74 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



though the same animal had fed from the hand a 

 few minutes before : the experimenter would be 

 soon carried to the hospital there to reflect on 

 his folly at leisure. 



There seems to be no record of these animals 

 ever having bred in captivity : but turned out in 

 semi-freedom in large paddocks there seems no 

 reason why acclimatized individuals should not do 

 so. The closely allied sable antelope bred in the 

 Hamburg Zoological Gardens in 1894, and at 

 Cologne in 1896 and 1898: the eland, the sing- 

 sing waterbuck, the blue wildebeest, and the black 

 wildebeest have all reproduced their kind in 

 confinement, so that European skies are by no 

 means inimical to the welfare of African antelope 

 life. A herd of roan with their great stature and 

 imposing presence would make a magnificent if 

 dangerous ornament to a gentleman's park : the 

 animal seems, however, to be but little known 

 save to experts, and the first living example of 

 the southern or typical roan (the true tackheitse) 

 seen in England did not reach this country till 

 November 28, 1902, when a fine young cow 

 presented by Major Minchin, D.S.O., arrived at 

 the Zoo. The more stringent enforcement of game 

 preservation in Africa, and the increasing interest 

 taken in natural history in Europe make it possi- 

 ble that in the future this noble beast may become 

 better known. Certainly when one reflects on 



