908 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



Writing of the common hartbeest, Mr. Drummond states that it 

 Habits ig one of the f astest antelopes in Africa, and possesses such strength 



as to render it almost impossible for 

 anything under a whole pack of 

 strong and swift hounds to bring it 

 to bay. " It is common in the great 

 level grass plains to the northwest of 

 Zululand, and on several occasions I 

 tried coursing them there with two 

 very fast crossed Amaponda grey- 

 hounds; but although the latter 

 could run up to them when they had 

 a fair start, they never once suc- 

 ceeded in bringing one to bay, or 

 even in causing one to separate from 

 the herd." In such districts it ap- 

 pears that the only way to obtain a 

 successful shot is for the hunter 

 to conceal himself in a ravine, and 

 have the antelope driven in his 

 direction. 



Cooke's hartbeest (B. cookei], of British and German East Africa, 

 brings us to a group of three species, readily distinguished from all 

 the preceding forms by the wide expansion of their horns, as shown 

 in the figure of the skull. The other two members of this group are the tora ante- 

 lope (B. tora), of Upper Nubia and Abyssinia, which is represented on the left side 

 of our illustration on p. 906; and Swayne's hartbeest (B. swaynei], of Somali- 

 land, of which the head is shown in the accompanying cut and the skull on p. 649. 

 In all these species the hair of the face is reversed only for a distance of two inches or 

 less above the muzzle. In Swayne's hartbeest the sig of the Somalis the gen- 

 eral color is reddish chestnut, the face being marked by a broad purplish streak 

 extending from a little distance below the eyes. The horns expand very widely, 

 rising at first nearly in the plane of the face, and then forming a right angle with 

 the middle line of the forehead; their smooth tips being bent at right, angles to the 

 base, and directed immediately backward. Their length varies from fifteen to 

 eighteen and one-fourth inches. In regard to the habitat of this species, Cap- 

 tain Swayne writes, that " to the south of the highest ranges of Somaliland, and at 

 a distance of about one hundred miles from the coast, are open plains, some four 

 thousand or five thousand feet above sea level, alternating with broken ground 

 covered with thorn jungle, with an undergrowth of aloes growing sometimes to a 

 height of six feet. This elevated country, called the Hand, is waterless for three 

 months, from January to March. Much of it is bush-covered wilderness, or open 

 semidesert, but some of the higher plains are, at the proper season, in early season, 

 covered as far as the eye can reach with a beautiful carpet of green grass, 

 like English pasture land. At this time of the year pools of water may be 



UPPER PART OP SKUW, AND HORNS OF COOKE'S 



HARTBEEST. 

 (From Giinther.) 



Cooke's 



Hartbeest 



