50 NEW SPECIES OF ANTELOPE. Chap. JU. 



miles off. At the Limpopo, to the south-east, they are upwards 

 of twelve feet high ; here they were only eleven ; and further 

 north they are only nine feet. The koodoo, or tolo, seemed 

 smaller than those to which we had been accustomed. We 

 saw specimens of the kuabaoba, or straight-homed rhinoceros 

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

 we found that, from the horn being projected downwards, it 

 did not obstruct the line of vision, which enables this species 

 to be much more wary than its neighbours. 



We discovered an entirely new and beautiful species of 

 water-antelope, called leche or leehwi. It is of a light brownish- 

 yellow colour. The chest, belly, and orbits are nearly white. 

 The horns, which are exactly like those of the Aigcceros 

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

 from the head with a slight bend backwards, and then curve 

 forwards at the points. From the horns 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. As it stands 

 gazing with head erect at the approaching stranger, it presents 

 a noble appearance. When about to decamp it lowers its 

 head, and lays its horns down to a level with the withers. 

 It begins at starting with a waddling trot, which ends in its 

 galloping and springing over bushes like the pallahs. It 

 invariably runs to the water, and crosses it by a succession of 

 bounds, each of which appears to be from the bottom. We 

 thought the flesh good at first, but soon got tired of it. 



Great shoals of excellent fish come down annually with the 

 waters. The mullet (Mugil Africanus) is the most abundant. 

 They are caught in nets. The Giants siluris, a large broad- 

 headed fish, without scales, and barbed — called by the natives 

 "mosala" — grows to such an enormous size, that when a 

 man carries one over his shoulder the tail reaches the ground. 

 It is a vegetable feeder, and in many of its habits resembles 

 (he eel. Like most lophoid fishes, it has the power of retaining 

 a large quantity of water in its great head, and can thus 

 leave the river, and even be buried in the mud of dried-up 

 pools, without being destroyed. Another fish, named Clariai 



