The Springbuck 341 



The springbuck is, I think, as pretty a buck as there is in Africa, and 

 it is one of the few animals that the Portuguese have interested themselves 

 in sufficiently to give a name to. They call it Cabra de Leque (goat of the 

 fan), on account of the long white fringed hair that extends along the 

 rump. On occasions the springbuck opens this curious fan-like formation, 

 spreading it out into a broad white patch ; when lying dormant it is 

 hardly visible. 



Springbucks, when frightened, occasionally give vent to a shrill whistle, 

 but one might hunt them for a whole year without hearing them do so. 

 They drop their young in West Africa towards the end of December and 

 beginning of January, seldom, if ever, giving birth to more than one at a 

 time. They are a very fleet buck, getting over the ground in great bounds, 

 from which they derive their name. A trot is also a very favourite pace. 

 If hunted with dogs they become exceedingly wild and very difficult to 

 shoot. On the Coroque River, south of Mossamedes, I found numbers of 

 springbuck, but it was impossible to approach much within 500 yards 

 of them. In times past the few Portuguese and natives in that country 

 hunted them with dogs and killed numbers of them at a very long 

 range. In the Benguela district the buck are much more tame, and I 

 have often approached on horseback to within 70 or 80 yards of a troop. 

 Firing at them does not disturb them very much ; many a time, when 

 I have made a bad shot, and the bullet has passed over them, they have 

 merely given a jump, walked a few yards, and continued feeding, some- 

 times merely shaking their heads and not moving from the spot at all. 

 They are very fond of returning to the same piece of ground to graze. I 

 remember one particular troop of seven which returned day after day to 

 the same place, and I shot every one of them on different occasions, all 

 within a quarter of a mile of the same spot. The springbuck of the west 

 coast never fatten, but, although poor in condition, their flesh is excellent. 

 They are very fond of the sandy plains, and seem able to exist on very 



