488 THE NYL-GHAU. 



quarters are more nearly on a level than her fore. Her general 

 colour is a pale reddish brown, marked with white spots and 

 patches exactly similar to those of the male. 



Of the nyl-ghau's habits in a state of nature we have no 

 details. " In captivity/' Mr. Bennett says, " it is gentle and 

 familiar, licking the hands of those who offer it bread, and 

 suffering itself to be played with, not only without shyness, 

 but with evident pleasure. There are seasons, however, when 

 it becomes capricious in its temper. When meditating an 

 attack it falls suddenly upon its fore-knees, shuffles onwards 

 in that posture until it has advanced to within a few paces of 

 the object of its irritation, and then darts forward with a 

 powerful spring, and butts with its head in the most determined 

 manner. Its walk is awkward, in consequence of the com- 

 parative shortness of its hind-legs, and the width to which it 

 extends them ; but in running this defect is scarcely per- 

 ceptible." 



The female goes with young eight months, and produces one, 

 sometimes two, at a birth. Nine specimens have been bred at 

 the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens. 



The flesh is said to be well tasted. 



THE GNU, OR Niou. 

 (Catoblepas gnu, Ham. Smith ; Antilope gnu. Gin.) 



The gnu, called wilde-beaste by the Hottentots, inhabits the 

 mountains to the north of the Cape of Good Hope, where it is 

 rather rare. 



It is an extraordinary animal, possessing characters which 

 remind us of the antelope, the buffalo, and the horse. Its full 

 length, from the point of the nose to the end of the tail, is seven 

 feet ten inches 5 and the height three feet six inches. The body 

 is of a brown colour j on the upper part of the neck is an erect, 

 well-defined, black and white mane, extending beyond the 



