THE SPORTSMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



wild game of the Cape Colony proper, the Orange Free State, or 

 Natal, as in those countries it is preserved on only a few farms in a 

 semi-domestic state. At the moment of writing some few troops 

 still linger in the Northern portions of the Transvaal, and also in 

 the thick bush of the lower Molopo in Bechuanaland, and the 

 Western end of the Machapong range in the Bakwaina country. 

 Since Khama (the chief of the Bamangwatos) changed the residence 

 of his people about two years ago to Palapye, the Koodoo is again 

 resorting in scattered troops to the hills surrounding the old town of 

 Shoshone. Three years ago plentiful in the bush on both banks of 

 the Crocodile River in its North-western course, it is now almost 

 driven out from this latitude by the advance of civilization. In 

 some portions of Mashonaland and Manicaland, throughout Mata- 

 beleland and the Zambesi districts, as well as in the regions of 

 Lake 'Ngami, it is still perhaps the most common of the larger 

 antelopes. Ornamented with its magnificent spiral horns, the 

 beautiful head erect on a symmetrically formed and stately body, 

 the bull Koodoo, if not the largest of its genus, certainly has an air 

 of nobility and independence far greater than that possessed by any 

 other antelope in the world. The species is gregarious, a troop 

 generally averaging six and rarely exceeding twenty in number, 

 being sometimes composed wholly of males, and at other periods 

 entirely of females. Of an extremely shy and timid nature, 

 the Koodoo during the daytime frequents the dense thorn-bush 

 thickets, or the wooded slopes and eminences of stony kopjtcs, 

 generally, but not always, somewhere in the vicinity of permanent 

 water, wandering long distances during the wet season from its 

 usual haunts from one rain pool or pan to another. In unfre- 

 quented localities, and particularly during the early hours of the 

 day, herds may occasionally be seen grazing on open flats ; and 

 when come upon under such favourable circumstances, they can 

 be galloped up to on horseback without much difficulty, as, although 

 capable of darting in and out through the most inaccessible bush 

 with astounding celerity notwithstanding the weight and length 

 of the horns, their gallop in the open is clumsy and slow. In follow- 

 ing up the spoor (which, considering the dimensions of the animal, 

 is extremely small) in cover, on foot, the utmost stealth and caution 

 should be observed, as the Koodoo is provided with an exquisite 

 sense of sight, hearing, and scent ; and its body, although large, is 

 extremely difficult to distinguish in the dense thorn-bush, which is 



