Sir John Kirk, in his article on the Mammals of Zambesia, read before the Zoological Society in 1864, mentions the “Nakong” as frequenting the papyrus and rushes on the River Chobé. He naturally refers it to Tragelaphus spekii, with which, until quite recently, it was generally believed to be identical. In the same way Sir Victor Brooke, in his article on Speke’s Antelope and its allied species, published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1871, comprises in his list of specimens of Tragelaphus spekii those of the two allied forms, which we here treat of as probably distinct. Of these, his specimens “h” (“frontal bones, horns, and feet, in the collection of Mr. Oswell”) are, no doubt, referable to Limnotragus selousi.
Mr. Selous, in his excellent and often-quoted article on the Antelopes of Central South Africa (P. Z. S. 1881, p. 753), writes of this species (which Mr. Rothschild has appropriately named after the famous hunter) as follows:—
“This Antelope is only met with in the extensive swamps which exist in some parts of the interior of Africa. In the reed-beds of the Mababe, Tamalakan, and Machabe rivers it is to be found; and in the vast marshes through which the Chobe runs it must exist in considerable numbers, although, as it only emerges from the dense reed-beds at night, it is scarcely ever to be seen. In 1879 I tried hard to shoot some of these animals on the Chobe, searching for them in a canoe amongst the reed-beds at early dawn and after sunset; but though I disturbed several, and heard them splashing away amongst the reeds and papyrus, I only saw one female alive, though one morning I found a fine ram lying dead that had evidently been killed fighting with a rival during the night. The head and feet of this animal I preserved. The female that I saw was standing breast deep in the water, in the midst of a bed of reeds, feeding on the young shoots that just appeared above the water. When she saw us she at once made off, making a tremendous splashing as she plunged through the water. The natives told me that very often when these Antelopes are met with under similar circumstances they do not attempt to run, but, sinking down in the water, submerge their whole bodies, leaving only their nostrils above the surface, and trusting that their enemies will pass them unobserved; they (the Kafirs) then paddle close alongside and assegai them from the canoe. As all the Situtungas the skins of which I saw had been killed with assegais, and not shot, I have no doubt that this statement is correct. Another way the natives have of killing them is by setting fire to the reeds when they become quite dry, and then waiting for the Situtungas in their canoes in one of the channels of open water by which the marsh is intersected. Driven forwards by the advancing fire, the Antelopes are at last obliged to swim across the open water to gain the shelter of the reeds on the further side; and the natives are thus often enabled to cut off and assegai some of them in mid stream.”
We have already alluded to the occurrence of this species in Barotze-land, where Mr. Coryndon obtained specimens for Mr. Rothschild. Still further to the north-east we find that a species of the Sitatunga group, which, we suppose, should also be referred to L. selousi, occurs, according to Sir Harry Johnston, “in the swamps of Lake Mweru, in the Loangwa valley, and in other parts of British Central Africa.” Mr. Richard Crawshay, C.M.Z.S., has favoured us with the following field-notes which he has drawn up as the result of his long experience with the animal-life of the district of Lake Mweru:—
“This Antelope is known by the people of the Itawa and Kabwiri—who are, as I have before mentioned, branches of the Awemba—as ‘Mula.’ By the people of Ulungu and Mambwe (where I suppose it is also found) it is known as ‘Nsowi.’
“I had been six months or more at Mweru before any proof was forthcoming that such an animal existed. Then, when shooting wild-fowl on the outskirts of a vast and impenetrable swamp between Rhodesia and the Luao River, I came upon the remains of what had been a fine pair of horns just on the margin of the water. The horns had been submerged during the rains and were fast decaying. All that was recoverable was one fairly sound horn with a fragment of the frontal bone attached. This horn, I think, measured 21¾ inches.
“Some months later when at Mkula’s, on the Chisela River, I was given by the chief a perfect, though smaller, pair of horns. A skin was also offered me—I don’t know if it was the skin—but so discoloured with dirt and smoke, from lying in a native hut, that I did not think it worth having.
“Mkula told me there were a good many ‘Mula’ in the swamps below his town, and that one way or another his people had killed seven or eight during the six years or so he had been at the Chisela River, but that they were very difficult to get at, and when got at—viz., roused—even more difficult to kill.
“On expressing my eagerness to shoot, or at least see, a ‘Mula,’ he did not give me much hope of doing either the one or the other. A glance at the Chisela River reed-beds from a heap outside the town did not reassure me. All the same, during two visits to Mkula’s—one the middle of July, the other at the very end of October 1892—I did my utmost to effect my object, spending the greater part of my time in the swamp, wading and wallowing in mud, water, and reeds, but found it killing work. Scarcely a native would follow me in a second attempt. The combined rays of the sun, mosquitos, leeches, and a most sickening stench from the swamp, proved a severe trial to my patience and perseverance. Ultimately I gave up without getting a shot at a ‘Mula.’ Luckily such hard labour earned some reward. I saw two ‘Mula’ and heard others, besides gaining an insight into their ways and haunts. Were I to try again for this Antelope under similar conditions, I would build a platform, 20 feet high or so, in the swamp, overlooking the feeding-grounds of the ‘Mula,’ and would watch from this platform say from 3.30 P.M. until dark. The remains of the ‘Mula’s’ head from the Luao River swamp, as also the horns given me by Mkula, were sent home along with the other Antelopes’ heads.”
So far as we know, only two examples of this Sitatunga have ever reached Europe alive. Both of these are now living, in good health, in the Zoological Society’s Gardens in the Regent’s Park. The first arrival was a young female, received as a present from Mr. James A. Nicolls, F.Z.S., of Belmont House, Navan, Ireland, on October 14th, 1890. In a footnote to Nicolls and Eglington’s ‘Sportsman in South Africa’ we are informed that the animal in question was captured by Mr. Nicolls alongside the dead body of its dam, which had been shot by him in the Taoke swamp, forty miles from Lake Ngami.