Chapter V: Part 5

“In East Africa, near the coast, in the places above-named where I found this Antelope, it never occurs in numbers, but is often associated as an attendant on other game, especially upon Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest. It often causes annoyance to the sportsman by giving warning of his approach to the other Antelopes.

“I believe this Gnu suffered from the recent cattle-disease which during the last four years has decimated the Buffalo, the Giraffe, the Eland, and many other kinds of game, not affecting, however, the Rhinoceros, and certain other animals. This disease seems to have killed off different classes of animals in different localities, attacking universally, wherever it appeared, the cattle of the natives.

“Thousands of hides of cattle that have died of this plague have been freely imported into Europe and America; the disease has travelled from Somali-land to Nyasa-land, and yet we do not know its nature. Some say it is anthrax, others that it is pleuro-pneumonia; but whether it is a disease that can be communicated by the dried hides of the diseased animals has not been ascertained. In Somali-land and Masai-land it has worked itself out, and it may stop short of the Cape Colony and not cross the Zambezi; but in the meantime it has decimated the African Game, and left its mark by changing the whole life of the pastoral peoples who depended on their cattle alone.”

In British East Africa the Brindled Gnu (here called by the Swahilis “_Nyumbo_”) is well-known to the sportsmen who have visited the happy hunting-grounds of Kilimanjaro. Sir John Willoughby and his friends found it principally to the north-east of the mountain “in large herds.” Mr. F. J. Jackson (‘Big Game Shooting’) tells us it is more plentiful in the Useri district to the north-east of Kilimanjaro, and on the Athi plains to the north and west of Machakós, than anywhere else. In the latter place, on August 5, 1890, he and his companions “saw an enormous herd of 1500”; but this was “quite unusual, as they are rarely found in herds of more than from twenty to sixty.” But it is possible that some of Mr. Jackson’s observations may refer to the following species, as when he wrote them he did not distinguish the two animals.

Mr. Jackson gives the following advice to the Gnu-hunter:--“Wildebeests are amongst the most difficult beasts to stalk, owing to the open nature of the country in which they are found, and will probably try the sportsman’s patience more than any other Antelope. They will stand gazing at him, and will sometimes allow him to get within a range of 200 yards, if he pretends to walk past them, though in reality closing in upon them in a semicircle; but directly he stops to take a shot they will shake their heads in the most defiant way, and with a few snorts and flicks of their mule-like tails, kick up their heels and caper off jauntily. As they will, as a rule, pull up a short way off, the sportsman will have the annoyance of again adopting the same tactics, with probably like results, until he might almost believe that the Wildebeest is enjoying itself at his expense. He should, however, avoid risking a long shot (the Wildebeest is an extremely tough brute, and will go for miles when wounded in such a way as would soon bring other game to a standstill), since after two or three fruitless attempts if no shot is fired its suspicions will become allayed, and it will probably stand sufficiently long to give him a good chance.”

The Brindled Gnu is not so commonly met with in Zoological Gardens as the White-tailed species. It is generally considered to be a rarer animal in the market, and the dealers ask a larger price for it. We are informed that a pair of Brindled Gnus bred in the Zoological Gardens at Breslau in 1886 or 1887. The only specimen ever received by the Zoological Society, so far as we can make out, was a female purchased in 1859. In the continental Gardens it has been better represented, and the collections at Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Berlin usually contain specimens of this Antelope. These have been, in many cases, obtained from Mr. Reiche, of Alfeld, who has received several examples of this Gnu among his recent importations of living animals from the Transvaal.

In the British Museum the Brindled Gnu is represented by one of Burchell’s typical examples, as already mentioned, and by an adult male received from Sir Andrew Smith. Both these are mounted specimens. There are likewise a skeleton, obtained by Mr. Selous in Mashonaland in 1885, and a set of skulls and horns in the same collection.

Our Plate of this animal was put on the stone by Mr. Smit from a sketch made by Mr. Wolf. For the use of the woodcut (fig. 13, p. 98), drawn by the celebrated German artist Mützel, we are indebted to the kindness of Messrs. Warne and Co., by whom it has been used in their ‘Royal Natural History’ (vol. ii. p. 314).

_January, 1895._

17. THE WHITE-BEARDED GNU.

CONNOCHÆTES ALBOJUBATUS, THOS.

_Catoblepas_ sp. inc., =Hengl.= Ant. u. Buff. N.O.-Afr., N. Act.
Leop. xxx. pt. ii. p. 24 (1868) (Sennaar)?

_Connochætes gnu_, =Hunter=, in Willoughby’s E. Afr. p. 288
(1889)?

_Connochaætes taurinus albojubatus_, =Thos.= Ann. Mag. N. H.
(6) ix. p. 388 (1892); =Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 75, fig. (head and
skull) (1892).

_Connochætes taurina_, =Lugard=, E. Afr. i. p. 540, pl. p. 530
(animal) (1893).

Similar in size and coloration to _C. taurinus_, except that the general tone is paler, especially on the cheeks and rump, and the throat-mane instead of being black is of a dirty yellowish-white colour. A few whitish hairs are also intermixed with the black of the dorsal mane.

The skull is shorter and broader than in _C. taurinus_, especially in the region of the muzzle, and the horns are placed further back on the head, so that the palm surpasses the back of the skull posteriorly by nearly half its breadth. The palm is also more tipped up behind away from the skull, and is much knobbier, on which account the hinder edge of the horns forms a more serpentine curve.

The dimensions of the typical skull are as follows:--basal length 16 inches, greatest breadth 7·6, muzzle to eye 12·1.

_Hab._ East Africa, Athi plains, Ukambani, north of Kilimanjaro,
and west side of Victoria Nyanza.

As we have already stated, this form, although otherwise agreeing in nearly every point with the Brindled Gnu, is readily distinguishable by its white mane, white jaw-tufts, and the generally paler colour. But whether we ought to classify it as a separate species, or as a subspecies, or only as a variety of the Brindled Gnu future researches only can decide. We know as yet too little of its exact range and mode of occurrence to be able to settle this question, nor is there a sufficient series of specimens available. If it should be found hereafter that beyond a certain boundary in Eastern Africa all the Gnus met with are of the White-bearded form, and that along this line of junction there are transitional forms between this and the ordinary Brindled Gnu, we should do well to allow it merely subspecific rank. If, on the other hand, it shall be found that the White-bearded Gnu occurs side by side with the Brindled Gnu without mixing or interbreeding with that animal, we shall have to count it as a full species.

Skull of _Connochætes albojubatus_, ♂.]

Thomas, in 1892, based his _Connochætes taurinus albojubatus_ on a head in Mr. F. J. Jackson’s collection, at that time under the care of Messrs. Rowland Ward and Co., but since kindly presented by Mr. Jackson to the National Collection. Thomas, from erroneous information, gave the locality as “Uganda,” but we have since ascertained that this and another specimen, still in Mr. Jackson’s possession, were obtained on the Athi plains north of Kilimanjaro. Mr. Gedge assures us that no Gnus at all were met with by Mr. Jackson and himself in Uganda.

Mr. Gedge has kindly supplied the following notes on his experiences with the Gnus of British East Africa:--

“Both the Blue Wildebeeste and Jackson’s Wildebeeste are found in British East Africa, and are to be met with in great numbers on the Athi plains north of Ukambani. Of the two, the blue variety is, perhaps, more usually met with, though I would remark that on my upward journey to Uganda, in December 1892, I only encountered a few solitary specimens of the Blue form in a part where they are generally seen in hundreds, whereas on my downward journey, in the month of August of the following year, the same locality was entirely tenanted by Jackson’s Wildebeeste, which on this occasion were so tame that I was able to literally walk right in amongst them and knock them down with a small Winchester. This was really the one and only occasion that I have met with this latter variety in any great numbers. On the other hand, the Blue Wildebeeste will be found more or less commonly distributed over the Leikipia and Mau plateaux. It probably ranges over a very wide extent of country to the northwards, though I cannot remember having seen any Wildebeestes at all north of Lake Baringo. At the same time its non-appearance on the occasion of my visit may doubtless very easily be accounted for by the excessive dryness of the country at that time, and the consequent lack of pasturage. Similarly, I have never seen Gnus anywhere near the Victoria Lake, though possibly other travellers may have done so. The Gnu is an uncouth and ungainly beast in appearance, and, as a rule, will not allow itself to be easily approached. As the open character of the country which it usually frequents more or less precludes any idea of being able to stalk it successfully, the method which I adopted, and which I found answered best, was to walk along quietly parallel to the herd, gradually edging inwards. On such occasions their natural curiosity would often allow a shot to be obtained at a distance of from a hundred and fifty to two hundred yards. Being tough and hard to kill, Gnus must be struck accurately by a weapon with a high degree of penetration. As an illustration of their great vitality, I would mention that on one occasion I had the misfortune to break both the fore legs of one just above the fetlock, and that in spite of these crippling wounds the poor beast was able to cover a distance of nearly half a mile on its stumps before I came sufficiently near to administer the _coup-de-grâce_. This was in spite of the fact that, in addition to this severe injury, it had received two other solid express bullets in its body, one of which was afterwards discovered to have penetrated the base of the heart. When alarmed the Gnu usually runs but a short distance at a time, at a stiff ungainly gallop, whisking its tail round in the most comical fashion. It then stops and turns to inspect the object of its alarm, at the same time uttering a few snorts. Having satisfied itself of the approaching danger, it will again gallop off and pursue the same tactics several times if unmolested. It is a very harmless and inoffensive animal in spite of its ferocious aspect.”

As regards the Gnus of German East Africa there is the same difficulty. Herr Matschie has kindly sent to Sclater the following notes on this subject:--

“At Berlin we have received from Oscar Neumann several skins and skulls, young and old, of the Gnu [procured during his recent journey northwards from Irangi up the east side of Lake Victoria].

“All of these have white neck-manes and chin-bunches and brownish heads and manes, but in some cases the latter are mixed with white, and the tails are of a similar colour. The body is dirty greyish brown, without a trace of bluish. One old bull shows vertical stripes on the front of the body, the hairs having been worn short.

“The localities are--between Ngera and Irangi; Mount Guerui; Mgogo, north of the Manyara Lake; and further on as far as Ngare Dobasch, where they cease.

“Neumann writes that on Mount Guerui and farther along he observed the two varieties living apart. On the Guerui he saw at the same time a herd of light-coloured Gnus, and a herd varying from bluish black to black, but no transitional forms.”

From Mgogo, Neumann writes:--“By the six skins which I obtained [these skins have not yet arrived in Berlin] I hope to prove that there are two species, or, at any rate, varieties of Gnus--one lilac-black grey, and the other bright yellowish brown. On the Mangoto natron-swamp they kept apart. Here in Mgogo the black form predominates, so that it seems to be the more northern. Of two young examples of about the same age, judging from their horns, one has a black forehead, and the other has two white spots in front of the eyes.

“Von Höhnel and Count Teleki found only grey-black Gnus on Mount Maeru, but these had the neck-manes striped with white and black. On the Naschiri Lake, Teleki first met with a pure white-maned specimen.”

The woodcut of the skull of this Antelope (fig. 14, p. 106) is taken from one of Mr. Jackson’s specimens in the British Museum.

_January, 1895._

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XII.

_J. Smit del & lith._ _Hanhart imp_.

The White-tailed Gnu.

CONNOCHÆTES GNU.

_Published by R. H. Porter_.]

18. THE WHITE-TAILED GNU.

CONNOCHÆTES GNU (ZIMM.).

[PLATE XII.]

_Bos gnou_, =Zimm.= Spec. Zool. Geogr. p. 372 (1777).

_Antilope gnou_, =Zimm.= Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 102 (1780);
=Bodd.= Elench. Anim. p. 138 (1785); =Schr.= Säug. pl. cclxxx.
(animal) (1787).

_Antilope gnu_, =Gmel.= Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 189 (1788);
=Kerr=, Linn. An. K. p. 315 (1792); =Donnd.= Zool. Beytr.
p. 634 (1792); =Link=, Beytr. Nat. i. pt. 2, p. 100 (1795);
=Bechst.= Uebers. vierf. Thiere, i. p. 64 (1799), ii. p. 641
(1800); =Shaw=, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 357, pl. 196 (1801);
Turt. Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 114 (1802); =Desm.= N. Dict. d’H.
N. (1) ix. p. 516 (1803); =G. Cuv.= Diet. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 247
(1804); =Ill.= Prodr. Syst. Mamm. p. 106 (1811); =Licht.= Mag.
nat. Freund. Berl. vi. p. 165 (1814); =G. Fisch.= Zoogn. iii. p.
418 (1814); =Afzel.= N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 219 (1815); =Desm.=
N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 201 (1816); =Goldf.= in Schreb.
Säug. v. p. 1165 (1820); =F. Cuv.= H. N. Mamm. (fol.) i. livr.
xvi. (animal) (1820); =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 399 (1821);
=Desmoul.= Dict. Class. d’H. N. i. p. 447 (1822); =Burchell=,
List Quadr. pres. to B. M. p. 7 (1823); =Less.= Man. Mamm. p.
385 (1827); =Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 475 (1829); =Waterh.= Cat.
Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 41 (1838); =Oken=, Allgem. Naturgesch.
vii. p. 1400 (1838); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Supp. iv. p. 473
(1844), v. p. 448 (1855); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 445
(1845); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 299 (1859).

_Antilope capensis_, =Gatt.= Brev. Zool. i. p. 80 (1780).

_Bos gnu_, =Thunb.= Mém. Ac. Pétersb. iii. p. 318 (1811).

_Cerophorus (Boselaphus) gnu_, =Blainv.= Bull. Soc. Philom.
1816, p. 75.

_Cemas gnu_, =Oken=, Lehrb. Naturgesch. iii. pt. 2, p. 728
(1816).

_Antilope (Boselaphus) gnu_, =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 472 (1822).

_Catoblepas gnu_, =Ham. Sm.= Griff. Cuv. An. K. iv. p. 367, v.
p. 368 (1827); =Smuts=, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 93 (1832); =A. Sm.=
S.-Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 224 (1834); =Less.= Compl. Buff.
x. p. 305 (1836); =Harr.= Wild Anim. S. Afr. pl. i. (animal)
(1840);

=Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 154 (1843); =id.= Ann. Mag. N. H.
(1) xviii. p. 232 (1846); =id.= List Ost. B. M. p. 59 (1847);
=Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Hand-l. 1844, p. 205 (1846); =id.=
ibid. Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 156;
Reprint, p. 80 (1848); =Gray=, Knowsl. Men. p. 19 (1850); =id.=
P. Z. S. 1850, p. 138; =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 195 (1853);
=Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 182 (1869); =Murie=, P. Z. S.
1870, p. 475; =Drummond=, Large Game S. Afr. p. 425 (1875);
=Buckley=, P. Z. S. 1876, pp. 286, 292 (distribution); =Brehm=,
Thierl. iii. p. 287 (fig. animal) (1880); =Blaauw=, Bull. Soc.
Acclim. (4) iii. p. 494 (1886) (breeding in Holland); =id.= P.
Z. S. 1889, p. 2, figs. A-D (growth of horns); =Bryden=, Kloof
and Karroo, p. 293 (1889).

_Catoblepas operculatus_, =Brookes=, Cat. Mus. p. 64 (1828).

_Bos connochætes_, =Forst.= Descr. Anim. p. 392 (1844).

_Connochætes gnu_, =Gray=, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 119 (1852);
=Gerr.= Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 243 (1862); =Gray=, Ann. Mag.
N. H. (4) iv. p. 291 (fig. of young horns) (1869); =id.= Cat.
Rum. B. M. p. 43 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. p. 113 (1873);
=Scl.= List Anim. Z. S. (8) p. 150 (1883); =Huet=, Bull. Soc.
Acclim. (3) ix. p. 678, x. p. 95 (1883) (breeding in Paris);
=Flow. & Gars.= Cat. Ost. Coll. Surg. p. 274 (1884); =Jent.=
Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 138 (1887); =W.
Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 170 (1891); =Flow. & Lyd.=
Mamm. p. 336, fig. 139 (animal) (1891); =Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 74
(1892); =Nicolls & Egl.= Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 48, pl. vii. fig.
25 (head) (1892); =Jent.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas,
xi.) p. 170 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 205 (1893).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Gnu_, _White-tailed Gnu_, or _Black
Wildebeest_ of English Cape colonists; _Zwart Wildebeest_ of
Dutch colonists; _Inkonkone_ of Kaffirs (_Drummond_); _Imbutuma_
of Zulus (_Rendall_).

Size rather less than in _C. taurinus_. General colour dark brown or blackish, the upwardly-directed facial tuft, the long hairs of the nape, throat, and chest black. Tail very long; its thick tuft reaching nearly to the ground; its colour white, except just at the base, where it is like the back.

Skull shorter than in _C. taurinus_, but lengthened above, owing to the horn-bases being prolonged backwards to support the enormous palms of the horns, beyond the level of the occiput. Nasals short and broad.

Measurements:--basal length 15·5 inches, greatest breadth 6·4, muzzle to orbit 9·3.

Horns with very large longitudinally developed palms, frequently attaining 8 inches in their greatest diameter. Proximal half of horn directed downwards, outwards, and forwards, then rapidly recurved, the end, which is about 10 or 12 inches in length, pointing nearly vertically upwards. Measured from the top of the palm outside the curves to the tip, good horns attain from 24 to 26 inches.

_Hab._ South Africa, south of the Limpopo.

The extraordinary form of the Gnu quickly attracted the notice of the early Dutch settlers at the Cape. They called it the “_Wilde-Beest_” supposing it to be a wild form of the domestic cattle, whilst the native name was stated to be _Gnou_ or _Gnu_. As early as 1776 a living specimen of the Gnu appears to have reached Amsterdam, and was described by Allamand[8], whose account of it was copied by Buffon in the Supplement to his ‘Histoire Naturelle,’ and by Vosmaer[9]. In 1777 Zimmermann latinized the native name, and used it specifically as _gnou_. This term was softened by Gmelin into _gnu_, and thus modified has been generally adopted as the specific name of this Antelope.

The older authors described the Gnu as lively, active, and petulant, trotting, ambling, and galloping with great swiftness; the males bellowing somewhat like a bull, the young ones having a “nasal murmur.” “They are sportive, and when alarmed always commence by playing with each other, striking sideways with their horns; but this lasts only for a moment, and the whole troop soon flies away across the desert with amazing speed.” By the year 1820 the Gnu appears to have been driven far from the neighbourhood of Cape Town, and even at that period not to have been found nearer than the Karroo district.

Sir Andrew Smith, whose expedition into the interior took place in 1834, 1835, and 1836, gives the grassy plains north of the Vaal River as the ordinary habitation of the Gnu at that epoch. After the fall of the summer rains the present species, he tells us, leaving its congener, the Brindled Gnu, behind, passes the Orange River into the Cape Colony. Here it becomes the prey of the hunters of all sorts who at this season turn out every year to track and slaughter the advancing herds.

Cornwallis Harris, who visited the Cape Colony shortly afterwards, tells us nearly the same story. He likewise found the Gnu, to the illustration of which he devotes the first plate of his great artistic work on the ‘Game-Animals of South Africa,’ abundant in the open plains of the Vaal River, and still to be met with even in some parts of the Colony. The hunt of the Wildebeest, Harris tells us, “forms a favourite diversion of the Dutch colonists, and occupies a very large portion of the apparently valueless time of the _trek-boors_, or nomad farmers, who graze their overgrown flocks and herds on the verdant meadows lying beyond the borders of the sterile colony. The carcase of a full-grown Wildebeest, even when ‘broken,’ forms a fair load for a pack-horse; the flesh, which is very insipid and usually quite destitute of fat, resembling very coarse beef in quality. A joint is therefore never dressed by the good vrow without having first been garnished with huge lumps of sheep’s-tail fat,--a _sine quâ non_ in Dutch cookery,--dexterously thrust with the point of the thumb into perforations carved for their reception. This done, it is placed in the iron oven, with abundance of lard, and literally baked to rags! On account of its leanness, however, it is generally cut into strips, and converted into ‘_biltong_,’ by being dried in the sun. The silky tail of the Gnoo, which is in great demand for making chowries, forms an article of export; and the hide, when brayed, is employed by the colonists for _riems_, or thongs, with which to harness oxen in the team, and indeed for every purpose to which hempen rope, twine, and string are usually applied in other countries.”

At the present time, we fear, the White-tailed Gnu affords neither sport nor food to the Boer hunter. Modern authorities assure us that this Antelope, formerly found in such vast numbers on the plains of the interior, now only remains upon one or two farms in the north of the Cape Colony in Victoria West. So late as from 1850 to 1857 it was still fairly abundant between Colesberg and Hanover, but has now perished in this district. Moreover, as this species has never been known to exist beyond the Limpopo, there is not the slightest chance of its being found anywhere further north.

The White-tailed Gnu is an apt subject for domestication. Cornwallis Harris tells us that “when captured young it may easily be reared by hand upon cow’s milk, and may readily be induced to herd with cattle upon the farm, going out to the pasture, and returning with them, and exhibiting little inclination to reclaim its pristine liberty.” It has thus happened that specimens of it have been brought to Europe from an early period. We have already mentioned that one was living at Amsterdam in 1776, and others, no doubt, were introduced subsequently. In the Knowsley Menagerie both the White-tailed and Brindled Gnus found a place, and the young of both the species were figured from life by Waterhouse Hawkins, as we know from the series of magnificent drawings of the animals in the Knowsley Menagerie issued in 1850.

Young White-tailed Gnu (five months old).

(Zool. Soc. Gard. 1894.)]

At the Knowsley auction in 1851 only a pair of the present species were put up for sale. They were purchased by a dealer for Wombwell’s Menagerie at the price of £283 10_s_.

The Zoological Society seems to have acquired examples of the White-tailed Gnu as early as 1830, and this animal has remained represented in the collection, except for a few short intervals, ever since. Unfortunately, however, the Society was never successful in getting a breeding pair together until about two years ago, when a fine young male and two females were purchased of Mr. C. Reiche, of Alfeld. These have thriven well in the Antelope-House, and the first young Gnu was born on the 7th of March last. It grew fast and at the present time it is nearly as large as its parents.

Young White-tailed Gnu (eight months old).

(Zool. Soc. Gard. 1894.)]

The accompanying drawings by Mr. Smit (figs. 15 and 15 _a_) show this animal at the respective ages of five months and eight months.

The most successful results, however, in breeding the White-tailed Gnu have been obtained by Mr. F. E. Blaauw, Secretary to the Royal Zoological Society of Amsterdam, in his park at Westerveld, near Hilversum, in North Holland, on which he has been kind enough to furnish us with the following information:--Mr. Blaauw purchased his first pair of Gnus in 1886 from the Jardin d’Acclimatation at Paris. They arrived in winter and were kept in a covered shed without artificial warmth until the following spring, when they were turned out to a grass enclosure of about eight acres, well sheltered by plantations, and with a shed divided into compartments in one corner. The Gnus and their descendants have been kept in this enclosure ever since. In winter they are usually confined inside the house and fed on hay and oats, because the young ones are frequently born in winter and require a certain amount of protection. In the summer the Gnus never enter the shed, and subsist entirely by grazing.

Treated in this fashion the Gnus in Mr. Blaauw’s possession have succeeded in a wonderful way. From the single pair originally purchased and the two young females first born, no less than fourteen young Gnus have been successfully reared, and only two have been lost, having been born in the open field during severe frost.

Mr. Blaauw’s present herd consists of the original pair purchased in 1886, two adult females (the offspring of this pair born in 1886 and 1887), and two young ones born in May and June of the present year.

Mr. Blaauw has ascertained by frequent observation that the period of gestation in the White-tailed Gnu varies from 8¼ to 8½ months. Only a single young one has ever been produced at a birth. The female suckles her young for seven or eight months, but it commences to eat grass when about a week old.

In the ‘Proceedings’ of the Zoological Society of London, Mr. Blaauw has published an article on the development of the horns of the young Gnu, two of the figures of which we are enabled to reproduce here by the kind permission of that Society. The first figure (15 _b_) represents the first stage of the horns, in which they are perfectly straight and more or less divergent; the second figure (15 _c_) represents the horns when the animal is about 19 months old. The former straight portion has now become the terminal half, and the basal portion, though not yet quite fully developed, inclines downwards and outwards. The bases of the horns are still far apart, and there is a wide piece of hairy scalp between them. In the adult stage (as shown in Plate XII.) the basal ends of the horns become enormously swollen (especially in the male) and nearly meet together in the middle line. It should be further remarked that these swollen basal portions, which are smooth at first, become excessively corrugated and more highly developed when the animals get old.

Horns of young Gnu (11 weeks old).

(P. Z. S. 1889, p. 2.)]

Horns of young Gnu (19 months old).

(P. Z. S. 1889, p. 3.)]

The females of the Gnu, according to Mr. Blaauw’s observation, are very prolific. They begin to breed before they are two years old, and bear a calf regularly nearly every fifteen months. They seem to stand the damp and cold of the Dutch climate without the slightest difficulty. It would even appear that they are specially suitable to domestication, as the animals born in captivity exceed on an average the size of those freshly imported from South Africa.

The White-tailed Gnu is only represented in the National Collection at the British Museum by a single immature female, mounted, and not now in good condition, besides several skulls and horns. A good wild-killed specimen of it, were it possible to obtain such an animal, would be, therefore, very acceptable.

_January, 1895._

SUBFAMILY II. _CEPHALOPHINÆ._

_General Characters._--Size medium or small. Muzzle naked. Large anteorbital glands present, more or less elongated. Tail medium. False hoofs present. No knee-brushes[10]. Mammæ 4.

Skull with large anteorbital fossæ, and with the frontal bones projecting backwards between the parietals, the horns (where 4, the posterior pair) placed on the tips of the projections. Molar teeth square and low-crowned.

Horns 2 (exceptionally 4), short, straight; generally present in both sexes, but those of the female more slender and smoother than those of the male.

_Range of Subfamily._ Africa and India, not extending over the
intermediate regions of Arabia and Persia.

This Subfamily contains two genera, as follows:--

1. CEPHALOPHUS. African; with two horns only, and with the
opening of the anteorbital glands forming a long naked line on
the sides of the muzzle. Females generally horned.

2. TETRACEROS. Indian; with four horns, at least in the typical
variety, and with the opening of the anteorbital glands forming
a deep slit in the sides of the muzzle. Females hornless.

GENUS I. CEPHALOPHUS.

Type.

_Cephalophus_, =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. v. p. 344
(1827) C. SYLVICULTURIX.

_Cephalolophus_ (emend.), =Wagner=, =Giebel=,
and others C. SYLVICULTURIX.

_Sylvicapra_, =Ogilb.= P. Z. S. 1836, p. 138 C. GRIMMI.

_Grimmia_, =Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i.
p. 623 (1839) C. RUFILATUS.

_Cephalophorus_, =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M.
p. 162 (1843) C. GRIMMI.

_Guevei_, =Gray=, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 86 (1853) C. MAXWELLI.

_Terpone_, =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 592 C. SYLVICULTURIX.

_Potamotragus_, =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 24
(1872) C. SYLVICULTURIX.

Size medium or small; build generally thick and clumsy; naked muzzle large; anteorbital glands opening into a row of pores, which form a long naked line on each side of the muzzle; crown of head tufted, so that the horns are often quite hidden in the hairs; tail short or medium, not heavily tufted; mammæ four; lateral hoofs well developed.

Skull with large lachrymal fossæ, but no fissure at the base of the nasals, and no large pits above or beneath the eyes; auditory bullæ divided by a septum; upper molar teeth short and broad; in the larger species with an additional column on the inner side.

Horns two, generally present in both sexes, short and spike-like, placed very far back on the head, on the ends of the posteriorly extended frontals; directed straight backwards nearly in the line of the profile, not twisted or curved; their bases often roughened or angulated.

_Distribution._ Africa south of the Sahara.

This genus, although large, and with species ranging in size from that of a small donkey down to that of a hare, is yet a very uniform and natural one, and shows remarkably little diversity among its members in essential characters. To sportsmen in general the majority of the species are little known, partly owing to their being too small to afford any sport and with but poor horns for trophies, but mainly owing to their inhabiting thick bush, so that they are hardly ever seen. One species, however, the common S. African Duiker, the popular name of which we have extended to all the members of the genus, is well known to every sportsman who has visited that country, both on account of its extreme abundance in most localities, and of its inhabiting more open districts than its congeners, the Bush-Duikers. It has allies in Abyssinia and Senegal, and the three have together been separated by some authors as a distinct genus, bat this separation we are not at present prepared to endorse.

Considering, then, all the Duikers as forming but one genus, we may distinguish them according to the following synopsis, although, as three or four of the species are known from very insufficient materials, we may expect that the characters will require some modification hereafter.

From the localities appended it will be seen that the large majority of the species are West African in habitat, the great tropical forest which covers so much of that part of Africa being apparently especially suited to their bush-loving habits.

A. Horns, when present, pointed directly backwards, in a line
with, or below the line of, the nasal profile; generally present
in the female. Ears moderate or short, rounded, their length
much less than the distance from the eye to the nose. General
colour fulvous, red, grey, or black, generally marked or
striped. (BUSH-DUIKERS.)

_a._ Size large: hind foot (without hoof) more than 11 in.;
basal length of skull more than 9·5.·´

_a^1._ General colour blackish, with a yellowish lumbar
stripe.--W. Africa.
19. _C. sylvicultrix._

_b^1._ General colour of body grey, of head and neck
black.--W. Africa.
20. _C. jentinki._

_b._ Size medium or small: hind foot less than 10 in.; basal
length of skull less than 8·5.

_a^1._ General ground-colour fulvous, rufous, or chestnut.

_a^2._ Back not transversely striped. No heel-tufts.

_a^3._ Colour quite uniform, no mesial dark markings on the
face or elsewhere.

_a^4._ Size larger; hind foot (?hoof included) 9·5 in.--E.
Africa.
21. _C. spadix._

_b^4._ Size smaller; hind foot without hoof 7·5 in.--S.E.
Africa.
22. _C. natalensis._

_b^3._ Mesial dark markings present either on face or on back or
on both.

_a^4._ Darker markings shining black or brown.

_a^5._ Back uniform rufous, no dorsal stripe.

_a^6._ Ground-colour pale bay, lighter below; chin white;
hoofs normal.--E. Africa
23. _C. harveyi._

_b^6._ Ground-colour dark chestnut above and below; hoofs
elongated.--W.Africa
24. _C. nigrifrons._

_b^5._ Back with a black dorsal stripe continued on to the
tail.--All W. Africa.

_a^6._ Tail black and white; back of hams red or white.

_a^7._ Centre line of face decidedly darker than flanks.
Dorsal line from nape.

_a^8._ Sternal region and back of hams white. Tail tufted
at tip
25. _C. leucogaster._

_b^8._ Sternal region and back of hams as dark as or darker
than the body. Tail evenly haired, not tufted
26. _C. dorsalis._

_b^7._ Face uniformly rufous yellow, like the flanks. Dorsal
line from withers
27. _C. ogilbyi._

_b^6._ Tail nearly wholly black; back of hams also black.
28. _C. callipygus._

_b^4._ Darker markings bluish grey.--W. Africa.
29. _C. rufilatus._

_b^2._ Back transversely banded. Heels with tufts.--W. Africa.
30. _C. doriae._

_b^1._ General colour smoky brown or blackish.

_a^2._ Size larger; hind foot 8·25. Face more rufous than
body.--W. Africa
31. _C. niger._

_b^2._ Size smaller; hind foot less than 7·5 in. Face like
back.

_a^3._ Legs greyish brown, like body.

_a^4._ Rump not particoloured.--Sierra Leone.
32. _C. maxwelli._

_b^4._ Rump particoloured.

_a^5._ Belly usually lighter than back; female
horned.--Cameroons; Zanzibar
33. _C. melanorheus._

_b^5._ Belly not or little lighter than back; female
hornless.--Uganda
34. _C. æquatorialis._

_b^3._ Legs rufous; rump not particoloured.--S.E. Africa.
35. _C. monticola._

B. Horns, when present, slanting upwards at a sharp angle above the nasal profile; females normally hornless. Ears long, pointed, their length equal to or exceeding the distance from the eye to the rhinarium. General colour yellow or greyish; no darker markings on the body, but a brown nasal patch present. (TRUE DUIKERS.)

_a._ Size smaller: hind foot less than 9 in.; basal length
of skull less than 5·5.

_a^1._ Colour bright yellow.--W. Africa
36. _C. coronatus._

_b^1._ Colour grizzled greyish brown.--Abyssinia
37. _C. abyssinicus._

_b._ Size larger: hind foot more than 9·5 in.; basal length of
skull more than 6·0.--Southern Africa
38. _C. grimmi_[11].

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XIII.

_J. G. Keulemans del._
_J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._

The Yellow-backed Duiker.

CEPHALOPHUS SYLVICULTRIX.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XIV.

_Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._

Fig. 1. The Black Duiker.

CEPHALOPHUS NIGER.

Fig. 2. The Yellow-backed Duiker.

CEPHALOPHUS SYLVICULTRIX.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

19. THE YELLOW-BACKED DUIKER.

CEPHALOPHUS SYLVICULTRIX (AFZ.).

[PLATES XIII. AND XIV. FIG. 2.]

_Antilope silvicultrix_, =Afzelius=, N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 265,
pi. viii. (animal) (1815) (Sierra Leone); =Goldf.= Schreb. Säug.
v. p. 1238 (1818); =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 462 (1822); =Less.=
Man. Mamm. p. 378 (1827); =Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 457 (1829);
=Waterh.= Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 41 (1838).

_Antilope (Cephalophus) sylvicultrix_, =Ham. Sm.= Griff. Cuv.
An. K. iv. p. 258, plate (♂), v. p. 344 (1827); =Less.= H. N.
Mamm. (Compl. Buff, x.) p. 293 (1836); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat.
Supp. i. p. 262 (1840); =Less.= N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 178
(1842); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Supp. iv. p. 446 (1844), v. p. 422
(1855); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 322 (1859).

_Cephalophus sylvicultrix_, =A. Sm.= S.-Afr. Quart. Journ. ii.
p. 214 (1834); =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 165 (1846);
=id.= Knowsl. Men. p. 10, pi. xxiii. fig. 3 (1850); =id.= P.Z.S.
1850, p. 122; =Turner=, P.Z.S. 1850, p. 170; =Gray=, Cat. Ung.
B. M. p. 83 (1852); =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. pp. 194 & 233
(1853); =Gerr.= Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 236 (1862); =Fitz.=
SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 166 (1869); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1870, p.
220 (Zool. Soc. Viv.); =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 595, fig. 4
(skull); =id.= Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 26 (1872); =id.= Hand-l.
Rum. B. M. p. 94 (1873); =Scl.= List An. Z. S. (8) p. 147
(1883); =Jent.= N. L. M. x. p. 20 (1887) (Liberia); =Büttik.=
Reisebilder, ii. p. 376 (1890); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 338
(1891); =Matsch.= MT. deutsch. Schutz-geb. vi. p. 81 (1893)
(Togo).

_Antilope (Grimmia) sylvicultrix_, =Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H.
N. i. p. 624 (1839).

_Sylvicapra sylvicultrix_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Hand-l.
1844, p. 190 (1846); =id.= ibid. Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch.
Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 143; Reprint, p. 67 (1848).

_Cephalolophus sylvicultor_, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 416;
=Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 77 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 213
(1893).

_Cephalophus punctulatus_, =Gray=, Knowsl. Men. tab. viii. fig.
1 (1850).

_Cephalophus longiceps_, =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 204, fig.
(skull) (Gaboon); =Bocage=, J. Sci. Lisb. ii. p. 220 (1869).

_Terpone longiceps_, =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 592; =id.= Cat.
Rum. B. M. p. 24 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 93 (1873).

_Cephalophus melanoprymnus_, =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 594, pi.
xliv. (animal), figs. 2, 3 (skull) (jr.) (Gaboon).

_Potamotragus melanoprymnus_, =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 25
(1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 94 (1873).

_Cephalophus ruficrista_, =Bocage=, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 744.

VERNACULAR NAMES:--_Bush-Goat_ of English at Sierra Leone
(_Afzelius_); _Mbimbi_ in Longobondo (_Pechuel-Loesche_, fide
_Matschie_).

Size large; form stout and heavy. Ears short, broad, and rounded, their length much less than the distance from eye to muzzle. Fur very short on the fore-quarters, longer on the hind back, but in adults worn off and showing the whitish underfur or naked skin round the base of the tail. General colour all over, of face, body above and below, and of limbs, dark blackish brown. Crest orange or rufous, little developed in youth, and again wearing off in old age. Muzzle, cheeks and chin, and extreme tips of ear whitish. Lumbar region with a broad pale yellowish mesial stripe running from the middle of the back on to the loins.

In extreme youth the hairs of the posterior half of the body are all tipped with white, except just along what becomes afterwards the pale lumbar stripe, where they have long blackish tips, entirely hiding the white; and the caudal region, afterwards whitish and partly naked, is clothed with long black hairs.

Skull, in proportion to the size of the animal, delicate, slender, and elongate. Muzzle slender, tapering, not laterally swollen between the premolars and the anteorbital fossa. Anteorbital fossæ of medium depth. Mesial notch of palate surpassing anteriorly the lateral ones by about half an inch, these latter comparatively deep and =V=-shaped.

Horns long and tapering, lying back in or below the line of the nasal profile, rather bowed downwards terminally. Divergent, slender, evenly tapering, but little roughened at base; those of male and female almost precisely alike, except that the latter are slightly smaller. Length (♂) 6·4 inches; basal diameter going about 5 or 5½ times in the length.

Dimensions:--♀. Height at shoulder 34 inches, ear 4, hind foot 13·5.

Skull (♂): basal length 10·3 inches, greatest breadth 4·9, muzzle to orbit 6·5.

_Hab._ West Coast of Africa, from Liberia to Angola.

We commence our history of this numerous group of Antelopes, for which we adopt the term “Duiker” (_i.e._ “Diver”), originally given by the Boers of the Cape to _C. grimmi_, as a vernacular name, with two species readily distinguishable from the remainder by their greater size, but not apparently otherwise divergent in structure. These are the Yellow-backed Duiker and Jentink’s Duiker.

The eminent Swedish naturalist, Adam Afzelius, a pupil of Linnæus, and subsequently editor of his master’s autobiography, resided for two years (1792–94) on the West Coast of Africa, as botanist to the Sierra Leone Company. Amongst numerous papers embracing the results of his researches on the West-African fauna and flora, he published in 1815, in the ‘Nova Acta’ of the Royal Society of Sciences of Upsala, a learned treatise on Antelopes generally, and specially upon those of Guinea. In the course of this memoir he described and figured for the first time the present species, calling it _Antilope silvicultrix_, as being the “Bush-Goat” of the colonists. Afzelius speaks of it as not uncommon in the hills round Sierra Leone, particularly in the districts adjoining the rivers Pongas and Quia. Here it is not met with among the rocks, but inhabits the lower tracts of the bush, either solitary or, in the rutting-season, in pairs, and occasionally in small herds. It hides itself in the bush by daytime, but comes out in the early morning to feed in the open spaces, where the hunters lie in wait for it. Its flesh is stated to be much esteemed as food, although it has a strong musky scent, particularly at certain seasons of the year.

After Afzelius subsequent authors were for many years content to copy his notes and description, and we get no further information on the subject till we come to 1850, when the species was figured in the ‘Knowsley Menagerie’ by Waterhouse Hawkins from specimens living in that magnificent collection. In this set of drawings it appears twice--first on plate viii. fig. 1 (erroneously named _Cephalophus punctulatus)_, which seems to have been taken from a young individual of this Antelope; and secondly on plate xxiii. fig. 3, as _Cephalophus sylvicultrix_, in which the adult, or at any rate a more advanced stage, is represented. At the date of the sale of the Knowsley Menagerie in 1851 it does not seem that any specimens of this Antelope were left in the collection; but a young example, no doubt one of those that died in the Menagerie, had been presented by Lord Derby to the Zoological Society of London, whence it subsequently passed into the collection of the British Museum. From the labels on this and other specimens we learn that they were obtained by Whitfield, a well-known collector formerly in the employment of Lord Derby, at Sierra Leone.

Little further information respecting this species is available until 1870, when the Zoological Society, on March 24th, purchased a single living example of it from Cross of Liverpool, as recorded in the Society’s ‘Proceedings’ (P. Z. S. 1870, p. 220). This animal, however, did not live long in the Society’s Menagerie, as it died on the 14th July of the same year. Its body was disposed of to Mr. E. Gerrard, jr., by whom it was stuffed and sold to the Melbourne Museum.

Skull of _Cephalophus sylvicultrix_, ad.

(P. Z. S. 1865, p. 205.)]

The only modern authority that speaks of this Antelope is Mr. Büttikofer, of the Leyden Museum, who made two zoological voyages to Liberia in 1880 and 1886. In Dr. Jentink’s list of the Liberian mammals obtained by Mr. Büttikofer and his fellow collectors in Liberia (Notes Leyden Mus. vol. x. p. 20) it is recorded that _Cephalophus sylvicultrix_ is said to occur sparingly on the Jackson and Mahfa rivers in that country, but to be more common on the Manna and Solyman rivers. But Mr. Büttikofer, in spite of all his efforts, did not succeed in obtaining specimens.

Skull of _Cephaloplms sylvicultrix_, jr.

(P. Z. S. 1871, p. 594.)]

Although, as already stated, originally discovered in Sierra Leone, the Yellow-backed Duiker seems to have a somewhat extended distribution along the western coast of Africa, reaching altogether from Liberia to the Congo. A pair of mounted specimens and a skeleton in the British Museum were transmitted from Fantee by the native collector Aubinn. The same collection also contains skins from Lagos, procured by Sir Alfred Moloney, and two skulls and a skin from Gaboon, brought to England by Mr. DuChaillu on his return from his celebrated gorilla-hunting expedition. Upon one of these skulls in 1865, Dr. Gray established his _Cephalophus longiceps_, and upon the second skull and the skin which accompanied it, in 1871, the same author based his _C. melanoprymnus_. Thomas has shown (P. Z. S. 1892, p. 416) that both these names are merely synonyms of, _C. sylmcultrix_[12]. We may add we have as yet no information as to the range of this species into the interior, except that Herr Matschie has recorded its occurrence in Togoland; but it must be explained that our knowledge of the distribution of West-African mammals is still woefully deficient. As the same gentleman informs us, there is, besides several skins from Togoland, a stuffed example in the Berlin Museum sent by Herr Pechuel-Loesche from Longobondo.

Our illustration of this species on Plate XIII. is copied from a watercolour drawing taken in April 1894 by Keulemans, from a fine male specimen living in the Zoological Gardens of Rotterdam. As this animal was received from the Congo in June 1891 (presented by Heer A. de Bloeme) it must be necessarily quite adult. Mr. Keulemans’ notes on it are as follows:--“Head dark grey; neck grey, shading into brownish and becoming blackish near the shoulders; hairs of neck and head very short and glossy; general colour dark brown, with a bluish gloss, getting blacker on the buttocks, where the hairs are long; tail short and black; large plaque on the back and buttocks and tuft between the horns brownish ochre.” Our second figure (Plate XIV. fig. 2), which was prepared by Mr. Smit under Sir Victor Brooke’s directions, probably represents a young male of this species; but we do not know for certain from what specimen it was taken. The figure of Gray’s _C. melanoprymnus_ in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1871 (pl. xliv.) was drawn from a still younger animal, probably of about the same stage as the figure of “_C. punctulatus_” in the ‘Knowsley Menagerie.’ It will be observed how greatly the colour of the back varies in these specimens of different ages.

_May, 1895._

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XV.

_Smit del. et lith._ _Hanhart imp._

Jentink’s Duiker

CEPHALOPHUS JENTINKI.

_Published by R. H. Porter._]

20. JENTINK’S DUIKER.

CEPHALOPHUS JENTINKI, THOS.

[PLATE XV.]

_Antilope (Terpone) longiceps_, =Jent.= N. L. M. vii. p. 272,
pl. x. (animal) (1885) (_nec_ Gray).

_Terpone longiceps_, =Jent.= N. L. M. x. p. 19, pl. i. (horns,
♀) (1887); =id.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p.
158 (1892); =Büttik.= Reiseb. a. Liberia, ii. p. 374 (1890).

_Cephalophus jentinki_, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 417; =Lyd.=
Horns and Hoofs, p. 213 (1893).

Size large, though smaller than _C. sylvicultrix_; form stout. Ears short, broad, and rounded. Colour of head, ears, neck all round as far back as the withers, throat, and a narrow sternal line deep uniform black; of body above and beneath coarsely grizzled grey, the hairs ringed with black and white. Lips and chin, a line all round the fore-quarters separating the black from the grey, axillæ, groins, fore and hind legs whitish; a rather darker mark running across the outer side of the forearm.

Skull much longer in proportion to the size of the animal than in _C. sylvicultrix_, agreeing, in fact, precisely in size with that of the larger species. In other respects also it agrees so closely with that of _C. sylvicultrix_ that, had the external characters not been known, the two species would have been hardly supposed to be different. Such differences as there are, however, have been fully pointed out in Thomas’s monograph.

Horns long, tapering, placed in the line of the nasal profile, divergent as in _C. sylvicultrix_, those of female 6·1 inches long, base not specially thickened, basal diameter going about 5½ times in the length.

Dimensions:--♀. Height at withers 30 inches, ear 4, hind foot 12.

Skull (♀): basal length 10·5 inches, greatest breadth 5, muzzle to orbit 6·5

_Hab._ Liberia.

The present Duiker nearly equals the preceding species in size, but, as will be seen by the Plate, is immediately distinguishable by marked differences in colour, its black head and neck rendering it very conspicuous. Its discovery is due to Mr. F. X. Stampfli, a naturalist who made two expeditions to Liberia, in 1884 and 1886, to collect specimens for the Leyden Museum. In the first of these he was alone; in the second he was accompanied by Mr. Büttikofer, the well-known Conservator of that institution.

The Black-headed Duiker was first described by Dr. Jentink, the Director of the Leyden Museum, in 1885, from a single female specimen procured near Schieffelinsville, on the Junk River, by Stampfli in the preceding year. Unfortunately Dr. Jentink referred the specimen to _C. longiceps_ of Gray, a species based on a skull brought home from Gaboon by Mr. DuChaillu. In doing this he was perfectly justified, on account of the extraordinarily close resemblance of its skull to that of _C. longiceps_. But Thomas subsequently showed that DuChaillu’s Gaboon skull (as already mentioned above) is undoubtedly referable to the nearly allied _C. sylvicultrix_. Under these circumstances it became necessary to give another scientific name to the present species, and Thomas selected the appropriate term _jentinki_; as it was Dr. Jentink’s “carefulness, led astray by Dr. Gray’s serious mistakes,” that had “caused him to make the venial error just referred to.”

During his second expedition, in 1887, Mr. Stampfli procured two more examples of this Antelope on the Farmington River. Like the first, both these were females, and, as we are told by Dr. Jentink, do not differ in colour from the typical specimen. Mr. Stampfli’s notes on this Antelope are as follows:--

“A little below Schieffelinsville, in the triangle between the Junk River on one side and its two confluents, the Du Queah and Farmington Rivers, on the other, a wooded eminence called ‘Sharp Hill’ rises in the middle of the marshes, to which, according to the testimony of the natives, these animals are restricted. As in the dry season the marshes cannot be traversed in canoes, and yet are not sufficiently dry to be passed on foot, these Antelopes can only be obtained in the rainy season, and it is said to be quite an exception for a specimen to be procured except during that period.”

In the second volume of Mr. Büttikofer’s ‘Reisebilder aus Liberia,’ which contains a complete account of the explorations and discoveries of himself and his companions in that country, will be found some additional details on this Antelope. Mr. Büttikofer calls particular attention to the large size of the inguinal glands between the belly and the thigh in this Antelope. They are so large that they will easily contain a lemon. These are said to be fat-glands, from which the beast extracts fat with its muzzle to lubricate its short, shining, hairy coat. Mr. Büttikofer also says that this Antelope, although only obtained from Sharp Hill, certainly occurs in other parts of Liberia.

Our figure of this Bush-Duiker (Plate XV.) has been prepared by Mr. Smit from the mounted specimen in the British Museum, which is the type of the species. It is one of the three specimens obtained in Liberia by Mr. Stampfli, the other two remaining at Leyden. We believe that these are the only three specimens of this rare Antelope existing in any European museum.

_May, 1895._

21. ABBOTT’S DUIKER.

CEPHALOPHUS SPADIX, TRUE.

_Cephalophus spadix_, =True=, Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. xiii. p. 227
(1890); =id.= op. cit. xv. p. 473, pl. lxxviii. (animal), pl.
lxxix. (skull) (1892); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 418; =Lyd.=
Horns and Hoofs, p. 209 (1893); =Jackson=, in Badm. Libr. Big
Game Shooting, i. p. 285 (1894).

Size comparatively large. General colour dusky chestnut-brown without spots or bands, and not lighter on the belly. Forehead dusky brown, like body; chin and throat pale greyish brown. Hairs of crest chestnut-red at the base, and tipped with black: mingled with them are some hairs which are dusky throughout, and others pure white. Anterior surfaces of the legs somewhat lighter than the posterior surfaces. Tail dusky, except at the tip, where there are a few pure white hairs.

Skull elongate; muzzle slender; frontal region strongly convex.