154 



ANTELOPES. 



bitant of the forests, smaller in size, more active in 

 habit, and more generally distributed than the koodoo. 

 This animal is found in most of the wooded districts 

 of the Cape, to which it keeps close during the day, 

 but comes out early in the mornings and during 

 moonlight nights, and not only grazes in the adjoin- 

 ing pastures, but makes free with the corn-fields and 

 even the gardens of the settlers. Its voice is said to 

 resemble the barking of a dog ; and on that account 

 it is said often to mislead travellers in the forests. 

 Hearing its bark, they proceed upon it, never doubt- 

 ing that they shall come upon a house-dog in a 

 cottage ; but when they approach it, so that it hears 

 the rustling of the branches, it immediately becomes 

 close and silent ; and of course neither dog nor 

 human dwelling is found. The deception is not, how- 

 ever, at an end ; for instantly another begins to bark 

 at some distance in advance, and continues till ap- 

 proached in the same manner. After that a third, 

 and so on, so that the forest may be ranged from 

 morning till night with the apparent bark of the 

 dog still near, but neither dog nor cottage ever 

 seen. The habit of the animals renders this species 

 of deception very perplexing. They are not gre- 

 garious, or reposing in a herd at one quarter of the 

 forest, and again in another quarter. They live 

 solitary, or at most in pairs ; and when the female has 

 young ones following her, of which there are often 

 two, the male lives apart, so that they are dispersed 

 over the whole forest. Their flesh is much esteemed, 

 and they are hunted with considerable avidity ; but 

 still their numbers have been much less thinned than 

 those of many other species ; and they appear better 

 calculated for being game animals in coppice pre- 

 serves than almost any other of the antelopes. 



This species measures about four feet from the 

 muzzle to the tail, and stands about two fret and a half 

 high at the shoulder. The horns are about a foot long, 

 thick at the bases and tapering to the points, which, 

 however, are rather blunt. They are twisted, or rather 

 wreathed spirally by two prominent ridges for the first 

 two-thirds of their length, the third next the tips being 

 smooth. The ears are large and rounded ; the fur thick 

 but not shaggy ; and, the horns excepted, many of the 

 characters of the animal resemble those of the fallow 

 deer. The male has the ground colours dark sooty- 

 brown on the upper part, and white on the under ; the 

 cheeks bright reddish-brown, and the legs yellowish- 

 brown, passing into grey in very old specimens. The 

 lips and chin are white, a white spot surrounds each 

 eye, there is a white band round each extremity of the 

 neck, white spots in the cheeks, arid some dappling 

 with white on the haunches, but the white markings 

 are subject to variety in different individuals, and also 

 in different ages. The markings of the females are 

 nearly the same as those in the males, only those on 

 the upper part are less conspicuous, because the 

 ground-colour of the female is reddish-fawn, of rather 

 a pale tint. The difference of colour in the males 

 and females appears before they reach full maturity ; 

 but the brown, and also the white in the males, 

 become more conspicuous with age. 



The DUIKERBOK(^. mergens) is another inhabitant 

 of the bushes or copses, and also of the taller forests 

 in which there is much underwood. It is equally 

 numerous with the last mentioned species, and 

 though not quite so familiar in its manners, it oc- 

 casionally pays nocturnal visits to the corn-fields and 

 gardens. 



In its native woods it is even more difficult to b<* 

 seen, because it plunges under the bushes, instead 

 of leaping over them ; and it is on this account that 

 it is called the duikerbok, which means, the diving 

 or plunging buck. They live dispersedly, or in pairs ; 

 and that farther diminishes the opportunities of ob- 

 serving it in its native haunts. In appearance, and 

 also in manners, it bears a considerable resemblance 

 to the bush antelope of western Africa, only it is 

 more elegantly made, and more lively in its motions. 

 The length of the body is about four feet, the height 

 at the shoulder about two. The horns, with which 

 the males only are provided, are rather small, straight, 

 upright, very sharp at the tips, of a black colour, and 

 altogether smooth, except two or three annuli at the 

 base. The ears are rather long; and between the 

 roots of the horns there is a coronal tuft of hair, 

 which spreads round in all directions, and partly con- 

 ceals those appendages, and also the ears. This tuft is 

 common to both males and females ; and it may 

 j serve (as the crests of some birds do) to render the 

 ! outline of the animal's head less perceptible to 

 enemies while it is raised over the bushes for the 

 ' purpose of reconnoitring. The general covering of 

 the body is long, but smooth and close. The prevail- 

 ing colour is lisfht-brown, with a trace of yellowish 

 on the back, and one of greyish-ash on the unde r 

 part. The centre of the face is dark-brown, the lower 

 portions of the legs and the hair on the tail are black; 

 there is not much difference in the appearance of the 

 male and female, except the absence of horns in the 

 latter. 



The KLEENEBOK (A. perpusilla) is a very small 

 and slender-limbed species, which has sometimes 

 been confounded with the guevi of tropical Africa, 

 though they are perfectly distinct, and no one of 

 them has been hitherto found in the other's locality. 

 The Dutch name means the little buck ; and the 

 epithet blauw(b\ue~)\s sometimes added as expressive 

 of its colour. These animals are not gregarious or 

 migrant, but live in pairs among the short bushes. 

 They are exceedingly lively and playful ; but at the 

 same time so timid and prone to nide themselves in 

 the bushes that they are seldom seen, even in those 

 parts of the colony where they are known to be 

 very abundant. They are very gentle in their man- 

 ners, easily tamed, and docile, and soon taught to 

 distinguish and go to those that are kind to them. 

 The neck is very slender, the head pear-shaped, 

 tapering much to the muzzle, which is slender ; the 

 ears placed far backwards, rounded at the tips, and 

 nearly naked within. The horns are very small, 

 being only an inch and a half in length in the male, 

 and three quarters of ah inch in the female. They 

 are black, nearly erect, but with a slight inclination 

 backwards, marked with seven or eight very minute 

 annuli at the bases, but smooth and very sharp at 

 the tips. The tail is about two inches and a half 

 long, but very conspicuous from the rapid inward 

 curvature of the outline of the hips. The general 

 colour of the upper part is slate-grey, and that of the 

 under ash-grey, but much paler and inclining to 

 white in the young specimens. The forehead and 

 nose are brown ; but on each side a narrow line of a 

 brownish-red colour proceeds from the roots of the 

 horns towards the nose, and is met by an oblique one 

 of the same colour under the eye. The legs are of 

 a reddish-brown colour, very delicately made, and 

 the hoofs are black, small, narrow, and pointed. It 



