290 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



present colonial territory and its fauna, except 

 within less than one hundred miles of Cape Town, 

 were very little known. 



The Lion {Felis leo). — Since January 23rd, 1653 

 — when according to the quaint old Dutch journals, 

 now preserved in the Colonial archives, "This 

 night it appeared as if the lions would take the 

 fort {i.e., the present Cape Town) by storm " — this 

 animal has been gradually, but surely, exterminated 

 or driven back. In the same year, 1653, Governor 

 Van Riebeek encountered a lion in his garden ; and 

 the king of beasts long held his ground against the 

 Dutch intruders. Even between 1825 and 1830, 

 when Steedman travelled in the Colony, the lion was 

 exceedingly plentiful ; but probably from the date 

 of the introduction of percussion caps its downfall 

 proceeded more hurriedly. It would seem that the 

 lion had finally disappeared from the Colony by 

 1850 or thereabouts, or perhaps, in the remote 

 parts of Bushmanland, a little later. The present 

 Queenstown district was one of its last strongholds. 



The Leopard {Felis pardus) is still common in 

 nearly all the mountains of the Colony, and is, from 

 its habits and habitat, principally kept down by 

 means of poisoned meat. It is, however, occasionally 

 shot, and occasionally severe and even fatal accidents 

 happen in encounters with these dangerous brutes. 



The Roan Antelope {Hippotragus leucophceus) . — 

 This magnificent and exceedingly scarce antelope — 

 the bastard eland, or bastard gemsbok of the Dutch, 

 sometimes also called by them in bygone days the 

 blaauwbok— was formerly found within the Colony, 

 but apparently only in the Swellendam division, and 

 in the neighbourhood of the Breede River. 



