The Lechwe 303 



tuft. The colour of the head and face and the upper part of the neck is a 

 uniform pale yellow-brown. The ears too in the adult lechwe are pale 

 brown all over, but in the younger animals of this species they are 

 tipped with black, as in the adult pookoo. The male lechwe alone carries 

 horns. These in the adult animal are singularly handsome. They do not 

 sweep back immediately from the forehead as in the waterbuck, but at first 

 bulge slightly forwards, then, diverging somewhat in the shape of a lyre, 

 sweep backwards, and towards the points curve very strongly forwards, 

 much more so than in the waterbuck. They are of a brownish colour, and 

 beautifully annulated to within some 3 or 4 inches of the points. A good 

 pair will measure 24 or 25 inches along the anterior curves, and a length 

 of 28 inches has been recorded. The longest pair I ever shot myself 

 measure 27 inches. 



There were few more beautiful sights in the interior of South Africa 

 five-and-twenty years ago than the great herds of lechwe antelopes, which 

 might then be seen scattered in all directions about the flooded grass plains 

 in the neighbourhood of Linyanti, on the Chobi River. 



Herds of twenty old rams often consorted together, whilst countless 

 numbers of ewes were to be seen scattered over the flooded grassy plains in 

 all directions, the larger herds being often attended by many males of all 

 ages, from the year-old bucks to the full-grown rams, whose long lyre- 

 shaped horns always make them so conspicuous on the open ground they 

 frequent. I once counted as they ran past me a herd of fifty-two lechwe 

 rams. Some of these, however, were quite young, with horns only a few 

 inches in length, but there was not a single ewe amongst them. The skin 

 of the lechwe antelope is much prized by the natives of the countries 

 where it is found, and after being dressed and rendered as soft as chamois 

 leather it is used either singly as a kind of cloak, or several skins are sewn 

 together to form a rug. Very large numbers of these animals are annually 

 killed by the natives, who institute drives on a large scale in order to 



