250 Great and Small Game of Africa 



land. 1 It is fairly numerous in parts of the Mashona country, Gazaland, 

 and the Eastern Transvaal, particularly near Komati-Poort and along the 

 Letaba River. I did not meet with it in the Mozambique Province, but 

 in Portuguese South-East Africa it is fairly numerous. It is found singly 

 or in pairs, usually in hilly districts, being very partial to open hill-sides 

 with a sprinkling of thin bush and low scrub. It lies very closely in cover, 

 and, unlike its congener, the steinbuck (R. campatrh), seldom stands after 

 it has once made off. It can exist for a long period without water, and 

 I have seen them in quite waterless localities. They are amongst the first 

 to retire to cover in the mornings, and leave it late in the evening. During 

 the day they lie up in patches of bush, in gullies, or on sloping hill-sides, 

 and in the low country are partial to the rough scrub-covered ground at 

 the bases of low kopjes. They are purely grass-feeders, and their flesh is 

 excellent for the table. The fawns, which are slightly darker in colour 

 than the adults, are usually born at the beginning of the rains, but in the 

 Cape Colony, where the seasons are very changeable, this may occur during 

 any month in the year. The only cry I have ever heard the grysbuck 

 utter is a loud bleat when seized by a dog. They are by no means swift, 

 but, owing to the rough, bushy nature of the country they inhabit, only a 

 good dog will run into them. Grysbuck can either be shot during an 

 early morning's stalk, when it is not a hard matter to get within easy range, 

 or they can be walked up, one or more guns taking a line of country and 

 getting their shots in as the bucks jump up. When running straight away 

 their plump sterns offer a fairly easy mark, as they run far more smoothly 

 than either a duiker or a steinbuck. I consider a .320 rook rifle quite 

 sufficient to account for any grysbuck ; a larger weapon, .450 bore, is perhaps 

 more certain, but it cuts them up too much, and spoils them both for the 

 cook and the taxidermist. F. Vaughan Kirby. 



1 It is found also in the western parts of Cape Colony, being not infrequently shot on the Cape 

 Peninsula, within a few miles of Cape Town.— En. 



