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half-grown ones; whilst in a large herd of any other kind of Antelopes two or more 
full-grown males are nearly always to be seen. On the Manica plateau, north of the 
Zambesi, Sable Antelopes are also to be met with. The longest pair of male Sable 
Antelope’s horns I have seen measured 45 inches over the curve, the longest pair of 
female 383 inches. In the Mashuna country and along the Chobe the average length of 
the horns of these animals is greater than in south-western Matabele Land.” 
In his admirable work entitled ‘A Breath from the Veldt’ Mr. John 
Millais has devoted many pages and sketches to the illustration of this 
splendid creature, which he evidently places as the finest of all the 
Antelopes of South Africa. He describes it as follows :— 
“Tn general appearance and sporting qualities the Sable Antelope (Hippotragus 
niger) yields the palm to none of its kind. There is about the whole animal that 
indescribable charm that is so intensely African and associated with the wild life. Its 
strong individuality must ever stand out in the minds of those who have been so 
fortunate as to see and shoot it, and it is certainly one of the chief objects of interest in 
the splendid fauna of that country. Apart from its satin-like hide, sweeping horns, 
erect mane, and great strength, the Sable Antelope presents an appearance of fear- 
lessness and nobility that is very striking, to say the least of it. Though the Koodoo 
surpasses his rival in elegance and general appearance when dead, he is but a skulker, 
and makes but a poor show beside the Sable on the Veldt. I would say, if such a 
comparison be allowable, the two hold their own like the rival beauties of a London 
drawing-room. ‘The fair beauty sits quietly in a corner, charming her immediate circle 
with her graceful shyness and beauty, and people take sly glances at her from the other 
end of the room, while pretending to devote their attention to someone else. What a 
contrast with her black-eyed rival, who flaunts into the room as if she owned the entire 
show, and commands the attention of all eyes by her flashy and striking beauty! The 
one attracts attention slowly, the other commands it at once. Roughly speaking, the 
height of this grand Antelope at the shoulder is about 43 feet, but he looks much taller, 
owing to his great shoulders and unusually thick neck, ornamented with its erect crest 
of hair. The tail is long, and has a good wisp of hair at the end, which, like the tails 
of the Roan Antelope and the Waterbuck,,swings from side to side as the animal gallops 
away. Like the Koodoo, the horns of the Sable are its chief glory, and the noble 
manner in which the head is carried by the buck when on the move is a splendid thing 
to see. Unlike all Deer, and nearly all Antelope, the Sable when running arches the 
neck instead of raising the chin; this gives the animal its nice picture-booky look, and 
I could hardly imagine a finer subject for an animal painter than a herd of these grand 
beasts on the move, if their heads and necks be properly drawn.” 
Mr. F. V. Kirby, F.Z.S., ip his ‘ Haunts of Wild Game, also devotes a 
whole chapter to an account of his rencontres with this Antelope, which he 
found ‘“‘by no means rare” in his favourite hunting-grounds in the Lydenburg 
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