Harris, in the letterpress to his ‘Portraits,’ describes the habits of the Kudu in the Cashaan Mountains in the following lively manner:—
“There in the depths of solitary woods, by human foot untrod, the noble animal occurs in such every-day abundance, that many a gory trophy was realized; but his great sagacity, wildness, and self-possession, demanding the most skilful generalship to out-manæuvre him, the pursuit necessarily differs altogether from the usual stamp of African hunting, and involves no inconsiderable acquaintance with the subtleties of woodcraft. We have here no dashing among countless herds, no helter-skelter riding by the side of a closely-packed phalanx; yet have we a quarry well worth the hardest day’s fag on foot to triumph over. Shunning both the open plain and the society of the multitude, the crafty fellow never ventures from his almost inaccessible fastness, unless during the morning and evening; and even then must he be sought au pied amid the dark upland dells which usually form his solitary abode. With all his wits about him, the lordly bull, active and powerful, may now and then be detected browsing at grey dawn upon some rugged hill summit, or ranging some grassy slope, either alone, or escorted by a small troop of skittish dames, all seeming alike his sentinels; but taking the note of alarm from the slightest noise, he stamps his brave foot upon the ground, tosses his spiral frontlet to the blue sky, and once fairly in motion, never stops to look behind until he has gained the threshold of his sanctuary. There, in some deep chasm which the sunbeam rarely penetrates, among tangled ravines, and hollows densely clothed with trees and brushwood, he lazily reclines during the solar heat, beside some fern-clad stone, and leisurely turns the cud until the cool breezes of eventide once more invite him from his snug retreat.”
Amongst modern authorities on the Great Game-mammals of South Africa, we may select passages from the writings of Mr. Kirby and Mr. J. Millais as giving us good ideas of the present localities of the Kudu and its usual habits. In his already-mentioned ‘Breath from the Veldt,’ Mr. Millais writes as follows:—
“Though the species is gone from the countries south of the Transvaal, there is still a very fair number in the northern forests of that country, and these are not confined to ‘a few troops which still linger,’ as most books on the subject would give us to understand. The fact is, very little hunting goes on in these countries, owing to absence of water and thickness of the bush; the amount of game still to be found there cannot therefore be very much less than in the greater part of Mashonaland, which is very much hunted. I think the following speaks for itself. Four hunters whom I trekked up with each killed on an average ten Koodoos in three months, besides a lot of Pallah and Blue Wildebeests; and this too, in every instance, close to the main road in the Transvaal. If then they could do this, there must surely be a very fair quantity of game in the hundreds of untrodden miles in the south-west and east of the several drifts of the Limpopo. In Mashonaland the Koodoo is probably only reduced in numbers near the transport roads, while it is still plentiful in the neighbourhood of all the rivers and pans of that country where the bush is suitable to its habits.”
In his well-known volume on the ‘Haunts of Wild Game,’ Mr. F. V. Kirby introduces us to the habits of the present species in the following terms:—
“Koodoo frequent rocky bush-covered hills—the rougher and more apparently inaccessible they are the better they like them; but in the Low Country they are equally at home in the heavy belts of bush which line the rivers and water-courses. As a rule, in the latter district they are fairly easy to run into on horseback, although individual bulls and the cows will display great speed and endurance; but in the hill country it requires much patience and care to circumvent an old bull successfully. Unfortunately for themselves, Koodoo are of a most curious disposition, and seldom run far without standing and looking back at their pursuer. Their leaping powers are marvellous, and I have seen them clear obstacles 8 feet in height with apparent ease. Their sense of hearing is very acute—one needs only to look at the large, rounded, mobile ears to be satisfied on that point; and I believe they trust more to that sense for their safety than to any other. Though almost invariably found in the near neighbourhood of water, I fancy they can go for a long time without drinking, judging by the extensive dry areas in which I have found them.”
Mr. W. L. Sclater, in his new volume on the Mammals of South Africa, states that within the limits of his work (that is Africa south of the Zambesi and Cunene Rivers) the Kudu is still probably the most abundant and widespread of the larger Antelopes. Within the Cape Colony, Mr. Sclater tells us, the Kudu is yet to be met with in the southern districts, from the Riversdale and Prince Albert divisions, eastwards to Albany and Fort Beaufort. It is stated to be even abundant in the bush-country along the Koonap and Great Fish Rivers. In the northern parts of the Colony it is also fairly common in parts of Griqualand West and Prieska. In German South-west Africa, Bechuanaland, Rhodesia, the northern and eastern parts of the Transvaal, the Portuguese territories, and in Zululand it is also fairly plentiful in suitable localities. In the South-African Museum at Capetown there are mounted specimens of a male Kudu from near Barberton in the Transvaal, and of a female from Koonap in the Albany division of the Cape Colony.
But the Kudu, as we shall see, ranges far beyond the limits of Mr. Sclater’s South Africa, and we will now proceed to trace its distribution throughout Eastern Africa into the northern territories of Abyssinia and the Egyptian Soudan.
In Nyasaland, Mr. Crawshay tells us, the Kudu is to be met with practically all over the Protectorate, especially in the rugged wooded highlands away from the haunts of men. In the Portuguese provinces on the coast, according to Peters, it appears to be likewise generally distributed. Proceeding to German East Africa, we find it also widely diffused there, extending westwards up to Lake Tanganyika, although, as Herr Matschie tells us, it is “nowhere common.” In British East Africa, Mr. F. J. Jackson informs us, the Kudu is “a rare beast and only found in certain places.” There are always “a few,” he says, “in the Teita country west of Ndara and Kisigao, and on the banks of the Tsavo River, down which it ranges from the head-waters to the Sabaki, and then north up the Athi. All these districts are more or less undulating, very rough, dry and stony, and covered with thick bush.” Further north, Graf Teleki shot two Greater Kudus a few miles to the south of Lake Barengo, and Dr. Donaldson Smith, in the course of his travels, saw one at El Madu in about 4° N. lat. Mr. Arthur H. Neumann met with the Greater Koodoo near Lake Rudolf, as related in his ‘Elephant-hunting,’ but considers it very uncommon in the districts which he traversed. Passing northwards to Somaliland, we find the Kudu more abundant on the higher grounds. Capt. Swayne informs us that it inhabits the top of Wagar Mountain and the Golis Range, which rise to about 6800 feet.
Lieut.-Col. H. D. Olivier, R.E., F.Z.S., who has recently returned from a hunting excursion in Northern Somaliland, has favoured us with the following notes:—