256 IN AFRICA 



duiker bok., meaning "diving buck" in Dutch. 

 There are a dozen or more different species of 

 duikers, and they may be found scattered all over 

 South and East Africa. They are difficult to shoot, 

 for their diving habits make them a fleeting target; 

 also their size, about twenty or thirty pounds in 

 weight, makes them a small target. 



Quite often the little duiker will hide in the 

 grass until you have almost stepped on him, and 

 then, if he considers discovery inevitable, he will 

 spring away with his little huddled-up back rising 

 and disappearing over the grass exactly as the 

 porpoise does in the water. One day while we were 

 beating some tall grass for lions, one of the porters 

 stepped on a duiker, and its sharp horns, twisting 

 suddenly, cut him on the ankle. The horns of the 

 bucks are short and straight, from four to six inches 

 long, but most often about four and a half inches. 



It would take an expert mathematician to keep 

 track of all the different kinds of duikers, for 

 there's the crowned duiker, the yellow-backed 

 duiker, the red duiker, Jentink's duiker, Abbott's 

 duiker, the Ituri red duiker, the black-faced duiker, 

 Alexander's duiker, the Ruddy duiker, Weyn's 

 duiker, Johnston's duiker, Isaac's duiker, Harvey's 

 duiker, Roberts' duiker, Leopold's duiker, the 

 white-bellied duiker, the bay duiker, the chestnut 

 duiker, the white-lipped duiker, Ogilby's duiker, 

 Brooke's duiker, Peter's duiker, the red-flanked 

 duiker, the banded duiker, Walker's duiker, the 

 white-faced duiker, the black duiker, Maxwell's 



