xxi AFRICAN ANTELOPES 343 



The handsomest of all the larger antelopes is the koodoo, or 

 nellut of the Arabs (A. strepsiceros). This animal is most grace- 

 ful, and is prettily marked. It stands from about 13 to 13| 

 hands in height of withers. The colour is mouse-gray, with per- 

 fectly white stripes. The horns are very long and spiral. In 

 this species we find a distinction in the female being devoid of 

 horns. Their habits are different from the foregoing varieties, as 

 they are seldom met with upon the open, but are found in deep 

 ravines and thickly wooded nullahs. 



There are no elands in Abyssinia, neither have I ever seen them 

 throughout my journeys in Central Africa, but I have seen a very 

 large pair of horns that were brought by the slave-hunters from 

 the West, somewhere upon the Bahr Gazal. 



The largest of all that I have met north of the equator is a 

 species of roan antelope that was named Hippotragus Bakerii, as 

 a new specimen, differing from the well-known roan antelope of 

 South Africa. This animal stands about 13 hands 3 inches at 

 the withers, or 14 hands; it is immensely bulky, and clumsy in 

 comparison with the more elegant strepsiceros. The horns are 

 thick, anuulated, and are curved completely backwards, so that 

 when the head is thrown up they would reach the shoulder. The 

 mane upon the neck gives it a remote resemblance to a horse, 

 with horns. I have never weighed a roan antelope, but I should 

 estimate the live weight at about 700 Ibs. Both male and female 

 have horns, those of the male being superior. 



I saw this species for the first time near the Bahr Salaam 

 in Abyssinia, also subsequently upon the border of the Settite 

 river. In portions of Central Africa they are more plentiful, 

 but they are not so generally distributed as the bubalis or 

 strerjsiceros. 



A very handsome variety of the large antelopes is the water- 

 buck or mehede'het (A. ellipsiprymna). This is an exceedingly 

 massive animal, nearly allied to the red-deer in colour and texture 

 of hair. It weighs about 600 Ibs. when alive. The dark-brown 

 hair of the throat is coarse, and somewhat shaggy in the males ; 

 the horns are long, distinctly anuulated, and after turning slightly 

 backwards, the extremities project forward in a gentle curve. 

 The flesh of this variety is coarse, and although eaten, it is not 

 esteemed, even by the Arabs. 



As the name " water-buck " would imply, this species is found 

 in the neighbourhood of swamps and rivers. A fine old male is a 

 grand-looking creature, resembling a German stag with a winter 

 coat, surmounted by large horns of goat-like appearance. The 



