364 THE EVEN-TOED UNGULATES 



a wide outlook over the tall grass of the districts it frequents 

 and which gives shelter to innumerable lions and leopards, which 

 are its natural foes. In confirmation of this theory, it is note- 

 worthy that the longest-necked bird, the ostrich, lives under similar 

 conditions of environment. 



The Okapi (Ocapia johnstoni), recently discovered by Sir Harry 

 Johnston, inhabits the densest portions of the forests of the 

 northern and eastern parts of the Belgian Congo, and is about 

 the size of a large mule. It stands high at the shoulder, though 

 not to such a degree as its cousin the giraffe, while the neck is 

 also long in proportion to the body. The animal presents a very 

 striking appearance, its neck and body ranging from a bluish 

 black to a deep vinous brown, while the legs are more or less cream- 

 coloured, barred with longitudinal black stripes and patches, 

 the face being a greyish-white colour, and the hind-quarters 

 marked with orange-fringed white stripes. The horns consist 

 of short pedicles of bone, and exist only in the adult male. No 

 living specimen has as yet reached Europe, but complete skins 

 and heads have been obtained, and are now to be seen in the 

 Natural History Museum at South Kensington. The Okapi is 

 said to be an extremely shy animal, and lives in pairs in the deepest 

 parts of the forests. 



The Gnu and the Brindled Gnu are two most singularly 

 grotesque-looking creatures. The head is not unlike that of a 

 small Cape buffalo, while the limbs and hind-quarters somewhat 

 esemble in their proportions and size those of a pony. The nose 

 is broad and flattened, and the horns are broad at their base 

 and turn upward in a hook-like manner. The Gnu is a native of 

 South Africa, and from all accounts is an extremely wild, fearless 

 animal. Its speed is great, and when alarmed it has a habit of 

 prancing about and kicking out furiously in all directions. 



The Klipspringer, the Ourebi, the Steinbok, and the Grysbok 

 form a small section of the Antelopes, in which the males 

 alone possess horns. They are all African in their range, 

 and remarkably graceful, agile animals. The Klipspringer stands 

 a little under two feet high ; it is the heaviest in build of the 

 four ; its horns are four inches long, and curved a little for- 

 wards, and it lives singly or in pairs, in mountainous districts. 

 The Waterbucks and Reedbucks of Africa are so called on 



