“Our party were in full pursuit of a wounded elephant, when a herd of unusually dark-looking antelopes attracted observation in an adjacent valley. Reconnoitring them through a pocket-telescope from the acclivity on which we stood, I at once exclaimed that they were new; and having announced my intention of pursuing them, if requisite, to the world’s end, I dashed down the slope, followed by the derision of the Hottentots, for my unsportsman-like attention to an ‘ugly buck,’ one specimen of which, however, I assured them I would rather possess than all the elephants in Africa! In an instant I was in the middle of the herd, which was then crossing the valley—nine chestnut-coloured does leading, and two magnificent coal-black bucks—all with scimitar-shaped horns—bringing up the rear. Hastily dismounting, I was delighted to observe them stand for a few seconds within fifty yards, and stare at me with amazement. In vain was it, however, that I pulled the trigger of my rifle; three several times the heavy machinery of the lock descended with alarming vehemence, but no report followed the concussion; and the herd having in the meantime ascended a steep hill, I fairly rode my horse to a standstill in the attempt to overtake them. Cursing my hard fortune as I dashed the hateful weapon to the ground, I hastened to the camp to repair my rifle; armed with which, and mounted on a fresh steed, I returned with my companion to the spot, where, having taken up the footmarks, we followed them, with unwearied perseverance, among the hills, during the whole of that and the following day, without attaining even a glimpse of the objects of our quest. At noon of the third day, however, peeping cautiously over a bank, our laudable assiduity was rewarded by the gratifying sight of the two bucks grazing by themselves, unconscious of our approach, in a stony valley.
“Having disposed our forces, after a moment’s consultation, so as to intercept the game from a tangled labyrinth of ravines, the attack was made. The hind leg of the handsomer of the two was dangling in an instant, and in another he was sprawling on the earth. Quickly recovering himself, however, he led me more than a mile over the sharp stones ere he was brought to bay, when, twice charging gallantly, he was at length overthrown and slain.
“It were vain to attempt a description of the sensations I experienced when thus, after three days of toilsome tacking and feverish anxiety, unalleviated by any incident that could inspire the smallest hope of ultimate success, I at length found myself in actual possession of so brilliant an addition to the riches of natural history. The prize evidently belonged to the Aigocerine group, and was equal in stature to a large galloway. The horns, which were flat, and upwards of three feet in length, swept gracefully over the back in the form of a crescent. A bushy black mane extended from the lively chestnut-coloured ears to the middle of the back; the tail was long and tufted; and the glossy jet-black hue of the greater portion of the body contrasted beautifully with a snow-white face and belly. We thought we could never have looked at or admired it sufficiently; my companion observing, after a long pause, ‘that the Sable Antelope would doubtless become the admiration of the world,’ A drawing and description having been completed on the spot, the skin was carefully removed and conveyed upon a pack-horse in triumph to the camp; and it may possibly interest those of my readers, who shall have followed me during the last three days, to learn that I succeeded, with infinite difficulty, in bringing this unique and interesting specimen of African zoology, in a state of high preservation, to Cape Town, where, in October last, it was elegantly set up by Monsieur Verreaux, the French naturalist, and obligingly taken to England by my well-known friend Captain Alexander, 42nd Royal Highlanders, and is now in the British Museum.”
On January 9th, 1838, Harris exhibited his mounted specimen of the Sable Antelope at a meeting of the Zoological Society of London, and proposed for it the apposite scientific name “niger.” The same specimen was subsequently figured in the second volume of the Society’s ‘Transactions.’
Writing in 1881 Mr. Selous gave the following account of the distribution of the Sable Antelope at that period:—
“At the present a few Sable Antelopes are still to be found in south-western. Matabele Land, in the neighbourhood of the Ramokwebani, Shashani, and Samookwe rivers (tributaries of the Shashe). Along the waggon-road leading from Tati to the Zambesi it may be met with here and there, but is decidedly scarce. All along the Chobe river, as far as I have been, I have met with this Antelope, though sparingly. In the Mābābe country, and on the road leading from there to Bamangwato, I neither saw a Sable Antelope nor the spoor of one, and do not think its range extends so far to the west. In the broken country to the south of the Victoria Falls, in the neighbourhood of the Pendamatenka and Daka rivers, it is not uncommon, but its true home is the higher portions of the Mashuna country, to the north-east of the Matabele country. There it is the commonest Antelope, and may still be met with in herds of over fifty individuals, the usual number being from ten to twenty. However large the herd, I have never seen more than one full-grown bull with it, though there may be several half-grown ones; whilst in a large herd of any other kind of Antelopes two or more full-grown males are nearly always to be seen. On the Manica plateau, north of the Zambesi, Sable Antelopes are also to be met with. The longest pair of male Sable Antelope’s horns I have seen measured 45 inches over the curve, the longest pair of female 33 inches. In the Mashuna country and along the Chobe the average length of the horns of these animals is greater than in south-western Matabele Land.”
In his admirable work entitled ‘A Breath from the Veldt’ Mr. John Millais has devoted many pages and sketches to the illustration of this splendid creature, which he evidently places as the finest of all the Antelopes of South Africa. He describes it as follows:—
“In general appearance and sporting qualities the Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger) yields the palm to none of its kind. There is about the whole animal that indescribable charm that is so intensely African and associated with the wild life. Its strong individuality must ever stand out in the minds of those who have been so fortunate as to see and shoot it, and it is certainly one of the chief objects of interest in the splendid fauna of that country. Apart from its satin-like hide, sweeping horns, erect mane, and great strength, the Sable Antelope presents an appearance of fearlessness and nobility that is very striking, to say the least of it. Though the Koodoo surpasses his rival in elegance and general appearance when dead, he is but a skulker, and makes but a poor show beside the Sable on the Veldt. I would say, if such a comparison be allowable, the two hold their own like the rival beauties of a London drawing-room. The fair beauty sits quietly in a corner, charming her immediate circle with her graceful shyness and beauty, and people take sly glances at her from the other end of the room, while pretending to devote their attention to someone else. What a contrast with her black-eyed rival, who flaunts into the room as if she owned the entire show, and commands the attention of all eyes by her flashy and striking beauty! The one attracts attention slowly, the other commands it at once. Roughly speaking, the height of this grand Antelope at the shoulder is about 4½ feet, but he looks much taller, owing to his great shoulders and unusually thick neck, ornamented with its erect crest of hair. The tail is long, and has a good wisp of hair at the end, which, like the tails of the Roan Antelope and the Waterbuck, swings from side to side as the animal gallops away. Like the Koodoo, the horns of the Sable are its chief glory, and the noble manner in which the head is carried by the buck when on the move is a splendid thing to see. Unlike all Deer, and nearly all Antelope, the Sable when running arches the neck instead or raising the chin; this gives the animal its nice picture-booky look, and I could hardly imagine a finer subject for an animal painter than a herd of these grand beasts on the move, if their heads and necks be properly drawn.”
Mr. F. V. Kirby, F.Z.S., in his ‘Haunts of Wild Game,’ also devotes a whole chapter to an account of his rencontres with this Antelope, which he found “by no means rare” in his favourite hunting-grounds in the Lydenburg district of the Transvaal, and gives several excellent illustrations of its noble form.
Lastly, Mr. J. Ffolliott Darling, F.Z.S., has kindly favoured us with the following field-notes on this Antelope as lately observed by him in Mashonaland and Matabeleland:—