The book of antelopes, vol. 3 (of 4)Sclater, Philip Lutley
Science
The book of antelopes, vol. 3 (of 4)
Sclater, Philip Lutley
Antelopes
In the Cape Colony Mr. W. L. Sclater, the Director of the South African
Museum, Cape Town, kindly informs us that in the west of the Colony
the Springbuck is met with in Namaqualand, Clanwilliam, Beaufort West,
Prince Albert, and the adjoining districts. In the middle of the
Colony it is found in Uitenhaag, Graaff Reinet, Colesberg, Albert,
and Queenstown, but is rare in East Albany. On the north it occurs in
Great Namaqualand and Damaraland, also in Kimberley, Barkly West, and
Herbert. But it must be understood that it is mostly confined in all
these districts to those farms of the Dutch and English settlers where
it is preserved, and that permission to shoot it must on all occasions
be obtained. The same is the case in the Orange Free State and
Transvaal. In Bechuanaland, being wholly unprotected, the Springbuck
has in recent years been much shot down, except on the open arid flats
north and south of the Botletle and the neighbourhood of the great
Makari-kari Salt-pan, where Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington say it still
roams in large herds.
As regards the northern limit of the Springbuck, it certainly does not
cross the Zambesi in any place so far as we have been able to ascertain.
[Illustration: Fig. 53.
Horns of Springbuck, ♂ and ♀.]
Mr. F. C. Selous (P. Z. S. 1881, p. 757) says that its northern range
is bounded on the east by the thick forests which run east and west
south of the Mababe River. Westwards, as already stated, it occurs
in the district of Lake Ngami and throughout Damaraland up to the
Portuguese province of Mossamedes, whence specimens have been forwarded
to the Lisbon Museum by their energetic collector M. d’Anchieta.
Writing quite recently to Sclater, Mr. J. ffolliott Darling gives the
following notes:--
“The Springbuck does not range up so far north as Mashonaland;
but I have shot them in Griqualand West, the Transvaal, and
the Orange Free State, also in Bechuanaland, where the most
northerly point I found them in 1890 was south of the Macloutsie
River in the British Protectorate. I was for several years in
various parts of Griqualand East, but never saw a Springbuck,
though there are large flats suitable for them, on which Oribis
abound.
“When protected they become very numerous, so much so as to
scarcely leave any grass for the sheep in some places; one
farmer told me that he reckoned that the Springbok cost him £200
a year.
“One curious thing, well known to hunters, but I do not
recollect ever seeing it in print, is that the white patch of
hair on the back smells like honey.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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