It was across the Limpopo within the borders of Mashonaland that Mr. John Millais came across this beautiful Antelope in 1893. Its head forms one of the subjects of the cover of his enchanting volume ‘A Breath from the Veldt,’ the pages of which contain several excellent sketches of this splendid animal and much information on its habits. It was near Eland’s Fontein, between the Rivers Bubye and Nuanetsi, that Mr. Millais obtained his first specimen of the Roan Antelope, of which he writes as follows:—
“On the Veldt the Roan has a fine and noble appearance, though it does look a bit ‘front heavy,’ It carries its head very finely, but not with the grace and the nobility of the Sable. In many respects it resembles its handsomer cousin. Its habits are much the same, being found alike in open or enclosed country, though on the whole it evinces a greater predilection for the great plains with scattered bush, while the Sable is fond of climbing about the low rocky hills, or in bush at the base of kopjies. The Roan Antelope is also a much more regular drinker than the Sable, which can go for long periods without requiring water. A troop of the former, if undisturbed, come every evening to about the same spot on some favourite sluit of standing water, while the latter drink irregularly and nearly always about daybreak.
“Although the Roan is a very large animal, standing about 5 feet at the shoulder, the dull reddish grey of its hide makes it very hard to distinguish in bush, and it would often be passed even in the open lands but for its shy nature, which causes it to start lumbering away as soon as it sees a man on a horse.
“The Sable will stand and stare at you quite close sometimes, as much as to say ‘Who the devil are you?’ The Koodoo will creep under the shadow of a thorn bush and hope to ‘Goodness gracious’ you won’t notice him; but the Roan will say ‘Good morning’ as soon as he sees you.
“Roans seem to keep in much smaller parties than the Sables, about a dozen cows being the limit, whilst the old males live much to themselves, and are more difficult to find than they are to bag. When running the Roans adopt single file, and each follows closely the steps and movements of the old cow who generally leads. They have a very fair power of endurance, but I think that any decent horse, if properly handled, will run them to a standstill. All hunters, however, are agreed that one should be careful in such experiments, for this Antelope is doubtless the most dangerous of all the tribe, there being plenty of authenticated instances of the animals turning and charging furiously when merely pressed too hard.”
Again, Mr. Millais writes:—
“The Dutchmen, who are generally pretty well at sea as regards the names of wild game, have never quite made up their minds what to call this animal. They consider that he has absolutely no claims to legitimacy on any score, and half the members of that nation whom you meet will christen it either ‘Bastard Eland’ or ‘Bastard Gemsbok,’ both of which are equally ridiculous and inappropriate. Though the animal, when viewed critically, is on the whole imposing and even beautiful, when seen running it looks decidedly clumsy, and wanting in both proportion and elegance; yet the head, when well set up and viewed among other specimens of African fauna, has a striking and pleasing appearance. The fine blending of colours on the face, the white switches of hair over the lachrymal glands standing out over the black of the cheeks, the fine rough neck, and the long queerly-shaped ears, all tend to give the head the wild game look it certainly possesses. The horns themselves, though nothing compared with those of the Waterbuck, Koodoos, and Sable, are beautifully annulated, and look quite in proportion. Ward gives the maximum of males as 33 inches, and females 30½ inches. I would call the attention of the reader, if a naturalist, to the very peculiar shape of the ear, and to the way that the white whisps drop from above the lachrymal sinus, making the hairs stand out slightly as they do in life.
“Of all the larger Antelope, except perhaps the Eland, the Roan is the easiest to kill. If the hunter follows a troop up they will frequently stop and allow several shots to be fired at them; but the hunter must above all things keep them in good view, for once out of sight the Roans know they are likely to be followed up, and it will be found next to impossible to approach them, their sense of sight and smell is so keen, and they so commonly start running long before you have spotted them.”
Another recent authority on the Antelopes of Mashonaland, Mr. J. Ffolliott Darling, F.Z.S., has kindly favoured us with the following notes:—
“Roan Antelopes are rather scarce over most parts of Mashonaland. They run in small troops of from 3 to 6 or 8 in number. They vary greatly in bulk and in size of horn; sometimes a big bull will have a very poor head.