CHAPTER IV. 
THE KOKOON. 
Upon the forehead of the bull, the horns stand close and near, 
; From out the broad and wrinkled skull, like daggers they appear. 
His neck is massy like the trunk of some old knotted tree 
Whereon the monster's shaggy mane, like billows curled ye see. 
To solve the mysterious causes that control the apparently capricious distribution of animal forms, has always been considered one of 
the most difficult problems in the grand scheme of the creation. An Almighty fiat, “Thus far shalt thou come but no further,” has 
fixed the unalterable limit to the range of every creature, however insignificant ; but the nature of the laws, unconnected either with 
congenial food or temperature, by which are regulated the phenomena of local dispersion, have hitherto been most effectually concealed 
from human research. In no quarter of the universe, perhaps, are these phenomena more remarkable than in Africa, and amongst 
the ten thousand which might be adduced, not the least conspicuous is the sudden appearance to the north of the Orange river, of the 
subject of the annexed portrait. Instantly after crossing that stream, the Kokoon, or Brindled Gnoo, usurps the place of the white 
tailed species: and although herds of the former may actually be seen grazing on the northern bank, not a single individual has ever 
been known to pass the barrier. Equally ungainly in point of figure, the animal now delineated differs materially from its brother of the 
same genus, from which, at the greatest distance, it is readily distinguishable by its black mane and tail, more elevated withers, and 
clumsier gait. Whilst, however, it possesses neither the spirit, activity, nor speed, of its absurd congener, it is in many respects fully as 
whimsical, and exhibits in all its peculiarities, even a still greater predominancy towards the bovine character. 
In the Kokoon, the fore hand bears to the rest of the frame a most remarkable disproportion. The ponderous neck and head are 
uniformly sunk below the leyel of the hunch, whilst the fore legs, which are slender and crooked at the knee, are thrown so far behind 
the shoulder as to give the animal the semblance of being ill-balanced, and under-limbed—an appearance which is still farther augmented 
by cat-hams, and by great obliquity of the erupper. The ludicrously aquiline nose, and the small black leering eyes, placed like those 
of the Hippopotamus, almost at the summit of the cranium—together impart to the face an almost idiotic expression. Looming at a 
little distance even blacker than night, the fore hand appears, like that of the American Bonassus, to be completely muffled in long 
shagey hair; although on closer inspection this is found to be limited to an ample mane, and a streaming beard. No third variety of 
the Gnoo oceurs in Southern Africa, and the actual existence thereof is greatly to be questioned. By the Dutch boors the present 
species is termed the Bastaard or Blauw Wilde Beest, i. e. spurious or blue Gnoo ; throughout the country of the Bechuana as far as to 
the tropic, it is recognised as the Kokoon, and the Hottentot tribes designate it the Kaop or Baas,* both of which terms signifying 
master, refer in all probability to its bold and terrific bearing. 
When excited by the appearance of any suspicious object, or aroused by any unusual noise, the Kokoon is wont to appear much 
more grim and ferocious than it actually proves—not unfrequently approaching with an air of defiance as if resolved to do battle with 
the hunter, but decamping upon the very first exhibition of hostility on his part. On being pursued, the herd bring their aquiline noses 
low between their knees, and flourishing their streaming black tails, tear away in long regular files at a furious gallop; wheeling 
euriously about, at the distance of two or three hundred yards, advancing boldly towards the danger, tossing their shaggy heads in a 
threatening manner—presently making a sudden stop, presenting au impenetrable front of horns, and staring wildly at the object of 
their mistrust. The slightest demonstration, however, is sufficient to put the whole squadron to flight, when they make a somewhat 
shorter excursion, again wheel in a circle, show a more menacing and imposing front than before, and most probably take up their 
position within sure rifle range. When engaged in grazing they have an extremely dull and clumsy appearance, and at a little distance 
might often be mistaken for wild buffaloes ; but their usual manner is sportive—at one moment standing to gaze at nothing, and at the 
next scampering over the plain without any apparent object in view, making various grotesque curvets and plunges, with their prepos- 
terous Bonassus-looking heads held down between the fore legs. Blustering along at a little distance, the solitary bulls loom even more 
like the whiskered monarch of the forest, than do their white-tailed congeners; the resemblance being not a little enhanced by their 
possessing, like the furious white Uri, produced in days of yore in the forest of Caledonia, jubam densam, ac demissam instar leonis ; or, 
as Holinshed has it, “crisp and curled manes like unto fiers leonis”’! 
It would be difficult for those who have never visited the interior of Southern Africa, to form even a remote conception of the 
countless herds of this ungainly quadruped, which are occasionally to be met with on the bosom of her broad plains. Lack of water, 
the curse, and the prevailing feature of these savage regions, frequently compels the fera nature to assemble in countless companies 
around the last dregs of expiring moisture, without reference either to caste or hereditary animosities ; and on such occasions the picture 
they present to the eye of the sportsman, is one of no common enchantment. Delighting im shade, the Brindled Gnoo especially resorts 
to level tracts, thinly sprinkled with the picturesque and feathery mimosa, reclining beneath spreading clumps of which, or scattered 
* A Dutch word, The burly master of a family in the Colony is uniformly atyled by his menials, De Baws. 
