THE BLUE-BUCK. 647 



The flesh of this buck is celebrated for making good soup, and the skin for the 

 thongs of the long wagon whips. As a general fact, the venison of South Africa is 

 very inferior, being dry and tasteless, but to the epicure sportsman I can recommend 

 the liver of all the small Antelopes as a great delicacy. The Dutch have an ingenious 

 plan of improving the flavor of the native venison, by scooping a number of little holes 

 in the meat before it is cooked, and pushing into the cavities bits of fat taken from the 

 eland or the hippopotamus. This process is, indeed, a simple kind of ' larding,' and is 

 very effectual in rendering the meat less dry. 



As a general rule, a buck, or any animal, should be watched for some time after it 

 has been fired at. It may be badly wounded and yet go away very freely at first, but 

 after proceeding for a hundred yards or so, it usually comes to a halt, and gives 

 evident tokens of distress. Many bucks which I thought had escaped my bullets I 

 afterwards found to have been mortally wounded, and amongst them the Duyker was one 

 which would frequently go off as if unharmed, though it had received a deadly hurt. 

 Whenever the sportsman passes through long grass, or near low stunted bushes, he 

 should be on the lookout for a Duyker." 



The height of the Duyker-bok is about twenty-one inches at the shoulder, but the 

 animal is somewhat higher at the croup, where it measures nearly twenty-three inches. 

 It may be distinguished from the other species belonging to the large genus in which 

 it is placed, by a ridge upon the front surface of the horns, which runs through the 

 four or five central rings with which the horns are marked, but does not reach either 

 to the tip or to the base. The general color of this animal is brown-yellow, fading into 

 white on the abdomen and all the under parts, including the tail. The upper part of 

 the tail is black, and there is a black streak running up the legs, and another on the 

 nose. 



The RHOODE-BOK, or NATAL BUSH BUCK (Cephdlopus Natalensis], is, according to 

 Captain Drayson's MS., "very common in the Natal forests, and although the advance 

 of civilization and the spread of fire-arms among the Kaffirs must greatly reduce the 

 numbers of these animals, still, from their watchful habits and selection of the most 

 retired parts of large dense forests as their residence, they will remain much longer in 

 their old quarters than those animals which inhabit plains and are destitute of any 

 secure retreat. This buck is solitary, and rarely leaves the dense forests except in the 

 evening or during rainy weather, when it seems to prefer feeling the rain-drops au 

 nature! to receiving them second-hand from the bushes. 



It is very amusing to watch the habits of this wary buck when it scents danger in 

 the bush. Its movements become most cautious ; lifting its legs with high, but very slow 

 action, it appears to be walking on tip-toe among the briars and underwood, its ears 

 moving in all directions, and its nose pointing up wind or towards the suspected locality. 

 If it hears a sudden snapping of a branch or any other suspicious sound, it stands still 

 like a statue, the foot which is elevated remains so, and the animal scarce shows a 

 sign of life for near a minute. It then moves slowly onwards with the same cautious 

 step, hoping thus to escape detection. If, however, it obtains a sight of danger, or 

 clearly scents some foe, it gives a sharp sneeze, and bounds away through the forest, 

 alarming all other animals in its progress. 



The Kaffirs lay snares for this animal by making a noose which is held to the ground 

 by a small peg, while the other end of the cord is fastened to the bent-down limb of a 

 living tree. As soon as the head of the buck passes into the noose the peg is released, 

 and the victim is jerked into the air by the recoil of the liberated branch, and so strangled. 

 The Red Buck is about two feet high, its horns are about three inches long, straight 

 and pointed, and its ears are rather large. The color is a deep reddish-brown, which 

 is difficult to distinguish in a dull day, but can be more easily seen on a bright sunny 

 morning, especially if a gleam of light shines through the thick branches and alights on 

 the ruddy coat of the animal." 



"The BLUE-BUCK (Cephdlopus pygmtzd) is scarcely more than a foot in height, and 

 about two feet long; it possesses small straight horns about two inches in length, 

 closely annulated, its color a dark blue or mouse tint. 



