Philip Lutley Sclater

“ Its strong individuality must ever stand out in the minds of those who have been so fortunate as to see and shoot it, and it is certainly one of the chief objects of interest in the splendid fauna of that country. Apart from its satin-like hide, sweeping horns, erect mane, and great strength, the Sable Antelope presents an appearance of fearlessness and nobility that is very striking, to say the least of it. Though the Koodoo surpasses his rival in elegance and general appearance when dead, he is but a skulker, and makes but a poor show beside the Sable on the Veldt. ”

“ The thin covering of earth supported only a scant and faded vegetation, together with a few scrubby trees and bushes which grew from the fissures of the rock. Surmounted [19] by a pair of jagged ibex-looking horns, the magpie-head of a sturdy old hull, protruded above a thin copse of brushwood through which I was riding, was not to be mistaken. I sprang from my horse, and as the whole bloom-coloured herd arose to make its rush, sent a bullet spinning betwixt the ribs of their gallant leader. ”

“ The Gemsbok was destined by nature to adorn the parched karroos and arid deserts of South Africa, for which description of country it is admirably adapted. It thrives and attains high condition in barren regions, where it might be imagined that a locust would not find subsistence, and, burning as is its climate, it is perfectly independent of water, which, from my own observation and the repeated reports both of the Boers and aborigines, I am convinced it never by any chance tastes. Its flesh is deservedly esteemed, and ranks next to the Eland. ”

“ As the day dawned over the boundless meads of the Vaal River spread with a rich carpet of luxuriant herbage, and enamelled with pastures of brilliant flowers, vast droves of these lordly animals were constantly to be seen moving in solemn procession across the profile of the silent and treeless landscape, portions of which were often covered with long coarse grass, which when dry and waving its white hay-like stalks to the breeze, imparted to the plain the delusive and alluring appearance of ripe cornfields. ”

“ With all his wits about him, the lordly bull, active and powerful, may now and then be detected browsing at grey dawn upon some rugged hill summit, or ranging some grassy slope, either alone, or escorted by a small troop of skittish dames, all seeming alike his sentinels; but taking the note of alarm from the slightest noise, he stamps his brave foot upon the ground, tosses his spiral frontlet to the blue sky, and once fairly in motion, never stops to look behind until he has gained the threshold of his sanctuary. ”

“ Rejoicing especially in low belts of shaded hillocks, and in the isolated groves of Acacia capensis which, like islands in the ocean, are scattered over many of the stony and gravelly plains of the interior, large herds of them are also to be seen grazing like droves of oxen on the more verdant meadows, through which some silver rivulet winds in rainbow brightness betwixt fringes of sighing bulrushes. Fat and lethargic groups may be seen scattered up and down the gentle acclivities, some grazing on the hill side, and others lazily basking in the morning sunbeam. ”

“ The tail is long, and has a good wisp of hair at the end, which, like the tails of the Roan Antelope and the Waterbuck, swings from side to side as the animal gallops away. Like the Koodoo, the horns of the Sable are its chief glory, and the noble manner in which the head is carried by the buck when on the move is a splendid thing to see. Unlike all Deer, and nearly all Antelope, the Sable when running arches the neck instead or raising the chin ”

“ The East African Oryx is known to the Swahilis as ‘Cheroa.’ The Cheroa is found in the Kilimanjaro district in greater numbers (particularly near Useri) than elsewhere. It is also plentiful in the Galla country, between the Sabaki and Tana rivers, and I have myself seen it within a mile of the sea at Merereni.
“It is found more often in open bush country than in the bare arid plains. It is not only a beautiful beast, but is very shy, difficult to approach, and exceedingly tough, and for these reasons many sportsmen covet its head more than the trophies of any other kind of Antelope. ”

“ A sportsman could not wish for a grander sight than a startled Koodoo dashing off along the hillside, or standing on the look-out on some point of vantage. Their flesh is poor eating, and their hides are of little value from an ornamental point of view, but the head and neck, and the ruff, when well mounted, form a splendid trophy. ”

“ Very old subjects wear white stockings, gartered above the knee, and it is usual to find a narrow white tape along the back, partially concealed by the goat-like mane which bristles from the ridge of the spine. But of these characters none are constant, all being often absent in the female, and even in the non-adult male, whose lighter coloured coats are never so prominently ‘picked out’ as the dark robes of the patriarchs. ”

“ It is nearly impossible to distinguish which are the bulls in a herd, and they are so few in proportion to the cows that it is best, if shooting for sport alone, not to fire at a herd at all. The bull is slightly thicker in the neck and higher in the withers than the cow; and the horns, though an inch or two shorter in the bull, are more massive, especially about the base, and more symmetrical, whilst the cow’s horns are frequently bent and of unequal length. The Oryx is often revengeful when wounded and brought to bay ”

“ Not another specimen was seen until we had reached the Limpopo, the elevated tracts lying between which river and the Likwa divide the principal waters of Southern Africa, and form the peculiar habitat of this species. Even there it invariably resides in limited families, which seldom contain more than one old bull—a dozen or more of the younger males usually herding by themselves. Equal in stature to the largest Arab horse, the whole structure—remarkably powerful and muscular—is especially adapted for traversing the rugged regions that it frequents. ”

“ I could see no other animal near her, and, as I required two specimens of Inyala ewes, the one for the British and the other for the South-African Museum, I lost no time about firing at the animal in question, which I saw drop instantly to the shot. But even as she did so, there appeared in her place, or very close to where she had stood, a great black shaggy form, which, indistinctly as I could see it in the deep shadow of the bush, I knew was an Inyala ram, the first that my eyes had ever looked upon in the flesh. My rifle was a single-barrelled one ”

“ There was no footing whatever obtainable, with the exception of a network of papyrus-roots, which stretched along in every direction, and was just sufficiently tough to support a man, the bog moving up and down at every footstep. To add to the charm of the situation, the mosquitoes, prematurely disturbed from their afternoon siesta, rose in clouds from the rotten swamp, biting my face, neck, and hands most viciously. ”

“ They consider that he has absolutely no claims to legitimacy on any score, and half the members of that nation whom you meet will christen it either ‘Bastard Eland’ or ‘Bastard Gemsbok,’ both of which are equally ridiculous and inappropriate. Though the animal, when viewed critically, is on the whole imposing and even beautiful, when seen running it looks decidedly clumsy, and wanting in both proportion and elegance; yet the head, when well set up and viewed among other specimens of African fauna, has a striking and pleasing appearance. ”

“ The fine blending of colours on the face, the white switches of hair over the lachrymal glands standing out over the black of the cheeks, the fine rough neck, and the long queerly-shaped ears, all tend to give the head the wild game look it certainly possesses. The horns themselves, though nothing compared with those of the Waterbuck, Koodoos, and Sable, are beautifully annulated, and look quite in proportion. Ward gives the maximum of males as 33 inches, and females 301⁄2 inches. ”

“ Nicolls and Eglington, in their ‘Sportsman in South Africa,’ inform us that at the present time the Bushbuck is still plentiful in all the maritime divisions of the Cape Colony and Natal, wherever there are any considerable belts of thick bush. It is not usual to find more than a pair of adults together, and the animals seldom emerge from the impenetrable bush except at night-time, when they come out into the open glades to feed. ”

“ So perfectly does the voice of this singular species counterfeit the barking of a dog that the benighted wayfarer is said to have been decoyed by it into the most lonely depths of the forest, vainly hoping to discover some human habitation, whereas every step has but removed him further from the abodes of man. ”

“ Its general colour is brown with a darker back; legs black; tail above black, beneath white. The species is remarkable for the colour of the head, in which the top of the nose and a triangular spot in front of the eyes are black; the forehead is red; the outer sides of the ears, hinder part of the head, and under-jaw are brownish. Round the eye runs a broad white line, which extends towards the nose in sharp contrast to the black colour; a spot at the base of the ear and the insides of the ears are also white. ”

“ The tail is tufted, something like that of the domestic cow, but it is not so long in proportion, reaching only to the hocks. The color is a dark bluish grey, deepening to nearly black in very old individuals, while the legs are jet-black, curiously marked with white patches about the fetlocks. The throat is white, and from the lower part of it depends a long tuft of blackish hair, while the hair on the withers is developed into a thin upright mane.
“The cow is of a light brown colour, and is destitute of horns. The young males are like the females, but become gradually darker with age. ”

“ But there are many cases in which, either from imperfect evidence or from an insufficient supply of specimens, it is very difficult to decide whether a “local form,” as it may be termed, is better treated of as a species or as a subspecies. And in the present instance we have one of these cases before us. The Roan Antelope is very widely distributed in Africa. From the Cape Colony it extends all up the eastern side of the continent to British East Africa and Sennaar, and is also found on the west coast in Senegal, Togoland, Nigeria, and Angola. ”

“ It is, however, one of the largest and most conspicuous of the ruminants to be found in the plains, and no records of Indian sport would be complete without some notice of it.
“The bull is a large and powerful beast, attaining a height of at least 14 hands at the withers, which are high and narrow like those of a horse. The neck is long and compressed, and the head slender and deer-like, the eyes being remarkably full and lustrous. The hind-quarters fall away considerably, giving the animal rather an awkward appearance. The legs are slender and wiry, and the hoofs rather upright. ”

“ Wissels’ store, we forthwith entered the jungle, which extended to within a few yards of the kraal. From this we were not distant more than 200 yards before we saw fresh Inyala-spoor plainly imprinted in the wet ground. The rain at least had done us this service, that it had washed out all old spoor and rendered any fresh tracks quite conspicuous. We now commenced to creep very cautiously through the thick thorny bush, making our way for the most part through tunnels made by hippopotami during their night excursions in search of food. ”

“ Many living specimens of the Sable Antelope have been brought to Europe of late years. The first example, a male, reached our Zoological Society’s Gardens in 1861, and a second male in 1873. In 1895 a fine young pair were purchased of Mr. C. Reiche, of Alfeld, along with the young female Giraffe which arrived in February of that year. They have done well and are still thriving, but have not yet bred.
At the Zoological Gardens of Hamburg they have been more fortunate with this species, a fine calf having been born there on the 1st of May, 1894. ”