240 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



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Philt by Ptrcy Ashtndtn] 



\_Cafi Town 



BLESBOK 



A species formerly -very numerous in South Africa, but no-w ivell-nigh 

 exterminated 



BONTEBOK AND BLESBOK GROUP 



Nearly allied to the hartebeests are 

 certain other antelopes of which it will be 

 sufficient to mention but two species viz. 

 the BONTEBOK and the BLESBOK. These 

 two antelopes, though doubtless distinct, 

 since their points of difference are constant 

 arid unvarying, are nevertheless so much 

 alike, and evidently so closely allied, that I 

 look upon the former as a highly coloured 

 and specialised race of the latter. The bles- 

 bok once had a far wider range than the 

 bontebok, and ran in countless herds on 

 the plains of the northern districts of the 

 Cape Colony, the Orange River Colony, the 

 Transvaal, Griqualand West, and British 

 Bechuanaland, whilst the latter animal has 

 always been confined to the sandy wastes 

 in the neighbourhood of Cape Agulhas, the 

 extreme southern point of Africa. 



I think it, however, not improbable 

 that ages ago the blesbok ranged right 

 through Cape Colony to the sea-shore, and 

 that subsequently the gradual desiccation 



of the south-western portions of the country which is still continuing or several years of 



continuous drought, caused the withdrawal of the species northwards from the waterless parts 



of the country. Those, however, which had reached the neighbourhood of Cape Agulhas, where 



there is plenty of water, would have remained behind and formed an isolated race, which, being 



influenced by local conditions, would naturally in course of time have become differentiated 



from the parent stock. Be this as it may, the bontebok of to-day is nothing but a glorified 



blesbok, being slightly larger and 



more richly coloured than the 



latter animal. Its horns, too, are 



always black, whilst those of the 



blesbok are of a greenish hue. 



When they are in good condition, 



the coats of both these species 



of antelope, as well as of the 



SASSABY, another member of this 



group, show a beautiful satiny 



sheen, which plays over their 



purple-brown hides like shadows 



on sunlit water. 



The few bonteboks which still 



survive are now all preserved on 



large enclosed farms; but their 



numbers are very small less 



than 300, it is believed. The 



farmers of Dutch descent now do 



their best to preserve rare species WHITE-TAILED GNU AND CALF 



On their land. Thii j^udebeest " is believed to be practically exterminated as a -wild animal 



