Blaauwbok Eland 



419 



The general colour of the blaauwbok was bluish-gray, the front of the 

 face, the thin reversed mane, the outer parts of the ears, and the fronts of 

 the lower portions of the legs being rufous brown ; the under parts, upper 

 lip, and a space in front of the eye whitish. The face and head were not 

 marked conspicuously, as in the true roan antelope, and the ears, which were 

 long, lacked the black tufts noticeable in the more northern species. The 

 horns, however, were distinctly like those of the roan antelope, although 

 smaller and less robust. Those of the example in the Paris Museum 

 measure 21-^ inches over the curve. The same specimen, a male, measures 

 45 inches at the withers, rather more than a foot less than the stature of a 

 good roan antelope. Various attempts have been made, at different periods, 

 to classify this vanished creature as merely an immature specimen of the 

 roan antelope. But there can, I think, be no reasonable doubt, in the minds 

 of those who have studied the subject, that the blaauwbok is a good species. 

 Mr. J. G. Millais, who has examined the Paris Museum example, and is 

 well acquainted with the roan antelope in the wild state and from stuffed 

 specimens, has informed me that he has no doubt that the blaauwbok is a 

 genuine species. The testimony of such an expert is, to my mind, very 

 valuable. The British Museum possesses a pair of horns which are attri- 

 buted to the blaauwbok. These measure 20 inches in length and 6.1 inches 

 in basal circumference. j-j, a. Bryden. 



THE ELANDS 



Genus Taurotragus 1 



The last sub-family group of ruminants to which the name of antelopes 

 can properly be applied is that of the Tragelaphina, typified by the 



1 Dcsmarest's name, Oreal (1822), tor the elands had been employed at an earlier date for other animals, 

 and is therefore inadmissible. For the common species the name Antikpt oryx, Pallas, is the earliest.* 



