138 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



THE PALLAH 



The Pallah or Impala (jEpyceros melampus) is un- 

 doubtedly one of the most beautiful and characteristic 

 of all African antelopes. With its rich, reddish- 

 chestnut colouring (toning off to a paler rufous-fawn 

 towards the underparts, thence changing to spotless 

 white on the belly and inner parts of the limbs), its 

 graceful form, slender legs, and elegant horns, this 

 most lovely of the bush-loving antelopes, wandering 

 as it does in large troops, forms one of the greatest 

 adornments of the river-side, and of the open jungles 

 and low forests in the vicinity. A full-grown pallah 

 stands about 33 inches at the shoulder, and although 

 not reckoned among the larger antelopes, its singular 

 beauty and fine horns render the downfall of a good 

 ram of this species well worthy of the hunter's skill. 

 The horns are unlike those of any other antelope, 

 and in comparison with the size of the animal are of 

 excellent length and proportions. Fair average horns 

 measure 24 or 25 inches over the curve, while record 

 specimens reach as much as 29 or 30 inches. 

 Tending upward and outward, and then, rather past 

 the middle, taking a curve back, they rise thence 

 upwards to the sharp points. They are strongly 

 corrugated for two -thirds of their length. The 

 sweep of a pallah's horns is bold and wide, and from 

 tip to tip a good pair will measure as much as from 

 15 to 24 inches. The female is hornless. 



At the present time pallah are still to be found in 



