XV KONZE ANTELOPE 321 



table-land beyond — great open plains, or rather 

 rolling downs, intersected by ranges of low hills, for 

 all the world like portions of the Mashuna country 

 south of the Zambesi. I think we must have ascended 

 quite 2500 feet above the valley of the Zambesi, and 

 reckon we are now 3500 feet above sea-level. The 

 temperature was delightfully pleasant, and quite fresh 

 and cool after the stifling sultry heat of the Zambesi ; 

 the thermometer showed a difference of 20°. We 

 stopped and made things square for the night at the 

 first Manica kraal we reached, as rain threatened 

 on every side. I went out to look for game, and, 

 after a careful stalk in the open, got within 200 

 yards of a solitary old roan antelope bull, and killed 

 him with my Martini-Henry rifle. His horns were 

 small, though he was an adult animal. 



December loth. — Very misty morning, threatening 

 rain ; however, as the sun rose the mist dispersed, and 

 we had a nice cool day. About mid-day we reached 

 a small Manica kraal, where we remained for the 

 rest of the day. In the afternoon I went out with my 

 rifle, and shot a konze antelope, the first I had ever 

 seen. He was a solitary old bull, and a fine specimen. 

 I shot him just at the root of the tail, with a ten-to- 

 the-pound bullet, but had a chase after him for at 

 least four miles across the flats before I killed him. 

 These antelopes very closely resemble the hartebeest 

 of South Africa ; the horns, however, are shorter, 

 and flatter at the base, and the forehead is not nearly 

 so elongated. The black mark down the front of the 

 face of the hartebeest is also wanting in the konze, 

 where the colour is of a uniform light red, with 

 whitish markings on the tear bags under the eye ; 

 the general colour of the animal is a little lighter than 

 that of the hartebeest, the tail, knees, and front of all 



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