18/6.] DISTRIBUTION OF SOUTH-AFRICAN MAMMALS. 279 



My route from Natal was as follows : — I left Pietermaritzburg on 

 the 15th of May, crossed the Drakenberg range on the 6th of June ; 

 on the 8th the bullocks were lost, which delayed rae about a week ; 

 but I reached Pretoria on the 28th of June. I left asrain on the 

 night of the 30th, and struck the Crocodile or Limpopo river on the 

 10th of July, and travelled slowly along the river for the sake of 

 some shooting. Bamangvvato was not reached until about the .5th or 

 6th of August. I was detained here about a week, but at last left 

 on the 12th. Unfortunately I took a wrong road on the way to the 

 Tati, and had to retrace my tracks for some considerable way, which 

 delayed my arrival there until the 28th of August. I left the Tati 

 on the 1st of September, and reached the Samouqui river, my 

 furthest point, about the 12th of the month. The route on my re- 

 turn journey was precisely the same, but took less time, owing to the 

 much lighter load to be carried down. My waggon arrived in Pieter- 

 maritzburg on the 3rd of January 1874. 



My stay in the country having been very short, from the end of 

 April till the middle of the following January, and not much more 

 than the half of that time having been spent in a game country, my 

 notes cannot be very extensive. I shot twenty-two different species 

 of animals, and saw others, — a fair number, considering I had to do 

 all my shooting on foot, and with very little aid from the natives. 



I have been aided in my notes by friends whose experience was 

 much greater than mine, and also by such books as I could get ; 

 but, being so far away from a library, there were, of course, many to 

 which I could not refer : this must be taken as an excuse for many 

 errors into which I may have fallen. I have purposely avoided 

 giving descriptions of any animals, as they are mostly described in 

 Harris's book from actual specimens. 



In the Table exhibited (see pp. 291, 292) I have endeavoured to 

 give the geographical distribution of these larger animals in Southern 

 Africa, as far as I could gather it, both at present and formerly ; but 

 I could get no information concerning Natal and the countries imme- 

 diately south of it, though it is probable that the coast-line, where it 

 represents the Zulu country, would be occupied by the same animals. 



Apparently most of the South-African Antelopes have their repre- 

 sentatives to the north and west ; thus the Waterbuck is repre- 

 sented by the Sing-Sing on the west, and the Mehedet of Baker 

 on the north. Many other instances might be mentioned. Some 

 species, again, are common to the whole of Africa, as the Giraffe and 

 one species of Black Rhinoceros ; others, again, are very limited in 

 range, as the Blesbock. 



The horns of all species of Antelope, whatever their shape may 

 be hereafter, are the same when young, and consist of two small 

 stumps three or four inches long, standing almost straight up. 

 While the horns are growing, especially during summer, their bases are 

 quite soft, and for a considerable way up can be pulled off in flakes, 



1. Elephas africanus. (The Elephant.) 



Excepting the few still preserved by Government in the Knysna 



