The book of antelopes, vol. 4 (of 4)Sclater, Philip Lutley
Science
The book of antelopes, vol. 4 (of 4)
Sclater, Philip Lutley
Antelopes
“A fawn, destined for le Jardin des Plantes, was once sent by M.
Rapet from the Casamanza, but it died at Goree. When I was at
Macarthy’s Island, I saw a fawn of this Antelope which was in the
possession of an officer of the 2nd West Indian Regiment; it was
extremely tame, allowing itself to be caressed, and was so young
that it used to be fed on milk.”
Some further details on the subject will be found in Winwood Reade’s
‘Savage Africa,’ where they are accompanied by a beautiful lithographic
plate representing a herd of Derbyan Elands, drawn by Joseph Wolf and
signed with his initials. This plate (fig. 119, p. 218) by the kindness
of Messrs. Smith, Elder, & Co., we are enabled to reproduce in the
present work.
[Illustration:
Fig. 120.
Horns of Derbian Eland.
(P. Z. S. 1898, p. 349.)
]
Since Winwood Reade’s visit to the West Coast, although several heads
of the Derbian Eland have been obtained at the Gambia by Dr. Percy
Rendall and others, little additional information has been received on
the subject. In 1898 Sir R. B. Llewellyn, K.C.M.G., the Governor of the
Colony, brought home, amongst other spoils of the chase, a fine pair
of horns of this Antelope, which were exhibited by Sclater at a Meeting
of the Zoological Society on May 5th of that year. A figure of them was
given in the ‘Proceedings,’ which the kindness of the Society enables
us to reproduce (fig. 120, p. 219) on the present occasion. These horns
are of large dimensions, measuring 31 inches in length from the base
in a straight line, and about 11½ inches round their bases. They are
apparently those of an adult male animal.
Mr. J. S. Budgett, F.Z.S., who made a zoological expedition to the
Gambia last year, specially with a view of collecting and observing the
river-fishes, has favoured us with the following notes on what he saw
of the Derbian Eland during several visits to the upper districts of
the Protectorate:—
“The Derbian Eland of the Gambia is known to the Mandingoes by the
name of ‘_Jinke-janko_.’ It does not seem to be very abundant, and
is undoubtedly very shy. During my stay on the river, several
pairs of horns were found in the possession of natives. Two were
met with on the south bank, west of M’Carthy’s Island, and one at
Koina, on the north bank, 100 miles east of M’Carthy’s Island. All
these had been procured in the year 1899.
“A head of a young female was taken from a carcase floating down
the river near Yarbutenda by Mr. P. E. Wainewright, the travelling
Commissioner of the M’Carthy’s Island district, and presented to
me.
“I was assured by Mr. Wainewright that the hair on the neck of
this animal was ‘bluish,’ though the animal was a good deal
decomposed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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