Chap. III. ELEPHANTS -NEW SPECIES OF ANTELOPE. 71 



The plants and bushes were dry ; but wild indigo abounded, as 

 indeed it does over large tracts of Africa. It is called mohetolo, 

 or the " changer," by the boys, who dye their ornaments of straw 

 with the juice. There are two kinds of cotton in the country, 

 and the Mashona, who convert it into cloth, dye it blue with this 

 plant. 



We found the elephants in prodigious numbers on the southern 

 bank. They come to drink by night, and after having slaked 

 their thirst — in doing which they throw large quantities of water 

 over themselves, and are heard, while enjoying the refreshment, 

 screaming with delight — they evince their horror of pitfalls by 

 setting off in a straight line to the desert, and never diverge till 

 they are eight or ten miles off. They are smaller here than in 

 the countries further south. At the Limpopo, for instance, they 

 are upwards of twelve feet high ; here, only eleven : further north 

 we shall find them nine feet only. The koodoo, or tolo, seemed 

 smaller too than those we had been accustomed to see. We saw 

 specimens of the kuabaoba, or straight-horned rhinoceros (M. 

 Oswellii), which is a variety of the white (R. simus) ; and we 

 found that, from the horn being projected downwards, it did not 

 obstruct the line of vision; so that this species is able to be 

 much more wary than its neighbours. 



We discovered an entirely new species of antelope, called leche 

 or lechwi. It is a beautiful water-antelope of a light brownish- 

 yellow colour. Its horns — exactly like those of the Aigoceros 

 ellipsiprimnus, the water-buck, or tumoga of the Bechuanas — 

 rise from the head with a slight bend backwards, then curve for- 

 wards at the points. The chest, belly, and orbits are nearly 

 Avhite, the front of the legs and ankles deep brown. From the 

 horns, along the nape to the withers, the male has a small mane 

 of the same yellowish colour "with the rest of the skin, and the 

 tail has a tuft of black hair. It is never found a mile from water ; 

 islets in marshes and rivers are its favourite haunts, and it is 

 quite unknown except in the central humid basin of Africa. 

 Having a good deal of curiosity, it presents a noble appearance 

 as it stands gazing with head erect at the approaching stranger. 

 When it resolves to decamp, it lowers its head, and lays its horns 

 down to a level with the withers ; it then begins with a waddling 



