138 THE TSESSEBE 



many hundreds in each. If this be the case, 

 I think there must be some difference between 

 them and the South African type, which 

 is rarely if ever seen in parties of more 

 than a dozen, and usually in smaller groups 

 still. 



Tsessebe are always in the plains. They are 

 grass-eaters, and seem to experience little if any 

 inconvenience from the terrific heat of the mid- 

 day sun, so there they remain. Rather larger 

 than the hartebeeste we have been considering, 

 one shot by me in Luabo several years ago 

 reached a shoulder measurement of 57 inches. 

 Their colouring is not unlike that of the harte- 

 beeste, but somewhat brighter, whilst the coat, 

 especially of the males, is distinguished by a 

 remarkable gloss, which, unfortunately, fades 

 away soon after death. They are exceedingly 

 hard to kill ; but as cover or concealment is never 

 sought, the task of bringing a wounded animal 

 to bag becomes simply a question of how seriously 

 it has been wo\inded, and how far the hunter 

 is prepared to follow it up. 



Tsessebe are not sporting or agreeable animals 

 to hunt. The awkward, hartebeeste-like body, 

 the clumsy, loping, cantering flight, his long 

 fiddle-head with the unfinished-looking horns — 

 all these combine to stamp him as an animal not 

 worth the trouble of serious pursuit — except 

 for considerations of larder — ffom the moment 

 a good specimen head has once been secured. 

 Personally, I have been at peace with the tsessebe 

 for many years ; but my recollections of his 



