40 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



mane directed forwards, but there was no ruff on 

 the throat. The tail was short, tufted, and did 

 not reach to the hocks. The general colour of 

 the blaauwbok was bluish-grey, paling to white 

 beneath ; the belly and insides of the limbs were 

 also white, and the posterior portions of both fore 

 and hind legs were paler than the anterior. The 

 specific name leucophceus was conferred on the 

 animal by Pallas on account of a whitish spot 

 situated in front of and beneath the eye. 



The foregoing characters of the blaauwbok may 

 be studied to-day in any one of the few museums 

 which possess a stuffed specimen ; during life, 

 however, the animal was said to be of a much 

 bluer colour than could be recognised in the dead 

 skin. Pennant says, " Colour, when alive, a fine 

 blue of a velvet appearance ; when dead, changes 

 to bluish-grey, with a mixture of white" (History 

 of Quadrupeds, Vol. I., p. 74). Dr. Sparrman, 

 in mentioning the animal, says, " On this subject 

 the reader may likewise turn to Mr. Pennant's 

 Blue Antelope," and adds, "the colour of this 

 creature, when alive, is said to resemble that of 

 blue velvet, but when it is dead, it is of a leaden 

 colour." Those who have noted the exquisite 

 satiny gloss often seen on menagerie specimens 

 of the allied sable antelope i^H. nige?-), will readily 

 understand that after death such adventitious hues 

 are liable to disappear, and that the "velvety" 



