204 GRACEFUL AFRICAN ANTELOPES 



eccentrically marked as if by the brush of a sign painter. A phe- 

 nomenon of which most people are skeptical until it is actually shown 

 to them is the fact that their brain as well as that of the gnoo is lilled 

 with white maggots. A further oddity is that the horns are placed on 

 the very summit of the head, upon a i)rolongation of the frontal bone, 

 instead of above the eyes as in other antelopes. The whole animal 

 seems made up of triangles. The shoulders are very elevated, the 

 cruppers drooping and the head very large and long, from which, as 

 described above, the horns rise, diverging and again approaching each 

 other so as to form a lozenge, with double bends strongly pronounced, 

 turned forwards, and the points backwards, with several prominent 

 knots on the front surface. A black spot begins at the base of the horns, 

 continues behind and ends in front of the cars. Another black streak 

 runs down the nose, commencing below the eyes and ending at the 

 nostrils. The chin is black and there is a narrow black stripe down 

 the back of the neck. Both fore and hind legs have black stripes. On 

 both hams are triangular white spots and there is a yellow spot above 

 each eye. The tail is covered with hair and reaches to the animal's 

 hocks. The eyes are a fiery red. A male hartebeest stands about 

 five feet high at the withers and is about nine feet long. The female 

 is like the male, but smaller and with slighter horns. 



The Sassaybe. — Much like the hartebeest is the animal known 

 as the sassaybe, and they are usually found grazing together. The 

 male sassaybe stands four feet six inches high at the shoulder and 

 about eight feet two inches long. The horns are strong and, like those 

 of the hartebeest, are placed at the summit of the head, turning 

 outwards and forming two crescents with the points inwards. The 

 body is bulky with slender legs and very high withers. The head is 

 long, narrow and shapeless, with a straight facial line marked with a 

 dark streak from between the horns to the nose and fawn-colored cars 

 nine inches long. The general color is deep blackish purple-brown 

 above and tawny under body. A dab of slate color extends from the 

 middle of the shoulder to the knee; and another from the middle of 

 the flank to the hock outside. A band of the same color passes across 

 the inside of both fore and hind legs upon a tawny ground. The 

 lower parts of the legs are of a deep tawny color. The tail is twentv- 



