THE BLAAUWBOK 



39 



of the Commander Islands, the loss of the true 

 quagga of South Africa, and the fate of the 

 blaauwbok of Swellendam. 



Few mammals indeed have had so limited a 

 distribution as the blaauwbok {Hippotragus leuco- 

 phaeus\ a beautiful antelope which inhabited Cape 

 Colony until 1800, when the last survivors were 

 exterminated. The blaauwbok only occurred in 

 the province of Swellendam, in the south-west of 

 the colony, the most persistent inquiries always 

 failing to discover it anywhere else ; this un- 

 fortunate species was thus situated directly in the 

 path of civilization, as it spread from Capetown 

 into the savage interior, and was promptly ex- 

 terminated by the early settlers, being the first of 

 the splendid African fauna to disappear. The 

 stature of the blaauwbok (40 to 45 inches at the 

 withers) was also against it, for while lesser 

 antelopes, such as duiker or steinbok, found ready 

 concealment in the thicker bush, the blaauwbok 

 furnished a conspicuous target for the guns of the 

 rapidly-increasing settlers. Hinc illae lachrymae! 



The blaauwbok was armed with a pair of stout 

 horns, heavily ringed at the base and sweeping 

 backwards in a curve to end in sharp points. 

 The ears were somewhat elongated but were not 

 pencilled at the tips. 1 The neck bore a short 



i The essential differences between the blaauwbok and the allied 

 roan antelope are indicated in this description. 



