638 MAJOR J. STEVENSON-HAMILTON ON 



kept under observation so far as possible, though the very broken 

 and hilly nature of that area rendered any close following of 

 their movements impracticable. 



A month or two later a troop of hunting dogs {Lycaon pictus) 

 passed through that part of the country and, it is believed, killed 

 one of the animals, as only two were afterwards seen. I then 

 made preparations for an expedition to capture the survivors, if 

 possible, for the Pi'etoria Zoological Gardens, but almost imme- 

 diately afterwards heard that they had wandered out of the 

 Game Reserve and that the male had been shot by some unknown 

 persoii. Towards the end of 1911, the last survivor, a female, 

 came back to the Reserve. The Museum authorities having 

 expressed a desire to obtain the skin, failing success in capturing 

 the animal alive, I proceeded to the giound. Under the circum- 

 stances it seemed that the capture would be very difficult, and 

 that failure would abxiost certainly drive the animal out of the 

 Reserve, where it would be killed at once by natives or white 

 men, and so be irretrievably lost. I therefore shot it, and 

 sent the skin, bones, and measurements to the Pretoria Museum, 

 where it is now set up. 



The animal proved to be a female about two years old, and of 

 a perfectly pure white colour throughout. The muzzle and inside 

 of the ears, membrane round the eyes, etc., were pinkish or flesh- 

 colour. 



The skin on the back of the ears was scabby and unhealthy- 

 looking. Eyelashes white. Pupils reddish black. Inner irides 

 grey blue. Outer irides pearly with darker rays. White of eyes 

 normal. Hoofs and lateral hoofs pale horn colour, the former 

 nearly white at bases. 



Measurements for a two year old animal about normal. 



Head and body 52 inches ; tail 7^ ; fore girth 32. 



When found she was running with an ordinary lam, and 

 contained a perfectly formed male fcetus, which Avas noimal in 

 all respects. I should he inclined to think, in view of the time 

 which had elapsed since the disappearance of the male albino, 

 that she had been impregnated by the normal i"a,m with which she 

 was found ; but this is a point I cannot speak on with any certainty. 



It is worth recording that within a mile of the spot where I 

 saw this animal, and in the midst of the comparatively small 

 area where these Reedbucks had been born a,nd bred, was a 

 village in which lived an albino male native, his hair nearly 

 white, and his eyes of almost the same curious light grey-blue 

 shade as those of the Reedbuck. Native information states that 

 albino children have been born before in the same village, and 

 that white Reedbucks have also been seen in former years in the 

 district. 



Some two months later (January 1912) a report came to hand 

 of another albino Reedbuck at a, point 60 or 70 miles north of 

 where the female was secured. This animal was always noticed 

 alone, and was repeatedly seen by passengers by the Selati train. 



