THE SABLE ANTELOPE. 



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to keep itself far aloof from civilization. Gordon Cumming's description of this animal 

 is as follows. 



" Cantering along through the forest, I came suddenly in full view of one of the 

 loveliest animals which graces this fair creation. This was an old buck of the Sable 

 Antelope, the rarest and most beautiful animal in Africa. It is large and powerful, 

 partaking considerably of the nature of the ibex. Its back and sides are of glossy 

 black, beautifully contrasting with the belly, which is white as driven snow. The horns 

 are upwards of three feet in length, and bend strongly back with a bold sweep, reaching 

 nearly to the haunches." 



BLAU-BOK, OR ETAAC. sEgocerus leucophasus. 



It lives in herds of no very great size, consisting mostly of ten or twelve does led by 

 a single buck. As a general fact, the buck takes matters very easily, and trusts to the 

 does for keeping a good watch and warning him of the approach of an enemy. Owing 

 to the jealous caution of these female sentinels, the hunter finds himself sadly em- 

 barrassed when he wishes to enrich his museum with the horns of their leader, and if 

 any of them should happen to take alarm, the whole herd will bound over the roughest 

 ground with such matchless speed that all pursuit is hopeless. In Captain Cumming's 

 well-known work, there is a most animated description of the proceedings of a herd of 

 Sable Antelopes, and of the hunter's manoeuvres in order to gain his point. 



In the native dialect, the Sable Antelope is know under the name of Potaquaine. It 

 is very tenacious of life, and will often make good its escape even though pierced entirely 

 through the body with several bullets. It therefore fully tests all the powers of the 



