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Vernacutar Names :—Bastard Hartebeest of Cape colonists; Sassaybe (Tsessébe) of 
Bechuanas, now Anglicized into Sassdby by sportsmen generally ; Incolomo and 
Incomazan of Matabili; Inkweko of Masubias ; Unchuru of Makubas ; Inyundo 
of Makalakas ; Luchu or Lechu of Masaras (Selous); Myanzi of Zulus (Rendall). 
Size large; height at withers nearly 4 feet. General colour dark chestnut- 
rufous ; front of face, outer sides of shoulders, and hips black. Chin and 
end of muzzle paler than cheeks. Belly purplish rufous, the groins and back 
of horns only white. Limbs with the dark colour of shoulders and hips 
passing round them just above knees and hocks ; below these the legs are all 
reddish brown. ‘Tail with its tuft reaching to the hock, its base like the 
back, its crested terminal half black. 
Face-hairs reversed up to horns. No glandular suborbital brushes. 
Skull-measurements of an adult male:—basal length 14:9 inches, greatest 
breadth 6°2, muzzle to orbit 10°8. 
Horns cylindrical, evenly curved, starting outwards and backwards, 
gradually turning inwards and backwards. ‘There is also a slight lyration of 
the horns, so that both points and bases are directed a little upwards, the 
general lunate curve being thereby disturbed. Good male horns attain a 
length of 14 or 15 inches, with a basal circumference of 7 or 8. 
Hab. S.E. Africa, north of the Orange River up to the Zambesi, and 
westward to the district of Lake Ngami. 
The Sassaby is a fine large Antelope well known to the sportsmen of 
South-east Africa. Though it certainly belongs to this group, it is rather 
isolated by the peculiar form of the horns, which somewhat resemble those 
of the Tora. It nearest allies are no doubt the Blessbok and Bontebok, 
which, however, it considerably exceeds in stature, being nearly as big as 
a Hartebeest. 
The first discovery of the Sassaby is due to the researches of the 
celebrated African traveller, Dr. William J. Burchell. On the 10th of July, 
1812, when on the Makkwarin River, in what is now the Orange Free State, 
Burchell’s hunters obtained a single specimen of an Antelope which was at 
once recognized as “new,” and was subsequently described in the second 
volume of the author’s ‘ Travels’ (published in 1824), as the “ Crescent- 
horned Antelope, Antilope lunata.” Burchell states that it seemed to be 
an extremely scarce animal, as he never met with it again during the whole 
