324 A Breath from the Veldt 



presence of the observer. These are the blessbuck, the springbuck, and the 

 white-tailed gnu or black wildebeest, as it is commonly called in South Africa ; 

 and of these three the last named is by far the most interesting. To my mind, 

 indeed, this extraordinary-looking creature is the most interesting animal in the 

 world, and as there is but too much reason to fear that it is doomed to 

 extinction, I am glad to have seen for myself its curious pranks and movements 

 as exhibited in its own home. Indeed I would not have missed my small 

 experiences in its charming society for more than I can tell. 



At one time tens of thousands of these wildebeests were scattered in troops 

 of from twenty to fifty over the whole of the face of the Southern Transvaal 

 and Free State High Veldt, and as the result of careful inquiries I believe that 

 to-day there are hardly more than 550 in existence. On the lands of Mr. 

 Vessell-Vessell, near Bloomfonteine, there are about 200, fenced in. A 

 neighbour of Mr. Vessell has about 100, also fenced, and Mr. De Plessis has 

 partially fenced in about 1 50, which are, however, constantly breaking out and 

 getting shot ; whilst old Piet Terblans of Severghat, near Kronstad, has about 

 210 of these creatures running perfectly wild.^ Scattered troops, too, are said 

 still to exist on some of the farms of Victoria West, but of them I can hear no 

 reliable accounts. All I can gather is that, out of almost countless thousands 

 of black wildebeests that once roamed the plains of Southern Africa, there 

 remains but this poor remnant, and even of them we must expect that at least 

 half will be gone within the next five years, unless stringent measures be 

 adopted for their protection. Knowing this, I was naturally anxious to make 

 acquaintance with Piet Terblans and his wild belongings, and after numerous 

 inquiries in Johannesburg I was fortunate enough to obtain an introduction to 

 that worthy. But the prospect of a visit was not altogether rosy. All who 

 knew about Oom Piet described him as a virulent, anti-English Boer, and a 

 man of ungovernable temper. Nobody, however, seemed to know the old 

 Voor trekker personally, so in the hope that he was not quite so black as he 

 was painted, I made for him a few days later, traversing in a Cape cart the 

 grassy uplands of the Orange Free State. To my great delight, I passed on 

 the road within 300 yards of a fine troop of the animals I was coming to see, 

 and as they merely got up and whisked their snowy tails in the sunlight 

 without evincing any unusual signs of fear, I concluded that they would be 



1 The black wildebeest thrives well in captivity ; witness the youngster born in our Zoo last year and the 

 growing troops on the Continent— one near Amsterdam and the other in the possession of Mr. Riach, the 

 German importer. 



