THE VANISHING ELAND 221 



their habitats, and seek only the most remote and 

 inaccessible regions. There is a very fine example 

 of an eland bull of the striped variety (shot by Mr. 

 Selous) in the Natural History Museum, and 

 another (also of Mr. Selous' shooting) at Cape Town. 

 Neither of these specimens, however, reaches, I 

 think, the measurements I have given. 



In no part of the continent did such immense 

 herds wander as upon the high and healthy uplands 

 of Southern Africa, a country which seems to have 

 been almost specially created for the support of count- 

 less numbers and varieties of great game. In those 

 glorious days, the eland fed in troops of fifty, eighty, 

 and even one hundred. Even at the present time, 

 in the North Kalahari solitudes, large troops still 

 wander. I have seen great quantities of spoor to 

 the right of the road between Inkouane and Kanne ; 

 and in the same region a good troop seen and 

 hunted by myself and my comrade contained be- 

 tween thirty and thirty-five individuals. Such a 

 troop of these magnificent antelopes is indeed a 

 very noble sight. 



The flesh of the eland is excellent — fat, well 

 tasted, and resembling young beef, with a game-like 

 flavour. The shape of the animal is of course well 

 known. For many years specimens of the unstriped 

 South African variety have been bred and exhibited 

 in the Zoological Society's Gardens. These elands, 



