ANTELOPES OF EAST AFRICA 



Confined to the " Dark Continent " are the vSpecies of a 

 remarkable genus {Connochcotes) of antelopes, the gnus, 

 called "njumbo porrini" by the Waswahili, "aingat" 

 by the Masai, and "ngaita" by the Wandorobbo. 

 While the white-tailed gnu, or black wildebeest, is now 

 hardly ever found in a true wild state, and while small 

 herds only are preserved here and there on farms, the 

 brindled gnu, or blue wildebeest, and the white-bearded 

 gnu {ConnochcBtes albojuhatiis) are still abundant, the 

 latter especially on the salt steppe of the Masai high 

 plateau. The white-bearded gnu is larger and heavier 

 than its South African cousin, and when seen from a 

 distance resembles the buffalo. The traveller may easi- 

 ly mistake these gnus for buffaloes if he has never 

 seen the wild buffalo in the wilderness but knows it 

 only from descriptions or from the zoological gardens. 



The question which species of the gnu inhabit the 

 Masai country was not settled when I first went to Africa ; 

 to-day we know that only the white-bearded species is 

 found there. It is nomadic, according to the season, 

 highly sociable, and often seen together with zebras, 

 ostriches, and with other antelopes. I once saw and 

 photographed a remarkable trio — an old bull gnu, a 

 giraffe gazelle, and a Thomson buck. Gnus, like zebras, 

 can drink salty water. In the dry season we often found 

 them for months near the natron lakes feeding on the 

 short, fresh grass which sprouts in the moist ground of 

 the receding water. 



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