Hunter's Hartebeest 167 



first 12 inches or so and then smooth. The length of a good average pair 

 of horns in my possession is 25 inches, circumference at the base 8^ inches, 

 and spread at the tips 1 6 inches. The horns of the female are considerably 

 thinner and slightly shorter. Unlike so many of the African animals, I 

 have never seen this antelope mixing with other game, nor do I ever 

 remember seeing single males ; they generally went in herds, consisting 

 of from ten to twenty head, males, females, and young ones. They 

 frequented the open plains and thin thorny bush, but were never seen in 

 forest or thick bush. 



In September 1888, after a successful expedition, for the second time, to 

 the Kilimanjaro district, with Sir Robert Harvey and Mr. T. W. B. Green- 

 field, we returned to the coast, and, sending our heaviest goods round by sea in 

 a dhow, we marched from Mombasa to the mouth of the Tana River, having 

 great hope that up country we might come across some antelope new to 

 science, as we knew the ground had never been previously shot over ; and 

 I believe no Europeans, with the exception of the brothers Denhardt, had 

 ever been any distance up the river, and they did no shooting. At the 

 mouth of the river we were met by boats, in which we travelled two 

 marches to a mission-station, called Golbanti, where we stayed some few 

 days to engage Galla guides, buy dug-out canoes, and engage Wapokomo, 

 a tribe who live on the banks of the Tana, are accustomed to canoe 

 work, and are wonderfully clever at poling and paddling up against the 

 strong stream. On September 28 we made a start from Golbanti, and 

 on October 16 arrived at the place where I killed the first specimen of 

 Hunter's antelope, stopping a day or two to hunt wherever we heard of 

 game. We were now about 1 50 miles from the mouth of the Tana, whose 

 banks were covered with a belt of forest, from a mile to two miles in width. 

 Before there was any chance of finding game, it was necessary to find 

 one's way through this, by native or elephant paths, to the open country, 

 which was on higher and sandy ground, covered with patches of bush, 



