THE ETHIOPIAN REGION 



91 



of them large animals living in vast herds in the more 

 open country of eastern and southern Africa, take up the 

 greater number of these genera. These are perhaps, at the 

 present epoch, the most notable feature of the African 

 Fauna, but will doubtless, owing to the unceasing persecu- 

 tion of hunters and sportsmen, become rapidly less so. 

 Already the larger Antelopes are nearly extinct in the Cape 



Fig. 15. — The Hippopotamus. 

 {Hippopotamus amphibius. ) 



Colony south of the Orange River, and there can be little 

 doubt that, unless special precautions are taken, the large 

 Mammals of Africa will very soon disappear, like those of 

 the United States, before the express and repeater. 



Beside the numerous genera of Antelopes, the Ethiopian 

 Region has exclusive possession of two other conspicuous 

 forms of the Ungulates — the Hippopotamus (Fig. 15) and 



