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which he devotes the first plate of his great artistic work on the ‘ Game- 
Animals of South Africa,’ abundant in the open plains of the Vaal River, and 
still to be met with even in some parts of the Colony. The hunt of the 
Wildebeest, Harris tells us, ‘forms a favourite diversion of the Dutch 
colonists, and occupies a very large portion of the apparently valueless time 
of the trek-boors, or nomad farmers, who graze their overgrown flocks and 
herds on the verdant meadows lying beyond the borders of the sterile colony. 
The carcase of a fullgrown Wildebeest, even when ‘broken,’ forms a fair 
load for a pack-horse; the flesh, which is very insipid and usually quite 
destitute of fat, resembling very coarse beef in quality. A joint is therefore 
never dressed by the good vrow without having first been garnished with 
huge lumps of sheep’s-tail fat,—a sine qué non in Dutch cookery,—dexterously 
thrust with the point of the thumb into perforations carved for their reception. 
This done, it is placed in the iron oven, with abundance of lard, and literally 
baked to rags! On account of its leanness, however, it is generally cut into 
strips, and converted into ‘di/tong,’ by being dried in the sun. The silky tail 
of the Gnoo, which is in great demand for making chowries, forms an article 
of export; and the hide, when brayed, is employed by the colonists for vzems, 
or thongs, with which to harness oxen in the team, and indeed for every 
purpose to which hempen rope, twine, and string are usually applied in 
other countries.” 
At the present time, we fear, the White-tailed Gnu affords neither sport 
nor food to the Boer hunter. Modern authorities assure us that this Ante- 
lope, formerly found in such vast numbers on the plains of the interior, now 
only remains upon one or two farms in the north of the Cape Colony in 
Victoria West. So late as from 1850 to 1857 it was still fairly abundant 
between Colesberg and Hanover, but has now perished in this district. 
Moreover, as this species has never been known to exist beyond the Limpopo, 
there is not the slightest chance of its being found anywhere further north. 
The White-tailed Gnu is an apt subject for domestication. Cornwallis 
Harris tells us that “ when captured young it may easily be reared by hand 
upon cow’s milk, and may readily be induced to herd with cattle upon the 
farm, going out to the pasture, and returning with them, and exhibiting 
little inclination to reclaim its pristine liberty.” It has thus happened that 
specimens of it have been brought to Europe from an early period. We 
have already mentioned that one was living at Amsterdam in 1776, and 
