Big Game Shooting, volume 1 (of 2)Phillipps-Wolley, Clive
General
Big Game Shooting, volume 1 (of 2)
Phillipps-Wolley, Clive
Game and game-birds; Hunting
The Sing-Sing (also known to the natives as ‘Kuru’) resembles the
waterbuck in habits, but is easily distinguished from it by its darker
colour, and by a considerable amount of rufous hair on the top of the
head, as well as by an entirely white rump in place of the elliptical
white band of the other. The horns are also as a rule longer and more
massive than those of the waterbuck, the horns of the latter never
growing to the size they do in South Africa. It is not met with until
near Lake Baringo, and extends west to Uganda, where it was first
obtained by Captains Speke and Grant. It is fairly plentiful in the
open bush country of Turkwel; but it does not appear to go about in
such large herds as the waterbuck. I have never seen more than five or
six together, and more often a bull and two or three cows.
THE GREATER KUDU
The Greater Kudu is a rare beast in East Africa, and is only found in
certain places. There are always a few in the Teita country west of
Ndara and Kisigao and on the banks of the Tsavo river, down which it
ranges from the head-waters to the Sabaki, and then north up the Athi
river. All these places are more or less undulating, very rough, dry,
and stony, and covered with thick bush.
LESSER KUDU
The Lesser Kudu (Swahili, ‘Kungu’) is very plentiful on the banks of
the Tana river. In 1885-86 it was also numerous at Merereni, on the
coast. A few are found in suitable places near Taveta, and as far west
as the Sogonoi hills in German territory. They appear, however, to be
confined principally to the belt of dry bush country extending from
the coast for about 100 miles inland, and I think that very few of
them range west of the Masai country. I was told by Messrs. Hobley and
Bird-Thompson, on their return from a trip up the Tana river in 1891,
that many of these antelopes had fallen victims to the cattle disease
(anthrax), and that they found several dead in the bush between the
river and the northern boundaries of Ukambani. These beautiful beasts
are bush feeders. They should be sought for in the early morning, and
again in the evening in the open bush which usually fringes thick bush,
in which they take up their quarters for the day. They are generally
found in small parties of two or three does and a buck, though, like
the bush-buck, both single bucks and does are often seen by themselves.
At Merereni, in 1886, I witnessed a fight between two bucks. On
emerging from the bush I suddenly came across them, and watched them
for about a quarter of an hour as they fought with great fury, in spite
of my being to windward of them, and not more than 400 yards off at
the time. They fought so furiously, and kept their heads together so
long, that I thought they had got their horns locked together, and I
attempted to take advantage of them whilst in this position, and ran
across the sandy open space intervening between us, but before I got
within range they separated and bolted. The jumping powers of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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