THE INYALA 143 



impacts to the animal a most patriarchal appear- 

 ance. From withers to croup the skin is divided 

 by a black line which follows the dorsal ridge 

 to the root of the tail, whilst the flanks are 

 striped and spotted with white. The females, 

 smaller in size than the males, are of a rich dark 

 chestnut. 



I am sorry to have to confess that I have 

 never succeeded in securing a specimen of the 

 inyala. I fear, therefore, my hints upon how he 

 should be hunted can only be regarded as based 

 upon information I have received ; but it is 

 generally conceded that success is dependent upon 

 two vital factors — namely, to be on your ground 

 some time before daylight, and not to take your 

 first chance unless you are satisfied that the head 

 is a good one. 



The inyala is most jealously protected in 

 both the British and the Portuguese Spheres of 

 Influence in Africa, and, as a rule, the sportsman 

 is restricted to one. It therefore becomes highly 

 necessary to use the most careful discrimination, 

 and to wait for another day rather than incur 

 the risk of exhausting your opportunity for any- 

 thing under a good average measurement^; and as 

 inyala are known to be astonishingly regular in 

 their daily habits, a postponement of your shot 

 until the following morning is a measure whose 

 adoption need give rise to no misgiving, since I 

 am assured by competent observers and hunters 

 that from the same hiding-place they have, day 

 after day, been passed by exactly the same 

 animals at precisely the same time. I never knew. 



