656 MR. R. CRAWSHAY ON THE [DcC. 2, 



reddish brown, in places verging on coal-black, plainly marked with 

 about forty or more large and small white spots on the flanks and 

 haunches. In some the white stripes may be said to be impercep- 

 tible, in others only just discernible, but in a few they are eveu 

 more clearly defined than in the young males. The mane on the 

 back is white. 



Young females are of a very rich red, especially the very young 

 fawns, very beautifully spotted and clearly marked with a number 

 of transverse white stripes ; along the back there is a narrow stripe 

 of short dark brown hair, tipped with white. 



Adult and old females are of a darker red, but are not nearly so 

 plainly spotted and striped as the younger animals. 



In both male and female there is a broad band round the neck, on 

 which there is only some very fine mouse-coloured hair, the coarser 

 and longer hair having been rubbed off, presumably by contact with 

 overhanging branches ; outside this band, again, there is a broad 

 white stripe. 



A good average length for the horns of the Bush-buck is between 

 10 and 11 inches ; the longest pair I have seen measured 11| inches 

 on the straight, and the bearer of these stood 30 inches at the 

 shoulder, with a neck at the " collar " 20| inches in girth. 



Bush-bucks are found everywhere on Nyasa, on the plains and in 

 the hills, and I think I may say I have seen or heard them almost 

 ■wherever I have set foot on the shores of the Lake. 



I have, however, seen more than anywhere else between Chombi 

 and Nkanga, in a long dense belt of small bush and undergrowth 

 extending for some miles along the margin of the Lake ; here in 

 former years there were villages and the land was cleared for cultiva- 

 tion, but these in course of time moved, and, as usual, a heavy crop 

 of small bush and tangled undergrowth quickly came up. In places 

 such as these Bush-bucks are sure to lie, and indeed anywhere in 

 thick clumps of bush, especially those surrounded by open grass- 

 land. 



It is curious how close to the haunts of men these animals will 

 occasionally take up their quarters ; if there is a thicket or a clump 

 of grass or reeds at all undisturbed close to a village, one may be 

 tolerably certain it harbours one or more Bush-bucks. But perhaps 

 the best "find" of all for them is a native burial-place, -and one 

 that has been a burial-place for some generations ; here the under- 

 growth and trees are let run riot, and except when a funeral takes 

 place or an offering is made, no one dares go there for fear of the 

 "masoka" (spirits-of-the-departed) and other "mizimu" (spirits), 

 which are supposed to haunt it. From thus constantly frequenting 

 burial-grounds, there is a superstition amongst Nyasa natives that 

 Bush-bucks are evil spirits ; they are said to have a habit of lying 

 on graves, and are also credited with licking the pole on which the 

 corpse has been carried to burial. Natives who believe this will not 

 eat the meat of the animal ; some even go so far as to refuse to touch 

 it, and I have occasionally had difficulty in finding men to tan the 

 skin ! 



