AND SOME ANTELOPES OF ANGOLA. 323 



as the formei', and do not break down branches with their horns. 

 It takes some experience to distinguish between the spoor of the 

 two species. Eoan, however, have rather a longer hoof, with the 

 toes sharply pointed and separated at the tips. It is also larger, 

 if that of an old bvdl. Sable have a hoof wider at the heels 

 with blunter toes, tlie outer toe in bulls being usully worn 

 square at the tip. The spoor of herds is easy to distinguish, 

 cow Sables having a neat triangular hoof resembling that of 

 Waterbuck. 



The Roan also do not frequent the same parts of the forest in 

 which the Sable make their home, preferring the smaller, thinner, 

 and more open tree-bush in the vicinity of the dambos, which are 

 their feeding-grounds. Sable do not seem to care for the dambos, 

 and when moving through the bush, usuall}^ make a detour inside 

 the edge of the cover rather than face the open space, especially 

 when alarmed. On first being disturbed they do not run far, but 

 stop to look back from the shelter of any convenient thick cover, 

 and if then not followed too hastily, will generally settle down, and 

 may be disturbed several times without going far, leaving a sentiy 

 posted. But if one of their number has been shot, the herd will 

 keep going a long distance, and clear out to another part of the 

 forest. When wounded, a Sable is extremely wary and diffi- 

 cult to approach, and before lying down is careful to select a 

 good position from which to guard its back tracks. In this 

 country they have few natural enemies, such as lions or wild 

 dogs. 



The country is thinly populated, the villages of the natives, the 

 Luimbe, being few and far between. They are a poor race, 

 cultivate scarcely at all, and at the time of our visit were sub- 

 sisting mainly upon wild fruits and honey. They had no cattle 

 and very few sheep and goats, but a recent survey has pronounced 

 the country suitable for I'anching pm-poses, the fine quality of the 

 herbage, coupled with the salt-licks, making ideal conditions for 

 cattle raising. All these causes no doubt have combined to favour 

 the development on special lines of the Great Sable. 



The only other Ungulates observed in the country were Roan 

 Antelopes, Reedbucks, Oribi, on the small plains, and a Grimm's 

 Duiker, identified as Sylvicajwa grimmi leocoprosopus. which were 

 numerous in the forest. The fresh tracks of a troop of four Eland 

 appeared for several days, but these were probably visitors to the 

 salt-pans. 



Adult Sable bulls have a peculiar pungent smell, which perva,fles 

 the whole animal and clings to the skin for weeks after death, in 

 spite of daily exposure to the sun and wind. It resembles a 

 vegetable rather tha.n an animal smell, and suggests the aroma 

 of the bush itself, although not of any particular plant. They 

 are also covered with several kinds of ticks, which are \eYj 

 numerous on the neck and shoulders, where the hair is worn thin 

 in consequence. The younger bulls had fewer ticks and the cows 

 fewer still. 



