WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



The reddish hartbeest— the Coke hartbeest— lowers its 

 head when fleeing, and can use its horns very effectively 

 against man or beast wdien pressed too closely. Of all 

 the African antelopes, it is, according to my own ex- 

 perience, the most difficult to kill. It needed four and 

 more well-aimed shots to bring down the old bulls. 



Among the favorite localities frequented by the 

 "kongoni" are open mountain slopes, sparsely covered 

 with acacias, salvadoras, and torminalias, and also the 

 open plain. It is often found associated with ostrich- 

 es, zebras, gnus, Thomson gazelles, and other animals. 

 Very young animals are quite as fleet as the old ones. 

 The heart trouble that forced me to break ofT mv 

 third African journey, and to return to Europe, was 

 caused by running a race with a young "kongoni" 

 only a few days' old. 



Aside from the antorbital glands, the bubaline ante- 

 lopes are provided with glands on the lower end of the 

 hind legs, the secretions of which, no doubt, are scented 

 by the animals and enable them to find one another. 

 Like many other African ruminants, the reddish hart- 

 beests of East Africa can go for days without visiting 

 the drinking-places. 



On my first visit to Africa I found, in the region of 

 the Victoria Nyanza, two other fine species of bubaline 

 antelopes, the topi antelope {Damalisciis jimela) and 

 Jackson hartbeest. In 1897 I killed, in British East 

 Africa, a specimen of the Buhalis neumanni, which was 



300 



