| OCR Text |
Show 288 MR. T. E. BUCKLEY ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL [Mar. 7, herds and go singly; one that I shot about that time had its head plastered with mud, as if it had been using its horns on a bank, like we see the Stags in Scotland during the rutting-season. At one time the Blue Wildebeest inhabited the plains equally with the common Gnu ; now, however, it is rarely seen except in the bush-country; like it, too, it generally makes one or two wheels round, when disturbed, before it takes to flight. 21. HIPPOTRAGUS EQUINUS. (The Roan Antelope.) This Antelope (except the Eland, the largest of the family) was at one time, according to Dr. Smith, found within the Cape colony; but now its furthest range south seems to be the Amaswazi country, where it is still occasionally shot. It is probable that the Kalahari desert is its south-western boundary, as it is not mentioned by either Baines or Andersson in their works. Dr. Livingstone met with it in large herds on the Leeba; and Schweinfurth shot it in the Djoor district. The Roan Antelope is probably the rarest of the genus; nowhere does it appear very common; Harris in his ' Southern Africa' mentions killing several males of this species, but never seems to have procured a female, as he says in his description of this animal that it is hornless, a mistake copied also by Chapman ; this is not the the case, as the female has horns almost as long as the male. The only specimen I procured was shot standing in the middle of a sand river in company with a solitary Sassabye. Both this and the Sable Antelope will charge savagely when brought to bay ; their cry of danger or anger is a kind of hissing snort, different from that of other antelopes. Their Bechuana name is "Qualata." From the accounts of natives this species seems to be most common in Umsila's country, which lies to the east of the Matabili. 22. HIPPOTRAGUS NIGER. (The Sable Antelope.) This splendid Antelope was first discovered in 1836 by Capt. Harris on the Magaliesberg hills, where, it is said, one or two still linger; this would seem to be their southern limit, as the species is not found in the Zulu or Amaswazi countries ; it is found however at Zoutpansberg, in the north-east of the Transvaal, and probably would be found to extend as far as the coast. To the west Livingstone met with it on the river Leeba, which is in long. 23° E., lat. 12° S.; but it is not mentioned by either Andersson or Baines as occurring in the south-west. To the north, the head of a young one was brought home by Speke, which Grant shot at Ukutu, which would be near the latitude of Zanzibar. The Matabili country is perhaps the locality where it is most numerous; we first met with traces of it near the Makloutze river, where we saw the skin of a large male in the possession of some natives. This species goes about in herds, sometimes very large. I have seen about fifty together; but there are not many old males among them ; they are mostly females and young, the adult males generally leading a solitary life. The females of this species carry horns, but not so long as the old males: the colour of an adult female is dark chestnut, white underneath, with a mane |
