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5 The Reedbnck. Cervicapra arundinum (BoiUl.j. {B. A. II. p. 167.) 



1 did not tiiid this antelope so wary at- Jlr. H. Crawshay relates {P. Z. S. 1S90, 

 p. 653), though in other particulars his remarks correspond with my personal 

 observations. 



Wherever I shot iu Nyassalaud I met with them, and Captain Nicholas, of 

 H.M.S. Mosquito, found them on the banks of the Zambezi, forty miles from the sea, 

 in larger numbers than any other game. They are common right across the Tnchila 

 Plain to the shores of Lake Shirwa. 



On the Ohimolera Plain, at the foot of the Melanji Range, I shot a fine buck 

 which bore the deep marks of a leopard's claws on the right side of its neck; these 

 wounds had been very recently inflicted, as they were still open, when my bullet 

 ended its career. The best measurements of a male that I obtained in this species, 

 between two spears, were : — 



From nose to tail 64 inches. 



Height at shoulder 37 ,, 



Mr. G. Hoare shot at Mpimbi, on the Upper Shire River, what 1 believe is the 

 largest pair of horns that exist, i.e.: — 



Length along curve . . 16f inches. ^ 



Circumference at base . . . 6| ,, '-Measured when horns were dry. 



Tip to tip of boms . . . 19i ,, .' 



At the base of every Reedbuck's horn there is a spongy pad that is covered by a 

 black leathery continuation of the epidermal covering of the bony core; this shrinks 

 very much after death, but can be preserved if carefully separated from the skin 

 (into which it is merged) with a knife. Such a horn as the one quoted above wnuld 

 gain li inches in circumference if I had had the opportunity to measure it when it 

 was shot. I have only shot two Reedbncks with horns more than 14 inches in 

 length, and they were j>articularly fine specimens; 12 inches is considered large for 

 general shooting. 



There is a large inguinal pouch in this antelope with a long slit-like orifice 

 that lies in the crease that the hindleg forms with the abdomen ; it is big enough 

 to contain a child's hand. Its flesh is extremely good eating, one of the best that 

 the sportsman can procure. 



One young Reedbuck 1 tried to rear, but it died after a while from some occult 

 cause. A doe that I dissected contained a half-grown fa'tus on October 7th, 1895. 

 A small calf that I got only a few days old weighed 7 lbs. 



6. The Klippspringer. Oreotragus oreotragus (Goldf.). {B. .1. II. p. 5.) 



It was on the rocky spurs of the ilaiuni Hills, which form the backbone of the 

 Liviugstonia Peninsula, that divides the S.W. from the S.E. arm of Lake Nyassa, 

 that I saw most of the Klippsjiringer, always in pairs, and in the roughest possible 

 places, i)erched on the top of a large boulder or upon the shaping face of a huge slab 

 of rock, off the face of which at your shot it will fling itself like an indiarubber ball, 

 to disaj)]iear amongst the jumble of rocks, with an unerring certainty of foot, in a 

 manner that is little short of marvellous to the onlooker. Several times, however, 

 I surprised this little African chamois feeding in comparatively oj)en ground at the 

 base of some rock-strewn kopjes. This gives you a chance, for they will race uphill, 



