THE ANTELOPES 



241 



This gnu, -which is ftill found in great numbers in East Central Africa, indulges in the same curious antics as the white-tailed species 



THE GNUS 



These remarkable animals were once distributed throughout the greater part of Africa from 

 the Cape to Abyssinia, and their range is even now very extensive, though what was once the 

 most numerous and the most eccentric-looking species of the group has almost ceased to exist. 



The gnus are of large size, and at first sight appear to have the head of a buffalo, the 

 tail of a horse, and the limbs and hoofs of an antelope. Their heads are very massive, with 

 broad muzzles and widely separated, hairy nostrils ; their necks are maned, tails long and 

 bushy, and both sexes carry horns. They are known as " wilde beeste," or " wild cattle," to 

 the Dutch colonists of South Africa. 



The WHITE-TAILED GNU, or BLACK 

 WILDEBEEST, as it is more commonly called, 

 was once found in great numbers on the kar- 

 roos of Northern Cape Colony, and through- 

 out the vast plains of the Orange River 

 Colony, Transvaal, Griqualand West, and 

 British Bechuanaland. Its range, in fact, 

 was coequal with that of the blesbok. Even 

 as lately as in 1875 and 1876 I personally 

 saw very considerable herds of these quaint 

 animals in the Orange River Colony and the 

 Western Transvaal. When the present war 



broke out in 1899, there were only two 

 herds of black wildebeest left alive. These 

 animals numbered some 500 head altogether, 

 and were protected by Dutch farmers. There 



Phttt b} Min E. J. B"* 



RED-FLANKED DUIKER 



The duikers are for the most part diminuti-ve and graceful antelopes, with 

 simple, spike-like horns 



