The book of antelopes, vol. 1 (of 4)Sclater, Philip Lutley
Science
The book of antelopes, vol. 1 (of 4)
Sclater, Philip Lutley
Antelopes
In his important work on the ‘Game and Wild Animals of Southern
Africa,’ as they existed in 1836 and 1837, Cornwallis Harris figures
the “Duiker” as a companion of the Pallah and speaks of it as common
throughout the Cape Colony, especially towards the sea-coast, among
the bushes and brush-wood. This experienced observer states that
every female specimen of the Duiker that he had seen possessed short
horns, nearly, if not totally obscured by the tuft on the head; this,
we shall see, is contrary to the observations of some other writers.
From the text of Harris’s volume we extract his lively account of
the Duiker and its habits:--“The smaller Antelope, delineated in the
annexed plate, is a denizen of the same _locale_ as the Pallah;
and although claiming from its diminutive stature an extremely limited
portion of attention, was yet never neglected when accident placed it
in our way. The pair which furnished the originals of this portrait
were on my own shoulders borne three miles to the waggons from one of
the central steppes of the Cashan mountains, whither, having gone out
alone, I killed the buck as he sat on a projecting ledge--knocking over
his disconsolate relict with the second barrel as she stood gazing in
mute amazement at her mate’s death-struggles. The pasterns of this
robust and sturdy little animal, which are singularly rigid, have the
appearance of being encased in Blucher’s, or ancle boots; two other
of its most remarkable features being the long suborbital slit that
traverses the whole length of its Roman features, and the pencilled
_toupet_ of bright fulvous hair arising from the forehead, neither
of which occur in any other Antelopes. Writers have noticed three
distinct species of the Duiker, but the peculiarities in the horns
that have led to this division are so trivial that I should rather
feel disposed to place them to the score of age, disease, or accident,
few specimens being exactly alike. The animal is extremely common
in many parts of the Cape Colony, and on the outskirts of the deep
forests which border the sea-coast especially. Here on my return from
the interior, I killed several--and found it even more abundant than
beyond the boundary. Occurring either singly or in pairs, the little
dwarf is usually found crouching amid the shelter of bushy localities,
and the dexterity with which it seeks to foil its pursuers among the
intricacies of these, has gained for it the Dutch soubriquet in which
it rejoices. Aroused from its snug form, the ‘Artful Dodger’ clears
with one vigorous and elastic bound the nearest bush, and diving low on
the other side among the heather and brushwood, continues alternately
leaping and plunging whilst it flies straight as a dart to the nearest
thicket--before seeking an asylum in which, and not unfrequently also
during its retreat, it rises like the hare upon its hinder legs, and
having thus reconnoitred the foe above the intervening vegetation,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account