328 ANTELOPES 



plenty as in the forest and wooded hollows and watercourses of Mau, 

 both on the eastern slopes and on the western plateau. 



" During the day bushbuck lie up just inside the forest and only 

 come out in the evening to feed, except in places where they are never 

 or rarely disturbed, when they may be occasionally seen throughout 

 the day. Near the Eldoma Ravine Station, on the eastern slopes of 

 Mau, at an altitude of 7500 feet, bushbuck are exceedingly common, 

 so much so that, together with duiker, they at one time became quite 

 a pest and ate up everything in our kitchen-garden, in spite of fences ; 

 and even when a war of extermination was waged against them by 

 organised drives, which considerably thinned their numbers, others soon 

 took their place. French and scarlet-runner beans are an irresistible 

 attraction to them. 



" The ground-colour of these bushbuck varies from bright chestnut- 

 red to ink-blackish brown, and the older the animal the fewer and 

 more indistinct the spots and stripes become, until they vanish 

 altogether. Many of the old bucks on Mau, from 7000 to 9000 feet, 

 at a little distance look quite black, and they are also slightly bigger 

 and heavier than those found on lower ground ; but there is nothing 

 strikingly peculiar in this, as nearly all the birds and smaller mammals 

 with an extensive range, provided they are permanent residents and 

 not immigrants, are, in those high places, much darker than those 

 found 3000 to 4000 feet lower down. 



" The bushbuck is an antelope that takes up its quarters in one 

 particular spot in the forest, an isolated patch of wood, or thickly 

 covered belts bordering the course of a stream ; such places becoming 

 its regular haunt, where it may be seen day after day in almost the 

 same spot, when it comes out to feed in the evenings and early 

 mornings. If one happens to pass by during the daytime when the 

 bushbuck are lying-up, they will often give notice of their presence 

 by a loud baboon-like bark, should they either hear or scent the 

 intruder. For this reason bushbuck are not difficult to circumvent, 

 as all the hunter has to do is to go out in the evening, about 4.30 to 

 5 o'clock, or, if in the morning, at daylight, and stroll along quietly 

 outside the forest in the same manner as one does at home in summer 

 when after rabbits with a rifle by a covert-side. If unsuccessful in 

 getting a shot at a buck owing to the presence of does, which, on an 

 average, predominate in the proportion of about two or three to every 

 buck, the sportsman will at least have the satisfaction of locating them 

 in a certain spot, and after taking a note of the position can return 

 some other time, if possible with a day or two's interval. He should 



