THE ROAN ANTELOPE 
97 
wildness and the open nature of their haunts,” he never 
shot but one roan antelope, and even that one was not 
recovered till the following 1 day, when already half-eaten 
by a lion. More inexplicable still—on meeting with von 
Heuglin later at Khartoum, the latter, who had spent 
several years in the Sudan, stated that he had never seen a 
roan antelope, and regarded Baker’s specimen as belong¬ 
ing to a new species {op. cit ., p. 543). This is a sidelight 
which, to my mind, casts an atmosphere of grave doubt 
over von Heuglin’s competence as a naturalist—at least 
as regards the larger animals. 
The discrepancy in our respective observations as to 
the haunts of roan, and equally the fact that Baker should 
have failed where so humble a hunter as the author 
succeeded with no supreme difficulty, are things that 
pass understanding. It is unnecessary to disclaim even 
a scintilla of “Satan’s favourite sin, the pride that 
apes humility.” The above remarks are simply a 
recapitulation of two sets of irreconcilable experiences ; 
and mine, at the present day, I venture to assert, are 
correct. 
In its colour the Sudani roan varies individually in 
marked degree. The few that I shot included animals 
of a rich rufous hue with brindled effects; one is, I 
believe, correctly described as “cinnamon,” others paler, 
and one of a strawberry roan. But I had opportunity of 
examining others through glasses, at fairly close range, 
that appeared slaty-grey, varying in depth from darker 
to quite pale tones. Probably I examined, in the Sudan 
alone, roan of all the different colours upon which have 
been based subspecific or geographical distinctions, such 
as ‘ 1 Rufopallidus ,” and other fanciful names. 
In the extraordinary length of its bushy ears, the 
roan far surpasses all its congeners. Following are 
relative ear-measurements of typical examples in my 
own collection:— 
G 
