TIGER SLAYER BY ORDER 



This animal is, to my mind, the most beautiful in 

 Somaliland. It stands about three feet five inches at the 

 shoulder, and is of a slate-blue colour, turning to almost 

 black in the older animals. From the back descend snow- 

 white stripes upon either flank and hindquarters. Inside 

 the thighs and arms the hair is of a reddish tinge. The 

 legs are slender and beautifully shaped, hoofs long, narrow 

 and pointed. The tail is broad, white and bushy. The head 

 is small with a bar of white below each of the eyes, which 

 are large and beautiful, and a few white spots on either 

 cheek. The ears are large, round and wonderfully sensitive. 

 The neck is slightly maned and well-developed, with a 

 splash of white on the throat ; in fact, taken altogether, 

 the colouring of this antelope is remarkably effective. The 

 horns are like those of the greater koodoo — spiral, but do 

 not attain the enormous length of the latter, the average 

 measurement of a lesser koodoo horn being about twenty- 

 eight inches round the curve, though I have shot one with 

 twenty-nine and a half round the curve, but this was the 

 longest I obtained. The does are of a lighter colour and 

 devoid of horns. 



The lesser koodoo are found in dense bush and aloe 

 clumps. They go about in herds of about five and six. 

 Their power of leaping is extraordinary, and it is a very 

 pretty sight to see them take the bushes at great bounds. 

 I had great luck with these antelope at Mandera, where I 

 shot some very fine buck. 



But to resume. We now ascended the Golis Range, 

 walking half-way up the mountain, where there was a 

 spring of clear water, to hunt for greater koodoo. Hearing 

 there was a very old koodoo bull on this hill, I determined 

 to devote the whole day in search of him. I had, on the 

 previous day, shot a couple of good buck out of a herd ; 

 but as this particular animal was reported to carry an 

 exceptionally fine head, I was very keen on getting him. 



Accompanied by two of my trackers — Nur and Khaliffa, 

 with one Easa Musa as guide — we searched along the 

 lower slopes and higher ridges of the mountain, from early 

 morning until late in the afternoon, but saw no sign of him. 



I had numerous opportunities during the day of shooting 

 other animals — one fine old wart-hog in particular — but 

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