The Sable Antelope 401 



antelope cows can be easily run down on horseback, and when in pursuit 

 of a bull, the leader of a herd, I have often seen two or three of his consorts 

 turn out and stand looking, as the horse passed within a few yards of them, 

 before they had run very far. A cow not thus handicapped, however, or a 

 bull, will be found to be too fleet and enduring to be run down by the best 

 of South African shooting ponies, except in very exceptional cases. When 

 the calves are first born, they are of a reddish-brown colour, and the white 

 face markings, which in later life become so conspicuous, are scarcely 

 noticeable. When only a few days old, they can be run down and caught 

 without much difficulty with the help of a moderately good horse, and 

 soon learn to suck milk through a piece of rag arranged over the mouth of 

 a bottle, and in a few days become quite tame. By nature the sable 

 antelope is without doubt one of the boldest and fiercest of all the African 

 antelopes, and when wounded and standing at bay, snorting with arched 

 neck, must not be approached incautiously. 



It is true a sable antelope seldom charges, not nearly so often as a 

 roan antelope in similar circumstances, but rather stands on the defensive, 

 ready to ward off any further attack upon itself. I have, however, upon two 

 occasions seen a wounded sable antelope bull make a most determined 

 charge, and chase a horse closely for a short distance ; whilst I remember 

 one of Lo Bengula's hunters being killed by one of these animals, which, 

 having been incautiously approached when wounded, charged, and as its 

 assailant turned to run, drove one of its long curved horns right through 

 his body in the region of the kidneys. A sable antelope bull when alone 

 can be brought to bay very quickly by dogs even when unwounded. He 

 will either turn and stand ready to fight as soon as the dogs get near him, 

 or else, if he is near a stream, will make for it, and stand at bay in a pool, 

 where the water is of a sufficient depth to make it impossible for the dogs 

 to reach him without swimming — any dog making the attempt to do so 

 may be looked upon as a dead beast. But when a herd of sable antelopes is 

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