376 



A JOURNEY UNDER DIV.^"!CULTIES. 



triumphant manner. This animal is of the great family of ante- 

 lopes, but presents a most extraordinary eonformation. 



" Fierce on the hunter's hostile band, 



He rolls his eye of burnished glow: 

 Spurns with black hoof and horns the sand, 



And tosses hig-h his mane of snow." 



Of all the antelopes, the gnu presents the most extraordinary 

 conformation. At the first sight of this curious animal, the spec- 

 tator seems to doubt whether it is a horse, a bull, or an antelope, as 



f V\^^ ^ " ^"'^ 





^l«Ce.--^^ « 



PUT TO FLIGHT BY A SUDDEN CHARGE. 





it appears to partake nearly equally of the nature of these three 

 animals. 



The gnus, of which there are several species, may be easily 

 recognized by their fierce-looking head, their peculiarly shaped 

 horns, which are bent downwards and then upwards again with a 

 sharp curve, by their broad nose, and long hair-clad tail. They 

 live together in considerable herds, often mixing with zebras, 

 ostriches, and giralTes, in one huge army of living beings. In their 

 habits they are not unlike the wild cattle which have already been 

 described. Suspicious, timid, curious of disposition, and irritable 



