A Breath from the Veldt 



333 



necessary to all lovers of nature a large South African game park is for the 

 preservation of this and many other allied species. The white -tailed gnu 

 [Connochcetes gnu) was ever a strictly South African species, which never ranged 

 much farther north than the Transvaal and Bechuanaland, though at one time 

 there is no doubt it came as far south as the Karoo district of Cape Colony. 

 Needless for me to speak of the vast number that greeted the eyes of the first 

 Voor trekkers to the north ; for Gordon Cumming and Oswell have already 

 given us fascinating accounts of these bygone days. I shall therefore confine 

 myself to personal observations, presuming that the reader knows the creature 



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GALLOPING HOME AT SUNRISE 



by sight, and has some acquaintance with its ordinary habits. In the animal 

 itself the first point of interest lies in its queerly-shaped horns and buffalo-like 

 head, and thinking that a series of sketches showing the gradual development 

 of these features may be interesting to some of my readers, I present them 

 here. They were taken for the most part from the young male born in our 

 own Zoological Gardens in June 1894, being made at varying periods, as the 

 horns showed an inclination to change their form. The most rapid growth 

 seemed to take place between the ages of six and nine months, and as soon as 

 the horns commenced to curve from the base the old cow was irritated at the 

 young one's attempts to suck, doubtless owing to the uncomfortable stabs she 



