THE SABLE ANTELOPE 265 



Upon this memorable expedition was discovered 

 the sable antelope — an animal previously not only 

 unknown, but undreamed of, with which the name 

 of Cornwallis Harris will ever be associated. This 

 is one of the rarest and most striking of the thirty 

 odd species of antelope to be found in South Africa. 



The sable antelope {Aigocerus nigcr or Hi^ppotragus 

 oiiger) is quaintly and descriptively called by the 

 Boers " Zwart - wdt - pens " (i. e. black with white 

 belly), and by English hunters sometimes the Harris- 

 buck or black buck ; while the Southern Bechuanas 

 know it as the 'potoqiiane, the Northern Bechuanas 

 as the hiualata inchio, the Matabele as the wntjiele, 

 and the Masarwa Bushmen as the solitpe} In height 

 the male stands about 4 ft. 6 in. ; in extreme 

 length it measures a little less than 9 ft. The coat 

 of the male differs from that of every other African 

 antelope, and is of the deepest and most resplendent 

 jet-black, varied here and there by an occasional 

 touch of dark chestnut. A portion of the face, the 

 belly, and the insides of the thighs are of the purest 

 snow-white. The withers are elevated, as with many 

 of the South African antelopes ; the form is robust, 

 and a bushy, black, up-standing mane runs from the 



1 It is extremely curious that tribes so widely sundered as 

 the Makalaka of South Africa and the Swahilis of East Africa 

 should have an almost identical name for this antelojpe. The 

 Makalaka call it Fala-pala, the Swahilis Fala-hala ! 



