2i 8 Great and Small Game of Africa 



The Natal or Red Duiker (Cephalophus natalensis) 



Root Bosch-bokje (Little Red Bushbuck) of the Boers ; Mkumbi of the 

 Zulus ; Msumbi of the Swazis and Matonga ; Isikufu of the 

 Basuto ; Chisimbi of the Lower Zambesi Natives 



Colour, bright red bay ; insides of limbs, throat, and under parts brownish 

 yellow ; tail short, black above. Horns, present in both sexes (though I 

 have twice shot hornless ewes), deeply ringed for half their length, rising 

 from the skull in the plane of the frontals ; average length, i 3 inches, ? 2 

 inches. Muzzle naked ; sub-orbital gland large ; ears short and rounded ; 

 frontal tuft longer than in C. grimmi, and nearly concealing the horns. 

 Shoulder-height, adult S 18 inches, ? 19 inches; each stands an inch 

 higher at the croup. Adult rams weigh 26 to 28 lbs., ewes 28 to 31 lbs. 



Found throughout the wooded districts of Natal, Zulu- and Swaziland, 

 Transvaal, Mashunaland and up the east coast as far, at least, as if south 

 latitude. They are very similar in habits to the bushbuck, only leaving 

 the densest kloofs and wooded tracts in the evenings and early mornings. 

 They associate in pairs, though five or six may be seen feeding together. 

 In the winter they drink once, in the summer twice a day. Their flesh is 

 very palatable, far superior to that of the gray duiker. They are in excellent 

 condition in December and January. They feed on leaves, young shoots, 

 etc., of bushes and shrubs, and eat very little grass ; all wild fruits are 

 greedily devoured by them. They are very hardy, easily tamed, and live 

 well in captivity. The young are born in October and November, and are 

 lighter in colour than the adults. Their cry is a sharp whistle, but seldom 

 uttered. When seized they bellow like a bushbuck, and do not bleat like 

 the gray duiker. 



They afford excellent sport if stalked in the bush in the early mornings, 

 before they lie down ; and amongst bushy kloofs a shot can generally be 



