108 THE SABLE ANTELOPE 



and on the insides of his sturdy legs. His head 

 continues the general colour scheme of the body, 

 is very shapely, black, or almost black, down 

 the frontal bone to the nose, with a whitish 

 splash extending from over each eye to the 

 mouth corners and meeting under the chin and 

 jaws. He stands very high at the withers, 

 sloping sharply downward towards the croup. 

 The neck is very deep and powerful, and carries 

 a pronounced if short mane. Both sexes possess 

 horns, which in the females are shorter and 

 more slender than those borne by the bulls. 

 The coloration of the cows is, moreover, nothing 

 like so decided as that of the males, the prevailing 

 hue being a deep, rich brown. They grow 

 darker with age, however, and, but for the thin- 

 ness of the horns, might occasionally be mistaken 

 for animals of the other sex. 



Sable antelope are extremely fierce, and when 

 wounded or bayed require the utmost caution to 

 avoid a serious mishap. I came very near to 

 losing my life at the hands, or rather the horns, 

 of the first of these animals to fall to my rifle. 

 I was hunting in Central Africa one morning, 

 when, running after a large wart-hog which I 

 had wounded, turning round an immense red ant- 

 heap, covered with undergrowth and crowned 

 with the delicate green fronds of a cluster of 

 small palms, I came right upon a very fine sable 

 bull at a distance of not more than some 15 yards. 

 I do not know which of us was the more sur- 

 prised. In any case, he lost no time in showing 

 me his heels ; but, going away in a straight line, 



