98 SAVAGE SUDAN 



Species. Length of Ear (Upper side). 



Roan antelope . . Male, 15 inches. Female, 13 inches. 



Sable 9! 9^ 



Oryx beisa ... 8| ,. 6| 



Waterbuck ... 9 8 ,, 



Eland .... 9 



Koodoo ... 10 ,, 



In roan, moreover, the apparent length is further 

 accentuated by a terminal tuft of hair exceeding 1 an inch 

 in length. These long tufted ears the animal habitually 

 carries horizontally according to my observation, all 

 illustrations showing the ears erect, or partially so, are 

 incorrect. While travelling home with the Hon. Gerald 

 Legge, he drew my attention to the point, and I found at 

 once that all my rough sketches of roan, drawn at sight, 

 corroborated the point, save one. That exception purported 

 to represent a pair intently gazing at me while already 

 taking aim. In all probability the extreme forward cast 

 of the ears especially as viewed from a slightly lower 

 level unduly accentuated the apparent upward carriage. 



The following statement occurs in Darwin's Origin of 

 Species (p. 1 1) : " Not a single domestic animal can be 

 named which has not in some country drooping ears ; and 

 the view suggested by some authors that the drooping is 

 due to the disuse of the muscles of the ear, from the 

 animals not being much alarmed by danger, seems 

 probable." That, no doubt, may be correct ; but the case 

 of the roan antelope (and equally that of the addra 

 gazelle) proves that the principle does not always apply 

 to wild animals in a state of Nature. 



STALKING ROAN ANTELOPE 

 (i) MESHRA-EL-ZERAF, WHITE NILE, 10-50 N. lat. 



The rising sun discovered us a mile inland. The 

 country, thin bush with scattered patches of mimosa- 

 forest, swarmed with wild-life. As we started, a spotted 

 hyena trotted out in the gloom from among the huts of 



