462 Great and Small Game of Africa 



In Zululand 



Inyala is the Zulu name of this antelope, and has been adopted as its 

 English title. Heavy in proportion to its size,' it is, like all the members 

 of its genus, comparatively short-legged and more compact-looking than 

 most antelopes, built for life in tangled woods and for activity in threading 

 the thickets it inhabits rather than for speed in the open. The male has 

 rather thick, spiral horns, with a single twist, measuring, when mature, 

 from about 24 inches up to nearly 30 inches on the curve. Those of old 

 rams have an outward turn at the tips. 



Northern Zululand, whence it was first described, is the most southerly 

 region included in the range of this very local species, and it is also, I 

 believe, the part where it is most plentiful. It is not, and never was, 

 found south of the neighbourhood of St. Lucia Lake, which is situated in 

 the Lower Umfolozi division. From there northwards it is found, in 

 suitable localities, in the country lying between the U'Bombo range and 

 the coast. This is where Baldwin shot it, and it was here that, somewhat 

 later, its pursuit was described by Drummond as being equivalent to fever. 



It was in the U'Bombo district (while stationed on the range as 

 magistrate of that division) that I had the opportunity of observing and 

 studying the habits of this most interesting antelope. It is there not 

 uncommon in the dense bush bordering the course of the Umkuzi River, 

 just below where it passes through the mountains, which was within easy 

 reach of the magistracy, and in the extensive woods near Lake Sibai, at the 

 farthest corner of the district, where my duties occasionally took me. 



I have noticed various species singled out by different writers of 

 experience as the most beautiful of antelopes — e.g. the koodoo, the sable 

 antelope, etc. ; but for my own part my choice would be the inyala if asked 



1 In Rowland Ward's Records of Big Game the height at shoulder is given as about 3 feet 6 inches. 



