =Günther=, P. Z. S. 1889, p. 73 (Zambesi);
=Scl.= P. Z. S. 1896, p. 506.
_Doratoceros triangularis_, =Lyd.= Field, lxxviii. p. 130 (1891);
=id.= Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) viii. p. 192 (1891); =id.= Horns
and Hoofs, p. 260 (1893).
Subspecies _b._ Taurotragus oryx livingstonii.
_New or Striped Variety of the Eland_, =Livingstone=, Missionary
Travels, p. 210 (cum fig.) (1857).
_Striped Eland_, =Baldwin=, Afr. Hunting, p. 384 (1863).
_Oreas livingstonii_, =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1864, p. 105; =Kirk=, P. Z. S.
1864, p. 659; =Selous=, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 32; =Pousargues=, Ann.
Sci. Nat. iv. p. 81 (1897).
_Oreas livingstoni_, =Rendall=, Novitat. Zool. v. p. 213 (1898).
_Oreas canna livingstoni_, =Jacks.= Big Game Shooting (Badm. Libr.),
pp. 285–286 (1894); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1895, p. 690 (skull); =id.= List
of An. (9) p. 160 (1896); =Jacks.= P. Z. S. 1897, p. 456; =Thomas=,
P. Z. S. 1898, p. 394; =Trouess.= Cat. Mamm. ii. pt. 4, p. 962
(1898).
_Oreas oreas_ and _O. livingstoni_, =Matsch.= Säug. Deutsch-Ost-Afr.
p. 141, fig. 73 (1895); =id.= in Werther’s Die mittl. Hochländ.
Deutsch-Ost-Afr. p. 259, figs. 31 & 32, & p. 260 (1898).
_Antilope (Taurotragus) livingstonii_, =Heugl.= Reise Weiss. Nil, p.
319 (1869).
_Taurotragus oreas livingstonii_, =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1893, p. 507.
_Taurotragus oryx livingstoni_, =Lyd., Sharpe, & Jackson=, in Ward’s
Great and Small Game of Afr. pp. 421–439 (1899).
_Antilope (Damalis) oreas_, =Peters=, Reise n. Mossamb., Säug. p. 192
(1852).
_Oreas canna_, =Hunter=, in Willoughby’s E. Afr. p. 287 (1889);
=Thomas=, P. Z. S. 1893, p. 504, 1894, p. 145, 1896, p. 797 (Brit.
Centr. Afr.); =Lugard=, Rise E. Afr. Emp. p. 529 (1893); =Bocage=,
P. Z. S. 1878, p. 745; id. J. Sci. Lisboa, ii. p. 25 (1890)
(Angola); =Crawshay=, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 658 (Nyasaland).
_Oreas derbii_, =Johnst.= River Congo, p. 391 (1884) (?).
Subspecies _c._ Taurotragus oryx gigas.
_Alces oreas_, =Schweinf.= Im Herz. Afr. i. p. 387 (1874).
_Antilope oreas_, =id.= ibid. ii. pp. 264–266 (horns).
_Taurotragus (Bosephalus) oreas_, =Heugl.= N. Act. Leop. xxx. p. 19
(1863); =id.= Reise Weiss. Nil, p. 319 (1869).
_Taurotragus (Boselaphus) gigas_, =Heugl.= N. Act. Leop. xxx. p. 19,
pl. i. fig. 2 (1863); =id.= Reise Weiss. Nil, p. 318 (1869); =Fitz.=
SB. Ak. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 179 (1869).
Vernacular Names:—_Eland_ of the Dutch at the Cape; _Canna_ or
_Tiganna_ of the Hottentots; _Pohu_ of the Bachapins (_Burchell_).
_Pofo_ of the Bechuanas; _Impofo_ of the Amandabele, Zulu, and
Kafirs; _Ee-pofo_ of the Makalakas; _Insefo_ of the Masubias and
Batongas; _Doo_ of the Masurwa Bushmen; _Mofo_ of the Mashunas
(_Selous_). _Sofu_ and _Nchefoo_ in Nyasaland (_Sharpe_). _Mpofu_
(Swaheli); _Musu_ in Siruwa, B.E.A. (_Jackson_). _Qualqual_ (Djeng),
_Adgar_ (Djur), _Newarreh_ (Dor) on the White Nile (_Heuglin_).
Adult male, at the withers, about five feet ten inches or, according
to some writers, sometimes considerably over six feet in height. Body,
head, legs, and neck of a tolerably uniform tawny colour, but often
assuming a slaty-grey hue in old age, owing to the rubbing off of the
hair and the consequent exposure of the skin beneath. Frontal mat of
hairs varying from yellowish brown to black, apparently becoming darker
with age; nose generally ashy black; lips and chin white. Ears narrow
and pointed, of a uniform greyish-fawn tint, with at most a small
black patch on the lower rim in front. A narrow black spinal stripe,
extending from the withers to the base of the tail. Tail-tuft and tuft
of hair on the dewlap black. Legs like the body, but, on the inner
side, sometimes with a greyish patch above the knee on the pasterns;
back of the pasterns and narrow rim above the hoofs and false hoofs
black.
Horns about 30 inches or more in length.
_Female_ like the male in colouring, but smaller and more slightly
built; the horns thinner, less strongly crested, and less twisted, but
usually longer and (exceptionally) reaching a length of 34 inches.
The subspecies _T. o. livingstonii_ is generally similar to the
typical form, but has the coat of a ruddier fawn-colour, and is
ornamented on each side of the body and hind-quarters with from about
eight to eleven narrow vertical white stripes: these are strong upon
the flanks and faint upon the haunches; they commence from the black
spinal stripe and gradually fade away upon the belly and lower part of
the thighs. In the typical form, moreover, there is a large black patch
on the inner and posterior side of the fore leg above the knee. Horns
reaching about 32 inches.
_Female_ differing from the male in the same respects as in _T.
o. typicus_.
The subspecies _T. o. gigas_ is based on a pair of horns obtained
by Heuglin on the White Nile, and distinguished by their large size,
great length (35 inches), and strong corrugations. From Schweinfurth’s
observations we learn that this form carries well-marked body-stripes
throughout life, sometimes 15 in number. In these two respects it would
seem to approach _Taurotragus derbianus_, but Schweinfurth says
nothing about the black neck of the last species.
_Hab._ South Africa, from the Cape Colony (where it is now
extinct) to Angola on the west and to the Transvaal and Mozambique
on the east, and thence up to the Zambesi; at its northern limits
passing into the striped form (_T. o. livingstonii_), which
extends throughout Eastern Africa up to and rather beyond Mount
Kenia; also found on the White Nile and in the adjacent districts
(_T. o. gigas_).
At the close of the long series of Antelopes we arrive at the largest
and finest form of the whole group, and one, moreover, that might well
become of great economical importance to mankind, if proper measures
were taken for its acclimatization.
The “Eland,” as it is now universally called, was well known to the
early settlers of the Cape, where it received its name from some
fancied resemblance to the Elk (_Alces machlis_), which is the
“Eland” of the Hollanders and the “Elenn” or “Elendthier” of the
Germans. It must have been size, we suppose, more than any other point
of similarity, that induced the Dutchmen to apply such an unsuitable
name to this animal.