253 



ANTILOPE^. 



ANTILOPE^E. 



2ol 



a pale brown colour. The end of the nose, the inside of the ears, the 

 chest, belly, and inside of the legs and thighs, tip of tail, and end- 

 band above the hoofs are white ; the front of the fore and hind legs, 

 and the end of ears and tail, black ; the hair of dorsal-line reversed, 

 with a whorl on the shoulder and loins There has been a good deal 



(Adenota A'oA). 



of confusion about this species. The figure that we have given was 

 referred by Mr. Ogilby, in the ' Penny Cyclopaedia,' to a new species 

 which he named Antilope Koba. His description of the animal, 

 however, refers to the Antib^ .'-.'/ of Bennett, the Kobvx >'//</- 



>'/.'/ of the British Museum Catalogue. On this species Dr. Gray 

 makes the following observations : 



" A fine pair has been at Knowsley gome years. Thinking them 

 new I described them as A. annulipes. Mr. Ogilby has called it the 

 Nagor ; but it is scarcely the Nagor of Buffon. An adult male noticed 

 by Mr. Ogilby as the Kob is now in the museum of the Zoological 

 ;-. Ita horns, like the male at Kuowsley, are much worn down. 

 They whistle like a stag. Buffon ('Hist Nat.,' 12219, 267, t. 32, 

 pi.) figures a skull with horns brought from Senegal, by Adanson, 

 under the name of Kob, which is also called the Petit VCK/IC Brunt. 

 Erxleben gave this figure the name of A. Kob, and Pennant called it 

 the Oambian Antelope (' Syn.' i. 39). 



" The figure somewhat resembles the head of a half-grown male of 

 this species, but the horns are longer and have more rings than the 

 specimen in the British Museum ; but I am inclined to agree with 

 Mr. Ogilby in believing that it was intended for this species. In the 

 Jardin des Plantes they called the Sing-Sing the Kob of Senegal. This 

 may be a mistake for the Koba. I may remark that the horns of the 

 Koba, in the same plate of Buffon, are represented with more rings 

 than are mentioned in the description. 



" Colonel Hamilton Smith describes two figures, a male and female 

 specimen, which were alive in Exeter Change ; and figures the male 

 and its skull and horns under the name of A . adenota, which well 

 agrees with this species, and has the peculiar distribution of its hair 

 hence its name : but he says, ' It has a long open suborbital slit, 

 mall black brushes on the knees ; ' but this I suspect must be a 

 mistake, aa he himself observes that no lachrymal cavity was found in 

 the skull. 11 might have mistaken the tuft of hair for the gland, at 

 the distance at which he saw the specimens. 



"He also (' G. A. K.' iv. 221) described a specimen which was 

 in Exeter Change, which he regarded as the Gainbian Antelope of 

 Pennant, and calls it A . forftjc. His characters agree in most particu- 

 lars with this species, but he says, it had ' a long lachrymal sinus, and 

 had small brushes on the knees.' If there was not some mistake in 

 transcribing these descriptions, both these animals should be GaxeUat, 

 but I have never seen any which agreed with them. 



" The young male in the British Museum shows the development 

 of the horns of these animals. The upper rings of the growing horn 

 falls off in large thick flakes as the horn increases in size beneath : 

 this explains how the extent of the smooth tapering part of the 

 horns increases in length as the horn grows ; and how the number of 

 ire found to be nearly the same in the various ages and different 

 individuals of the various species. Mr. Whitfield informs me that 

 the scrotum is rarely developed or dependent externally in different 

 kind< of antelopes before they have completed their first year." 



50. A. Ltchfe, the Lechee. This animal is nearly as large as the 

 Water-Buck. It is of a pale-brown colour. The orbit and lower part 

 of the body is whitish ; the front of the lego is dark brown ; the 

 horns are elongate and strongly knotted in front ; the withers have a 

 snmll roundish whorl of hair. It is a native of South Africa on the 

 "f the river Zouga, lat. 21. There is a male specimen in the 

 British Museum. 



Kobus 



Has the horns elongated, sublyrate, bent back, and then forward at 

 the tip ; the muffle cervine ; no tear-bag or inguinal pores ; the hair 

 rough and elongated ; the neck covered with longer diverging and 

 drooping hair ; the tail rather elongated, depressed, hairy on the sides 

 and below. The females are hornless and have four teats. 



51. Kobus ellipsiprymnus (Antilope ettipsiprymna, Ogilby), the 

 Photomok, or Water-Buck. The following is Mr. Ogilby's description 

 of this animal in the ' Penny Cyclopaedia :' The whole length of the 

 animal from the muzzle to the root of the tail was 1 feet 3J inches ; 

 its height at the shoulder nearly 4 feet, and to the top of the horn 

 upwards of 7 feet ; the horns measured 30 inches upon the curves, 

 the ears were upwards of 8 inches long, and the tail, with its terminal 

 tuft, 1 foot 9 inches. The horns are very thick and heavy ; they 

 spread widely outwards, are nearly straight for the first half of their 

 length, and then turn forwards with a gradual and uniform curvature. 

 They are surrounded with 24 prominent annuli, forming large knobs 

 in front and deeply striated between, but nearly obliterated behind ; 

 the last six inches are smooth, and the points blunt. Next to the 

 character of the horns, this species is most readily to be distinguished 

 by a ribbon of pure white, which passes over the croup and down 

 each hip, uniting between the thighs, and forming a perfect ellipse, 

 having the root of the tail in one of its foci, and contrasting most 

 singularly with the dark rusty iron-gray of the surrounding parts. It 

 is to this mark, which is so peculiarly characteristic of the species, 

 that the name of EUipufryttiMH refers. This animal is a native of 

 South Africa, from whence it was originally brought by Mr. Steed- 

 man and exhibited with other specimens of South African animals 

 in the Colosseum, Regent's Park. It has got the name of Water- 

 Buck from its habit, when alarmed, of rushing into and crossing 

 very rapid rivers. It lives in small herds on the banks of rivers, 

 and has not been known to occur south of 26. The flesh is not 

 regarded as good for food, as it has a rank pungent smell, and 

 disagreeable taste. 



52. K. Sing-Sing (Antilope Koba, Ogilby), the Sing-Sing. This species 

 differs in the tints of its colouring as well as the length of its hair at 

 different seasons of the year. The following are the characters of 

 the species. The colour is reddish or yellowish-gray brown, rather 

 grayer on the shoulders ; the nose, lips, hinder-parts of the thighs, 

 under the neck from the ears to the gullet, a streak over the eye, and 

 ring above the hoofs and false hoofs, white ; the belly and legs, end 

 of tail and legs, from shoulder to hock, black. The females are 

 grayer and have the belly and upper part of the legs paler. 



This animal is called Sing-Sing by all the negroes. They do not 

 think that their flocks will be healthy or fruitful unless they have a 

 Sing-Sing with them, just as a fancy is entertained by some persons 

 in England for having a goat in a stable. The English on the 

 Gambia call it a Jackass-Deer from its appearance, and it is called 

 Koba and Kassimause by the negroes at Macarthy's Island. Its flesh 

 is strong, and not pleasant eating. As far as can be judged by 

 recollection and description, the adult specimen at Knowsley, the 

 young male and adult female in the British Museum, the male and 

 female at Frankfort, and the adult male in the Paris menageries, are 

 the same species. 



Buffon figured (' Hist. Nat.,' 210, 267, xii. t. 32, f. 2,) under the name 

 Kuliit, a pair of horns which were in the library of St. Victor at 

 Paris. He described them as larger and more curved above than 

 those of the Kob, 18 inches long, and 5 inches in circumference at the 

 base ; and he refers them to an animal which Adauson says is called Koba 

 in Senegal and the Great Brown Cow by the French colonists. Pallas 

 refers these horns to A. Pygargus, and the figures and description agree 

 in many particulars with the horns of that species, but they are rather 

 longer and have more rings. Pennant (' Syn. Mam." 38) gave the name 

 of Senegal Antelope to Buffon's short account and figure, but has 

 added to it the description and figure of the head of a skin which 

 came from Amsterdam, and appears to be A. Caama of South Africa. 

 Cuvier (' Diet. Sci. Nat.' ii. 235,) only translated Pennant's name to 

 A. Senegaleiuit. Erxleben ('Syn.' 293) and Zimmermann ('Zool.' 345) 

 have translated Pennant's description of his skin from Amsterdam of 

 A. Caama, and called it A. Koba, referring to Buffon's description and 

 Daubenton's figure. Fischer, Hamilton Smith, and M. Sundwall 

 regard the Koba of Buffon the same as the Korrigum of Denham and 

 Clapperton ; but the horns of that species are considerably larger and 

 much thicker at the base than those described by Daubenton, and the 

 annulations of the horns are higher and more regular. It should be 

 remarked that Buffon describes his horns as having 11 or 12 rings, 

 but figures them as having 17 or 18. Mr. Ogilby (' Penny Cyclopaedia ' 

 and 'Proceedings of Zoological Society ') considers Buffon's Koba to be 

 the Sing-Sing, from the length of the horns, and in the number, 

 disposition, and form of the rings. His figure more nearly agrees with 

 the horns of that species than of that of the A. Pygarya, to which 

 Pallas first referred it ; but the hornp, according to Dr. Gray, are repre- 

 sented much more lyrated than any horns of the Sing-Sing ; indeed, 

 not one of the specimens which had come under his observation 

 had had any inclination to assume that form ; but as this is the only 

 West-African species which in any way agrees with Buffon's figure, 

 perhaps it is best to adopt Mr. Ogilby's suggestion. The name of 

 Koba or Kob appears to be common to many species. Schinz 



