NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



mane and pied face of the roan demonstrated the 

 characteristic differences beyond dispute. 



" On the coat of the Paris Blaauwbok the famous 

 bluish-purple tint still lingers, and owing to the 

 care with which the specimen is housed, will prob- 

 ably continue to do so for another century. It 

 reminds the writer of the exquisite satiny gloss seen 

 on well-kept menagerie specimens of the Sable 

 Antelope, besides recalling the changeable iridescence 

 occurring in the Roan. As regards the supposed 

 post-mortem change of colour it is certainly true that 

 some structures — such as the lilac breast-feathers 

 of the Gouldian finch — ^undergo alteration after 

 the death of their wearer : but on this point Le 

 Vaillant expressly says, ' I did not observe, as Dr. 

 Sparrmann says, that this antelope when alive 

 resembles blue velvet, and that when dead the skin 

 changes its colour : living or dead, it appeared to me 

 always alike. The tints of that which I brought 

 with me never varied' (Travels in Africa, vol. i. 



P- 133)- 



" The best explanation of the supposed colour 

 change is that of Harris, who long ago pointed out 

 that in the Roan at any rate the actual hide during 

 life is black, changing to brown after death : similar 

 fading in the skin (not the hairy coat) of the ' Blue 

 Antelope ' would explain the post-mortem change 

 to ' leaden colour ' — the actual blue-grey of the 

 coat being dimmed by the faded hide beneath. 

 Many antelopes, when age has thinned their coat, 



104 



