GRACEFUL AFRICAN ANTELOPES 203 



head rises a crest of bristles which pass upward and along the edge of 

 the neck. The legs are short and like those of an ox, with large hind 

 (luarters, and the tail is about two feet three or four inches long, 

 tufted on the end with coarse brown hair. The hide of the eland is 

 black, but the general color of the short hair which covers it is a sort 

 of ashy gray tinged with ochre. 



Except for the watchfulness and quickness of this animal, it is 

 not hard to hunt. If an approach can be made on horseback up the 

 wind in some sort of shelter from view, it is not difficult in good 

 country to ride them down. If the going is bad, how^ever, it is better 

 to shoot on foot, and in this case the huntsman must take every precau- 

 tion not to alarm the game, and even with the greatest care many 

 disappointments must be expected. Very often, just as the hunter is 

 preparing to shoot, an incautious movement w-ill alarm the game and 

 they will go off like the wind, and the stalk must be made over again. 



The Koodoo.- — Continuing the antelopes, we come to the koo- 

 doo. Majestic in its carriage and brilliant in its color, this species may 

 W'ith propriety be termed the king of the tribe. Other antelopes are 

 stately, elegant or curious — but the solitude-seeking koodoo is abso- 

 lutely regal! The ground color is a lively French gray approaching 

 blue, with several transverse white bands passing over the back and 

 loins; a copious mane and deeply fringed, tricolored dewlap setting 

 off a pair of ponderous yet symmetrical horns, spirally twisted and 

 exceeding three feet in length, brown in color, and the tips black 

 with a white point. These are thrown along the back as the stately 

 wearer dashes through the mazes of the forest or clambers the moun- 

 tain side. The old bulls are invariably found apart from the females, 

 which herd together in small groups and are destitute of horns. A 

 full grown male stands upwards of five feet high at the shoulder and 

 is over nine feet in extreme length. This beautiful animal is found 

 chiefly in thickets and on wooded hills. The female koodoo is slighter, 

 hornless and with fewer white markings. This species, as may well 

 be imagined, is very attractive to the hunter and naturalist. 



The Hartebeest. — Another odd and interesting animal is the 

 hartebeest, otherwise known as the red kongoni and as the caama. 

 The predominating color is bright orange, and the legs and face are 



