CHAPTER XXII 



THE BONTEBOK 



Nearing extinction — A remarkable Antelope — Resemblance to 

 Blesbok — Appearance — Dangerous when wounded — Present 

 habitat, and numbers — Singular beauty of coat — Former 

 abundance — The old Bontebok country — A troop in 

 motion. 



The true quagga {Eqitus quagga) has already clean 

 vanished from the great hunting-grounds of Southern 

 Africa ; the bontebok, a very singular and interesting 

 antelope, seems destined to be one of the next to 

 depart. The bontebok (AlcelapJms pygargus), or pied 

 antelope of the Cape Dutch, in addition to the 

 melancholy interest which attaches to it as a nearly 

 extinct creature, is in itself a very remarkable 

 antelope. It resembles very strongly its near relative, 

 the curious blesbok — or blaze-faced antelope — but is 

 slightly bigger, and more pronounced in its peculiari- 

 ties. Ranging in height from 3 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. 8 in. at 

 the withers, the bontebok first attracts the eye by the 

 singularity of its colouring, the downward slope of the 



hind-quarters, the pronounced hump, and somewhat 

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