342 ANTELOPES 



Africa south of the Sahara, extending from Abyssinia and SomaHland 

 southwards through East and Central Africa to the Cape, and thence 

 westwards across the continent to Angola, on which side the Congo 

 apparently marks its northern limit. From Cape Colony the species 

 has, however, been exterminated, except where, as in the Uitenhage 

 district, it has been specially protected. 



The typical representative of the species is the kudu of South 

 Africa, which has nine or ten vertical white stripes. 



The kudu of SomaHland and Abyssinia, as pointed out by 

 Mr. R. I. Pocock on p. 139 of the Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society for 1905, differs from the southern race in having only about 

 five white stripes on each side of the body. The colour is also a 

 greyer fawn than in the southern race. The northern form should 

 thus rank as a distinct subspecies, for which the name Strepsiceros 

 capensis cJiora is available. The difference in colouring seems to be 

 correlated with a difference of habitat, the northern race frequenting 

 more mountainous and less thickly wooded country than the southern, 

 which is often found in the thick jungle along river-banks as well 

 as in the hills. 



For the following notes on the range and habits of the kudu in 

 South Africa my readers are indebted to the unrivalled experience 

 of Mr. F. C. Selous. These notes have, however, been somewhat 

 abbreviated from the original, and brought up to date in the matter of 

 names, etc., with certain other minor modifications : — 



" This splendid antelope was once widely distributed through 

 the southern portion of the African continent. Two conditions are 

 necessary to its existence, water and bush ; the latter in the shape 

 either of thickets or forests among which there is a good deal of 

 scrubby undergrowth, growing either on rocky hillsides or on level 

 ground. Wherever in South Africa these two conditions were 

 fulfilled — with the single exception of the forests of the Knysna — 

 I believe that kudu were once to be found. In the early part of 

 last century kudu were numerous in many parts of the eastern 

 province of the Cape Colony, but they had become exceedingly rare 

 in those districts at the date of my first visit to South Africa in 1871. 

 Since that time, thanks to legislation on the part of the Cape Govern- 

 ment, and the support given to the game-laws by farmers, kudu have 

 increased in numbers in some of their old haunts within that territory ; 

 and in 1895 I was informed that there were supposed to be at least 

 800 in the district of Swaart Ruggens alone. I do not know whether 

 the first Europeans who travelled through the countries along the 



