Chapter III: Appendix (2)

“I saw varieties of Antelopes, including the rare and beautiful
_Maharif_; but all were so wild, and the ground so open, that I
could not get a shot. This was the more annoying, as the _Maharif_
was an Antelope that I believed to be of a new species. It had
often disappointed me; for although I had frequently seen them on
the south-west frontier of Abyssinia, I had never been able to
procure one, owing to their extreme shyness, and to the fact of
their inhabiting open plains, where stalking was impossible. I had
frequently examined them with a telescope, and had thus formed an
intimate acquaintance with their peculiarities. The _Maharif_ is
very similar to the Roan Antelope of South Africa, but is mouse-
coloured, with black and white stripes upon the face. The horns
are exactly those of the Roan Antelope, very massive and
corrugated, bending backwards to the shoulders. The withers are
extremely high, which give a peculiarly heavy appearance to the
shoulders, much heightened by a large and stiff black mane like
that of a hog-maned horse. I have a pair of horns in my possession
that I obtained through the assistance of a lion, who killed the
_Maharif_ while drinking near my tent; unfortunately the skin was
torn to pieces, and the horns and skull were all that remained.”

The well-known scientific traveller Dr. Schweinfurth also met with this Antelope in several localities in the course of his journeys (1868–71) among the upper affluents of the Bahr el Ghazal, and furnishes us with a long list of the vernacular names by which it is known among the various native tribes of that country. In the first volume of his ’Im Herzen von Afrika’ (p. 237) he gives a good figure of its head, and tells us how, as he was one day deeply engaged in botanizing in the forests of Bongo, a fine full-grown specimen of this stately beast suddenly appeared close to him, and fell a victim to two well-directed shots, to the great joy of the accompanying natives.

Dr. William Junker, who visited the same district of Africa in 1882, also met with this Antelope in Zemio’s territory upon the upper affluents of the Welle, where he tells us (‘Travels in Africa,’ Keane’s translation, iii. p. 144) that his hunter brought in a “Bastard” Chamois (_Antilope leucophæa_). Of this animal a figure is given which seems decidedly to belong to this species.

In 1868 Sclater gave an account before the Zoological Society of London of a young male Equine Antelope of this form which he had observed in the King of Italy’s Menagerie, and illustrated it by exhibiting a coloured photograph of the animal, which was subsequently reproduced in the Society’s ‘Proceedings.’ The animal had been received from Dr. Ori, the King’s agent at Khartoum, and on its death was deposited in the Royal Zoological Museum of Turin. Sclater’s paper was supplemented by some field-notes on this Antelope contributed by Sir Samuel Baker, who also sent for exhibition the fine pair of horns of the typical specimen described by Heuglin, then in his collection. A figure of them is likewise given in Sclater’s article in the ‘Proceedings,’ which, by the kind permission of the Society, we are enabled to reproduce in these pages (fig. 89, p. 25).

On Nov. 24th, 1878, the Zoological Society of London acquired a young male Equine Antelope from Mr. C. Hagenbeck, who stated that he had received it along with other animals from Upper Nubia. If this statement was correct, which there is no reason to question, this animal was, no doubt, an example of _Hippotragus equinus bakeri_, although it was never recognized as such. It lived in the Regent’s Park Gardens until February 23rd, 1889.

There was also, about twenty years ago, an Equine Antelope, obtained from the same source, living in the Zoological Garden at Berlin. Mr. Clarence Bartlett has kindly lent us an excellent water-colour drawing of this specimen taken by the late Stanley Wilson. It represents, no doubt, the same local form of this Antelope. Mr. Hagenbeck informs us that the Berlin specimen was also received by him in one of his consignments from the Egyptian Sudan.

That a representative of the Equine Antelope is likewise found in West Africa on the open country traversed by the Upper Gambia has been known since Whitfield, as recorded by Gray in 1852, brought home specimens of its head and horns. Gray did not then consider these to indicate any difference from the Cape specimen of this species in the British Museum. In a subsequent journey Whitfield also brought home for the Derby Menagerie two, or perhaps three, living examples of this Antelope. These were figured by Waterhouse Hawkins in three water-colour drawings forming part of the two volumes of original sketches by Waterhouse Hawkins and Wolf which are now in the Library at Knowsley, and which, by the kind permission of the present Earl of Derby, were exhibited and described by Sclater at the meeting of the Zoological Society on December 15th, 1896[7]. From the MS. notes written on these three drawings we learn that they were made on board the S.S. ‘African’ on Sept. 11th and 12th, 1848, and represent the adult female and young male of this Antelope—the “_Dacris_” of Whitfield.

By the kind permission of Lord Derby we now give an exact copy, slightly reduced in size, put upon the stone by Mr. Smit (Plate LXXVIII), of Waterhouse Hawkins’s drawing of the “Dacris,” which forms one of the figures of plate 5 of the second volume of this valuable series, and is stated to represent an adult female. This figure will be observed to differ from that of the male (Plate LXXVII.) in its much lighter and more reddish colouring, and especially in the longer ears of the Gambian animal.

One of the young specimens brought home by Whitfield is now stuffed in the Derby Museum at Liverpool. As we learn from the label, it died in London on its way to Knowsley.

More recently heads of this Antelope have been obtained on the Gambia by Dr. Percy Rendall, F.Z.S., and by Sir R. B. Llewelyn, the present Governor. The latter were exhibited by Sclater at a meeting of the Zoological Society on May 3rd, 1898[8], when attention was called to the large number of fine Antelopes that occur in the Gambia Colony, and to the desirableness of procuring further information about them. According to the notes supplied to us by Sir R. B. Llewelyn, the Roan Antelope, which is the “_Da Kevoi_” of the Mandingos, is found in some places in Jara and Kiaung, and is common in Eastern Niammina.

The horns in question are those of a not fully adult animal, measuring 26½ inches along the curvature. They do not present any noticeable features to distinguish them from those of _Hippotragus equinus typicus_ of South Africa.

The existence of this Antelope in West Africa has been further confirmed by Herr Matschie, who has included it in his list of Mammals of the German Protectorate of Togo, on the Gulf of Guinea, where it occurs on the uplands of the interior. Herr Matschie kindly informs us that the Berlin Museum has received from that locality a defective head and skin without horns from Misa-höhe, transmitted by Herr Baumann, and two skulls of females from Bismarckburg (_Kling_ and _Conrad_). In the collection of the British Museum there are also a scalp and skull of a young male of the Roan Antelope obtained at Balaga, Beaufort Island, on the Niger, and presented by Capt. A. J. Richardson.

Lastly, we may add that there is a fine young male Roan Antelope now living in the Zoological Garden, Antwerp, which is stated to have been received from Senegal, and, if so, would probably belong to the subspecies now under consideration.

As regards the name to be used for this local form or subspecies of the Roan Antelope a few words are necessary. Gray, in his ‘Catalogue of the Ruminants,’ published in 1872, proposed to call it “_koba_”—no doubt because of Whitfield’s assurances that it was the “Kob” or “Koba” of the Jolliffs, and, as will be seen by our list of synonyms, several subsequent authors have followed Gray’s lead. But we have already fully discussed the question of this much-vexed name (see Vol. I. p. 60), and have shown that it is hopeless to attempt to refer the “Koba” of Buffon satisfactorily to any of the species with which it has been identified. It follows that the Latin specific term “_koba_,” founded on Buffon’s name, must also fall to the ground. Under these circumstances we propose to designate the western form of the Roan Antelope _Hippotragus equinus gambianus_, as being the representative of this species in the Gambia.

South of Togo, along the West-African coast down to the Congo and in the great Congo valley itself, we are not aware of the Roan Antelope ever having been met with; nor is it likely to occur there, as the uniform dense forest which covers these districts would be little suited to its habits. But when we proceed further south to Mossamedes and the interior of Angola, where the country becomes drier and more open, the Roan Antelope is again found. Dr. Jentink mentions it in his article on the mammals collected in Mossamedes by Mr. P. J. van der Kellen (Notes Leyd. Mus. ix. p. 173); and Prof. J. V. Barboza du Bocage includes it in his catalogue of the Mammals of Angola, published in 1892, as having been received from Golungo Alto in the interior, where, along with the Sable Antelope, it is known by the native name of “Palanca” or “Malanca” (Jorn. Ac. Sc. Lisboa, 2, ii. p. 26). We presume that the Angolan representative of the Roan Antelope will be found to belong to the typical South-African form _Hippotragus equinus typicus_.

The specimens of the Roan Antelope in the British Museum consist of a mounted adult male and a young one, and the skeleton of a male, from Mashonaland, presented by Mr. F. C. Selous (exhibited in the gallery); an adult male presented by Sir Andrew Smith, being the specimen figured in his ‘Illustrations,’ as above referred to; a female presented by Lord Derby; and a skin and skull of an adult from Lake Mweru, presented by Mr. Crawshay. There are also several pairs of horns, one of which was received from Dr. Burchell. These specimens all belong to the typical form.

Of the East-African _H. equinus rufo-pallidus_ the British Museum has only the scalp and skull from Machakos (_Dr. Hinde_) above referred to.

Of _H. e. bakeri_ the British Museum has two skulls (♂ et ♀) from the Atbara, obtained by the collector Essler.

Of the West-African _H. e. gambianus_ the series in the National Collection comprises a pair of frontlets (♂ et ♀) from Gambia (_Whitfield_) presented by Lord Derby, a scalp and skull from the Upper Gambia presented by Dr. Percy Kendall (above referred to), and the specimen from the Niger presented by Capt. Richardson.

This series, as is evident, is quite insufficient to solve the vexed question as to the amount of distinctness of the four geographical forms or subspecies, which must remain open for future investigators.

Our illustration of the adult male of this Antelope (Plate LXXVII.) was put on the stone by Mr. Smit, about twenty years ago, from a water-colour sketch by Mr. Wolf. It is now impossible to ascertain from what specimen this sketch was taken, but it is conjectured to have been from a skin and skull procured by Mr. Selous in S.E. Africa. At the same time a wood-block of the head (fig. 90, p. 29) was drawn, which shows well the essential differences between the Roan Antelope and the Sable Antelope (see fig. 91, p. 38).

_January,_ 1899.

112. THE SABLE ANTELOPE.

HIPPOTRAGUS NIGER (Harr.).

[PLATES LXXIX. & LXXX.]

_Aigocerus niger_, =Harris=, P. Z. S. 1838, p. 2 (Jan. 9); =id.= Tr. Z.
S. ii. p. 213, pl. xxxix. (1838); =id.= Portr. Wild Anim. S. Afr. p.
126, pl. xxiii. (1840); =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 158 (1843); =id.=
Knowsl. Men. p. 17 (1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850, p. 133; =id.= Cat.
Ung. B. M. p. 104 (1852); =Harris=, Wild Sports S. Afr. (ed. 5) pp.
216 & 349, pl. xxii. (1852); =Gerrard=, Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 240
(1862); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1864, p. 103 (Kazeh, _Speke_); =Kirk=, P. Z.
S. 1864, p. 658 (Zambesia); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 177
(1869); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 35 (1872); =id.= Hand-1. Rum. B. M.
p. 103 (1873); =Huet=, Bull. Soc. Acclim. (4) iv. p. 480 (1887);
=Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 135 (1887); =id.=
Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 166 (1892).

_Antilope nigra_, =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat., Suppl. i. p. 265 (1840);
=Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 618 (1841); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug.,
Suppl. iv. p. 484 (1844), v. p. 436 (1855); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii.
p. 442 (1845); =id.= Mon. Antil. p. 38, pl. xliii. (1848); =Peters=,
Säug. Mossamb. p. 190 (1852).

_Hippotragus niger_, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 197
(1846); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 148;
Reprint, p. 72 (1848); =Hengl.= Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop.
xxx. pt. 2) p. 16 (1863) (Shilluk Co.); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1868, p. 218;
=Buckley=, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 288; =Bocage=, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 745
(Mossamedes); =Brehm=, Thierl. iii. p. 227 (1880); =Selous=, P. Z. S.
1881, p. 756; id. Hunter’s Wanderings, p. 214 (1881); =Scl.= List
Anim. Z. S. (8) p. 139 (1883), (9) p. 158 (1896); =Flow. & Gars.= Cat.
Coll. Surg. ii. p. 263 (1884); =Johnston=, Kilimanjaro, p. 354;
=Crawshay=, P. Z. S. 1890, p. 660 (Nyasa); =Bocage=, J. Sci. Lisb. (2)
ii. p. 26 (1890) (Mossamedes); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 343 (1891);
=Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 137 (1892), (2) p. 178 (1896); =Nicolls &
Egl.= Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 50 (1892); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1893, p. 504
(Zomba); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 245 (1893); =Lugard=, E. Afr. i.
p. 533 (1893); =Jackson=, in Badm. Big Game Shooting, i. pp. 285 & 293
(1894); =Lorenz=, Ann. Mus. Wien, ix., Notizen, p. 62 (1894);
=Rendall=, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 362 (Transvaal); =Matsch.= Säug.
DeutschO.-Afr. p. 134 (1895); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1896, p. 506 (Zomba);
=Thos.= P. Z. S. 1896, p. 797 (Nyasaland); id. P. Z. S. 1897, p. 939
(Zomba); =Troness.= Cat. Mamm. fasc. iv. p. 952 (1898).

_Aegoceros niger_, var. _kirkii_, =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 35 (1872)
(Zambesia).

_Ozanna nigra_, =Brehm=, Thierl. iii. p. 227 (1880).

_Aigocerus harrisi_, =Harris=, Wild Sports of S. Africa, (ed. 1) pp. 261
& 378 (1839).

Vernacular Names:—_Sable Antelope_ or _Harris_-_buck_ of English; _Zwart
Wit Pens_ of Dutch; _Potoquane_ of Southern Bechuanas; _Qualata inchu_
of Bamangwatos and Makalolos; _Umtjiele_ of Matabilis; _Pala_-_Pala_
of Makalakas; _Impengo_ of Masubias; _Ookwa_ of Makubas; _Sulvpe_ of
Masaras (_Selous_). _Inguarato_ and _Marabulla_ of Mashoonas
(_Darling_). _Mbarapi_ of Ajawa; _Mpala_-_Mpala_ of Anyanja, Angonis,
and other Nyasa races (_Crawshay_). _Palla_-_Halla_ in Swahili
(_Matschie_).

Size rather less than in the Roan Antelope; adult male about 52 inches at the withers. General colour a rich glossy black, at least in adult males, only relieved by the white of the face-markings, of the inner surface of the ear, and of the belly. Centre line of face black, outside which there is a white streak reaching from the bases of the horns to the muzzle, succeeded again on the cheeks by a black band. Lips and region of lower jaw white. Ears of ordinary length, their tips not pencilled. Mane well developed, the hairs directed backward. A throat-mane present. Belly and back of hams sharply defined white. Limbs black, the inner sides of the thighs white. Whole of tail black.

Skull-dimensions of an adult male from Nyasaland:—Basal length 15·7 inches, greatest breadth 6·55, muzzle to orbit 11.

Horns much longer than in _H. equinus_, compressed laterally, their longitudinal much greater than their transverse diameter, heavily ringed, boldly curved backward. In length they are often 43 or 44 inches long round the front curve, the record being 46 inches.

_Female._ Similar to the male, but more or less brownish in colour; horns (just as in _H. equinus_) more slender and smooth, less curved, and rather shorter than in the male.

_Hab._ Eastern Africa, from the Northern Transvaal to
German East Africa.

The distinguished traveller and sportsman Sir William Cornwallis Harris whose works we have so often quoted in these pages, was the discoverer of this Antelope, which was characterized by Gordon-Cuming—the great African hunter—as “one of the loveliest animals which graces this fair creation.” Harris writes in one of his works that “the desire nearest to his heart” from the beginning of his journey had been to “discover something new”; and in the present instance he certainly succeeded. But we will let him tell his story in his own words.

When encamped on the Cashan Mountains in what is now the north-western part of the Transvaal, in 1836, as he writes in his volume on ‘Wild Sports in Southern Africa,’ he achieved his success as follows:—

“My doubled-barrelled rifle having again suffered in a fall with
my horse, I took the field on the 13th December with a heavy
weapon constructed upon the primitive principle of flint and
steel, which, as a _pis-aller_, I had obtained at the Kuruman.

“Our party were in full pursuit of a wounded elephant, when a herd
of unusually dark-looking antelopes attracted observation in an
adjacent valley. Reconnoitring them through a pocket-telescope
from the acclivity on which we stood, I at once exclaimed that
they were new; and having announced my intention of pursuing them,
if requisite, to the world’s end, I dashed down the slope,
followed by the derision of the Hottentots, for my unsportsman-
like attention to an ‘ugly buck,’ _one_ specimen of which,
however, I assured them I would rather possess than all the
elephants in Africa! In an instant I was in the middle of the
herd, which was then crossing the valley—nine chestnut-coloured
does leading, and two magnificent coal-black bucks—all with
scimitar-shaped horns—bringing up the rear. Hastily dismounting, I
was delighted to observe them stand for a few seconds within fifty
yards, and stare at me with amazement. In vain was it, however,
that I pulled the trigger of my rifle; three several times the
heavy machinery of the lock descended with alarming vehemence, but
no report followed the concussion; and the herd having in the
meantime ascended a steep hill, I fairly rode my horse to a
standstill in the attempt to overtake them. Cursing my hard
fortune as I dashed the hateful weapon to the ground, I hastened
to the camp to repair my rifle; armed with which, and mounted on a
fresh steed, I returned with my companion to the spot, where,
having taken up the footmarks, we followed them, with unwearied
perseverance, among the hills, during the whole of that and the
following day, without attaining even a glimpse of the objects of
our quest. At noon of the third day, however, peeping cautiously
over a bank, our laudable assiduity was rewarded by the gratifying
sight of the two bucks grazing by themselves, unconscious of our
approach, in a stony valley.

“Having disposed our forces, after a moment’s consultation, so as
to intercept the game from a tangled labyrinth of ravines, the
attack was made. The hind leg of the handsomer of the two was
dangling in an instant, and in another he was sprawling on the
earth. Quickly recovering himself, however, he led me more than a
mile over the sharp stones ere he was brought to bay, when, twice
charging gallantly, he was at length overthrown and slain.

“It were vain to attempt a description of the sensations I
experienced when thus, after three days of toilsome tacking and
feverish anxiety, unalleviated by any incident that could inspire
the smallest hope of ultimate success, I at length found myself in
actual possession of so brilliant an addition to the riches of
natural history. The prize evidently belonged to the Aigocerine
group, and was equal in stature to a large galloway. The horns,
which were flat, and upwards of three feet in length, swept
gracefully over the back in the form of a crescent. A bushy black
mane extended from the lively chestnut-coloured ears to the middle
of the back; the tail was long and tufted; and the glossy jet-
black hue of the greater portion of the body contrasted
beautifully with a snow-white face and belly. We thought we could
never have looked at or admired it sufficiently; my companion
observing, after a long pause, ‘that the Sable Antelope would
doubtless become the admiration of the world,’ A drawing and
description having been completed on the spot, the skin was
carefully removed and conveyed upon a pack-horse in triumph to the
camp; and it may possibly interest those of my readers, who shall
have followed me during the last three days, to learn that I
succeeded, with infinite difficulty, in bringing this unique and
interesting specimen of African zoology, in a state of high
preservation, to Cape Town, where, in October last, it was
elegantly set up by Monsieur Verreaux, the French naturalist, and
obligingly taken to England by my well-known friend Captain
Alexander, 42nd Royal Highlanders, and is now in the British
Museum.”

On January 9th, 1838, Harris exhibited his mounted specimen of the Sable Antelope at a meeting of the Zoological Society of London, and proposed for it the apposite scientific name “_niger_.” The same specimen was subsequently figured in the second volume of the Society’s ‘Transactions.’

Writing in 1881 Mr. Selous gave the following account of the distribution of the Sable Antelope at that period:—

“At the present a few Sable Antelopes are still to be found in
south-western. Matabele Land, in the neighbourhood of the
Ramokwebani, Shashani, and Samookwe rivers (tributaries of the
Shashe). Along the waggon-road leading from Tati to the Zambesi it
may be met with here and there, but is decidedly scarce. All along
the Chobe river, as far as I have been, I have met with this
Antelope, though sparingly. In the Mābābe country, and on the road
leading from there to Bamangwato, I neither saw a Sable Antelope
nor the spoor of one, and do not think its range extends so far to
the west. In the broken country to the south of the Victoria
Falls, in the neighbourhood of the Pendamatenka and Daka rivers,
it is not uncommon, but its true home is the higher portions of
the Mashuna country, to the north-east of the Matabele country.
There it is the commonest Antelope, and may still be met with in
herds of over fifty individuals, the usual number being from ten
to twenty. However large the herd, I have never seen more than one
full-grown bull with it, though there may be several half-grown
ones; whilst in a large herd of any other kind of Antelopes two or
more full-grown males are nearly always to be seen. On the Manica
plateau, north of the Zambesi, Sable Antelopes are also to be met
with. The longest pair of male Sable Antelope’s horns I have seen
measured 45 inches over the curve, the longest pair of female 33
inches. In the Mashuna country and along the Chobe the average
length of the horns of these animals is greater than in south-
western Matabele Land.”

In his admirable work entitled ‘A Breath from the Veldt’ Mr. John Millais has devoted many pages and sketches to the illustration of this splendid creature, which he evidently places as the finest of all the Antelopes of South Africa. He describes it as follows:—

“In general appearance and sporting qualities the Sable Antelope
(_Hippotragus niger_) yields the palm to none of its kind. There
is about the whole animal that indescribable charm that is so
intensely African and associated with the wild life. Its strong
individuality must ever stand out in the minds of those who have
been so fortunate as to see and shoot it, and it is certainly one
of the chief objects of interest in the splendid fauna of that
country. Apart from its satin-like hide, sweeping horns, erect
mane, and great strength, the Sable Antelope presents an
appearance of fearlessness and nobility that is very striking, to
say the least of it. Though the Koodoo surpasses his rival in
elegance and general appearance when dead, he is but a skulker,
and makes but a poor show beside the Sable on the Veldt. I would
say, if such a comparison be allowable, the two hold their own
like the rival beauties of a London drawing-room. The fair beauty
sits quietly in a corner, charming her immediate circle with her
graceful shyness and beauty, and people take sly glances at her
from the other end of the room, while pretending to devote their
attention to someone else. What a contrast with her black-eyed
rival, who flaunts into the room as if she owned the entire show,
and commands the attention of all eyes by her flashy and striking
beauty! The one attracts attention slowly, the other commands it
at once. Roughly speaking, the height of this grand Antelope at
the shoulder is about 4½ feet, but he looks much taller, owing to
his great shoulders and unusually thick neck, ornamented with its
erect crest of hair. The tail is long, and has a good wisp of hair
at the end, which, like the tails of the Roan Antelope and the
Waterbuck, swings from side to side as the animal gallops away.
Like the Koodoo, the horns of the Sable are its chief glory, and
the noble manner in which the head is carried by the buck when on
the move is a splendid thing to see. Unlike all Deer, and nearly
all Antelope, the Sable when running arches the neck instead or
raising the chin; this gives the animal its nice picture-booky
look, and I could hardly imagine a finer subject for an animal
painter than a herd of these grand beasts on the move, if their
heads and necks be properly drawn.”

Mr. F. V. Kirby, F.Z.S., in his ‘Haunts of Wild Game,’ also devotes a whole chapter to an account of his rencontres with this Antelope, which he found “by no means rare” in his favourite hunting-grounds in the Lydenburg district of the Transvaal, and gives several excellent illustrations of its noble form.

Lastly, Mr. J. Ffolliott Darling, F.Z.S., has kindly favoured us with the following field-notes on this Antelope as lately observed by him in Mashonaland and Matabeleland:—

“These Antelopes, of which the Mashona names are _Inguarāti_ and
_Marabālla_, were much more numerous before the incursion of the
Pioneers in 1890, but even now, in most out-of-the-way places,
they are abundant, especially on the higher parts of the plateau,
which is from 3000 to 5000 feet high. As late as 1896 I have seen
troops of these bucks lying out on the open flats at midday, far
from any cover, but, as a rule, when much disturbed and hunted,
they seek concealment in the bush for their daily sleep. They
usually go in troops of from 5 to 12 or 15, the largest herd I
ever counted consisting of 22 individuals; I often heard of troops
of 50 or 60, but when an opportunity offered of counting them they
invariably resolved themselves into a score or so. Occasionally
one comes across a bull keeping altogether by himself, and in such
cases I always found him very wary and almost impossible to
approach within shot. Whatever may be the reason for his going
alone, it is evidently the same cause that has also made him very
suspicious and cautious. I have known a lone bull haunt a certain
spot for months, and have seen him frequently, but never in
company. Sometimes 3 or 4 bulls will be found together, but
usually herds are mixed—young and old, male and female, run
together; a troop of 10 will consist of one big bull, 3 or 4
younger males, and the remainder cows or young ones. The old bulls
don’t seem to wish to drive away the younger males, as Deer do.

“One day, as I was quietly meandering through the bush in
Mashonaland, a troop of 10 or 12 Sable came trotting by. About
half had gone past me without suspicion, when a cow took the
alarm, and, stopping suddenly, looked in my direction. She could
not exactly make out the enemy, but after a few seconds she
stamped her foot two or three times and snorted, as if to warn the
others to keep quiet. They all stopped, gazing about, but finally
cantered off without having satisfied their curiosity.

“These Antelopes fight very well with their long curved horns, and
strike sideways very quickly. A dog that is unwise enough to run
up behind and try to lay hold of one has little chance of escaping
impalement. A bull won’t run very far from a dog, but will stop to
fight him, and if the dog keeps out of his reach and stays running
round and barking at him the hunter can easily get up for a shot.

“When taken young, Sables get very tame and bold, and will push
open the door and demolish a loaf of bread or any other eatables
that may be handy. A young bull used to frequent the laager at
Salisbury during the Mashonaland rebellion in 1896; he was very
friendly with white folks, but—unlike some of the stay-at-home
philanthropists—knew the difference between white and black men
very well, and if a ‘black brother’ took any liberties with him he
was promptly knocked down.

“The Sable calves are mostly born in November and December (spring
and early summer), but I have shot cows heavy with young at the
same time that others had good-sized calves.”

Passing northwards of the Zambesi we find the Sable Antelope recorded by Peters, in his ‘Reise nach Mossambique,’ as met with in the Portuguese dominions west of Tette, and on the woody plains of Sena. In Nyasaland Mr. Crawshay tells us it is not by any means evenly distributed, but appears to be plentiful in some places. In the Shiré Highlands, as Sir Harry Johnston writes, the Sable is one of the commonest Antelopes, frequenting the wooded hills rather than the low-lying plains, and we have seen many heads obtained by Mr. Sharpe, the late Capt. Sclater, and others from this district.

Sir Harry Johnston believes that the Sable Antelope is also found on the Nyasa-Tanganyika plateau; but it has not, so far as we are aware, been obtained there by Mr. Sharpe, Mr. Crawshay, Mr. Yule, and others who have traversed that district. It, however, certainly occurs again further north in the coast-district of German East Africa. Herr Oscar Neumann informs us that during his journey through German and British East Africa he never saw a specimen of _H. niger_ alive, but only the skin of one that had been killed near Tanga on the coast. His opinion is that the species is not now to be met with anywhere in the interior of German East Africa, but that there are still some herds of it left on the coast opposite Zanzibar, near Tanga and Pangani. In this district it was formerly hunted by Sir John Kirk, in whose collection there is a head of the Sable Antelope, which has been examined by Sclater. The specimen, as Sir John kindly informs us, was obtained about twelve miles inland, somewhat to the north of the River Wami, in the winter of 1884–5.

Whether the Sable Antelope occurs much further north than this seems to be by no means certain. Sir Harry Johnston has enumerated it among the Antelopes of the Kilimanjaro district (Kilimanjaro Exp. p. 354). Sir John Willoughby had a shot at what “_he believed_ was a herd of ‘Sable Antelopes’” on his journey from Mombasa into the interior in 1886 (East Africa, pp. 46, 47), but did not secure a specimen. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Gedge “_saw_ a herd of about ten or twelve near Gulu Gulu in November 1888,” but Mr. Jackson admits that no European has yet bagged a Sable Antelope in British East Africa.

There is also no good authority for the occurrence of the Sable Antelope still further north on the White Nile, although it is included in Heuglin’s List of N.E. African Mammals as being met with in the Shilluk country on the authority of v. Pruyssenaer. We may therefore, for the present, draw the northern limit of the Sable Antelope on the east side of Africa at somewhere about the 5th degree N. lat. On the western side of Africa the Sable Antelope, which Mr. Selous has already shown to occur on the Manica Plateau in Barotseland, appears to extend thence into Southern Angola, where, according to Prof. Barboza du Bocage, Welwitsch obtained it in Mossamedes[9].

Many living specimens of the Sable Antelope have been brought to Europe of late years. The first example, a male, reached our Zoological Society’s Gardens in 1861, and a second male in 1873. In 1895 a fine young pair were purchased of Mr. C. Reiche, of Alfeld, along with the young female Giraffe which arrived in February of that year. They have done well and are still thriving, but have not yet bred.

At the Zoological Gardens of Hamburg they have been more fortunate with this species, a fine calf having been born there on the 1st of May, 1894. Of this interesting animal we are able to give an illustration (Plate LXXX.) through the kindness of the Director, Dr. Bolau, who has sent Sclater an excellent water-colour drawing of the mother and young, executed by the well-known German zoological artist Leutemann, when the young one was rather more than a fortnight old. Other Continental gardens have also now, or have lately had, living representatives of this beautiful species. In the Cologne Gardens, as Dr. Wunderlich kindly informs us, this Antelope has bred twice—in April 1896, when the period of gestation was observed to be 272 days, and in March 1898, when it was reckoned at 281 days.

Our illustration of the male of this Antelope (Plate LXXIX.) was put on the stone by Mr. Smit, under the direction of the late Sir Victor Brooke, about twenty years ago, from a water-colour sketch prepared by Mr. Wolf, but we have not been able to ascertain from what specimen it was taken. Mr. Smit at the same time prepared a wood-block of the head (fig. 91, p. 38), which he believes was taken from a specimen lent to Sir Victor by Mr. Selous.

Besides Harris’s original type specimen to which we have already called attention, there are mounted examples of both sexes of this Antelope and a mounted skeleton in the British Museum received from Mr. Selous, who procured them in Mashonaland. There are also in the National Collection a skin of an adult female from Caffreland (_Wahlberg_), three skins from Nyasaland presented by Sir Harry Johnston, and a skin from Lake Mweru presented by Mr. Alfred Sharpe, besides several skulls and pairs of horns from different localities.

_January,_ 1899.

Genus II. ORYX.
Type.

_Oryx_, De Blainville, Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75 O. gazella.

Size medium or large. Tail with a long and thick terminal tuft. Hairs along the neck and spine with their points projecting towards the head, the parting being situated on the rump or behind the middle of the back.

Skull with small lachrymal vacuities and of the same general structure as in _Hippotragus_; but the bases of the horns, instead of rising vertically above the eyes and forming an elevated forehead as in that genus, project straight backwards, continuing the line of the face and lying in the same plane as the nasal bones.

Horns long, cylindrical, slender, straight, or with a gradual and gentle backward curvature, diverging at a very acute angle; ribbed in their basal half.

_Female_ with horns as in the male.

_Range of the Genus._ Africa south of the Sahara, except in
the west-coast woodland and Congo Basin; also Southern Arabia.

The five species of the genus here recognized may be arranged as follows:—

_a._ Horns, when fully developed, crescentically recurved throughout.
Neck and part of the shoulder to the base of the fore leg of a ruddy-
brown hue and strongly contrasted with the yellowish-white tint of the
body. 113. _O. leucoryx._

_b._ Horns normally straight or nearly so. Neck of the same colour as
the body.

_a1._ Size smaller (height about 3 ft. at the withers). Legs, with the
exception of the pasterns, which are white, of a nearly uniform brown
colour both outside and inside; body of a nearly uniform dirty white;
no black spinal stripe, and only a faint throat-stripe; tips and edges
of ears white; nearly the whole of the cheek beneath the eye covered
with a large brown or blackish patch continuous with the ocular
stripe; at most a faint brown stripe passing along the side above the
belly; tail-tuft white at the base. 114. _O. beatrix._

_b1._ Size larger (height about 4 ft. at the withers). Colour of legs
below knees and hocks pale dirty white, and lighter in tint than the
body, though often patched with black in front; body and neck of a
nearly uniform tawny hue, with a dark spinal stripe and a deep black
throat-stripe; tips and adjacent edges of ears black; cheek below the
eye of the same colour as the neck, bounded in front by the black
ocular stripe and behind by a similar stripe running from near the
base of the ear; a deep black stripe running along the side above the
whitish belly; tail-tuft black.

_a2._ Hairs on throat long, frequently forming a median tuft or beard;
nasal patch black, united on both sides with the lower end of the
ocular stripe and passing beneath the jaw, so as to form a complete
black ring round the white muzzle; a black stripe above the knee on
the fore leg, extending on the outer side almost to the shoulder; a
large black patch on the rump; a black stripe above the belly on both
sides continued on to the thigh, and there united with a large patch
of the same colour, which covers the hind leg, both outside and
inside, almost down to the hocks; a black patch or stripe on the front
of the cannon-bone of the hind leg. 115. _O. gazella._

_b2._ Hairs on throat short, not forming a tuft or beard; nasal patch
not meeting the ocular stripe, so that the muzzle is not circumscribed
by a continuous black band; black stripe above the knee on the fore
leg only extending about halfway up to the shoulder; hind-quarters of
a nearly uniform tawny tint, without any black patches on the rump or
thighs; lateral stripe above the belly not passing on to the thigh;
hind legs without any black bands or stripes.

_a3._ Black hairs on the ears not produced into a tuft; parting of the
hairs on the dorsal median line lying far back upon the rump.
116. _O. beisa._

_b3._ Hairs on the ears produced into a long black tuft; parting of
the hairs along the spine situated a little behind the middle of the
back. 117. _O. callotis._

113. THE LEUCORYX.

ORYX LEUCORYX (Licht.).

[PLATE LXXXI]

_Algazel_, =Buff=. Hist. Nat. xii. pp. 211 & 272, pl. xxxiii. figs. 1 &
2 (horns) (1764).

_L’Algazelle_, =F. Cuv.= H. N. Mamm. i. pl. 376 (1819) (Senegal).

_Antilope gazella_, =Pall.= Spic. Zool. fasc. xii. p. 17 (1777) (nec
_Capra gazella_, Linn.); =Kerr=, Linn. An. K. p. 316 (1792); =Daudin=,
in Lacépède’s Buffon, xiv. p. 182 (1799); =Bechst.= Syst. Uebers.
vierf. Th. ii. p. 642 (1800); =Desm.= N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xxiv. Tabl.
p. 32 (1804); =Goldf.= Schr. Säug. v. p. 1182 (1819); =Schinz=, Cuv.
Thierr. i. p. 394 (1821); =Desmoul.= Dict. Class. d’H. N. i. p. 444
(1822); =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 475 (1822); =Savi=, Isis, 1832, p. 499;
=Rüpp.= N. Wirbelth. p. 16 (1835); =Oken=, Allg. Naturg. vii. p. 1396
(1838); =F. Cuv.= Index to H. N. Mamm. p. 5 (1842); =Wagn.= Schr.
Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 481 (1844); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 437
(1845); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 295 (1853).

_Cerophorus_ (_Oryx_) _gazella_, =Blainv.= Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p.
75.

_Oryx gazella_, =Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 135
(1887); =id.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 166 (1892);
=Matsch.= SB. Ges. nat. Fr. 1893, p. 104; =Pousargues=, Ann. Sci. Nat.
(7) iv. p. 131 (1896); =Trouessart=, Cat. Mamm. fasc. iv. p. 954
(1898).

_Cemas algazel_, =Oken=, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 741 (1816) (part.).

_Antilope algazella_, =Rüpp.= N. Wirb. Abyss. p. 26 (1835).

_Antilope tao_, =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. iv. p. 189, v. p. 327 (1827); =A.
Sm.= S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 187 (1834); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii.
p. 425 (1845).

_Antilope leucoryx_, Licht. Darst. Säug. pl. i. (1827) (nec Pall.);
=Hempr. & Ehr.= Symb. Phys. Decas ii. pl. iii. (1828) (Dongola);
=Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 478 (1829); =Waterh.= Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2)
p. 41 (1838); =Oken=, Allg. Naturg. vii. p. 1394 (1838); =Laurill.=
Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 618 (1841); =Reichenb.= Säug. iii. p. 120,
pl. xxxvii. (1845); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 434 (1845); =id.= Mon.
Antil. p. 32, pl. xxxvi. (1848).

_Oryx leucoryx_, =Sund.= K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1842, p. 201 (1843); =Gray=,
List Mamm. B. M. p. 156 (1843); =id.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p.
232 (1846); =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 206 (form α et
γ) (1846); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 157;
Reprint, p. 81 (1848); =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 134; =id.= Knowsl.
Men. p. 17 (1850); =id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 107 (1852); =Barth=,
Reise, i. p. 589 (1850) (Asben, Centr. Afr.); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1863, p.
230 (gestation, 8 mths.); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 177 (1869);
=Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 36 (1872); =id.= Hand-1. Rum. B. M. p. 104
(1873); =Sclater=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 604; =Brehm=, Thierl. iii. p. 231
(1880); =Sclater=, in Wolf’s Zool. Sketches, i. pl. xxiii. (1861), ii.
pl. xix. (1868); =id.= List Anim. Z. S. (8) p. 138 (1883), (9) p. 158
(1896); =Flow. & Gars.= Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 261 (1884); =Jent.=
Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 135 (1887); =W. Sclater=,
Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 156 (1891); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p. 344
(1891); =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 148 (1892), (2) p. 188 (1896);
=Mockler-Ferryman=, Up the Niger, p. 50 (1892) (Lokoja, Niger);
=Jent.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 166 (1892);
=Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 249 (1893); =Matsch.= SB. nat. Freund.
1893, p. 104; =Pousargues=, Ann. Sci. Nat. (7) iv. p. 131 (1896);
=Johnston=, P. Z. S. 1898, p. 352; =Trouessart=, Cat. Mamm. fasc. iv.
p. 955 (1898).

_Antilope ensicornis_, =Hempr. et Ehr.= Symb. Phys. i. p. i (sub _Ant.
leucoryge_) (1832); =Wagner=, Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 479 (1844), v.
p. 437 (1855) (var. β _nubica_ and var. γ _senegalensis_).

_Oryx ensicornis_, =Heugl.= Ant. u. Buff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx.
pt. 2) p. 17 (1863); =id.= N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 113 (1877).

_Antilope (Oryx) bezoastica_, =H. Smith=, Griff. An. K. iv. p. 191, v.
p. 327 (1827). _Oryx bezoarticus_, =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p.
178 (1869).

Vernacular Names:—_Toa_ or _Tao_ of the Hebrews and Egyptians (_Hamilton
Smith_); _Abu-harb_, of Sennaar and Kordofan Arabs (_Licht._); _Wahsch
el Baqer_ and _Baqer el Wádi_ of the Arabs (_Heuglin_); _Lymbe_ and
_Aschamel_ of the Tuaregs (_Barth._).

Height at withers about 40 inches. Prevailing colour of the sides of the body yellowish or reddish white, often more or less dappled with blotches of pale brown; neck and shoulders above the base of the leg ruddy brown, this colour extending from the withers along the back and becoming diffused over the rump, thighs, and base of the tail. Head whitish, with a greyish-brown patch on the nose and on the forehead, the two united by an ill-defined brownish stripe; a stripe of the same hue extending a short distance above the eye and below it on to the middle of the cheek; the hinder part of the cheek of the same reddish-brown colour as the neck; ears dirty white, the tips and rims not darkened. No distinct dark stripe along the throat, no dark stripe along the middle of the back and nape of the neck, and only a faint longitudinal stripe on each side between the flanks and belly; mane of neck brown. Legs whitish in tint, clouded in front with brown, which spreads downwards from the shoulders and thighs. Hairs along the spine reversed from rump.

Horns long, with a bold crescentic backward curvature; attaining a length of nearly 40 inches.

A skull offers the following measurements:—Basal length 13 inches, muzzle to orbit 9, greatest width 5·75.

_Female_ similar to the male, but horns thinner.

_Hab._ Interior of North Africa from Dongola to Senegal.

Whatever the _Oryx_ of Aristotle, Pliny, and other ancient writers may have been (which has been a subject of much discussion), there can be little doubt that the _Oryx_ of Oppian, commemorated in his celebrated poem on the Chase, was based on an Antelope of this group. In the Latin translation of Oppian’s work it is described as a beast much dreaded by its fellow creatures:—

“In densis etiam sævissima bestia sylvis
Trux stabulatur Oryx, odium commune ferarum
Præcipuusque timor. Cornu gerit acre, colorem
Lactis habet verni: facies est candida, solæ
In vultu malæ picea caligine nigrant:
Turgescit duplex crassa pinguedine dorsum.
Cornua sublimes excelsa feruntur in auras,
In quibus est mucro fuscus, lethalis et acer.”

The classical term “_Oryx_” was first introduced into scientific literature by Pallas in his memoir on the genus _Antilope_ published in 1767. But here he grossly misapplied the term “_Oryx_” to the Eland, which he called _Antilope oryx_. In his second memoir on the same subject, however (1777), Pallas corrected this unfortunate error, and transferred _Oryx_ to the Gemsbok of the Cape, to which it was certainly much better applicable.

In 1816 De Blainville, when subdividing the Antelopes, first adopted _Oryx_ as a generic term, and made the _Antilope oryx_ of Pallas (that is, _Oryx gazella_) its type. The generic name of the present species was thus settled, but before we can arrive at its proper specific name some further explanation is necessary.

By modern authorities, almost without exception, the present Antelope has been called the “Leucoryx, _Oryx leucoryx_,” and it is well known by this name in the Museums and Zoological Gardens of Europe. But when we proceed to investigate the strict claims of the present animal to this title, a difficult question presents itself. The _Antilope leucoryx_ of Pallas in all probability, and certainly the _Antilope leucoryx_ of succeeding authors until about 1827, was not the present species, but, as will be clearly shown in our next article, the Beatrix.

Buffon, in his ‘Histoire Naturelle,’ called the present species “_l’Algazel_,” and Pallas and his followers named it _Antelope gazella_. But the term “_gazella_,” as we shall presently show, had been previously appropriated by Linnæus to the allied Gemsbok of Southern Africa. The fact is that most of the early authors had no clear ideas as to the distinctive characters of the present animal, and habitually confounded it both with the Beatrix of Arabia and the Gemsbok of the Cape.

The earliest travellers of modern days to meet with the Leucoryx in its native wilds and to transmit perfect specimens of it home to Europe were the well-known German naturalists Hemprich and Ehrenberg, who explored Nubia, Arabia, and the adjoining countries from 1820 to 1825. Unfortunately Lichtenstein, who first described and figured their specimens of this Antelope about the year 1827, chose to identify it with the _Antilope leucoryx_ of Pallas and to employ Pallas’s name for it. In the ‘Symbolæ Physicæ,’ in which Hemprich and Ehrenberg’s own account of their expedition was given to the world in 1828, Lichtenstein’s example of using _Antilope leucoryx_ as the scientific name of the present species was followed.

Hemprich and Ehrenberg state that they had originally intended to have called this species _Antilope ensicornis_, but that they eventually gave up their proposed designation for the term adopted by Lichtenstein. The same was the case also with nearly all the leading authorities subsequent to Lichtenstein, so that to attempt to restore the name “_leucoryx_” to what is probably its proper owner would now only create confusion. We prefer therefore to designate the present species as _Oryx leucoryx_ (Licht.), to which name it is undoubtedly entitled.

After giving an accurate description of the present animal, and figures of the two specimens brought home, which, although of not first-rate quality, are perfectly recognizable, Hemprich and Ehrenberg inform us that they met with it in Dongola, between Ambukol on the Upper Nile and Simrie near Chor-el-Lebben, where they hunted it along with the Arabs on horseback.

In Dongola and Kordofan, they proceed to tell us, this Antelope is met with in herds in the deserts. Its flesh is much appreciated by the Arabs, and is dried and laid by for future use, being likewise often sold in the markets. Its skins are used for shields and sandals, but are not considered of first-rate quality for these purposes. The Arabs of the Kubabish tribe, they inform us, call this Antelope “_Abu-harb_,” and state that it lives chiefly on the leaves and twigs of the acacias (_Acacia textilis_ and _A. ehrenbergi_) which are found in the valleys of the desert in this district.

The next great explorer of North-eastern Africa, Rüppell, does not add much to our knowledge of the present species, which, in his list of Antelopes in the ‘Neue Wirbelthiere,’ he tells us, lives in herds in the deserts of Nubia and also in Egypt proper, as far north as the borders of the Fayoum. He comments, however, upon its confusion by Lichtenstein with the _A. leucoryx_ of Pallas, and calls it _Antilope algazella_, after Buffon.

Our third leading authority on North-African mammals, Theodor von Heuglin, informs us that the Leucoryx was only met with by him in Southern Nubia and Kordofan, and in the oasis of El-Kāb, west of Dongola. But, according to the Central-African traveller Nachtigal, the range of this species extends into Borgu and Tibeste, while Barth in 1850 met with it in the hills of Air or Asben, north of Agades, in about 19° N. lat. and 9° E. long.

Proceeding still further westward, we may state that there can be little doubt that the Leucoryx was formerly met with in the southern part of Tunisia, although at the present epoch it seems to be nearly, if not quite, extinct in the Beylik. When Sclater was in Tunis in 1898 he observed a stuffed specimen of a young Leucoryx Antelope in the palace of the Bey at Marsa, and was told that it had been originally received alive from the southern frontiers of Tunisia (see P.Z.S. 1898, p. 280).

In the Musée Alaoui, at the Bardo Palace, Tunis, Sclater was also shown an unmistakable figure of a Leucoryx attacked by a Lion, represented on a piece of Roman mosaic pavement. Of this figure Sir Harry Johnston has kindly furnished us with the accompanying sketch (fig. 92, p. 48).

The mosaic pavement in question, which was discovered among the remains of a Roman villa in the vicinity of Tunis, contains representations of various animals of the chase found in that district in Roman times. The _Gætulus Oryx_ of Juvenal (Sat. xi. 140) was therefore in all probability the Leucoryx.

We are not aware of any authentic records of the occurrence of the Leucoryx on the southern frontiers of Algeria and Morocco, where, in recent times, it has probably been driven far into the interior. But when we go on as far west as Senegal and Nigeria it would appear that the Leucoryx, or a form so closely allied to it as to be barely distinguishable, is still abundant in the Senegambian deserts, and is also, according to Capt. Mockler-Ferryman, met with on the Nile in the vicinity of Lokoja.

The first specimen of the Leucoryx received from Senegal was, so far as we know, that figured by Geoffroy St.-Hilaire and F. Cuvier in 1819 in the ‘Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères’ (plate 376), which was then living in the Jardin des Plantes. This, we are told, was an adult male, standing about four feet high to the top of its head, and having long and well-developed horns.

When the thirteenth Earl of Derby formed his great menagerie at Knowsley between 1835 and 1850, the group of the Leucoryx Antelopes was one of the specialities of the collection. The adult male and female were figured by Waterhouse Hawkins in plate xvii. of the ‘Gleanings,’ and the young one, born at Knowsley, forms one of the figures in plate xvi. of the same work.