THE TRUE UNICORN. 389 



and it is an undoubted fact that not seldom have 

 the carcasses of the hon and the gemsbok been 

 found rotting on the plains together, the lion, 

 impaled in its spring, firmly fixed upon the sharp 

 horns of its quarry. An old-world Boer, who 

 hunted in Cape Colony so far back as the end of 

 the last century, when elephants, rhinoceroses, and 

 other great game were abundant, described from 

 personal observation to a friend of the writer, the 

 singular method in which this antelope will often 

 receive the attacks of lion and leopard. When 

 danger threatens, it throws itself to the ground, 

 and presents its tremendous horns to every point 

 of attack, occasionally slightly shifting its position 

 to enable it to do so. The eyes are prominent 

 and set high in the head, and greatly aid to this 

 system of defence. The leopard and lion, who 

 never attack this antelope unless hard pressed by 

 hunger, have been known to retire baffled from 

 these trials of skill. Occasionally, no doubt, the 

 great cats come off victorious, by stratagem or 



surprise. 



Cornwallis Harris, Gordon Cumming, and other 

 mighty hunters write in rapturous terms of the 

 beauty, speed, and grace of the gemsbok. Andersson 

 and Selous are, indeed, not so convinced of its 

 superlative merits as regards speed, but it must be 

 remembered that seasons, feeding, and locality have 

 much to do with the condition of this, and, indeed, 

 of all other antelopes. There are men, old interior 

 hunters, who will tell you that to see the rare 

 gemsbok ranging in its pride over its own primeval 

 karroos, or the jet black sable antelope in its 

 mountain fastnesses, is to them as keen a pleasure. 



