376 
A JOURNEY UNDER DIYi«*ICULTIES. 
triumphant manner. This animal is of the great family of ante¬ 
lopes, but presents a most extraordinary conformation. 
Fierce on the hunter’s hostile band, 
He rolls his eye of burnished glow: 
Spurns with black hoof and horns the sand, 
And tosses high his mane of snow.” 
Of all the antelopes, the gnu presents the most extraordinary 
conformation. At the first sight of this curious animal, the spec¬ 
tator seems to doubt whether it is a horse, a bull, or an antelope, as 
PUT TO FLIGHT BY A SUDDEN CHARGE. 
it appears to partake nearly equally of the nature of these three 
animals. 
The gnus, of which there are several species, may be easily 
recognized by their fierce-looking head, their peculiarly shaped 
horns, which are bent downwards and then upwards again with a 
sharp curve, by their broad nose, and long hair-clad tail. They 
live together in considerable herds, often mixing with zebras, 
ostriches, and giraffes, in one huge army of living beings. In their 
habits they are not unlike the wild cattle which have already been 
described. Suspicious, timid, curious of disposition, and irritable 
