42 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



examples, and then popularly ascribed to the whole 

 blaauwbok race. The subsequent change to 

 " leaden colour " is easily explained by the post- 

 mortem drying of the hide. 



The blaauwbok was exterminated so early that 

 but little is known of its habits. From various 

 published descriptions of the Swellendam district, 

 it appears that the animal resembled the sable 

 antelope, in frequenting grassy valleys, intersected 

 by small streams, with adjacent woodland ; we may 

 also conclude that it resembled the roan antelope 

 in occurring on open flats, since Le Vaillant's 

 specimen was shot almost immediately after an 

 unsuccessful pursuit of "gazells," which had 

 appeared in immense herds, and were probably 

 springbok, mammals characteristic of the open 

 veldt. The blaauwbok, like other antelopes, was 

 accustomed to rest during the heat of the day ; 

 that killed by Le Vaillant's Hottentot was shot 

 soon after it had risen to graze in the afternoon, 

 the sun still shining strongly enough to make 

 it appear quite white at a distance. 1 The specimen 

 obtained was a male, and the only one seen on 

 this occasion ; hence it is probable that, as with 

 other antelopes, the old bulls often wandered 

 about alone. 



i Mr. Selous says of the allied roan antelope : " when standing in 

 an open plain, with the sun shining upon them, they often look almost 

 white, which accounts for the name of white sable antelope, by which 

 they are known in many native dialects. (" Great and Small Game 

 of Africa," p. 409). 



