THROUGH THE PLEISTOCENE 
27 
beasts, a variety of the brindled gnu or blue wildebeest of 
South Africa, are interesting creatures of queer, eccentric 
habits. With their shaggy manes, heavy forequarters, and 
generally bovine look, they remind one somewhat of our 
bison, at a distance, but of course they are much less bulky, 
a big old bull in prime condition rarely reaching a weight of 
seven hundred pounds. They are beasts of the open plains, 
ever alert and wary; the cows, with their calves, and one or 
more herd bulls, keep in parties of several score; the old 
bulls, singly, or two or three together, keep by themselves, 
or with herds of zebra, hartebeest, or gazelle; for one of 
the interesting features of African wild life is the close asso¬ 
ciation and companionship so often seen between totally 
different species of game. Wildebeest are as savage as they 
are suspicious; when wounded they do not hesitate to charge 
a man who comes close, although of course neither they nor 
any other antelopes can be called dangerous when in a wild 
state, any more than moose or other deer can be called dan¬ 
gerous; when tame, however, wildebeest are very dangerous 
indeed, more so than an ordinary domestic bull. The wild, 
queer-looking creatures prance and rolick and cut strange 
capers when a herd first makes up its mind to flee from a 
stranger’s approach; and even a solitary bull will sometimes 
plunge and buck as it starts to gallop off; while a couple of 
bulls, when the herd is frightened, may relieve their feelings, 
by a moment’s furious battle, occasionally dropping to 
their knees before closing. At this time, the end of April, 
there were little calves with the herds of cows; but in many 
places in equatorial Africa the various species of antelopes 
seem to have no settled rutting time or breeding time; at 
least we saw calves of all ages. 
