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Show 1894.] GAME-ANIMALS OP SOMALILAND. 317 The first important collections of the Waterbuck were made by Colonel Paget and myself on two independent but simultaneous expeditions to the Webbe last spring. 1 found these Antelopes very plentiful all along both banks of the river, from Ime down to Burka in the Aulihan tribe, which was as far as I followed the stream. They lie up in the dense forest which clothes both banks of the river for some 200 yards from the water's edge ; and they go out to feed in the open grass-flats outside the forest. They go in small herds up to about fifteen individuals, though most of the herds I saw consisted of only four or five, with one old buck. The habits of the Somali Waterbuck are similar to those of the same species all over Africa. They feed chiefly on grass, delight in a mud-bath, and take to the water readily ; a wounded buck I was following in thick forest tried to escape by swimming the Webbe, some 90 yards across, and we shot him as he galloped along the further bank. The Waterbucks on the Webbe vary much in colour, from brownish grey to nearly black. The white lunate marking over the tail is always present; some heads have the forehead bright rufous brown, and others are nearly black in this part. The flesh is eaten by tbe Negroes, but not by Somalis. The horns obtained on the Webbe are small compared to Waterbuck horns in other countries; out of some 15 heads collected by m e at different times, none reached 25 inches. The females are hornless. BUSHBUCK (Tragelaphus decula). Native name " D61." The Bushbuck is common in the dense forest on tbe Webbe banks; and it is the most wary and difficult to shoot of all the game-animals I have ever encountered. I never heard of its existence till m y second expedition to the Webbe last autumn. At Karanle I bought several skins and horns of " D61" from the natives, which had been obtained by means of disguised pits, with a stake in the bottom of each. The Webbe pits are made by the Adone, and are about eight feet deep and five in diameter at the top. They are dug in the densest jungle in the paths frequented by the " D 6 1 " when going to and returning from the water. Some of these paths are long tunnels 3 feet high, bored through the masses of vegetation for 50 yards or more. Sometimes I could only get to the river by creeping on all-fours through these tunnels ; this is exciting work when it is considered that many kinds of game use them. O n my arrival at Karanle I sent skilled Negroes to repair all the pits within a mile or two of m y camp, in the hope of getting a specimen. During a month on the Webbe banks I shot only one young buck with m y own rifle ; but I organized three or four drives, in one of which m y men shot a buck with their Sniders. |
