33 6 HOOFED ANIMALS 



engage in the chase of them must be supplied with water, 

 or else they will die. 



The Blesbok (Bubalis albifrons) is a smaller animal, a 

 brilliantly coated Antelope with hair chiefly of a purple-red 

 colour, which serves to throw up into greater prominence 

 the white ' blaze ' down the face. In the neighbourhood of 

 the Vet River, Gordon Gumming says that he saw ' a purple 

 mass of graceful Blesboks which extended without a break 

 as far as the eye could strain.' It is said that the skin of 

 this Antelope gives off a delicious odour of flowers and 

 sweet herbs. 



The Four-Horned Antelope (Tetraceros quadricornis) is a 

 small Indian species, almost Hare-like in its habits. The 

 male is distinguished by the possession of a double pair of 

 horns. The larger pair, only about four inches in length, 

 are placed well back on the skull ; the second pair, rising 

 immediately over the eyes, are only half as long ; in some 

 cases they are absent altogether or are reduced to mere 

 excrescences. 



The Addax (Addax nasomaculatus) , Plate XXXIV. Fig. 2, 

 which inhabits the barren sandy deserts of North Africa 

 and Arabia, is a heavily and long horned animal. It is 

 largely hunted by the Bedouins, who use horses and grey- 

 hounds in the chase. 



No account of the Antelope family would be complete 

 without reference to various pretty, graceful little animals, 

 which have quite whippet-like bodies, supported on rela- 

 tively long and slender legs. The Pigmy, or Royal, 

 Antelope (Neotragus pygmceus) of West Africa is less than 

 a foot in height. Only the males have horns, which are 

 nearly straight, and either vertical or inclining backwards. 



The Dik-Dik Antelopes are almost as small as the fore- 

 going, but they possess at least two distinctive features. 

 Their noses are elongated and hairy, and there is usually 

 a tuft of hair on the crown of the head. There are half a 

 dozen different species in the north-east of Africa, of which 

 Phillips's Dik-Dik (Madoqua phillipsi), Plate XXXIV. Fig. i, 

 serves as an excellent example. The photograph is one-sixth 

 of the natural size of this tiny Antelope, which is most 

 popular with visitors to the Zoological Gardens. 



