260 THROUGH ANGOLA 



animals to bag, owing to their vitality and the 

 readily available cover into which they can escape 

 when wounded. The longest horns I saw in 

 Angola measured 22 inches. 



The BLUE WILDEBEESTE or BRINDLED GNU 

 (Connochcetcf; taurinus) (Gallengue in Umbundu) 

 is found sparsely along certain reaches of the 

 Cacoluvar, C'.nene, Cubango, Cnandb\ and Cuchi, 

 and possibly in the comntry Between tltese rivers. 

 I heard that they had previously existed in the 

 lower plateau country of Caconda and in the south 

 of Bailundo, but were barely seen now. 



This curious animal, with his dark brindled 

 coat, black mane and tail, and laterally spreading 

 horns, resembles the small buffalo rather than an 

 antelope, though his grotesque antics when dis- 

 turbed and excited seem to separate him char- 

 acteristically from either family. The height ipf the 

 adult bull is about 4 feet 4 inches, and the weight 

 nearly 500 Ib. Wildebeeste arc grazers, living in 

 large herds (I saw r nearly a thousand together on 

 one occasion in Portuguese East Africa), and prefer 

 open forest country. 



Though he possesses a somewhat terrifying 

 appearance, the blue wildebeeste is, I should say, 

 a friendly beast from the way he associates with 

 other animals, and unless continually hunted is 

 far too confiding and stupid to afford good stalking. 

 I take a persistent delight in stalking these animals 

 to photograph them, always living in hope that a 

 bright enough light or a moment of unusual luck 

 may grant me a photograph of the cavorting wilde- 

 beeste, though in agility, speed, and grotesqueness 



