CHAPTER VIII 



THE ARIIOLA, OR HUNTER'S HARTEBEESTE 



One of the objects I had in view in undertaking this 

 journey was to obtain specimens of Hunter's harte- 

 beeste, or arrola, as it is known to the natives. These 

 antelopes were first discovered by Mr. H. C. V. Hunter, 

 in 18S7, when traveUing near the mouth of the Tana 

 River. He found them in herds of from ten to 

 twenty, frequenting open plains and thin thorn bush, 

 but he never saw them in thick scrub or forest. 



At present there is a fine pair, male and female, 

 in the Nairobi Club, and also about a dozen speci- 

 mens in England, but exceedingly little is known 

 of their habits or of the country where they are to be 

 found. 



They belong to the sub-family Bubalidin.e, which 

 is constituted by the true hartebeeste, the bastard- 

 hartebeeste and the gnu, and each of these genera 

 is represented in East Africa. According to Mr. R. 

 Lydekker, to whom I am indebted for much of the 

 information on this subject, the members of this group 

 are ungainly looking ruminants of comparatively large 

 size, and with naked muzzles, although the lower part 

 of the nostrils is covered with short bristly hairs. 

 The tail is generally long, covered with hair, and 

 ending in a tuft, and lateral hoofs of large size are 

 generally present. The females, as well as the males, 

 carry horns, as is the case with the "bovidae," but 



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