CHAPTER XXI 



AFRICAN ANTELOPES (A. BUBALIS) 



THIS interesting tribe inhabits more or less every part of Africa. 

 There are varieties which differ in their habits so completely 

 that it appears impossible to accept them as belonging to the 

 same genus, nevertheless they are all antelopes, the distinction 

 of the class consisting in the formation of the horns, and the 

 tear-ducts beneath the eyes. As before mentioned, the horns 

 of antelopes differ entirely from those of deer, as they resemble 

 those of oxen, which are mere sheaths that fit upon a conical 

 bony projection, and are permanent. 



The difference in size is very marked, varying from the tiny 

 oom dik-dik (HempricManus), which weighs about 16 Ibs., to 

 the roan antelope, and the still heavier eland (Soselaphus oreas), 

 that would weigh 900 or 1000 Ibs. 



The most common of the larger antelopes is the bubalis, 

 known by the Arabs as the tdtel and at the Cape as the 

 " hartebeest." 



There are two varieties of this animal, specially distinguished 

 by the horns. In Abyssinia these are spreading, and the simi- 

 larity to those of the buffalo is at once perceived, but in Central 

 Africa the horns are closer together, more upright, and generally 

 more massive in the base. 



The head of the A. bubalis is very extraordinary in shape; 

 the skull rises about 4 inches above the brain cavity, and the 

 horns are rooted upon this projection. If the entire head is 

 not required as a trophy, this portion may be sawn off without 

 disturbing the position of the horns, or in any way interfering 

 with the actual cranium. The horns appear to be carefully 

 arranged for defence, as they rise almost perpendicular with 

 the skull for about a foot, and then turn back for 7 or 8 inches, 

 terminating in extremely sharp points. When the head is 



