296 OAPT. H. N. DUNN ON THE [June 18, 



of our stay at the Base Camp, the herd never left this portion of 

 the bank. At first the herd was fairly easy to approach, but, of 

 course, they became more wary later on. The young and females 

 (in January and February) kept, as a rule, close to the bucks, and 

 this was probably due to the more or less constant worrying they 

 had from the Shuliuks and their dogs, who were always on the 

 look-out to cut off a stray doe with young. Once, when shooting 

 along with another officer, opposite the mouth of the Bahr-el- 

 Zeraf, a female dashed past within forty yards of our camp, hard 

 pressed by a Shulluk dog : my friend was just in time to cram in a 

 cartridge and put a bullet into a second dog who was following, 

 much to the disgust of the owner, who shortly afterwards 

 appeared on the scene. 



This Antelope will take readily to the water when pressed. On 

 the day after our arrival at the Base Camp, a magnificent buck, 

 wounded by a ShuUuk's spear and hard-pressed by a dog, dashed 

 into the river immediately opposite to our steamer and was shot 

 froDi the deck itself. I once shot a rather fine buck under somewhat 

 peculiar circumstances. Having set my heart on a particularly 

 fine head, I had been following the herd for close on three hours, 

 but could not manage to get a shot at the animal I wanted. 

 Eventually I noticed a buck separate himself from the herd and 

 disappear into some long reeds close to the river. This had also 

 been observed by the natives on one of our expedition's sailing- 

 boats, who, when I ari'ived, were just turning out, armed with 

 sticks and knives, to make what they thought an easy capture of 

 a badly wounded animal. Knowing that I could not have possibly 

 wounded him myself, I formed the men up in a line and commenced 

 beating up through the reeds, having taken a commanding position 

 on some high ground. It was as well I had done so, as the buck 

 lay until almost walked over, and then, springing up, dashed off at 

 full speed, giving me an easy shot as he passed broadside on, not 

 more than forty yards off. To my surprise I found on examining 

 the body, that he had an old un-united fracture of the, left shoulder, 

 due to an accident probably, as I could find no external wound. 

 He had evidently become tired at being kept so long on the move, 

 and had lain down for a rest, as his leg was no doubt giving him 

 trouble. 



The full-grown Maria buck is a fine animal, his head having 

 very much the appearance of that of an Ibex, except, of course, that 

 the beard is replaced by the somewhat shaggy and coarse hair of 

 the neck and throat. When alarmed the herd dashes off, led by 

 one or two of the old bucks, and tailing out to almost single file. 

 When galloping the buck carries his muzzle well forward, horns 

 thrown back, and moves with a much more lumbering gait than 

 one might expect. I never observed these Antelopes spring into 

 the air, and they appeared rather to dash through than attempt to 

 clear small obstacles. The meat of this Antelope is excellent. 

 The horns of my best specimen measured 29| inches, and I got 

 a single horn of 32 inches. 



