The Sable Antelope. 175 



would likely have been successful in finding him. Again, 

 when travelling to Broken Hill, in North- Western Rhodesia, 

 I wounded a very large-horned bull, which I also lost, as a 

 rainstorm came on and washed out his tracks. I had a 

 good look at this animal's horns before firing at him, and 

 they were certainly not less than 45m. Such is hunter's 

 luck, or, perhaps, I should term it indifferent shooting. To 

 a man keen on good game-heads the sight of an excep- 

 tional pair of trophies is very apt to cause bad shooting, 

 especially before he has learned by experience to keep 

 cool and shoot steadily. 



When disturbed I have noticed that sable often run into 

 the open, whereas more bush-loving animals, such as kudu 

 and bushbuck, immediately run for the thickest cover they 

 can find. I think sable depend more to their eyesight 

 than the two latter species, who trust in their hearing more 

 as a protection against danger. Young sable are a rufous- 

 red colour, and about the third year they begin to turn 

 darker; but it takes some years for them to assume the 

 jet black coat of the old beasts. Even the oldest sable 

 will show reddish hairs on the ears, and old bulls fight a 

 good deal and get their ears torn and split, as I have shot 

 several with half their ears gone. Sable meat is fairly 

 good eating, and the marrow from their bones, as well as 

 that of other large antelopes, is very tasty. The bones 

 are easily cracked with a stone, hammer, or axe ; and the 

 marrow can be cooked by putting the bone on a camp-fire ; 

 but, before doing this it is better to crack one end, or the 

 accumulation of steam inside will likely split the bone and 

 scatter the contents. 



All old sable, bulls and cows, have a prominent bulge 

 on the base of the horns which gets smoothed up, although 

 the rings are easily visible. 



If a good pair of sable horns are shot which do not show 

 this bulge, it is likely that they have not reached their 

 full growth. The horns of the females are much thinner 

 than those of the bulls, and they never form a great 

 curve. 



