THE GEMSBOK 327 



dimensions that a lion which has tried to snatch a Spring- 

 bok out of a herd has been unable to extricate himself, and 

 in the most humiliating manner has been obliged to march 

 with the herd, unable even to feed upon any of the animals 

 which pressed him on every side. A flock of sheep has 

 also been enveloped in one of these ' trekbokken ' and 

 carried off. 



The ordinary migrations of the Springbok are in an 

 easterly direction, but at intervals of about twenty years 

 an opposite course is taken. After existing for months 

 without water, the animals seem to be impelled to slake a 

 suddenly tormenting thirst. Only a few years ago there 

 was a great ' trek ' to the sea, where the creatures drank 

 greedily and then died in tens of thousands. For many 

 miles the dead bodies lay along the shore, presently to 

 putrefy and drive the few inhabitants of the region far 

 inland for fear of pestilence. 



GEMSBOK (Oryx gazella). 



There are half a dozen species of the genus Oryx, ranging 

 throughout many of the desert regions of Africa and extend- 

 ing into the south-west of Asia, The Gemsbok, one of the 

 finest of the group, is a South African Antelope, chiefly 

 roaming the Kalahari region. It stands nearly four feet 

 high at the shoulder, and is generally about the size of the 

 domestic ass. In colour it is greyish above, deepening in 

 shade on the haunches and the upper parts of the limbs, 

 a black flank stripe separating it from the lighter under 

 parts. There are distinctive markings on the face, a black 

 patch appears on the forehead, and similarly coloured stripes 

 run from the horns, enveloping the eye and reaching nearly 

 to the muzzle. The long, straight horns, as in some other 

 species of Antelopes, are sometimes longer in the females 

 than in the males. For half their length they are very 

 definitely ringed, after which they proceed to sharp points 

 that form rather terrible weapons. 



The natives of South Africa often asserted that the Gems- 

 bok was quite independent of water, which was in due 

 course confirmed by Gordon Cumming, who says that the 



