SITUTUNGA 



293 



silkiness of the hair. The horns, which are nearly smooth and strongly 



keeled, form nearly two complete turns, and thus approximate to those 



of the kudu. 



Distribution. — The situtunga is an inhabitant of the dense reed-swamps 

 bordering the rivers of Central, South-Central and East Africa ; and 

 is semi-aquatic in its habits, frequently burying itself up to the eyes 

 in the water. Consequently it is one of the most difficult of all 

 antelopes to kill ; and has even baffled the energy of Mr. Selous. 

 By firing the reed-beds in the dry season, the natives are able to 

 spear the situtunga as they cross open water. At night these ante- 

 lopes leave the reed-brakes for the islands in the rivers, but before 

 dawn return to their impenetrable covert. Mr. A. B. Phipps, in a 

 letter dated October 1895, states that they have become very 

 rare in the swamps bordering the Okavango River, owing to that 

 river having changed its course and ceased to flow into the Botletli. 

 Consequently they go down to the latter for water, and are shot. 

 A few are found on a bush-clad rocky island far out in the Victoria 

 Nyanza ; in which neighbourhood the species was first discovered 

 by the late Captain Speke. 



Length. 



