1881.] MR. F. C. SELOUS ON AFRICAN ANTELOPES. 753 



On the Limpopo the adult rams are of a brownish grey, often without 

 a sign of any spots, and the adult females of a dark red with a few 

 white spots. The hair of the rams is longer than in the Colony. 

 The young rams, however, are of a red colour and a good deal spotted, 

 with a few faint transverse stripes ; the young females are also more 

 spotted than the old ones. 



This is the Bushbuck which Gordon Gumming considered to be a 

 new and undescribed species and named the " Antelopus roualeynei," 

 or " Bushbuck of the Limpopo." These Bushbucks are smaller than 

 those found in the Cape Colony. If we now take the Bushbucks 

 found on the tributaries of the Zambesi to the east of the Victoria 

 Falls, the adult rams are in colour like the young rams found on the 

 Limpopo, being of a dark red, thickly spotted on the haunches, 

 shoulders, and sides with small white spots, with three or four faint 

 white stripes down each side. The adult females are of a pale 

 yellowish red, beautifully spotted, and also show a few faint white 

 stripes. If we now take the Bushbucks found on the banks of the 

 Chobe, we find that the adult male is of a very dark red colour, in 

 places merging into a deep brownish black, most beautifully spotted 

 with large white spots, there being as many as fifty on each side in 

 some individuals, and in some cases as many as eight well- 

 defined white stripes besides. There is also a mane of white 

 hair running all down the back from the shoulder to the tail 

 about 3 inches in length, which the animal can erect at pleasure. 

 The young ram is of a pale reddish yellow, with the spots and 

 stripes much more faintly marked than in the adult animal. The 

 adult female is of a rich dark red, beautifully spotted with white, 

 and with three or four faint white stripes on each side. There 

 is also a deep -black hne running all down the back. The young 

 female is of a hghter red and not so much spotted. 



It will thus be seen that whereas in the Cape Colony and on the 

 Limpopo the young Bushbucks are more spotted than the adult 

 animals, and gradually lose their markings as they become older, 

 this order of things is exactly reversed on the Chobe and on the 

 tributaries of the Zambesi, where the adult animals are far more 

 beautifully marked than those that have not come to maturity. In 

 the Cape Colony the average length of Bushbuck horns is about a 

 foot; but they often attain a length of 14 in., and I know of one pair 

 measuring 1 6 j in. in length. On the Limpopo, Zambesi, and Chobe it 

 is very rare to get a pair of Bushbuck horns exceeding a foot in length. 



4. Tragelaphus spekii. 



{Nahong of the Batauwani at Lake Ngami ; Situtunga, Puvula, 

 JJnzuzUy of the tribes on the Chobe and Central Zambesi ; N'zoe 

 of the natives of the Lukanga river, north of the Zambesi.) 



This Antelope is only met with in the extensive swamps which exist 

 in some parts of the interior of Africa. In the reed-beds of the 

 Mababe, Tamalakan, and Machabe rivers it is to be found ; and in 

 the vast marshes through which the Chobe runs it must exist in 

 considerable numbers, although, as it only emerges from the dense 



