CHAPTER VIII 



EXTINCTION AND DIMINUTION OF GAME IN SOUTH 

 AFRICA NOTES ON THE CAPE BUFFALO 



Extinction of the blaauwbok and the true quagga — Threatened ex- 

 termination of the black and white rhinoceros and the buffalo 

 in South Africa — Former abundance of game — Scene in the 

 valley of Dett witnessed by the author in 1873 — Buffaloes pro- 

 tected by the Cape Government — But few survivors in other 

 parts of South Africa — Abundance of buffaloes in former times 

 — Extent of their range — Still plentiful in places up to 1896 — 

 The terrible epidemic of rinderpest — Character of the African 

 buffalo — A matter of individual experience — Comparison of 

 buffalo with the lion and elephant — Danger of following 

 wounded buffaloes into thick cover — Personal experiences — 

 Well-known sportsman killed by a buffalo — Usual action of 

 buffaloes when wounded — Difficult to stop when actually 

 charging — The moaning bellow of a dying buffalo — Probable 

 reasons for some apparently unprovoked attacks by buffaloes — 

 Speed of buffaloes — Colour, texture, and abundance of coat at 

 different ages — Abundance of buffaloes along the Chobi river 

 — Demeanour of old buffalo bulls — " God's cattle " — Elephants 

 waiting for a herd of buffaloes to leave a pool of water before 

 themselves coming down to drink. 



Since the first settlement of Europeans at the Cape 

 of Good Hope in the seventeenth century, two 

 species of the indigenous fauna of South Africa 

 have become absolutely extinct. These are the 

 blaauwbok {Hippotragits leucophaeus) and the true 

 quagga {Eguus q^tcLgga). Both these animals, 

 however, were nearly related to species which still 

 exist in considerable numbers, for the blaauwbok 

 must in appearance have looked very much like a 



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