2IO 



Great and Small Game of Africa 



a herd in front of him, other herds are charging down wind on his right 

 and left, and having described a number of circular movements, they take 

 up positions upon the very ground across which he rode only a few minutes 

 before. Singly and in small troops, the old bulls may be seen standing 

 motionless during a whole forenoon, watching with a philosophic eye the 

 movements of the other game, eternally uttering a loud and snorting noise, 

 and also a short, sharp cry which is peculiar to them. When the hunter 

 approaches they begin prancing and capering, and pursue one another at 

 the utmost speed. Suddenly they all pull up together to overhaul the 

 intruder, when two bulls will often commence fighting in the most violent 

 manner, dropping on their knees at every shock ; then, quickly wheeling 

 about, they whirl their tails in a fantastic flourish and scour across the 

 plains enveloped in a cloud of dust." 



There seems to be little doubt that these animals were strongly affected 

 by the colour of red. When nearing these antelopes the old Cape hunters 

 used to hoist a scarlet cloth at the top of a long pole. At sight of this the 

 gnu would, says Pringle, a well-known and reliable Cape writer in the 

 early part of this century, " caper about, lashing their flanks with their long 

 tails, and tearing up the ground with their hoofs as if violently excited, 

 and ready to rush down upon us, and then, all at once, when we were 

 about to fire, they would bound away, and again go prancing round us at a 

 safer distance." 



The flesh of the black wildebeest is not by any means good eating. 

 It has often been compared with extremely poor beef, to which the flesh 

 of its relative, the blue wildebeest, also bears some resemblance. In the 

 quite young animals the flesh was somewhat more palatable, but wildebeest 

 venison is almost entirely lacking in the excellent gamelike flavour of many 

 others of the South African antelopes. This animal was always, in the 

 days when all kinds of game checkered the heath-like karroos of Cape 

 Colony and the grassy plains of the Orange Free State, singularly attached 



