The Antelopes 



241 





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L \l'uljur,i Aljbctj. 



A COW I!UIM)L);U UNI'. 

 This gnu, which ia still found in great numbers in East Central Africa, indulges in tlie same cnriuus antics as the wliite-tailed species. 



The Gxus. 



These reinavkable animals were once distiibuted tluouglwut the greater part uf Africa fi-(jni 

 the Cape to Abyssinia, and their range is even now ^■e^y extensive, though what was once the 

 most nuinevous and the most eccentric-looking species of the group has almost ceased to exist. 



1'he gnus are of large size, and at first sight ap[)ear to ha\e the head of a liuftalo, the 

 tail of a liorse, and the limbs and hoofs of an antelope. Their heads are \ery massive, with 

 broad muzzles and widely separated, hairy irostrils ; tlieir necks are maned, tails long and 

 bushy, and both sexes carry horns. They are known as " wilde beeste," or "wild cattle," to 

 the Dutch colonists of .South Africa. 



The WniTE-TAiLED Gnu, or Black 

 Wildebeest, as it is more commonly called, 

 was once found in great numbers on the 

 karroos of Northern Cape Colony, and through- 

 out the vast plains of the Orange Kiver 

 Colony, Transvaal, Gri(jualand ^^'est, and 

 British Bechuanaland. Its rairge, in fiict, 

 was coequal with that of the blesbok. E\'en 

 as lately as in 1875 and 1876 I personally 

 saw very considerable herds of these cjuaint 

 animils in the Orange Eiver Colony and the 

 Western Transvaal. When the present war 

 broke out in 1899, there w-ere only two 

 herds of black wildebeest left alive. These 

 animals numbered some 500 head altogether, 

 and were protected by Dutch farmers. There 



llwto bij iJi! 



E. J. Birk. 



KED-FLANKED DtflKER. 



The duikers are for the most part diminutive and j 

 simple, spilce-Iike horns. 



"aceful .antelopes, with 



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