

Great Size of Elands. 35 



Here are the measurements, which were most carefully 

 taken with a steel tape : 



FT. IN. 



From nose to end of flesh on tail ... ... ... 13 4 



From nose to root of tail II 5 



Circumference of body at middle... ... ... 9 6 



Circumference of neck at middle ... ... ... 70 



Height from top of shoulder to heel of fore foot... 6 o 



Horns on straight ... ... ... ... ... 2 2 



About two years ago I shot another large bull eland, 

 which gave a height of 6ft. o|in. at the shoulder, and he 

 measured 8ft. Sin. round the middle of the body and 

 5ft. gin. round the centre of his neck, and his horns were 

 29^in. on the straight. 



He was certainly a younger bull than the very large one 

 I have given detailed measurements of, but, like all full- 

 grown beasts, he had the thick tuft of matted hair on the 

 frontlet of his skull. 



Whether the measurement of a dead animal's height is 

 a true index as to the height he stands when alive I cannot 

 say, although I do not suppose the difference can be 

 possibly more than one or two inches. 



The eland which I hit with three bullets grouped close 

 together was also a fine beast, full-grown, but not aged, 

 and his height was an inch less than the old bulPs, but his 

 horns were longer, as they measured 29^in. and had 

 amber-coloured tips. Elands that are very old sometimes 

 wear their horns down to less than 2ft. in length, as 

 they are constantly rubbing them on trees, and they are 

 also often splintered and broken as well. 



Elands are such grand, inoffensive animals that one 

 regrets killing them, and yet they give good sport in 

 tracking, and the meat and fat they yield is often needed 

 by the hunter. I got over i5lb. of fine, rich fat from the 

 old bull, and this has to be boiled down in pots and the 

 refuse skimmed off. The fat should first be chopped up 

 into small pieces and boiled for several hours, and it should 

 not be washed in w r ater, as this tends to make it go bad. 



D 2 



