274 THE GEMSBOK. 



constant persecution it suffers, and the advance of civiliza- 

 tion, its numbers are now rapidly decreasing, and few at the 

 present day are to be found within the boundaries of the 

 British territory. 



Judging from some ancient coats of arms, it would really 

 seem that the gemsbok was known to Europeans even before 

 the Portuguese discovered the passage round the Cape of 

 Good Hope.* We are told that John of Lancaster, the great 

 Duke of Bedford, bore his arms supported by this animal, 

 which is still on the sinister side of the heraldic shield of .the 

 present ducal house of Bedford. Among various embellish- 

 ments, which are painted in the Bruges style of the period, 

 in a Prayer-book once the property of John of Lancaster, 

 are found his armorial devices, with the antelope black, 

 whose straight spiral horns, although placed almost at right 

 angles with the head, are evidently intended for those of the 

 oryx. The animal is adorned with gilded tusks, but in other 

 respects is not ill drawn. It is conjectured that this book 

 was illuminated on the marriage of the Duke of Bedford with 

 Anne, Princess of Burgundy. Be this as it may, it can not 

 well be later than the period of his death in the year 1435. 



The gemsbok is a very remarkable animal, and, though 

 possessed of many of those beautiful peculiarities which char- 

 acterize antelopes, there is something anomalous about him. 

 He has the mane and tail of the horse, the head and color- 

 ing of the ass, and the legs and feet of the antelope. The 

 horns are about three feet in length, slightly curved back- 

 ward, ringed at the base, and of a shining black color. Those 

 of the female are somewhat longer than the male's, but of 

 more slender proportions. About one third of their entire 

 length is hollow, resting on a bony protuberance. "Wlien 



* It is possible that heralds became acquainted with this animal, or 

 at least with the leucoiyx, through the Crusaders. Or perhaiDS the 

 knowledge was obtained from the Eomans, who, according to Martial, 

 had the oryx at their games. 



