LARGE GAME OF CAPE COLONY. 299 



ground, they pursue exactly the same tactics, and 

 will on no account remain for long in their red 

 brethren's territory. It is a remarkable fact that 

 the fawns of none of the smaller antelopes, with 

 the exception of the springbok, can be reared 

 without falling victims to a disease of the eyes, 

 which invariably ends in blindness. Experiments 

 have been made with scores of the young of the 

 steinbok, duyker, and rhebok, but always with the 

 same result. It having been suggested that, as the 

 natural haunts of these animals are of a bushy or 

 partly bushy nature, the fawns suffered from too much 

 exposure to the sunlight, the experiment of placing 

 them in dark sheds and other shelter was tried, but 

 the blindness ensued in these cases in just the same 

 way. At the time I stayed with Mr. Evans he had 

 a beautiful young fawn of the vaal rhebok, which 

 was perfectly tame and almost lived in the house. 

 At that time the ophthalmia was just beginning to 

 show itself, and I heard afterwards that the pretty, 

 gentle creature became quite blind, and had to be 

 destroyed. 



With the young of the springbok, on the contrary, 

 no trouble whatever is experienced; they are never 

 afflicted with any affection of the eyes, and 

 invariably grow up strong and hardy. It would 

 seem from this circumstance that the question of 

 natural cover and bushy habitat has, after all, 

 something to do with the ophthalmia in the other 

 antelopes, and that the springbok, loving as it does 

 the open plains, and exposed as it is to the full 

 glare of the sun, bears with impunity the changed 

 surroundings. Unquestionably, too, I think the 

 springbok is the hardiest of all the antelopes. 



