204 
GRACEFUL AFRICAN ANTELOPES 
eccentrically marked as if by the brush of a sign painter. A phe¬ 
nomenon of which most people are skeptical until it is actually shown 
to them is the fact that their brain as well as that of the gnoo is filled 
with white maggots. A further oddity is that the horns are placed on 
the very summit of the head, upon a prolongation of the frontal bone, 
instead of above the eyes as in other antelopes. The whole animal 
seems made up of triangles. The shoulders are very elevated, the 
cruppers drooping and the head very large and long, from which, as 
described above, the horns rise, diverging and again approaching each 
other so as to form a lozenge, with double bends strongly pronounced, 
turned forwards, and the points backwards, with several prominent 
knots on the front surface. A black spot begins at the base of the horns, 
continues behind and ends in front of the ears. Another black streak 
runs down the nose, commencing below the eyes and ending at the 
nostrils. The chin is black and there is a narrow black stripe down 
the back of the neck. Both fore and hind legs have black stripes. On 
both hams are triangular white spots and there is a yellow spot above 
each eye. The tail is covered with hair and reaches to the animal's 
hocks. The eyes are a fiery red. A male hartebeest stands about 
five feet high at the withers and is about nine feet long. The female 
is like the male, but smaller and with slighter horns. 
The Sassaybe. —Much like the hartebeest is the animal known 
as the sassaybe, and they are usually found grazing together. The 
male sassa}Te stands four feet six inches high at the shoulder and 
about eight feet two inches long. The horns are strong and, like those 
of the hartebeest, are placed at the summit of the head, turning 
outwards and forming two crescents with the points inwards. The 
body is bulky with slender legs and very high withers. The head is 
long, narrow and shapeless, with a straight facial line marked with a 
dark streak from between the horns to the nose and fawn-colored ears 
nine inches long. The general color is deep blackish purple-brown 
above and tawny under body. A dab of slate color extends from the 
middle of the shoulder to the knee; and another from the middle of 
the flank to the hock outside. A band of the same color passes across 
the inside of both fore and hind legs upon a tawny ground. The 
lower parts of the legs are of a deep tawny color. The tail is twenty- 
