THE IMPALA— THE DUIKERS 155 



birth. For table purposes I do not think their 

 meat compares with either that of the bushbuck 

 or the reedbuck, although it is by no means to be 

 despised ; it has a somewhat singular flavour, which 

 personally I do not appreciate, probably due to 

 their diet of the leaves of certain aromatic bushes 

 and trees, favourite among which is a short, 

 stunted, elm-like growth with a very pale bark 

 whose name I do not know, but which is singularly 

 characteristic of the country most favoured by 

 impala, especially in the winter season. 



Zambezia possesses all three members of 

 the Duiker family — the blue, the red, and the 

 grey. In my experience, however, they are all 

 three less general there than in certain districts 

 of Nyasaland, in the Barue, and the Mozam- 

 bique Company's territory. I suppose Shupanga 

 Forest, and the wide wooded plains to the east- 

 ward which follow the course of the Zambezi 

 almost to the sea, may contain larger numbers 

 ot these small antelopes than are found on the 

 north bank of the river ; and this view of the case 

 coincides with the opinions of several experienced 

 hunters with whom I have exchanged notes. Of 

 the last named, the general coloration is a deep 

 brownish red, paling to faint yellow under the 

 beUy . They have also, seen in the forest, a cvu-ious 

 greenish shade of colour which seems to disappear 

 on a nearer approach. I am not sure which is the 

 larger ot the two, but fancy, if there be any ap- 

 preciable difference, that the advantage would be 

 found rather with the so-called red than with the 

 grey duikers ; the curiously named blue variety 



