The Gemsbuck 385 



are then found wandering alone in complete solitude. On several occa- 

 sions the writer has encountered these old solitaries, roaming apart in 

 the wilds of the Northern Kalahari. The flesh of the gemsbuck is very 

 o-ood, and its skin, which is remarkably tough and strong, is in great 

 demand for making riems — raw-hide thongs — and whip-lashes. 



Gemsbuck frequent by preference open plains or thinly-bushed country, 

 but, where they have been persecuted, they are inclined to seek shelter 

 in open forest and the more bushy country. When thin and in low 

 condition these animals exhibit plenty of speed and bottom, and will 

 then gallop away from a good horse in a long tail -on -end chase. 

 Gordon-Cumming, who hunted gemsbuck very vigorously in Cape Colony 

 during his earlier years in South Africa, gave a somewhat exaggerated 

 account of their running powers. But Gordon-Cumming was a fourteen- 

 stone man and not perhaps quite such a good horseman as he was a rifle- 

 shot. At all events, a good many modern hunters — Mr. Baldwin and 

 Mr. Selous among the number — have, when well mounted, proved them- 

 selves capable of galloping down even this fleet and enduring antelope. 

 The gemsbuck is a brave and determined beast of chase and will defend 

 itself vigorously when wounded and set up by dogs, and the hunter 

 should approach the animal, when at bay, with much caution. Many 

 a good dog has been slain by the sharp and formidable horns of this 

 antelope. When attacked by carnivora, or by dogs, the gemsbuck often 

 throws itself down, and, offering its horns most deftly to every point of 

 attack, is enabled for a long time to keep at bay— sometimes even to 

 drive off — its assailants. 



For the last hundred and fifty years or more a legend has been current 

 in South Africa that this antelope will boldly face even the lion itself, and 

 that the bodies of the two animals— the lion impaled on the sharp horns of 

 the gemsbuck— have been found rotting in the veld together. I have been 

 assured by reliable colonists and hunters, English, Afrikander, Dutch, and 

 3 D 



