Lichtenstein's Hartebeest 161 



now in the Natural History Museum at South Kensington — and the rest 

 must have made their way back to the country from whence they came — 

 probably the neighbourhood of the Sabi River. Throughout the greater 

 part of the country over which I have travelled to the north of the Zambesi, 

 I have met with Lichtenstein's hartebeest, and it is one of the commonest 

 antelopes on the tablelands lying between the Zambesi and the Kafukwe, 

 as well as all over the country to the north of the latter river, which is 

 where I first met with it in 1877-78. 



At that time but very little was known concerning these antelopes, and, 

 with the exception of two specimens in the Museum at Berlin, brought by 

 Dr. Peters from the Lower Zambesi, the species was unrepresented even by 

 so much as a skull in any other European collection. There are now, 

 however, in our own Museum of Natural History at South Kensington, 

 two mounted specimens — male and female — as well as several skulls 

 of this species. In size and general appearance Lichtenstein's hartebeest 

 much resembles the once common hartebeest (Bubalis cama) of South- 

 Western Africa. Its forehead is not narrow and elongated between the 

 eyes and the base of the horns, as in the latter species, but short and broad, 

 with a vertical ridge in the centre of the skull which gives it a convex 

 shape. Its horns too, though similar in shape to those of the Cape harte- 

 beest, are much shorter, and instead of being rounded at the base are broad 

 and flat. The black mark also down the front of the face of the Cape 

 hartebeest is entirely wanting in Lichtenstein's hartebeest, the colour of 

 whose head and face is of a uniform yellowish-red, with the exception of a 

 black patch on the extremity of the under jaw. In the adult Lichtenstein's 

 hartebeest the shoulders, back, and upper part of the neck and sides are of 

 a very rich dark chestnut-red colour, the head, sides of neck, and lower part 

 of the sides being of a much lighter shade. As in the Cape hartebeest, 

 there is a patch of pale yellow on the rump, and the insides of the thighs 

 and belly are also of a very pale yellow. The upper part of the tail, knees, 



