Philip Lutley Sclater

“ On the lower flats of the rivers of the Niam-Niam country, Dr. Schweinfurth found this Antelope by far the commonest species in the dry season, being met with in large herds of from 100 to 300 individuals. During the rainy season, he tells us, it resorts to the higher forest-bushes and separates into small troops for pairing. He also mentions as a peculiarity of this elegant animal that when running away it springs up into the air after the manner of the South-African Spring-buck, and shows its white rump. The flesh of Antilope leucotis, he tells us, is one of the best for culinary purposes. ”

“ No antelope possesses more completely the lively gambolling manners of the young kid—none bound with greater force or precision from rock to rock, or clear the yawning abyss with more fearless activity. ”

“ As nearly all proprietors strictly preserve the species in Griqualand West, they are there very numerous, perhaps even more so than in the native territories further north. This Antelope commences feeding about sundown, and continues its wanderings during the night, at sunrise retiring under cover of some low thick clump of bush or patch of long grass, where, unless disturbed, it passes the entire day in concealment. As it usually lies asleep during the great heat of the sun, it can then be easily walked up to and readily disposed of with a charge of buckshot. ”

“ The Red Rhébuck “runs in herds, often exceeding twenty in number, and invariably frequents the summits of hilly and mountainous districts, where there are no reeds and where water may be miles and miles distant”; whereas the Reedbuck is found “either in pairs or in parties, never exceeding four in number,” only in low lying country along rivers which have reeds on their banks. “The one peculiarity common to both species is the fact that the males, when alarmed, give vent to a shrill whistle.” ”

“ Their tenacity of life is very great, and unless disabled at once the chances are against the hunter, the impenetrable nature of the swamps and jungles to which they fly when wounded precluding all hope of pursuit.
“Their colour is a rich rufous, turning to white on the belly and inside the thighs, the females being somewhat lighter in colour than the males. Their whole appearance is handsome and well proportioned, whilst the head makes an exceptionally graceful trophy. ”

“ Exceedingly shy and possessed of a keen scent and a hawk-vision, it is difficult enough to approach within rifle-range; but the little herd, when thus in motion, usually winding round the base of a hill instead of taking directly up the acclivity, an opportunity is often presented to the pursuer to gallop across the path they have selected, and thus obtain an easy snap-shot. ”

“ The ‘Rooi Rhébok’ of the Boers is an inhabitant of arid stony hills, and wherever such hills are met with one may expect to find this handsome little Antelope throughout the Cape Colony, Natal, Zululand, the Orange Free State, the Transvaal, Bechuanaland, and the southern portion of the Bechuanaland Protectorate. In the west it does not range further north than Sichele’s country, and though plentiful in the parched-up stony hills scattered over the territory of that chief, it is unknown in very similar ground in Khama’s country, only a short distance further north ”

“ I have known of the existence of this Antelope in South-eastern Africa for many years, but have only lately had an opportunity of obtaining a specimen. The native name for it is ‘Inhlengana.’ It is barely larger than the tiny Blue-buck of S. Africa, but carries very much larger horns in proportion to its size. The specimen sent is an old male. The white hairs on the head are said to be from age, and not general to the species. This one was killed in North-eastern Zululand, which district seems to be the southerly limit of its range. ”

“ To Cobus defassa, we now believe, must be referred the “Nsumma” of Uganda and Madi, a head of which was brought home from his celebrated journey by Speke, and was doubtfully referred by Sclater, in his account of Speke’s Mammals, to the Sing-sing. This head is still in the British Museum, and on comparison of it with a stuffed specimen of the present species shows few points of difference.
Speke notes that the “Nsumma” lies concealed “in the high grasses in the daytime, and only comes out to feed in the evening. The males are often found singly, but the females live in herds. ”

“ The only place where I ever met with this species was in a small tract of country extending along the southern bank of the Chobe for about seventy miles westward from its junction with the Zambesi. They are never found at more than 200 or 300 yards from the river, and are usually to be seen cropping the short grass along the water’s edge, or lying in the shade of the trees and bushes scattered over the alluvial flats which have been formed here and there by the shifting of the river’s bed. ”

“ Of the difficulties experienced by subsequent authors in deciding what Buffon’s “Koba” really was, we have already spoken in our article on Damaliscus korrigum (Vol. I. p. 60) . But as regards the “Kob” there can, we think, be no question that Buffon’s “Kob, ou petit vache brune de Sénégal” is clearly the same as that which we now call Cobus kob, and propose to designate in English “Buffon’s Kob,” to distinguish it from its fellows of the same group.
Erxleben, in 1777, seems to have been the first writer to Latinize Buffon’s vernacular name as “Antilope kob.” ”

“ The Sing-sing (also known to the natives as ‘Kuru’) resembles the Waterbuck in habits, but is easily distinguished from it by its darker colour, and by a considerable amount of rufous hair on the top of the head, as well as by an entirely white rump in place of the elliptical white band of the other. The horns are also, as a rule, longer and more massive than those of the Waterbuck, the horns of the latter never growing to the size that they do in South Africa. It is not met with until near Lake Baringo, and extends west to Uganda where it was obtained by Captains Speke and Grant. ”

“ Long, padded, and standing out vertically from the side, it resembles moss in texture, and constitutes, as in the chamois of the Alps, a natural cushion to protect the animal from the contusions to which its habits must render it constantly liable. ”

“ Rarely, in a herd of twelve, were there more than two or three males, and of these seldom more than one which might be regarded as mature. The natives were of [100] opinion that the sexes were produced in about that proportion, and even made use of the assumed fact in support of the propriety of polygamy as it exists among uncivilized men, asserting that a like disproportion occurred in the human species.
“When Cobus ellipsiprymnus is feeding it has the appearance of being a clumsy and unprepossessing animal; but, on the contrary, when excited, it is elegant and stately. ”

“ Jackson, the Waterbuck is common everywhere south of Lake Baringo near fresh water, and is also found on many of the saltwater creeks on the coast. It is particularly plentiful on the banks of the Tana River, and in the Kilimanjaro district, where Sir John Willoughby and his party (see ‘East Africa and its Big Game’) and Dr. Abbott also met with it. “Like most bush-loving Antelopes,” Mr. Jackson says, “it is fairly easy to stalk, but is a very tough beast, and takes a good deal of killing, if not hit in the right place. ”

“ According to my experience the Red Rhébuck is usually to be met with in small herds of from three or four to fifteen animals, only one full-grown buck being with the herd, though a young male or two with horns not fully developed may also be present. Old males at certain seasons leave the herds and live alone, as is the case with all other gregarious Antelopes. The hills on which I found Red Rhébuck were of no great altitude, rising as a rule from 500 to 1000 feet above the surrounding country. ”

“ Nature has provided the Waterbuck with a tougher hide and coarser hair than any other of its kind; but even these are not proof against the rank tall ‘mabandi’ grass and spear-like ‘matele’ reeds, and I have noticed that the legs of some of those that I have killed have suffered considerably, the skin on the fetlocks and pasterns being cut clean through.”
Proceeding northwards to German East Africa we find Cobus ellipsiprymnus included in Matschie’s volume on the Mammals of that colony. ”

“ The Abyssinians do not often hunt this species, because so few of them care to eat meat, and its hide is of little value. It is, however, said to be the habitual food of the lions of the district that it inhabits. Rüppell’s specimens of both sexes are now in the Senckenbergian Museum at Frankfort, where Sclater has examined them.
Another great explorer of Eastern Africa, Th. v. Heuglin, met with this Antelope in the bushy and woody valleys of the Qualabat and Mareb, and thence eastwards to where the mountain-range falls off into the lowlands. ”

“ In 1827 Temminck applied the name Antilope spinigera to the same animal, without, however, giving any description of it. Temminck’s name was employed by Sundevall in his excellent essay upon the Pecora, first published in 1846, when, however, he very unnecessarily created the new generic term Nanotragus for this species, which, as already stated, had previously been called Neotragus by Hamilton Smith. Sundevall took his description from an adult male specimen in the Leyden Museum, stating that he had also seen a female at Paris, but had mislaid his notes upon it. ”

“ He remarks that only the male carries horns, but that both sexes have a pair of inguinal glands, the openings of which are concealed by long tufts of white hair. The female has four teats. He also remarks that (as he communicated to the Zoological Society of London, of which Rüppell was a Foreign Member, in 1836) the young males of this Antelope occasionally possess the germs of a pair of canine teeth, which are lost in the adult stage. This anomaly, however, has also been noticed in other Ruminants. ”

“ Cobus vardoni and C. lechee run in enormous herds. These two Antelopes are frequently found together, are much alike in appearance, and are both known by the natives as ‘Nswala.’ (The Impala is also called ‘Nswala’ by them.) The horns of the Letchwé have a much larger spread than those of Vardon’s Antelope, but at a distance it is difficult to distinguish between the two. The Letchwé has a little black stripe on the fore legs which is not found in Vardon’s Antelope. A noticeable feature about the male Letchwé is that when he runs he puts his head down, laying back the horns. ”

“ To guard against surprise a vidette is invariably on the alert; and should a human figure or other suspicious object be descried nearer than is judged to be safe, the wary sentinel forthwith extends her slender neck, and gives warning to her companions by a sharp sneeze. Away they all bound, lightly as the wind, tossing their graceful heads, whilst their dainty feet scarcely seem to touch the earth ”

“ Crown frequently with a black crescentic mark running round it, as in the Steinbok [1] . Ears very large, [37] their backs grey. Limbs red. Accessory hoofs present, but very small, far smaller than in the Oribis. Tail very short, not blackened at its tip.
Skull and horns very like those of a Steinbok, but the nasal bones seem to be shorter, and the premaxillæ do not reach so far backwards. A good adult male skull of this species is, however, a desideratum: we have only been able to examine immature specimens or those deteriorated by confinement. ”

“ Its pace is a gallop, and generally all the individuals of the herd rush off at the same time, each making the best of its way without endeavouring, as some other of the Antelopes do, to follow in the train of a leader. When disturbed they generally fly from the places where they are discovered towards the higher grounds of the neighbourhood, and if unable to reach them, without passing through water, they manifest neither fear nor disinclination to plunge into the stream—hence the origin of the name by which they are designated by the colonist. ”

“ Under these circumstances there can be no doubt, we think, that “campestris” is the proper specific term to be employed for the present species.
In an article upon the Ruminants published by Blainville in the ‘Bulletin of the Société Philomathique’ for 1816 and subsequently enlarged in the ‘Journal de Physique,’ that author described and figured the skull of a specimen which he had observed in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London and called it Antilope acuticornis. ”