I30 ANTELOPES 



a chance. Sometimes, however, tsessebe are very foolish ; and once 

 when stalking a herd of seven, and having dropped the bull at about 

 1 60 yards, the remainder scarcely moved, so that I was enabled to 

 bring down two cows." 



THE GNU OR WILDEBEEST 



{Connochates gmi) 

 Gnu, Hottentot ; Wildebeest (or Zivart zvildebeest), Cape Dutch 



(Plate iii, fig. 6) 



Gnus are grotesque-looking antelopes, with disproportionately large 

 heads, distinguished from hartebeests and their allies by the presence 

 of tufts of hair on their faces, the maned neck, very broad muzzle, 

 doubly-curved smooth horns, and long, horse-like tail. They further 

 differ by the presence of four teats in the females, in which respect, as 

 in the form of the horns, they present a superficial approximation to 

 cattle. Their ground-colour varies from grey to dark brown, with or 

 without transverse stripes, the long hair of the mane and tail being 

 either black or white. The smooth horns are expanded at the base, 

 and are then inclined outwards or downwards, with the terminal 

 portion suddenly bent upwards. Two well-marked species, differing 

 widely in the curvature of the horns, may be recognised, the first of 

 these being divisible into three more or less defined local races, often 

 regarded as species. 



Gnu is the Hottentot name for this species, which is thus the 

 typical representative of the group, and the one to which alone that 

 title properly belongs. When it was first encountered, some two 

 centuries ago, by the Dutch settlers, as they made their way into the 

 interior, they gave it the name of " wildebeest " or " wild ox," a title 

 which has, to a great extent, tended to oust the old native designation. 

 Early in the nineteenth century, when an allied species was discovered 

 farther up country, the prefix " zwart " (black) was added to the Dutch 

 title of the southern animal, which thus became the black wildebeest 

 of the English colonists ; while, when its Hottentot designation was 

 employed, it was distinguished as the white-tailed gnu. Although 

 such prefixes may be useful when the two species are under discussion, 

 it should always be remembered that the present animal is the gnu or 

 wildebeest /rt:r excellence ; just as the English fox and badger are properly 



