Part 54

Cephalophus natalensis, =A. Smith=, S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 217 (1834); =id.= III. Zool. S. Afr., Mamm. t. xxxii. (1841); =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 166 (1846); =id.= Knowsl. Men. p. 10 (1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850, p. 123; =Turner=, P. Z. S. 1850 p. 170; =Gray=, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 85, pl. x. fig. 1 (skull) (1852); =Gerr.= Cat. Bones Mamm. B. M. p. 236 (1862); =Blyth=, Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. p. 168 (1863); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 166 (1869); =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 598; =id.= Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 27 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. p. 96 (1873); =Drummond=, Large Game S. Afr. p. 391 (1875); =Scl.= List Anim. Z. S. (8) p. 146 (1883); =Scl.= f. Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 168 (1891); =Jent.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 162 (1892); =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 419; =Nicolls & Egl.= Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 23, pl. i. fig. 2 (head) (1892); =Ward=, Horn Meas. p. 77 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 209 (1893).

Cephalophorus natalensis, =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 163 (1843).

Sylvicapra natalensis, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Hand-l. 1844, p. 190 (1846); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 142; Reprint, p. 66 (1848).

Antilope (Cephalolophus) natalensis, =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Supp. iv. p. 453 (1844), v. p. 426 (1855); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 321 (1859).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--Incumbi of Swazis and Mangule of Shangaans (Rendall); Roode-bok of Dutch.

Size rather small. Form slender. Colour bright rufous chestnut all over, without marks or stripes of any kind, except that there is a faintly marked red superciliary line. Back of neck greyish brown. Chin and throat whitish. Tail slender, rufous at base; brown, tipped with white, at its extremity.

Horns set parallel to nasal profile; those of male conical, much thickened at their bases; their greatest basal diameter going about three times into their length; length about 3 inches in an old specimen: those of female similar, but smaller and more sharply pointed, 1·5 inch in length.

Skull--frontal region roughened and convex; anteorbital fossæ of medium depth; edge of median posterior palatal notch but little anterior (about ¼ inch) to the lateral notches.

Dimensions:--♀. Height at withers 17 inches, length of ear 2·5, hind foot 7·6.

Skull ♂: basal length 5·6 inches, greatest breadth 2·8, orbit to muzzle 3·15.

Hab. Natal, Transvaal, and Mashonaland.

The Natal Duiker, which is perhaps a southern representative of the next species, is, like it, of a nearly uniform bright bay colour, rather paler below, and with some inconspicuous darker markings on the vertical crest. Our figure of this species (Plate XVI.) was put on the stone by Mr. Smit from a sketch prepared by Mr. Wolf, and was probably taken from one of the specimens in the British Museum; but of this, we regret to say, there is no certain record.

The discovery of the Natal Duiker is due to Sir Andrew Smith, who met with it in the forests of Natal and first described it in 1834 in one of his articles on African Zoology published in the ‘South African Quarterly Journal.’ Sir Andrew afterwards figured it in the volume of Mammals of his ‘Illustrations of South African Zoology,’ where the following notes are given on its habits:--“Both C. cæruleus [= C. monticola, nob.] and C. natalensis inhabit the African forests; the former towards the Cape of Good Hope, the latter to the eastward about and beyond Port Natal. They both feed partly upon the grass which occurs among the underwood, and partly upon the young leaves and shoots of the brushwood and small trees which exist in the situations they inhabit; and to obtain the latter they may occasionally be seen scrambling among shrubs, or ascending the stems of sloping trees, so as to reach what they cannot attain while they are on the ground.”

Beyond a reference to its name in various lists and catalogues, we find little more recorded concerning this Antelope until modern days, when several experienced observers have mentioned it. In his ‘Rough Notes on the Game and Natural History of South and South-east Africa,’ published in 1875, the Hon. W. H. Drummond mentions the “Red-buck,” as he calls it, as one of the two species of Cephalophus that inhabit the jungles of Natal, the other being “the Blue-buck” (Cephalophus monticola). Of these, Mr. Drummond says the Red-buck “is the larger and also the least common. It is, as its name denotes, of a light yellowish-red colour, mingled with grey on the lower parts, and its chief peculiarity is a tuft of hair growing out of the forehead, which gives a curious appearance to the hornless does, while it partially conceals the small horns of the bucks. Its flesh is anything but good, and it is difficult to shoot, from the tremendous rushes it makes when disturbed. So fast and heedlessly does it run, that I once saw a buck, that had passed me while I was loading, entangle itself in a mass of creepers, from which, despite its struggles, it was unable to escape until I released it with the help of my knife. It was quite uninjured, and I kept it in confinement for some weeks, but, like most Antelopes when caught full-grown, it ultimately pined away and died.”

Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington, in their ‘Sportsman in South Africa’ (1892), tell us that this Antelope is found only in Zululand, Natal, and the southern portions of Swaziland, but is everywhere very scarce. It is, however, stated on good authority to have been found recently in South-eastern Mashonaland. In habits, these authors say, it resembles the Common Duiker, except that it chooses dense forest as a residence.

So far as we know, but one specimen of the Natal Duiker has ever been brought to Europe alive. This was a male which was purchased in 1880 (March 14th), by the Zoological Society of London, of Mr. Charles Jamrach, for the sum of £6 10s., and lived some months in the Menagerie.

Besides the skin of an adult female of this species, received from Sir Andrew Smith as the type of C. natalensis, there is a mounted pair in the National Museum, collected by Dr. A. Krauss, and received in exchange from the Stuttgart Museum. There are also skins of adults of both sexes and accompanying skulls in the same collection from the Transvaal, obtained by Dr. Percy Rendall, C.M.Z.S., in 1893 and 1894. Dr. Rendall has kindly favoured us with the following notes upon the present species of Duiker:--

“The local Colonial name for this Antelope is the ‘Lesser Red-buck.’ To the Swazis it is the ‘Incumbi,’ and to the Shangaans the ‘Mangule.’

“Its occurrence I found confined to a very limited area, i.e. the slopes of the Makongwa Mountains, which are locally termed ‘Moodie’s Concession,’ in the Barberton portion of the Transvaal, adjoining Swaziland. Here it was not uncommon in places; its resorts being always the wooded creeks or ‘dongas,’ where there is dense cover.

“Its habits are so skulking that it is extremely hard to procure specimens, even when the hunter is aware of its existence in a particular locality. Nothing but a well organized beat with natives and dogs will make these animals break cover from the bush and long grass they frequent.

“I never heard of one being seen or shot in the open, and their spoor and droppings are only seen just on the outskirts of the cover, where they feed at night.

“The way in which they double and dodge the dogs and beaters in full cry is inimitable, and to an onlooker is most entertaining. Their vitality is wonderful, and their power of endurance before dogs considerable, especially considering their comparatively small size. There is little difference between the respective weights of the sexes when adult, as I was surprised to find when I put them into the scale.

“The female is always horned, and in two specimens that I dissected each was found to be carrying a quarter-grown (hairless) fœtus, in the month of April. A wounded animal that I saw pulled down by a dog gave vent to a prolonged squeal, not unlike a rabbit or hare does under similar circumstances, though fainter in volume.

“The long tuft of hair around and between the horns is always more marked in the male, and practically masks the horns. The flesh is not appreciated by a European palate, though the reverse is the case with the Swazis, as I have noticed.

“Measurements taken of three Adult Specimens, 15th April, 1894.

+---------------------------+-----------+-------------+-----------+ | | | | | | | 1. (♂.) | 2. (♀.) | 3. (♀.) | | | | | | +---------------------------+-----------+-------------+-----------+ | | in. | in. | in. | | Height at shoulder | 17¾ | 18 | 16¾ | | | | | | |Circumference of barrel } | | | | | behind shoulder } | 18¾ | 18¼ | 17¼ | | | | | | | Point of shoulder to nose | 12¼ | 14 | 12¾ | | | | | | | Circumference of neck | 10 | 9¼ | 9¼ | | | | | | | Nose to tail | 36¼ | 38 | 39¼ | | | | | | | Weight | 26 lbs. | 27½ lbs. | 25½ lbs.”| +---------------------------+-----------+-------------+-----------+

May, 1895.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XVII.