GenusV. ANTIDORCAS.

General characters as inGazella, but, as inSaiga tataricaalone of Ruminants, with only two lower premolars, and the upper anterior premolar reduced to half the size of the second. Back with a peculiar elongate evertible fold in the skin.

Skull with small but particularly deep anteorbital fossæ, no anteorbital vacuities, and very broad and open posterior nares.

Horns medium, lyrate, twisted inwards, with a double serpentine curvature, convex inwards and in front below, outwards and behind above. The points turned inwards or backwards.

Range of Genus.Africa south of the Zambesi.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LIWolf del J Smit lithHanhart impThe SpringbuckANTIDORCAS EUCHORE.Published by R H Porter

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LI

Wolf del J Smit lith

Hanhart imp

The Springbuck

ANTIDORCAS EUCHORE.

Published by R H Porter

La Gazelle à bourse sur le dos,Allamand, in Schneider’s ed. of Buffon’s Hist. Nat., Suppl. iv. p. 142, pl. lx. (1778);id.Buff. H. N., Suppl. vi. p. 180 (Paris, 1782).Antilope marsupialis,Zimm.Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 427 (1780);Bechst.Syst. Uebers. vierf. Thiere, ii. p. 645 (1800).Cemas marsupialis,Oken, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 738 (1816).Springbok,Sparrm.K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1780, p. 275;id.Reise, p. 396, pl. viii. (1784);id.Engl. transl. ii. p. 83 (1786);Daniell, Afr. Scenery, no. 18 (1812).Antilope euchore, “Forst.,”Zimm.Geogr. Gesch. iii. p. 269 (1783);Schr.Säug. pl. cclxxii. (1787);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 314 (1801);G. Cuv.Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 232 (1804);Licht.Mag. nat. Freund. vi. p. 169 (1814);G. Fisch.Zoogn. iii. p. 423 (1814);Afz.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 185 (1816);G. Cuv.R. A. i. p. 260 (1817);Goldf.Schr. Säug. v. p. 1189 (1818);Schinz, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 387 (1821);Desmoul.Dict. Class. d’H. N. i. p. 441 (1822);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 455 (1822);Burch.Trav. i. p. 290 (1822);id.List Quadr. pres. to B. M. p. 5 (1825) (Nugariep R.);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 208, v. p. 331 (1827);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 373 (1827);Licht.Darst. Säug. pl. vii. (♂♀) (1827);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 461 (1829);Smuts, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 72 (1832);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 286 (1836);Laurill.Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 615 (1839);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. i. p. 261 (1840);Jard.Nat. Misc. (1) vii. p. 213, pl. xxvii. (1842);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 176 (1812);Forst.Descr. Anim. p. 388 (1844);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 414 (1844), v. p. 407 (1855);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 400 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. p. 5, pl. iii. (1848);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853);Gieb.Säug. p. 309 (1853);Brehm, Thierl. iii. p. 212 (1880);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. (4) iv. p. 485 (1887).Cerophorus (Gazella) euchore,Blainv.Bull. Soc. Philom. p. 75 (1816).Gazella euchore,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 191 (1834);Harr.Wild Anim. S.Afr. pl. iii. (♂ ♀) (1840);Sund.K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1842, pp. 201 & 243 (1843);Gray, List Mamm. B. M. p. 160 (1843);id.Cat. Ost. B. M. pp. 56 & 145 (1847);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 6 (1850);Turner, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 168;Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 550;Drumm.Large Game S. Afr. p. 426 (1875);Buckley, P. Z. S. 1876, pp. 282 & 291;Bocage, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 741 (Huilla, Angola);Selous, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 757;Scl.List Anim. Z. S. (8) p. 142 (1883), (9) p. 156 (1896);Flow. & Gars.Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 264 (1884);Bryden, Kloof and Karroo, p. 220, figs. ♀ (1889);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 162 (1891);Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 342 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 122 (1892), (2) p. 163 (1896);Nicolls & Egl.Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 29, pl. vi. fig. 20 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 238 (1893).Antidorcas euchore,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 271 (1847);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 267; Reprint, p. 87 (1848);Gray, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 116;id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 63 (1852);Gerr.Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 233 (1862);Blyth, Cat. Mamm. Mus. As. Soc. p. 171 (1863);Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 158 (1869);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 40 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 109 (1873);Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 169 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 137 (1892).Antilope saccata,Bodd.Elench. Anim. p. 142 (1785).Capra pygargus,Thunb.Resa, ii. p. 28 (1789), Engl. Transl. ii. p. 24 (1793).Antilope pygarga,Thunb.Mém. Ac. Pétersb. iii. p. 315 (1811) (and no doubt of many other earlier authors;necPall.).Antilope saltans,Kerr, Linn. An. K. p. 312 (1792).Antilope saltatrix,Link, Beytr. p. 79 (1795) (necBodd.).Antilope saliensandA. dorsata, “Lac.,”Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xxiv. Tabl. p. 33 (1804).Vernacular Names:—Springbuckof English;SpringbokorProngbokof Dutch;Tsebe(A. Smith) orUmegi(Drummond) of Kaffirs.Insaypeeof Bechuanas;Eetsaypeeof Makalakas (Selous).

La Gazelle à bourse sur le dos,Allamand, in Schneider’s ed. of Buffon’s Hist. Nat., Suppl. iv. p. 142, pl. lx. (1778);id.Buff. H. N., Suppl. vi. p. 180 (Paris, 1782).

Antilope marsupialis,Zimm.Geogr. Gesch. ii. p. 427 (1780);Bechst.Syst. Uebers. vierf. Thiere, ii. p. 645 (1800).

Cemas marsupialis,Oken, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 738 (1816).

Springbok,Sparrm.K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1780, p. 275;id.Reise, p. 396, pl. viii. (1784);id.Engl. transl. ii. p. 83 (1786);Daniell, Afr. Scenery, no. 18 (1812).

Antilope euchore, “Forst.,”Zimm.Geogr. Gesch. iii. p. 269 (1783);Schr.Säug. pl. cclxxii. (1787);Shaw, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 314 (1801);G. Cuv.Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p. 232 (1804);Licht.Mag. nat. Freund. vi. p. 169 (1814);G. Fisch.Zoogn. iii. p. 423 (1814);Afz.N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815);Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 185 (1816);G. Cuv.R. A. i. p. 260 (1817);Goldf.Schr. Säug. v. p. 1189 (1818);Schinz, Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 387 (1821);Desmoul.Dict. Class. d’H. N. i. p. 441 (1822);Desm.Mamm. ii. p. 455 (1822);Burch.Trav. i. p. 290 (1822);id.List Quadr. pres. to B. M. p. 5 (1825) (Nugariep R.);H. Sm.Griff. An. K. iv. p. 208, v. p. 331 (1827);Less.Man. Mamm. p. 373 (1827);Licht.Darst. Säug. pl. vii. (♂♀) (1827);J. B. Fisch.Syn. Mamm. p. 461 (1829);Smuts, En. Mamm. Cap. p. 72 (1832);Less.Compl. Buff. x. p. 286 (1836);Laurill.Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 615 (1839);Gerv.Dict. Sci. Nat. i. p. 261 (1840);Jard.Nat. Misc. (1) vii. p. 213, pl. xxvii. (1842);Less.N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 176 (1812);Forst.Descr. Anim. p. 388 (1844);Wagn.Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 414 (1844), v. p. 407 (1855);Schinz, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 400 (1845);id.Mon. Antil. p. 5, pl. iii. (1848);Temm.Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853);Gieb.Säug. p. 309 (1853);Brehm, Thierl. iii. p. 212 (1880);Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. (4) iv. p. 485 (1887).

Cerophorus (Gazella) euchore,Blainv.Bull. Soc. Philom. p. 75 (1816).

Gazella euchore,A. Sm.S. Afr. Quart. J. ii. p. 191 (1834);Harr.Wild Anim. S.Afr. pl. iii. (♂ ♀) (1840);Sund.K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1842, pp. 201 & 243 (1843);Gray, List Mamm. B. M. p. 160 (1843);id.Cat. Ost. B. M. pp. 56 & 145 (1847);id.Knowsl. Men. p. 6 (1850);Turner, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 168;Brooke, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 550;Drumm.Large Game S. Afr. p. 426 (1875);Buckley, P. Z. S. 1876, pp. 282 & 291;Bocage, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 741 (Huilla, Angola);Selous, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 757;Scl.List Anim. Z. S. (8) p. 142 (1883), (9) p. 156 (1896);Flow. & Gars.Cat. Coll. Surg. ii. p. 264 (1884);Bryden, Kloof and Karroo, p. 220, figs. ♀ (1889);W. Scl.Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 162 (1891);Flow. & Lyd.Mamm. p. 342 (1891);Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 122 (1892), (2) p. 163 (1896);Nicolls & Egl.Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 29, pl. vi. fig. 20 (1892);Lyd.Horns and Hoofs, p. 238 (1893).

Antidorcas euchore,Sund.Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 271 (1847);id.Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 267; Reprint, p. 87 (1848);Gray, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 116;id.Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 63 (1852);Gerr.Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 233 (1862);Blyth, Cat. Mamm. Mus. As. Soc. p. 171 (1863);Fitz.SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 158 (1869);Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 40 (1872);id.Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 109 (1873);Jent.Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 169 (1887);id.Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 137 (1892).

Antilope saccata,Bodd.Elench. Anim. p. 142 (1785).

Capra pygargus,Thunb.Resa, ii. p. 28 (1789), Engl. Transl. ii. p. 24 (1793).

Antilope pygarga,Thunb.Mém. Ac. Pétersb. iii. p. 315 (1811) (and no doubt of many other earlier authors;necPall.).

Antilope saltans,Kerr, Linn. An. K. p. 312 (1792).

Antilope saltatrix,Link, Beytr. p. 79 (1795) (necBodd.).

Antilope saliensandA. dorsata, “Lac.,”Desm.N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xxiv. Tabl. p. 33 (1804).

Vernacular Names:—Springbuckof English;SpringbokorProngbokof Dutch;Tsebe(A. Smith) orUmegi(Drummond) of Kaffirs.Insaypeeof Bechuanas;Eetsaypeeof Makalakas (Selous).

Height at withers 31 or 32 inches. General colour bright rufous fawn; a strongly marked, dark, lateral band present, as in many Gazelles. Face pure white, a narrow fawn-coloured line running forwards to the muzzle from the openings of the anteorbital glands on each side. Crown and centre of forehead fawn-coloured like the neck and back. Ears long and pointed, their backs white or pale fawn. Posterior back with a strongly contrasted pure white line, the white hairs of which are placed in a fold of the skin, which fold is everted when the animal is excited, and then forms a prominent whitecrest; rump white, in continuation with the dorsal line; tail also white basally, black and crested terminally. Belly pure white. Limbs fawn-coloured externally, white on their inner sides and behind.

Skull-dimensions of a male:—Basal length 7·8 inches, greatest breadth 3·7, muzzle to orbit 4·7.

Horns attaining a length of about 14 or 15 inches round the curves, one specimen being recorded as long as 19 inches.

Femalesimilar to male, but horns smaller and not so strongly ringed at the base.

Hab.South Africa, south of the Zambesi, extending northwards on the west to Mossamedes.

The Springbuck is, no doubt, very closely allied to the Gazelles; but in view of its peculiar dentition, which, as we have pointed out above (p. 53), is unique in the bovine family, and of the remarkable dorsal fold of skin, which is not found in any of its allies, we have thought it advisable to adopt for it the generic termAntidorcas, first provisionally suggested for it by Sundevall in 1847, and subsequently employed by many naturalists. The locality of the Springbuck is also quite distinct from that of the typical Gazelles, which are essentially a northern group, no trueGazellæbeing met with until we advance as far north as German East Africa.

This Antelope, with its bright colour and lively movements, as may be easily imagined, quickly attracted the notice of the early Dutch settlers at the Cape and received from them the appropriate name of “Springbok,” from the extraordinary springs and leaps which it makes in running. The first scientific account of it published appears to be that given by Allamand in Schneider’s edition of the ‘Histoire Naturelle’ of Buffon, published at Amsterdam about 1778. In the fourth volume of the ‘Supplement’ of this rather rare work, for the privilege of consulting which we are much indebted to Sir Edmund Loder, will be found (under the head of an addition to the article on Gazelles issued in the twelfth volume of the original work) described and figured “La Gazelle à bourse sur le dos,” as Allamand named the Springbuck. Allamand informs us that his figure and description (which unmistakably relate to this animal) were taken from a specimen then living in the menagerie of the Prince of Orange, which had been brought from theCape by Capt. Gordon, and was the only survivor of twelve examples of this animal with which Captain Gordon had started for Europe.

Upon Allamand’s “Gazelle à bourse” Zimmermann, in the second volume of his ‘Geographische Geschichte,’ issued in 1780, established hisAntilope marsupialis, adding a Latin diagnosis and a shortened translation of Allamand’s description. In the meantime, however, another name seems to have been proposed for the same animal by Forster, who, as we are informed by Zimmermann in the third volume of his ‘Geographische Geschichte,’ had called the SpringbuckAntilope euchore. This no doubt was done in the famous ‘Descriptiones Animalium,’ which, although generally accessible in manuscript to the naturalists of the day, and frequently quoted by them, was not published until 1844. However, as Forster’s name for the Springbuck has been accepted nearly universally by subsequent naturalists, we do not now propose to change the name by which this animal has been known for so many years.

The immediately succeeding writers added little or nothing to our knowledge of this Antelope until about 1829, when Lichtenstein, in the second number of his ‘Darstellung der Thiere,’ gave coloured figures of both its sexes under the name “Antilope euchore, Forster,” from specimens in the Berlin Museum procured by him or his assistants in Cafferland.

A few years later Cornwallis Harris visited South Africa. In his great work on the results of his journey subsequently published, this celebrated sportsman and naturalist devotes his third plate to the illustration of a group of Springbucks, which he describes at the period of his writing (1840) as then still abundant in the Colony and “distributed over the arid plains beyond it in unlimited herds.” “Amongst the many striking novelties,” Cornwallis Harris writes, “which present themselves to the eye of the traveller in Southern Africa there are, perhaps, few objects more conspicuous or more beautiful than the dancing herds of graceful Springbucks which speckle the broad plains of the interior.”

“Matchless in the symmetry of its form, the Springbok is measurelessly the most elegant and remarkable species of the comprehensive group to which it pertains. The dazzling contrast betwixt the lively cinnamon of its back and the snowy whiteness of the lower parts is agreeably heightened by the intensely rich chestnut bands which traverse the flanks—its dark beaming eye, with its innocent and lamb-like expression of face, and the showy folds of gossamer on the haunches—displayed or concealed at the animal’svolition—combining to render it one of the most beautiful objects in the animal creation. As the traveller advances over the trackless expanse, hundreds of this delicately formed antelope bound away on either side of his path with meteor-like and sportive velocity, winging their bird-like flight by a quick succession of those singularly elastic leaps which have given rise to its colonial appellation, and which enable it to surpass, as well in swiftness as in grace, almost every other mammiferous quadruped.“But although frequently found herding by itself, the Springbok is usually detected in the society of Gnoos, Quaggas, Ostriches, or Blesboks. Fleet as the wind, and thoroughly conscious of its own speed, it mingles with their motley herds, sauntering about with an easy careless gait, occasionally with outstretched neck approaching some coquettish doe, and spreading its own glittering white folds so as to effect a sudden and complete metamorphosis of exterior from fawn-colour to white. Wariest of the wary, however, the Springboks are ever the first to take the alarm, and to lead the retreating column. Pricking their taper ears, and elevating their graceful little heads upon the first appearance of any strange object, a dozen or more trot nimbly off to a distance, and having gazed impatiently for an instant to satisfy themselves of the actual presence of an enemy,—putting their white noses to the ground, they begin, in colonial phraseology, to ‘pronken’ or make ‘a brave show.’ Unfurling the snowy folds on their haunches so as to display around the elevated scut, a broad white gossamer disk, shaped like the spread tail of a peacock, away they all go with a succession of strange perpendicular bounds, rising with curved loins into the air, as if they had been struck with battledores—rebounding to the height of ten or twelve feet with the elasticity of corks thrown against a hard floor; vaulting over each other’s backs with depressed heads and stiffened limbs, as if engaged in a game of leap-frog; and after appearing for a second as if suspended in the air,—clearing at a single spring from ten to fifteen feet of ground without the smallest perceptible exertion. Down come all four feet together with a single thump, and nimbly spurning the earth beneath, away they soar again, as if about to take flight—invariably clearing a road or beaten track by a still higher leap than all—as if their natural disposition to regard man as an enemy indicated them to mistrust even the ground upon which he had trodden.“The ‘trek bokken’—as the Colonists are wont to term the immense migratory swarms of these antelopes which, to the destruction of every green herb, occasionally inundate the abodes of civilization—not only form one of the most remarkable features in the Zoology of Southern Africa, but may also be reckoned amongst the most extraordinary examples of the fecundity of animal life. To form any estimate of their numbers on such occasions would be perfectly impossible—the havoc committed in their onward progress falling nothing short of the ravages of a wasting swarm of locusts.“Pouring down, like the devastating curse of Egypt, from their native plains in the interior whence they have been driven, after protracted drought and by the failure of the stagnant pools on which they have relied, whole legions of Springboks abandon the parched soil and throng with one accord to deluge and lay waste the cultivated regions around the Cape. So effectually does the van of the vast column destroy every vestige of verdure, that the rear is often reduced to positive starvation.“Ere the morning’s dawn cultivated fields, which the evening before appeared proud of their promising verdure, despite of every precaution that can be taken, are reaped level with the ground; and the grazier, despoiled of his lands, is driven to seek pasture for his flocks elsewhere, until the bountiful thunder-clouds re-animating nature restore vegetation to the burnt-up country. Then these unwelcome visitors whose ranks, during their short but destructive sojourn, have been thinned both by man and beast, retire instinctively to their secluded abodes, to renew their depredations when necessity shall again compel them.”

“But although frequently found herding by itself, the Springbok is usually detected in the society of Gnoos, Quaggas, Ostriches, or Blesboks. Fleet as the wind, and thoroughly conscious of its own speed, it mingles with their motley herds, sauntering about with an easy careless gait, occasionally with outstretched neck approaching some coquettish doe, and spreading its own glittering white folds so as to effect a sudden and complete metamorphosis of exterior from fawn-colour to white. Wariest of the wary, however, the Springboks are ever the first to take the alarm, and to lead the retreating column. Pricking their taper ears, and elevating their graceful little heads upon the first appearance of any strange object, a dozen or more trot nimbly off to a distance, and having gazed impatiently for an instant to satisfy themselves of the actual presence of an enemy,—putting their white noses to the ground, they begin, in colonial phraseology, to ‘pronken’ or make ‘a brave show.’ Unfurling the snowy folds on their haunches so as to display around the elevated scut, a broad white gossamer disk, shaped like the spread tail of a peacock, away they all go with a succession of strange perpendicular bounds, rising with curved loins into the air, as if they had been struck with battledores—rebounding to the height of ten or twelve feet with the elasticity of corks thrown against a hard floor; vaulting over each other’s backs with depressed heads and stiffened limbs, as if engaged in a game of leap-frog; and after appearing for a second as if suspended in the air,—clearing at a single spring from ten to fifteen feet of ground without the smallest perceptible exertion. Down come all four feet together with a single thump, and nimbly spurning the earth beneath, away they soar again, as if about to take flight—invariably clearing a road or beaten track by a still higher leap than all—as if their natural disposition to regard man as an enemy indicated them to mistrust even the ground upon which he had trodden.

“The ‘trek bokken’—as the Colonists are wont to term the immense migratory swarms of these antelopes which, to the destruction of every green herb, occasionally inundate the abodes of civilization—not only form one of the most remarkable features in the Zoology of Southern Africa, but may also be reckoned amongst the most extraordinary examples of the fecundity of animal life. To form any estimate of their numbers on such occasions would be perfectly impossible—the havoc committed in their onward progress falling nothing short of the ravages of a wasting swarm of locusts.

“Pouring down, like the devastating curse of Egypt, from their native plains in the interior whence they have been driven, after protracted drought and by the failure of the stagnant pools on which they have relied, whole legions of Springboks abandon the parched soil and throng with one accord to deluge and lay waste the cultivated regions around the Cape. So effectually does the van of the vast column destroy every vestige of verdure, that the rear is often reduced to positive starvation.

“Ere the morning’s dawn cultivated fields, which the evening before appeared proud of their promising verdure, despite of every precaution that can be taken, are reaped level with the ground; and the grazier, despoiled of his lands, is driven to seek pasture for his flocks elsewhere, until the bountiful thunder-clouds re-animating nature restore vegetation to the burnt-up country. Then these unwelcome visitors whose ranks, during their short but destructive sojourn, have been thinned both by man and beast, retire instinctively to their secluded abodes, to renew their depredations when necessity shall again compel them.”

Although not still met with in the countless thousands described by Cornwallis Harris, the Springbuck, we are pleased to be able to say, is even now abundant in many parts of the Cape Colony, and Springbuck shooting is still one of the recognized sports of its inhabitants and of visitors to Southern Africa who go in search of game. Mr. H. A. Bryden, in his well-known volume ‘Kloof and Karroo,’ devotes a whole chapter to the delights of Springbuck shooting, and tells us that of late years large tracts of waste land in the Colony have been fenced in in order to preserve these Antelopes. For example, as the ‘Graaf Reinet Advertiser,’ of November 1886, informs us, Shirlands, the property of Mr. John Priest, of that district, was, twelve to thirteen years ago, a piece of waste land abandoned to squatters. Now there are 16,000 morgen (more than 32,000 acres) fenced in with wire. Within this fence there are fully a thousand Springboks where formerly only a few remained “harassed and hunted to death by impoverished lazy squatters.”

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.

Fig. 53.Horns of Springbuck, ♂ and ♀.

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.“I have several times coursed Springbuck with good greyhounds, but never caught one; they weary out the dogs playing before starting to run. If one buck be found by himself greyhounds can catch him; but some people say that if you find one alone it means that he is sick, and that is the reason that he can be caught. I know some prominent coursing men do not like their dogs to run after Springbuck, as too frequent failures to kill discourage the dogs, and often when run into they will turn and fight the greyhound, which, if timid, may be spoiled thereby and become afraid to attack other antelopes.“However, one friend, in whom I have every reliance, told me that a large and very strong greyhound of his on one occasion separated a fine Springbuck ram from a small herd and killed him single-handed.“Of course the jumping powers of this buck are well known and how they will skip across a road 50 ft. wide without any trouble. The habit of spreading out the hair on the back, so as to expose the white patch more prominently when frightened, is very curious, as in the case of being hunted by dogs it makes the animal more easily perceived and followed in long grass or scrub.”

“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.

“I have several times coursed Springbuck with good greyhounds, but never caught one; they weary out the dogs playing before starting to run. If one buck be found by himself greyhounds can catch him; but some people say that if you find one alone it means that he is sick, and that is the reason that he can be caught. I know some prominent coursing men do not like their dogs to run after Springbuck, as too frequent failures to kill discourage the dogs, and often when run into they will turn and fight the greyhound, which, if timid, may be spoiled thereby and become afraid to attack other antelopes.

“However, one friend, in whom I have every reliance, told me that a large and very strong greyhound of his on one occasion separated a fine Springbuck ram from a small herd and killed him single-handed.

“Of course the jumping powers of this buck are well known and how they will skip across a road 50 ft. wide without any trouble. The habit of spreading out the hair on the back, so as to expose the white patch more prominently when frightened, is very curious, as in the case of being hunted by dogs it makes the animal more easily perceived and followed in long grass or scrub.”

White and Albino varieties are not so frequently met with amongst theBovidæas in some other groups of mammals. But the ‘Johannesburg Times’ of January 22nd, 1897, informs us that a perfectly white Springbuck, caught in the Orange Free State, and supposed to be about eleven months old, was at that time being exhibited in Johannesburg by Messrs. Colquhoun and Hill, of Jeppe Street. Such a novelty as a white Springbuck was previously quite unknown in the Transvaal. This communication was sent to us accompanied by a photograph of the animal taken from life, from which it would appear that its colour was absolutely of a spotless white.

The Springbuck, although not unfrequently seen in the Zoological Gardens of Europe, is, as might be supposed, from its free and active habits, somewhatimpatient of captivity and does not thrive in confinement except in occasional instances. The Zoological Society acquired their first specimen (by purchase) on July 9th, 1852, and, as will be seen by reference to their published Lists of Animals, others have been subsequently received at short intervals since that date. At the time we are writing there is a fine pair in the Society’s Gardens, deposited by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales in March, 1893, which are still doing well. Dr. Wünderlich, Director of the Zoological Garden of Cologne, has kindly furnished us with notes upon a pair of this Antelope which he bought on the 13th May, 1896, from Herr Reiche, of Alfeld. They bred on the 24th May last year, and after a period of 171 days a young one of the female sex was born on the 12th November last. The young one at birth was 45 cm. (about 17¾ English inches) in height, and generally of a yellowish-grey colouring. The side stripe was rather darker, but by no means so clearly defined as it is in the adult animal. The under surface and inner sides of the limbs were white, as in the adult. On the face a dark stripe from the eye to the corner of the mouth was visible, but the cheeks and chin generally were yellowish grey like the sides of the body. The little animal did well in company with its mother at first, and after 15 days began to eat corn. Unfortunately, however, it did not continue to thrive, and died on December 21st, when about 40 days old.

The flesh of the Springbuck is much esteemed by the epicures of the Cape Colony, and has been occasionally brought to London in a refrigerator for consumption here. In the ‘Field’ for 1892 (vol. lxxx. p. 390) will be found an account of its successful importation by Messrs. Brooks, of Leadenhall Market, and of the high appreciation it met with by those who tried the “venison,” which was pronounced to be “in good condition, not the least high, and tasting not unlike Chamois.”

Our figure of the adult male Springbuck, with a herd of these animals in the distance, has been prepared by Mr. Smit from an original sketch by Wolf, which is now in the possession of Sir Douglas Brooke, and has been kindly lent to us for examination.

There is a good stuffed specimen of an adult male Springbuck in the Gallery of the British Museum. It was obtained by Mr. F. C. Selous at Mahemfontein, in the Orange Free State, in 1896, and was presented to the collection by that gentleman. From a pencil-note on the back of Mr. Wolf’s sketch it would appear to have been taken from a specimen of the head ofthis species formerly exhibited in the same Museum. The National Collection has also some skins, skulls, and horns of the Springbuck from various parts of South Africa; but good skulls of this Antelope are still desiderata to the National Collection, and a series of them, with dates and localities, would be much appreciated.

August,1897.

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