BLESBOK 127 



as Mr. H. A. Bryden, writing in 1899, observed, even the teeming 

 blesboks have been well-nigh cleared from the high and healthy- 

 pasture lands, where for long ages they formed a feature in the 

 landscape. " Undoubtedly," he continues, " the Dutch farmers of the 

 Orange River Colony and Transvaal were the chief actors in the 

 story of extermination. In the first instance, on entering these new 

 countries they shot game to support themselves, their families, and 

 servants, and for the pure pleasure of hunting. But, so soon as they 

 found a market for the skins of the game-animals around them, they 

 became only hide-hunters, and shot for the mere value of the pelts. 

 And thus, for the paltry reward of a miserable shilling or two per skin, 

 the beautiful blesbok has been brought at the present day to the verge 

 of extinction. Three-and-twenty years ago I have seen the waggons 

 rolling down country to Port Elizabeth from the Orange Free State 

 [as it then was] and Transvaal loaded with the dried skins of blesbok 

 and springbok. And any middle-aged London hide-broker will tell 

 you that from five-and-twenty to forty years ago tens of thousands of 

 blesbok-skins, among the pelts of other South African animals, were 

 disposed of at the Mincing Lane sale-rooms. 



" In the whole of the Orange Free State and Transvaal there are 

 now [1899] remaining probably not more than 3000 head of these 

 once innumerable antelopes ; probably 2000 head would be nearer the 

 mark. In the western Transvaal, upon a few farms, fair herds are to 

 be found, as also in places in the Orange Free State, these being 

 partially protected. In 1890, towards the end of the year, I saw a 

 respectable herd of blesbok on one of these Transvaal farms, which I 

 believe is still in existence. But the tendency is, unfortunately, to 

 allow picked specimens to be shot by sportsmen desiring heads — for a 

 pecuniary consideration." 



" These antelopes," continues the same writer, " always run right in 

 the teeth of the wind, and, when at speed, usually carry their heads 

 very low — so much so that they have been compared by Cornwallis 

 Harris to a pack of harriers in full cry. They are among the swiftest 

 of all antelopes, surpassing even the fleet and marvellously agile 

 springbok, and rivalling, as some contend, even the peerless tsessebe. 

 In their slow paces they are, like the hartebeest and tsessebe, some- 

 what heavy-looking and deceptive ; but when really extended, their 

 action is magnificent, as they cover the ground at an amazing pace, 

 and exhibit wonderful staying capacity. The flesh is good eating. 

 The females generally drop their young in September and October." 



The blesbok seems to be a species in course of developing a white 



