2 20 ANTELOPES 



bottom is firm, it has not developed the excessively long hoofs 

 necessary to prevent the situtunga from sinking in the papyrus 

 swamps frequented by that species. The feet of both lechwi and 

 situtunga are alike, however, in that they are devoid of hair at the 

 back of the main hoofs up to the lateral hoofs, black hairless skin 

 taking the place in both species of the thick covering of hair present 

 behind the hoofs of every other species of antelope found in South 

 Africa. 



" As already mentioned, when writing of the first-named species, 

 I have never seen lechwi and puku feeding together, and the two 

 species frequent such different kinds of ground that I cannot believe 

 they would be likely to mingle except under exceptional conditions. 

 It is true that when elephant-hunting on the Chobi I often saw herds 

 of lechwi and puku feeding within a mile, or even half a mile, of one 

 another ; but the puku were grazing on the dry ground along the 

 southern bank of the river, where there were no lechwi, while the latter 

 were standing in hundreds, knee -deep or belly -deep in the flooded 

 grass-plains on the other side of the river, where there were no puku. 



" The lechwi is the handsomest of the kob group inhabiting the 

 more southerly portion of the African continent ; for, though smaller 

 than the waterbuck, it is richer in colour and more graceful in 

 movement ; while if the horns of lechwi and waterbuck be compared, 

 the palm must be given to those of the former for elegance and beauty, 

 though they do not attain the same length as those of the larger 

 species. 



" There were few more beautiful sights in the interior of South 

 Africa some thirty years ago than the great herds of lechwi which 

 might then be seen scattered over the flooded grass-plains in the 

 neighbourhood of Linyanti on the Chobi river. 



" Herds of twent}' old rams might often be seen, whilst countless 

 numbers of ewes were scattered over the flooded plains ; the larger herds 

 being frequently attended by many males of all ages, from the year-old 

 bucks to the full-grown rams, whose long lyre-shaped horns always 

 make them so conspicuous on the open ground they frequent. I once 

 counted as they ran past me a herd of fifty-two lechwi rams ; some 

 were, however, quite young, with horns only a few inches in length, 

 but there was not a single ewe among them. The skin of the lechwi 

 is much prized by the natives, and after being dressed and rendered as 

 soft as chamois-leather, is used either singly as a kind of cloak, or 

 several skins are sewn together to form a rug. Large numbers of these 

 antelopes are annually killed b)- the natives, who institute drives on 



