THE ANTELOPES AND GAZELLES 177 



THE CAPE ORIBI 



This is another diminutive antelope, found in 

 Eastern Cape Colony, Natal, Zululand, Barotseland, 

 the Eastern Transvaal, part of Mashonaland, Zam- 

 besia, Nyasaland, and Mozambique. A lover of open 

 grass plains and the grassy summits of hills, this 

 charming little buck offers by no means bad sport to 

 the gunner, whether armed with a shot-gun or rifle. 

 To the man with the rifle, even if he is a good shot 

 at other game, the oribi, speeding at first low through 

 the grass, and then bounding into the air with rapid 

 leaps, offers a sufficiently moving target, and the 

 shot must be quick and the aim excellent to bring 

 it down. Sometimes the oribi will squat, and the 

 sportsman, armed with the " scatter gun," circling 

 round it, much as one manoeuvres round a crouching 

 bustard, can get near enough to put in a charge of 

 No. 2 shot, as it bolts off, and so secure it. When 

 ranging the grass veldt for partridge and koorhaan, 

 with a steady pointer, oribi are occasionally put up 

 by the sportsman, and I have known them to be 

 bagged even with No. 5 shot. On the hills they afford 

 very pretty shooting, but they are difficult to make 

 out, their colour, a yellowish- rufous, blending 

 singularly well with the neighbouring ground. In 

 the Pungwe river country these antelopes are said 

 to be found in more bushy localities than elsewhere. 



A well-grown oribi measures about 2 feet at the 

 shoulder, and carries short, straight horns, measuring 



