CHAPTER XIV 



NOTES ON THE GEMSBUCK 



Number of African antelopes The eland Roan and sable antelopes 

 The greater koodoo Other antelopes The gemsbuck 

 Limited range Habitat Keen sight Speed and endurance 

 Chase after four gemsbucks Two shot Sight of vultures 

 Oxen frightened Horse wounded by lioness Gemsbuck bull 

 shot Visit from natives Gemsbucks and zebras Gemsbucks 

 ridden to a standstill Fine specimens shot Length of horns 

 Character of the gemsbuck Probably unaffected by the 

 rinderpest Likely to survive for long time. 



THERE is such a wealth of splendid-looking antelopes 

 to be found on the great African continent that it is 

 hard, nay, impossible to say which amongst them 

 is the grandest prize of all that can fall to a hunter's 

 rifle. In bulk nothing approaches the eland, and 

 an old bull of this species, with his massive form, 

 low-hanging dewlap, and great neck surmounted by 

 a striking and beautifully proportioned head, is in 

 truth a noble animal, but at the same time one that 

 looks fitter in every way to adorn a park than to be 

 hunted to the death. The eland is, in fact, one of 

 those beasts that ought to have been trained to the 

 service of man, and would have been in all proba- 

 bility had it existed in Asia instead of in Africa. 

 Such an animal few can slay without a certain feel- 

 ing of regret, for even when desperately wounded, 

 nothing but reproach can be read in its mild dark 

 eyes. 



How different is the quiet resignation shown by 



254 



