SPRIXGBUCK 



!47 



riding out in the afternoon I came to a large open plain, simply covered 

 with springbuck to the number of several thousands. Galloping along- 

 side of them, I got off my horse and watched them go past. They 

 kept their line, swerving very little, although I shot three ; but the next 

 day they had all vanished. One never finds springbuck in country 

 where there is high grass ; they seem to like to be able to see all 

 round. During one year of exceptionally heavy rain on the coast, 

 the grass grew very long, which resulted in all the buck 'trekking' 

 farther south to a more sandy veldt." 



Up to about the middle of the nineteenth century springbuck in 

 South Africa existed in countless thousands — not to say millions — and 



Fig. 51. — Springbuck in Mr. Rudd's park at Fernwood, Newlands, near Cape Town. 



the trek-bokken^ as their periodical migrations were termed, formed a 

 source of anxiety to the Boer farmers. These treks were caused by 

 droughts in certain districts, which compelled the buck to seek fresh 

 pastures. Such migrations in the Great Karoo district of Cape Colony 

 have, however, been things of the past for more than half a century. 

 On the other hand, an enormous trek took place in Namaqualand and 

 the adjacent part of Cape Colony so late as 1892 ; the number of buck 

 being so great that arms were issued by Government to the farmers to 

 help them destroy the invaders and thus save their crops. 



In the Karoo springbuck seem to be generally independent of water, 

 but in Little Namaqualand they have been known to cross a mountain- 

 range separating their normal haunts from the sea, and on reaching 



