346 ANTELOPES 



which, on being disturbed, joined a herd of at least twenty cows, with 

 several fine young bulls, making a herd of nearly thirty altogether. 

 If my memory serve me right, there was not a single small calf with 

 any of these cows ; and, as a rule, I think the latter do not commence 

 to drop their calves till late in October. Old kudu bulls are, as a 

 rule, met with alone, or two, three, four or five together. On many 

 occasions I have seen the latter number consorting towards the end 

 of the dry season ; and once I beheld eight of these magnificent 

 creatures — all old males — in one band. This was on the southern 

 bank of the Chobi river in the afternoon of a scorching hot day in 

 September 1874, when I was being paddled in a canoe across the 

 placid waters of a broad lagoon formed by the overflow from the 

 river. I caught sight of first one, then another kudu bull, and soon 

 counted eight ; little shooting had then been done in this part of the 

 country, and these suspicious and retiring antelopes had come down 

 to drink in the early afternoon. When I first saw them, they had 

 just slaked their thirst and were walking slowly along the water's 

 edge, one behind the other, in the shade of some tall acacia-trees, 

 beneath which there was no bush or undergrowth to hide them from 

 view. The wind was off the land, so, whispering to the Kafirs not to 

 make the slightest noise, I had the canoe paddled slowly past within 

 fifty yards of the party. As we glided silently by they halted, and 

 stood gazing at us, their great ears cocked, and the fringes of long 

 brown hair hanging beneath their throats moving gently in the light 

 breeze. They were all apparently full-grown and carried splendid 

 heads ; but three of them excelled their fellows in the latter respect, 

 and it cost me an effort to refrain from slaying one. The picture of 

 those eight splendid beasts standing motionless on the water's edge, 

 beneath the tall acacias, lives with me still. 



" Of all the animals I have met, I think the kudu is the most 

 timid, inoffensive, and least capable of defending itself. I have never 

 seen one make any attempt to use its horns in self-defence when 

 attacked by dogs, or even kick as an eland will do at its tormentors. 

 The bulls doubtless butt at one another when disputing for the 

 possession of the females, but I doubt if they often do one another 

 any serious damage." 



The following abbreviated notes on kudu in East Africa were 

 contributed by Mr. T. E. Buckley : — 



" From the Zambesi northwards to Abyssinia, the distribution of 

 the kudu is peculiar ; large areas being entirely unfrequented by 

 this species, which is everywhere much rarer than in South Africa. 



