ANTELOPES. 



3'3 



combed with cavities, as in the oxen ; but the upper molar teeth differ entirely 

 from those of the latter animals, having very narrow crowns, without any additional 

 column on the inner side. 



The wildebeests, or, as they are often called, gnus, are ungainlydooking 

 creatures, distinguished by their broad and short heads, in which the muzzle is of 

 great width, and fringed with long bristles, so that the nostrils are separated from 

 one another by a considerable interval. The neck is furnished with an erect mane 

 of stiff hairs ; and the long tail is thickly haired throughout its length. The nearly 

 smooth, cylindrical horns are situated on the highest point of the skull, and curve 



THE WHITE-TAILED WILDEBEEST (£ nat. size). 



outwards, or outwards and downwards, and then bend upwards near the tips. In 

 the young wildebeest the horns are, however, straight and diverging, placed at 

 some distance below the highest point of the skull, and separated from one another 

 by a wide space at the base covered with hair. These straight horns persist as the 

 tips of those of the adult, the curved basal portion of the latter being a subsequent 

 development. In very aged bulls the two horns approximate at their bases, so as 

 to form a helmet-shaped mass completely covering the part of the skull, as in 

 the Cape buffalo. 



There are two well-marked species of wildebeest, confined to South and East 

 Africa, both of which are represented in our illustrations. Of these the common, 



