GRACEFUL AFRICAN ANTELOPES 
203 
head rises a crest of bristles which pass upward and along the edge of 
the neck. The legs are short and like those of an ox, with large hind 
quarters, and the tail is about two feet three or four inches long, 
tufted on the end with coarse brown hair. The hide of the eland is 
black, but the general color of the short hair which covers it is a sort 
of ashy gray tinged with ochre. 
Except for the watchfulness and quickness of this animal, it is 
not hard to hunt. If an approach can be made on horseback up the 
wind in some sort of shelter from view, it is not difficult in good 
country to ride them down. If the going is bad, however, it is better 
to shoot on foot, and in this case the huntsman must take every precau¬ 
tion not to alarm the game, and even with the greatest care many 
disappointments must be expected. Very often, just as the hunter is 
preparing to shoot, an incautious movement will alarm the game and 
they will go off like the wind, and the stalk must be made over again. 
The Koodoo, —Continuing the antelopes, we come to the koo¬ 
doo. Majestic in its carriage and brilliant in its color, this species may 
with propriety be termed the king of the tribe. Other antelopes are 
stately, elegant or curious)—but the solitude-seeking koodoo is abso¬ 
lutely regal! The ground color is a lively French gray approaching 
blue, with several transverse white bands passing over the back and 
loins; a copious mane and deeply fringed, tricolored dewlap setting 
off a pair of ponderous yet symmetrical horns, spirally twisted and 
exceeding three feet in length, brown in color, and the tips black 
with a white point. These are thrown along the back as the stately 
wearer dashes through the mazes of the forest or clambers the moun¬ 
tain side. The old bulls are invariably found apart from the females, 
which herd together in small groups and are destitute of horns. A 
full grown male stands upwards of five feet high at the shoulder and 
is over nine feet in extreme length. This beautiful animal is found 
chiefly in thickets and on wooded hills. The female koodoo is slighter, 
hornless and with fewer white markings. This species, as may well 
be imagined, is very attractive to the hunter and naturalist. 
The Hartebeest. —Another odd and interesting animal is the 
hartebeest, otherwise known as the red kongoni and as the caama. 
The predominating color is bright orange, and the legs and face are 
