340 
THE MAHARIF ANTELOPE. 
[chap. VIII. 
mane is much prized by the natives as an ornament, 
He was immediately skinned, and the hide was cut 
into long strips about three inches broad; the portion 
of mane adhering had the appearance of a fringe ; each 
strip was worn as a scarf; thus one skin will produce 
about eight or ten ornaments. 
I sent my men to camp, and, accompanied by 
Richarn, mounted on my horse “ Mouse,” I rode 
through the park-like ground in quest of game. I saw 
varieties of antelopes, including the rare and beautiful 
maharif; but all were so wild, and the ground so open, 
that I could not get a shot. This was the more annoy¬ 
ing, as the maharif was an antelope that I believed to 
be a new species. It had often disappointed me; for 
although I had frequently seen them on the south-west 
frontier of Abyssinia, I had never been able to procure 
one, owing to their extreme shyness, and to the fact of 
their inhabiting open plains, where stalking was impos¬ 
sible. I had frequently examined them with a tele¬ 
scope, and had thus formed an intimate acquaintance 
with their peculiarities. The maharif is very similar 
to the roan antelope of South Africa, but is mouse 
colour, with black and white stripes upon the face. 
The horns are exactly those of the roan antelope, very 
massive and corrugated, bending backwards to the 
shoulders. The withers are extremely high, which give 
