338 MR. G. BLAINE OTi THE ZEBRAS 



cover that they are difficult to stalk. Attempts to descend upoa' 

 them from above down a hill-side genei\ally resulted in failure,, 

 as they were very quick iu spotting any movement above. When 

 jilarmed they get off the mark more rapidly than any other 

 Antelope I know. Even when lying down they are up and away 

 with the quickness of thought, but always stop to look round 

 after going two or three hundred yards. The action is smooth,, 

 botli in the trot and gallop, and dose to the ground, with the 

 nose stretched out, the horns thrown back, and the neck not 

 appreciably raised. The heavily tufted tail streams out behind 

 at the gallop, but when trotting is svf ished from side to side. 



Gemsbuck are very keen-sighted, and when their suspicions 

 are aroused Avill continue to stare steadily at the spot from which 

 they sense danger with great persistency, and will detect the 

 slightest movement behind any but dense cover. 1 remember 

 one morning watching a herd, after grazing on some distant 

 stony flats, wander ofF and take up a resting position on a 

 shoulder connecting two quartz-topped kopjes which appeared to 

 be very favourably situated for a stalk. After making a detour 

 of several miles to approach one of the kopjes from a flank, 

 I climbed to the top of the great white boulders and peered over- 

 into the pass immediately beneath. For the first moment I saw 

 nothing but a stretch of glaring sand and some thorn-biishes. 

 The next the whole herd magically leapt into view. Each member 

 of it was standing perfectly motionless beneath me — most of them 

 in the open, a few under bushes. They looked absolutely trans- 

 parent, their outlines fusing into the reddish sand. Yet every 

 detail w^as there, foi- they were very near. I have often before 

 been struck by this curious efiect, especially with Oryx. It appears 

 to be due to the pei'fect toning of the body-colour with a back- 

 ground of sand or light stone, and to the fact that the black 

 markings are exactly the same tone as the shadows thrown b}^ 

 any solid object under intensely bright shimmering light. For 

 instance, the black markings of an Oryx standing under a thin 

 thorn-bush through Avhich the light penetrates, become so per- 

 fectly fused with the shadow^s thrown by the branches that it is. 

 impossible to detect, even with powerful field-glasses, where the 

 solid marking leaves off and the shadow begins. This I have 

 often tested. 



The Gemsbuck cows in this country drop their calves in 

 •January. They are curious little creatures with large ears, short 

 necks, and of a grizzled fawn-colour, and I remember once mis- 

 taking one that I saw ii\ the distance cantering after its mother 

 for a hunting-dog. The dark markings first appear in indistinct 

 tones of greyish brown diffused about the areas, which are even- 

 tually occupied by the black bands in more concentrated form. 

 The white markings on face and legs have not yet been assumed. 

 The bulls at this time are generally away from the herds. 

 1 counted two herds composed entirely of cows, one of sixteen 

 and the other of ten. 



