SITUTUNGA 335 



The continuation of Mr. Neumann's account is as follows : 

 " Although easy to shoot in favourable situations, in parts where it 

 has been much persecuted by the natives the nyala is very wary ; and, 

 keeping as it does during daylight hours to dense covert, to get a shot 

 is difficult. For, let the hunter prowl ever so cautiously through its 

 dark retreats, it is impossible, except by luck, to get more than a 

 momentary glimpse of their occupant, which has been silently listening 

 to his approach. Under such circumstances he can seldom get more 

 than a snapshot at the buck as it projects itself into openings that seem 

 almost impossible for its form to pass through, or creeps under briary 

 tunnels so low that but for the evidence of its spoor one could not 

 believe the animal had really passed that way. 



" The native method of trapping these bush-dwelling bucks is by 

 enclosing some much-frequented patch of covert in the heart of their 

 favourite haunts with a fence of brushwood, starting from the bank of 

 the river and returning in a semicircle. In this fence are left little gaps 

 at short intervals, in each of which is set a snare of stout cord, made of 

 tough fibre, with a loop at the end to form a slip-knot. The other end 

 is made fast to a strong growing sapling, which is bent down as a spring 

 over the gap and held so by a little wooden bar (fastened to a smaller 

 cord attached to the noose) inserted in a peg in the ground in such a 

 manner that, on any animal treading on twigs placed artfully across, 

 the spring will be released and the leg of the intruder caught in the 

 snare and hoisted high in the air, thus rendering the victim helpless." 



THE SITUTUNGA 

 (Tragelaphus \Limnotragus\ spekei) 



Kaivi, N. CAMEROONS ; Mburi, DUALA (CAMEROON'S) ; Nakong, 

 BATAUWANI (NGAMILAND) ; Njobi, WAGANDA ; Nkaya AND 

 Nkoko, CONGO ; IVzoi, LAKANGA ; Sitittanga, BAROTSI ; Situtunga, 



Puvula, OR UtlZUZU, ClIOHI AND CENTRAL ZAMBESI ; ZoU'i 



CHILALA AND CHIBISA. 



(PLATE xiii, figs. 5 and 6) 



From other bushbucks, and for that matter from other antelopes 

 in general, the situtunga, or nakong, is broadly distinguished by the 

 great elongation of its hoofs, which thus afford considerable additional 

 support to the animal when traversing soft mud-flats or yielding rccd- 

 beds. On this account it has been proposed to separate the species 



