THE ELAND 103 



during the latter, and are voracious feeders, de- 

 vouring grass together with the leaves of certain 

 shrubs and other plants. I have seen their fresh 

 spoor in the gardens of native villages, in which 

 they cause great havoc, and more than once have 

 sighted them surprisingly close to human habi- 

 tation. They do not, if unmolested, journey very 

 far during the day, the hotter hours of which they 

 spend in some sheltered locality, moving off at 

 nightfall or in the late afternoon. 



Elands found in Zambezia differ in several 

 particulars from those members of this hand- 

 some family found in other parts of the African 

 continent. They stand well over 5 feet at the 

 withers, although they vary considerably at 

 different seasons of the year, and the prevail- 

 ing colour of the Zambezian variety is yellowish 

 fawn going to the palest shade of creamy white 

 under the belly. A dorsal ridge of very dark 

 — almost black — bristles extends from the back 

 of the neck over the withers, a curious black 

 band presents itself inside the knee, whilst the 

 body is divided by about half a dozen thin 

 vertical white stripes, in some animals curiously 

 faint, in others very decided. They also possess 

 a prominent dewlap. The bulls are distinguished 

 in some parts of the country by a curious frontal 

 brush of very coarse bristly hairs, a peculiarity 

 by no means invariable, however. This singular 

 growth becomes extraordinarily developed in 

 certain portions of Southern Rhodesia, as also, 

 I understand, in British and German East 

 Africa. Some heads I have seen exhibited a 



