THE GEMS-BOK. 



653 



with these natural bayonets, the adultGcms-bokis a match for most of the smaller car- 

 nivora, and has even been known to wage a successful duel with the lordly lion, and 

 fairly to beat off its antagonist. Even when the lion has overcome the Gems-bok, the 

 battle may sometimes be equally claimed by both sides, for in one instance, the dead 

 bodies of a lion and a Gems-bok were found lying on the plain, the horns of the An- 

 telope being driven so firmly into the lion's body, that they could not be extracted by 

 the efforts of a single man. The lion had evidently sprung upon the Gems-bok, which 

 had received its foe upon the points of its horns, and had sacrificed its own life in 

 destroying that of its adversary. 



In Captain Cumming's deservedly popular work on Southern Africa, may be found 

 the following notes concerning this animal. 



" The Gems-bok was intended by nature to adorn the parched karroos and arid de- 

 serts of South Africa for which description of country it is admirably adapted. It 

 thrives and attains high condition in barren regions where it might be imagined that a 

 locust could not find subsistence ; and burning as is the climate, it is perfectly inde- 



GEMS-BOK. Oryx Oazella. 



pendent of water, which, from my own observation and the repeated reports both of 

 Boers and aborigines, I am convinced it never by any chance tastes. Its flesh is de- 

 servedly esteemed, and ranks next to that of the eland. At certain seasons of the 

 year they carry a great quantity of fat, at which time they can more easily be ridden 

 into. 



Owing to the even nature of the ground which the Gems-bok frequents, its shy and 

 suspicious disposition, and the extreme distances from water to which it must be 

 followed, it is never stalked or driven to an ambush like the Antelopes, but is hunted 

 on horseback and ridden down by a long severe, tail-on-end chase. Of several animals 

 in South Africa which are hunted in this manner, the Gems-bok is by far the swiftest 

 and the most enduring." 



Although the Gems-bok is nearly independent of water, it stands as much in need of 

 moisture as any other animal, and would speedily perish in the arid deserts were it not 

 directed by its instincts towards certain succulent plants which are placed in those re- 

 gions, and which possess the useful power of attracting and retaining every particle of 

 moisture which may happen to settle in their vicinity. The most common and most 

 valuable of these plants is a bulbous root belonging to the Liliacea, called, from its 



