ANTELOPES AND DEER 119 



shoulder, whilst the young are duller in colour than the adults, 

 being yellowish-grey, and having indistinct side-stripes. The buck 

 and doe both possess horns ; those of the first-named attain a 

 length of about fifteen inches, but those of the doe are not so large. 

 Whilst once regarded as a serious pest because of the harm 

 perpetrated among growing crops by countless thousands of these 

 beasts when on their famous "treks," the animal has so far been 

 reduced in numbers that it is now afforded protection. It is a quick 

 traveller, an active little animal at all times, courageous to a degree, 

 needs careful stalking, and its flesh is highly regarded in South 

 Africa. 



BRINDLED AND WHITE-TAILED GNUS.— The casual observer 

 might be excused if he considered the Brindled Gnu (Fig. 92) any- 

 thing but an Antelope. Such, however, it is. The Antelopes form, 

 indeed, a rich group in both species and varieties, and are a great 

 adornment to the steppes and deserts of the African continent. 

 Also known as Wildebeests, it is evident from the big game hunting 

 expedition recently carried out in Africa by ex-President Roosevelt 

 that these curious-looking animals are still found there in consider- 

 able numbers, for in his interesting series of letters contributed to a 

 London paper, Mr. Roosevelt frequently refers to large numbers of 

 these beasts coming under his notice. 



Gnus belong to the last group of the Antelopes and are placed 

 in a genus of their own, being followed only by the Hartebeests, 

 Blessbok and Bontebok, to which they are closely allied. Of large 

 size, curious facial expression, with a prominent mane, long tail 

 and large, lyrate horns, the Gnu cannot fail to arrest attention. 

 Some may regard it as an uncouth-looking beast, but the two 

 species which inhabit South and East Africa — the White-Tailed and 

 the Brindled, or Blue Gnu, are both worthy of notice. Whereas the 

 former is exclusively confined to South Africa, the Brindled species 

 shown in Fig. 92 is not found south of the Orange River. 



The White-Tailed Gnu stands about four and a half feet at the 

 shoulder, has a fringe of long hair on the chest, a long white tail 

 and a uniformly coloured body. The Brindled Gnu, however, is 

 distinguished by the absence of the long hair on the chest, the 

 shorter tail is white instead of black, the sides of the withers have 

 dark transverse stripes, and the hair on the face is not so ruffled. 

 Both male and female possess horns, those of the first-named having 

 a spread of from twenty-four to twenty-six inches. 



