BONTEBOK 121 



The record horn-length for the typical korrigum is 26f, for the 

 typical tiang 25^, and for the topi 22^ inches. 



THE BONTEBOK 



(Damaliscus Pygargus] 



Bontebok, CAPE DUTCH 



(PLATE v, fig. 4) 



With the beautiful antelope known to the Boers of South Africa 

 as the bontebok (that is to say, the pied or painted buck) we come to 

 two closely allied species easily distinguished from all other members 

 of the hartebeest group by the presence in the adult of a conspicuous 

 white blaze on the front of the face. Whether the two animals should 

 be regarded as races of one species, rather than distinct species, may 

 be open to argument. 



Standing about 40 inches at the shoulder, and weighing somewhere 

 about 200 lb., the bontebok is specially characterised by the white 

 blaze, although narrowing suddenly just above the eye, being continuous 

 throughout the whole length of the face, from the muzzle to the bases 

 of the horns, by the conspicuous white rump-patch, which includes the 

 upper surface of the basal half of the tail, and by the absence of 

 yellow on the ridges of the horns. The dark portions of the coat have 

 a peculiar gloss, like the "bloom" of a plum. In colour the fore part 

 of the back is rufous fawn, which darkens into blackish near the rump, 

 as well as on the shoulders, flanks, and the front of the limbs, while the 

 tail-tuft is wholly black. In addition to the areas already mentioned, 

 the under-parts and much of the hind surfaces of the limbs are white. 



The range of the bontebok appears to have been restricted to the 

 plains of Cape Colony in the neighbourhood of Cape Agulhas, and, in 

 spite of statements to the contrary, never extended north of the Orange 

 river. The species exists at the present day only on the farm of 

 Mr. Vander Byl, near Swellendam, in the south of Cape Colony. 



There are two groups of African antelopes, widely separated geo- 

 graphically, which present the unusual feature of having the backs of 

 the ears white, and the general body-colour dark relieved by patches of 

 white on the head, and generally on the buttocks, in the adults of at 

 least one sex. The first group is represented by the bontebok and 

 blesbok, and the second by the white-cared kob and Mrs. Gray's kob of 



