The Topi 17; 



The Topi (Damaliscus corrigum jimela) 



In British East Africa 



Swahili Name, Topi; Uganda Name, Nemira 



The topi, although nominally a hartebeest, can only be reckoned as 

 belonging to that group in the sense in which the so-called bastard 

 hartebeest {Damaliscus lunatus) of the south, its near relative, is included 

 among them. For though it exhibits some affinities to that large group 

 (now generally included under the genus Bubalis), yet it differs considerably 

 more from any of the species than they do among themselves. Its head is 

 less peculiar, and its fore-quarters not so high in proportion. It is a good- 

 sized beast and sturdily built (a bull would, I should say, weigh about 350 

 lbs. as he fell), and is of that beautifully shaded purplish tint peculiar to the 

 genus, with a sheen on its coat which seems to change colour in different 

 lights, like shot silk. The male stands about 4 feet at the shoulder. 



The distribution of this species is curious. It occurs quite near the 

 coast and also far in the interior, but there are wide regions where it is 

 unknown, separating the various parts of its range. I met with it in small 

 numbers many years ago on the western edge of the great Mau forest 

 (near that part called the Mau Nyarok or Black Mau) just south of Sotike 

 and Lumbwa, and I have little doubt that it may range down to Lake 

 Victoria Nyanza, there at that part of the coast south of Ugowe Bay, 

 although we saw none in Kavirondo nor anywhere along the north coast 

 of that lake. 



My friend Mr. F. J. Jackson, that enthusiastic naturalist and careful 

 observer, than whom no one has had a more extensive experience of East 

 Africa, speaks of it, in the Badminton Library (Big Game), as the 

 commonest antelope in the Galla country (near the coast), and as being 

 found in Uganda ; and he tells me that he has met with a few on the 



