Chapter III: Part 3

_Hab._ South Africa, south of the Limpopo River, but extending
further north along the edge of the Kalahari Desert. Now nearly
extinct in the Cape Colony; still found in the Transvaal.

The Hartebeest was well known to Sparrmann and other travellers in the Cape Colony at the close of the last century. It was figured by Buffon in one of the supplementary volumes to his ‘Histoire Naturelle’ as the “_Caama ou Bubale_,” but was generally confounded by systematists with the Bubal of North Africa, until Georges Cuvier, in 1816, gave it the name of _Antilope caama_--“_Caama_” or “_Khama_” being the term applied to it by the Bechuanas. In the days of Sparrmann the Hartebeest was very abundant all over the Cape Colony, and was found in large troops even in the immediate vicinity of Cape Town.

In 1811, when Burchell visited South Africa, the Hartebeest appears to have become already much less abundant; but Burchell speaks of having met with it on the Gariep or Orange River and in other localities.

Twenty-five years later, when Harris made his celebrated sporting excursions into South Africa, the Hartebeest had retreated still further into the interior. But Harris speaks of it as being at that date still met with on the plains beyond the Orange River “in immense herds.” Sir Andrew Smith, who visited the Cape Colonies at about the same epoch, and who has figured the male of this Antelope in his well-known ‘Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa,’ speaks of the occurrence of the Hartebeest far in the interior. He killed specimens himself close to the Tropic of Capricorn, and had heard of its occurrence much further northwards. But, according to his observations, _Bubalis caama_ begins to get rare as soon as the Sassaby (_Damaliscus lunatus_) commences to occur. His experience justified him in pronouncing that the former took the place of the latter in all the territory northward of 25° south latitude. Sir Andrew Smith gives the following account of the habits of the Hartebeest:--

“The Hartebeest, by preference, inhabits an open country, and hence is generally observed upon the plains in small herds consisting of from six to ten individuals, and often, where the plains are extensive, many of such groups are to be seen within the range of the eye. It is a very wary animal, and views with strong suspicion the advance of man, so that, unless favoured by special circumstances, he finds it an animal difficult to procure. When disturbed, the herd generally scampers off in the train of some acknowledged leader, and they are rarely seen when flying, except in a string, one animal upon the heels of another. Their pace is a sort of heavy gallop, and though they do not appear to move with rapidity, yet the ground over which they go in a given time shows that their progressive motion is far from slow. When first they start, they appear extremely awkward, and generate in the observer an impression that to overtake them must be no very difficult task. After they have advanced a little, however, the apparent stiffness in the joints of the hinder extremities disappears, and even the indications of weakness of the hinder limbs become so indistinct, that the pursuer is soon satisfied of the inaccuracy of his first conclusion. This and the Sassaby are the only antelopes of South Africa which exhibit the peculiarity alluded to, and have led many to remark their resemblance in this respect to the Hyænas and Aard Wolf (_Proteles lalandii_). In all these animals there is a disproportion between the development of the anterior and posterior parts of the body, and each of them appears when in motion as if its hinder extremities were too weak for the duties they are destined to perform.”

We now come to the distribution of the Hartebeest in South Africa in more modern days. Mr. T. E. Buckley, who published some interesting notes on the range of the large Mammals in South Africa in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1876 and 1877, tells us that from being one of the commonest animals throughout the Cape Colony it had then become one of the rarest. He observed it only on three or four occasions during his journey into the interior--once just before reaching the Crocodile River, and once or twice in the Colony of Natal. In the south-east he says a few then still remained in the Zulu country, but he could not hear of its occurrence in Swaziland, where its place seemed to be taken by the Sassaby.

In 1881 the renowned hunter, Mr. F. C. Selous, in his “Field Notes on the Antelopes of Central South Africa,” read before the Zoological Society, described the present abode of the Hartebeest as follows:--“The range of this Antelope is very similar to that of the Gemsbuck. It is still found in Griqualand West, in some parts being fairly plentiful. All along the eastern border of the Kalahari desert it is also to be found, and extends as far east as the river Serule on the road from Bamangwato to Tati. In the neighbourhood of the salt-pans lying between the Botletlie river and the road from Bamangwato to the Zambesi it is very plentiful and may be met with in large herds. It does not, however, extend its range to the north of these salt-pans, and is unknown in all the country between the Chobe and Mababe rivers, as it is also in the Matabele and Mashuna countries. It is very fleet and enduring, and only second in these particulars to the Tsessebe.”

Our figure of this species was lithographed on the stone by Mr. J. Smit from a sketch made by Joseph Wolf, but we have been unable to ascertain from what exact specimen the sketch was taken.

There is a stuffed example of the Cape Hartebeest in the British Museum, obtained by the late Sir Andrew Smith during his journey to the Cape, probably the individual from which his figure in the ‘Illustrations’ was taken. There are also other specimens in the same collection, including the head of the curious hybrid between this species and the Sassaby (_Damaliscus lunatus_) described by Mr. Selous in 1893.

The Cape Hartebeest, though occasionally seen in zoological gardens, has never been a common animal in captivity. The Zoological Society of London received a single example in 1851, and a fine male in 1861, presented by Sir George Grey, then Governor of the Cape Colony. In 1869 a pair were obtained by purchase.

In May 1890 the Society acquired a good pair of Hartebeests imported from the Transvaal by the well-known dealer, Mr. C. Reiche, of Alfeld, in Hanover. These are still living in the Regent’s Park Gardens.

_May, 1894._

7. JACKSON’S HARTEBEEST.

BUBALIS JACKSONI, THOS.

(?) _Alcelaphus bubalis_, =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 296
(1859) (Bahr-el-Ghazal).

_Antilope caama_, =Schweinfurth,= Herz. von Afrika, i. p. 212
(woodcut) (head, ♂), ii. p. 533 (1873) (Niam-Niam); =id.= op.
cit. Engl. transl. ii. p. 509 (1873).

“_Hartebeest_,” =Speke=, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 3 (no doubt _B.
cokei_ is also referred to).

_Boselaphus_, sp., =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1864, p. 103.

_Acronotus caama_, =Heugl.= Reise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 123, pl.
lower figure (horns) (1877) (White Nile).

_Alcelaphus caama_, =Thomson=, Masai-land, p. 469 (1885)
(Elgeyo).

_Bubalis jacksoni_, =Thos.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) ix. p. 386
(1892) (Kavirondo); =Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 58, fig. (skull and
head) (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 196 (1893); =Jackson=,
Big Game Shooting, i. p. 291.

_Bubalis caama_, =Junker=, Travels in Afr. iii. p. 172 (1892)
(?).

_Alcelaphus jacksoni_, =Lugard=, E. Africa, i. p. 532, and pl.
p. 448 (head) (1893).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Ssongoro_ in Niam Niam; _Nakibbih_ in
Monbuttu (_Schweinfurth_); _Alwalwong_ of Djeng, White Nile
(_Heuglin_); _Ngazi_ in Uganda (_Lugard_).

Similar in most essential characters to _B. caama_, but the face is entirely without the black blaze always found in that species, being rufous like the rest of the head, and the horns are not so abruptly bent backwards above, the back of the last bend forming an even open curve. The body-colours of _B. jacksoni_ are, however, not yet accurately known, so that it is possible that other differences will hereafter be found to exist.

Skull: basal length 16 inches, greatest breadth 5·7, orbit to muzzle 12·7; facial length 17·5, breadth of forehead 4·2.

_Hab._ Interior of British Central Africa, north of Lake
Baringo; Uganda; and probably extending northwards to the White
Nile, and westwards into North-east Congoland.

This Hartebeest, which is the northern representative of _B. caama_, has been most appropriately named after Mr. Frederick John Jackson, F.Z.S., the successful conductor of the expedition of the Imperial British East African Company to Uganda in 1889 and 1890[5], and the discoverer of the species, which, when previously met with, had always been confounded with other members of the genus. It should be recollected that, besides his merits as a geographical explorer, Mr. Jackson is an ardent zoological collector and observer. The splendid series of birds which he obtained during the expedition just spoken of, and which embraced examples of nearly 300 species, has been described by Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe in five papers published in ‘The Ibis’ for 1891 and 1892. Dr. Sharpe’s account of this remarkable collection is rendered still more complete by Mr. Jackson’s excellent field-notes which accompany it. Mr. Jackson has also published some very interesting remarks on the Antelopes of British East Africa in one of the recently issued volumes of the Badminton Library upon ‘Big Game Shooting.’

If we assume, as is probable, that the Hartebeest of the Bahr-el-Ghazal belongs to this species, the first examples of it sent to Europe would be those obtained by Petherick in 1859, which were referred by the late Dr. Gray to the Bubal of North Africa. Of these specimens the only one retained by the British Museum is the skull of a female. Another similar specimen from the Bahr-el-Ghazal was sent to the British Museum in 1884 by the German collector Bohndorff. Heuglin also (Reise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 123) has spoken of the occurrence, on the Kir and Sobat rivers, of a Hartebeest allied to _B. caama_ of South Africa. It is quite clear, therefore, that either Jackson’s Hartebeest or a species closely allied to it is found in the White-Nile district, although we must await the arrival of fresh specimens from this country and further information before we can decide exactly what this Hartebeest is.

It is also probable that the “Central African Hartebeest” of Dr. Schweinfurth’s ’Im Herzen von Africa,’ and Junker’s “_Bubalis caama_,” met with in the Niam-Niam country, on the northern tributaries of the Congo, should both be referred to _Bubalis jacksoni_.

Thomas’s original characters of _Bubalis jacksoni_ were based on a specimen transmitted by Mr. Jackson to Messrs. Rowland Ward & Co., shot in November 1889 in Northern Kavirondo, which is now in the British Museum. In a note accompanying the specimen, in which he expresses a sagacious doubt as to “its being the same as the South-African animal,” Mr. Jackson adds:--“Up north all along the top of the Elgeyo Escarpment (continuation of Mau) into Turquel to the north and north-east of Mount Elgon it is very common, and takes the place of _B. cokei_. Round Baringo it is fairly plentiful, but some marches south of Njemps _B. cokei_ takes its place.”

Mr. Ernest Gedge, who accompanied Mr. Jackson in his adventurous expedition, has kindly furnished us with the following excellent field-notes on this Antelope:--

“The first specimens of Jackson’s Hartebeest were obtained on the Mau plateau in British East Africa. This plateau extends in a northern and southerly direction through the Masai country, and varies from 8000 to 9000 feet in elevation.

“West of Lake Naivasha the plateau is covered for the most part with dense, almost impenetrable forests, but farther north the scenery becomes more park-like, the forest clumps being intersected with grassy ranches, which open out on to the broad expanse of the Angata Nyuki, the latter extending right up to the eastern boundaries of Kavirondo. The whole of this district is frequented by _B. jacksoni_, which is also found north of Lake Naivasha in the localities bordering on Lakes Nakuro and Baringo north and west of these points; again, it inhabits the Suk country, Chibchangnani, Turquel, Karamojo, and possibly Turkana; whilst farther west it is common in the district round Mount Elgon, and is generally met with throughout Upper Kavirondo, Usoga, and Uganda, wherever the conditions are favourable.

“I have seldom encountered _B. jacksoni_ in large herds, though in habits it differs very little from other species of Hartebeest. More frequently it is met with in small groups, in twos and threes, or singly. It would appear to change its locality to a very great extent according to the seasons. Thus, during the dry months of the year it will be found plentifully scattered over the highlands, from whence it retreats to the low country at the approach of the rains. In illustration of this, I would mention that when on my journey to England in 1892, in the month of December, the lowlands at the foot of the escarpment were almost entirely deserted, whilst on the high plateau above I met with these Antelopes in great numbers.

“On my return journey in the month of July of the following year the Angata Nyuki had become very swampy, owing to the heavy rains, and was entirely deserted, save by one or two odd specimens, whereas the district around Lake Nakuro, in the low country, was fairly overrun by these Antelopes.

“When herding together these animals are commonly found (like _B. cokei_) in company with Zebras and other Antelopes, and I have frequently come across and shot Topi (_Damaliscus jimela_) amongst them, the latter being very numerous in the province of Buddu in Uganda.

“Like all Hartebeests, _B. jacksoni_ is, as a rule, very shy and difficult to approach--though, on one occasion, having gone considerably to the south of the ordinary caravan-route across the Angata Nyuki, I not only met with them in great numbers, but they were so little alarmed by my appearance in so unfrequented a locality, that they allowed me to walk right up to them, and even when fired at only ran for a short distance. They do not appear to patronize the bush country like _B. cokei_, though they frequent its vicinity.

“I remarked this specially when in Uganda, for on the only occasions on which I encountered _B. jacksoni_ there it was confined to certain open portions of the country bordering the Nile and a flat open plain of some 10 miles in diameter to the south of the Katonga River in the Buddu district, where I found it accompanied by Topi, Waterbuck, and Kob.

“It also, from all accounts, frequents the open tablelands bordering Unyoro and the Albert Nyanza, as well as the province of Bulamweze in Uganda, which presents somewhat similar characteristics.

“In appearance _B. jacksoni_ is larger and more strongly built than _B. cokei_, and varies in colour from a light golden brown to a dark tawny red, its coat being beautifully fine and glossy. It is easily distinguished by the great length of its head and the peculiar set of its horns, which rise almost perpendicularly from the frontal bones, and curve sharply backwards near the tips at almost a right angle.

“These Antelopes possess great tenacity of life, and I have known one to get clean away though struck with two 577 express bullets. On the other hand, if fairly hit in a vital spot they die very easily. The cows calve in November and December, and, so far as one can judge, give birth to only one at a time. The calves themselves are very hardy and vigorous little animals; and I have known of one, which could not have been born more than a week or so at the most, completely out-distance one of my men who tried to run it down in the open--and this in spite of the fact that one leg was partially deformed; but this may have been an exceptional instance.

“The Wa-Soga and Wa-Ganda dress the skins of these Antelopes very cleverly, turning them out as soft as wash-leather, and quite equal to anything that can be done in the London market.”

Front view of head of Jackson’s Hartebeest. 1/7 nat. size.]

As already pointed out, the horns of _B. jacksoni_ present a very general resemblance to those of its southern ally _B. caama_, and are at once distinguishable from those of the other members of the genus by the extreme elongation of the pedicle. But the horns of _B. jacksoni_ are not quite so abruptly bent backwards as those of _B. caama_, and its head is at once distinguishable from that of the Cape species by the entire absence of black on the face.

No complete specimen of the skin of _B. jacksoni_ having as yet been received, we are unable to give a coloured figure of this animal; but the accompanying woodcut (fig. 5, p. 43) represents the typical skull of this species in the British Museum.

There are no other specimens of this Antelope in the National Collection, except the doubtful heads of Petherick and Bohndorff already referred to.

_May, 1894._

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES. PL. V.

_Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._

Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest.

BUBALIS LICHTENSTEINI.

_Published by R. H. Porter_]

8. LICHTENSTEIN’S HARTEBEEST.

BUBALIS LICHTENSTEINI (PETERS).

[PLATE V.]

_Antilope lichtensteini_, =Pet.= Mitth. Ges. nat. Fr. Dec. 18,
1849; =id.= Säug. Mossamb. p. 190, pls. xliii. (skull) and xliv.
(animal) (1852); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Supp. v. p. 445 (1855);
=Gieb.= Säug. p. 298 (1859).

_Bubalis lichtensteini_, =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 195 (1853);
=Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 63, fig. (horns) (1892); =Nicholls & Egl.=
Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 46, pl. iv. fig. 14 (head) (1892); =Thos.=
P. Z. S. 1892, p. 533 (Nyasa), 1893, p. 504; =Scl.= P. Z. S.
1893, p. 506; =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 198 (1893); =Barkley=,
P. Z. S. 1894, p. 132 (Pungwe R.); =Jackson=, Big Game Shooting,
i. p. 290.

_Alcelaphus lichtensteini_, =Gerrard=, Cat. Bones Mam. B. M.
p. 243 (1862); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 44 (1872); =id.=
Hand-l. Rum. p. 115 (1873); =Buckley=, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 454
(distribution); =Selous=, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 763 (distribution);
=id.= Hunter’s Wanderings, p. 224, pl. vii. figs. 3 & 4 (head)
(1881); =Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 139
(1887); =Crawshay=, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 662 (Nyasa); =Lyd.= Field,
lxxvii. p. 858 (1891); =Lugard=, E. Afr. i. p. 532, pl. p. 440
(head) (1893).

_Boselaphus lichtensteini_, =Kirk=, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 660
(Shupanga).

_Alcelaphus caama_, =Noack=, Zool. JB. ii. p. 208 (1887); =id.=
op. cit. vii. p. 593 (1893).

_Alcelaphus caama_ and _A. lichtensteini_, =Noack=, JB. Mus.
Hamb. ix. p. 11 (1891).

_Bubalis leucoprymnus_, =Matsch.= SB. nat. Freund. 1892, p. 137
(?).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Konze_ of Masubias; _Inkulanondo_ of
Mashunas (_Selous_); _Gondo_ in Tette; _Gondongo_ at Sena and
Boror; _Vacca de mato_ of Portuguese (_Peters_); _Nkozi_ of
Ahenga; _Kangosa_ of Awanyakyusa (_Crawshay_).

Size rather large; height at withers about 48 inches. General colour fulvous, deeper and more rufous along the back. Chin, the usual tail-crest, and the front of the lower part of all four limbs black. Lower part of rump white or pale yellowish, contrasting markedly with the dark rufous of its upper surface. No anteorbital tuft present. Hairs of face reversed upwards from muzzle to horns, except on a median patch, about four inches long, between the eyes, where they slant downwards.

Skull with but little frontal elongation, the elevation bearing the horns much broader and shorter than in the majority of the true Hartebeests; on the other hand, the muzzle is unusually lengthened, so that the total facial length is about equal to that of _B. caama_. Basal length 14·7 inches, greatest breadth 7·2, muzzle to orbit 11·5, length of face 17, breadth of forehead 6·1.

Horns comparatively short and thick, curved first outwards, then upwards and inwards, and finally abruptly bent backwards, their terminal portions nearly or quite parallel with each other, and comparatively close together. The largest horns are just 20 inches in length.

_Hab._ East Africa, north of the Sabi River, throughout
Nyasaland and Mozambique to Usagara, opposite Zanzibar.

The late Dr. Wilhelm Peters, a distinguished zoologist, who explored different parts of the Portuguese territory of Mozambique from 1842 to 1848, was the discoverer of this Antelope, which he named after Lichtenstein, his not less celebrated predecessor in the keepership of the Royal Museum of Berlin, and a former well-known authority on this group of mammals. Peters gives as its locality the provinces of Tette, Sena, and Boror, from the 16th to the 18th degree of south latitude; and Sir John Kirk, in his notes on the ‘Mammals of Zambesi,’ published in 1864, says that “it is very common during the dry season in the forest of Shupanga and in Inhamunha, in small herds.” South of the Zambesi Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest appears to extend as far as the Pungue and Sabi Rivers. Messrs. Nicholls and Eglinton tell us that it is plentiful on the eastern course of the Sabi; and Mr. Buckley met with it in the rough grassy plains of the Upper Pungue Valley, in herds sometimes of considerable size. Mr. Buckley always observed these Antelopes on the open veldt, and found that they kept clear of the more hilly and timbered country.

The great hunter, Mr. F. C. Selous, met with this Antelope only on the open downs of the Manica plateau, north of the Zambesi, where it is called the “Konze.” He was a little doubtful about its identity with the “Inkulanondo” of South-eastern Mashunaland; but we believe that both the native names last mentioned refer alike to _Bubalis lichtensteini_. Mr. Selous makes the following remarks upon this species (P. Z. S. 1881, p. 764):--

“The Konze very closely resembles the Hartebeest of South Africa; the horns, however, are shorter and flatter at the base, and the forehead is not nearly so elongated. The black mark down the front of the face of the Hartebeest is also wanting in the Konze, where the colour is of a uniform light red. The general colour of the animal is a little lighter than that of the Hartebeest, the tail, knees, and front of all four legs being black. As in the Hartebeest, there is a patch of pale yellow on the rump; and the insides of thighs and belly are also of a very pale yellow. One old bull that I shot was of very rich dark red colour all along the back and the upper part of the sides. About a hand’s breadth behind each shoulder was a patch of dark grey about six inches in diameter. A female that I shot also had these grey patches behind the shoulders. In two other full-grown males these patches were wanting.”

Throughout Nyasaland, so far as it has yet been explored, Lichtenstein’s Antelope appears to be an abundant species; and Mr. R. Crawshay, our principal authority on the Antelopes of this country, tells us (P. Z. S. 1890, p. 663) that it is very generally met with in the hills, if not too steep and rocky, and also in the plains, but appears to prefer a flat or undulating woody district with intervening open glades. Mr. Crawshay adds the following account of his personal experience with this Antelope:--

“In 1883 I first met with this Antelope on the plains between the Kiwira and Insesi Rivers, in Makyusa’s country, at the north-west of the lake; there were just three in the troop, and with the help of another gentleman I was lucky enough to kill one--a nearly full-grown bull. In 1885 I saw several herds of these animals to the south-east of Nyasa, and between it and Lake Shirwa, and from all accounts they must be plentiful in the Yao country, to the east of the lake.

“On the West Coast, later in the same year, I came across a good many on the Kanjamwana River, and between Amuwa and Mpemba’s: here they usually consorted with Impalas; but on the same plains there were also to be seen in their company, from time to time, Water-bucks, Reed-bucks, and occasionally Koodoos and Elands. Inland from Bana to the north again, I was told there were Hartebeests, and I saw some heads of animals said to have been killed there.

“In 1889–90 I repeatedly saw a few in the low red-sandstone hills to the north of Chombi, between Makwawa’s and Afunanchenga’s, on the Hara River; here they generally went in company with Water-bucks or Zebras, and once I noticed three Hartebeests herding and feeding in the midst of some thirty or forty Water-bucks, all cows. Between Nkanga and Karonga’s, on the coast-line, and in all the intervening country between that and the Anyika Mountains, Hartebeests are commonly met with, notably at Vuwa, Mrali, and Taowira. At Nkanga, during my stay there, a cow was killed in a game-pit, and of this animal I secured the horns and frontal bone. As a rule, I have seen Hartebeests in herds numbering from half a dozen or even less to perhaps fifteen or twenty, but I never remember having come across more than that number. This Antelope possesses extraordinary vitality, and in this respect is very little behind the Water-buck.”

Mr. B. L. Sclater, R.E., who has recently passed two years in the Shiré Highlands, and has traversed nearly every part of that district[6], informs us that he considers this Hartebeest to be the commonest of the larger Antelopes there, after the Waterbuck. He met with it in all parts of the country, more frequently in the open districts, but also in the wooded valley of the Shiré, sometimes singly, and at other times in larger or smaller herds. On the Tochila plains under Mount Milanji, at an elevation of about 2000 feet, in November 1891 he saw a large herd of this Antelope mixed with Zebras.

From Nyasaland, so far as we can make out, Lichtenstein’s Antelope extends northwards to the plains of the Wami River opposite Zanzibar, where Sir John Kirk procured specimens, which are now in his collection. In the hills of Usagara, north-east of this district, _B. lichtensteini_ is replaced by _B. cokei_, as already mentioned in our article on the latter species. Herr P. Matschie, of Berlin, considers the Hartebeest of German East Africa, which he says extends as far north as the Pangani River, to be different from _B. lichtensteini_ (although he admits that the horns of the two species very closely resemble each other), and proposes to call it _B. leucoprymnus_. We are not, however, with due respect to Herr Matschie’s views, yet prepared to recognize _B. leucoprymnus_ as distinct from _B. lichtensteini_, though we fully admit the possibility of being obliged hereafter, by future evidence, to alter our opinion on this point.

Skull of _Bubalis lichtensteini_, ♂.

(Brooke.)]

The main distinguishing feature of Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest is the short and thick basal portion of its horns, which induces us to place it in a section by itself, and which renders it easily recognizable from the seven preceding species of this genus. This character is well shown in the accompanying woodcuts (figs. 6 _a_ and 6 _b_). Figure 6 _a_, prepared under the superintendence of Sir Victor Brooke, shows the skull of a male of this species; fig. 6 _b_, p. 50 (which has been kindly lent to us by the Zoological Society of London) represents, as we now believe, the skull of a female, though originally supposed by Mr. Crawshay to belong to a young male.

Skull of _Bubalis lichtensteini_, ♀.

(P. Z. S. 1890, p. 662.)]

Our coloured figure of this Antelope (Plate V.) was prepared by Mr. Smit from a male specimen (now in the British Museum) which was shot on the River Sabi by Mr. Selous in July 1885. Besides this, the National Collection contains a stuffed female from the same locality, and a series of skulls and skins from Nyasaland, transmitted by Mr. H. H. Johnston, C.B., F.Z.S., and other specimens from the Manica plateau (_Selous_) and Usagara (_Kirk_).

_May, 1894._

GENUS II. DAMALISCUS.

Type.

_Damalis_, =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 233
(1846), et auctorum plurimorum, nec Ham. Sm. =D. LUNATUS.=

_Damaliscus_, nomen novum =D. PYGARGUS.=

Similar in most essential characters to _Bubalis_, but distinguished by the frontals being quite normal, and not drawn upwards and backwards to form a horn-support. As a result the parietal surface of the skull faces upwards instead of backwards, and is easily visible between the horns in a vertical view of the skull.

The horns practically form a single simple or slightly lyrate curve in all the species, except _D. hunteri_, and in this, although there is a double sigmoid curve, no approximation is shown to the peculiarly abrupt double curvature characteristic of _Bubalis_.

_Range of the Genus._ Africa south of the Atlas.

As in the previous genus, the species of _Damaliscus_, seven in number, may be divided into groups based on the curvature and direction of the horns, as follows:--

A. Horns with a double curve, slanting outwards and upwards, then
bending slightly downwards almost at once, while their long
points are again directed upwards 1. _D. hunteri._

B. Horns evenly curved backwards or slightly lyrate; the tips only
recurved upwards.

_a._ No white blaze on face 2, 3, 4. _D. korrigum_,
_D. tiang_, _D. jimela_.

_b._ Face with a white blaze 5, 6. _D. pygargus_,
_D. albifrons_.

C. Horns starting laterally outwards, with a single lunate curve
upwards and backwards 7. _D. lunatus._

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES. PL. VI.

_Smit Lith._ _Hanhart imp._

Hunter’s Antelope

DAMALISCUS HUNTERI.

_Published by R. H. Porter_]

9. HUNTER’S ANTELOPE.

DAMALISCUS HUNTERI (SCL.).

[PLATE VI.]

_Damalis hunteri_, =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1889, p. 58 (woodcut of
head), and p. 372, pl. xlii. (animal) (Tana R.); =Hunter=, in
Willoughby’s E. Africa, p. 290, pl. iv. fig. 6 (head) (1889).

_Alcelaphus hunteri_, =Lyd.= Field, lxxvii. p. 858, fig. (head)
(1891).

_Alcelaphus (Damalis) hunteri_, =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 336
(1891).

_Bubalis hunteri_, =Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 70, fig. (head) (1892);
=Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 200, fig. 40 (head) (1893).

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Herola_ of Gallas (_Hunter_).

Size medium, form more delicate and graceful than in most of the other species. Facial hairs wholly reversed upwards from the muzzle to the horns.

Colour uniform rufous, with no darker markings anywhere, on face, chin, or limbs, and the caudal crest even, black in every other species, is here wholly white. On the face, however, there is a well-defined white line passing from one eye to the other across the forehead. Lower part of rump not markedly lighter than upper.

Skull slender and lightly built. Basal length 12·9 inches, greatest breadth 5·2, muzzle to orbit 9·1.

Horns quite different from those of any other species; at their base they start upwards, then curve down and out, then diverge and slant backwards, and finally they curve evenly forwards, so that their terminal halves point directly upwards. In general form, therefore, they present a slight resemblance to those of the Pallah, a very different animal in all other respects. Good male horns attain a length of 20 to 25 inches (largest recorded 26¼ inches) measured round the curve, but female horns are in this species but little inferior to male.

_Hab._ Southern Somaliland, north bank of River Tana.

Head of _Damaliscus hunteri_.

(P. Z. S. 1889, p. 373.)]

We take this species of _Damaliscus_ first in the present work because it is clearly divergent from the typical members of the genus, as seen in the Blessbok and Bontebok, and approaches in some respects the genus _Bubalis_. It is, however, as already pointed out, quite different from all the other species of both these genera in the shape of its horns, and is also unique in exhibiting the curious white line between the eyes across the forehead, which renders it easily recognizable.

Skull and horns of _Damaliscus hunteri_, ♂ ad.

(P. Z. S. 1889, p. 374.)]

Skull and horns of _Damaliscus hunteri_, ♀ ad.

(P. Z. S. 1889, p. 375.)]

Hunter’s Antelope has been called after its discoverer Mr. H. C. V. Hunter, F.Z.S., who met with it under the following circumstances:--

In the year after Sir Robert Harvey’s celebrated sporting-expedition to Kilimanjaro (in 1886–87), of which Sir John Willoughby has given us the history in his well-known volume on ‘East Africa and its Big Game,’ Sir Robert returned to Mombasa in company with Mr. Greenfield and Mr. Hunter, and, after another visit to the “Hunter’s Paradise of Taveta,” near Kilimanjaro, made a second trip, in quest of sport, up the valley of the River Tana, which forms the northern boundary of the dominions of the Imperial British East-African Company. Of this excursion Sir Robert prepared a short account, which has been printed as an appendix to the above-mentioned work. The party arrived at the mouth of the Tana in September, and proceeded up the river in boats to Golbanto, where they were hospitably received at the mission-station on the river. Leaving Golbanto on September 28th they reached, about ten days later, a village called Durani, some 150 miles from the mouth of the river. Here on the north bank Mr. Hunter, on October 16th, shot the first specimen of the Antelope which now bears his name, and immediately proceeded to take the photograph of its head, from which the accompanying engraving (fig. 7 _a_, p. 54) was taken. Other examples of this species were subsequently procured by Mr. Hunter and Mr. Greenfield. These include two heads (male and female) which are now in Sclater’s custody, and on which he established the species, and the mounted specimen which is now in the gallery of the British Museum. We are not aware that besides the examples procured on this occasion any other specimens of this rare and interesting Antelope have ever been brought to Europe.

The female Hunter’s Antelope differs from the male in its rather smaller size and in its longer and more slender horns, as shown in the accompanying woodcuts (figs. 7 _b_ and 7 _c_) kindly lent to us by the Zoological Society of London.

Mr. Hunter’s field notes on this Antelope (as supplied by him to Sclater) are as follows:--

“We first met with this Antelope about 150 miles up the Tana River. It is only found for certain on the north bank of the river. It frequents the grassy plains principally, but I have also often seen it in thin thorny bush. It is generally met with in herds of from 15 to 25 individuals.

“At the time of the year when I came across them (October and November) I saw several young ones in the herds. The banks of the Tana River are fringed with a thin belt of forest, then the ground rises slightly and one sees extensive plains dotted here and there with large patches of bush, composed principally of euphorbias and aloes. The Lesser Koodoo (_Strepsiceros imberbis_) lives principally in these patches, and feeds outside of them in the early mornings and evenings. When I first saw the new Antelope I was stalking two examples of _Gazella walleri_, and though I saw the Hunter’s Antelope in the distance I mistook them for Impálas, which, however, are not found on the Tana on either bank.

“It was only when I fired at the Gazelles, and the Hunter’s Antelopes (a pair of young males) ran away, that I noticed that they were something new to me. They ran with rather a heavy gallop, like a Hartebeest. I then had a very long track after them, and managed to kill the young male which I first sent you.

“We did not come across these Antelopes again for some days, but then met with them in large numbers and got several specimens. They seemed to me to have more vitality than any other Antelope I have ever killed. This species certainly does not extend down to the coast, but we saw them as far as the furthest point we reached (about 250 miles) up the river, at a place called Mussa. Their Galla name is ‘_Herola_,’ not ‘_Haranta_’ as given in your original description.”

_May, 1894._

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. VII.

_Wolf del. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._

The Korrigum.

DAMALISCUS KORRIGUM.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

10. THE KORRIGUM.

DAMALISCUS KORRIGUM (OGILB.).

[PLATE VII.]

_Antilope senegalensis_, =Children=, Denh. & Clapp. Trav., App.
p. 192 (1826) (_nec_ Cuv.); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. v. p. 447
(1855).

_Damalis senegalensis_, =Ham. Sm.= Griff. Cuv. An. K. iv. p.
351, v. p. 363 (1827); =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 233
(1846); =id.= List Ost. B. M. p. 59 (1847); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850,
p. 140; =id.= Knowsl. Men. p. 21, pl. xxi. (♀) (1850); =Gerr.=
Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 244 (1862); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt.
1, p. 181 (1869); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 45 (1872); =id.=
Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 115 (1873); =Matschie=, Nat. Wochenschr.
1894, p. 417.

_Antilope korrigum_, =Ogilb.= P. Z. S. 1836, p. 103.

_Damalis korrigum_, =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 158 (1843);
=id.= List Ost. B. M. p. 145 (1847).

_Bubalis senegalensis_, =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 195 (1853);
=Brehm=, Thierl. iii. p. 217, plate (animal) (1880).

_Alcelaphus senegalensis_, =Lyd.= Field, lxxvii. p. 858 (1891).

_Bubalis korrigum_, =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 201 (1893).

VERNACULAR NAME:--_Korrigum_ in Bornou (_Denham & Clapperton_).

Size medium. General colour reddish fawn, with distinct black patches on face, shoulders, hips, and thighs. No dorsal dark line, and no dark markings on feet. Tail barely reaching to hock, its terminal third with a blackish crest along the top.

Skull heavily built; its basal length (♂) 14·8 inches, greatest breadth 5·7, muzzle to eye 10·8.

Horns thick, rising abruptly upwards and backwards from the skull, and evenly curving backwards, diverging as they go; their extreme tips showing a tendency to be recurved upwards. Good male horns are of a length over the curves of 21 inches.

This and the two next species are very closely allied in all their essential characters; but their colour-differences appear to be sufficiently constant in their respective localities to entitle them to specific recognition.

_Hab._ Senegambia and the interior of West Africa.

The Antelope described by Buffon, in his ‘Histoire Naturelle,’ as the “Koba”[7] or “Grande Vache Brune” of Senegal, has proved a great stumbling-block to naturalists. This has been largely due to the fact that Buffon appended to his description of the Koba the figure of some horns from a totally different source, and clearly of a different animal, which, indeed, we believe to have been simply those of the Pallah (_Æpyceros melampus_). Not noticing this confusion, many good authorities have identified the Koba with the present species, while others have been inclined to refer it, owing to the figure of the horns erroneously given by Buffon, to the Bontebok of the Cape and to other Antelopes. The description by itself is quite unrecognizable, and under the circumstances, as the matter must ever remain uncertain, the best course seems to be to ignore Buffon’s animal altogether, and to reject the specific names _koba_ and _senegalensis_ that have been founded upon it; although there can be no doubt that the Korrigum, as now described, is the _Antilope_ and _Damalis senegalensis_ of Children, Hamilton Smith, Gray, and many other authors.

This being decided, the proper name to adopt for this Antelope will be _korrigum_ of Ogilby. Ogilby proposed this name in a communication made to the Zoological Society of London in 1836, basing it on the head and horns brought home from Bornou by Denham and Clapperton on their return from their celebrated expedition into Central Africa in 1822–24. This skull is still in the collection of the British Museum.

About the year 1840 Whitfield, a collector employed by Lord Derby to procure living animals for his private Menagerie, obtained specimens of the Korrigum from the vicinity of Macarthy’s Island on the River Gambia, and brought them safely to Knowsley. Here they seem to have thriven and reproduced their kind, for on reference to the ‘Gleanings’ (published in 1850) there will be found a beautiful coloured figure by Waterhouse Hawkins of a mother and young of this Antelope drawn from life. It is a great misfortune that so few records were ever kept or, at all events, ever published of the many fine and rare animals living in this splendid collection. In the Derby Museum, now at Liverpool, are two mounted specimens of this Antelope--we believe the only perfect examples in this country. They are, no doubt, individuals formerly living in the Knowsley Menagerie.

Herr Matschie is inclined to believe that certain specimens of a _Damaliscus_ recently obtained by German collectors on the north and west of Lake Victoria should be referred to the present species, and not to _D. jimela_. This, if correct, would indicate a much greater extension of the area of the Korrigum towards the east than we should consider to be probable, and further evidence on the subject is much wanted.

Besides the skulls of both sexes obtained in Bornou by Denham and Clapperton, there are other skulls of this species in the National Collection, procured by Whitfield on the Gambia, and, more recently, in the same district by Dr. Percy Rendall. We much regret that we have no further details to offer upon this fine and interesting Antelope, of the life-history of which, as is the case with most of the West-African Antelopes, we know exceedingly little. The figure of this species (Plate VII.) was put upon the stone by Mr. Smit from a drawing by Mr. Wolf, probably taken from the specimens at Liverpool; but upon this point we are not quite certain.

_January, 1895._

11. THE TIANG.

DAMALISCUS TIANG (HEUGL.).

_Bubalus lunatus_, =Sund.= K. Vet.-Ak. Hand-l. 1842, pp. 201 &
243 (1843) (_nec_ Burch.).

_Bubalis koba_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Hand-l. 1844, p. 209
(1846); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p.
159; Reprint, p. 83 (1848) (_nec_ Erxl.).

_Damalis tiang_, =Heugl.= Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act.
Leopold. xxx. pt. ii.) p. 22, pl. 1. fig. 1 (head) (♂) (1863);
=Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 181 (1869); =Matsch.= SB. nat.
Freund. Berl. 1892, p. 136 (distribution).

_Damalis tiang-riel_, =Heugl.= tom. cit. p. 23, pl. ii. fig. 9
(horns) (♀); =Fitz.= loc. cit.

_Damalis senegalensis_, =Heugl.= tom. cit. p. 22; =Gray=, Ann.
Mag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 296 (1859) (Bahr-el-Ghazal, Petherick);
=Baker=, Ismailia, pp. 68, 74.

_Antilope senegalensis_, =Emin=, Reise-Briefen, p. 144 (Magungo)
(?).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Tiang_ and _Tian_ (_Heuglin_).

Size rather smaller than that of the Korrigum. General colour purplish red; the face, a line beneath the eye, another along the nape and back brown or black; front of the limbs and tip of the tail deep black.

Skull with a comparatively short nasal region, the nasal bones themselves unusually short and broad. Measurements (♀):--basal length 13·8 inches, greatest breadth 5·75, muzzle to eye 10·2.

Horns as in the Korrigum; those of a female 20·5 inches in length over the curve.

The colour-characters above given are taken from Heuglin’s description and figure, as no skin has been seen by us. A skull obtained by Consul Petherick on the Bahr-el-Ghazal has, however, furnished the cranial dimensions.

_Hab._ Sennaar, Kordofan, and Bahr-el-Ghazal.

The Tiang, as the well-known German traveller and naturalist Theodor von Heuglin proposed to call this Antelope, after its native name, is a representative form of the Korrigum in the upper valley of the Nile, and, so far as we are acquainted with it at present, agrees in all essential respects with its West-African ally, except in its slightly smaller bulk, and some differences in the black markings on the face and limbs. The Tiang, Topi, and Korrigum have been until lately generally regarded as conspecific; but in 1892 Herr Paul Matschie, of the Royal Natural History Museum of Berlin, came to the conclusion that previous authors had been in error in uniting the present animal and its allied forms of West and East Africa respectively under one head, and that they should be distinguished as different species. We follow Herr Matschie’s lead on this question, and have little doubt that his views will ultimately prove to be correct, although, from the great scarcity of specimens of all these Antelopes in European collections, it is not possible at present to arrive at a positive decision.

Skull of _Damaliscus tiang_, ♀.]

The Stockholm Museum appears to have been the first to receive examples of this Antelope; but Sundevall referred them first of all to the Sassaby (_Bubalis lunata_), and, when he found that this was quite wrong, named them _Bubalis koba_, supposing them to be identical with the West-African Korrigum. Sundevall’s specimens were received from Sennaar, and are accurately described in his classical memoir on the “Pecora.”

As already mentioned, v. Heuglin met with this Antelope during his lengthened explorations on the Upper Nile and its affluents. He described it in his memoir on the Antelopes and Buffaloes of North-east Africa (published in 1863 in the ‘Nova Acta’ of the Leopoldino-Carolinian Academy) as _Damalis tiang_, and tells us that it is one of the commonest Antelopes on the Sobat, Ghasal, and Kir rivers. He gives a coloured figure of its head. Whether v. Heuglin’s _Damalis tiang-riel_, described in the same memoir (based on some horns from the Bahr el Abiad), is referable to the Tiang is not quite certain, but Sclater, who has examined the horns upon which the species was founded, now in the Naturalien-Cabinet of Stuttgardt, believes them to be so.

The only other explorer of these distant regions who has sent home examples of the Tiang is, so far as we know, Petherick, from whom skulls of an immature male and an adult female of this Antelope were received by the British Museum in 1859. The latter are represented in the accompanying figure (fig. 8).

Besides Petherick, Sir Samuel Baker appears to have met with the Tiang during his journey along the Upper Nile (see ‘Ismailia,’ i. pp. 68–74); and the _Antilope senegalensis_ of Emin Pasha (‘Reise-Briefen,’ p. 144), which he encountered near Magungo, on the Albert Nyanza, may probably be referable to this species.

_January, 1895._

12. THE TOPI.

DAMALISCUS JIMELA (MATSCH.).

_Damalis senegalensis_, =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1886, p. 176 (Lamu);
=Noack=, Zool. JB. ii. p. 208 (1887); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1890,
p. 354 (woodcuts of head and horns, excl. all synonyms, which
mostly belong to _D. korrigum_ and _D. tiang_); =Kirk=, ap.
=Scl.= l. c. p. 357, footnote (distribution); =Ward=, Horn Meas.
p. 64, fig. (head) (1892).

_Damalis jimela_, =Matsch.= SB. nat. Fr. Berl. 1892, p. 135.

_Bubalis jimeru_, =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 203 (1893).

_Alcelaphus senegalensis_, =Lugard=, E. Africa, i. p. 532, pl.
p. 448 (head) (1893).

_Senegal Antelope_, =Willoughby=, East Afr. p. 283 (Tana River).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Jimela_ of Uniamwezi (_Matschie_); _Topi_,
_Tope_, or _Topee_ of Swahili; _Nemira_ of Uganda (_Lugard_).

Size small, height at withers 43–44 inches. Fur very short and close, but mingled with it there are numerous patches of longer hairs, so that a somewhat brindled appearance is produced. General colour a peculiar purplish brown, blackish on face and chin, shoulders, and round the upper fore legs and thighs, but these darker markings are not really black and are not sharply defined. Hams scarcely lighter than the rest. Limbs and feet without dark patches, except that the backs of the pasterns are black. Fur on face directed upwards, from the extreme tip between the nostrils up to the horns, without break. Tail reaching just to the hock, its terminal half black-crested.

Skull comparatively small, with an unusually long nasal region; the nasal bones very long and narrow. Basal length (♀) 13·3 inches, greatest breadth 5·2, muzzle to orbit 9·5.

Horns as in the Korrigum, but shorter and slenderer; those of a female 16·4 inches in length.

_Hab._ British East-African coast, from the River Juba to the
River Sabaki, and extending thence into Uganda and Uniamwezi.

The “Topi,” as we propose to designate another local representative of the Korrigum, from the native name given to it by the Swahili, has been known for some years to the sportsmen who have visited British and German East Africa as an abundant Antelope in certain districts, and has been generally called by them the “Senegal Antelope,” from being supposed to be the same as the “Korrigum.” But, as Herr Matschie first pointed out, it differs from the typical Senegal form in the absence of the black band on the inner side of the thigh, in the front legs being black down to the hoofs, and in the restriction of the black on the hinder flanks to the hips.

So far as we know, Sir John Kirk, then Consul-General at Zanzibar, was the first to obtain examples of this fine Antelope on the East Coast. Sir John has kindly supplied us with the following notes on this species:--

“The ‘Tope,’ or Senegal Antelope, was very common on the maritime plain of Formosa Bay when I first went to Zanzibar in 1866; before I left, in 1886, it had become rather rare near the coast. On the maritime plain it used to be seen in numerous herds of from 5 to 20. The herds of Tope generally kept alone, but you would see the herds of _Gazella granti_ grazing near by. I am, however, not satisfied that this Gazelle was the real _Gazella granti_, for the horns seem to show a permanent difference of sweep.

“However, to return to the Tope, I may say that I shot it again on the south bank of the River Juba.

“The River Sabaki (near Malindi) is, so far as I know, the southern limit of the species _on the coast_; I have little doubt that further inland it may be met with further south, just as you find the Oryx, the Vulturine Guinea-fowl, and other species (which never occur south of the River Sabaki _on the coast_), to be common if you go inland, and in a latitude far south of Malindi, such as at Mpwapwa in Usagara.

“The Tope was at one time so common near Witu, and in the district about Lamu, as to supply a considerable number of hides that were exported from Zanzibar.”

In 1885 Mr. F. J. Jackson obtained examples of this Antelope near Lamu, and transmitted to Lord Walsingham a head, which Sclater exhibited at one of the Zoological Society’s meetings in 1886. During his subsequent stay in British East Africa and on his journey to Uganda Mr. Jackson again met with this Antelope, and tells us (‘Big Game Shooting,’ vol. i. p. 291) that it is the “commonest species in the Galla country, and ranges from the coast right away N.E. to Uganda, passing round to the north of Mount Kenia, but is not known either in Leikipia or south of Lake Baringo.”

Skull of _Damaliscus jimela_, from Lamu.

(P. Z. S. 1890, p. 356.)]

Head of _Damaliscus jimela_, from Malindi.

(P. Z. S. 1890, p. 355.)]

In 1890 Sclater exhibited at one of the meetings of the Zoological Society a head of this Antelope obtained near Malindi by Commander Montgomerie, R.N.

At that time Sclater did not distinguish between this species and the two allied forms, and referred them all three to _Damalis senegalensis_, which he believed to extend from Senegal to the east coast.

Mr. Ernest Gedge, the companion of Mr. Jackson in his Uganda expedition, has favoured us with the following interesting notes on this Antelope:--

“Though the Topee ranges over a very wide extent of the country in the sphere of British East Africa, it is met with in no great numbers between the coast and the Victoria Lake. The nearest point to the coast-line at which I have seen and obtained specimens was a short distance north of Kikumbuliu, on the borders of the Kiboko River. In this district it is only occasionally met with, and is generally found in company with Hartebeest. Further north, in the vast plains amongst the stony hills of Turquel and Karamojo, and round the bases of Mts. Elgon and Lekakisera, it is fairly common, scattered in twos and threes amongst the herds of Hartebeest. Further northwards, in the countries lying to the west and north of Uganda proper, and indeed throughout the whole district bordering the Victoria Nyanza in this direction, it is very common, and on one occasion when traversing a plain of considerable extent in the district of Buddu I encountered several fine herds of this Antelope. It differs very little from the Hartebeest in its general habits, and, like them, it is usually shy and difficult to approach. It is easily distinguished from the latter species by the rich dark bluish-brown coat, the smaller head, and the shape of its horns, which have, on more than one occasion, caused it to be mistaken for the Sable Antelope (_Hippotragus niger_). It appears to be equally at home in swampy localities as on the dry open plains, though it shows a certain partiality for those districts which afford some cover.”