%o6 Great and Small Game of Africa 



above, pure white below. The horns, rising from the top of the skull 

 behind the eyes, sweeping backwards, then sharply recurving forwards, are 

 more or less widely divergent, deeply annulated for over half their length, 

 and in some individuals slightly lyrate in form. Two distinct types of 

 horns are found. In the one, when the animal is aged, the last rings grow 

 out for i. 1 , inch to 2 inches from the base (I have one fine specimen 

 where the rings have grown out 2-g inches), the space between these and 

 the bases being hard and longitudinally corrugated. In the other type, 

 when all the rings are formed and the animal is aged, a soft burr forms 

 round the base, in some individuals attaining large proportions, but always 

 remaining soft. It has been stated that this occurs only in immature 

 specimens, but this is not the case ; such horns are almost invariably short 

 and stout. The average length of a good reedbuck ram's horns is 13 

 inches. The largest I ever saw was an extraordinary single horn of 1 8 inches. 

 The largest I have myself secured are 15^ inches, basal circumference 6-| 

 inches, width between the tips 1 5 f inches. The ewes are lighter coloured 

 and hornless. An average full-grown ram stands 3 feet at the shoulder (I 

 have shot one 3 feet 1 \ inches) ; extreme length, 6 feet. The ewes are 

 about 2 feet 9 inches or 10 inches at the shoulder. I am of opinion that 

 nowhere else in South Africa do reedbuck ever attain the size of the old 

 rams we used to shoot in the Eastern Transvaal some years ago. I have 

 shot one which weighed 198 lbs., and another which I was unable to 

 weigh I estimated at fully 200 lbs. The largest I ever saw weighed 

 was shot by my friend, the late Mr. H. Glynn, and scaled 207 lbs. The 

 reedbuck's call is a sharp whistle, uttered by both sexes when alarmed, and 

 frequently when playing about during the night. 



At one time these antelope were numerous in Natal, Zululand, and 

 Bechuanaland, but there are now few remaining in these countries. In 

 the Transvaal and Swaziland they were exceedingly numerous in certain 

 localities, but their numbers have now appreciably diminished, particularly 



