DUIKERBOKS — GNUS 



97 



on account of its remarkable coloration. Rather larger than the Cape species, it 

 has the ground-colour golden-brown, upon which on the hinder part of the back are 

 eight or nine black transverse stripes. The yellow-backed duiker (C. sylvicultor), 

 which ranges from the Gabun and Sierra Leone to Rhodesia, is the largest of the 

 group, the height at the shoulder exceeding 34 inches. In colour it is blackish grey 

 with a line of erectile yellow hairs along the hind part of the back. Somewhat 

 smaller is Jentink's duiker (G. jentinki), of Liberia, which is mainly grey, with the 

 head and throat black, and the legs, lips, and interior of the ears whitish. It should 

 be added that the species mentioned form only a small proportion of those which 



WHITE-TAILED GNUS. 



Gnus. 



have been described. The name duikerbok is derived from the Dutch word duiker, 

 signifying a diver, and commonly applied at the Cape to the South African 

 cormorant. Duikerbok therefore denotes the antelope that dives into covert, and 

 not, as has been suggested, one that dodges or doubles. 



With the white-tailed gnu, or black wildebeest (Connochcetes 

 gnu), we reach the last group of antelopes, which includes both the 

 gnus and the hartebeests. This species, which once extended from a little north 

 of the Vaal River to the south of Cape Colony, has of late years survived only on 

 a few farms north of the Orange River, and may by this time be almost exter- 

 minated. Possibly a few remain in the Kalahari or German South-east Africa. It 

 is characterised by its broad, ugly head and down-curving horns, the great height 

 vol. in. — 7 



