236 TRAVELS IN 
the firft perfon who gave an account of this 
beautiful and rare animal ; and the defcrip- 
tion of it which he fent to profeffor AUeman, 
and which that learned man publifhed, is 
very accurate; but it is to be regretted that 
the figure which accompanies it is defedlive 
and badly delineated. This animal, which 
in fliape refembles a fmall ox, is no better 
reprefentefl in the French tranflation of Dr. 
Sparmann's Voyage, becaufe the engraver, or 
the perfon who made the drawings, not con* 
tented with giving it the chefl: and buttocks 
of a horfe, has added alfo his tail, which is 
falfe, as the gnou has a tail exadlly like that 
of an ox. The Hottentots name this ante- 
lope nou^ preceded by that fecond kind of 
clapping which I have already mentioned. 
It was probably this clapping which induced 
Colonel Gordon to add a ^ to the proper 
name, which renders the pronunciation of it 
almoft the fame. Dr. Sparmann writes the 
word gnuy becaufe the u in the Swedifli and 
German languages is pronounced ou. Trans- 
lators ought to attend to thefe fmall varia- 
tions, which may occafion errors refpedling 
the proper names of animals, which ought 
pot to be disfigured. 
^ ' We 
