28o EASTERN ETHIOPIA xxii 



example, but its horns and beautifully striped bright- 

 coloured skin occasionally adorn the walls of settlers' 

 houses. This antelope has been rarely hunted because 

 it lives in the densest parts of the Mau forest, and 

 possesses extremely sharp ears and eyes. Most of the 

 skins which are available have l)een obtained from 

 Ndorobo hunters. Bongos " do not graze but browse, 

 cropping the leaves, flowers, and twigs of various 

 shrubs, and eating thistles " (Roosevelt). 



Kudus are very handsome antelopes. There are two 

 species, the Greater Kudu (Strejysiceros kudu) and the 

 Lesser Kudu {Strejjsiceros imberhis). They are allied 

 to the bushbucks on the one hand and the elands on 

 the other. • The horns of the kudus have more twists 

 than those of the bushbucks, and the spiral is more 

 open than that of elands. Horns are absent in the 

 females. The Greater Kudu has a mane of hair 

 extendino; alons; its throat as well as a dorsal mane 

 along its nape and withers. The tawny coat of this 

 magnificent animal is marked with narrow vertical 

 white stripes. It prefers hills covered with thickets, 

 but it is also seen along the banks of rivers as well as 

 in thorny jungles on the plains. Kudus are met with 

 in pairs or in small parties. On looking at its horns, 

 which may measure five or six feet along the curve, 

 one thinks that they would be in its way when scamper- 

 ing through low trees and brushwood. Under such 

 conditions the kudu lays its horns flat on its back and 

 rushes without hindrance through the thickets to escape 

 its enemies. 



The Lesser Kudu has no long hair on its throat, 

 hence its name mihei-his (beardless), and the horns 

 form a closer spiral. It has not the wide range of 

 the Greater Kudu, being confined to East and North 

 East Africa. These animals are difiicult to shoot on 

 account of their peculiar coloration and the thickness 

 of the bush in which they live and where they love to 

 lie in the heat of the day. 



