Z50 



Great and Small Game of Africa 



unknown, but they appear in the Angola province, and may possibly extend 

 up the east coast as far as the Zambesi. Delagoa Bay, however, is the most 

 northerly point at which I have met with them. In the Chiringoma Forest I 

 met with an antelope hitherto undescribed, the skull of which is pronounced 

 to be probably that of a blue -buck (the skins unfortunately were lost 

 amongst others of my trophies) ; this cannot be the case, however, as the 

 antelope was foxy-red in colour, and pure white beneath. Blue-buck are, 

 with the exception of the Livingstone's antelope, the most strictly forest- 

 dwelling of all the smaller African antelopes. When disturbed in bush 

 by dogs or beaters they will not run out, but keep going round and round, 

 along the numerous tracks which intersect the cover. At night they feed 

 out on the edges of the bush or forest. They usually drink once a day, in 

 the evening, but in hot weather often drink again between noon and I p.m. 

 They associate in pairs, though parties of three or four may be seen 

 feeding together in the narrow forest glades. They are purely bush- 

 feeders ; the leaves of the " olive-wood " tree and the " spek-boom " form a 

 special attraction for them in the Cape Colony. They are usually to be 

 found on the move in the early mornings and evenings, but they creep 

 about more or less throughout the day. Their cry of alarm is a sharp 

 whistling snort. The fawns are usually born during the rains, but in the 

 Cape Colony they may appear in almost any month. Their rlesh is very 

 palatable. 



There is but one sure plan by which these beautiful little creatures can 

 be brought to bag — by hunting them up in their own domains. The 

 sportsman must either creep about in the bush, with every sense on the 

 alert, kneeling down when he hears their whistle, and peering under and 

 through the scrub for a glimpse ot his game, or he must choose some 

 frequented spot and patiently wait for them. His chances of success are 

 increased if branches of the shrubs or trees on which they feed are strewn 

 down in such spots for a few days before he intends to watch for them. In 



