BRINDLED GNOO.—Connéchetes Gorgon. 
the most violent manner, dropping on their knees at every shock ; then, quickly wheeling 
about, they kick up their heels, whirl their tails with a fantastic flourish, and scour across 
the plain, enveloped in a cloud of dust.” On account of these extraordinary manceuvres, 
the Gnoo is called Wildebeest by the Dutch settlers. 
The faculty of curiosity is largely developed in the Gnoo, which can never resist the 
temptation of inspecting any strange object, although at the risk of its life. When a 
Gnoo first catches sight of any unknown being, he sets off at full speed, as if desirous of 
getting to the farthest possible distance from the terrifying object. Soon, however, the 
feeling of curiosity vanquishes the passion of fear, and the animal halts to reconnoitre. 
He then gallops in a circle round the cause of his dread, halting occasionally, and ever 
drawing nearer. By taking advantage of this disposition, a hunter has been enabled to 
attract towards himself a herd of Gnoos which were feeding out of gunshot, merely by 
tying a red handkerchief to the muzzle of his gun. The inquisitive animals were so 
fascinated with the fluttering lure, that they actually approached so near as to charge at 
the handkerchief, and forced the hunter to consult his own safety by lowering his flag. 
The same ruse is frequently employed on the prairies of America, when the hunters desire 
to get a shot at a herd of prong-buck Antelopes. 
Several experiments have been made in order to ascertain whether the Gnoo is capable 
of domestication. As far as the practicability of such a scheme was concerned, the 
experiments were perfectly successful, but there is a great drawback in the shape of a 
dangerous and infectious disease to which the Gnoo is very liable, and which would render it 
a very undesirable member of the cattle-yard. The animal is frequently infected with one of 
the Céstridee, or Bot-flies, and suffers from them to such an extent that it ejects them from 
its nose whenever it snorts, an act which it is very fond of performing. Ordinary cattle 
have no love for the Gnoo, and on one occasion, when a young Gnoo of only four months 
old was placed in the yard, the cattle surrounded it and nearly killed it with their horns 
and hoofs. 
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