270 RECORDS OF BIG GAME 



the present species the horns of the females are longer and finer, and 

 therefore more prized, than those of the bulls. An adult gemsbuck 

 stands about 3 feet 9 inches at the shoulder. In addition to the 

 length of its horns, the species is sufficiently characterised by the 

 presence of a tuft of hair on the throat, and the cutting-off of the white 

 eye-stripe from the muzzle by the union of the dark central nose-streak 

 with the black of the cheeks. 



Distribution. — -The desert regions of South-Western Africa, from the 

 northern Karoos of Cape Colony through the Kalahari and 

 Damaraland to Southern Angola in Mossamedes and perhaps 

 Benguela. North of the Chobe and eastwards of Khama's country 

 the species appears to be unknown. So late as 1846 Gordon 

 Cumming found gemsbuck abundant on the northern Karoos of 

 Cape Colony ; and even now a few linger on the plains to the 

 south of the lower reaches of the Orange River. In the northern 

 Kalahari, where they exist for months without water, they are 

 still abundant. The splendid horns of the gemsbuck are always 

 regarded as prime trophies of the hunter's skill ; the finding, 

 riding- down, and shooting of one of these wary and enduring 

 desert-bred antelopes being a feat of which any man, however 

 well mounted, may be deservedly proud. 



