1 82 Wild Life in Central Africa. 



In Nyasaland they are known to occur sparingly on the 

 Shire River, and are slightly more numerous near the 

 Muanza River, flowing into the former. 



Twice I have tried to find them, but on both occasions 

 something came in the way, and I never saw a wild inyala, 

 although I have still hopes of doing so. 



My friend, Mr. C. H. Timmler, told me that he once shot 

 two buck considerably larger than bushbuck, when they had 

 come to drink on the Luangwa River, in North-Eastern 

 Rhodesia. He fired across the river, and they both fell ; 

 but, as darkness was near, he had to leave them, and next 

 morning he found that they had been removed by croco- 

 diles. He firmly believes that they were inyala, and I see 

 no reason to doubt that they do exist in parts of the 

 Luangwa River, as I have heard of two other cases of 

 antelopes being shot there like inyalas ; but the successful 

 sportsmen were not experienced hunters or field-naturalists, 

 or they would certainly have kept the heads and skins 

 for identification. 



Parts of the Luangwa valley certainly look typical inyala 

 country, as there are large tracts of thick papyrus and 

 reeds bordering the river. On the Muanza River, however, 

 the inyala, I believe, inhabit thick scrub near it, and do 

 not live solely in the dense reeds. 



I examined carefully a very fine specimen of a full-grown, 

 though not aged, male which is in the Durban Museum. 

 The hair is long under the neck and belly, and reaches 

 some way dow r n the legs, the prevailing colour of the 

 animal is a silver grey, and the sides of the body are 

 striped with white, with a few white spots on the haunches. 

 The legs of this specimen were a rich rufous colour 

 below the knees ; but I believe the oldest males lose this 

 colour in time. 



The females are hornless and differ in colour from the 

 males. In a book written by the late Captain Faulkner, 

 about 1868, entitled "Elephant Haunts/' he mentions 

 shooting an antelope, near Cape Maclear, on Lake Nyasa, 

 which from his description was probably an inyala. 



