THE BLAAUWBOK 4 1 



appearance of the living blaauwbok might be due 

 to a similar iridescence ; Le Vaillant, however, 

 seems to have expected some visible colour-change 

 in the blaauwbok which his attendant shot in 

 1781. He writes, "I did not observe, as Dr. 

 Sparrman says, that this antelope when alive 

 resembles blue velvet, and that when dead the 

 skin changes its colour ; living or dead, it appeared 

 to me always alike. The tints of that which I 

 brought with me never varied " (Travels in Africa, 

 Vol. I., p. 133). Post-mortem changes of colour 

 undoubtedly do occur in the animal kingdom, as 

 may be seen in the lilac breast feathers of the 

 Gouldian finch (Poephila gouldzae), or in the 

 gorgeous livery of many tropical fishes, so that 

 Le Vaillant had some ground for expecting such 

 a transformation in the blaauwbok ; the matter, 

 however, can be readily explained. The colour of 

 the living leitcophcBus may have been due to the 

 bluish hide showing through the hair ; many 

 antelopes, such as eland and kudu, have this 

 appearance when age has thinned their coat, and 

 it has even been recorded by Harris in the roan 

 antelope, itself a near relation of the blaauwbok. 

 Old animals would be the most likely to be 

 dispatched by the antediluvian weapons of the 

 colonists, and these would of course exhibit the 

 bluish appearance in the fullest degree ; hence the 

 blue tint would first be noticed in these early 



