We subjoin the notes with which Mr. Crawshay has favoured us on this species:—
“The form of Cobus represented by the present specimen from Senga, to the west of Lake Nyasa, is only met with, I believe, in the neighbourhood of the Upper Zambesi River, in the water-basins of Lakes Mweru and Tanganyika, and perhaps also in those of one or two more of the Central African lakes. It does not occur in the water-basin of Lake Nyasa itself, where only the large grey C. ellipsiprymnus is found; nor until now has it ever been recorded nearer Lake Nyasa than the valley of the Sayisi River, 30 miles or so east of the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, where C. vardoni is met with. It remains to be seen what naturalists make of it: whether it is to be regarded as only a diminutive race of C. vardoni or as a new species altogether.
“In general shape and colouring, seen by itself, it appears to be C. vardoni; in size, however, it is considerably smaller; and when specimens of the two come to be laid side by side there may be other points of difference. But I wish to lay stress on the fact that, apart from the distance separating the districts where the two are found, the physical aspects of their several haunts differ very materially.
“Cobus vardoni is always found in or on the outskirts of swamps, usually on open, marshy plains, where the grass is rich and green; moreover, as a rule, it is met with in large scattered herds, feeding in the open all over the place—such at any rate has been my experience in the countries bordering on Lakes Tanganyika and Mweru. On the other hand, C. senganus is a native of dry, hilly country, often rough and stony, and far from any swampy land, though near a river. Again, it is not at all plentiful in Senga; I saw only two during my travels in the neighbourhood, both females, of which the present specimen is one.
“Regarding the habits of this animal I know very little—no more, in fact, than when, where, and how I became possessed of the specimen, which was as follows:—
“During the latter part of the dry season of 1895 I had occasion to undertake a journey from Deep Bay on Lake Nyasa into the Senga country, which is in the valley of the Loangwa River—a very considerable stream even at this point. The Loangwa drains a large area of country between Lakes Nyasa and Bangweolo, and after a course of some 400 miles or more, about south by west, joins the Zambesi as one of its chief tributaries. From Konde to where I struck the Loangwa—which flows through Senga—is a tortuous journey of about 8 days for loaded porters; much of the intervening country is hilly and broken; during part of the distance water is a difficulty in the dry season.
“Senga is intensely African: in point of interest for the traveller and sportsman naturalist it impressed me more than any other part of Africa I have seen. It is of vast extent, yet thinly populated; it is hilly and rugged and cut up with innumerable perpendicular ravines. Its soil, except in the neighbourhood of the river, is mostly hard, yellowish-white sand; it is intensely hot, and but for the Loangwa River would be a desert for want of water; the whole country, then, is buried in never-ending forest or scrubby bush—hence its local name ‘Masenga.’
“It was on September 12th, in about latitude 10° 15´ south, that I secured the Cobus; the altitude of the Loangwa River at this point is 2410 feet, according to my aneroid. I was on the march between Kampumbu’s town and another town, Myereka’s, about 18 miles higher up the Loangwa: my caravan had preceded me by an hour or two; I had remained behind with a couple of gun-bearers and three Wasenga guides, and was making a detour in search of game.
“The day previous I had shot a Roan Antelope, but on this particular day I had not shot anything, and indeed had only seen a few Impala, which did not give one a chance.
“It was a terrifically hot day; the Loangwa valley is like a furnace at this time of year, just before the rains. Every bit of cover had been burned off and there was not a leaf or a blade of grass anywhere. The ground was baked as hard as a brick and had cracked into deep fissures; the heat and glare almost sickened me, old traveller as I am and inured to heat. Nevertheless, in spite of all this, we came upon the two Antelopes of the genus Cobus standing in the open, close to the foot of a very rough conical hill, about 1 o’clock in the afternoon. I shot one without remarking anything unusual about them, viewed at about 120 yards; had I wished it, I could have shot the other, but I refrained as both were females. The Wasenga who were with me could not at once identify the animal; an hour or two later, however, the older men of Myereka’s town pronounced it to be ‘Sewula’ and ‘Seyula.’