The Living Animals of the World, Volume I: Mammals

Nearly related to the antelopes of the Oryx group in many essential characteristics, yet at once distinguishable by its spiral horns and broad reindeer-like feet, the desert-haunting ADDAX has been placed in a separate genus, of which it is the sole representative.

This remarkable animal stands about 38 inches in height at the withers, and varies in general colour at different seasons of the year, from brownish grey to a reddish hue. The forehead is covered with a thick growth of bushy black hair, beneath which there is a patch of white extending across the nose to under the eyes. The hindquarters, tail, and legs are white. The horns are spiral, aiid are present in both sexes. In the male they attain

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r a length of about 28 inches in a straight line, and about 36 inches following the spiral. In the female they are thinner and less spirally curved. The addax is confined to the desert regions of Northern Africa from Dongola to Senegal, and the broad, rounded hoofs, so unlike those of any other antelope, would seem to show that it inhabits countries where the soil is deep, soft sand. Very little is known of the life history or habits of this antelope. It is said to associate in pairs or small herds, and to be entirely independent of water, though it travels great distances

Photo by S:G. Payne, Aylesbury, by permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild. over the desert in the track of WHITE ORYX. thunder-storms for the sake of Found in Northern Africa from Dongola to Senegal. the young herbage which grows so quickly wherever rain falls in those thirsty regions. It is killed in considerable numbers by the Arabs for the sake of its flesh and hide, and is either stalked or hunted on horseback, with the help of greyhounds, by Europeans. The last of the sub-families into which modern naturalists have divided the antelopes of the world comprises some of the handsomest species of the whole group, and includes the largest of all antelopes, the Eland, as well as such small and beautifully marked creatures as the Harnessed Bushbucks. all the With one exception the Nilgai members of this sub-family are denizens of the great African Continent. The NILGAI, or BLUE BULL, is an inhabitant of India, and is found throughout the greater portion of the peninsula, from the base of the Himalaya to the south of Mysore. It is an animal of large size, standing about 4 feet 6 inches at the shoulder. In general colour the male is of a dark iron-grey, the female tawny fawn. White spots on the cheeks and just above the hoofs on the fore and hind feet are the outward signs of its affinity to the African harnessed antelopes. The male alone carries horns, which are nearly straight and very small for the size of the animal, rarely exceeding 9 inches in length. Passing now to the Harnessed Antelopes of Photo by W. P. Dando] [Regents Park. BEISA OKYX. Africa, our attention is first claimed by the BUSH- The beisa is found in North-east Africa; by some it is believed BUCKS. Excluding the Inyala and the Broad- to have suggested the original idea of the unicorn.

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horned Antelope, we find several forms of the smaller bushbucks recognised by naturalists: viz. the HARNESSED ANTELOPE of the forest regions of Western Africa; the CAPE BUSHBUCK of South Africa; CuMMlNG's BUSHBUCK of Eastern Africa; and the DECULA BUSHBUCK of Abyssinia. The various forms of bushbuck vary in general colour from very dark brown to various shades of grey-brown, yellow-brown, and rich red. In all species the young are more or less striped and spotted; but whereas in some forms the adult animals lose their stripes and spots almost entirely, in others the adults are more richly marked than immature specimens. For my part, I am inclined to believe that, if large series of bushbuck-skins were collected from every district throughout Africa, it would be found that all the varieties of this animal at present accepted as distinct species would be Photo by S. Q. Payne, Ayivsbwry, by permission of the Hon. Walter Kotlvtchild. found to grade into one GERENUK. another in such a way that A gazelle:ttke antelope with long neck and legs, inhabiting Xorth-east Africa. only one true species could be recognised. The bushbucks vary in height at the shoulder from 28 inches to 33 inches, and only the males carry horns, which are nearly straight, with a close spiral twist, and measure in adult animals from 10 inches to 18 inches in length.

Bushbucks are not found in open country, but live in forest or thick bush near the bank of a river, stream, or lake, and are never met with far from water. They are very partial to wooded ravines amongst broken, mountainous country, provided such districts are well watered; and are very solitary in their habits, both males and females being usually found alone, though the latter are often accompanied by a kid or half-grown animal. They are shy and retiring, and should be looked for between daylight and sunrise, or late in the evening, as they are very nocturnal in their habits, and lie concealed in long grass or thick bush during the heat of the day. Their call resembles the bark of a dog, and may often be heard at nights.

The BROAD-HORNED ANTELOPE is only found in the forests of the West African coast range, from Liberia to Gaboon. The male of this species is a very handsome animal, standing about 43 inches at the Withers, and is a bright chestnut-red in general colour, with a white spinal stripe extending from the withers to the root of the tail, and fourteen or fifteen white stripes on the shoulders, flanks, and hindquarters. The ears are large and rounded, and the horns very massive, and about 30 inches in length, measured over the single spiral twist. There are two or

256 three large white spots on the cheeks, and a broad white arrow-shaped mark across the nose below the eyes. The female is similar in coloration to the male, but smaller and hornless. Little or nothing is known as to the habits of this very beautiful antelope. Du it in the interior of Chaillu, who met with Gaboon between 1856 and 1859, says that it is "very shy, swift of foot, and exceedingly " in its motions; but he does not graceful tell us whether it lives in pairs like the bushbucks, or in small herds like some of its other near allies. The INYALA is another bush-loving antelope closely allied to the bushbucks. In this species the general colour of the adult male is a deep dark grey, that of the female and young male bright yellow-red, and both sexes are beautifully striped with narrow white bands on the body and haunches. In the male long dark hair hangs from the throat, chest, and each side of the belly, and fringes FEMALE NILGAI. the front of the thigh almost to the hock, The largest of the antelopes of India, and a distant cousin of the Kudu. and the back of it up to the root of the tail. The ears are large and rounded; and the horns, which are only present in the male, attain a length of about 2 feet in a straight line, and 30 inches along their spiral curve. The standing height at the. shoulder of males of this species is about 42 inches.

This most beautiful antelope has a very restricted range, being only found in a narrow belt of coastland extending from St. Lucia Bay to the Sabi River, in South-east Africa, and in a still smaller area in the neighbourhood of the Upper Shiri Kiver, in British Central Africa.

Before the acquisition of firearms by the natives in South-east Africa, the inyala was very plentiful in Northern Zululand and Amatongaland, and was then to be met with in herds of from ten to twenty individuals; whilst the males, which at certain seasons of the year separated from the females, were in the habit of consorting together in bands of from five to eight. Constant persecution by the natives in Amatongaland and the countries farther north very much reduced the numbers of inyalas in those districts a long time ago; but in Zululand, where this animal has been strictly protected by the British authorities for the last twenty years, it was still Photo by York 0: Son] [Kottwg Hill. ADDAX. plentiful up to 1896, when the rinderpest swept Unfortunately, the specimen from which this photograph was taken over the country, and committed such sad had lost its splendid spiral horns.

Photo by York & Son, Netting Hill.

NORTHERN GIRAFFE.

Two distinct types of Giraffe exist; the northern form, which has a large third horn, may be described as a chocolate-coloured animal marked with a network of fine buff lines; the southern form, in which the third horn is small, is fawn coloured with irregular brown blotches.

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ravages amongst all the tragelaphine antelopes that it is to be feared the inyala can now no I met with these antelopes longer be found anywhere in any considerable numbers. Where some years ago, in the country to the south of Delagoa Bay, I found them living either alone or in pairs like bushbucks. They frequented dense thickets in the immediate neighbourhood of a river or lagoon, and I never saw one in anything like open country or far away from in open spaces inwater. Their tracks showed me that at night they were accustomed to feed the bush, but they always retired to the jungle again at daylight, as they had become very wary and cunning through constant persecution at the hands of the natives.

Closely allied to the bush-antelopes of the present group are the swamp-haunting SITATUNGAS. Three species of these have been described, one from East Africa, named after Captain Speke; another from tropical West Africa; and a third from Lake Ngami and the Chobi River, named after the present writer. There is very little difference between the adult males of these three species, except that in the West African form the coat is of a darker colour than in the other two. The main difference consists in the fact that, whereas the female of Selous' sitatunga is light brown in colour like the male, and the newly born young are very dark blackish brown (the colour of a mole), beautifully striped and spotted with pale yellow, the female and young of the other two forms are red in ground-colour, with white spots and stripes. However, personally I am of opinion that there is only one true species of sitatunga in all Africa, and that the differences between the various forms are superficial, and would be found to grade one into the other, if a sufficiently large series of skins of all ages and both sexes could be gathered together from all parts of the continent. In the Barotse Valley, on the Upper Zambesi, my friend Major K. T. Coryndon informs Photo by Mr. W. Rau] [Philadelphia. A PAIR OP YOUNG PROXGBUCKS. me that both red and brown female From the fact that the horns of the males are annually shed, the prongbuck is -sitatungas are met with. On the assigned to a group apart from the Antelopes. Lower Chobi and Lake Ngami region the females are never red, but always of the same brown colour as the males, whilst on the Congo all the females are red.