I5O NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



a length of 22 inches (specimen in the National 

 Collection) ; young animals are pale-coloured, and 

 the coat again becomes light in old age. A specimen 

 of the Bubalis major is preserved in the Leyden 

 Museum; but it is scarce and -very little known to 

 European naturalists. 



The bubaline hartebeest was the povftaXo? of 

 Aristotle, of Oppian, and of Pliny ; the buselaphus 

 of Gesner, who mentions it in his "History of Quad- 

 rupeds," published in 1520 ; and the Bos africanus of 

 Belon (1555). Thus it differs strikingly from most 

 other mammals of the Dark Continent, being probably 

 the very first of African big game to become known 

 to civilised Europe. Unfortunately, in the sixteenth 

 century, the " Barbary cow" was confused with the 

 very different hartebeest of the Cape, and the study 

 of both animals was thus hindered. 



The caama or Cape hartebeest (Bubalis caama) 

 is a fine animal standing at the very opposite end of 

 the scale to the bubaline antelope, being larger and 

 (although thin, long, and angular) much more 

 cheerfully coloured. The general body tint is bright 

 reddish brown, darker on the back and pleasingly 

 shot with purple along the spine ; the face and 

 outside of the limbs are smartly patched with sable ; 

 there is a yellowish-white patch on the rump ; and 

 the tail tassel is black. The horns form a V-shape 

 and not a U as seen from the front. Essentially a 

 southern species, the caama once occurred in Cape 



