ANTELOPES. 



14.5 



limited in this district, and must be confined to the 

 seasonal movement of the tribes in the northern parts 

 into the desert and back again. The great body of 

 its mammalia must be resident ; from its productive- 

 ness, arising from the hottest climate and plenty of 

 ruin, they must be numerous ; and the probability is, 

 that antelopes are the most numerous of fill, and that 

 many new species and varieties may yet be discovered. 

 As in this part of Africa the grasses are too coarse 

 and reed-like for the food of the ox-tribe, and in 

 the dry season, they in many places wither, and the 

 remaining verdure is too much scattered for these 

 comparatively slow-moving animals, antelopes and 

 other swift and light-made, or long-limbed creatures, 

 which can bound rapidly from place to place, or leap 

 up and seize the pendent foliage of acacias and other 

 trees, which retain their verdure in the severest 

 drought, are much better suited to the country. 

 Africa is thus, in an eminent degree, the land of 

 antelopes ; and the natural history of these animals, 

 if complete, would be a key to much of the natural 

 history of Africa. 



When however we approach within about five 

 degrees of the equator, our knowledge of the interior 

 wholly fails, and even the coasts are known at par- 

 ticular points only; so that we can no longer make 

 the country and the animals reciprocally illustrate 

 each other, but must confine ourselves to detached 

 notices of the individuals at those places where they 

 are found. It is worthy of notice, however, that 

 though there are in Southern Africa antelopes re- 

 sembling all or most of the species of the north and 

 the centre, there are none which can be regarded as 

 exactly the same species ; and there are some to 

 which no nearly-approximating types have been 

 found in any other part of the world. It is different 

 with some of the other ruminantia ; the giraffe, for 

 instance, is the very same from Senegal to the most 

 southerly point at which it occurs. 



The known species which are Hrst met with in our 

 progress southward, form a distinct group. They 

 are of large size, bold and courageous, inhabit rich 

 pastures, and do not associate in large flocks, or mi- 

 grate, at least to great distances. The first of these is, 



STEEDMAN'S ANTELOPE (A. cllipsipry-nmus}. (See 

 plate " Antelopes.") This is a large and handsome 

 species, and the most northerly one known inhabiting 

 Southern Africa. The specimen from which our figure 

 is taken, and which is the only one which has yet come 

 to Europe, was obtained near the west coast, and to 

 the northward of Orange River, in about twenty-eight 

 degrees south latitude. The dimensions are seven feet 

 three from the muzzle to the insertion of the tail ; the 

 tail to the extremity of the hair, one foot nine ; height 

 at the shoulder, three feet ten ; at the croup, two 

 inches less ; length of the horns along the curve, 

 three feet and a half. It is said that specimens con- 

 siderably larger occur in the district from which the 

 one in question 'was obtained, and that they are 

 daring and even ferocious animals, which, excepting 

 in cases of surprise, defy b >lh the native hunter and 

 the lion. The prevailing colour is rusty brown and 

 grey, the brown nearly entire on the back and the 

 lower parts of the legs. The face deep blackish- 

 brown. The interior of the ears, the lips, a streak 

 down each side of the upper part of the face, and an 

 obscure band on the throat, immediately under the 

 j-iw, are white. There is also an ellipse of white, 

 very conspicuous and well-defined, passing from the 



NAT. HIST. VOL. I. 



croup across the hip?, and meeting below. This 

 mark is equally well-defined and striking. The hair 

 is not very long, but coarse and in clotted tufts, 

 turning in all directions from a whirl on the middle 

 of the loins, and reversed on the anterior part of the 

 body, under as well as tipper. The hair on the neck 

 is also clotted, but there is no produced mane or 

 beard. The horns are very strong as well as long ; 

 they rise in the line of the forehead, and gradually 

 bend outwards and forwards, but not to any great 

 extent of curvature, and they incline inwards at the 

 tips. For two feet next the base they are annulated, 

 the annuli prominent and distinct, twenty-four in 

 number. The annulatcd part is also striated longi- 

 tudinally, and of a light brown colour. The six 

 inches at the points, which are smooth, are black. 

 The section is not round, but has a groove, becoming 

 gradually obliterated toward the points ; and con- 

 trary to what appears in many other species, the 

 groove is in front. All the characters are expressive 

 of great energy and strength, and, in its native wilds, 

 this antelope must be a noble creature, seen at a safe 

 distance. 



The EQITINE ANTELOPE (A. equina) inhabits 

 nearly the same places as the last-mentioned species, 

 though perhaps a little nearer to the sources of the 

 rivers. At all events it has been more frequently 

 seen. Its habits appear to be similar, living in pairs 

 or very small flocks, keeping near the perennial 

 streams, and not migrating. It is nearly of the same 

 size, but is not quite so compact in the body, and has 

 more elevation in the shoulders. The horns are i>ot 

 quite so long, and they are thicker, more closely an- 

 nulated, and curved backwards. The ears are longer, 

 narrower, and more pointed ; the hair also is different 

 both in colour and in texture. It is long, open, of a 

 mixture of reddish and grey on the upper parts, and 

 chestnut on the face and outsides of the ears, but 

 variously mixed and marked with white. There is a 

 white patch round each eye, ending "in a streak 

 downwards at the anterior angle ; a short round 

 white mane on the neck, a white fringe along the 

 throat, and the belly is white. It seems subject to 

 varieties both in colour and in size. 



The TAKHAITZE (A. barbata) inhabits nearly the 

 same places, but still more mountain-ward than the 

 former. It is not quite so large, but remarkably fleet 

 and daring. It has a long beard and mane. This 

 species do not flock, but alternate between the small 

 open places and the thickets on the hills, feeding 

 upon the leaves of the acacia. Their manners are 

 not very much known, but the natives say it is 

 dangerous to attack them. 



The BLAUBOK, " blue buck," (A. leucopJicea,} is 

 another species agreeing in several particulars with 

 the three last mentioned, but smaller in size, inha* 

 biting still nearer the sources of the streams, and 

 being more discursive in its range, though not gre- 

 garious, or, strictly speaking, migratory. It is six feet 

 in length, three feet and a half high to the back, and 

 very compactly made. The horns are more than two 

 feet in length, round, closely annulated to within six 

 inches of the tip?, bent back in a uniform but 

 moderate curve, and very sharp at the points. The 

 general colour of the hair is grey, with the insides of 

 the ears, a streak before each eye, the insides of the 

 legs, and a few hairs along the ridge of the neck, 

 white. The hair on the body divides on the line of 

 the back, and is rather coarse and open. The skin 

 R 



