20 The National Collection 



The Sable Antelope, Hippotragus niger (Plate V. Fig. 12), is perhaps 

 the handsomest of all the African antelopes. It has high shoulders, a very 

 erect neck, and a glossy-black body, emphasized by a few white markings. Its 

 horns sweep back in a most graceful curve, and from the base nearly to the tip 

 they are heavily ringed. The fine pair in this collection have the unusual 

 length of 41 1 /-; inches. After these, as a sort of understudy, come the shorter 

 horns of Baker's Roan Antelope (Plate V, Fig. 1), a species admirably repre- 

 sented by a living pair in the Park. 



The ten-inch horns of a Springbok (Plate V, Fig. 6) recall the small 

 antelope that is first seen by travelers in Cape Colony. Its habit of high leap- 

 ing renders it especially conspicuous. This is the creature that once existed 

 in hundreds of thousands, and had the habit of migrating en masse, as do the 

 caribou of the Canadian Barren Grounds. Xow it exists only in very small 

 numbers. 



The horns which represent Soemmerring's Gazelle are exceptionally fine, 

 being 18 inches in length. They are beautifully formed, and their tips curve 

 inward until they point directly toward each other. 



Leaving aside the factor of size, a well-mounted head of Grant's Gazelle 

 is an object of surpassing beauty. The upward sweep of the horns as they rise 

 from the forehead, 24 inches or more, is an exquisite combination of grace and 

 symmetry. It is a pity that anything less than the entire head and neck of this 

 animal should be taken, but at present this collection contains only a pair of 

 horns. 



The Defassa Waterbuck, (Cobns de fassa), without his heavily annulated 

 horns would lack dignity, after the manner of the unfortunate Nilgai of India. 

 For so large an animal, their length of 24 ^ inches (in this pair) is barely suf- 

 ficient for show purposes. The Cob Antelope is a smaller species, with smaller 

 horns, but anywhere else than in antelope-surfeited Africa, it would be re- 

 garded as a large and important species, and sought accordingly. 



We approach the Duikers with diffidence. They are very small, very 

 plain looking, their salient characters are few, and their horns are about as 

 diversified and exciting as an assortment of toothpicks. Whenever a collector 

 of heads and horns comes down to the Duikers, know for a verity that his inter- 

 est in the African Antelopes is genuine and deeply rooted. But even then, the 

 man does not live who can find lively entertainment in Klipspringer horns of 

 3% inches, in Steinbock horns of 4% inches, or horns of Royal Antelope (with 

 apologies to real royalty, everywhere) , only 2 1 /! inches from base to tip. Kirk's 



