THE BONTEBOK 



do much good by proclaiming a sanctuary on which ^ / 



he so strictly preserved them, that he could not be 

 moved to part from his severe resolution to favour 

 the son of his beloved sovereign (Queen Victoria) to 

 have a shot at the Bontebok on his preserve ; and 

 His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh had to 

 confine his sport amongst the Bontebok of his host, 

 Mr. Van der Byl of ' Nacht Wacht.' Further east, 

 on the western side of the Breede River near Fort 

 Beaufort, a herd of Bontebok was preserved by a 

 large landowner, Mr. F. R. Myburgh, but after 

 his death some twenty years ago, his ground was sold 

 to different people who evidently did not in a hke 

 sense appreciate the care of the former owner, and 

 the herd soon dwindled down, and I believe to-day 

 less than a dozen are the sum total which mark the 

 herd so carefully preserved by Mr. Myburgh near 

 Fort Beaufort, so that practically all the Bontebok 

 still in existence in their natural state are some 

 140 on the farm ' Nacht Wacht ' owned by me, 

 and 120 on the adjoining farm owned by Mr. 

 P. K. Albertyn ; twenty to thirty on the farm 

 * Vagelgezang,' joining Zeekoe Vley, belonging to 

 Messrs. Myburgh Bros. ; a few strayed buck on 

 Zoetendale Vley, belonging to Mr. H. Van Breda, 

 and on the farm Pattenbcrg, where the late Mr. 

 Andrew Ohlsson with his great love for preserv- 

 ing South African game had started a small herd 

 which have since been added to by me (the now 

 proprietor of Pattenberg) ; and a herd of about 



II 



