The book of antelopes, vol. 4 (of 4)Sclater, Philip Lutley
Science
The book of antelopes, vol. 4 (of 4)
Sclater, Philip Lutley
Antelopes
“It is found more often in open bush country than in the bare arid
plains. It is not only a beautiful beast, but is very shy,
difficult to approach, and exceedingly tough, and for these
reasons many sportsmen covet its head more than the trophies of
any other kind of Antelope. The skin of its neck is
extraordinarily thick, and _à propos_ of this, all head-skins
preserved as trophies should have the skin of the neck shaved down
to at least half its thickness to ensure its being properly cured.
“The Oryx is found in herds varying in number from six or eight up
to thirty or forty. A bull Oryx is often found entirely by
himself, and occasionally along with a herd of _Gazella granti_ or
other Antelopes. It is perhaps as well to warn sportsmen to
approach Oryx, when lying wounded, with caution, as on one
occasion my gun-bearer, on going up to cut the throat of an Oryx,
received a severe blow on the thigh from the side of one of the
wounded beast’s horns. The blow might have been very serious had
the Oryx caught him with the point of his horns instead of with
the flat.”
Mr. R. B. P. Cator, of the British East African Administrative Service,
sends us the following account of his adventures with this Antelope:—
“On the morning of the 20th February, 1898, I fell in with a herd
of Oryx on my way down from Machakos to Kibwezi. The herd
consisted of some 15 to 20 animals or possibly more. When I first
saw them they were feeding near some thickets on the edge of a
broad open piece of ground that lay between them and myself, and I
was unable to gain cover before I was detected. On seeing me the
herd divided and made off in different directions, but, so far as
I could judge, the two parts effected a junction before I saw them
again. The country hereabout consists of open glades and meadows
of all sizes alternating with impenetrable thickets, so being very
anxious to secure a specimen of an Oryx, a very uncommon Antelope
in this part of the country, I made a long detour, and, by good
fortune, again hit off what was, I have not the least doubt, the
same herd or a portion of it.
“Without detailing the various attempts that I made to get a good
shot it is enough to say that I was fortunate enough to secure two
specimens, the one a very fine bull and the other a cow.
“The horns of the bull measure respectively 33½″ and 32″ on the
outer curve; circumference of largest horn 7″ and distance from
tip to tip 13″: all these measurements exceeding those of the best
East African Oryx given in Ward’s book. The horns of the cow are
fairly good but much worn and cracked.”
Our figure of this Antelope (Plate LXXXV.) has been prepared by Mr.
Smit from the skin and skull of the male specimen obtained on this
occasion by Mr. Cator, who kindly placed them at our disposal for this
purpose.
The Tufted Beisa extends south of the British Protectorate far into the
interior of German East Africa.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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