XXIV 



GNUS AND DUIKERS 



303 



Topi is the Somali name of an antelope intermediate 

 in size and ugliness between the wildebeest and the 

 hartebeest ; it lives in the Mau Highlands. The skin of 

 the topi presents glossy purple reflections like the bloom, 

 on a ripe plum. The curious curve of its horns both in 

 male and female is a most striking specific feature. 



A duiker. 



The topi does not occur in large herds like the kougoni, 

 but twenty or thirty may herd together. 



Duikers or duikerboks are small animals (they weigh 

 about thirty pounds), and with one exception (the 

 Indian four-horned antelope) live in Africa, where they 

 are widely distributed, and exhibit endless variation. 

 Duikers, male and female, possess a pair of small straight 

 horns. Some of the species have a tuft of hair between 

 the horns, almost hiding them, and from this " head- 

 crest " the name of the genus, Cephalophus, is derived : 



