May 1897. East African Collection of Mammals — Elliot. 137 



to the conclusion it was time to disappear, and it did. I have 

 never seen any animal move so quickly as did that one. I had a 

 fleeting glimpse of him a few moments later going up the side of 

 the opposite peak on three legs, and from the way he traveled I 

 think he could have got on fairly well with onl}' one. I returned 

 to the one that was really dead and found it to be an adult 

 female. Then I went to look for the young one I had seen kick- 

 ing the gravel, but found only a few drops of blood. Nearly 

 roasted by the mid-day sun, we took the one little antelope and 

 went back to the oryx to find that a horde of vultures had eaten 

 the carcase; my Shikari, hearing so many shots, being unable to 

 remain behind, had disobeyed his orders and left the animal to 

 come and see what I was shooting at. The camel arriving, we 

 returned to camp with such booty as was left. The next morn- 

 ing I returned to the same place, and had hardly reached the 

 base of the peak when the young Beira jumped from almost 

 under our feet and ran swiftly, but only for a short distance, as it 

 was very weak. We soon captured it, and after hunting the 

 mountains thoroughly without finding a trace of the others, 

 returned to camp. I went back to this place nearly ever}' day 

 for a week in hopes of getting an old male. Once I saw a bunch 

 of four. After hunting everywhere with my Shikari, and seeing 

 nothing, we sat down on a large rock, when he suddenly made an 

 exclamation, and looking in the direction he pointed, I saw the 

 Beira moving swiftly up the side of the peak, stopping occasionally 

 to look back. So perfectly were thej'^ protected by their color 

 that when they stopped they became nearly invisible, and if I 

 took my eyes away from them it was almost impossible to find 

 them again until they moved. We watched them until they dis- 

 appeared over the top of the cone, and then climbed as fast as 

 we could up the sides of the peak, hoping to head them off, but 

 on looking carefully over the top we saw the nimble creatures 

 just leaving the base to go onto the plain. I took a few rapid 

 shots at them, but only made the stones fly. They went out onto 

 the plain and stopped under a bush. We followed them unsuc- 

 cessfully for an hour or more. The third time, thoroughly tired 

 Avith a long stalk, and nearly dead with the heat, I was looking 

 for my boys to return to camp when, turning to take a last look 

 at the sides of the peak, I saw at the top, clearly defined 

 against the sky, three pair of great ears in a row perfectly 

 motionless. I imagined the animals had seen me before that 

 morning and had become reckless when they supposed the)' were 



