BRINDLED GNU OR BLUE WILDEBEEST 153 



Horns of Bull Brindled Gnu. From Mr. Julius Jeppe's specimen. 



BRINDLED GNU or BLUE WILDEBEEST (Connochaetes taurinus). 



Ee-vumba of the Makalakas. Minyumbwe of the Batongas. 



Ikokoni of the Basutos. Numbo of the Masubias. 



Inkone-kone of the Amandebili. Nyamba of the Chilala and Chis- 

 Inkongone of the Swazis and Zulus. enga. 



Kokong of the Barotse and Batoka Unzozo of the Makubas. 

 natives. 



From their near relatives the hartebeests the gnus, or wildebeests, 

 are distinguishable at a glance by their grotesque shape and smooth 

 horns, as they also are by their habits. The long, broad, and massive 

 head has a blunt and bristly muzzle, and tufts of coarse hair on the 

 forehead and chin ; the chin -tuft also extending on to the throat. 

 The horns, which are placed on the crown of the head, are approxi- 

 mated at their bases, especially in old bulls, and are nearly smooth, 

 more or less flattened at the bases, but almost cylindrical at the tips ; 

 the curvature being at first outwards, or outwards and downwards, and 

 then bending upwards at the tips. An abundant mane of stiff", upright 

 hair clothes the back of the neck ; and the tail is covered with longer 

 and softer hairs, reaching considerably below the hocks. It is from 

 the equine form of the tail that these animals were long popularly 

 known by the name of " horned horse." The hoofs are characterised 

 by their narrow form. 



The blue wildebeest, as this species is called in S. Africa, is a large 

 animal, standing about 4 feet 3 inches at the shoulder. Its most 

 characteristic features are the outward direction of the horns, which are 

 but little expanded at the base and not unlike those of a buffalo, the 

 uniformly black tail, and the absence of long hair on the under parts. 

 The general colour varies from grizzled roan to blackish slaty brown, 

 with more or less distinct vertical dark stripes on the sides of the neck 

 and fore-quarters ; these stripes being most conspicuous in the lighter- 

 coloured specimens. Typically, the fringe of hair on the throat, like 

 the mane and tuft on the forehead, is black. 



