ANTILOPE^E. 



ANTILOPE^E. 



266 



outwards. They are thick at the base, and marked for some distance 

 up with irregular wrinkles, but not annulated, dark-brown at the 

 bottom, black in the middle, and the extreme points white. They 



^5 



The Koodoo (Stnpiiceroi Kudu). 



spread boldly and widely outwards, and are usually carried couched 

 on each side of the back, on account of their great weight. The 

 whole make of this animal is heavy ; the head large and terminated 

 by a broad muzzle ; the ears broad and slouching ; the limbs thick 

 and robust ; and the whole external appearance more nearly resembling 

 that of an ox than of an antelope. The ground-colour of the back 

 and sides is a light fallow-brown, with a narrow white ribbon along 

 the spine, and 8 or 10 similar bands descending from the back, and 

 passing obliquely down the sides and hips ; the belly and under parts 

 are pale silvery brown. On the neck and withers is a thin spare 

 mane of a browu colour, and the chin, throat, and breast are furnished 

 with similar long hairs, forming a species of beard. The cheeks are 

 marked with two or three round white spots, and a narrow gray line 

 passes from the anterior angle of the eye down towards the muzzle. 

 The tail is moderately long, and equally covered with short hair. 



This magnificent animal inhabits the woody parts of Kaffraria, 

 principally along the banks of rivers, to which it readily takes when 

 pursued, and swims well. It lives in small families of four or five 

 individuals. When taken young they are readily domesticated, and 

 show no inclination to regain their original freedom. The females 

 produce one young at a time. The large antelope called Aggergetn by 

 Pearce, in his account of his ' Residence in Abyssinia,' has been sup- 

 posed, but with little probability, to be the same as the Koodoo of 

 South Africa. 



76. Oreai Canna, (Antilopc Orecu, Pallas,) the Impoofoo, Eland, Cape 



The Kland (0. C.inna}. 

 Elk, fauna, or Bastard Eland, is considerably the largest of all the 

 Antelopes, being the size of a good hone, and measuring 8 feet 

 2 inches in length, and full 5 feet in height at the shoulder. The 

 li'irn.* "f the male are 1.^ foot in length, vtTy tlii'k and heavy, almosi 

 ntaight till within 3 inches of the tips, where they bend outward?, 



ittenuated at the points, and surrounded throughout the greater part 

 of their length with a thick spiral wreath, which passes twice 

 completely round them, and finishes by becoming indistinct near the 

 H lint -. Those of the females are longer and smaller, and the spiral 

 vreath is, in some specimens at least, scarcely to be seen. The head 

 s long and pointed, the ears are large, the neck thick, compressed on 

 ;he sides, as in the ox, and furnished underneath with a loose hanging 

 skin or dewlap, fringed along the margin with a border of long hair. 

 There is likewise a large protuberance of the size of a man's fist on 

 ;he larynx ; and it was probably from this organ, which is likewise 

 'ound in the Elk of Europe, that the animal derived the name of 

 Eland, by which it is universally known at the Cape. From the 

 centre of the forehead to the root of the tail runs a short erect mane 

 of dark brown hair, which is reversed on the neck, but directed 

 backwards in the usual manner along the spine of the back. The 

 length of the spinous processes of the interscapular vertebra produces 

 a considerable and sufficiently remarkable elevation of the shoulders ; 

 but there is no actual hump, as in the Camel or Indian Ox, though at 

 first sight such a formation might be supposed to exist. The tail is 

 upwards of 2 feet long, and terminated by a tuft of long black hair. 

 The colour of the body is uniform reddish-fawn on the upper parts, 

 and white on the under ; the head and neck ashy-gray, but in some indi- 

 viduals the latter colour extends over all the upper parts of the body. 



The Eland is a large heavy animal, which, when full grown, weighs 

 frotn 7 to 9 cwts. and, contrary to the usual rule observed among 

 Antelopes, is commonly extremely fat. Its flesh is consequently more 

 prized than that of any other wild animal of South Africa, and the 

 large muscles of the thighs, in particular, are held in the highest 

 estimation when dried and cured, under which form they are 

 denominated thigh-tongues. The character of this animal is very 

 mild, and as it were predisposed to domestication ; it is gregarious, 

 and lives in large herds upon the open plains and low hills, the old 

 males generally residing apart. Elands were formerly very common 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of Cape Town, but were so much 

 hunted, that they have long since ceased to frequent the inhabited 

 districts, and are now rarely met with except in the more distant and 

 retired parts of the colony. Being generally very fat and pursy, they 

 do not run well, and are soon fatigued ; it is even said that when hard 

 run a red oily perspiration has been known to ooze out from the pores 

 of their skin, and that they occasionally drop down from plethora. 

 Like most other animals when hunted, they always run against the 

 wind. As the carcass is weighty and consequently difficult to 

 transport, the great object of the hunters, in the chase of the Eland, 

 is to turn their game in such a direction as to drive it close to their 

 own residence before killing it ; and in fact the Cape farmers, from 

 long practice and intimate knowledge of the animal's habits, very 

 frequently succeed in accomplishing this masterpiece of South African 

 field-sports. They are so gentle that a man on horseback may 

 penetrate into the very middle of a herd, without alarming them, and 

 pick out the fattest and best-conditioned, and as the old bulls ai'e 

 commonly chosen on account of their greater size and weight, it 

 not unfrequeutly happens that the herd is left altogether without a 

 male. There are several very fine specimens of this animal in the 

 Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, presented by the late Earl of Derby. 



Mr. Livingstone saya of this animal " Our party was well supplied 

 with Eland flesh during our passage through the desert ; and it being 

 superior to beef, and the animal as large as an ox, it seems strange it 

 has not yet been introduced into England." 



77. 0. Derbiantw, the Gingi Jonga, is a species found in Western 

 Africa on the river Cassaman. It is of a pale reddish-brown colour, 

 with the front of the face, the neck, the front part of the under-side, 

 a spot on the front and upper part of the fore leg, and the dorsal 

 streak, dark black. 



Tragetaphui 



Has horns conical, tapering, with only one spiral turn ; tear-bag 

 distinct ; neck and throat with longer hair ; nape and back with a 

 more or less distinct mane ; legs slender ; hoofs and false hoofs 

 small ; females hornless. 



78. Tragtlitjiltus Knnji-frm (Anl'dupe Eurycerus, Ogilby), the Broad- 

 Homed Antelope, has the head pale-brown ; a broad band before the 

 eyes, and two large spots on cheeks, chin, and front of upper-lip, 

 white. The horns are elongated, thick, scarcely bent forward at the 

 tip ; the throat covered with long black hairs ; the specimens of this 

 species have come from the Bight of Biafra. 



79. T. Anyatii, the Ingala, a native of Natal, is distinguished 

 from the last species by the slenderness of its horns, the smaller size 

 of its head, and the dark colour and small size of the bands and spota 

 on the head. 



80. T. scripta (A nlilope icripta, Pallas), the Guib, measures 4 4 feet from 

 the muzzle to the root of the tail ; its height at the shoulder is 2 feet 

 6 inches, and at the croup 2 feet 8 inches ; the horns are 8 inches long, 

 the ears 5, and the tail <i inches. The horns are straight, a little com- 

 pressed and twisted spirally upon their axis, with two wreaths passing 

 lound them strongly marked at bottom, but obliterated within an inch 

 or two of the points. The general colour is a reddish-fawn marked with 

 white lines and spots. The head is unmixed fawn colour with a dark 



i >n the forehead and face, white spots in front and beneath each 

 eye, and another on the cheek, at some distance beneath the opening 



