OCR Text |
Show 1390.] ANTELOPES OF NYASA-LAND. 655 than Buffalo, and from the numbers of " Impala" skulls lying about, it looked as if Lions had made these animals their special prey. In 1887 and 1888 I constantly saw " Impala" on the plains to the S.W. of Cape Maclear, notably round Lesumbwi (Monkey Bay), which is only about nine miles from it; here the country bordering on the Lake is very hilly and covered with rough boulders, but there are intervening plains overgrown with short grass and beautifully wooded with sweet-smelling umbrella-shaped mimosas, and these were always a sure find for " Impala." In 1889 I came across a small herd of about seven on the Wovu River, about 20 miles inland from Vuwa, but they were very wild and quite unapproachable ; here, again, they were in clean sandy country, wooded with short mimosas and dwarf borassus palms, and I fancy they are not found in any other. To the S.W. of Nyasa, I have found " Impala " in very great numbers, and in 1888 I ran down and caught a young buck about four days old, but he did not live more than a day. No Antelope I have seen can compare with the " Impala" in fleet-ness of foot, and certainly no other can display such wonderful leaping power ; they go off like the proverbial " arrow from the bow," and, with most beautiful gliding bounds, cover the ground without apparently the least effort. When alarmed they often give utterance to a sharp bark. Once or twice I have noticed that " Impala " become panic-stricken if persistently followed or run after in the open ; I have had a herd stop, look at me, and then double back past me when they had plenty of open ground to their front. Natives seem to know this, and when occasion offers take advantage of it. 6. TRAGELAPHUS SYLVATICUS. Commonest of all the Nyasa Antelopes, whether gregarious or otherwise, and better known perhaps than any other to the natives is the Bush-buck, " Babala " of the Anyanja, " Mbawala " of the Ajawa, "Imbabala" of the Angoni, and " Mpatu " of the Ahenga and Anyika. From the great variety that exists in the colour and markings of Nyasa Bush-bucks, I have thought there must be more than one species, but after carefully examining a great many of both sexes, both young and old, I have come to the conclusion that I have only met with T. sylvaticus. I now exhibit several skins and pairs of horns of specimens from different localities of the west coast of Nyasa, and a brief description of them may not be without interest. Young males are of a bright reddish brown, deepening in colour about the back, belly, and legs. They are marked plentifully with white spots on the flanks and haunches, and have also some five or more transverse white stripes on either side, emanating from the rid°-e of the back, along which extends a short white mane intermixed with black. Old males vary very much indeed, but the majority are of a dull '44* |